Society should be more sympathetic to transexuals.

Today I read a comment on sex change refusal by a court of law by a reader in the Malaysian Chronicler in which he said: In Islam, sex change is TOTALLY haram (=not allowed). We do not allow anyone to change the gender, as by doing so we will be changing Allah's creation.
The only exception to this ruling is related to a person who has both gender potentials in the body, so a medical treatment can be sought to unify one gender. In this case it will be a correction, and not a change in the creation of Allah, the Almighty.

After reading what has been reading I could not help but felt that human thinking must change in order that the world could be a happier place.

Firstly, let me proclaim myself as someone who certainly believe in God and have great respect for all religions. However, I do not join any religion as from an early age I have found much added thought, teachings and rules of humans in the various religions.

Having said all that, I believe that scientific facts are irrefutable and God teachings must be right for all times, before and after such times when such scientific facts are discovered.

With that in mind, I could not help but try to enlighten someone with the following piece of explanation. (As I am no God but a fallible human, I can be quite egoistic at times and it is at such times that I try to impart what I feel others need to know.)

And I must not forget to add that God's creation is perfect. It is human intervention or careless actions that cause imperfections. Science have revealed that a child may be born with certain imperfections due to consumption of undesirable substances such as certain kinds of medicine or a lack of certain nutrients in the human body. One of these ntrients could be folic acid, the presence of which has been found to be important for the healthy development of the foetus in the mother's womb even from the very beginning. So, we are actually not correcting God creation. God does not need any correction!

Well, this is what I wrote:


Dear ........,
I totally agree with you that we should not play God and change what he has created. Yet, as you yourself said, if the person has two gender potentials in the body, a medical treatment can be sought to unify one gender. However, we humans very often forget that it is not the physical only that is involved. There is also the emotional side. If a person has female emotions, feel and think as a female but possess a male body, which do you think should be the more important, the emotions or the physical? I believe it is the emotions as there is no way we can change the emotions and feelings God has given us. However, medical science can and do help such people in such circumstances by making physical changes so that they can live happier lives. You see, it is also what you call making corrections.

I hope more people could see my point so that more people could be happy and not die of hopeless desperation when these people are born with female emotions trapped in a male body, forced to live a life that can never find fulfillment.

No, I am not unfortunate to be born like Eleesha (the poor man who died when his heart gave way as he felt his whole world collapse after a court refused to allow him to change his sex although he already had a sex operation in Thailand two years ago) but I understand such things as I studied this in my quest for enlightenment. That they do feel the way they do is a fact which all educated humans ought to understand. We should understand these fellow brothers and sisters and not make their lives worst with our own unjustified morals.

Neither a lender nor a borrower be.

At the hill the other morning, a friend told me about one of her lady friends who is in the habit of borrowing money from her. Before the last time, all the borrowed money had been returned. The last loan she gave her friend was merely five hundred.

Surprisingly, when the friend borrowed the money she gave this friend a gold necklace as collateral. So abrupt and unexpected was this move that the friend did not know what to say or do. Recovering from the unprecedented action, she asked her whether she was supposed to keep the necklace; to which the friend nodded. So, unquestioningly, she kept it.

It has been a year now, her keeping that necklace, without any sign of her friend intending to return her the money. Not only that, that friend seem to no longer want to meet her. Thus, the last time she phoned her she invited her out for a meal and she refused the invitation giving some excuse. Sensing that it could be the loan that is preventing them from meeting as friends, she told her that the invitation had nothing to do with the money, to no avail.

Looks like she would have to hold on to the necklace and probably have to forget about her money. Her friend must have considered it good exchange. Unfortunately, there was no actual agreement to convert the loan and the collateral into an exchange. Certainly, she would not be wearing someone else jewellery, would she? Even though the price of gold has gone up, it is not hers. What if, one day, the friend wants it back?

Well, my advice to her was to just keep the jewellery and to prevent any further unhappiness over the affair, just forget the loan and consider it a gift instead.

Understanding money, I know that it is one matter that can cause a lot of happiness as well as a lot of grief. Lend it to somebody and if that somebody is greedy enough to try to forget having taken a loan and time works on the money's return with it digging into our brain, causing a lot of presumptions and leaving us uneasy at the least and mad at the worst.

There was a time, as I was heading to the supermarket to purchase something, I met this guy who smiled at me, greeted me like an old friend and wondered how I could ever have forgotten him. Frankly, I had no idea who he was. He got me to guess who he was and when I mentioned a group of friends, he said he was in that group. Then, he told me the sad story of realising how he should have never got married, that he was a the supermarket thinking of how he could buy a tin of milk for his baby. All he needed was fifty ringgit. He even asked for my phone number and said that should he be able to return the money, he honestly said he did not know when, he would phone me. However, if I do not hear from him, it just meant that he was still jobless and without any money to return.

Listening to that, uncertain whether he was the friend he claimed to be, I told myself "What is fifty ringgit between friends?" That thought cost me fifty ringgit and I was left with insufficient money to make my own purchase. So, after giving him the money, I turned back to my car and drove home. To this day I do not know whether I have been duped or I have been of help to a friend. I do not consider it a loan. It was just a small gift from me. Furthermore, I was able to thank God for being in a position to help.

When it comes to money, although I am far from being rich, my able management of it has helped me greatly to be neither a borrower nor a lender.

Know your partner well.

I read in the newspaper, 'The Star', about a lady student who allowed a man she had known through Facebook to move into her place just after two months.

The thing that I question is how reckless could she be when she herself admitted that she did not even know whether the man was a student or already working. She did not even know whether he had a job. She only presumed that he was rich and later discovered that he was constantly asking her for money. All this ignorance about her boyfriend clearly showed that her relationship must be more for lust than love. Of course, I known love can be blind but definitely not this blind. Love develops through knowledge of a person's strength and the appreciation of them. The woman was certainly not looking at all before she leaped onto his lap.

According to statistics, this is a fairly common case. And the victims are usually from the fairer sex. Some of these ladies must be really hungry for love.

As for this particular lady, she was very soon dissatisfied with her relationship with him. Whenever she complained about it, the man would assault her; punches, slaps and even burns from cigarettes. Why did she not leave him immediately she discovered her mistake?

Looks like the man had a hold over her. He had nude photographs of her. That is another big mistake she made; allowing another person to take photos of her in the nude. He threatened to expose those photos should she leave him.

She did leave him eventually when she could slip out of the house after removing the mobile phone and its memory card from him. It is a lesson she has learned well, hopefully.

According to the news, many vindictive men photograph their girlfriends and their spouses with the intention of releasing copies of such photographs. With the internet available easily, photos can be posted for everyone's eyes.

Apparently, the world is getting smaller and more dangerous in certain aspects. The fairer sex have to be more knowledgeable and be more vigilant; know the possible dangers that lurk in the activities and take all necessary precautions. Certainly, there are times of misjudgement and things go wrong. Well, that is part of living. Nevertheless, just be careful.

Bags can be dangerous to children.

Children are creative. They explore. The go into places no adult would want or dare to go. Because of that we must watch out for children at play.

It is not just bags that present danger to children. Actually, many things are dangerous. Even children playing at hide and seek might want to hide in narrow spaces, spaces too narrow to come out of. This year alone, I have read of two children, each from a different country, squeeze themselves into tiny openings between two walls or partitions to hide themselves from their playmates to find themselves unable to get out of the places. The authorities had to be summoned to help with their axes and hammers.

Coming back to the topic of bags, there was the kid who had this plastic bag which he thought could be used to cover himself. Fate was unkind to him and the parents found the poor child suffocated.

The other day, a friend told me about a neighbour who left her two children in the house while she went elsewhere. The younger sibling decided to hide from the sister by entering a big bag and somehow managed to close it. Or was it the sister who noticed him getting into the bag and closed him inside? This is more probable as it would be difficult to lock oneself in. Anyway, the sister panicked when she found she could not unlock the bag to get her brother out. Her screams of fear attracted the attention of this friend. He went to investigate and found the child locked inside the bag. And the bag was one of those which had combination locks which could only be opened if you know the numbers.

Unable to open the bag, this friend quickly phoned the neighbour to tell her the predicament. However, as she could not remember the combinations, the only way was to break open the bag with a big chisel. Fortunately, he managed to break it open for the young boy to escape from suffocation. The young boy was already weak and sweating by the time he was rescued.

Of course, anything that can be entered and become too difficult to escape from because the door can be too tight or locked is a danger to adventurous children. There was a case of a child trapped in a refrigerator. I cannot remember what happened after that but that is immaterial. The fact is such things can become a danger to our children.

Well, it is obvious that children ought to be taught the danger of playing with such things. Tell them about these things whenever there is news of such dangers. Direct their attention to such dangers and tell them the consequences. Explain to them what can possibly happen when children like them play with such things.

Some people say children are too young to learn such things. That is just not true. Children are clever and can understand such dangers if parents take the trouble to slowly and painstakingly explain with lots of examples how death can occur and what death means; the lost chance to see the siblings and parents as well as their friends, the lost chance to enjoy the many things in life. Use examples that they can understand. If they like ice-cream, tell them there will be no more opportuity to enjoy ice-cream. If they love their grandma, they not have the chance to be hugged and loved by their grandma. These are things children will understand.

Another trip to Penang National Park.

Here's the entrance to a number of places in Penang National Park. The registration office for visitors is before the entrance, on the right of the picture.


On the way up the hill to Pantai Keranchut, is this dug out path.


And there are also concrete steps in certain parts.


At the end of the path of this hill is a bridge. After this bridge you see a lake on your left and the sea on your right.



Here is the unique meromictic lake.


And if you turn to the other side, there is the beautiful beach,


the sea and the beautiful blue sky. Once a British lecturer told me a sky can only be termed beautiful if there are no cloulds. I think that is because a cloudy sky in England would mean colder weather and so cannot be considered beautiful, For me, the texture of the clouds plastered on a beautiful blue background on a hot tropical day is beautiful. Of course, she did not agree with my comments but I accepted her view as I could place myself in her position in a cold country.


Coming back to the lake, it is known as a meromictic lake. I searched for the word 'meromictic' but was unable to find it. However, 'mero' means partly or partially. According to the information given, a meromictic lake has two layers of water, sea water below and fresh water above, that do not mix. This lake is the only one of its kind in Malaysia. Throughout the world there are only 19 places such lakes exist.











Looking back at the bridge.






Even have beautiful flowers on the beach!




Turtles! Little one day old baby turtles kept in a fibre-glass tank at the conservation centre.






A picture of a dead dolphin found in Keranchut Beach on 12th October 2008.

Below is the skeleton of the dolphin.



Another lonely beauty on the beach.


After the rain we enjoyed at Pantai Trampi (Trampi Beach), all soaking wet, it was a boat ride back to the registration centre.





And a chance to enjoy the coast line from the sea. Of course this is taken only when the rain stopped as the camera could have been spoiled by the rain.


Hey! That's caged fish-rearing.





And it's towards the jetty at the registration centre.







Recently, we made another trip to the Penang National Park. It started with lovely weather but ended with a storm. So, unlike the first time, the rain made the trip most memorable.

Sometime last year we went to this park and we were lost coming back from Pantai Trampi. This time there was no opportunity to be lost as we were ready with cut newspapers to be scattered on the ground for us to retrace our steps. Well, we may plan but sometimes fate just comes to give us some surprises.

We reached the starting point at Batu Ferringgi where we, as required, registered ourselves as visitors to Pantai Keranchut and Pantai Trampi, both places only accessible by sea or over hills.

At Pantai Keranchut, we again came to the only lake in Malaysia which contains two types of water, sea water and fresh water, separated because of their different densities. Here, we get to see newly hatched turtles at the tu8rtle conservation area.

After our lunch we went on across another hill to Pantai Trampi. As we reached Pantai Trampi, rain came. It was heavy and the wind was strong. For me it was refreshing but very soon all of us were drenched to the skin. So, we phoned for a boat agreeing to pay ten ringgit each; there were thirteen of us.

In the meantime, since no shelter could prevent us from being totally wet, we looked for whatever plastic bags we had and put out hand phones and car-keys into them. Then we just played in the rain on the beach.

Soon the boat came. The boat merely had a canopy top which was hardly able to keep the rain off our faces and bodies. Huddled in the boat with the wind blowing in our face, it was cold. About forty minute's ride later, as it were coming near to the Batu Ferringgi starting point, the rain stopped just in time for me to take ut my camera to take some photos.

Cold and wet we quickly changed into some dry clothes. By then we were quite hungry and so went in search for food and after that we headed for home.