Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The Floating rock












Read this with an open mind..and you'll know why...

I have alway wanted to write about this floating rock. To a certain extent how true the facts is, people will still not accepting it as the whole truth. The rock image is said to be a superimpose image or some camera trick.


It is said that the rock is in Jerusalem. It was the rock where the Prophet Muhammad stood when he begin the ascend to heaven during the Israk Mikraj event. The rock was said wanted to follow the Prophet ascending to heaven, but the Prophet stop it. So it stopped the ascend and staying afloat until now.This happen during the Al-Isra' wal Mi'raj.


Al-Isra’ wal-Mi’raj are among the many miracles of Prophet Muhammad (P. B. B. U. H.). The miracle of al-Isra’ is confirmed in the Qur’an.


In Surah al-Isra’ : 1, Allah has said:


“Glorified (and Exalted) be He (Allah) [above all that (evil) they associate with Him]* Who took His slave (Muhammad ) for a journey by night from Al-Masjid-al-Haram (at Makkah) to the farthest mosque (in Jerusalem), the neighborhood whereof We have blessed, in order that We might show him (Muhammad ) of Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, lessons, signs, etc.). Verily, He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.”


This journey has also been confirmed in the Sahih Hadith.


**It is narrated on the authority of Anas ibn Malik (r.a.) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:


“Al-Buraq was brought to me, and it was a white animal bigger than a donkey and smaller than a mule. One stride of this creature covered a distance as far as it could see. I rode on it and it took me to Bayt Al-Maqdis (Jerusalem), where I tethered it at the hitching post of the Prophets. Then I entered and prayed two Rak’ahs there, and came out. Jibril brought me a vessel of wine and a vessel of milk, and I chose the milk.


“Jibril said: ‘You have chosen the Fitrah (natural instinct).’ Then I was taken up to the first heaven and Jibril asked for it to be opened. It was said, ‘Who are you?’ He said, ‘Jibril.’ It was said, ‘Who is with you?’ He said, ‘Muhammad.’ It was asked, ‘Has his Mission started?’ He said, ‘His Mission has started.’ So it was opened for us, and there I saw Adam, who welcomed me and prayed for good for me. Then I was taken up to the second heaven and Jibril asked for it to be opened. It was said, ‘Who are you?’ He said, ‘Jibril.’ It was said, ‘Who is with you?’ He said, ‘Muhammad.’ It was asked, ‘Has his Mission started?’ He said, ‘His Mission has started.’ So it was opened for us, and there I saw the two maternal cousins, Yahya and ‘Isa, who welcomed me and prayed for good for me. Then I was taken up to the third heaven and Jibril asked for it to be opened. It was said, ‘Who are you?’ He said, ‘Jibril.’ It was said, ‘Who is with you?’ He said, ‘Muhammad.’ It was asked, ‘Has his Mission started?’ He said, ‘His Mission has started.’ So it was opened for us, and there I saw Yusuf, who had been given the beautiful half (half beauty of the world). He welcomed me and prayed for good for me. Then I was taken up to the fourth heaven and Jibril asked for it to be opened. It was said, ‘Who are you?’ He said, ‘Jibril.’ It was said, ‘Who is with you?’ He said, ‘Muhammad.’ It was asked, ‘Has his Mission started?’ He said, ‘His Mission has started.’ So it was opened for us, and there I saw Idris, who welcomed me and prayed for good for me. – then (the Prophet ) said: Allah says: “And We raised him to a high station.”


[Then he resumed his narrative]: “Then I was taken up to the fifth heaven and Jibril asked for it to be opened. It was said, ‘Who are you?’ He said, ‘Jibril.’ It was said, ‘Who is with you?’ He said, ‘Muhammad.’ It was asked, ‘Has his Mission started’ He said, ‘His Mission has started.’ So it was opened for us, and there I saw Harun, who welcomed me and prayed for good for me. Then I was taken up to the sixth heaven and Jibril asked for it to be opened. It was said, ‘Who are you?’ He said, ‘Jibril’. It was said, ‘Who is with you?’ He said, ‘Muhammad.’ It was asked, ‘Has his Mission started?’ He said, ‘His Mission has started.’ So it was opened for us, and there I saw Musa, who welcomed me and prayed for good for me. Then I was taken up to the seventh heaven and Jibril asked for it to be opened. It was said, ‘Who are you?’ He said, ‘Jibril.’ It was said, ‘Who is with you?’ He said, ‘Muhammad.’ It was asked, ‘Has his Mission started?’ He said, ‘His Mission has started.’ So it was opened for us, and there I saw Ibrahim, who was leaning back against the Much-Frequented House (Al-Bayt Al-Ma`mur).


“Every day seventy thousand angels enter it, then they never come back to it again. Then I was taken to Sidrat Al-Muntaha (the Lote tree beyond which none may pass), and its leaves were like the leaves [ears] of elephants and its fruits were like jugs, and when it was veiled with whatever it was veiled with by the command of Allah, it changed, and none of the creatures of Allah can describe it because it is so beautiful. Then Allah revealed that which He revealed to me. He enjoined on me fifty prayers every day and night. I came down until I reached Musa, and he said, ‘What did your Lord enjoin on your Ummah’ I said, ‘Fifty prayers everyday and night.’ He said, ‘Go back to your Lord and ask Him to reduce (the burden) for your Ummah, for your Ummah will not be able to do that. I tested the Children of Israel and found out how they were.’ So I went back to my Lord and said, ‘O Lord, reduce (the burden) for my Ummah for they will never be able to do that.’ So He reduced it by five. I came back down until I met Musa and he asked me, ‘What did you do?’ I said, ‘(My Lord) reduced (my burden) by five.’ He said, ‘Go back to your Lord and ask Him to reduce (the burden) for your Ummah.’ I kept going back between my Lord and Musa, and (my Lord) reduced it by five each time, until He said, ‘O Muhammad, these are five prayers every day and night, and for every prayer there is (the reward of) ten, so they are (like) fifty prayers. Whoever wants to do something good then does not do it, one good deed will be recorded for him, and if he does it, ten good deeds will be recorded for him. Whoever wants to do something evil and does not do it, no evil deed will be recorded for him, and if he does it, one evil deed will be recorded for him.’


“I came down until I reached Musa, and told him about this. He said: ‘Go back to your Lord and ask him to reduce (the burden) for your Ummah, for they will never be able to do that.’ I had kept going back to my Lord until I felt too shy.”


This version was also recorded by Muslim. Imam Ahmad recorded Anas saying that Al-Buraq was brought to the Prophet on the Night of the Isra’ with his saddle and reins ready for riding. The animal shied, and Jibril said to him: “Why are you doing this By Allah, no one has ever ridden you who is more honored by Allah than him.’’ At this, Al-Buraq started to sweat.


This was also recorded by At-Tirmidhi, who said it is Gharib.


Ahmad also recorded that Anas said: “The Messenger of Allah said: ‘When I was taken up to my Lord (during Al-Mi’raj), I passed by people who had nails of copper with which they were scratching their faces and chests. I asked, ‘Who are these, O Jibril’ He said, ‘These are those who ate the flesh of the people [i.e., backbiting] and slandered their honor’.” This was also recorded by Abu Dawud.


Anas also said that the Messenger of Allah said: “On the night when I was taken on my Night Journey (Al-Isra’), I passed by Musa, who was standing, praying in his grave.” This was also recorded by Muslim.


As such, there is scholarly consensus (ijma’) Prophet Muhammad (P. B. B. U. H.) journeyed in BODY and SOUL on the night of al-Isra’ from Masjid al-Haram in Makkah to Masjid al-Aqsain Jerusalem . Moreover, the person who denies al-Isra’ is a blasphemer for belying the manifest text of the Qur’an.


Before the Prophet took this night journey, the ceiling of the house in which he was staying was opened, and Jibril descended. He cut open the chest of Prophet Muhammad and washed that open area with Zamzam water. Then he emptied something from a container into the chest of the Prophet to increase his wisdom as well as the strength of his belief. This was done to prepare the Messenger of Allah for that which he had yet to see in the upper world from among the wonders of the creation of Allah.


Imam Ahmad recorded that Anas bin Malik said that Malik bin Sasaah told him that the Prophet of Allah told them about the night in which he was taken on the Night Journey (Al-Isra’). He said:


“While I was lying down in Al-Hatim (or maybe, Qatadah said, in Al-Hijr) ’someone came to me and said to his companion, ‘The one who is in the middle of these three.’ He came to me and opened me.” I [one of the narrators] heard Qatadah say, ’split me – from here to here.’ Qatadah said: “I said to Al-Jarud, who was beside me, ‘What does that mean’ He said, ‘From the top of his chest to below his navel’, and I heard him say, ‘from his throat to below his navel.’


The Prophet said:


“He took out my heart and brought a golden vessel filled with faith and wisdom. He washed my heart then filled it up and put it back, then a white animal was brought to me that was smaller than a mule and larger than a donkey.”


Some of the things that the Muhammad (P. B. B. U. H.) saw on this Blessed Night are as follows:


1. Allah enabled the Prophet (P. B. B. U. H.) to see the world (dunya) like an old woman. However, this old woman was wearing a great deal of jewelry, and in this there is an indication signifying the reality of the world.

2. Allah enabled the Prophet (P. B. B. U. H.) to see Iblees. The Prophet (P. B. B. U. H.) saw something on the side of the road which did not dare to stand in his way or speak to him. What the Prophet saw was Iblees-e-La’een***.
3. On his journey, the Prophet P. B. B. U. H.) smelled a very nice odour. He asked Jibril (a.s.) about this pleasant scent and Jibril (a.s.) informed him this good smell was coming from the grave of the woman whose duty used to be to comb Pharaoh’s daughter’s hair. This woman was a good, pious believer. One day, as she was combing Pharaoh’s daughter’s hair, the comb fell from her hand. At this she said, “Bismillah“. Pharaoh’s daughter asked her, “Do you have a god other than my father?” The woman said, “Yes. My Lord and the Lord of your father is Allah.” Pharaoh’s daughter told her father what had happened. Pharaoh demanded this woman blaspheme and leave Islam, but she refused. At that, Pharaoh threatened to kill her children. He brought a great pot of water and built a great fire under it. When the water boiled, Pharaoh brought her children and started to drop them into that pot one after the other. Throughout all this, the woman remained steadfast to Islam, even when Pharaoh reached her youngest child, a baby boy still breast feeding, but she felt pity for him. At that, Allah enabled this child to speak. He said to his mother, “O Mother, be patient. The torture of the Hereafter is far more severe than the torture of this life, and do not be reluctant, because you are right.” At this the woman requested Pharaoh collect her bones and the bones of her children and bury them in the same grave. Pharaoh promised her that, then dropped her into that boiling water. She died as a martyr. The good odour the Prophet smelled coming from her grave is an indication of her high status.
4. During his trip, the Prophet (P. B. B. U. H.) saw people who were planting and reaping in two days. Jibril (a.s.) told the Prophet, “These were the people who fight for the sake of Allah (mujahidun).”
5. The Prophet (P. B. B. U. H.) also saw people whose lips and tongues were clipped with scissors made of fire. Jibril (a.s.) told the Prophet, “These are the speakers of sedition (fitna) who call people to misguidance. “
6. He also saw a bull which exited a very small outlet, then was trying in vain to return through that small outlet. Jibril (a.s.) told the Prophet (P. B. B. U. H.), “This is the example of the bad word-once spoken, it cannot be returned.”
7. The Prophet (P. B. B. U. H.) saw people grazing like animals, with very little clothing on their private parts. Jibril (a.s.) told the Prophet (P. B. B. U. H.), “These are the ones who refused to pay zakat.”
8. The Prophet (P. B. B. U. H.) saw angels smashing some people’s heads with rocks. These heads would return to the shape they had been, and then the angels would smash their heads again-and so on. Jibril (a.s.) told the Prophet (P. B. B. U. H.), “These are the ones whose heads felt too heavy to perform prayer–the ones who used to sleep without praying.”
9. On his journey the Prophet (P. B. B. U. H.) saw people who were competing to eat some rotten meat-ignoring meat that was sliced and unspoiled. Jibril (a.s.) told the Prophet, “These are people from your nation who leave out that which is permissible (halal), and consume that which is forbidden (haram). “This reference was to the fornicators, that is, the ones who left out the permissible (marriage) and committed sins (fornication) .
10. Also, the Prophet (P. B. B. U. H.) saw people who were drinking from the fluid coming from the bodies of the fornicators, (water mixed with blood). Jibril (a.s.) indicated to the Prophet these were the ones who were drinking the alcohol which is prohibited in this world.
11. The Prophet (P. B. B. U. H.) saw people scratching their faces and chests with brass finger nails. Jibril (a.s.) said, “These are the examples of those who commit gossip (gheebah).”

(Source:http://cm3n.wordpress.com)


Well....whether it's a fake photo or not...God can do whatever He wishes to do..by just saying it.


No matter how many proof you give..the disbeliever will stay disbeleiving...Think about it.



Add to Technorati Favorites

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Sir Edward and Lady Downes...Till Death Do Us Part









This is what you call True Love...for better for worst till death do us part. A quick recap...

Sir Edward, 85, was one of Britain's greatest conductor who work his way up from humble beginnings to lead the world's greatest orchestras, a roll call of achievements which included taking the baton for the first performance at the newly built Sydney Opera House.


Lady Downes, 74, half of century ago was an aspiring balet dancer. Got son... Caractacus and Boudicca.


The couple , a shared lifetime of personal and professional triumphs behind them, held hands for their final moments together before climbing on to seperate beds to drink the clear luquid containing a fatal dose of barbiturates.


Their death were watched by their weeping family. Imagine the sad moment watching your family die in front of you. Who won't shed the tears.


"After 54 happy years together, they (our parents) decided to end their own lives rather than continue to struggle with serious health problems. They died peacefully, and under circumstances of their own choosing with the help of the Swiss organisation Dignitas in Zurich" said their son Caractacus and daughter Boudicca.


And I suddenly remember Romeo and Juliet, Layla and Majnun, Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal...Can we consider the death of Sir Edward and Lady Downes as one amongst these love stories...or is this a suicide.


For me...you can't deny what the power of Love can do...and they died with love all around them and I end this article with this poem by Majnun...


“I pass by these walls, the walls of Layla...
And I kiss this wall and that wall.
It’s not Love of the houses that has taken my heart
But of the One who dwells in those houses"


Add to Technorati Favorites

Monday, July 13, 2009

Natrah...From Malaya with Love (The Saga Ends)

Natrah


Maria Hertogh (Natrah/Nadrah) was born on March 24, 1937 to a Dutch Catholic family living in Tjimahi, near Bandung, Java, then a part of the Dutch East Indies. Her father, Adrianus Petrus Hertogh, came to Java in the 1920s as a sergeant in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. He married Adeline Hunter, a Eurasian of Scottish-Malay descent brought up in Java, in the early 1930s. Little Maria was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church of Saint Ignatius at Tjimahi on April 10 by a Catholic priest.

When World War II broke out, Sergeant Hertogh was captured by the Imperial Japanese Army and sent to a POW holding facility in Japan, where he was kept till 1945. Meanwhile, Adeline Hertogh stayed with her mother, Nor Louise, and her five children, among whom Maria was the third and youngest daughter. On December 29, 1942, Mrs. Hertogh gave birth to her sixth child, a boy. Three days later, Maria went to stay with Aminah binte Mohammad, a 42-year-old Javanese woman and a close friend of Nor Louise. This controversial transfer of custody, reversed in a Singaporean court eight years later, was the centre and opening episode of the tragic riots that were to come.

According to Adeline Hertogh, in the version given in evidence before the court at the hearing in November 1950, she was persuaded by her mother after the birth of her sixth child to allow Maria to go and stay with Aminah in Bandung for three or four days. Consequently, Aminah arrived on 1 January 1943 to fetch Maria. When the child was not returned, Mrs. Hertogh borrowed a bicycle on 6 January and set out to retrieve her daughter. She claimed that she was arrested by a Japanese sentry on the outskirts of Bandung as she did not possess a pass and was thereupon interned.




From her internment camp, she smuggled a letter to her mother, requesting for her children to be sent to her. This Nor Louise did, but Maria was not among them. So Mrs. Hertogh asked her mother to fetch Maria from Aminah. Her mother later wrote and told her that Aminah wanted to keep Maria for two more days, after which she herself would bring the child to the camp. This did not materialize and Mrs. Hertogh did not see Maria throughout her internment. After her release, she could find neither Maria nor Aminah.

Aminah binte Mohamed's version

The above version was rejected by Aminah binte Mohamed in her affidavits and sworn testimony to the High Court on several occasions. She claimed that Adeline Hertogh had given Maria to her for adoption in late 1942. She asserted that she, without offspring of her own, told Mrs. Hertogh then that she would regard Maria absolutely as her child, whom she would bring up in the Muslim faith. To this, according to Aminah, Mrs. Hertogh replied that she would be glad as she herself had been brought up as a Muslim.

Aminah also contested the truth of Adeline Hertogh's internment by the Japanese. She testified that she and Mrs. Hertogh continued to visit each other frequently after the adoption until the latter left for Surabaya to look for a job "about the end of 1943 or the beginning of 1944." Thereafter the two never saw each other again till 1950.

A new home and a new religion

Anyhow, Maria Hertogh received her circumcision in late 1943, whereupon she was given the name Nadra binte Ma'arof. For unknown reasons her new family moved to Jakarta for a period before moving back to Bandung again, where Aminah worked for the Japanese military police as an interpreter until the end of the war.

Then, in 1947, fearing harm upon the family during the Indonesian National Revolution as Maria was a "Putih", or a "White Child", Aminah moved via Singapore to her hometown in Kemaman, in the state of Terengganu, then Malaya. By then Maria was completely the same as any other Malay Muslim girl of her age: she spoke only Malay, wore Malay clothes and practised her religion devoutly.

To court

In 1945, with the end of World War II, Sergeant Hertogh was released and returned to Java, where he reunited with his wife. The couple said that they enquired about Maria but could find neither their daughter nor Aminah. They then returned to the Netherlands after requesting the Dutch authorities in Java and Singapore to try to trace the child. Investigations were then made by the Red Cross Society, the Indonesian Repatriation Service, the Royal Netherlands Army and local police. Finally, in September 1949, Aminah and Maria were traced to the kampong they were living in.

Negotiations were opened to retrieve Maria in early 1950. The Dutch Consulate offered S$500 to make up for Aminah's expenses in bringing up the girl for eight years. Aminah rejected the offer and refused to give up her foster-daughter. Nonetheless, she was persuaded to travel with Maria to Singapore in April to discuss the issue with the Dutch Consul-General. However, Aminah's firm position could not be wavered and the Consulate eventually applied to the High Court on 22 April for Maria to be delivered into the custody of the Social Welfare Department pending further order. The Chief Justice heard it on the same day and approved the application ex parte.

The next day, an officer from the department served the order on Aminah and brought Maria away. After a routine medical examination at the Middle Road Hospital, she was admitted to the Girls Homecraft Centre at York Hill. From this point onwards, Maria had made it clear that she wanted to stay with Aminah and did not wish to be returned to her natural parents. However, the High Court ruled on 17 May after a short hearing of about 15 minutes that the custody of Maria be entitled to the Hertoghs.













As Aminah and Maria exited the court via the backdoor, a car from the Consulate was waiting to take Maria away. Maria refused to enter the car and clung on to Aminah, both shouting in Malay that they would kill themselves rather than be separated. A large crowd quickly formed around the commotion. It was only after much persuasion that Aminah agreed to enter the car together with Maria and pay a visit to her lawyer, who explained that Maria had to be given up until an appeal was made. The duo then parted in tears, with Maria returned to York Hill for temporary safekeeping.

At York Hill Maria stayed for two more months, under a further order from the Chief Justice pending appeal, which was filed on 28 July. The verdict was an overruling of the earlier decision. Aside from the ex parte order to hand Maria to the Social Welfare Department, the Appellate Court found ambiguity in the Dutch Consul-General's representation of Maria's natural father, a rather minor and technical detail but apparently significant enough under the circumstance. Both Aminah and Maria were overjoyed.

Controversial marriage

On 1 August 1950, merely four days after winning the appeal, the events took a dramatic and unexpected turn. Maria was married to 22-year-old Mansoor Adabi, a Malayan-born who was then a teacher-in-training at the Bukit Panjang Government School, in a Muslim ritual. The marriage could have been a manoeuvre by Aminah to prevent further attempts by the Hertoghs to get back their daughter, as Maria returned to live with Aminah after the wedding night and the new couple never consummated their marriage. Whether such speculation was true was unimportant in the subsequent development of events, in which Maria, a willing bride nonetheless, became the central figure.

The first challenges on the appropriateness of the marriage actually came from the Muslim community. On 10 August, a Muslim leader wrote to The Straits Times pointing out that although the Islamic law permits the marriage of girls after puberty (which Maria had reached a year earlier), there were Muslim countries such as Egypt that legislated for a minimum marriage age of 16. He added, however, that it would not be in the interest of "the friendly understanding... between Christians and Muslims" to object to the marriage since it had already taken place. The latter view was held by the Muslim population at large, albeit in a more antagonistic mood against the Dutch and Europeans at large.

To court, again

Meanwhile, the Hertoghs had not given up legal pursuit to retrieve their daughter. Only a day after the marriage, Aminah received the Hertoghs' representative lawyers from Kuala Lumpur. The lawyers delivered a letter demanding the return of Maria by 10 August, failing which legal action would be taken. Believing that the marriage settled the matter, Aminah and Mansoor both ignored the deadline. The Hertoghs did not. On 26 August, an originating summons was taken out, under the Guardianship of Infants Ordinance, by the Hertoghs as plaintiffs against Aminah, Maria and Mansoor, who were all made defendants.

The hearing did not begin till 20 November. For four months the matter hung in suspense. During this time, Maria rarely left her residence in the house of M.A. Majid, then president of the Muslim Welfare Association, because in her own words, she attracted "too much attention". Nevertheless, media coverage on the incident had grown to a global scale. Letters from Muslim organizations in Pakistan promising financial and other help arrived, some going so far as to declare any further move by the Dutch Government to separate the couple as "an open challenge to the Muslim world". Pledges of aid also came from Indonesia and as far as Saudi Arabia.

The hearing finally opened, and Maria's natural mother, Adeline Hertogh travelled down to Singapore to attend. The judge, Justice Brown, delivered the verdict two weeks later. The marriage, instead of resolving the dispute, had instead complicated it. Justice Brown had two issues on his hand, namely the legality of the marriage and the custody of Maria. He held that the marriage was invalid because:

1. Maria's country of domicile was, by law that of her natural father, i.e. the Netherlands. Under the Dutch laws, the minimum age of marriage for girls was 16. The English law applicable in Singapore recognized the marriage laws of the subject's country of domicile.
2. An exception to the above point could not be established because neither Mansoor, born in Kelantan, could be proved to be domiciled in Singapore nor Maria be considered a Muslim by law. During her minority, Maria's natural father, who was a Christian, had the legal right to control her religion. He had testified that he would never consent to her conversion to Islam.

Having overruled the purported marriage, Justice Brown went on to deal with what he described as the "most difficult" question of custody. He noted that his duty to the law required him "to have regard primarily to the welfare of the infant". He believed this meant that he not only had to consider the current wishes of Maria, but also her future well-being. He stated:

It is natural that she should now wish to remain in Malaya among people whom she knows. But who can say that she will have the same views some years hence after her outlooks has been enlarged, and her contacts extended, in the life of the family to which she belongs?"

He also noted that whatever the details of the contested initiation of the custody at the end of 1942 might be, Adrianus Hertogh had not been part of it and had not abrogated his parental rights. He therefore awarded the custody of Maria to the Hertoghs and ordered that she should be handed over to her mother with immediate effect.

Stay at the convent

When policewomen came to take Maria away, she wept and clung to Aminah and Mansoor. Aminah fainted on the spot and a doctor standing by had to attend to her. Mansoor advised Maria to concede for the time being and promised that he and others would carry on the legal fight. Thus Maria allowed herself to be brought away into a car. Outside, the police, including a Gurkha contingent, held back a crowd of several hundred.

The car delivered Maria to the Roman Catholic Convent of the Good Shepherd in Thomson Road. Mrs. Hertogh stayed at another address for a few days, from where she visited Maria daily, before moving in to the convent herself. According to an official of the Netherlands Consulate-General, such arrangement was because of "greater convenience" while the stay of execution pending appeal was in effect. But it proved to be the falsest step, the spark that lit the fuse of the subsequent riots.

First and foremost, the press was not barred from entering the convent grounds. Nor were they restricted in any way in their approach to the incident, which had been nothing shy of sensational. On 5 December, the Singapore Standard published on its front page a photograph of Maria standing holding hands with the Reverend Mother. There were several more pictures on page 2, under the headline: Bertha knelt before Virgin Mary Statue. The Malay press retorted. The Utusan Melayu published on 7 December three photographs of Maria weeping and being comforted by a nun, as well as articles about Maria's "lonely and miserable" life in the convent.

These pictures, whether presenting Maria as happy or sad, mostly showed Maria surrounded by symbols of Christian faith. The Muslims, who looked upon Maria as one of their own, were deeply offended by such pictures, not to mention the sensational reports, some of which explicitly labelled the case as a religious issue between Islam and Christianity.

On 9 December, an organization calling itself the Nadra Action Committee was formally constituted under the leadership of Karim Ghani, a Muslim political activist from Rangoon. This extreme organization solicited support among local Muslims by distributing free copies of its newspaper, the Dawn (not the Dawn, an English paper published in Pakistan). Karim Ghani had also made an open speech at the Sultan Mosque on 8 December in which he mentioned jihad as a final resort.

In the light of these potent signs of a great disturbance, the Criminal Investigation Department sent a memo to the Colonial Secretary suggesting moving Maria back to York Hill to avoid further inciting Muslim anger. The Secretary did not agree on grounds that he had received no such representations from Muslim leaders, nor did he have the authority to remove Maria without further court orders - weak excuses since Maria could be relocated with her mother's consent. Nonetheless, it could never be said if moving Maria out of the convent at such a late stage could have averted the riots.
Crowds were enraged by the Court's rejection of the appeal.

The riots


riot2

The appeal hearing opened on 11 December. Maria stayed at the convent and did not attend. Since early morning, crowds carrying banners and flags with star and crescent symbols began to gather around the Supreme Court. By noon, when the hearing eventually began, the restive crowd had grown to 2,000 to 3,000 in number. Unbelievably, the court threw out the appeal within five minutes. The brevity of the hearing convinced the gathering that the colonial legal system was biased against Muslims. The riots erupted.

The mob (largely consisted of Malay or Indonesian Muslims but local Chinese gangs were also reported to have joined in) moved out to attack any Europeans and even Eurasians in sight. They overturned cars and burnt them. The police force, its lower ranks largely consisted of Malays who sympathized with the rioters' cause, were ineffective in quelling the riots. By nightfall the riots had spread to even the more remote parts of the island. Help from the British military was enlisted only at around 6:45 PM. Major-General Dunlop promptly deployed two Internal Security Battalions while calling in further reinforcements from Malaya. Meanwhile, various Muslim leaders appealed over the radio for the riots to cease.

Reinforcements arrived early on 12 December, but riotous incidents continued on that day. The troops and police only managed to regain control of the situation by noon on 13 December. In total, 18 people were killed, among whom were seven Europeans or Eurasians, two police officers, and nine rioters shot by the police or military, 173 were injured, many of them seriously, 119 vehicles were damaged, and at least two buildings were set on fire. Subsequently, two weeks of 24-hour curfew were imposed, and it was a long time before complete law and order was re-established.

The trials

After the riot, the police set up a special investigation unit which detained 778 people, among them Karim Ghani[4]. Out of these, 403 were released unconditionally and 106 were released on various conditions (they generally had to report to the police station monthly and adhere to a curfew after dark). The police eventually brought rioting charges against 200 people, of whom 25 were acquitted, 100 were convicted, 62 were referred to the Enquiry Advisory Committee, and seven were brought to trial at the Assize Court for wanton killing and five of them were subsequently sentenced to death on the gallows.

On 25 August 1951, Tunku Abdul Rahman, who would later become the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, took over as the president of UMNO, a Malay and therefore Muslim party, that remains the largest and ruling political party in Malaysia today. He immediately set out to save the five on death row. Having garnered support from the Muslim population, Abdul Rahman placed pressure on the authorities, who finally gave in. The British government was expecting their role as the colonial master to end very soon and did not wish to leave behind grim memories. The death sentences for all five were commuted to life imprisonment.

Reviews

A Commission of Inquiry was appointed by Governor Franklin Gimson. It was headed by Sir Lionel Leach, a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The Commission placed large blame on the police command for not having anticipated the violence from many indicators between 2 and 11 December. Furthermore, when the riots first started, the police failed to act promptly to disperse the crowd. The Gurkha contingent standing by was not put into action, while too much dependence was placed on Malay policemen, many of whom defected or at least hesitated to carry out their duties. The British House of Commons criticised the colonial government for its poor handling of the situation.

Present day Government of Singapore also attributed the tragedy to the insensitivity of the colonial government towards the racial and religious feelings of the locals. It cites the incident as a vital lesson learnt in the importance of racial and religious understanding and harmony. It also cites the incident as a case for placing a certain degree of governmental control on the media, especially when racial or religious issues are implicated.

Epilogue

On the night the riots broke out, Maria Hertogh was moved out of the convent, where the rioters tried twice to march on and were only kept back by the police. Plans were made at York Hill to receive her but she was instead sent to Saint John's Island, an offshore island 4 miles south of the main island of Singapore. The next day, Maria and Adeline Hertogh departed for the Netherlands by aeroplane. After landing in Schiphol Airport, they quickly proceeded to the Hertogh home on the outskirts of Bergen op Zoom.

At first, Maria could only talk to her mother, the only one in the family who understood Malay. She demanded rice with every meal, resenting the western diet. She continued to say her Muslim prayers five times a day. In addition, a policeman in plain clothes was assigned to escort her whenever she left the house, for fear of possible kidnappers who might take her back to Singapore, following reported sighting of "oriental strangers" around town. The house was also placed under surveillance.

Slowly, Maria began to adjust to her new environment. A nun came to the house daily to teach her Dutch until she was proficient enough to attend a local convent school. She also began to attend Mass with her family. Back in Singapore, Aminah and Mansoor had apparently given up hope of retrieving Maria after leave to appeal to the Privy Council was not granted. Earlier interest of the several Muslim groups involved had also gradually died down.

On 20 April 1956, Maria was married to Johan Gerardus Wolkefeld[5], a 21-year-old Dutch Catholic. On 15 February 1957, she gave birth to a son, the first child of ten. However, Maria did not seem to be content. As she told De Telegraaf, she often had rows with her mother, who lived near by. She also said she still longed for her Malayan homeland. Johan and Mansoor began corresponding. In letters both expressed wish for Maria to travel to Malaya to visit the aged Aminah, but such trip was never made due primarily to financial difficulties. Aminah died in 1976.

The life story of Maria took another dramatic turn on 16 August of the same year, when Maria found herself on trial in a Dutch court charged with plotting to murder her husband. She admitted in court that she had been thinking about leaving her husband but was afraid to start divorce proceedings in case she lost custody of her children. She came into contact with two regular customers at her husband's cafe bar. The trio bought a revolver and recruited a fourth accomplice to carry out the actual murder. However, the latest member got cold feet and gossiped about the murder plan. The police quickly learnt of it and arrested all four conspirators.

In her defence, Maria's lawyers brought up her background, which the court acknowledged. With this in mind, and because the plot was never executed and there was no proof that she offered any inducement to the other three, the three-man bench acquitted Maria. Meanwhile, Maria had also filed for divorce on the grounds of the irreparable breakdown of her marriage.

Death

On 7th of July 2009, Maria Hertogh died at her house in Huijbergen at the age of 72. The cause of her death was believed to be the Leukemia that she had been suffering from.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Whilst the world mourn over the death of Michael Jackson. We mourn on the demise of Natrah...a sad love story.

Add to Technorati Favorites

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Transformers...Revenge of The Fallen




















My son woke up early yesterday morning...So does my princess...Why?..To see this movie as I had promised them a week ago. Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen...

I enjoyed it at the beginning stage. Maybe I was impressed by the CGI technique done by Michael Bay. Half way through...the film lost it's excitement. I want to see more autobots...more action from Optimus Prime..."Autobots...Transformed"...Optimus tag line...which I didn't hear it this time.


Too many CGI technique at the time of transformation, make my head aching. I got confused which one is Autobots...which one is Decepticon.


I can't see what is the role of Megan Fox in this movie. Just to attract people to the theater...I don't see the importance of her role in this movie but hey...this is what you call business right...and it works because many there were a lot of Mikaela running in slow mo scene...


Overall...movie goers...it is just okay only for me...This is my personal view and it may differ from others. I knew it because my kids...enjoyed it...and didn't stop talking about it all the way home.


Autobots race their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticon. "Autobots...Transform".



Add to Technorati Favorites

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Die Hard...Warning! No Smoking Please!



(The cancer image has no effect to a friend of mine)














Uhhhhh.....Agony...agony...agony....

Six months gone with the wind. After 180 days...less 3 days (sneak smoking)...I feel my lungs is clear...as clear as a crystal...no more difficulties in breathing at night.


I started to smoke when I was in school...22 years ago. Wow..I didn't know it has been that long. Imagine how much money I can save. This is my last attempt to quit smoking and I feel it's going to the right path.


People say you need to go the doctor...seek their professional advise on how to stop smoking...take some medication, take sweets...chew chewing gum and all that...bla..bla..bla..Nonsense...


As for me it all balls up to you will power. Your will power is your strongest defence. No matter how much medication you take, how much gums you bought...If your will power is weak...that's it. Smoke again...the aroma of the smoke especially after breakfast...is very tempting...


To those who want to quit smoking... follow this steps.. It works for me..


1) Set a date to quit...I decided to quit as my new year resolution.

2) Hang a poster "I am quitting" (smoke) at your work station. So much better the one with the cancer poster...
3) Important...a MUST do...Tell your friend that you quit.
4) For the first few weeks...try to avoid mingling with smokers. If you need them as your lunch partner...go with them but don't bother to chit chatting after you have finish eating.
5) Don't ever accept their offering...if you start taking one...you'll take one more the next day...and start buying a pack...
6) Dispose all cigarette lighter in hand

If you can do this... you can quit already... Good Luck...Kill it...Feel it..


Add to Technorati Favorites
Related Posts with Thumbnails