Stamp collecting, stories and Magyar Posta

Every item has a history and also tells a story. As humans, we often forget that inanimate objects have a past as rich as humans. I suppose that is natural because things cannot tell their own story. Humans can.

Hence, collectors are compiling an anthology of stories more than anything else. Ask a stamp collector about a particular stamp and he will tell you a story. Likewise, a coin or a matchbox collector has her own yarns to spin.

A full time mother will give you all the details about time, place and events surrounding each fridge magnet she owns. While only her husband may find the minutiae interesting, the point remains the same. The most insignificant items tell a story, if only someone is willing to take the time to listen.

As a child I remember going across the road to one of our neighbours to trade stamps. For my friends and I, stamps were a window into the outside world. Is there any other way to find out that Magyar is Hungary or Polska, Poland? And the CCCP, the Soviet Union or CH, Switzerland?

Stamps are perhaps one of the most common items people collect. The types of objects people collect range from the bizarre to the outright dangerous.

Some buy World War Two tanks, fix them up and race them around their European country estates! Tank collectors have their own specialized magazine.

A more interesting field for collectors are beer cans. A Google search of 'beer can collecting' brings in over twenty four million results!

Like humans, beer cans come in all shapes, sizes and colours. They originate in different countries (although their race cannot be easily defined!). Each can reveals several individual stories, including its year and location of manufacture. The brewery's history and, ultimately, the quality of the beer it contained.

Collecting (anything) encourages curiosity. Curiosity, they say, killed the cat. But cats have nine lives so I say don't worry about killing the cat. When it's time we all die. Not just the cat.

In the interim, remember that experiences are baked into everything we touch and see. Remember the movie, 'The Yellow Rolls Royce' in which a Rolls Royce keeps the secrets of the Yugoslav resistance against Nazis along with the exploits of Chicago gangsters in the 1930s?

It's a shame that so many tales are just never told. Instead they die along with their storyteller.

Franklin Heng, liposuction, vanity and medical tourism

I am very attached to my hair. But I have come to terms with the fact that one day it will disappear. Pregaine, regaine, and specialist herbal shampoos notwithstanding, nature and male pattern baldness takes its course.

Pride and narcissism are important qualities, especially helpful to bloggers who lay their ego on the line daily.

However, even useful qualities convert to negatives when taken to excess.

Irish doctors claim drinking two 'pegs' of whiskey daily has innumerable positive effects on cholesterol and stress reduction. Go beyond the prescribed two daily shots and one is knocking on the doors of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Vanity is no different. A little pride is fine but taken to an extreme it is dangerous.

Plastic surgery is big business because of the vain. Liposuction also seems to have caught on since the 1980s. Botox and lasik are recent additions to meet demand for 'vanity products.'

Liposuction or 'fat modelling' is a surgery of sorts. The procedure for removing fat from the body requires general or local anaesthesia. Typically, extraneous fat is sucked out from the body after the insertion of a hollow tube.

There is nothing wrong with a person treating their body anyway they like. Have an abortion, paint tattoos, place breast implants, whatever you want. As for me, nothing external is entering my body unless a doctors informs me it is a 'do or die' situation.

Eye cream to reduce eye bags, regaine to encourage hair growth, and a gym routine to keep love handles and beer bellies in check are fine. Diet pills, liquefying fat or using sheep hormones is out of the question.

Nature is a powerful force. If individuals want to mess with nature, be my guest. I prefer to leave well enough alone.

Messing with nature sometimes has disastrous consequences.

Ask the late Mr. Franklin Heng's two kids. Mr. Heng died at the altar of vanity. More specifically, he died (in uncertain circumstances) during a liposuction procedure at a Singapore clinic.

In the last few months the reputation of Singapore's doctors has weathered several scandals. General practitioners to plastic surgeons have been in the news for all the wrong reasons. The negative news flow may affect Singapore's aspirations as a medical tourism hub.

Science and progress move forward hand in hand. Biotechnology research is positive. How society uses the results of scientific research results is a more prickly matter.

Ultimately, we make our own choices. These choices collectively influence Life's forward movement over time. Living life to the fullest requires seizing opportunities with a vengeance.

Often, however, it is equally important to know when to gracefully let go.

Japan, MUIS and Singapore's Shariah courts again!

Singapore's historic Sultan Mosque is visited by one hundred Japanese tourists every day. Special Japanese language tours are conducted by two Japanese Muslim converts who reside in Singapore.

Singapore is a young nation, still writing its history. As far as mosques go, the Masjid Sultan is a fairly orthodox example of an onion domed mosque.

Singapore's oldest mosque, the Masjid Sultan, is located on Muscat Street

Within Malaya, it is an old mosque. Construction was completed in 1928. The present mosque stands on the site of the original mosque which was built in 1826 by Sultan Hussain Shah of Johor. The mosque was situated next to the Sultan's palace.

Ironically, the mosque was funded by the East India Company which had found its way into the region by the early 1800s.

However, it is the story of the Japanese converts that attracted my attention to the article.

Conversion to Islam is a painful process in Singapore. At least that is my understanding. There are classes to attend and tests to pass.

Other than the fact that I may not make the grade myself, I have some gripes about the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore's (MUIS) views on conversion and marriage.

(MUIS must be tired of my ranting and raving but what can I do? I have a religious obligation to speak the truth as I see it!)

Firstly, conversion to Islam should not be a difficult process. Conversion should be encouraged and not discouraged. Singapore's system seems better designed to scare people away from Islam. 

In the late 1970s, a Scotsman converted to Islam. His motivation was to marry my sister and meet the only condition laid down by my father before he blessed the union.

The conversion was conducted during a simple ceremony at London's Regents Park Mosque. He testified to his belief in the unity of Allah and the finality of the Prophethood, i.e. Mohammad as the last Prophet.

Poof! He became a Muslim. Nothing further is required to embrace Islam by any individual; certainly no tests.

A clearer understanding of Islamic theology and practices follows over time. For all Muslims, old and new, religion is a lifelong journey. It involves guidance but is a voluntary journey. A voyage each person makes at her own pace. Islam and one's relationship with God is an intensely personal affair.

In fact, Pakistani soldiers (and civilians) are dying in order to subdue mad clerics for many reasons. Amongst them is the simple fact that forcing a man to grow a beard or pray at a mosque with gun at his back does not make a society more Islamic.

On the contrary, the act of coercion is itself un-Islamic.

My second bone of contention with MUIS concerns the marriage of a Muslim male to a Christian or Jewish female. MUIS does not permit such inter-religious marriages. In Singapore, they can only occur under the auspices of Singapore's civil courts.

MUIS has confirmed that Islamic law permits marriage between a Muslim male and a Christian or Jewish female.

Lawful unto you in marriage are not only chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the People of the Book [Christians and Jews], revealed before your time.

Surah 5:5 (Al-Maidah)

Subsequently, MUIS provided no clear reason explaining why such inter-religious marriages are not recognized. In fact, they stopped corresponding with me and invoked the Official Secrets Act.

Clearly, this is an example of the boundaries between Malay cultural practices and Islamic law being blurred.

To my existing list of rants about Singapore's Administration of Muslim Law Act one can now add two more.

Conversion to Islam is a privilege for the one doing the converting. My sister has almost certainly reserved a place in heaven for bringing another into the fold! The conversion process must be made as easy as possible, not a potentially intimidating process.

Inter-religious marriage between Muslim males and Christian or Jewish females is consistent with Islamic law. MUIS and Singapore's Sharia courts should recognize such marriages. If ultra conservative Wahabi clerics recognize such marriages then I fail to comprehend what rationale MUIS uses to justify its stand.

The Tokyo Mosque, constructed in Turkish style, replete with minaret

In its true form, Islam is an open and tolerant religion. Even drinking alcohol may not permanently shut the door to heaven, so I hope!

Perhaps I am reading too much into a simple case of tourists visiting mosques. Maybe the Japanese just wish to view a minaret. Minarets, after all, are as rare in Japan as they are in Switzerland.

PS – Unfortunately, Islamic law does not grant Hinduism and Buddhism the same status as the People of the Book. Thus, under Islamic law, a Muslim male cannot marry a Hindu or Buddhist woman. However, do note that one of my (many) first cousins married a Balinese Hindu woman. I imagine that God in His infinite mercy tends to overlook certain mortal flaws caused by Love.

Personalities, nuclear technology, Brazil and pick-up lines

"Haven't I met you somewhere before?" and "you look so much like my [insert name here]" must be the two weakest pick-up lines that the male species has invented. Only slightly better than the age old, 'hit the woman over the head with a club and drag her home' strategy.

All humans not only consider themselves to be unique but, in so many ways, are unique. The person who we find geeky, boring and generally unworthy of our attention is a star to someone else. And not just to their mother.

The classical music loving aspiring poet may have little to discuss with a Manchester United football club maniac. Nevertheless, get either of them to talk about what they love and see the fire in their eyes.

All individuals have a passion for something. Unfortunately, some haven't figured out what that passion is. Others are too busy eking out a living. They don't have the time or luxury to explore their desires.

It takes courage to pursue dreams. One is continually shot down in flames. Only the persistent stand up and try again and again. And again.

Just don't get martyred for the same mistake twice. Or find your ego so badly damaged that it is painful to stand up again.

What does all this have to do with the two lame pick-up lines? Well, consider the message conveyed to the recipient of either line: the person is eminently forgettable and replaceable.

In other words, their personality is bland and ordinary so there is not one good reason to remember them.

As for looking like someone else, the point is the same. The person's looks are so common that they can pass off as someone else. There is nothing physically unique or attractive about them; they are just one of many other regular women out there.

The woman's ego, possibly inflated by the approach from an unknown male, has been deflated again by the opening line. Not a good start.

In the last few years, the world has changed in many ways.

The Chinese buy more cars than the Americans. Erstwhile communist East European countries are members of NATO and the 'Free World.' The Arabs buy nuclear technology from South Korea, until recently a 'Third World' nation. The public finances of Brazil, a basket case economy in the 1980s, are in better shape than most G-7 nations.

A few things have not changed. Whether in a bar or on the street, it still takes courage to approach an unknown female. Don't blow the first contact by using an inconsiderate opening line.

Remember, each of us is one of a kind.

Race and Singaporeans, what’s all the fuss about?

The Singapore government requires that a child's race be registered at birth. Not to worry, the race is 'changeable' until the first national identity card (NRIC) is issued!

It's true, one can go from being Malay to a Chinese overnight; just like I went from being a Pakistani to a Singaporean overnight.

Is a legalistic and explicit definition of race a positive or negative contributor to social integration?

To what extent does a legalistic notion of race define an individual? It can be a great tool for organizing society.

But so is orthodox Hinduism's caste system, another way of 'boxing' people into categories. A sweeper is always a sweeper and a warrior always a warrior. Everyone knows their place and function in society. Society functions smoothly.

The dangers associated with stereotyping are real. The Chinese can't speak English well, hence the large number of Indian lawyers. The Malays are not economically ambitious. And so on.

These same stereotypes play a part in individual self-perceptions, negative and positive. A Malay child may grow up thinking a career in Singapore's armed forces is not a wise choice as advancement is limited for religious reasons.

Repeat a mantra often enough and people will believe it.

To be fair, 'racial profiling' helps Singapore's housing policy. Racial quotas are implemented by the authorities in assigning public housing. The quotas ensure that there is an adequate racial mix in public housing estates. In turn, mixed housing estates encourage, nay force, integration.

Racial enclaves are avoided.

In 2008, mixed marriages between persons of different races were almost 17% of all registered marriages. Put another way, almost one in five marriages last year was a 'mixed' marriage.

In 1990, the same number was approximately 8%. The doubling corroborates a slow but steady breakdown of thinking in terms of race.

To date, Singapore has adopted a conscious top down strategy in addressing racial sensitivities. As a result, people are super aware of racial (and religious) sensitivities.

However, as Singapore becomes a more cohesive nation with its own national identity an easing of the policy is in order. For starters, race should not be mentioned on one's NRIC. I fail to understand how printing the information on an NRIC helps to achieve any public policy goals.

Race on a national identity document is a relic of yesteryear.

A diversified gene pool is a healthy gene pool

Singapore's Immigration and Checkpoints Authority records have almost 100 distinct race categories registered in Singapore. I did not know so many races exist – perhaps some of them are fakes?   

On the flip side, at least we can look forward to a becoming a nation of decent mutts!

Each Singapore lawyer lost SGD 1,400 in the stock market last year!

Ok, I made up that sensational 'factoid.' But it's not entirely a lie. If one assumes all 3,697 lawyers registered in Singapore equally shared the SGD 5.2 million investment loss incurred by the Singapore Academy of Law, then it's a fact.

Investment portfolios are sensitive subjects. They are potentially a major source of income for a non-profit entity. Ask the Chief Financial Officer of any Ivy League US university which will typically have an endowment worth billions of US Dollars.

In a bull market, everyone's an expert investor, especially with 'other people's money.'  But recessions uncover what audits do not. A fine example of this maxim is the revelation of the large investment loss suffered by the Singapore Academy of Law last year.

It is important that entities, especially non-financial, are aware of the risks they undertake in their investment portfolios.

These risks should be self-regulated. There is no need for the government to come up with rules to manage such portfolios, at least not yet.

Personally, I believe it is important to take personal ownership for decisions. Let's take away as much as we can from the 'regulated' state sphere and move it into the individual's domain.

Below is the complete text of my letter titled "Professional groups should limit risky investments."

The letter was published in the Straits Times on January 1, 2010.

Professional groups should limit risky investments

THE recent report on investment losses incurred by the Singapore Academy of Law is disturbing ('Law Academy racks up $5m in investment losses', Dec 22).

The academy's latest annual report states a net deficit from investment activities of $5.2 million in the last fiscal year. In the same period, the academy's operating income was $9.1 million.

Societies and professional associations have the freedom to invest surplus cash to generate self- sustaining and recurring streams of income. However, the risk characteristics of any investment portfolio must be proportionate to the operating income of the entity.

In the academy's case, the portfolio seems to have placed an excessive amount of funds at risk. It will take some time for the academy to recoup its losses.

Certainly, the last year was a poor one for financial markets. However, it is precisely to protect against such unexpected volatility that the size and riskiness of investment portfolios for non-commercial entities must be carefully monitored.

One way to address the issue is for professional groupings to impose self-constrained limits on the size of the equity portfolio, relative to their income.

For example, the size of the portfolio may be restricted to 30 per cent (or $3 million in the academy's case) of expected gross income. Even with an extreme 30 per cent decline in the portfolio value ($900,000), the academy will end the year with a more manageable annual deficit.

Professional societies such as the Academy of Law must not lose sight of their main objective. Investing or establishing investment portfolios is an ancillary activity. There is the danger of an entity's routine operations being threatened by investment losses if portfolios are too large or risky.

Aggressive investments should be undertaken only when sufficient reserves have been accumulated to weather the potential investment losses.

Imran Ahmed

Allah versus God, politically correct language takes a Malaysian turn

No religion has a monopoly on language. Or God or Allah or whatever one chooses to call Him. The Malaysian High Court's brave decision to permit non-Muslims to use Allah synonymously with God is a nod in that direction.

Allah is one of the Arabic language's most recognized words, even when it is part of a larger phrase

Allah is an Arabic word meaning God which predates Islam.

Allah, the word (and the script) is closely associated with Islam. When the Fort Hood attacker allegedly shouted 'Allah-o-Akbar' prior to shooting soldiers at his army camp, few will have mistaken the phrase for a Christian chant.

In a sense, Allah is part of the Islamic 'brand.' A reasonable patent office will surely agree to an application filed by Islamic authorities.

However, just as I have a license on how I spell 'Ahmed' so do thousands of other 'Ahmad's.' My copyright is not exclusive and does not preclude others from spelling the name differently. Similarly, Allah may be 'owned' by Muslims but not to the exclusion of non-Muslims.

Perhaps that is a simplistic version of a battle playing out in Malaysia's legal system between Malaysia's 850,000 strong Catholic community and Islamic conservatives.

However, the real story is a much bigger one. It is unfinished tale about a tolerant and self-confident Islam versus the current popular perception of a religion tarnished by extremist fanaticism.

Unfortunately, Islam has its own demons to conquer.

The linguistic battle is part of the war of ideas forced upon Muslims who somehow missed the Industrial Revolution. Having slept through much of the 1700 – 1900s, Muslims suddenly woke up in a world with electricity, airplanes, super tankers and the internet.

It is not surprising Islam is confused. On top of everything, Islam's intellectual reservoir is spent arguing about trivial matters.

The revitalization of Islam's body politic through effective governance is an agenda topic for annual summits. Statements are dutifully and regularly issued. Practical action is sorely lacking.

At the local level a misguided cleric often remains in control of interpreting Islam. The clerics are desperately trying to hang on to their archaic beliefs. These obscurantist forces are willing and able to go to extreme lengths to project (and protect) their world view.

Allama Muhammad Iqbal was a pioneer in the Islamic modernist movement. Among other places, he also studied at Heidelberg University in Germany

Islamic modernists first meaningfully appeared during the 1900s. They have yet to find their feet. Critical mass eludes the modernists. In today's treacherous environment, modern ideas are controlled or subdued by the suicide bomber.

Islam is strong enough to stand on its own feet. It does not require the crutches of a restrictive legal system. Is Islam so weak that a revitalized Malaysian Catholic (Allah in place of God) newsletter may transform Malaysian Muslims to suddenly believe in the trinity and break their link with Islam?

Neither Allah nor Islam is in danger of disappearing if the Catholic God miraculously became Allah, at least in the material world of publications.

If we are resolved to describe Islam as a system of superior values, we are obliged, first of all, to acknowledge that we are not the true representatives of Islam.

Muhammad Iqbal