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Showing posts with label Ghost Festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ghost Festival. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Penang, It’s time for 'softly-softly' Koh to let go!





It’s time for Koh to let go

Analysis By BARADAN KUPPUSAMY

Calls for Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon to step down from leading the Barisan Nasional charge in Penang is gaining momentum, putting the coalition at a political crossroad.

THE Hungry Ghost festival is in full swing in Penang but Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, the former chief minister and current Gerakan president, is seeing more political ghosts than he could imagine.
Koh Tsu KoonImage via Wikipedia

He feels a puppet master is pulling the strings to force him out. He feels there's an agenda against him.

He blames the Opposition of wanting to dethrone him. If he listens hard enough or has the gall to admit it, the loudest calls are from his Barisan Nasional partners, from his Gerakan party and from the Penangites.

The calls are coming in stringent and unwavering, so much so that Dr Koh called a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Friday to refute the charges.

He gave investment figures that “skyrocketed” under his watch as chief minister from 1990 to 2008.

He gave facts and figures of the projects undertaken during his tenure, the constructions that were done and the wave of investments.

But the fact remains that under his 18-year stewardship of Penang, the island's economy headed south and a new generation of Penangites could not find any use for a man who bent over backwards to please big brother Umno.

What counts is that Penangites rejected him so thoroughly like Sabahans did to Datuk Harris Salleh and his Berjaya Cabinet in 1985 and brought in the rule of Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan.

No matter how he wants to justify it or mitigate it, the fact remains that the voters of Penang have rejected him in totality.

After such a massive and thorough defeat, it is a wonder that only now, nearly four years on, that we hear rumblings for Dr Koh to step down as Gerakan president and as a federal minister.

The rumblings are coming from within Barisan Nasional and not from the Opposition, which is happy if Dr Koh stays so that it can continue to lampoon him for all the failures in Penang from uncollected rubbish to closure of foreign factories, which were household names, moving to China and the dramatic drop in foreign direct investment.

The verdict of 2008 shows Dr Koh, 62, has outlived his usefulness, so his critics charge. He is no longer relevant and has become a liability and a burden to Barisan Nasional.

Dr Koh is a man from the past, best suited for the world of academia. In fact, he was in academia as a deputy dean of education in Universiti Sains Malaysia but was persuaded to leave that cosy and comfortable job for the topsy-turvy world of politics.

Dr Koh was a big name in academia with a string of degrees and awards to his name.

And the Chinese value a man of learning like him. He was an ideal man for the times, his education, his intellectual rigour and his origins made him best suited to take over from Gerakan founder Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu as administrator of Penang.

Dr Koh was born in Penang in 1949 and attended Phor Tay Primary School and Chung Ling High School. He went on to graduate from Princeton University in 1970 with a degree in physics, and obtained his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1977 in economics and sociology of education.

He was a Fulbright scholar at Stanford University and made the transition to politics, first winning in the 1982 general election as a Gerakan Youth leader.

Eventually he climbed the ladder to become deputy president of Gerakan all in 15 years and under the tutelage of the plain-speaking Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik.

After 18 years at the helm, years that some critics say he has nothing to show for he and his entire Gerakan team of Cabinet ministers were wiped out in the 2008 tsunami.

A new man is at the helm as the chief minister in DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

First Dr Koh is not doing what he should do fighting Pakatan Rakyat point for point in Penang and at the same time revive his own party's fortunes.

Neither is he combative nor has the leadership acumen to lead the state Barisan in its time of crisis.

The most telling thing said of Dr Koh came from his former boss Dr Lim who, in a recent interview, said Dr Koh had the intellectual capacity and integrity but was unable to match it with political decisions or to provide the crucial political leadership.

Dr Lim, who headed Gerakan for 27 years, believes that Gerakan has lost Penang for good.

Barisan Nasional has carried Dr Koh for some three decades and it is time to let him go.



What next for ‘softly-softly’ Koh?

COMMENT By JOCELINE TAN

Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon is trying to move his political base from Penang to Kuala Lumpur but the renewed pressure about his political future shows that he is still a liability for Gerakan in Penang.

GERAKAN members in Penang say Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon has sold the Tanjong Bungah house in Penang where he had lived for much of his 18 years as chief minister. He seldom goes back to Penang these days and seems set to make Kuala Lumpur his home.

The talk in his party is that he is preparing to make Kuala Lumpur his next political base too and that he is eyeing a parliamentary seat in the next general election. Some people call it running away; others say he is merely moving on. Anyway, Penang is no longer a tenable option for the Gerakan president. His party has been wiped out in the state that used to be synonymous with Gerakan and he is still being blamed for the catastrophe.

At the height of their political standing, party members were fond of saying that Penang is Gerakan and Gerakan is Penang. And now, without Penang, the party is floundering and Dr Koh’s shortcomings have become the DAP’s strength. He has not had an easy time since the 2008 general election. But the last one week has seen him come under renewed pressure to atone for the loss of Penang to Pakatan Rakyat.

Scathing remarks about him by Tan Sri Tan Kok Pin, a developer tycoon and Penang Chamber of Commerce president, resulted in calls for Dr Koh to step aside in Gerakan and give Barisan Nasional a chance to make a comeback. They claimed he is not helping his party or the coalition in Penang in accepting a Cabinet post via the Dewan Negara.

Several figures in his party have defended him and he held a press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday to refute some of the allegations. The circle around him imagine there is a conspiracy to bring him down and they use terms like “orchestrated” and “coordinated attacks”.

But, by and large, his party, especially in Penang, has been strangely tongue-tied about the criticism. The Penang Gerakan folks are aware of what people in the state think of the party and the former chief minister. They are disturbed that public sentiment has yet to shift in their favour three years after the political tsunami.

“I get a lot of that from members on the ground but I always ask them: I know you guys want a change in leadership, but tell me, change to who? They have no answer to that and neither do I,” said Gerakan Youth chief Lim Si Pin.

Party members, as Lim admitted, are resigned to accepting the situation till the next general election which will decide the fate of the party.

Dr Koh has shown little sign that he is about to exit the political stage now or in the near future. During the recent party’s state conventions, he asked members to give him two terms as president so that he can put things back on course.

Some were stunned because they felt that he should be thinking about a workable exit plan instead of trying to push for an extended term in office. Some had even wanted him to address the transition issue at the coming National Delegates Confer-ence but it looks like that is the last thing on his mind.

The trouble is that very few top leaders in Gerakan are in a position to ask Dr Koh to go because many of them had also lost in the election and are unwilling to make way.

There was empathy for Dr Koh immediately after March 8. He won respect for overseeing the peaceful transition of power to the new regime and was praised as a gentleman politician.

He could have gone with his head held high at that point. His sin was being unable to stand up to Umno but he had little personal baggage - he was seen as a relatively clean leader and he led a moderate private life.

But the goodwill quickly evaporated when he accepted a Cabinet post via the Senate. The public perception was that he had not taken responsibility for his party’s losses. He conceded the moral high ground by accepting the ministership and when MIC president G. Palanivel was appointed a minister recently, some blamed Dr Koh for setting the precedent.

The fact that he is making a fresh start elsewhere also irks those who are left trying to clear the mess in Penang. They feel that he is washing his hands of a problem that had and still has much to do with him.

Penang is where the party base is most extensive, yet he has relegated the party’s recovery in the state to Penang chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan who has been unable to inspire the troops.

“He should consider not running in the next general election. He would bring the whole party down with him if he does. He is a smart guy. He should be able to see that,” said a Penang Gerakan figure.

Even former party president Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik has not been spared – he is being blamed for grooming Dr Koh.

He has privately told people in that blustery way of his: “Don’t think I don’t feel bad about what has happened to the party. I am very frustrated but there is nothing I can do.”

Chinese history is full of lessons in politics and Dr Koh should know that his intellectual and “softly-softly” style was suitable in peace-time politics. But it is a war zone out there these days and Gerakan needs a wartime leader – someone who can take the hits and hit out at the same time.

In private conversations, party members readily admit that he is not balancing his priorities between the party and his ministry. They feel that he should spend more time on party matters.

Instead, he seems more concerned about his ministry duties, to be seen with the Prime Minister and appearing in the media with him.

Dr Koh has been put on the defensive by renewed pressure for him to go. While it is true that the calls are coming from people without any real locus standi, the point is: There are not enough calls from his own party expressing confidence in his leadership.

It will be 30 years in politics for Dr Koh next year. That is a long time and that may be why people are wondering whether he still deserves to be up there.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Hungry Ghost Festival: How to avoid meeting ghosts? When the ghosts see red! Fascination for all things spooky





How to avoid meeting ghosts

By BEH YUEN HUI newsdesk@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Cutting hair, shaving, going for outings and hanging clothes outside the house are among the things people should avoid doing at night throughout the Hungry Ghost Festival.

People should also avoid moving house and getting a new vehicle, as it is believed that the chances of bumping into ghosts are higher by doing all these.

“Keep away from the walls because ghosts love sticking to it,” said Master Szeto Fat-ching, a famous exorcist and feng shui guru from Hong Kong.

He said although ghosts are around during daytime, they are more active at night.

Thus, precautions have to be taken during the month-long festival beginning July 31 when the Hell Gate is open and the spirits are allowed to return to the human realm.

Master Szeto also said women are more prone to seeing ghosts than men.

Famous guru: Master Szeto talking as the guest deejay for 988 radio station in Kuala Lumpur recently.
According to the Yin and Yang philosophy, women belong to the Yin category the same as ghosts and so they are easier to “click” with each other.

“There's nothing to fear because the ghosts are more afraid of humans than we are of them.”

Dubbed the Ghost King of Macao, Master Szeto was invited here by Chinese radio station 988 as a guest deejay in a ghost-related programme in conjunction with the festival.

He also shared his stories and exchanged views with over 300 supernatural fans at an “up close and personal” session here on Wednesday.

Besides the above mentioned taboos, Master Szeto also warned the public to not take the offerings on the streets that were served to the “homeless spirits” or make fun of the belief.

Read more in Daily Chilli (www.dailychilli.com) about Master Szeto's encounter with a tree demon in Sabah, which left him confined to his bed for three months.


When the ghosts see red!

By CHRISTINA CHIN sgchris@thestar.com.my

Taoists believe that spirits are at their most powerful during the seventh lunar month.

IT'S Hungry Ghosts or Phor Thor festival now. The Chinese equivalent of Halloween, the festival is still very much alive in predominantly Chinese areas like Penang, and believers are now busy appeasing the spirits through ritual food offerings, burning of joss paper, and stage shows.

According to Taoist ghostbuster Ong Q Leng, spirits are at their most powerful during the seventh month of the Chinese calendar but those released from the gates of hell are not harmful.

“The harmful ones are the restless spirits that roam the earth freely throughout the year,” says Ong, who claims to have seen them all, from office hauntings to eerie bodily possessions.

The 34-year-old spiritual healer shares some advice with those low on luck during this festival.

Heavenly protection: Lai, possesed by Tua Pek, preparing a talisman for a family of devotees.
“Do not wear red this Hungry Ghost Festival. The spirits are drawn to red, so avoid anything red, including underwear. This is especially so if things have not been going smoothly for you these past few months.”

She also warns believers against going out past 9pm.

“Stay away from drugs and alcohol because it's easier for spirits to take over those who are intoxicated. If you are always alert, it's also difficult for people to cast a spell or charm you.”

Ong's caution may offer some “personal protection” against the unseen but hauntings are not limited to people.

The 65-storey Komtar tower in Penang which houses Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's administration has its fair share of stories about ghostly apparitions. Staff members who experienced unnatural phenomenon on one of the higher floors recently called in an Ustaz to conduct prayers and sprinkle black pepper, apparently to “cleanse” the place.

Law firms seem to be a popular haunting ground in old George Town, with chilling tales ranging from smelling burning incense late at night to seeing an old woman roaming the corridors.

A 33-year-old senior partner in one firm shares: “A feng shui practitioner came to our office once and saw a child running around. In fact, we had an employee who suffered a miscarriage and it is thought that the baby's spirit followed her to work.”

Another lawyer, who also declined to be named, relates how a client saw “another lady” in the conference room when there were just two of them.

“My boss too has a gift' for seeing these things'. One day, he saw an old woman wandering along the corridor but she vanished as he approached her. I've heard that during the Japanese Occupation, soldiers were beheaded here.”

At a developer's firm not too far away, the office workers have come to terms with sharing their premises with “unseen friends”.

“There have been many unexplained incidents; the air-conditioner starts even after it has been switched off and radio channels change randomly. A monk hired to cleanse the place failed to drive away the spirits, claiming there were just too many to capture.Every year during the Hungry Ghost Festival, we make offerings to the spirits here,” one senior staff confides.

Even cars are not spared the spooks. Writer E. J. Loh, 46, recalls how a nee-kor (nun) who performed the funeral rites for her premature baby, sold her car, claiming that the child's spirit was “disturbing” her. The nun had driven the dead child in a casket to the crematorium.

Ong, who offers healing, spiritual cleansing, feng shui tips and general consultation to her clients, reckons that seven out of 10 cases she sees are caused by evil spirits or black magic. Her clients are from different races and religions, and include Germans, Australians, people from China and Hong Kong, and Singaporeans.


She says she has seen cases of clients experiencing extreme body aches, youngsters speaking in old voices, and those who cannot stop sobbing or whose eyes and tongues are rolled back as they stare blankly into space.

“Whether it's Thai kong tau or Chinese mao shan (black magic), it doesn't matter. I will try to help as long as the victim trusts me.”

Ong, who always appears confident, is the first to admit she is not always this brave. Growing up, she says, she used to be scared out of her wits by apparitions she saw, which led to her stuttering as a child. But by the time she was 11, she was so fed up of being frightened that she started “scolding the spirits and threatening them not to bother her”.

Four years ago, while working as a sales representative, it dawned on her that she could use her “gift” to help others.
 
Her most recent success was helping 73-year-old Zainab Sulaiman from Kelantan. The widow, who lives in a wooden house in Kampung Penambang Bunga Emas near Kota Baru with her daughter-in-law and two grandchildren, had been plagued with hundreds of mysterious fires which destroyed over 250 articles of clothing, mats, curtains, mattresses and many other things. Last month, Zainab made a trip to Penang to thank Ong.

For Ong, the more evil spirits she battles, the stronger and more alert she feels.

“I don't get tired although I sometimes work from early morning until past 3am.”

Temple medium Lai Seng Hee says the younger generation are not as sceptical about ghosts as you would imagine.

“The temple is always packed with devotees who include young Mercedes-driving professionals and businessmen,” he shares.

Lai, 47, goes into a trance at the Leong Hong Keong temple in Penang to assist Tua Pek (Grand Uncle) devotees to communicate with the deity.

The temple, which was established more than three decades ago, is dedicated to underworld deities - Tua Pek and Jee Pek (Second Uncle). Tua Pek - the Chief Inspector of Hades - always carries a fan while his assistant Jee Pek, carries a chain. Together, the brothers are known as Poh Tiao Pek.

Three nights a week, Lai goes into a trance until way past midnight. Devotees come from as far as Johor, Kuala Lumpur and Kedah with pleas to cure their illnesses, prolong the life of a sick loved one, or keep away evil spirits.

Lai's service was procured after the tragic and gruesome murder of three-year-old Ooi Ying Ying in 2007, a case that jolted the nation. Lai used a dried, wax-coated lime to communicate with the dead girl a method the former electrician learnt from a sifu (master) in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The seance was filmed by a Hong Kong production company for a documentary.

Lai's expertise was also sought to help “collect” fragments of Ying Ying's soul and conduct rituals to appease her soul.

Lai says during the Hungry Ghost month, spirits of the ancestors will try to contact their living descendants.

“They don't mean any harm. They may have some requests or want to warn their families of some impending danger.”

Fascination for all things spooky

By CHRISTINA CHIN 

MALAYSIANS are a culturally diverse lot but one common thread is their fascination with the supernatural. Whether you are Chinese, Indian or Malay, stories of ghostly encounters are part and parcel of the Malaysian experience.

While our spooks look nothing like the Twilight films' vampire heartthrob Edward Cullen, the local spirits, ghosts and ghouls are, indeed, hauntingly real for some.

Weighing in on the subject of Malaysians' fascination with the supernatural, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) associate professor Dr Muhammad Azizan Sabjan from the School of Humanities (philosophy and civilisation section), explains that from an Islamic perspective, jinns do exist.

“The main difference between them and us is that they are invisible. Only those bestowed special skills or talent' by God can see them,” he explains.

“So, the belief in the existence of jinns in modern times is not superstitious but the way one conducts certain ceremonies to appease them, is,” he adds.

But ghosts have been unfairly blamed whenever something goes wrong, Xiao En Cultural Endowment chief executive officer Dr Ong Seng Huat (pic) opines.

Dr Ong, who is also a Taoist high priest and a visiting professor to China's National Overseas Chinese University (faculty of religious and cultural studies), says the supernatural is a convenient excuse and one that is widely accepted even today.

“For instance, mass hysteria happens when one loses coordination, consciousness of identity, feeling and body movement. You read about it happening in schools a lot lately. Is it the doing of a spirit or are pressure and stress really the culprits?

“People sympathise when you tell them that you are disturbed' by a ghost or someone has placed a hex on you; but admit to being mentally ill and you will be shunned. So mental illness is often passed off as a ghostly encounter,” he explains.

However, ghostly encounters are not to be dismissed, he says.

For the Chinese, there are ancient textbooks that list down symptoms of patients' ailments based on the type of ghosts they encountered.

“The old Chinese physicians were learned people who addressed all these problems. They didn't just blame it on the supernatural,” says Dr Ong.

In ancient China, he says, the ashes of paper talisman with Chinese writings actually had medicinal properties. The paper dispensed to patients who claimed to have been afflicted by ghosts was made from plants like ginger and bamboo leaves.

“And jossticks in the old days had aromatherapy benefits. These days, the talisman handed out may cause more harm than good. I don't even know what they are made of.”

Dr Ong says society's belief in the supernatural has its pros: “When you believe in the realm of the ghosts and gods, you will be more inclined to do good for fear of the repercussions.”

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