April 3, 2008

Today's topic is interesting things I've read in the newspaper.

On April Fools Day, a man who has 2 wives received a summons to appear in court for divorce. He thought it was a joke but went to court anyway. Both his wives filed for divorce and were serious. They lived next door to one another and he in anothe house down the street. He has 4 kids by the first wife which he has been married to for 22 years. He has 2 kids by the second wife who he has been married to for 16 years. He also married a third woman and had another child by her back in 2004. The reason why this is interesting is because it is the first recorded double divorce in Malay history. The judge granted both motions for divorce contingent on and I quote: "He gave them an "eda" timeline of three months so that they could have their menstrual periods, as was required in such proceedings and to attempt reconciliation" Apparently it is a requirement of divorce for women to have their periods before the divorce is final. Why? Not sure, I can only speculate, either to make sure she is not pregnant with the husband's baby or pregnant by someone else which I'm sure if this is the case there will be other consequences.

Also on April 2, there were heavy thunderstorms. The newspaper reported flooding in a lot of areas and also there were stories of hailstorms. Now everyone knows how hot it is here and I just can't imagine balls of ice landing anywhere. One lady ran outside and collected them to eat because she heard that it was healthy eating, too bad we can't check on her in a year and see how she's doing. Also because of the rain there was a report of a python seeking shelter in a restaurant in a city called Ipoh, not far from where we are, I've included a picture of the snake and the men who caught it, bet they had a wonderful dinner that night!!

The Ministry of Health in Bangkok has ordered a ban on castrations unless it is medically necessary...the procedure which is popular among transsexuals needs stricter monitoring. The ministry's move came after a complaint from a leading gay activist who states that action needs to be taken against clinics that perform the procedure on underage boys.

Vacation gone wrong!! Three Chinese women visiting Malaysia had the worst time of their lives after only 3 days. Two of the 3 women went out one night while the other stayed at the hotel. When the 2 returned they found the hotel surrounded by police and ambulances which is where one of the ladies reported that while they waited to find out what happened at their hotel, she was abducted by 2 policeman, robbed, molested and raped. After the incident, she returned to her hotel to find her friend only to find out that the reason the police were at the hotel in the first place was because the friend they left behind had mysteriously fallen to her death from the 5th floor! She reported the rape the next day and the poliemen were remanded but after a physical exam she showed no signs of an attack. The rape and death are still under investigation.

A cult in Moscow has finally left their cave. The group believed that the Apocalypse was to arrive in May had to evacuate their hideout due to the fact the cave caved in and water was seeping in threatning to drown them. Interesting point, this group also believes that the devil inscribes his message in the barcodes of products found on grocery store shelves.

Speaking of barcodes, yesterday Chinese and Malays of Chinese descent, celebrated Qing Ming or Chinese All Souls Day. Families return to their hometowns to visit and clean gravesites of the dearly departed. They conduct prayers and burn offerings to honour their ancestors. Some things that you can buy and burn as offerings are toy cars, laptops, cell phones and houses as if the dead need a car in the afterlife or a laptop! There's even a "pop-up" house complete with cars, boats, and swimming pool. But back to the barcodes, a Japanese company offers tombstones embedded with a barcode that can be scanned by using a mobile phone and the user can then view information and photos regarding the deceased. Cost? 31k RM or $9800 U.S.

So those are some of the more interesting articles this week in addition to lots of post-election news and a huge article detailing the life of lap dancer. Hope you enjoyed. -T