I Was Cupped!

Have you ever been cupped? No, not while you were at a concert, on LRT or in the elevator – not in a perverted way! What I am going to talk about is something else – "Cupping" or commonly known as "Bekam*" in Malay. How the heck have I got myself to this stage? Well, I was doing a lot of research lately on the Internet – how to detox myself, getting rid of the toxins. The research has taken me from the intake of lots of water (like 2L a day), grape seeds extract, French pine bark for internal rejuvenation to drinking lots of juice from Berry family.

+ Any horn will do, but what about this one?

That is more of intake of good stuffs for the body. What intrigues me more was the traditional art of cupping – mind you, anything to get the toxics out! While I was reading on the Internet, my bro in law, Abg Jef called “Zul, nak berbekam tak?” – do you want get cupping done? There was a part of me that said – may be it is a calling, since he called me at the height of my research. So I said, "Yes" with lack of enthusiasm, as I still am afraid of the process of getting myself cupped. I emphasised to him that I want it to be modern – plastic see-through cups, lancets, clean environment etc. The whole sha-bang on hygiene factor! Well, I was never a fan since I hate blood and the whole process of getting bekam done can be traumatising. But what the heck!

The moment my father knew about this, as usual he would want to get very involved (before I knew it, he would be calling several friends of his back in kampong and making appointments. He would then try to get my best time to be around to do it). He said he has found a place to get the bekam done. It is in a place called Senaling, not too far from my own kampong. It sent shivers down my spine really. From what I could gather from him, it would all be traditional (scary!) – the pakcik to do the sucking the horn and the razor-blade to cut the skin and the horn to suck the blood out. Ouch! It is all too scary for me really. But I was determined to do it.

So, last Thursday, my dad, Abg Jef and I drove there. Pak Iya, my dad’s friend tagged along to show us the way. Apparently, no one knows this Pak Aziz who does bekam. He does not want to advertise it, since the whole process is a painful process, I mean for him. This pakcik is about close to 60 years old, I guess. He owns a small coffee shop (kedai kopi) by the roadside in the kampong. I was surprised when he asked me to lift my shirt in front of the shop – in front of the patrons who were sipping their teh tarik. Well, it was an experience on its own really.

He began by placing two horns on my back, just below my shoulder blades. He placed them close to the surface of the skin, and started sucking air out of the horn. Apparently, it is a process to attract blood to gather at the place where it would be cupped. There is pulsating ‘sensation’ around the area and there’s a degree of tightness. It was uncomfortable at first, but bearable. What bothered me more – five other pairs of eyes were looking on and I was very conscious. I think, that was just my feeling as these were kampong folks, and it was not their first time seeing the Pak Aziz doing the bekam to patients. So I was being paranoid really, not to mention fear.

After 10-15 minutes, he took those two horns off and ready to use the fresh razor to cut my skin and the blood will flow through the small openings/cuts. He was good to intimidate me, "Since you really want it, here goes. I have got some really new blades ready. You just have to bear with this. There is no turning back". It was indeed more frustrating and intimidating when his cocky mantra echoed with small cheers by the patrons. I know Pak Aziz was just trying to test me and Abg Jef. It was more distinct when they knew we were both bekam-virgins. I could not do much. I was already one foot in. With some recitals of Quranic verses, he made some cuts on both bekam areas and put the horns back – I felt it, but I comforted my mind with the thought of getting rid of bad blood out of my system.

After 15-20 minutes, it was time to take the horns off and to reveal what had been sucked out of my body. At first I did not dare to see it. Pak Aziz made a comment "Hmm, banyak ni, bagus ni!" – It is rather a lot. It is good. Apparently, the bekam was sort of "successful" and a lot of “bad blood” was sucked out. This was apparently the "bad/dirty blood with toxins". Finally, I dared myself to look at what’s extracted. I think I will not want to be graphic over here. I will just leave it to your imagination really. Don’t bother really.

Right after that, we drove back. I could not feel anything – there was no immediate reaction, except some mild discomfort around the base of the bekam where the horns were glued to my skin. Alas, I did not expect to feel anything. The next day, only then I felt what Pak Iya told me, "Badan kau akan rasa ringan lepas bekam!" – you will feel lighter after you get bekam done. Well, to say the least, I did feel exactly that the next day (till today). I hope at least some of the toxins if not all, have been extracted out of my body.

* Bekam or cupping is the treatment done by the expert in order to suck the bad blood with toxins out of one’s body. The bekam expert will make some cuts on an area (example: back) and suck the blood out using plastic cup (modern) or buffalo horns (traditional). The vacuumed horn will continue to suck blood out for 15 minutes before the process ends. Normally, the act of bekam is accompanied with recitals of Quranic verses. It is very rare to find this treatment done traditionally now, as it is fast replaced by the modern way whilst trying to achieve the same result.

PS: Looking back at the whole experience, there was another set of experience that I got in the process of getting bekam’ed – the interaction with the kampong folks. It was so refreshing to be a part of the kedai kopi experience, talking the stuff they talk about and more importantly how they demand simplicity in life and how carefree they are. One thing that’s stuck in my head on the way to the bekam place, upon asked by my father why the year has gone by so quickly, Pak Iya said "We are happy. We wake up in the morning, everything is there. We have enough food, we meet our friends before we know it is already night, and time to go to sleep".

Educating Malaysia

A few days ago the result of UPSR for the Standard Six pupils in Malaysia was announced. Nothing is really shocking. As usual, similar to previous 8-10 years ago, the result has shown massive improvement with 48,171 kids secured all A’s. This is the phenomenon in Malaysia right now. Every single year, every single major general examination – result has always been very encouraging to say the least, and more and more students securing strings of A’s.

I happen to be surrounded by teaching professionals. Two of my sisters are teachers at secondary schools and some of my close friends are lecturers at public universities. We do engage ourselves in discussion around the level of education these days, what is going on and where this will lead us into the future. Generally, as the ones who are getting their hands dirty and deep in the jar, with consensus – the result has always been moulded, tampered and altered in order to portray that there is nothing wrong with the system.

This simply means; bumping up marks in order to get more students securing A’s. Hence, mass public will not be asking for answers if the outcome is not as good as expected. Ironically and sadly, this scenario is taking place in all levels of education chain. Be it primary school, secondary or even universities in Malaysia. I think this is very irresponsible and alarming. The result is now apparent – a lot of graduates are unemployed, under-skilled, graduates fighting for jobs that are meant for SPM-leavers etc. Hands down, this is the result of the misguided classification of “Outstanding/Excellent”, “Mediocre/Average” and “Downright-Below-Average” all in the name of getting good press when the results are announced.

I am strong supporter for “education-for-all”. I for one am the result of education-for-all. At the same time, I do not agree at all that everyone needs (or wants) to become engineers, doctors, accountants or everyone must have a degree. I also believe that education is the ticket to springboard someone (thus, a family) out of poverty or hardship. I am ALL for that. But along the way, we do not wish to misguide the young with something that we call a degree. Something has gone completely wrong when we have thousands of graduates with no jobs and refuse to settle for less, believing that their degree/diploma is priceless and they have sweated blood in gaining it. Not to mention that he or she has been on the Dean’s list throughout his/her tenure at the university/college.

It is not uncommon to encounter university students who are arrogant these days. They believe that they have earned some prestige when they become a university student. They really live in their own cocoon. University is supposed to be a formative years for oneself and by no means it should be a turf to nurture arrogance. Arrogance is reflection of how mediocre and uneducated one is. And more seriously, this will be the product that is brewed at the universities. Hence, as uttered before, we will proudly produce graduates who feel so superior with their “worthless” degrees.

The word worthless is definitely too harsh, there is no other words that fits. Just think, most of these people think that all degrees are the same and all universities are the same as well. I have news – it is not. If one is getting a first class honours from a university A, it does not mean it is of the same standard with the first class from university B (for many reasons, for instance university A is less established than B etc.). To put it in a context and to be politically correct, citing an example from the UK, a third class graduate from Oxford University would be more sought-after compared to a first class graduate from Sheffield Hallam. I do not have to get into the mechanics of this. I assume you get the drift now.

So, put the two and two together to get a five!

The whole idea of bumping up results and misleading the mass public about results and performance of students has resulted in irresponsible act of creating a generation of delusional graduates or students. There is nothing wrong with poor performance in major examination if the situation is managed carefully. We should run away from the mentality of wanting people to succeed at tertiary education (read: gaining a degree) while sidelining the importance of skilled workers. We have never given importance to vocational training and even vocational institutes are seen to be the dumping ground for students who do not get placements at universities etc. It has always been taking the passenger’s seat for far too many years.

If we look at more advance countries, UK for example, if you ask students after getting their A’Levels results, the students who plan to pursue nursing or teaching studies at a training college would take as much pride in choosing his/her path as the other person who will read theatre or medicine at their tertiary level. This is due to their clear choice of path by following their interest and the ability of the government to offer ready and mature infrastructure when they leave the college of training for placement in the job market.

Malaysia should follow this example. The days of wanting to become a doctor, an accountant, and a computer scientist are over or at least numbered. It is not cool anymore. There should be a revival of vocational training college concentrating on special skills for school leavers and this path should be taking prime seat the same as the courses offered at typical public universities. At the same time, there should be a meditated master-plan around creating industry for these skilled people.

For instance, we can aim to be number one in health tourism in Asia (sorry, Thailand has announced this a few years ago, so has Singapore), but for the sake of argumentation, I will use this example anyway. So with tip-top health infrastructure laid out to accommodate foreign patients, it creates demand for skilled health workers and this can be supplied by those who “choose” to become nurses, technicians and other support staffs. The salary can be made competitive since we are charging premium to the foreigners who have no problem to pay for excellent service which by far still is significantly cheaper compared to their own country – Malaysia to take advantage of the poor or failing health system in countries like USA or the UK.

This strategy can be replicated around other industries – tourism, automotive, agriculture to name a few, but still with the aim of producing skilled workers.

In conclusion, there is a need to face the music and send the newsflash. It is not cool anymore when you own a worthless degree and not being marketable in the job market out there. Who do you want to blame? Obviously the graduate will not blame themselves since they think they are super-good (hence the arrogance!). Obviously, the system has failed. How can it not fail, when the practitioners in education field claim so? Therefore, there is serious need to go back to the root of the problem – stop magnifying the results and stop mixing the mediocre in the excellent lot. Once we are able to identify and categorise these people without misleading them, we can therefore maximise their potential by addressing what they really need and what they are capable of. More importantly that they are as cool as what they want to be! And it does not necessarily mean becoming a doctor, an accountant or computer scientist.

PS1: When I saw the footage of the girl who braved the mud in the rice field to get his dad to show that she achieved 5As in her UPSR, I just wished that “really is a great beginning” for her to get her family out of the hardship. I seriously did not want her to be misguided later when it takes more than just those 5As to strive and survive in this world.

PS2: I cannot stop but to think – around 48,000 sets of parents are hoping that their “smart” son/daughter will be offered a place at a Sekolah Berasrama Penuh or SBP (government boarding school) when there are only around 6,600 places on offer. From this observation alone we know that the outcome is nothing but misleading. As parents, there should be a mindset shift already by now to console themselves that 5As is no longer the yardstick to gain a place at SBP or even, there are some good ordinary schools out there instead of flooding the SBP gates. What makes it worse, some of the placements at these SBPs are already “reserved” for “children with connections” – do not ask me how this is done. It is another article altogether!

Sejadah Berdiri

Fenomena “Sejadah Berdiri” ni dah lama dah kot (tapi berlaku dalam tahun 2009 ni lah). Berlaku di Malaysia. Eh silap, I mean 1Malaysia, pardon me. Sekarang dah tak de Malaysia, 1Malaysia – jangan salah lagi OK, nanti tak semena-mena passport aku kena koyakkan. So fenomena sejadah berdiri ni berlaku di beberapa tempat di 1Malaysia. So satu 1Malaysia lah sibuk cerita pasal sejadah berdiri.

Orang-orang Melayu di 1Malaysia ni memang suka benda-benda kontroversi macam ni. Pendekatan aku senang aje – ala bukakan aje sejadah tu, dan bentang kan dan buat solat sunat ke apa ke... Ini tak, siap boleh panggil reporter, sempat lagi tu.

Marah pulak orang kat aku yang tak berapa pandai ambil iktibar ni. Ye lah, orang kata, tanda-tanda akhir zaman. Well, kalau nak citer akhir zaman ni tak payah nak tunggu sejadah berdiri, sejadah sujud, sejadah berlari malahan sejadah menggubah diri sendiri jadi kipas atau bentuk anggur untuk jadi hantaran... Tengok aje kiri kanan, banyak dah tanda-tanda akhir zaman – bohsia berleluasa, perempuan pakai tudung tapi pakai spaghetti strap (melambak), beli beer kat 7-Eleven (yg jual Melayu/Muslim, dan beli pun Melayu/Muslim)... So apa kes?

So satu lagi, pasal isu akhir zaman ni, takkan la nak tunggu tanda-tanda baru la nak sedar kebesaran Allah ye tak? Ye lah, dulu gempar orang nampak kalimah Allah di langit... lepas tu ayat-ayat Quran hilang dari mukasuratnya... hmmm, kalau macam tu, jenuh la kan!

PS: Ala tudung periok pun dah lama pandai menari, ada aku kesah???

'Banker to the Poor' by Muhammed Yunus

This is the snapshot of the cover of the book I am reading now. I am glued to it already except the small distractions will lead me to procrastinating to finish it soon. Anyway, it is good read. Sometimes, when it comes to good read, procrastination is the best. You do not want to end. I think I have found my niche, while a lot of people find Harry Porter as their escapism - it is not too much for me to say that I have found the energy to read on real establishment and the real people who want to make a difference. I wish one day my good read would come from Tan Sri Dr Jemilah, our home grown rare breed!

I am now locking myself away from hectic KL and found myself surrounded by this serene beauty of Tg Malim in Perak. It is such a getaway. This morning when I woke up and drove to get some breakfast - I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by the morning dews and mist. That is just fantastic. I know, deep down reality is - if I were to be back in Malaysia, I would end up in KL anyway. But to know that I have the chance to be away from it, either in Tg Malim or in Kuala Pilah, it is enough to comfort me.

That is all about it, I'd better get back to my reading now and I shall share once I am done. I do not know when that is, but I shall.

Room To Read by John Wood

I do not really feel I am on a break now. There are tonnes of things to be done. Amidst the hectic stuff (never have I imagined it to be), I managed to read a book called "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World" by John Wood.


It is an amazing book about John Wood's attempt to give millions of kids around the world access to basic education. It started with his travel to Nepal to scale the mountains but indeed found how scarce the access to education and books the Nepalese kids. After much contemplation he left his good job at Microsoft to pursue his passion.

I was compelled to read this as one of my passions is to do charity. I see charity is somewhat something that can I make an impact on. I am not talking about large scale charity. Although I have started in small scale, I think we have not done enough to make a change. Perhaps one day I will be able to do that. As for now, I will keep on doing the small scale that I am able to do.

Having said that, the other individual reason why this book is so great is that, Wood managed to weave nicely his business acumen honed during his years at Microsoft and how those skills applied to his passion of doing charity. He started off with not knowing what do except to help the Nepalese kids with books. From books donated by friends, now Room To Read has grown leaps and bounds. From Nepal to installing the program in Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Laos and Zambia. It is amazing. By being true to himself, Wood managed to pursue his passion and attract the likes to do the same. This book is simply amazing and this very book is made official academic literature in Korea recently.

My suggestion - read the book, and you can take away what you want to take away from it. Be it the spirit of giving and receiving much more, or why it is important to give access to education especially to girls. Or simply, business wise - how to run operation with low overheads! That is why this book is great - it is all in there.

Speaking about giving access of education to girls. I will now move on to my next book written by Muhammed Yunus, who won Nobel Peace prize for his work in getting women out of poverty in Bangladesh by introducing micro-finance for the women to start business. Perhaps many of you among the readers of my entry would lightly state "Ah, Malaysia has done this. Helping the poor!" Bla Bla Bla... I am not convinced. Doing it with impactful results is completely different story - that is the reason John Wood and Muhammad Yunus are different breed. That is the reason these two are my idols as far as making a difference in the world is concerned.



** This happens to be one of my favourite songs of all time - What About Now by Chris Daughtry. It bring tears every time I listen to this. And now, when I watch the video clip of the song, it encapsulates the spirit of the book above and ironically, John Wood is in the video, handing over books to children!

Anyway, I really suggest you guys take a look at this book if you are into this sort of thing. Happy reading!