Ballerina loses sight, but gains new vision through her foundation

Ballerina loses sight, but gains new vision through her foundation

by | Mar 13, 2017 | people, society

Ballerina loses sight, but gains new vision through her foundation

For Yvonne Foong, setting up an international foundation and writing her second book seems like the most natural thing to do.

This is despite her losing her sight a year ago, and her hearing when she was 19 years old.

Foong, 31, has Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2), an incurable illness where benign tumours develop in the nervous system which caused her to lose her hearing in her teens and later on, her vision.

Undeterred by the disease and its complications, she continues to pursue her goals of helping others through her foundation aimed at NF2 patients worldwide.

On a sunny day in Petaling Jaya, Foong spoke to Malaysiakini about her childhood experiences that have set her on a trajectory for her mission in life.

Before the interview began, her mother reassured me that I would be able to communicate with Foong by writing on her palm.

The petite Foong sat down next to me, greeting me with a smile and a spirited wave.

She extended her left arm and opened her palm, miming writing on it.

I moved my index finger to form a “how” on her palm, and she nodded and vocalised each word as I wrote.

“How do you feel today?” I completed writing the rest of my question on her palm.

“I am a little tired today,” she replied.

She had been busy yesterday, she explained, working with her personal assistant Hui Li on a PowerPoint presentation for the talk she will be giving on Sunday at the Federal Academy of Ballet (FAB), where she used to dance.

She said she used to edit her PowerPoint presentations herself but has needed Hui Li’s help ever since she lost her eyesight last year.

Even so, her voice is jovial and spirited, filling the living room of her house, furnished with a few pieces of rattan furniture and a vase of fake flowers near the window.

I moved my finger on her palm to ask her if this is her childhood home.

She did not grow up in this house but in Subang Jaya, she said.

One of Foong’s earliest childhood memories was making frequent trips to the hospital when her father suffered a brain haemorrhage.

“My father’s brain was damaged in a way he was unable to control his emotions or express himself congruently,” she told me.

Unaware of symptoms

Her aunt Ivy, her father’s younger sister, was close to her father and she stepped in to care for Foong as her mother became burdened with caring for her father.

“See this deformity in my left eye?

“My aunt realised how my left eye affected my self-esteem and also that my parents were unable to care for me optimally, so she sent me to learn ballet at FAB,” she said, recounting her youth.

In addition to ballet lessons, Ivy sent her niece to figure skating classes and squash lessons in the hope that Foong would “grow up like a normal child”.

Under her aunt’s tutelage, Foong’s daily life as a child soon became inundated with activities, which she loved.

Through these activities, she said she developed dignity, honour and a keen sense of self-awareness.

In her early teens, the symptoms of her disease started manifesting, though she and her family were unaware of it.

She said she continued to lead an active life even as her body began giving in.

At 14 years old, she took her Grade 5 ballet examinations even as her spine was collapsing.

“I fell down very dramatically while doing a pirouette,” Foong recalled, adding that she received a high commendation despite that.

She also continued participating in figure skating competitions, squash tournaments and choir performances, even as she lost both her hearing and her balance.

“I wanted to live the best I could,” she replied, especially after her aunt died of terminal cancer in 2001.

It was in 2009 when Foong, at 16, was finally diagnosed with NF2.

It was then she learned her deformed left eye was not deformed after all, it had simply been pushed upwards by a tumour in her face.

What she did after her diagnosis was widely reported. She started a campaign called ‘Heart4Hope’ where she sold T-shirts to fund her own surgeries in the US.

That same year she wrote an autobiography entitled ‘I’m Not Sick, Just a Bit Unwell’, with all proceeds from the book going towards raising funds for her surgeries.

She started speaking at universities and events about her experiences living with NF2, and began keeping a blog where she discusses her life up to this day.

‘Forgiveness is not easy’

In January 2016, Foong underwent two brain surgeries as well as a surgery to install a feeding tube into her body at the US National Institute of Health (NIH) in Maryland.

One week after her surgeries, her eyes dried up and she lost her eyesight, she said.

“The doctors in the ward neglected to give me eye care. During the surgery, the facial nerve was irritated and this impaired tear production,” she explained.

Foong’s face showed no trace of contempt or anger while relating the story.

She shifted her bony shoulders, tilted her head down and brought her right hand to her chin.

“I was upset, but I have been working on forgiveness. Forgiveness is not easy.

“When I am relaxed I can forgive but when I have difficulty doing things, the frustration surfaces, then I will need to work on forgiveness again.”

There is a silver lining in this, she said.

“Before my vision was damaged, it was very difficult for me to live slow (as) I am used to living fast.

“Now it is an opportunity for me to slow down,” she mused.

We had been talking for over an hour by this point in the interview and Foong sounded like she was running out of breath.

We paused the interview to take photographs of her and her childhood pictures.

Foong needed help adjusting her face to look at the camera and joked about needing Photoshop because she was not wearing any make-up.

Foundation her life mission

She returned to Malaysia in February 2016 after recuperating from her surgeries in the US.

With Hui Li’s help, she got started on her second autobiography about her life as a young adult.

She also began building Works of Gratitude, a charitable foundation that aims to assist NF2 patients worldwide in getting treatment in the US so they have a better chance of survival.

“The foundation is a big goal, it is now my life mission.

“Even after I came back from surgery with damaged vision, I still had to continue,” Foong almost ran out of breath as she raced through her words.

I tapped her shoulder to assure her we could slow down the conversation but she was determined to continue.

The active lifestyle she had as an adolescent had made her accustomed to keeping herself busy.

“It has already been programmed in me,” she said.

She first tried starting the foundation in Malaysia but struggled to land sponsors, especially when the economy slowed down in the middle of last year. She then realised she could start it in the US.

“All the doctors who can help us survive are there (the US), so I decided to work with doctors in the US instead.

“Once I changed (the direction of) my goal, things started to grow and doors started opening,” Foong said, beaming.

One doctor she is partnering with is Dr Rick A Friedman, whom she has known for 12 years.

Friedman is the division director of skull-based surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

Works of gratitude

Through the foundation, patients will have access to a fixed price package of US$80,000 (RM340,000) per brain surgery rather than be billed for each procedure they undergo, and the foundation will subsidise all hospital charges, an estimated 65 percent of the total bill, Foong explained.

She believes sponsors will come forward once she reveals her foundation’s plans and strategies. She also believes her foundation will benefit patients from all over the world.

“In many parts of the world NF2 patients became paralysed and perish after just two or three surgeries.

“This foundation aims to change many people’s fates… In many countries, people would not even speak about the mortal truth of NF2,” Foong wrote on her blog.

She does not want other NF2 patients to rely on her or on her foundation but rather she hopes to empower them to make decisions to extend their own lives.

“I want to guide others to help themselves,” she said, adding that she hopes to launch Works of Gratitude this June.

So what is daily life like for you, I wrote on her palm.

“Now that I can’t see, I can’t do much except eat, sleep and take care of myself. I can’t write or use a computer or use a phone. I need to speak slowly,” she said.

Foong sipped on some water.

“But since I already have this condition, I might as well do something good with it. I might as well help people.”

More on VOIZ asia

Thaipusam spray paint threat spawns 'painted goddesses'

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Feeling inspired? Share Yvonne’s story

Thaipusam spray paint threat spawns ‘painted goddesses’

Thaipusam spray paint threat spawns ‘painted goddesses’

by | Mar 6, 2017 | people, society

Thaipusam spray paint threat spawns 'painted goddesses'

Geraldine Tong | 6 March 2017
中文版Bahasa Malaysia
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Anger was the first thing artist Ruby Subramaniam felt when she read a vigilante group’s threat to use aerosol spray paint on “inappropriately dressed” women at Thaipusam events.

Instead of stewing in her anger, the self-taught artist decided to do something about it.

She reached out to friends whom she knew, had also been vocal against the vigilante group and proposed an art project titled “This Body Is Mine”, where she painted women to symbolise Hindu goddesses instead.

“It started out in the beginning as something to poke fun (at the vigilante group).

“If you’re going to spray paint us, might as well I paint on women’s bodies because at least it will be prettier,” Ruby said to Malaysiakini in an interview at Talent Lounge in Damansara yesterday.

Of course she was angry when she first heard the news, the 28-year-old said.

As someone who has attended Thaipusam since young, she said she has seen and experienced many issues during the events.

Not only are there men who are drunk and playing really loud non-religious music, Ruby revealed that she was molested at Batu Caves during a Thaipusam event when she was in her teens.

“Women have been keeping quiet all these years, tolerating these things they have been doing to us, but suddenly now our skin disturbs you?” she asked.

But Ruby knew if she wanted to get her message across in a way that encouraged discourse instead of merely inviting brickbats, she had to do it in a subtle and artistic way.

Ruby and her collaborators shared the same objective, that is they wanted to see the culture be more accepting of the different roles that men and women play instead of focusing too much on the way women dress.

“If we are going to pray, let us focus on the praying, instead of focusing on the clothes,” she said.

Along with her friends, and several photographers, they began to plan what they were going to do.

They decided to base it around the three Hindu goddesses who Ruby described as the “foundation of all of it”.

“The creator (Saraswathy), the preserver (Lakshmi) and the destroyer (Kali), so I based ‘This Body Is Mine’ on that concept and then chose the values based on the hopes I have for younger women out there to embrace their bodies,” she said.

Positive response from women

First, they had to decide which goddesses Ruby was to draw and how she would convey the symbolism of the goddesses on her models.

She then released control to the models, all classical Indian dancers, who decided how they would portray the goddesses they were meant to embody.

Finally, the photographer captures the moments in the most aesthetically pleasing way.

The whole process, spanning the planning, three separate photoshoots and editing, lasted about 10 days, she said.

She began posting the photos on Feb 1, and has since received overwhelmingly positive response.

“A lot of women have come up to me, saying that this is something that they needed and they interpreted it on a personal level, not related to Thaipusam.

“It was like ‘If I see this model do this and be comfortable in her body, that makes me comfortable with mine too’.

“That was something really nice to hear, that a collaborative effort like this, a small idea, ended up comforting a lot of other women about their own body,” she said.

Ruby said this is not the first time her artwork had challenged social convention.

Describing herself as a feminist even from a young age, she said a lot of her work tries to get people to question themselves or the society.

“I draw women who are half nude and that makes a lot of people uncomfortable.

“I like that quote, ‘art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable,” she said.

Though she recalled that anger fueled her initial desire to start the “This Body Is Mine” project, she said her collaborators and her had a lot of fun during the process.

The first photoshoot was with Harshini Devi Retna, who was painted with an owl as a symbol of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, the preserver and Vinoth Raj Pillai as the photographer.

The photoshoot took place at Masjid Jamek, and Ruby commended Harshini’s bravery in bearing the gazes of the public at the crowded area during the photoshoot.

“At that point, you could see everyone staring. We kind of had a giggle about it, and it was interesting to see how the public was reacting to it,” Ruby said.

She said when they began putting up the pictures later, someone said to Harshini that “it was nice that you have taken something ugly and turned it into quite an empowering message”.

With Nalina Nair, who was painted with a tiger on her back to depict Kali the destroyer, she said the photoshoot was at Sungai Gabai, Hulu Langat, about a 40-minute drive from Kuala Lumpur city centre.

Unlike Masjid Jamek, Sungai Gabai was very quiet and the women, along with photographer Vicknes Waran, had ample space to utilise.

“Nalina, she was really into her role. She took her time to get into that role and really embodied that personality, which is why when you see the pictures, they are really strong and powerful,” Ruby said.

The two women bonded over their shared belief that women are often told off for speaking their minds, she said.

Nalina, she said, is active in politics and often gets told that she is speaking with too much emotion in her speeches, and should tone down.

“A male politician probably doesn’t get that,” she mused.

Empowering experience

The final photoshoot was held in Brickfields with G Rathimalar painted with a swan along her arm to symbolise Saraswathy, with Kenny Loh as the photographer.

As this was the third photoshoot, there was already some awareness about this project and some supporters turned up to watch the shoot.

Rathimalar also constantly updated news of the ongoing shoot on her social media, Ruby said, which sparked more conversation about the project.

“I had goosebumps throughout that entire photoshoot.

“She (Rathimalar) is just so graceful and so beautiful. Throughout the whole time in Brickfields, she was just dancing through the side of the streets despite all these people gawking at her.

“That is the exact true value that we wanted to create out of this thing, and that is, despite people looking at you and judging you, you are still graceful in your form and in your art,” she said.

When asked if the project would end with the conclusion of Thaipusam, she said she is interested in continuing it in the future.

“Thaipusam was one thing that triggered this project, but a lot of women are coming up to me saying this is really empowering. So I want it to grow into something else,” she said.

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Speaking up for stay-at-home mothers

Speaking up for stay-at-home mothers

by | Mar 3, 2017 | people, society

Speaking up for stay-at-home mothers

Ooi Heng, Elijah Khor & Jia Ying | 3 March 2017
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In less than a week, the world will be observing the International Women’s Day. This year, we at the Political Studies for Change (KPRU) think that it’s time to take stock of the state of stay-at-home mothers in Malaysia.

Nowadays, while there are women who are working mothers, there are also women who are being traditional stay-at-home mothers, taking care of their children and do the household chores, and not taking up a job with income. Therefore, their husbands, being fathers, would be the sole breadwinners of the families.

However, how many of us actually understand the needs of the stay-at-home mothers?

Typically, while stay-at-home mothers have been labeled as the ones who are having the duty to manage the household affairs, their contributions are being taken for granted.

It is being assumed that being a stay-at-home mother does not do much help, as the job does not generate income for the family. However, their job is actually not easy – in fact, they are playing an important role in supporting their families, despite not contributing on the financial side.

Yet their families tend to underestimate their workload as well as their pressure and tiredness. We might not realise that they are not only unpaid but also typically having no day off, while employed people mostly have one or two days off per week.

According to the Labour Force Survey Report 2015 (on those aged 15 to 64 years old), the overall labour force participation rate was 67.9 percent (14,518,000 people) with 6,869,900 being outside the labour force, while the labour force participation rate among females was 54.1 percent.

According to the Report on Key Findings: Fifth Malaysian Population and Family Survey [MPFS-5] 2014 by the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN), among married women aged 15-59 years (7,644 survey samples out of estimated population of 8,680,200) there were 46.5 percent who were working, 42.4 percent who have stopped working, and 11.1 percent who never worked.

%

Working mom

%

Stopped working

%

Never worked

Among those who stopped working, 32.4 percent quit because of childcare problems, 16.4 percent quit because of marriage, and 11.7 percent quit because of following spouse on transfer. Even among working women, there were 18.7 percent of them having problems in work-life balance.

These figures show that stay-at-home mothers still consist of a largely significant section of the society, and would require attention. It is unfair for anyone, especially their husbands, to simply slam them for being “unemployed” or “jobless” while stay-at-home mothers have to maintain the household day and night while taking care of their children virtually 24 hours a day.

On the other hand, the husband, being the breadwinner, having work during his office hours, tends not to share any meaningful responsibilities with his wife, with the excuse of “being tired after work”.

Yes, it can be really tiring after working for eight hours or so, but many have not realised the very details of the tasks done by a stay-at-home mother – feeding her children, teaching or disciplining her children, ensuring the safety of her children, cleaning up the house, cooking for the family, and so on. These can be even more tiring than what her husband does in his workplace.

Therefore, we would like to propose a few policies to assist these stay-at-home mothers in their daily lives.

Mental health issues

First and foremost, stay-at-home mothers are not immune to emotional or mental health problems, as they are also working people, except that they are working at home with no monthly salary, no annual increment, and not entitled to annual leaves. This would be further complicated by the fact that many of them do not even have a weekly day off.

However, due to negligence by others, their stress and emotional problems tend to be unseen or unaccepted. As they accumulate their stress and emotional problems, this may actually further develop into mental health problems.

Mental health describes a broad range of mental and emotional conditions. According to the 2015 National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) by the Health Ministry, among the 14,362 of adult respondents (aged 16 and above) surveyed (with 3,161 refused and 3,417 ineligible for being unable to read and understand Malay and English), there were 29.2 percent of them having mental health problems, and those at higher risks were females, younger adults, “other bumiputera”, and those from the low-income families. This is higher than 10.7 percent in 1996.

In addition, according to Global Burden of Disease (GBD) by Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in 2015, it showed that three out of the top 10 health problems causing the most disabilities were mental illness, which were depressive disorders (4th), anxiety disorders (8th) and schizophrenia (10th). Depressive disorders were included in the top 10 causes of disabilities and deaths combined in Malaysia, ranking 9th.

Generally speaking, the pressure among women is higher due to a variety of responsibilities that must be shouldered. Stay-at-home mothers are confronted with a stressful life. They spend most of their time looking after their children and managing daily house works.

Because of this, they have no quality time reserved purely for themselves, not even regular weekend breaks, and they have limited social activities, therefore hardly able to make new friends. Their lack of communication and interaction with others may lead them to risk of mental problems.

Mental health problem of stay-at-home mothers is a serious issue that should be addressed, as this occasionally resulted in suicide attempts.

In March 2015, a mother attempted to commit suicide by jumping from the fifth floor of an apartment in Taman Setia Jaya, together with her 10-month-old baby. In October 2015, a new mother fell to her death from the 16th floor of a condominium in Bangsar South, just 10 days after she gave birth to her first child.

In July 2016, a woman who was separated with her husband killed her two sons (respectively aged seven and four), before hanging herself in the toilet at home. In August 2016, a woman who suffered from depression and had undergone psychiatric treatment, dragged her three-year old son and jumped from the 32nd floor of an apartment in Bukit Jalil.

All these cases alerted us the severity of the issue. Such tragedies should be reduced, if not completely prevented, if it is taken seriously. Immediate action is warranted for this.

Firstly, we need to address their emotional problems and mental illness, if any. We need to deal with this by helping them to get treatment, which is counselling and probably medication as well. In the meanwhile, always listen to them and do not jump to conclusions while listening.

In March 2015, a mother attempted to commit suicide by jumping from the fifth floor of an apartment in Taman Setia Jaya, together with her 10-month-old baby. In October 2015, a new mother fell to her death from the 16th floor of a condominium in Bangsar South, just 10 days after she gave birth to her first child.

In July 2016, a woman who was separated with her husband killed her two sons (respectively aged seven and four), before hanging herself in the toilet at home. In August 2016, a woman who suffered from depression and had undergone psychiatric treatment, dragged her three-year old son and jumped from the 32nd floor of an apartment in Bukit Jalil.

All these cases alerted us the severity of the issue. Such tragedies should be reduced, if not completely prevented, if it is taken seriously. Immediate action is warranted for this.

Firstly, we need to address their emotional problems and mental illness, if any. We need to deal with this by helping them to get treatment, which is counselling and probably medication as well. In the meanwhile, always listen to them and do not jump to conclusions while listening.

Supporting mothers with counselling allowance

With counselling, a person may speak up their problems in a confidential and dependable environment to their respective counsellors. A counsellor is trained to listen with empathy. They can help you deal with any negative thoughts and feelings you have. Through the treatment, stay-at-home mothers may find it helpful to speak about their concerns or feelings with others.

Unfortunately, many stay-at-home mothers are unable to have access to counselling services due to high counselling fees and accessibility of counselling service in their area.

Therefore, we suggest that the government should come out with a counselling allowance for stay-at-home spouses. For instance, the counselling allowance will enable recipients to get counselling twice a year for free. Such initiative will definitely encourage stay-at-home mothers to seek for counselling when in need.

Currently, we do not have enough psychiatrists in Malaysia. According to Psychiatric and Mental Health Services Operational Policy 2011, all specialist hospitals shall have a Psychiatric Department or unit with resident psychiatrist/s. These units shall provide general psychiatric services (eg. outpatient clinics, inpatient beds and hospital-based community psychiatric services).

While the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends having one psychiatrist for every 10,000 people (i.e ratio of 1:10,000), we are far behind that, having a ratio of only 0.76:100,000 as per year 2014. In the same year, the ratio between social workers (in mental health sector) with the population was only 0.84:100,000, and as for psychologist, the ratio was only 0.89:100,000.

According to Health Minister Dr. S Subramaniam, as of Sept 28, 2016, there were only 360 registered psychiatrists in Malaysia (190 in government hospitals and 170 in private hospitals), and out of these only 13 were clinical psychiatrists.

Addressing the shortage of psychiatrists

We need to address the shortage of psychiatrists and psychologists, in order to meet the psychological needs of stay-at-home spouses. While it can be very challenging to recruit more students (among medical graduates) for a psychiatry degree, we would also suggest trying out telemedicine, or for this case, it would be “telepsychiatry”, so that existing psychiatrists may make use of such technology to provide care for a remote patient without actually meeting them.

While this does not increase supply, this helps to meet demands more efficiently and cut down on bureaucratic red tapes. This is because there are many occasions where the patient does not actually need to personally meet the doctor, but only need telecommunication, such as a mere diagnosis and counselling, and also follow-ups after treatment.

At the same time, we would need to mobilise social workers and psychologists, who are both non-qualified in medicine, to provide basic counselling services and some other necessary social concern work for stay-at-home mothers in need.

This is to free up the psychiatrists, who are qualified in medicine, so that they can focus more of their own resources on mental patients who really need medical care. We would need to work with relevant non-governmental organisations (NGO) in the field to encourage those in need, including stay-at-home mothers, to seek help from social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists.

When people in need are able to reach out to psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers via telecommunication, it is not only usually efficient, but also helps to protect their own identity. Such a privacy and confidentiality is needed because they can be easily stigmatised by the society.

Stay-at-home mothers’ savings for retirement

Besides that, we need to take note that stay-at-home mothers tend not to accumulate enough savings for retirement. Over the years, women’s wing of political parties in this region has called for more support for stay-at-home mothers with little savings in formal retirement protection schemes like Employees Provident Fund (EPF) accounts, Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts and the like.

They urged their husbands and adult working children to take the “sensible approach” and make regular voluntary top-ups to the retirement accounts of stay-at-home mothers. Think tanks and public policy institutes even suggested a mandatory system where working spouses make automatic contributions to the retirement accounts of non-working spouses.

The federal government should consider such idea and implement a similar policy, making it mandatory in Malaysia. The EPF provides retirement benefits for members through management of their savings in an efficient and reliable manner.

Stay-at-home spouses should be having an EPF account where they can enjoy the attractive interest rates paid, as typical employees. Under the current system, they can actually voluntarily join the EPF scheme by self-contribution, just as domestic servants and self-employed people. However, we would suggest making it mandatory for their working family members to contribute a specific amount of money into the stay-at-home spouses’ account every month.

Sick leave for family care

Everyone may fall sick anytime, and stay-at-home spouses are of course not an exception. However, it can be a headache when a stay-at-home mother falls sick – should she just take a rest on the day when her husband or children fall sick, or should she continue her chores as usual?

Since there are calls for paternal leave as a complement to the maternal leave (and there are a few private companies offering this for their male employees), we would also suggest that the law should allow working spouses to take sick leave, in case their stay-at-home spouse falls sick. With this, the working spouse may utilise the leave to stay at home and take care of their sick spouse, and take over the duties at home until the sick spouse recovers.

Self-employed benefit for stay-at-home mothers

While currently each eligible employee is being protected by the Social Security Organisation (Socso) from work-related injuries and illness, the government is pushing out to extend coverage for self-employed people through the proposed Self-Employed Act, beginning from taxi drivers, in the coming Parliament session.

Therefore, we would suggest extending Socso coverage for stay-at-home spouses as well, since they are of no exception to injuries at home. For this purpose, we would suggest that the working spouses and their respective employers be required to contribute slightly more than the current total contribution rate. From then, in case the stay-at-home spouse gets injured while carrying out household tasks, they may make claims from Socso for medical treatment.

Other than implementing laws and policies, we also believe that education is the key. Rather than merely enforcing laws, we should also seek to educate the public and raise awareness about the responsibilities and price to pay for having a family, as it is not a typical workplace which we need to govern with labour laws.

After all, the understanding from family and friends is vital for stay-at-home spouses. Family members must appreciate their efforts in running the family. We believe that all the stay-at-home spouses should be given some time for themselves regularly, so that they will have more personal time to do whatever they like without worrying about the family.

However, despite having such discussions all over the world, it might not be realistic to implement a mandatory, statutory day off and working hours for stay-at-home spouses, as the job scope would come into question.

Furthermore, a family should be full of love and understanding, rather than being governed with potentially inhumane and inflexible laws being set by outsiders. We believe that among the root cause of problems faced by stay-at-home spouses is the lack of understanding by their family members, especially their working spouses.

Therefore, knowing that for decades there have been campaigns (mostly advertisements or public service announcements) to raise awareness about crime, smoking, drinking, drug addiction, dengue and sexually transmitted disease, we believe that we need similar campaigns to make the public realise how heavy the responsibility of a stay-at-home spouse is.

We should let the public understand how much a full-time housewife needs to sacrifice for her family, and even the damage inflicted by an irresponsible husband.

As policy makers in a democracy cannot make too much invasion into the people’s family space, we can only use education and awareness so that when husbands realise how hard their wives’ job is, they would consider sharing some responsibilities with their wives, and possibly giving a weekly day off as in most workplaces.

When couples manage to come into a common understanding and make compromises, or better, reaching a win-win solution, we believe that it will solve many family problems, not only problems faced by stay-at-home spouses, but also other problems such as child abuse, domestic violence, divorce and so on.

We hope that with at least some of these policies implemented, everyone would appreciate the responsibilities and contributions being made by stay-at-home parents, so that they are simply not treated as some sort of free-of-charge maids or servants. We want working spouses to be more responsible towards their stay-at-home spouses.

References:

OOI HENG, ELIJAH KHOR & JIA YING are with Political Studies for Change (KPRU or Kajian Politik untuk Perubahan).

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Banned film’s director searches for M’sian identity

Banned film’s director searches for M’sian identity

by | Mar 3, 2017 | Entertainment, people, society

Banned film's director searches for M'sian identity

Show Ying Xin | 3 March 2017
中文版
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Lau Kek Huat

He was born in Sitiawan, Perak, the hometown of the last Malayan Communist Party (MCP) secretary-general, Chin Peng. During festivals, his family members will light up candles and burn incenses in front of a portrait of his grandfather. However, the story of his grandfather was never told.

The grandfather was a MCP member. One day, the family heard three gunshots, they knew that he had been killed by the British forces. From then on, his father has no memories of his communist father.

Lau Kek Huat, 38, graduated from National Taiwan University of Arts, majoring in motion pictures. His debut feature documentary “Absent Without Leave” initially looks for the connection between his grandfather, father and himself, but eventually digs out the forgotten chapter of Malaysia’s official history.

Initially, he wanted to find out everything about his communist grandfather, but that journey went beyond his control. He managed to interview a number of ex-communist fighters and anti-Japanese soldiers.

However, the documentary was banned from being screened in Malaysia, for “having elements which may be negative for national development”.

Undoubtedly, Lau was disappointed about the ban.

“I thought it could be shown in Malaysia, this is my promise to them (the former communists),” said Lau in an interview with Malaysiakini.

“I planned to invite them to the cinema, and they will receive applause from the audience – that on-site feeling would be different.”

He believes that his interviewees would like to know what contemporary Malaysians’ views toward them are.

Empathy for the fighters

The 83-minute documentary was made from historical materials and interview clips of 60 hours. Lau hopes that through this film, Malaysian audiences can feel empathy for those who joined the independent struggles during that historical period.

“I think it’s with neither overbearing nor servile attitude that we proceed to tell their stories. We need to feel their feelings – not heroically, also not tragically.”

What if his grandfather was not a communist member, but helping the Commonwealth armed forces to kill the communists? Lau will still tell such a story of his grandfather, he said.

“I hope we have more stories from both sides. It’s important for self-reflection.”

The film’s production house Hummingbird Pictures claims that the film’s intention was not to portray the communists in a heroic light.

“The history of the Malayan Communist Party is a scar in the collective memory of this country… without mutual understanding, there is no chance for us to recover.”

So, the production house decided to make the film available for free online – only for Malaysians – between Feb 28 and March 5.

Lau Kek Huat studied business at the National University of Singapore before he became a primary school teacher in the country. Later, he decided to further study film in Taiwan.

He was awarded the Best Short Film Award twice (2009 and 2013) as well as the Best Director Award (2009) by the Taiwan Golden Harvest Festival, and has directed a few acclaimed short films.

He was selected as candidate in Golden Horse Academy 2013, which was led by renowned Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien.

In an interview, he mentioned Hou’s masterpiece “A City of Sadness”, where in one scene at a dinner table, he felt the same repressive atmosphere which his family shares.

Lau has been estranged from his father since young. They didn’t even speak with each other for almost a decade after Lau moved to Taiwan.

It turned out that his “absent father” also has an absent father – the communist grandfather who died young.

So he brought back his video camera from Taiwan, seeking stories of absent fathers from his family members and relatives.

5-year journey

Beyond his expectations, the 5-year journey of searching family histories dug up a hidden, untold chapter of Malaysian history.

Lau eventually went to Southern Thailand, Hong Kong and China to interview a number of former communist members. Some of them were sent back to China in the 60s, some stayed in Southern Thailand “peace villages”, while some returned to Malaysia after 1989 Hatyai Peace Agreement.

During the revolutionary era, many of the fighters were not necessarily well-equipped with Marxist theory or ideas of communism, but they were directly dissatisfied with foreign invasion and all forms of oppression. So, they chose to fight against injustice in the method they believed was right.

Yet, Lau is reluctant to tell these people’s stories through a grand historical narrative, as it will easily fall into the battle of ideology. He wants to avoid judging them in our own terms.

“I don’t have any political position, and I don’t want to argue whether theirs were right or wrong… I don’t want to use ‘big history’ or any political position to apply to them.”

“They believed in something, sacrificed their youth or even life for it. They should have their dignity preserved.”

“Human dignity can’t be violated… what I want to depict is the dignity of these seemingly small characters (under big history).”

‘Not a historian’

Many of these interviewees are already over 80 or 90 years old, but they still believe what they sacrificed will pay off – a change for a better world.

“I am not a historian, thus I am not rewriting history. Filming is about telling stories of the past, about how the past influences us.”

“Or, it is about what people will benefit from the past, when they understand history through films.”

Intentionally, “Absent Without Leave” did not interview any leaders of the struggles, but those untold characters with “flesh and blood”.

Some interviewees also expressed their curiosity to Lau, on why he doesn’t tell the stories of their party or leaders – why small characters like them?

“They have been burdened with too much pressure, the suffering was so big that they even didn’t think of themselves as a human being (but only subordinated to a party).”

“We also forgot that they are humans, we tend to use all kinds of labels to judge them. But we forgot that they are also humans, they participated (in communist struggles) just for simple reasons.”

Lau confessed that he knew little of communist history before shooting this film. In school, textbooks described the communists as terrorists; in society, such “sensitive” topics are not openly discussed; while in the family, many do not wish to recall the painful memories.

As a filmmaker, he challenges himself to touch upon taboos or things that he fears, such as the communist history and the relationship between father and son.

He browsed through related books on Malayan communists, including ex-members’ memoirs and essays written by researchers. He also spent quite a lot of money on getting historical film archives, only to allow audiences to really feel the atmosphere of that era.

Search for M’sian identity

Like many who grew up from Chinese-educated background, Lau’s Malaysian identity has always been obscured by racial politics. For him, this film allows him to return to the homeland.

In the last scene of the film, Lau accompanied his father back to Sitiawan to look for the ancestral house where his father was born, and possibly where his grandfather was killed.

However, they couldn’t find the exact location as the place is now surrounded by oil palm plantation.

“I don’t know where it (old house) is now,” his father said.

In the film, Lau’s aunt revealed that whenever his grandfather came back from the jungle, he would bring her and Lau’s father to shower – something that Lau’s father has no memories of.

“He (father) thought he has no father, but (after watching this clip)his expression seems to tell you that he found the bond connecting himself and his father,” Lau said.

“Only when people find the connection, then they would know they truly live in this place.”

“I, too, have been trying to find the connection. Or else, you have no ties with your homeland.”

Facts concerning Mat Rempits and Mat Cyclists

Facts concerning Mat Rempits and Mat Cyclists

by | Mar 2, 2017 | people, society

Facts concerning Mat Rempits & Mat Cyclists

James Nayagam | 2 March 2017
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In 2010 the Suriana Welfare Society Malaysia did a survey on Mat Rempits and realised the factors that gave rise to the possible causes of the situation whereby teenagers are involved in group activities outside their home.

They gather in groups late into the night and get involved in daring and dangerous forms of activity and with disregard to law and life.

In all cases of persons interviewed, the teenagers came from low-cost housing areas. They lived in cramped conditions with limited space. As such the teenagers gather outside their flats to meet their friends and have their activities. In fact, 80 percent of their parents interviewed did not know where or what their child was doing or with whom they were with.

Most teens were left to themselves and can be seen enjoying their freedom riding motorcycles without helmets or motorcycle licence, the youngest being 13 years of age. There was no parent monitoring.

We measured their self-esteem. Before they joined the group, the level of self-esteem was as low as 16 but this level soars up high to a level of 25 after they join the group. This indicates that as individuals they could be experiencing neglect and low-self esteem, but as a group, they have a sense of belonging and unity to the point they can ride their bikes fast and dangerously – death-defying and challenging the police on duty.

At the end of the race, they get a prize of RM5,000 and the other challenger’s motorcycle.

Most had difficulty coping with education. Often they were poor performers in schools and preferred to play truant. There was no motivation for the teenagers to do better in school and found no link between education in relation to their future. In fact, the teenagers found it a strain to attend schools.

Quite a number of them came from dysfunctional families. The mothers or fathers were divorced and remarried. The new ‘father’ or ‘mother’ refused to accept them as their own children. The teens also included those whose parents were single parents, who found it a challenge to manage their teenage child.

A number of them interviewed were slow learners or had learning disabilities. The children were never assessed as to their level of disability. The children very innocently got themselves involved in the wrong company of friends.

As such we need to address these contributing factors within our community so as to address the situation, rather than pointing fingers at persons and blaming everyone else for the problem. We need to take stock of the issues and work together to seek an effective solution.

James Nayagam is the chairperson of Suriana Welfare Society Malaysia.

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Should sex offenders be monitored?

Should sex offenders be monitored?

by | Mar 2, 2017 | people, society

Should sex offenders be monitored?

James Nayagam | 2 March 2017
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The question before us is – should a sex offender convicted and who had served his sentence overseas be monitored upon return to Malaysia? This question has received mixed responses.

Some felt that he has paid for his crime and that he is a free man. Others felt that taking into account the nature of the offence committed, he should be monitored.

To help us understand the situation, we must ask ourselves as to whether the person is a threat to society. To consider this question we must consider the nature of the offence committed. In this case, it was rape and sexual abuse and the victims being young girls. In fact, it was reported that in one case that he could have sexually abused over 1,000 women. Therefore sexual offences are not to be equated with any other forms of crime. For one, it has to do with causing bodily harm.

We must understand that sex offences/paedophilia is a sickness of the mind and not any ordinary crime. So even after a person has served his sentence, it does not mean he is free of his mental health condition. Therefore, like any form of a contagious disease, preventive measures must be taken to ensure that such a form of crime is contained. This can be done by monitoring the convicted offender.

The monitoring does in fact act as a follow-up for the person to live a normal life and to control his craving to commit a sexual crime. The offence-specific treatment that research has shown to be most effective holds offenders accountable. It is based on the notion that if an offender can be taught to manage successfully his propensity to sexually abuse, he becomes less of a risk to past and potential victims.

Sex offenders must be monitored intensively during community supervision in order to evaluate their level of commitment to and compliance with all imposed special conditions. This supervision typically should include:

  • Ensuring that the offender is actively engaged in and consistently attending an approved community-based treatment programme;
  • Verifying the suitability of the offender’s residence and place of employment;
  • Monitoring the offender’s activities by conducting frequent, unannounced field visits at the offender’s home, at his place of employment, and during his leisure time (eg, is he engaging in inappropriate, high-risk behavior such as collecting items that depict or are attractive to children?); and
  • Helping the offender to develop a community support system – including friends, family members, and employers who are aware of the offender’s criminal history, are supportive of the community supervision plan, and can recognise the sex offender’s risk factors.
    As such any convicted sex offender regardless if they are convicted in the country or overseas must be monitored for the benefit of himself and the possible future victims.

 

James Nayagam is the chairperson of Suriana Welfare Society Malaysia.

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