Con Job

Guess what dropped into my inbox LOL. Complete with a BBC news attachment kakaka... Mulau!

From:

Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2011 10:55 AM

To: aziz_katyayan1@rediffmail.com

Subject: Re: I am looking forward to hear from you

Bah, kalau ko buli hisap tontolou ko sendiri, barulah sia termakan tipu ko ni.

From: Aziz Katyayan

Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2011 7:44 AM

To: .

Subject: I am looking forward to hear from you

FROM THE DESK OF MR Aziz Katyayan

AUDITING AND ACCOUNTING MANAGER,

UNITED BANK OF AFRICA (U.B.A) OUAGADOUGOU-BURKINA FASO.

CONFIDENTIAL TRUST BUSINESS DEAL

I KNEW THIS MESSAGE WILL COME TO YOU AS A SURPRISE. I AM THE AUDITING MANAGER IN UNITED BANK OF AFRICA (U.B.A), OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA FASO. I HOPED THAT YOU WILL NOT EXPOSE OR BETRAY THIS TRUST AND CONFIDENT THAT I AM ABOUT TO IMPOSE ON YOU FOR THE MUTUAL BENEFIT OF OUR FAMILIES.

I NEED YOUR URGENT ASSISCE IN TRANSFERRING THE SUM OF (USD$13.7) MILLION DOLLARS TO YOUR ACCOUNT WITHIN 7 BANKING DAYS. THIS MONEY HAS BEEN DORMANT FOR YEARS IN OUR BANK WITHOUT ANY BODY CLAIMING THE FUND.

I WANT THE BANK TO RELEASE THE MONEY TO YOU AS THE NEAREST PERSON TO OUR DECEASED CUSTOMER (THE OWNER OF THE ACCOUNT) BELONGS TO ONE OF OUR FOREIGN CUSTOMER (MR.HATEM KAMIL  FATAH WHOM UNFORTUNATELY LOST HIS LIFE BY SHOOTING FROM UNKNOW PEOPLE IN IRAQ, YOU MAY READ MORE ABOUT THE INCIDENT ON VISITING THIS BBC NEWS WEBSITE:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/3970619.stm http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=6979

I DON'T WANT THE MONEY TO GO INTO OUR BANK TREASURER ACCOUNT AS AN ABANDONED FUND. SO THIS IS THE REASON WHY I CONTACTED YOU SO THAT THE BANK CAN RELEASE THE MONEY TO YOU AS THE NEXT OF KIN TO THE DECEASED CUSTOMER. PLEASE I WOULD LIKE YOU TO KEEP THIS PROPOSAL AS A TOP SECRET AND DELETE IT IF YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED.

UPON RECEIPT OF YOUR REPLY, I WILL GIVE YOU FULL DETAILS ON HOW THE BUSINESS WILL BE EXECUTED AND ALSO NOTE THAT YOU WILL HAVE 30% OFTHE ABOVE MENTIONED SUM IF YOU AGREE TO HANDLE THIS BUSINESS WITH ME.

AND 10% WILL BE SET ASIDE FOR ANY EXPENSES THAT ARISES ON THE PROCESSBEFORE THE FUND GET INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT SUCH AS TELEPHONE CALLS BILLS (ETC).

REPLY VERY URGENT. BELOW IS MY CONTACT.

Email : aziz_katyayan1@rediffmail.com

Tel: 00226 75 64 71 11

THANKS

                 

MR Aziz Katyayan    

Blood Brothers : Eternal Bonds

At the outset of World War II, Sabah or North Borneo as it was known then, was truly on its own. While Sarawak which had oil fields then, had a battalion of Indian Army, a heavy gun battery from Hong Kong, some Royal Engineers and 1,500 strong Sarawak Rangers consisted of Iban and Dayak tribesmen; Sabah, in contrast, was deemed a non priority outpost. Hence, no reinforcement was despatched.

Sabah only had the 650 strong North Borneo Armed Constabulary, which hardly could offer any resistance albeit being paramilitary. The Constabulary was backed or perhaps complemented by the North Borneo Volunteer Defence Force (NBVDF) which was essentially a part-time outfit, insufficently trained for combat and made up of men with day jobs. The only real fighting men were the Policemen in the Constabulary. One of the more famous and outrageously brave policeman was Lance Corporal Korom Bin Andaur (Policeman 142), a Murut whom I had blogged about. His exploits during the war were detailed by author Lynette Ramsay Silver in her book Blood Brothers : Sabah And Australia 1942 – 1945. Her choice of a title for her book is apt because by the time I came to the last page, I could see how the natives, the Chinese, the Indians/Sikhs, the Filipino expatriates, the Australian POWs, our colonial masters and even some Americans stood together. They looked out for each other and risked all by doing so. An eternal bond was forged among these people by the spilling of their blood and sacrifices made for the preservation of others, most of the time for people of not their own kind but in those days of trial, there was not any kind, no race, only brethren fighting oppression and evil!

What?! Dusuns have to pay MORE??

I'm pretty miffed! No, No, miffed would be an understatement. I'm incensed at how the KDM, the Dusuns particularly, are being trampled on and exploited in their own land. Mount Kinabalu is a sacred mountain to the Dusuns. The Dusuns used to have full access to the mountain and its jungle. They go to the jungle to hunt, collect rattans and jungle products for their livelihood. The mountain which they used to refer to as Gayo Ngaran (the big name) was also the final resting place for the souls of the departed Dusuns. 

How many more of the KDM's traditional rights and inheritance are going to be stripped before they awake and reclaim what are rightfully theirs to begin with? In 1962, the Dusuns in Kiulu and Bundu Tuhan agreed to "give up" their sacred mountain to the British government so that Kinabalu Park could be gazetted. The Dusuns then probably were not sophisticated enough in their negotiation with the British officials. They thought they would still have access to their beloved mountain and continue their way of live. They must had felt like they got the shorter end of the stick when they were told that collecting rattans, hunting and gathering jungle produce were strictly prohibited from thereon.

Last night I was the Ketua Kampung

Wow! Last night was so surreal to me! I'm kinda having that "maybe it was not necessary for me to get involved" moment right now. Haiz....

Around 9 to 10pm last night, our dogs and my neighbour's dogs were barking incessantly. At first I paid no attention to it as I was writing my latest post for this blog which is now saved as draft, by the way but then I got curious when the barking wouldn't stop. So I went to the window and looked out, my eyes scanning through the darkness to see whether I could pick up anything. I saw my neighbour's wife standing at their verandah, also looking at the darkness. I looked for my neighbour's Storm (Mitsubishi 4x4 wheel drive) and it was not there, suggesting that his wife and his kids were on their own. The wife was talking on her handphone and from her tone, she sounded concerned. Hmmm.. I got curious even more. This was apparently no normal barking, not some animal like skunks or pangolins that the dogs saw. 

Post kasih lepas Girigitan

Warning, post may contain inappropriate words and may be unsettling for some people. Read at your own risk. 

By clicking, more at the bottom, you are irrefutably confirming that you are above 18 years of age and waive any legal recourse towards the author should the contain of this post cause you mental distress, anxiety and whatever mental condition there is.    

Tale from Borneo - Sedihrela : Part 1

Please note that this is a fiction based loosely on Dusun customs and folklores. The author, that is me, reserves all intellectual copyright.

Sedihrela was a happy child. Despite growing without a mother, whom passed away while giving birth to her, she was happy. Of course occasionally, she would ask her father, Setipun, about her mother. How she looked like, whether she would have loved her if she hadn't died. Setipun loved his daughter and it's not just because he promised his dying wife that he would cherish, love and protect their child, it was also because Sedihrela was a reminder of his wife and their love that brought Sedihrela to the world. 

Sedihrela's was not an easy birth. There were complications. The Bobolian (priestess) told Setipun that one of the seven spirits that are the guardian of North Borneo was unhappy with him because he had forgotten to offer thanksgiving sacrifice to Dia (HimHer - the spirit has no gender). For it was Dia who intervened and helped them to conceive after years of trying. Dia said that Tulun (people/human) must never forget that it was at the spirits' mercy and grace that the Tuluns are blessed with good fortune. Hence, Dia required sogit (restitution) less misfortune would befallen to the Tuluns. "Choose!" Dia said. "Should we spare your wife and child and curse all Tulun wth misfortune for a hundred years or should we spare the Tulun but take one that you love dearest!". 

When Setipun heard Dia's condition, his face turned ashen and he fell to the ground on his knees begging for forgiveness and mercy. Setipun turned to the Bobolian, "Please! Please! Please tell my Lord to take my life instead. I would gladly die for my wife and child and for our people! Don't punish them for my sin! PLEASE!". 

From Dudley Colliery to Borneo - by Marshall Creswell

I found an interesting journal written by one Marshall Creswell who traveled to Sarawak sometime in 1856. The document is freely circulating in the internet, so I'm going to reproduce it here and I will highlight parts that I found interesting. For your information, I downloaded the document from www.scribd.com. 

So, join me for a trip to Sarawak of old -

Credit of course to the original author and to Mr Martin Laverty who transcribed and annotated this piece. Annotation at the bottom of page.