Contrary of Life

Today is buzzing with a lot of news around the world.

With Great Britain celebrating a royal birthday boy, and halfway across the globe in Japan with heart-warming  heroic story of saving a trapped woman between the platform and the train. It is a not a bad day after all.

However, Came across a disturbing article on Suicides occuring in Japan forests itself forwarded from a twitter friend. It's on dense Aokigahara Forest in Japan at famous Mt. Fuji.
It is a good message for those who are contemplating to take their lives in its stride.
I do hope there are more people like Azusa who positively feel that we should connect more on look, feel and touch of each other than just on the computer/tablets screens.

Article laid in Lost in Asia.

Here's the transript for those faint-hearted who do not want to feel the suspense of finding of the suicide corpse.

(The video is spoken in Japanese by Azusa Hayano, a Geologist).
"I've been living here for more than 30 years. My job is mainly environmental protection. I study volcanic eruptions. and the plantation at the foor of Mt. Fuji. In the year 864, Mr. Fuji erupted, and the forest that grew over the dried lava. Was named "Jukai" or "Sea of Trees." "Aokigahara" is the actual name of the place, but people started calling it "Jukai", because the forest, as seen from half way up of Mt. Fuji, is green all year round, and it looks like the ocean.

We're entering the forest now. There's a car that's been abandoned for a few months. Let's take a look. I'm assuming the owner of the car entered from here and never came out. I guess they went into the forest with troubled thoughts. In the old days in Japan, Suicide was mainly known as a samurai's act as in "Seppuku" (harakiri). In other cases, poor families would abandon their elders in the mountains. That's how it was back then. They weren't killing themselves because they couldn't adapt to society. That didn't happen like it does now. It's a modern phenomenon.

This is a sign to stop suicidal people.

"Your life is a precious gift from your parents. Please think about your parents, siblings and children. Don't keep it to yourself. Talk about your troubles."
Then it says to contact the Suicide Prevention Association.

Local don't commit suicide here. As children, they're told not to come near here. They're told it's a scary forest.

This path is open for the public, but you can't follow the trail beyong this point. It says not to enter, because you can easily get lost. In the Jukai, I think I've found more than 100 suicide corpses in the last 20 years or so.

<some pictures of past found corpses>

I found something strange. I'll show you.

05:15: People who are indecisive about dying, wrap this tape on trees along their way, so they can find their way out.

There's something that looks like tent.

I'm going to go see if there's anyone inside. Please wait here. No one's here. It seems like someone was here for a few days. The face that they brought a tent means they were still struggling. They spend a few days here figuring out if they want to die or not. If the body was discovered these tents would be taken away. So I guess the body hasn't been found yet. I think I see something over there.

06:56: In most cases, if you follow the tape, You find something at the end. Either you find a dead body, or you find traces that someone was there. You always find something.

<Upside down doll nailed to a tree>

We accidentally found this, but it's not a prank. They nailed this character upside-down as a symbol of contempt for society. No, it's more like a curse. The curse is nailed in. I think this person was tortured by society.

I think this was done by the same person. It says, "Suicide Note. The name is written here. I came here because nothing good ever happened in my life. Don't look for me." It's nailed like the other one. It must be the same person who did the doll. It's obvious that they were still hesitant to die. Normally, if you're determined to die, you come in and immediately hang yourself. When there's objects like these, it means that they're still hesitant to die. I actually think he might've gone home.

09:30: Was this rope used for hanging? It must've been used for something like that. It seems like it's been cut down. Maybe the body was discovered. This was connected. Four ropes were tied together and made a loop for the head. The body was discovered, so the rope had been cut. I think this person was very determined. The majority hang themselves, next would be sleeping pills, which are seldom successful. It takes about a day for them to die from weakness.

I thought I saw something, but it was just some vegetation.

What's this? A mirror. It's a woman's mirror.

It's a suicide manual. It's about the Jukai. It says "Don't underestimate the mysterious Bguddist monk." There's a Bhuddist monk who lives in the Jukai. The fact that she had this book means she was here for that reason.

There's a woman's umbrella, and a noose. There's a map over here, There was a woman's mirror over there. I think it was a woman's.

I've read in a book that hanging is the least painful way. I met a person who tried to hang himself, but he failed because it was too painful. Generally, you don't survive if you try to hang yourself. But he did it where his feet touched the ground. He survived with a scar on his neck.He was young, and I convinced him not to try it again. After talking for an hour or so, he gradually calmed down. Then went hom saying he didn't feel like dying anymore.

Let's check out that shadow...

13:35: <Convesation with a suspicious camper>
Azusa: Are you okay?
Camper: Yes.
Azusa: You're not allowed to camp here.
Camper: I am sorry.
Azusa: I'm the nature guard. I'm on a suicide patrol. How long are you staying?
Camper: Until tomorrow.

Azusa: Do you have food with you?
Camper: Yes i do. I'm sorry.
Azusa: I just hope you're okay. I'm just trying to prevent suicides.
Camper: Please take this way back.
Azusa: I'm sorry about the trouble.
Camper: Take your time to think, be positive.
Azusa: It was nice meeting you.

That man's tent was pitched in the middle of the trail. When I approached, he closed up the tent and hid inside.

At first he seemed scared, but the more we talked, he gained back some spirit, which often is the case.

It's really hard to tell what his motive was. He didn't look like a young man who likes to hike. I am a bit worried.
I think the way we live in society these days has become more complicated. Face-to-face communication used to be vital, but now we can live our lives being online all day. However, the truth of the matter is we still need to see each other's faces, read their expressions, hear their voices, so we can fully understand their emotions. To coexist.

16:46: <Skull>
Yes, we did find a skeleton today. I think it's about a year or two old.
You know, even if you stare at a suicide corpse, it can't attack you. So it's not terrifying. It makes me feel sorry for them, seeing how humans decompose. It rots and then starts to stink. Before it rots, parasites will hatch, and the flesh will disintegrate. I think it's impossible to die heroically by committing suicide.

Studying how people co-exist with nature is part of environmental research. I was curious why people kill themselves in such a beautiful forest. I still haven't found the answer to that.

I see some bouquets of flowers over here. There's also a box of chocolates. It must be fro mthe deceased's family or friends. They must have brought the flowers.

You think you die alone, but that's not true. Nobody is alone in this world.
We have to coexist and take care of each other. 

That's how i feel.
"

Field Trip - Malay Village - Geylang Serai

Organised a impromptu field trip to the Malay village for my school going children, to let them see and experience how the Malay Muslims prepare and celebrate for their new year.

Hari Raya Puasa is approaching, night bazaars are set up to prepare Muslims of the Big festival of the year. This is one of the biggest holiday in Singapore, known as Muslim celebration day. Hari Raya Puasa marks the end of Ramadan, which is one holy month of dawn-to-sunset fasting.

Geylang Serai after decades had been served as a Malay Village and Bazaars had been set up year after year for this purpose. Later on, Arab Street joined in, however still not as popular yet.

We started on the bus trip down to the place. It wasn't a very long trip. Children started to doze off when i poked them awake to alight. The first thing they noticed is... FOOD! DRINKS! It was right on the first row of the bazaar before everything else, right in front of the bus stop. So i got them some drinks, else they won't move on.

In Hari Raya festivals, similar to the Chinese New Year, Cookies, baked goodies are not to be missed. They were served when families visited each other during the celebrations. New clothes are worn, usually uniform throughout the whole family, what a way to build rapport within a family.




I was surprised to see Perankan clothings too. Afterall, it is a cross culture between the Malay and the Chinese.





Of course, to clean up and prepare a place for visitors during the season, many of them practically changed everything at home! Furnitures are sold. Carpets are replace, and most of these carpets are bigger than me! I assume it covers the flooring of living rooms. Imagine from the size of it from the picture (with the stall owner lying there, staring 'angrily' at the photographer, which looks more like a tourist than a customer). I would have thought the price is over $1,000. Took a peek at the other stall, it was Cheap!


I went pass a stall that provides lightings. I used to love looking at different lighting designs of my Malay neighbours houses. I wonder what other designs can they come out with this year. Apparently, as the years past, these lightings are also customised, such that one doesn't need to rake their creativity on top of their busy preparation of the Great day.




Children were amazed not just the toys that are sale, made me a hard time to pull them away from these stall to show them what malay exchange when they meet each other. The Green Packets, usually containing money inside, exchanged regardless of age or marital status. Other than the traditional designs, i found designs like this that looks exactly like Malaysian Rinngit! Upon leaving the place, i found more of the similar designs, costing more than double the price of these i shown here. But this time, resembling Singapore Dollars, both new and old designs, however, the stall owner is not very willingly to this local tourist to take a picture of them!

Children squeaked with wonders to see life like flowers, and kept questioning me whether they are real ones. I have to say, no, real flowers are rarely sold here, as they were usually used to decorate the house for ONE year before they throw away and buy new ones for the next.

Giving the notorious Joo Chiat Rd a pass, we crossed to the opposite site. I was asked what was that hanging on top as a decoration from lamp post to lamp post. Yes, it is known as the Wau bulan, Malay Moon kite, and note, these are those kites that does not a tail, and it flies very well!

As i dragged the tired children back to the bus stop to go home, i hope it is be a useful trip today. Malay classmates are hard to come by in their school unlike the past.

I hereby wish our Malay counterparts here, 

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!

Jane
Night Desperato Project

Happy 16th Birthday Malala Yousafzai!

Malala Celebrating her 16th Birthday with the United Nations. Heard her speech, empowering and touching many hearts and missionaries to do something about this world.

Who is Malala?

Malala Yousafzai is a education activist from Pakistan. She was shot in the head in the head and neck October last year by Taliban gunmen due to her efforts. An campaign  "I am Malala" had been launched to demand that all children worldwide bein school by end of 2015. Malala was featured on the Time Magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people in the world in April 2013. Find her Full Speech here.

Here's the transcript of Malala Yousafzai's speech on 12 July 2013, Malala Day at the UN : (thegurdian)

"In the name of God, the most beneficent, the most merciful.

 

Honorable UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki-moon, respected president of the General Assembly Vuk Jeremic, honorable UN envoy for global education Mr Gordon Brown, respected elders and my dear brothers and sisters: Assalamu alaikum.

 

Today is it an honor for me to be speaking again after a long time. Being here with such honorable people is a great moment in my life and it is an honor for me that today I am wearing a shawl of the late Benazir Bhutto. I don't know where to begin my speech. I don't know what people would be expecting me to say, but first of all thank you to God for whom we all are equal and thank you to every person who has prayed for my fast recovery and new life. I cannot believe how much love people have shown me. I have received thousands of good wish cards and gifts from all over the world. Thank you to all of them. Thank you to the children whose innocent words encouraged me. Thank you to my elders whose prayers strengthened me. I would like to thank my nurses, doctors and the staff of the hospitals in Pakistan and the UK and the UAE government who have helped me to get better and recover my strength.

 

I fully support UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his Global Education First Initiative and the work of UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown and the respectful president of the UN General Assembly Vuk Jeremic. I thank them for the leadership they continue to give. They continue to inspire all of us to action. Dear brothers and sisters, do remember one thing: Malala Day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights.

 

There are hundreds of human rights activists and social workers who are not only speaking for their rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goal of peace, education and equality. Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured. I am just one of them. So here I stand. So here I stand, one girl, among many. I speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights. Their right to live in peace. Their right to be treated with dignity. Their right to equality of opportunity. Their right to be educated.

 

Dear friends, on 9 October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends, too. They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed. And out of that silence came thousands of voices. The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions. But nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born.

I am the same Malala. My ambitions are the same. My hopes are the same. And my dreams are the same. Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone. Neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorist group. I am here to speak for the right of education for every child. I want education for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists. I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him. This is the compassion I have learned from Mohammed, the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. This the legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

This is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have learned from my father and from my mother. This is what my soul is telling me: be peaceful and love everyone.

 

Dear sisters and brothers, we realize the importance of light when we see darkness. We realize the importance of our voice when we are silenced. In the same way, when we were in Swat, the north of Pakistan, we realized the importance of pens and books when we saw the guns. The wise saying, "The pen is mightier than the sword." It is true. The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of women frightens them. This is why they killed 14 innocent students in the recent attack in Quetta. And that is why they kill female teachers. That is why they are blasting schools every day because they were and they are afraid of change and equality that we will bring to our society. And I remember that there was a boy in our school who was asked by a journalist why are the Taliban against education? He answered very simply by pointing to his book, he said, "a Talib doesn't know what is written inside this book."

 

They think that God is a tiny, little conservative being who would point guns at people's heads just for going to school. These terrorists are misusing the name of Islam for their own personal benefit. Pakistan is a peace loving, democratic country. Pashtuns want education for their daughters and sons. Islam is a religion of peace, humanity and brotherhood. It is the duty and responsibility to get education for each child, that is what it says. Peace is a necessity for education. In many parts of the world, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan, terrorism, war and conflicts stop children from going to schools. We are really tired of these wars. Women and children are suffering in many ways in many parts of the world.

 

In India, innocent and poor children are victims of child labor. Many schools have been destroyed in Nigeria. People in Afghanistan have been affected by extremism. Young girls have to do domestic child labor and are forced to get married at an early age. Poverty, ignorance, injustice, racism and the deprivation of basic rights are the main problems, faced by both men and women.

 

Today I am focusing on women's rights and girls' education because they are suffering the most. There was a time when women activists asked men to stand up for their rights. But this time we will do it by ourselves. I am not telling men to step away from speaking for women's rights, but I am focusing on women to be independent and fight for themselves. So dear sisters and brothers, now it's time to speak up. So today, we call upon the world leaders to change their strategic policies in favor of peace and prosperity. We call upon the world leaders that all of these deals must protect women and children's rights. A deal that goes against the rights of women is unacceptable.

We call upon all governments to ensure free, compulsory education all over the world for every child. We call upon all the governments to fight against terrorism and violence. To protect children from brutality and harm. We call upon the developed nations to support the expansion of education opportunities for girls in the developing world. We call upon all communities to be tolerant, to reject prejudice based on caste, creed, sect, color, religion or agenda to ensure freedom and equality for women so they can flourish. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back. We call upon our sisters around the world to be brave, to embrace the strength within themselves and realize their full potential.

 

Dear brothers and sisters, we want schools and education for every child's bright future. We will continue our journey to our destination of peace and education. No one can stop us. We will speak up for our rights and we will bring change to our voice. We believe in the power and the strength of our words. Our words can change the whole world because we ware all together, united for the cause of education. And if we want to achieve our goal, then let us empower ourselves with the weapon of knowledge and let us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness.

Dear brothers and sisters, we must not forget that millions of people are suffering from poverty and injustice and ignorance. We must not forget that millions of children are out of their schools. We must not forget that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright, peaceful future.

 

So let us wage, so let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism, let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first. Thank you."

 World Peace is what all of us looking out for, nobody doesn't want similar incident that happens to Malala Yousafzai and her friends to happen again.  

Night Desperato Project

No, this is not a sex site about desperate girls.

This is a site for one who is desperate to make money, a passive way, an interactive way.

Here in Singapore, our cost of living is pretty high. Our Cash in hand is practically very little, Asset wise looks rich. But if you put it down on a balance sheet, most of us are running a negative income! Take me for example, i have a part-time job, paying of about $700 - $800 a month. The value is variable, as changes depending on number of workdays in a month, overtime ... no time. To earn an extra buck, is nearly impossible. My expenses is all time high, i have four very young children. I have to foot most of my expenses, as well as theirs, easily add up to more than $2000 a month. So, you do the Maths, and think, i may not be only one in this plight.

I therefore officially called this a Night Desperato Project.

As a mother, i only left with the nights to work with on top of my part-time job and taking care of the children. I am desperate of getting ends meet, debt free. It is a project not just to free myself, also many of those out there who ended with the same plight as i do.

 Best Regards, Jane Wong @nightingale_sg
The Night Desperato Project