Following on from my post yesterday concerning the Bangladeshi workers camping out near the airport without food etc., here is another little  vignette of life from lovely Malaysia. In a land where only 2 or 3 years ago a husband could divorce by SMS ( now I think you need prior approval of Shariah court to send that sms), there comes this news from Kota Bahru in Kelantan.  City officials have sent out a circular directing women not to wear heavy make-up, lipstick and high-heeled shoes “that gave a tapping sound.”

All these are seen as frightfully arousing and could result in sexual assault or, heaven forbid, illicit sex.

“We’ve already run out of food, water and money: if nobody comes for our rescue, we’ll not survive in the depot as we don’t have money to buy food”

Words of a Bangladeshi migrant worker stuck in a camp near KL International Airport in Malaysia, thanks to Shika Trade International, a bangladeshi labour recruiting company. And this:

How about this for a selective application of Zakat?

Odd-job worker Ishak Salleh and his family have been staying in a canvas tent since their rented houses were demolished by a relative last Wednesday. They have received assistance in the form of food supply and cash aid from the Seberang Prai Utara district office and the Penang zakat management centre. Ishak was “touched by the amount of aid he received. ” New Straits Times

The Bangladesh Federation of Film Societies has given the Best Documentary 2006 award to Bostrobalikara - Tanvir Mokammel’s film on the garment workers of Bangladesh.

Get the full list of awardees in Prothom Alo, 18 June, page 14, Column 7.

Thanks chaps!

Historic Document this.

Sadakat Khan

You make a lot of acquaintances when you start a blog. There are some inspirational characters out there. Among them I would mention House Negro’s blog. There are some nutters too. Yes bengali ones. But Mr Lodhi is in a category of his own. His comments on posts are always entertaining and filled with multi-layered meaning, sarcasm and irony. He sometimes loses it though and THIS POST HERE, where he takes Drishtipat to task, is the text version of the angry german kid video! It all started “innocently” with his habit of signing himself as Md[pbum].

The news is relentlessly bad from Bangladesh. And so I have taken refuge in food. Above prepared by my good self  (Chief Bhortha Chef Shafiur).

From left to right:

Chingri vorta, Aloo bhortha, Potol bhorta.

( yes the aloo bhortha contains mustard )

War Criminal George W Bush is visiting the UK on June 15th. Disgusting or what?

2008 Turner prize: BBC profile of the nominees

In conversation with Tine Fischer. “I really admire Godard’s ability to take two fundamental notions like ‘truth and fiction’, distinct as genres, and interchange them with ease.”

“a young, dark-skinned, dark-eyed Bangladeshi British woman” by Janet Owen

White Cube: “Runa Islam makes film and video installations that use overlapping layers of narrative to explore notions of truth and fiction, subjectivity and authorship. Islam installs her films in architectural configurations, frequently presenting them across two or three screens as a framing device. Her work aims to blur the distinctions between film and sculpture, art and cinema, and encourages a range of interpretations from viewers.”

2006 Review of “Conditional Probability” Some stills from the film

More stills and links from SiouxWire