Slate has a fantastic, no, wait: terrifying 10-part series on income inequality in the United States.
All my life I’ve heard Latin America described as a failed society (or collection of failed societies) because of its grotesque maldistribution of wealth. Peasants in rags beg for food outside the high walls of opulent villas, and so on. But according to the Central Intelligence Agency (whose patriotism I hesitate to question), income distribution in the United States is more unequal than in Guyana, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, and roughly on par …

Sleepy brown toad sits on a log
A loud lorry passes, making it start
Even though we are far from your eyes
Know that you are close to our heart.
***
Selamat Hari Raya, Eid Mubarak, Maaf Zahir dan Batin.

Duet with M. Nasir & Al-Jawaher (1982)

M. Nasir:
My affairs are not yet settled
Till I have found His Light
All I desire on this journey
Is that you send along the Fatihah for me

Masihkah Kau Ingat by Kopratasa,
a Malaysian popular music trio active in the late 1980s. This was perhaps their biggest hit, and still receives a lot of play on Malaysian radio.
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Give it a listen:
Kopratasa – Masihkah Kau Ingat
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English translation by
Bin Gregory Productions.
***

Do you remember still
That single moment where
A blossom full in bloom
I placed within your hair
Do you remember still
Transformed into a dream
Longing to be with you
Do you remember still
Do you remember still
As we ran and ran
To the foot of the sky
The rainbows we chased
As the rain did come …

Michigan, my home state, has a reputation for nurturing right-wing anti-government terrorists. The largest act of domestic terrorism prior to 9/11 was the Oklahoma City bombing that was planned in Michigan and executed in part by Michigan men. They tested their bombs on a farm not far from my parents’ farm in Lapeer County.
Even after that, militia groups continued to thrive in Michigan, which has more active militias than any state in the union but Texas. Now another terrorist cell is in the news, the …

Cicak, Cicak, di dinding
Diam, diam, merayap
Datang seekor nyamuk
Hap! Hap! Lalu di tangkap!
***
Translation and more after the jump.

By Abu Muhammad of Bahrus Shofah
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English Translation by Bin Gregory Productions
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Datuk Haji Abdul Kadir bin Hassan, may Allah have mercy on him, was born in Kampung Patingan (or Kampung No. 6), Kuching, Sarawak, on the 6th of August, 1928 (28th Safar 1347). His formal education began at SRK (Public School) Merpati Japang (my own school) until Standard 4 (10th grade), after which he attended the Madrasah Melayu (Malay Religious School, Kuching). While studying at school, he deepened his religious knowledge with local ulama (religious scholars), among them …

Buah macang buah kuini,
Masak sebiji dalam daun;
Mengapa begini hatiku ini,
Habis bulan berganti tahun.
A pair of fruits, Machang and Kwini
Each one ripening under its leaves
Oh why does this poor heart of mine feel like this?
Each month of passing has turned into years

Sarawak is blessed with an abundance of fruit, but mangos are not one of them. The common mango, Mangifera indica, can grow here, but the lack of a significant dry period prevents it from fruiting well. (We have two seasons here: Wet and Very Wet.) …

Malaysia never stops changing. Controversial areas like race, religion, native privilege (bumiputera status), and national language are constantly in a state of flux. Most recently, when I registered the birth of my latest child, I discovered that the birth certificate itself had changed (for the second time), and that now the race of the child was explicitly stated on the birth cert. Prior to this, the race of the mother and father were stated, but not that of the child. I didn’t really know what that …

Among the more dramatic trees in the settled landscapes of Malaysia is the Kekabu or Kapok Tree (Ceiba pentandra), a gargantuan tropical version of the common large-for-Michigan Cottonwood Tree (Populus deltoides) of my youth. A truly massive tree, it grows to easily 100 feet high, with thick strong lateral branches radiating out in whorls at nearly 90 degrees from the trunk. The most striking feature is at ground level: the muscular buttress roots that rise 8, 9, 10 feet out of the ground to join the …