American Buddhist Net

From the Wikipedia entry on durian: "The edible flesh [of the durian fruit] emits a distinctive odour, strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. Regarded by some as fragrant, others as overpowering and offensive, the smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust. The odour has led to the fruit's banishment from certain hotels and public transportation in Southeast Asia." See this photo for an example of a "no durian" sign. Robyn
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Monday August 4, 2008
By BUNTHA THOL

A Durian Festival organised by the Chempaka Buddhist Lodge in Taman SEA, Petaling Jaya, attracted more than 1,000 people recently.

The Lodge has been celebrating the festival yearly during the durian season for the past five years.

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By Tan Ee Lyn - Wed Jul 30

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Strict laws and conservative attitudes are making the fight against HIV/AIDS harder in predominately Muslim Malaysia as they drive high-risk groups deeper underground.

Soliciting and sodomy are outlawed and there are heavy penalties for illegal drug use.

While lobbying from activists has won government support for HIV/AIDS prevention programs, distributing condoms and clean needles, implementation is far from easy.

Celine Ng, who runs a program distributing clean needles to drug addicts, knows that only too well.

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

It is a pity that in a country that is blessed with natural fauna and flora, its people are the number one destroyer to this natural wonder. A country safe from quakes, volcanoes, typhoon, and other natural disasters, it has attracted thousands and millions to her land since early civilization.

Our history dates back to early Hindu and Buddhist empires and the remains at Bujang Valley prove the existence of civilized man. Then came the explorers from China, led by Zheng Ze and other visitors from the west. They marvel at our beauty, and took full advantage of our resources.

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Thursday July 31, 2008
By DINA ZAMAN

SOMEWHERE in this city, there is a place called Chow Kit, which many Malaysians avoid, believing it to be a bad, bad place. And yet, for its residents, Chow Kit is a place where they can catch their breath, and hope to make their dreams come true.

Chow Kit is not a place for those with a soft heart. This is a place where rooms are let for RM19 a day and renewed daily, and families are known to sacrifice their meagre earnings for a room – instead of buying a tin of baby formula for their month-old baby – because the room is home.

Here you will also see children running and darting about, playing and shouting – just like your children; but their surroundings are tragic.

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July 27, 2008

KUALA LUMPUR - ISLAMIC officials in Malaysia detained 16 transvestites for taking part in a beauty pageant, according to a newspaper report here on Sunday.

The participants were held as they contested the 'Miss Universe Asia 2008' title at a resort hotel in the north-eastern state of Kelantan, which is ruled by the Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS), the New Sunday Times said.

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July 17, 2008
By SETH MYDANS

BANGKOK — In what seemed a reprise of one of the more unusual moments in recent Malaysian history, police officers wearing ski masks seized the country’s most prominent opposition politician, Anwar Ibrahim, on Wednesday and took him to jail on suspicion of sodomy.

Although Mr. Anwar was freed on bail on Thursday morning, his lawyers said, his arrest was likely to add to political tensions that have grown since the governing party suffered the biggest losses in its history in an election in March.

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By Manirajan Ramasamy

July 4 (Bloomberg) -- Malaysia's Deputy Premier Najib Razak disputed allegations that he had an affair with a woman before she was killed two years ago, calling them a ``desperate attempt'' by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to divert attention from charges he faces.

``Absolutely not,'' Najib told reporters at a press conference at his parliament office yesterday. ``I never, never met her at all.''

Anwar is being investigated by police for alleged homosexual relations, a crime in Malaysia. He had said earlier yesterday there was a conspiracy to cover up ``shocking'' evidence linking Najib to the slain woman and called for an inquiry.

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June 28, 2008

Anwar Ibrahim, the Malaysian opposition leader who once was the country's deputy prime minister, has been accused of sodomising a male aide.

Police are investiagting the complaint, Ku Chin Wah, Kuala Lumpur's police chief for criminal investigations, said on Saturday.

Anwar's lawyer has denied the allegation and Anwar himself called it a "complete fabrication".

The opposition Keadilan party said that Saiful Bahari, one of Anwar's aides, had been arrested on Saturday and "forced" to make a statement saying Anwar had sodomised him.

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Thursday 26th June, 2008

A Malaysian Indian has challenged the conversion to Islam of his half-brother, who allegedly committed suicide earlier this week, claiming his body from hospital authorities for funeral as per Hindu rites.

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June 17, 2008

KANGAR: A Malay woman who died in Kampung Guar Musang, near here, on June 12 was buried according to Buddhist rites in the village. This followed the Perlis Religious Affairs Department's decision that the woman, Selimah Mat, 78, was no longer a Muslim at the time of her death although her identity card states her religion as Islam.

Perlis Syariah High Court judge, Zaini Abd Rahim, confirmed that the woman did not profess the Islamic faith and could be buried according to Buddhist rites.

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June 17, 2008

KUALA LUMPUR - A MALAYSIAN gynaecologist accused of running a baby-selling racket has been charged with cheating and forgery over the creation of false identities for the newborns.

Robert Luk was slapped with eight counts in two courts in Johor Baru on Monday, including falsifying information about the biological parents of four babies to obtain birth certificates, said Malaysian media reports.

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June 7, 2008

Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Christian shrines in Malaysia's Selangor state will be allowed to utilise more space than currently permitted as the state governmnet proposes to lift curbs on the size of non-Muslim communities' places of worship.

The religious minorities in the Muslim majority state are currently required to build their shrines within 10,000 square feet. The state's health, plantation workers, poverty and caring government committee Chairman A. Xavier Jayakumar said this limit was "impractical".

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http://tsemtulku.com/V03/media/gallery.php

H.E. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche's spiritual lineage begins with one of the eight main disciples of Manjushri Je Tsongkhapa, the founder saint of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism. Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), most famous for his crystal clear teachings on "The steps on the path to Enlightenment", initiated a complete revival of the Dharma, today as relevant as then, and is called "the second Buddha" by Tibetans.

Monday May 26, 2008

PALOH: There is nothing sexy about the school uniform now worn by girls in government schools, says Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

He said he personally felt it was unfair to blame the students or their uniform for sexual crimes.

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Monday May 26, 2008
By STEPHEN THEN

MIRI: Some 700 native folks from a remote longhouse called Rumah Banyang in northern Sarawak have been left homeless after a predawn fire razed their entire longhouse - a wooden structure that have 41 family quarters built joined together one after another.

The fire that occurred between 12am to 1am early Monday destroyed the Iban longhouse that measures about 200m long from one end to the other.

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By Alexis Madrigal EmailMay 22, 2008 | 4:07:22 PMCategories: Bioethics, Biology, Disease

Dengue_mosquito Male mosquitoes genetically engineered to produce offspring that die in the larval stage are nearing a release into the wild.

As we first reported back in January, Oxford spin-out Oxitec was nearing a deal with the Malaysian government to release millions of GM bugs to help kill off the mosquito population that carries dengue fever.

Now, Nature is reporting that within the month, the country's Academy of Sciences could recommend the release of the mosquitoes.

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May 20, 2008

Kuala Lumpur : Concerns over the shortage of Buddhist monks to lead prayers and perform rituals in shrines across Malaysia were voiced as the country observed the birth anniversary of Lord Buddha.

"Followers could not shake off concerns that there are today fewer qualified Buddhist monks and nuns to lead the community in temples and centres around Malaysia," The Sun said Tuesday.

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2008/05/18

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi made an unannounced visit to the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields yesterday.

...Abdullah, recalling that his late wife, Datin Seri Endon Mahmood, attended cultural events here, said he hoped all Malaysians would live in peace and harmony.

"No religion asks its followers to create trouble or problems for people of other faiths. Everybody has a right to live in peace and to practise the religion he professes."

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Kuala Lumpur, IANS:

The Malaysian government has said it would challenge a court decision allowing Tan Ean Huan, a Chinese woman who called herself Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah as a Muslim , to renounce Islam and revert to Buddhism.

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May 16, 2008

PENANG (Malaysia) - A GROUP of Muslims in Malaysia's northern Penang state staged a protest on Friday to denounce an Islamic sharia court's rare ruling allowing a Chinese convert to renounce her faith.

Last week the Penang Sharia Court allowed 38-year-old Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah, or Tan Ean Huang, to renounce Islam and return to Buddhism.

...'We outrightly disagree with the court decision as it is against Islamic laws. In Islam, a person who insists on leaving the religion must be punished with death,' president [of Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia, an Islamic hardline group] Abdul Hakim Othman told reporters.

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2008-05-12

Malaysia's Islamic court late last week made a landmark ruling allowing a Muslim convert to return to Buddhism. The move may set a precedent that could ease religious minorities' worries about their legal rights. It was the first time in the country's recent history that the Shariah High Court permitted a convert to legally renounce Islam in the Muslim-majority country. Historically, the courts have always ruled against people seeking to leave Islam. But, last Thursday, Penang's Shariah court granted Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah's request to be declared a non-Muslim. She embraced Islam in 1998 because she wanted to marry an Iranian, but claimed she never truly practised the religion.

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Thu, May 8, 2008

A Malaysian Islamic court allowed a Muslim convert Thursday to return to her original faith of Buddhism, setting a precedent that could ease religious minorities' worries about their legal rights.

Lawyers said the Shariah High Court's verdict in the northern state of Penang was the first time in recent memory that a convert has been permitted to legally renounce Islam in this Muslim-majority nation.

A rising number of disputes about religious conversions has sparked anxiety among minorities _ predominantly Buddhist, Christian and Hindu _ because in the past courts virtually always ruled against people seeking to leave Islam.

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April 29, 2008

KUALA LUMPUR - ISLAMIC authorities have rejected a proposal by Malaysia's prime minister that would require non-Muslims to inform their families before converting to Islam.

The decision was made at a weekend meeting of top Islamic authorities, including legal and spiritual advisers, the Malaysian Islamic Development Department's director-general, Mr Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz, said in a statement received on Tuesday.

The department's rejection was a setback for the proposal, which minority religious groups had hoped would alleviate interfaith tensions in the Muslim-majority nation.

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LONDON: Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has called for an international tribunal to try Western leaders with war crimes over the war in Iraq.

In a speech at Imperial College, Mahathir called for a tribunal to try US President George W Bush plus former prime ministers Tony Blair of Britain and John Howard of Australia for their part in the conflict, said a spokesman for the Muslim group the Ramadhan Foundation, which set up the event.

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Thu, 24 Apr 2008

The Penang Syariah High Court today fixed May 8 to decide on an application by Muslim convert, Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah, to renounce Islam.

Cousel Ahmad Munawir Abdul Aziz, representing the Penang Islamic Religious Council (MAIPP), told reporters here that the verdict would be read out by former Penang Syariah High Court Judge, Othman Ibrahim, who presided over the case.

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