Anyway, sometime back in 2005, I wrote slightly about the fishes I keep in the fish tank in the garden. Nothing really great as they are of the small varieties such as swordtails, mollies, guppies and even shrimps (for variety purposes). Over time, they have...how should I put this - intermarried? - and produced hybrids which are rather beautiful and unique. I now have within that confined space, guppy-swordtails, guppy-mollies, molly-swordtails, and even several which I cannot identify. Perhaps, if I were to send them to a forensic lab, their identification would be made easier via DNA testing. But then, who cares? I mean, so long as they are good to look at and fun to observe, cukuplah, right?
Earlier this morning when I wanted to feed them, I found several of those strikingly beautiful hybrids afloat and lifeless. I picked them gently and found that since rigor mortis has yet to take place, their death must have been within recent hours. Nothing I could do but bury them beside emak's plants in hope that the nutrients from their body would act as fertiliser.
Er...no, that's not my fish up there. As I mentioned, I keep the small varieties only. The whopper up there is of the catfish strain and one of the best of its kind is found in Mekong River where they can grow up to twice of what those blokes up there carry. The most favoured part of the Mekong catfish are the eyes where purportedly, the money from the sale of a pair is good enough to last several long months for the lucky villagers. Oops, back to my story.
I guess the death of those fish is largely due to my neglect. Up to this date, my left foot still has some swell from the 10-11 Open House at Istana Negara. Though the swell has subsided a whole lot now, it has caused problem for me to clean the fish tank and its water pump; I am unable to bend or move fluidly without feeling pain. Anyway, the water pump has malfunctioned some 2 days ago and I have not been able to get a new one yet. The deaths could have been due to unregulated water which cause quite a significant increase in water temperature. InsyAllah, tomorrow, I'll go get one from a fish shop. Rest-In-Peace, my dear friends.
Hybrids can be very beautiful. But since human cannot control their DNA structure to perfection, the product of inter-marriage can never be certain, even in DNA cloning. Yet, scientist keep on researching to produce the best yield and are even willing to go beyond ethical science as has been proven in several cases. The most infamous of one such case was when meat-cows were given feed made from butchers' refuse such as bones , teeth and even fat. In doing so, the scientist either forget, or refuse to take into consideration that cows are herbivores; feeding them the butchers' refuse is almost like forcing the cows into cannibalism. The result of this is none other than Mad Cow's disease, which can have deadly effect on humans too were the meat of afflicted cows consumed. Still, they learn not from it.
Er...again no. That's not a picture of a cow ridden with the disease, though I would not blame anyone for thinking so. I would think that is a buffalo. Hey! I'm not a mad scientist who keeps a journal or photo-journal of such experiments, mind you. In fact, I'm not even a scientist. Just thought of teasing you there :)
Anyway - back to serious stuff, especially for muslims - these scientist are having a go at it again. The latest news I received is that they are trying to create a hybrid of Bari-Bari. This especially goes to lamb-chop lovers such as yours truly, Bari-Bari is the product of cross breeding between sheep and pigs! Yup, that's right! All the goodness of the sheep and all the diseases of the pig! Catch it here.
Yup! That's a picture of one of those Bari-Bari. Oops, 2 of them, sorry.
Personally, I don't think they have reached a mass production stage yet. But one can never tell, can one? So do be careful when you intend to buy lamb-chops from places which are suspiciously non-halal. I assure you, their looks alone can be more than fishy.
26 comments:
salam shah,
astaghafirullah. takut rasanya dengar berita macam ni. thanks for the reminder.
Wa'alaikumusalam Accia,
Sesama kita ingat mengingati.
dah lah now kena baca labels word-by-word. if this is true, nampaknya bertambahlah kerja i bila beli groceries. sigh..
p.s. nanti i google if this is true. ;)
this is crazy man. why the crossbreeding i wonder. so ni kira tak halal la kan? babing betul.
talking abt some fishy story, an idiot told me to sellfish(?). yes, a downright MORON.
thanks for your support btw brudder.
Assalamualaikum,
GM products are everywhere now. People here now go for ORGANIC though it's more expensive but it is assured that no 'campur-aduk'.
Probably we should just be vegetarian, lol. This is really funny cos here when we go to shopping, we all look for the sign 'suitable for vegetarian' or better also with the sign 'alcohol-free' then we are 100% sure that it is HALAL - sorry, there's no JAKIM here.
Wassalam.
Shah,
Another great read from you.
You are a fish breeder now. Lots of prospect there to produce ornamental fish.
Now I have to abstain from taking my favourite lamb chop lest it comes from the Bari. Thanks for the info be it the truth or just a cakapaje. It will definitely save me some money.
I will now just stick to a diet of fish but looking at that patin look alike of that size, pigs, cows and humans maybe its normal diet. What else is there left for me to eat beside vegetables and rice? Anyway vegetarians are the healthiest of people. They have minimum fat on their body. Heard they never suffer from constipation too.
Salam Princess,
Hmm...that's a good idea - the googling, that is. Please let us know about it nanti ye.
Salam kerp,
Babing ek? Hehe...if that happens, I guess we'll know who's idea they got it from! lol!
About the moron, take it easy there bro. A moron, will always be one...na'uzubillah!
Wa'alaikumusalam warahmatullah,
Fatin, I have not been able to really read on GM - that's genetically modified and not General Motors, mind you - products. But I have been reading about public protest against it. Perhaps you can fill me in a bit?
As for being a vegie, it is a good idea indeed and that cakapaje bloke do love vegie - raw (ulam) and cooked! Then again, he also loves any food so long as they're halal. :)
A word of caution though on vegies, the fertilisers may render them as non-halal. Though certain ulamaks have suggested that the change in the chemistry should be taken into consideration, I would still advise caution there until an edict is issued proper.
UK may not have Jakim, but they do have similar but non-governmental body. Hmm...can't remember the name though.
Salam Pak Zawi,
Thank you sir. Coming from a notable person you are, that is indeed flattering.
A little bit more on vegies apart from the reply to Fatin: Yes, vegies are a healthy diet. Certain communities around the world eat nothing but vegies. But many of them has bodies like a body-builder! And their bones...put it this way: I would not play any contact-sports with any of them!
But rice...is totally a different thing! A reduced amount of it will certainly do us a whole lot of good! But...cakapaje's mother will listen none to it. Thus...ahem, I need not add further :)
Salam CA,
Semua ini menuntut kita untuk terus berhati-hati dalam memilih makanan yang baik dan halal. Terima kerana membawakan hal ini kepengetahuan kita semua.
Next you will have taubi on the menu. You don't know what taubi is? Its actually tauge crossed with babi.
Have you read about the promising young athlete from England who died after eating a Genetically Engineered vegetable. I read this in the papers many2 years ago. It seemed that the vegetable that he ate was genetically engineered with genes from the peanut. Some people have serious allergy to peanuts and since this athlete was one he died.
We still do not know much about god's creation so stop fooling around.
GM Food Debate:
http://www.food.gov.uk/gmdebate/?view=GM+Microsite
There is not 1 particular body that certify the halal-ness of the products in the market. Probably the famous one is Halal Food Authority.
http://www.halalfoodauthority.co.uk/front.html
This one has more publicity compare to the others like Muslim Halal Guide, Muslim Food Board, etc. Don't really know why there is no unity in this matter, maybe cos they have different opinions or mazhab, not like Malaysia, all are Sunni and Shafi'i, easy, alhamdulillah.
ALLAHU'alam.
Wassalam.
Wa'alaikumusalam Pak Zabs,
Benar bagai Tuan nyatakan...makanan yang menjadi darah daging kita untuk turut membentuk DNA kita dan dibawa ke turun menurun.
Kalau kita perhatikan sahabat Rasulullah s.a.w., Bilal r.a., diet dia hanya 3 biji kurma dan 3 teguk susu setiap kali makan. Namun, rasaya tak terbawa saya kearah itu.
Salam Cikgu,
You may not realise how close you are to the truth about Taubi tu, as some non-muslim farms do use the refuse as fertiliser!
And no, I have not read about the athlete's story though similar accounts have been widespread already.
Humans, dari zaman dahulu lagi, have thought they are superior beings...
Fatin, thank you for the links, I'll go them soon, insyAllah.
Btw, do not be surprised that there is already a growing number of Syiah and other mazhabs in Malaysia already. This is especially true for the latter due to the influx of migrant workers from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Pakistan. But the most important thing to remember is that they are muslims.
'About the moron, take it easy there bro. A moron, will always be one...na'uzubillah!'-cakapaje.
Na'uzubillah? i'd say InsyaAllah!
I say Na'uzubillah as I do not want to be one! But, if you do...nothing I can say lol!
Jangan marah bro, just kacau-ing you there :)
Assalamualaikum,
I can understand the influence of the immigrants cos I can feel it here in UK.
One question though:
If we are really treating them as our brothers and sisters in Islam (whether they are legals or illegals), are we ready to be like the al-Ansar in Madinah 1428 years ago? Either the government or the people (especially the Bumiputera Muslims).
Wassalam.
iv tried googling both the word bari2 and the cross breading between the 2. I didn find anything so i guess this is just a nother hoax to frighten the muslims?
i always try not to have syak wasangka and not think tht non-muslims are trying to 'get' us. ;)
Wa'alaikumusalam warahmatullah,
Fatin, that's a very delicate and tricky question you put forward. And at this deadly hours of the morning (here in Malaysia, it is), I might be slightly tipsy to reply in full.
However, you must understand the situation in Medina was one where the population invited Rasulullah s.a.w. over along with the muslim community in Mekah where they were persecuted. Perhaps the UN terminology for this would be War or Political Refugees.
The present situation in Malaysia is very much different. Here, most of the migrant workers MAY be classified as Economic Refugees, where the situation at their homeland does not allow them to eke a decent income.
Further, the most of the migrant workers here were brought over by middleman where the chief concern is motivated my financial profit. These middleman - many of them - are politically linked and have been proven in the past to be doing so for political purposes.
With profit in bringing foreign workers taking priority, locals are being robbed of jobs. To justify it, we are told that locals do not want to work in the fields where foreign workers are. But that is a fallacy fed to the public. Simply put to you this way: there are thousand of Malaysians especially in Sabah and Sarawak who used to work as Security Guards, but now are being displaced by foreigners from Nepal. Why? because the foreigners cost their employers less.
This issue has grown into a myriad of problems that needs serious addressing. Sadly, the authorities are not doing it.
Phew! That was a long reply :) There's more but I'm don't think I'm up to it tonight.
Princess,
Hmm...not quite. Normally if it is a hoax, we could look for it under urban legends at http://www.snopes.com/ . But I looked at it and can't find any.
Then again, there were no reference as to where the farm is nor how the cross breeding was initiated or for what purpose.
Hmm...now that leaves me in a damning position lol! But thanks anyway :)
Assalamualaikum,
Thanks for your reply.
Ok, let's put all the faults to the middlemen and some of the politicians and consider that many of the immigrants are just victims like what you say Economic Refugees. So, are we still not going to help them on the basis as we are all humans, if not muslims?
Back to our own jobless Malaysians, are they really committed in their jobs and prove to be better employees than the immigrants?
I am not a pro-migrant-workers, but I just want to look at this issue with a humanity lens that goes beyond nationalism.
ALLAHU'alam.
Wassalam.
Wa'alaikumusalam warahmatullah,
Wow! Fatin, you realy want to go into the issue, don't you? Ok, but somehow I don't think this is the place for it. However...
Before we can even offer assistance to anyone, we have to assist ourselves - Malaysians - first. As to whether they can or not perform to the task, that very much depend on the education system we have. With education and fair treatment, only then we can talk about commitment (this part alone can be a lengthy issue by itself).
Then there's the social problem created by the sudden meet of culture and religion, not mention the health problems that has been created.
Another factor that needs reminding is the remittance of money out of Malaysia to their country of origin - its costing us billions in foreign exchange alone.
No, I am not against foreign workers. But there has to be some form of real authority looking into the various aspect of it. Be they muslims or not, everyone deserves fair treatment.
ps. Take a glance into Mexican economy - they are in shambles! Why? It should be noted that Mexico is rich in natural resources as well as having beautiful natural landscapes. Could there be a foreign involvement that led to the corruption and poor condition? I don't know, but suggestions are such.
Ok, I'll leave you with that. Thanks!
You are most welcome, Fatin :)
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