He was trained in the Aramaic prayers and marked out as a promising candidate for the priesthood and was ordained as a deacon.

But as fate would have it, Gabriel is today using his knowledge of the Bible not to preach from the pulpit but to guide pilgrims instead. Leaving school at 16 to join the British Army in 1942, this colourful character runs a profitable tour agency.

I met Gabriel during my recent trip to Jerusalem with other Malaysian pilgrims. We were invited to his house, located on the lower slopes of Mount Scopus.

Among the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities, he is a highly respected man with plenty of stories to tell.

Two days after Israel was created in 1948, Gabriel and his family were forced out of their home in Bethlehem at gunpoint.

He had to take refuge at a church with about 50 other families before his family fled to Madaba, an old Arab town in Jordan. That traumatic experience proved too much for his father who fell ill. It was nearly 19 years later that the family was able to return to Bethlehem but the house they used to live in at the Musrara Quarter had been destroyed. And Jerusalem had become a divided city.

In Bethlehem, the place where Jesus was born, the Khanos lived next door to Khalil Iskander Shahin. Khalil became famous and rich after he bought the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest and largest collection of Bible manuscripts.

Gabriel might have been in a similar situation but he was not so lucky. He too went to search for the scrolls in one of the caves but gave up after seeing thousands of bats. He also could not stand the stench of guano. Unfortunately for him, a search party later found more scrolls in the cave that he had turned his back on.

Today, Bethlehem, where the Church of Nativity is located, has become a compulsory stop for Christian pilgrims. It is under the jurisdiction of the Palestine Authority.

Despite the past, there is no sense of bitterness at all in Gabriel, a man who has seen much. Over tea and sweet Arab cookies, Gabriel shared his experiences with the Malaysians, praying that the Palestinians and Israelis would live in peace soon.

The peace process had just started when we arrived and there appeared to be much optimism in the Holy Land. Many believed that peace would be a reality finally.

For Gabriel, who landed in prison once after his many brushes with the law, there is only human tragedy – not national or political tragedy. There is only human frailty because we cannot forgive. Most of us are also quick to be angry.

He feels that many people, especially those in the West, cannot understand the plight of the Palestinians, contributing to Arab antagonism and racial and religious prejudices.

Similarly, he is unhappy with those who sympathise with the Palestinian cause only from a religious angle, forgetting that there are Palestinian Christians who share the same sentiment. There were also Jews I met during the trip who support the Palestinian cause.

Gabriel's English wife, Delia, has written a book about her husband and the Palestinian issue, in the hope that Christians would understand their problems better, describing the Palestinians as God's chosen people too.

After I finished the book last weekend, I thought about the timing of my trip to the Holy Land. It was a time when the peace process had started and I felt very blessed that I had the opportunity to "feel and see" the Bible coming alive.

More than that, like the Malaysians in my group, we had the opportunity to meet Palestinians like Gabriel and our tour guide, an Arab Christian who holds Israeli nationality.

Like most Malaysians, some of us had assumed that all Palestinians are Muslims and all Jews hate Palestinians. As we walked through Jerusalem, our eyes, minds and hearts opened.

Politicians sometimes want us to see things their way for their own interest, but all of us are just ordinary people. Regardless of our faith, we only want to live simple but peaceful lives.

Day Four – March 1, Chinese food at Haifa, Mt Carmel,
Caesarea

AFTER days of Middle Eastern food, we had lunch at the "Taiwan Restaurant" in
Haifa. Owned by a Jew, the restaurant cooks looked like Thais to me but the
cooking was quite authentic.

Before that, we had to climb the hilly ancient site of Megiddo, where many
ancient and bitter battles had taken place.

It is mentioned in the Bible as one of the cities that Solomon built. Two
fortresses from the period of Solomon had been uncovered there.  This site is also believed to be the last
battlefield between Good and Evil (Revelation 16, 12-16), the Armageddon in
bible prophecy.

Our journey continued to Caesarea, once the capital of the Roman province.
Pontius Pilate, who ordered Jesus' crucifixion, lived here. It was also from
the harbour here that St Paul was taken to Rome to be tried (Acts 27, 1-2) and
sentenced to death.

Then it was straight to Jerusalem, the old capital of Israel, but we had to
pass Tel Aviv, the present capital of modern Israel, first. We drove past rows
and rows of impressive-looking shopping malls, clubs and pubs. I wished we had
spent a night there but we reminded ourselves that this was a spiritual journey
and not a tour. So Tel Aviv did not warrant a stop.

Day Five – March 2, Bethlehem

We entered Bethlehem, where Jesus was born 2,000 years ago. It was the place
where Joseph and his pregnant wife, Mary, came to register as ordered by
Emperor Augustus (Luke 2:2-7).

The highlight of the visit was the Church of Nativity. There is neither stable
nor manger here but a series of grottoes where we are told Christ was
born.

Tradition has it that Mary stayed here in fear of King Herod, the vicious
regent of Jerusalem, who was determined to kill the child. The church was built
circa 324, by Helena, the mother of Constantine I, the first Roman Emperor to
become a Christian.

We prayed and took our turns to kiss the holy star symbol on the spot where
Jesus was born. It was really emotional for all of us.

The Church of Nativity is the oldest church in Israel and in 2002, it made
world news when Israeli soldiers fired into the church, where about 200 people,
including Palestinian militants and policemen and clergy, had sought refuge in
a standoff with Israel. During the two-week standoff, Israel ringed the church
with tanks, armoured personnel carriers and snipers.

For lunch at Bethlehem, we stopped at a Chinese restaurant where, to my
surprise, the chefs were all Palestinians. Either they were good cooks or we
were terribly hungry.

The journey of faith continued with a trip to Shepherd's Field. Tradition has
it that this was where angels announced the birth of Christ.

It is an open, rocky wooded field. Our two pastors conducted Holy Communion in
a church, where a grotto, the typical home of a poor shepherd, once
stood.

The trip continued to the Place of Ascension, where 40 days after Jesus'
resurrection, he rose to heaven (Luke 24:50-51, Mark 16:19).

The Church of St Peter in Gallicantu on Mount Zion, one of the day's stops, was
interesting. What was once the house of Caiaphas the high priest, and the site
to where Jesus was brought after he was arrested, is now a church dedicated to
Peter, the apostle, who denied Jesus three times. Gallicantu is the Latin word
for "when the cock crows."

Just a stone's throw away is the Upper Room, where the Last Supper is said to
have taken place. It is a large hallway with Gothic architectural elements
built by the Crusaders in the early 14th century, on top of a much older
structure.

This was also where 120 people – the apostles, other disciples and Jesus'
mother, Mary – gathered after the Ascension to wait for Pentecost.

Another important stop was the Pater Noster Church, where Jesus taught the
Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). Tradition has it that Jesus stayed here on his
last journey to Jerusalem.

On the walls of the church is the Lord's Prayer in over 100 languages, set in
mosaic. I looked for but could not find a Bahasa Malaysia version. But there
were translations in Bahasa Indonesia and Kadazan. The latter was a pleasant
surprise indeed.

Day Six – March 3, Via Dolorosa and the Wailing Wall

There is high expectation in the air. Today, the Malaysians would be carrying a
wooden cross – just like Jesus had done.

This took place along the 500m Via Dolorosa, the route along which Jesus
carried the cross on his back from the Antonia Fortress to Calvary, which winds
its way through the Old City's Muslim and Christian Quarters.

When we began our religious ritual at about 8am, the many Arab shops selling
everything from Christian religious items to Persian rugs had yet to
open.

Rubbish was strewn along the way, making the Fourteen Stations of the Cross an
unwelcome sight. The stalls, which lined the route, reminded me of the Kek Lok
Si temple in Penang.

We were not the only pilgrims who carried the cross. The others we met were
Indonesians. A few wept openly as they carried the cross, which touched many
hearts.

We ended at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, regarded as the most sacred place
on earth for Christians. It was here that Jesus was said to have been nailed to
the cross, suffered and died. From here, he was lowered from the cross and
placed in his tomb.

Next stop: the Wailing Wall, also known as the Western Wall. Many of us were
fascinated at the sight as we had only watched it on television. The wall is
the Jews' holiest shrine as it is the last accessible relic of the temple built
in 20BC that was destroyed by the Romans in 70AD.

Outsiders are permitted to enter the area and even touch the wall. The only
condition is that we wear a  "yarmulke",
the skullcap worn by Jews. We made do with paper stapled ones that are
available to visitors.

During lunch at an Indian restaurant, we met an Indian Jew, complete with his
Jewish skullcap. He was a businessman and could not resist talking to our
fellow pilgrims from the Mar Thoma Syrian Church on hearing them speak
Malayalee, his ancestral tongue. They chatted happily about their Indian home
province, Kerala, and how he became a Jew.

Day Seven – March 4, a brush with pickpockets

What a day! On the way to the Garden Tomb, another possible site where Jesus
was crucified, I had my wallet picked by two teenagers who, on the pretext of
selling postcards, had followed me closely. I was tired and obviously not
alert, so they seized the opportunity.

This took place at around 4pm in front of a police station.

I felt a hand slip into my front pocket of my tight jeans. It was done within
seconds and I quickly let out a loud yell.

My shouts created a commotion, with my fellow pilgrims and locals wanting to
find out what had happened. Still in shock, I told the guide to use his "street
contacts" to get back my credit cards and MyKad.

But before we could decide on what to do next, a man walked up to us and
returned my wallet. Still in a daze, I did not even thank the man. The money –
US$80 (RM304) – and cards were intact. Praise the Lord!

Our Malaysian tour manager reminded us that "in the holy land, not everyone is
holy".

At the Garden Tomb is an outcrop that looks like a human skull outside the
northern wall of Jerusalem. This is said to be place where Jesus was crucified
and where the Bible says, "there was a garden, a new tomb where no one had ever
laid", although not all archaeologists agree.

Not far is the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus went with his most trusted
disciples to find solitude and pray. The garden at the Gethsemane Church, also
known as the Agony Church, contains olive trees thousands of years old.

Day Eight – March 5, the

Qumran and the Dead Sea

After having read so much about the Dead Sea Scrolls, I saw the caves in Qumran
where they had been found.

The scrolls were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in 11 caves on the northwest
shore of the Dead Sea, east of Jerusalem. They contain early copies of the
Scriptures and other writings.

It was fun time next. Just a short distance away from the caves is the shore of
the Dead Sea, one of the most spectacular natural and spiritual landscapes in
the world. It is the lowest point on earth at 417m below sea level and the
world's richest source of natural earths.

As the name evokes, the Dead Sea is devoid of life due to an extremely high
content of salt minerals but there have been recent findings of some bacteria
and algae in the water.

We changed into our bathing suits quickly and plunged into the water. Both the
men and women quickly smeared their faces and bodies with black mud, said to
have curative powers and therapeutic qualities. Everyone wanted to look young.
Even the senior citizens from the Mar Thoma Syrian Church sportingly went into
the waters in their saris.

Day Nine – March 6, Mount

Nebo and flight home

This was the last leg of the journey. We were tired and homesick but we all
agreed that it had been spiritually fulfilling trip.

At a thanksgiving service the night before, I spoke about my transformation
from being a Christian hater and how I struggle with my regrets, mistakes and
continuing sins daily.

I accepted the Lord only five years ago and amazingly, here I was in the Holy
Land. I recalled how I cried as I carried the cross and how the Lord must have
watched over me, not once but many times, the latest sending a passing angel
who ensured my wallet was returned to me.

As we headed towards the Jordan border, we sang Christian songs and naturally,
Shalom, Till We Meet Again.

We prayed for our Muslim driver, Ahmad Badawi, a 63-year-old Arab, and our
Indonesian-speaking guide, Jeries Farra.

We were the first bus to cross the Allenby Bridge and this time, the Israel
Immigration was efficient and even cheerful. We were practically waved through.
We entered Jordan with great relief.

The trip ended with a visit to the "original baptismal site" and a trip to
Mount Nebo, where God showed Moses the Promised Land. At the top of the hill is
a metal cross with a serpent, symbolising the bronze reptile that Moses made so
that those who were bitten and looked on it were healed. (Numbers 21:9)

A quick lunch of 20 minutes followed next, after a short visit to Madaba, along
the 5,000-year-old King's Highway where Moses had travelled. The Arabian town
of mostly Christians is known as the City of Mosaics as it boasts a Greek
Orthodox Church of St George with a 6th century Byzantine mosaic map showing
the entire region from Jordan and Palestine in the north to Egypt in the
south.

A funny thing happened on our way to lunch. I was stopped by a group of
youngsters who, probably taken by my black leather jacket and sunglasses, kept
calling me "Jackie Chan" – a reference to the Hong Kong superstar.

To these young Jordanians, the kung fu actor was obviously their link to
Chinese. As I sat down for lunch at a nearby restaurant, the owner and his
waiters were still excitedly talking about Jackie Chan.

Strangely, more than 10 years ago, when I was in Sarajevo in Bosnia, shortly
after the war ended, some adults shouted "Bruce Lee" at me as I walked past.
It's the sign of the times, I guess. It's in with the new and out with the
old.

We reached Queen Alia airport just in time to catch the flight to Dubai, where
we had a five-hour wait for our flight home to Kuala Lumpur.

 *For enquiries about Christian pilgrimage tours, contact: World Discovery
Travel, Ground Floor, Wisma TK Tang, No. 4 Jalan Yap Ah Loy, 50050 Kuala
Lumpur. Tel: 03-2026 1128.

I had just returned to Jordan after spending eight days in Jerusalem and other religiously significant areas.

With the approval of the Malaysian Immigration Department, my church members and I managed to enter Israel. Our journey, led by two pastors, also took us to Jericho, Nazareth and Bethlehem – towns that came under the jurisdiction of the Palestine Authority.

In Bethlehem, I met Sibly Kando, the grandson of a Palestinian shopkeeper, Khalil Iskander Shahin, who first bought the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest and largest collection of manuscripts with references to the Bible.

Sibly, who runs a souvenir shop selling Christian items, was pleased to meet us because we were only the seventh group of pilgrims to enter his shop over the last five years.

"It has been really hard for all of us because pilgrims and tourists stopped coming when they heard of all the trouble," said the 35-year-old trader.

Sipping tea with me, he talked fondly about his famous grandfather. Khalil was jailed for 10 days after buying the scrolls from a Bedouin shepherd boy who discovered them at the Qumran Caves in 1947 near the Dead Sea.

"I hope such stories will attract more pilgrims. The peace process must succeed. Ordinary Palestinians and Israelis don't care about the politics; we just want to earn a living like everyone else," said Sibly.

We travelled to Jerusalem, the focal point of our trip, where we met Jews and Muslim and Christian Arabs. Listening to them helped me understand their hopes and frustrations.

Jerusalem means "city of peace" but it is a hotly contested city despite being just a mass of white stone dwellings.

It is a holy city for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. It is holy for the Jews because their Temple, destroyed in 70AD, was thought to be here.

For Christians, Jerusalem was where Jesus Christ was crucified and rose from the dead while for Muslims, Prophet Muhammad was closely associated with the city and because of its over 1,400 years of Islamic history.

In Palestine-controlled Nazareth, where Jesus grew up, we were the only ones staying at the huge hotel. It has been like that for years – the conflicting sides paying a high political, economic and social price.

Tourism has collapsed, depriving the Palestinians of visitors to many of the biblical towns, while Israel has had to pour money into its security system, resulting in a lowering of the standard of living.

Huge amounts have been spent to build Jewish settlements in areas that Israel confiscated from the Palestinians. Now, these settlements have to go if the peace process is to succeed.

The economy contracted from an 8% growth in 2000 to just 1% three years later as foreign investments dried up. Health service, social security and education budgets for the Israelis were severely cut as a result.

While Palestinians have grappled with unemployment for years, the Jews are now facing a situation unknown before in Israel. In 2003, about 19.2% of Israelis were living below the poverty line.

The wall erected along the West Bank has also been a costly and unproductive project, attracting much criticism.

Our tourist guide Jeries Farra, an Arab who speaks passionately for his brethren in Palestine, said the community could do with more pilgrims.

"Besides Americans and Europeans, the largest number of Asian pilgrims are from Indonesia and South Korea. Please come again," he said.

Jeries, who taught himself Bahasa Indonesia, harbours hopes of visiting Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore after meeting Christians from the region.

He sings the tune from the hugely successful commercial "Malaysia – Truly Asia" and had once signed up for a Superstar Cruise from Singapore via Malaysia to Thailand.

But his visa to Malaysia was rejected. Jeries is an Israeli citizen of Arab descent, a Christian who supports the Palestinian cause.

That is hardly the standard picture of an ordinary Israeli, who is usually perceived to be Jewish and practising Judaism.

We must pray for the wall in the West Bank to come down, just like the Berlin Wall. I would like to meet Jeries in Malaysia one day, and show him how Malaysians of different faiths live together in harmony.

Lest we forget, we must always learn to forgive those who have hurt us as much as we learn not to hurt others. That should be the spirit of Easter.

As I boarded an Emirates Airlines plane, an air
stewardess asked me whether it would be safe to travel to Jerusalem. Like my
fellow pilgrims, I told her we would be safe as we have faith in God.

Since last month, with the start of the peace negotiations between the Israelis
and the Palestinians, many have felt encouraged by the lull in fighting.
Religious tours have started again.

Through my church, the Emmanuel Methodist Church in Petaling Jaya, a group of
us applied to the Immigration Department to make the pilgrimage to the Holy
Land.

The arrangements were handled by World Discovery Travel Sdn Bhd, a Kuala Lumpur
travel agency which specialises in Christian pilgrimages. The rules are simple
– the travellers must be certified Christians. Approval procedures included
submitting letters from the church to verify membership as well as baptism
certificates. The group must also be accompanied by a pastor or a priest.

The Immigration Department takes about two weeks to vet the applications before
stamping the Malaysian passports to state that permission has been granted for
a single trip to Baitul Maqdis, the Arabic name of Jerusalem.

Malaysians are not allowed to travel to Israel as Malaysia has no diplomatic
ties with the country. But thanks to the understanding, tolerance and
flexibility of the Malaysian Government, restricted trips are allowed to
Jerusalem for religious purposes.

Other Muslim countries, like Indonesia, have similar arrangements which allow
their Christian citizens to perform their religious obligations. The
Indonesians make up the largest number of pilgrims from South-East Asia.

An eight-day trip to Jerusalem and other towns of Christian importance costs
over RM5,000, inclusive of accommodation and food.

Although some might be tempted to make the trip since Israel is out of bounds
to ordinary tourists, the fact is that a visit like this would be meaningless
for them.

It is, after all, a pilgrimage and, as the name suggests, a journey of faith
made up of visits to churches and other religiously significant spots, daily
prayers, hymn singing and religious ceremonies.

Even a Christian who does not know his Bible would find himself overwhelmed
because the names of the characters and places would be lost on him.

Our guides, Muslim driver Ahmad Badawi and Arab Christian guide Jeries Farra,
were superb. They spoke excellent English and in Farra's case, even excellent
Bahasa Indonesia. The Bible-quoting man had taught himself the language as he
handles many Indonesian groups.

The US currency is widely used in Israel. Change given is either in US dollars
or the Israeli shekel, which is slightly less than our ringgit in value. A
visit to the toilet costs a shekel.

For Malaysians visiting Israel, it is indeed an eye-opener. First, many are
able to draw the distinction between a Judaism-practising Jew and a Christian
better. Despite certain similarities, there are vast differences as the Jews do
not accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah.

The word used by our guide, in modern computer terms, was "deleted" – the ultra
orthodox Jews dismiss Jesus while the secular, modern Jews regard him as
nothing more than an important figure in their history.

Next, the 40 years of unjust occupation by Israel of Palestinian territories
was glaring. Farra was emotional at times when he spoke against the unfair
practices, alerting us to the wall being constructed on the West Bank.

But most frustrating were the checkpoints, manned by Israeli soldiers, outside
towns such as Bethlehem, Jericho and Nazareth – all important Biblical towns –
under the control of the Palestine Authority.

I saw how many Palestinians, including those with children, were sometimes made
to wait for hours as their documents were checked. Hence, the simple act of
entering their hometowns can become a six-hour ordeal, affecting their
productivity and hampering their movements.

Deprived of funds, real autonomy and economic growth, the Palestinian towns are
dirty and poor.

In contrast, the Israeli-run areas are clean, affluent and, in many places,
reminded me of Los Angeles, with its manicured lawns, rolling hills and palm
tree-lined roads.

Then there are the smartly dressed and blonde haired men and women, as well as
the ultra orthodox Jews with their black hats and jackets.

For the Palestinians, they need the dollars of the pilgrims badly. The people
work in shops that produce religious items and many individuals sell these to
eke out a living.

Our Malaysian tour manager, Inbam Solomon, repeatedly appealed to us to buy from
the Palestinians, saying they needed our help and many of us bought more than
what we wanted to lend support to the Palestinian cause.

And in many of our daily prayers, we prayed that there would be peace forever
in this land – the Israelis and the Palestinians alike need it.

With China having emerged as the world's biggest economy, we realised that our daughter must have good grounding in Chinese studies. It would be different if she were to have just an hour daily of Chinese language class in primary school.

During my primary schooldays at St Xavier's Institution, I signed up for Chinese studies under the Pupil's Own Language programme. As far as I can recall, it was a flop because many of us did not take the lessons seriously – there was no compulsory examination. Until now, I cannot write my name in Chinese.

If we want to study any language well we have to spend time on it, not just an hour or two a week.

My parents, both Chinese-educated, decided to send their three sons to a Christian missionary school during the 1960s also for economic reasons.

England was an economic powerhouse and it was probably the only country then where Malaysians could send their children to university. Degrees from Taiwan were not recognised then and not many school-leavers from Chinese-medium schools could enter British universities because they lacked proficiency in the language.

So, England was the number one choice. In the 1980s, the United States and Canada opened their doors to Malaysians; a decade later, as the strength of our currency depreciated, we shifted our education opportunities to Australia.

Again it was for pragmatic reasons.

Like my parents, my wife and I think about how our daughter will excel in her studies and what she would grow up to be. We think of what she can accomplish for Malaysia.

She, too, wants to stay in Malaysia and help the country that we are all proud of. Irrespective of what schools we go to, we are loyal to Malaysia.

Today, more and more foreigners, including many Westerners, are sending their children to study Chinese in Beijing universities. They want their children to speak Chinese the Beijing way and to understand the locals better. That aside, many value the importance of networking.

Malaysia and Singapore, for example, have a business edge over other Asean countries such as Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar and Indonesia when it comes to doing business with China because of cultural and ethnic links.

Similarly, the Indian business community in Malaysia and Singapore has the advantage when it comes to India, another emerging global player. But in the case of India, English is widely spoken.

The cultural diversity should be regarded as an asset. In a globalised world, multi-culturalism has become the keyword. For some nationalists who want to "keep a round world in their square peg", they would be left behind.

The demand for Chinese mother-tongue education is natural, especially in urban areas like Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Negri Sembilan and Selangor because many Malaysians see its importance in the global context.

The request by the MCA for more mother-tongue allocation under the 9th Malaysia Plan is nothing unusual. It has always been an MCA agenda and Barisan Nasional, through its tolerant leadership, has always supported it.

It is not an issue drawn up by Chinese associations and organisations. I can say, without any prejudice, that this is the sentiment of the majority of the Chinese community.

But we must also examine the importance of quality education in schools.

Learning a language because it is good for business should not be the only criteria. In the past, if many of us studied in English-medium schools, especially the missionary schools, it was because our parents believed that the standard of teaching was good. They were right.

Those who have spoken up against vernacular schools seem to have ignored the fact that almost 90% of Chinese primary school students entered national schools at Form One. Only a small percentage joined private schools.

From the manner in which some reporters posed their questions and the replies from some politicians, I gathered that some of our media and politician friends do not realise this.

I share their concern about our children mixing with one another more and certainly our national education system should reach greater heights. More resources should be channelled into national schools to make them attractive to students of all races.

We must also support the Students Integration Programme, mooted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi when he was Education Minister in 1987. Under the programme, vernacular and national primary school students would have joint extracurricular activities to boost interaction and mutual understanding.

Similarly, Chinese educationists should stop talking about building more Chinese schools if there is no corresponding increase in the number of Chinese teachers.

There may be a demand for Chinese schools in urban areas but in some villages, there are more Malay or Indian students than Chinese. In these cases, the schools should be relocated.

Education should not be politicised and our politicians and editors should not be reactionary and make baseless accusations. It would not happen if we see issues from a Malaysian angle.

The F1 is no longer just another race, as other host
countries have used it to network, stage forums and promote tourism.

For example, in Melbourne recently, an international motor show was held
together with the race. In Bahrain, the royal family put protocol aside and
surprised guests by walking to every table at a gala dinner to greet
them.

For the first time in the seven years of hosting the F1, a series of events,
inter-related in many ways, have been strung together in Kuala Lumpur.

Kicking off tomorrow is a gala dinner for over 680 people at the Mandarin
Oriental to be attended by the King and Queen, the Prime Minister and his
Cabinet. The others will be the who's who in Malaysia.

With Sepang, dubbed the "hottest F1 race", the organisers of the dinner have
creatively taken a "cool" theme for a pre-race major event.

The hotel ballroom will literally be turned into a snow house, with a full
white colour setting, and the glittering event is expected to be attended by
the hottest names in entertainment, politics and media.

Besides F1 drivers like world champion Michael Schumacher, the celebrities who
have confirmed their attendance are Baywatch actress Carmen Electra,
international stars Jackie Chan, Bai Ling and Datuk Michelle Yeoh, Hong Kong
artiste Nicholas Tse, former Kiss singer Gene Simmons, Black Eyed Peas,
Backstreet Boys and Boyz II Men.

Singing at the dinner would be jazz singer Diana Krall, and Malaysian Idol
Jackie Victor.

Said All Sports Services Sdn Bhd director Hafez Mohamed, who travelled to
several F1 host countries recently: "These are big names and they attract the
media wherever they go. So Malaysia will be on the world map."

ESPN, for example, will be broadcasting the gala dinner with local stations,
TV3 and Channel 8 while CNN presenter Lorraine Han is the emcee for the
dinner.

He said the idea to stage the gala dinner – newcomer Shanghai also did the same
– was mooted by Sepang International Circuit chairman Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir,
and was supported by the Tourism Ministry.

Said Hafez: "Next year, we may have an international fund manager conference in
KL at the same time."

The party continues on Friday, where the Forces of Nature concert would be held
at the Stadium Putra. Besides Black Eyed Peas, Backstreet Boys and Boyz II Men,
soul singer Lauryn Hill and top local singers such as Sheila Majid and Anuar
Zain will also be performing.

As Malaysians set to go stargazing, one popular story going around is that
American Idol judge Paula Abdul is coming. So is media tycoon Rupert Murdoch,
but no one is confirming this talk.

The Forces of Nature Foundation, headed by roving diplomat Tan Sri Razali
Ismail, aims to help victims of natural disasters and its first task includes
helping the victims of the recent tsunami.

Helping to put this gigantic task together without any fanfare are the children
of Abdullah – Nori and Kamaluddin. Then, there are some young corporate
figures, who have used their networking in Los Angeles to bring in these big
names for a good cause.

Abdullah now wears an orange rubber wristband in support of the Force of Nature
concert for Tsunami Aid and has even directed his Cabinet members to wear the
wristbands at the show.

But that's not all. The Star's KL Fashion Week will be held from May 3 to 8. To
promote KL as a vibrant and cosmopolitan city, models taking part in the
fashion event will move around KL tomorrow in special mobile catwalks, in what
is dubbed as "Fashion On The Move". (See page 8)

To wrap up the party with a blast, Astro is holding a free concert on Sunday at
the F1 circuit, immediately after the race.

Blasting the evening away will be rock group Status Quo and Thai diva Tata
Young, where thousands of people are expected to attend.

It's going to be really hot in Kuala Lumpur this weekend and we are not just
talking about the Sepang racetrack.

Last Thursday, I was invited to visit the sprawling Sungai Buloh prison, built on a 10ha site. It has the best electronic system and was built to house prisoners from Pudu Jail, which was built in 1895.

Any corrective facility is meant to keep criminals out of society, but at the same time the humane treatment of its residents should not be overlooked.

In Sungai Buloh, the prisoners are not entitled to electric fans in their cells. From a corrective point of view, there is no justification to have a fan because prisoners are supposed to feel the impact of a jail sentence. From the security angle, the authorities do not want any inmate to use the fan to hurt himself.

The prison has taken great pains to ensure that death-row prisoners have all their meat, whether fish or chicken, de-boned. They are supposed to be hanged, not choked, to death. For ordinary prisoners, they have to eat their meals using their hands because forks and spoons can be used as weapons.

To my surprise, I learnt that they have five meals a day, including a minimum of 300gm of rice each for lunch and dinner. That is according to the United Nations' Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMR), of which Malaysia is a signatory.

Preparation of meals by the prisoners begins as early as 3am. There is no difference in the kind of meals served, whether they are convicted thieves or "VIP prisoners" such as ex-politicians, lawyers or police officers, which fall under the "high-risk category".

By high-risk, it means these are prisoners who could find themselves harmed as a result of their previous positions or jobs, especially former police officers or prison warders.

I was told that a former police officer was slapped by a fellow prisoner despite being escorted. The culprit was punished for his action but he seemed prepared to take the risk.

Then there are those who are in a position to organise or influence prisoners.

I asked to have a look at the prison cell of former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. The front section of the cell has been converted into a medical treatment room.

Despite loose talk that Anwar had special privileges, including an air-conditioned room, what I saw was an ordinary jail cell with an open toilet hidden by a low partial wall, like those used by other prisoners. Neither was there a fan. Ironically, funds for the prison were approved when he was finance minister.

For remand prisoners, an average of 50 people would share a dormitory where they sleep on double-decker beds, minus mattresses. There are three semi-covered toilets for them to share. For convicted prisoners, three to five of them share a cell.

Less talked about is the welfare of the warders. Besides those who operate the prison, 100 more are involved in administration, and driving and guarding remand prisoners to the courts and hospitals.

It is an unhealthy situation. Should a riot break out, the lives of these outnumbered warders would be seriously threatened. In the Suhakam 2003 report, it states that the lack of trained personnel to attend to the health of detainees is not consistent with the requirements of the SMR.

Furthermore, with the increase in the number of inmates suffering serious and chronic illnesses like tuberculosis, hepatitis and AIDS, there is need for medical services to be improved.

There is concern that warders have contracted some illnesses from the inmates, especially tuberculosis. In Sungai Buloh, there are 2,000 inmates with HIV/AIDS.

The warder's job is a tough one. The starting salary is as low as RM553 a month, which is almost poverty level, and many of these warders have to supplement their income by working as part-time drivers or pasar malam traders.

They deserve higher salaries and allowances to meet the demands of current times. Theirs is indeed a high-risk job and surely their working conditions need to be reviewed, especially when they have to work overtime in an overcrowded place.

I was also given the opportunity to give a pep talk to about 40 "young prisoners" below the age of 20. These youngsters had committed crimes ranging from petty crime to rape.

I did not want to sound like a policeman or preacher. My message was short and simple – repent and stick to your religion. As humans, we all make mistakes and continue to do so but we must be remorseful.

I told them they could laugh at me or just ignore my words but I hoped that what I said would be remembered 10 or 15 years from now. It would still not be too late.

Without doubt, the country needs these foreign workers in our homes, estates, construction sites and restaurants. In fact, there are about 500,000 jobs available for these foreigners.

These are manual jobs shunned by Malaysians because the pay and working conditions are regarded as unattractive. If employers were to pay higher salaries to attract locals, it would only increase production costs, which would make Malaysia less competitive from an economic point of view.

Like it or not, the country needs these foreigners even if most of us do not want so many of them. With a population of only 25 million, the huge number of immigrants is certainly not good from a security standpoint.

The number of legal foreign workers outnumber our police force of only 80,000. Their presence, especially Indonesians with families, has put a strain on our medical and education facilities. Some have even posed a security threat.

While Malaysia has become a favourite home away from home for these foreign labourers, we have not been successful in attracting the best brains. The programme to attract Malaysian professionals, launched in 2001, has not taken off as planned either.

It was reported that only 300 doctors and engineers took up offers under the "returning professionals" campaign because many were unwilling to settle for the lower salaries in Malaysia.

Fong Chan Onn said the main snag was the reduced income despite the many incentives offered.

While doctors are easily absorbed by medical centres and private hospitals, information technology engineers say they find it difficult to get jobs that commensurate with their expectations.

The campaign was aimed at filling vacancies in six fields – information and communications technology, manufacturing industries, science and technology, arts, finance and medicine.

The Government, however, should not give up on this push for more professionals to work in Malaysia because their expertise and skills will greatly benefit the country.

The present non-monetary incentives include the right to bring back two cars and two years' income. Their children and spouses, who are non-citizens, would be given permanent residence status.

The Human Resources Ministry has taken the right step but what it needs is the support of the private sector in its promotion campaign. A more concerted programme can be carried out overseas to explain the opportunities and incentives offered. A one-stop agency may be needed to help reduce red tape.

Malaysia needs to create the right environment if we are serious in wanting to attract the best, regardless of whether they are Malaysians or foreigners, to work here.

We also need to find out from these professionals what we can offer to create a conducive and congenial environment to woo top talent to Malaysia.

In the academic world, many feel that our universities lack the facilities and leadership to strive for cutting-edge research. Some even feel that we still do not fully comprehend the looming competition resulting from globalisation.

As for the smaller pay cheques, these professionals must understand that Malaysia has a lower cost of living.

It must be impressed upon them that one can earn a higher salary in Tokyo and live in a cramped apartment, while in Malaysia a lower income could be sufficient for a landed property.

It is heartening to hear Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi give his personal assurance to Indian IT professionals that they are welcome in Malaysia.

During his visit in December, he urged Indian professionals to consider Malaysia as their second base, or even second home, because there was much to gain from working together.

Malaysia needs to attract the best brains – not just the cheapest labourers – to drive forward in a highly competitive globalised world.

Equally disgraceful is the revelation that the corporation given the task of running the scheme has not been able to recover the money effectively. The corporation ran out of funds in 2003 and had to borrow RM2bil from the Employees Provident Fund. In short, the Government had to use our money to rescue the corporation. In total, the PTPTN has disbursed RM7.2bil since its inception in 1997.

The scheme was introduced with the aim of assisting needy students. Almost all students of higher learning institutions, including those from well-to-do families, have enjoyed the scheme.

Last week, corporation chairman Datuk Razali Ismail reportedly said that more than 200,000 reminders had been sent out to the 190,000 defaulters this year. They owed RM420mil, of which RM93mil was recovered.

But something is not right here. The corporation ran out of money more than a year ago. Surely, it must have seen the enormous problem it was heading towards, yet it did not change its approach.

The corporation should be rapped on the knuckles as much as the errant loan holders. The people who have been given the task of running the corporation have obviously failed in their task.

The Prime Minister has bigger things to worry about. Instead, the Cabinet had to spend an entire morning discussing how to handle this financial fiasco brought about by selfish graduates and inefficient officials.

Obviously, one major factor is the poor system of loan recovery. If the reasons given by some defaulters are to be believed, then the corporation must review its method of debt collection.

One civil servant, who graduated from Universiti Malaya, said she took the initiative to go to the PTPTN office to find out about repaying her loan because she did not receive any notification from the corporation.

A family member who sent a cheque for RM150 as monthly repayment related that the corporation only cleared it five months later.

Teacher Betty Tan complained that she had RM197 deducted monthly from her salary for the past two years to repay the PTPTN but its records show that she has only made two payments.

Another recipient complained that she only received part of her loan of RM12,000. She wrote to the corporation but did not get any reply. Her phone calls were also to no avail.

Following press reports of the huge debts, PTPTN has proposed several actions to recover the loans. These ideas should have been thought of before the funds were given out, not after the scheme had almost collapsed.

In the private sector, such poor recovery of debts would not be tolerated and officers in the financial control department would have been dismissed for not doing their job.

Tough words have been used by our politicians and real action should be followed. The warnings would come to naught if no concrete action was taken to recover the money.

The public will not take such sound bites seriously if they think they can get away scot-free. They read about the government wanting to act against those who dodge National Service but no one has been charged in court.

It might be a good idea to link up PTPTN with the Inland Revenue Department. In the income tax assessment forms, it might be necessary to declare whether contributors had taken any government study loans and whether they had repaid them.

The PTPTN loan defaulters may be the news but over 50,000 Mara loan holders owe the agency more than RM209mil and they include senior civil servants and senior executives in private companies. In its bid to recover the amount, Mara has published the names of nearly 3,000 defaulters in newspaper advertisements.

There is a simple reason why many of these defaulters do not bother to repay their loans – they think that as long as it's government money, they need not pay up.

It is time for the Government to stop being lenient if it wants to be taken seriously.

Her watch, money, wallet and other personal items were left intact by the murderer but her mobile telephone was missing.

What is disturbing is that the crime took place at around 10.30am, when she had just opened her shop for business.

According to the shopping complex, its security system had over 250 cameras operating 24 hours but that did not stop someone from committing that gruesome crime and then walking away.

In fact, an initial review of the tapes from the closed-circuit TV cameras did not produce any positive leads.

In an earlier incident, student Li Mingqian was found naked and dead in a ditch in Banting, Selangor.

The 17-year-old student, who had just been in Malaysia for a month to pursue a higher diploma in business, is believed to have been raped and sodomised.

There are two angles that police are pursuing – someone had picked up Li or she had taken a taxi ride.

But it appears to be a crime of opportunity by an attacker or attackers who had probably taken advantage of her after seeing she was alone or lost in the area.

There are enough laws in Malaysia to punish such sick sex predators and many such criminals have been punished but they don't seem frightening enough for some.

Just three days ago, the Sessions Court in Miri sentenced a fisherman to a total of 94 years and ordered him to be whipped 14 times for committing incest with his only daughter, aged 14, on five different occasions. The 39-year-old man will have to spend at least 56 years in jail.

We certainly agree with Judge Azahahari Kamal Ramli who, when passing sentence, said the man deserved no mercy for the heinous crime.

Our criminals seem to be getting bolder, judging from the murders in Mutiara Damansara and Banting. Obviously aware that our police force is short-handed, many seem prepared to commit crimes openly, which is an obvious challenge to our law enforcers.

Last Thursday morning, three men boldly set fire to a pewter shop in Klang in the presence of customers at a nearby pub.

The arsonists warned the pub patrons to "mind your own business or be beaten up" as they broke the padlocked shutters of the shop.

They did not even care if their identities were revealed and when a woman saw them, she was even warned not to report to the police.

I am upset by these criminal acts because a colleague and a friend have fallen prey to these dangerous people.

Just before the Chinese New Year, a colleague was robbed by three armed men in the basement car park of our office building.

He was slashed on the hand by the gang which had followed him in a car from a bank in Section 14 to the office in Section 16.

In the other case, the friend was abducted at an open car park near a shopping complex in Petaling Jaya by a gang of four men, one armed with a long knife.

In the 1pm incident on Thursday, they pushed the terrified housewife into their car and  took her to a bank where she was forced to withdraw money from an ATM machine. Her three-hour ordeal ended when they took her back to the car park, pushed her out and then drove her car away.

We are just thankful that she was not harmed by the robbers. I told her that I was not confident that the car would be found and it would have probably ended up in Thailand by now.

But what irked me is that all these incidents took place in broad daylight. The country has only 80,000 policemen and has asked for more men and facilities.

They need all the support we can give them to carry out their work to prevent crime, especially with an increasing population which includes a huge number of foreigners.