1. MATI, 2 cols, 25 counts<\/p>\n
Why can it be so difficult
\nfor local leaders to die?<\/p>\n
When former president Soeharto was admitted to the Pertamina
\nHospital in Central Jakarta last December, people speculated that
\nhe could be about to die. The fact is the 78-year-old man managed
\nto survive and was released from the hospital after intensive
\ntreatment.<\/p>\n
People then linked his physical condition with a Javanese
\nbelief that such a person must be in the Sumlanggoro and
\nSumlanggem conditions, meaning the difficulty for a person to die
\nbecause he possesses extraordinary mystical energy or strength
\nacquired during his lifetime (called Joyokawijayan in the
\nJavanese language).<\/p>\n
Such a person must be fully aware that the powers in his
\npossession will become a pepalang (obstacle) to his death though
\nthe physical condition no longer supports life.<\/p>\n
This opinion was recently revealed by a Javanese cultural
\nobserver, Suryanto Sastroatmadja, to The Jakarta Post. He said a
\nperson who experiences great difficulty in dying at his old age
\nis suspected to have some unfinished business in his life.<\/p>\n
"But it's also possible that such a person has some secret
\nmystical powers, which creates an obstruction for him to meet his
\ndeath."<\/p>\n
In the traditional Javanese belief, there are five elements
\nthat could make a person's death difficult.<\/p>\n
First, in the case of a person who feels guilty for committing
\nnumerous sins in his life, it is called Pantirasianta, literally
\nmeaning the home of imprisoned emotions. This applies to
\neveryone, from the common people up to the high-ranking leaders.
\nNormally a huge number of problems reside inside such a person.<\/p>\n
Second is Andayupanti, meaning to create superiority through
\nvarious sacrifices, including searching for mystical powers to
\nenrich oneself or to enhance one's physical prowess.<\/p>\n
The person is less aware that the accumulation of these powers
\nwill weaken him against external energy. For example, when he is
\nattacked with black magic sent by another person, he would not be
\nable to resist but could only attempt to hold out and retain his
\nphysical self.<\/p>\n
The third element is Wicaksagriya or Wicaksangriya, referring
\nto an old person who cannot experience a simple death. Instead,
\nhe must go through a painful process. This could be caused as his
\nearly life was lived far from virtiously.<\/p>\n
It also applies to those searching for mystical powers in
\nfaraway places to cover up their economic shortcomings in their
\nyouth. This kind of small-mindedness prevents them from positive
\ninteraction in the society and later creates difficulties for
\nthem in the face of death.<\/p>\n
2. TOILET, 1 line, 35 counts<\/p>\n
Indian toilet museum lifts the lid<\/p>\n
NEW DELHI, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Forget the grand parliament
\nbuilding in New Delhi. Or even the majestic 17th century Red Fort
\nin the Indian capital.<\/p>\n
One of the must-see stops on the list of many tourists to the
\nancient city dotted with fabulous historical monuments is an
\nunusual little building tucked away at a far end of Delhi: a
\ntoilet museum.<\/p>\n
Toilets may have been the butt of many jokes for years, but
\nthe museum has taken the once taboo subject out of the water
\ncloset and made it an object of tourist curiosity. It also
\nstrives to make a serious point about the dignity of the poor.<\/p>\n
The Sulabh International Museum of Toilets tracks the history
\nof toilets from the basic burnt brick drains in India in 2,500 BC
\nand the chamber pots of the Middle Ages to the high-tech waste
\ndisposal gadgets in submarines and spacecraft today.<\/p>\n
The museum helps lift the lid on the world of toilets through
\nan inventive use of photographs, copies of old loos as well as
\ntrivia on toilet humour, technology and etiquette through the
\nyears.<\/p>\n
"We get about 500 visitors every month during the tourist
\nseason from November to January," Madhu Singh, spokeswoman for
\nSulabh International, told Reuters. "Most of them are drawn by
\nthe unusualness of the subject."<\/p>\n
But the museum has a serious purpose. It is part of a wider
\neffort by a non-governmental organisation, Sulabh International
\nSocial Service Organisation, to set up a string of public toilets
\nacross the country where many of the over one billion people
\nstill relieve themselves on roadsides and behind bushes.<\/p>\n
Sulabh -- Hindi for convenient -- has built over 650,000
\ntoilets used by about 10 million people every day and has also
\ndesigned a mobile toilet which is used for huge gatherings such
\nas last year's Hindu festival in the holy north Indian city of
\nAllahabad attended by millions.<\/p>\n
3. TOBACO, 2 lines, 27 counts<\/p>\n
Tobacco may be good for you
\nas food supplement<\/p>\n
MANILA, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Forget for a moment that this plant is
\nblamed for millions of deaths every year.
\nIf the Philippine government gets its way, tobacco -- held
\nresponsible for a variety of ills including cancer, emphysema and
\nbirth defects -- will soon be turned into food supplements,
\nantibiotic ointments and skin creams.
\nBuilding materials, paints, pesticides and paper are also on the
\nway.
\nIndependent testing and approval for sale are still pending, but
\nthe Philippines is hoping the alternative products will
\nsupplement a farming sector set to suffer as evidence mounts
\nabout the harmful effects of smoking.
\n"The phase-out (of tobacco) may be implemented slowly, but it
\nwill still have an effect" on farmers, said Carlitos Encarnacion,
\nhead of the government's National Tobacco Administration.
\nThe country's 62,000 tobacco farmers are better off than those
\nfarming other crops because demand is up -- smoking in the
\nPhilippines is still increasing by two percent a year,
\nEncarnacion said.
\nBut fears that an international anti-smoking campaign would drive
\nthe crop toward obsolescence prompted the government to re-think
\nits tobacco research in the mid-1990s.
\nGovernment testing soon found the plant's seeds, stalks and roots
\n-- not just the leaves people smoke -- could be used for a wide
\nvariety of uses.<\/p>",
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