The Star Online: Metro: Central
The Star Online: Metro: Central |
| Muslims offer cows as sacrifice for Hari Raya Aidiladha Posted: 05 Nov 2011 03:49 AM PDT SUNDAY, Muslims across the world will celebrate Hari Raya Aidiladha (Eid al-Adha) or "Feast of Sacrifice" — a religious day to mark the end of the annual Haj pilgrimage to Mecca. During the celebration, Muslims commemorate and remember the trials of Prophet Ibrahim. Like Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Muslims begin the day by performing Eid prayers in a large congregation at the mosque. This is followed by the ceremony of sacrificing cows (korban) where a percentage of the meat from the animals will be donated to poor and needy families. At the As-Salam mosque in Taman Petaling Utama, Petaling Jaya, preparations were in full swing days before Aidiladha. Tents have been erected within the mosque grounds. Tomorrow, 10 cows will be slaughtered. "Each beneficiary will receive three kilograms of beef. Those who will receive the beef comprise people from our mosque committee, people from the neighbourhood as well as orphans, single mothers and the poor," said As-Salam mosque assistant secretary Hamzah Harip. "Last year, we had a total of 16 cows. Since our preparations were a bit last minute this time around, we only managed to get 10 cows, with one donated by the Selangor Govern-ment," he added. The sacrificial slaughter of cows will be carried out at various suraus and mosques all over Selangor. At the Darul Ehsan mosque in SS15, Subang Jaya, a community gotong-royong was carried out last Saturday to spruce up the place for the Aidiladha celebrations. StarMetro managed to tag along with mosque chairman Mohd Ghazali Daud and committee secretary Rosly Aziz on a road trip to AR Meats Trading Sdn Bhd cattle farm in Rantau Panjang, Klang, where they sourced the cows. "We have been sourcing our cows from here for the past 10 years. The owner is a very reliable supplier. As we have limited space at the mosque grounds, the supplier will deliver the cows to us tomorrow morning. The cows are mostly imported from Thailand," said Rosly. There are certain criteria in choosing a cow for the sacrificial ceremony. "The most important factor is the age. The cow must be more than two years old. The animal must not be physically handicapped nor have any diseases. Lastly, only male cows will be chosen for korban as we don't want to risk harming a female cow which might be pregnant," explained Rosly, who added that the mosque has purchased 16 cows this year for Aidiladha. The average market price for one kilogramme of beef is RM10. Rosly said the meat from the first two cows they slaughter tomorrow would be made into soup and served to the Darul Ehsan mosque congregation after Zohor prayers. "Last year we had a bigger feast where we prepared other dishes for the people in the neighbourhood. This year, we will stick to a simple ceremony." This year, AR Meats has so far brought in over 1,400 cows from Thailand. The farm sits on a 1.6ha site and houses 350 heads of cows. "We receive an average of 500 orders for sacrificial cows two weeks prior to Aidiladha. The meat from the rest of the herd will be sold to meat traders to be sold at the wet markets," said AR Meats director Shahrom Md Nor. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Thirty years and no action by authorities to clean up undergrowth Posted: 05 Nov 2011 03:48 AM PDT SEVERAL abandoned bungalow houses in Taman South-East-Asia, Seremban, are giving residents the creeps and they want the Seremban Municipal Council (MPS) to clean up the unwelcoming sight. Over the years, the residents here have voiced concern as the unoccupied units covered with thick undergrowth have served as a haven for drug addicts, a convenient hideout for thieves and breeding ground for snakes and rodents. Most of the residents have been living in the neighbourhood since they bought their properties and are not ready to move out because of its strategic location and easy access to public amenities. Many of them have also spent a fortune renovating their homes. "This is an affluent residential area and it is sad to see so many bungalow lots either not sold, unoccupied or simply abandoned by the owners,'' said Taman SEA Residents Association president Jeffrey Chua. Chua said since he moved there 10 years ago, he had many unwelcome visitors like reptiles to his home as his unit is right next to a row of four abandoned units covered with thick undergrowth from ground to the roof. He said the residents association (RA) met once every quarterly and the issue of abandoned units always topped the list of issues to be discussed. Chua, who is serving his third term as president of the RA, said this was not a new problem as those before him had also tried to get the authorities to solve their problems, but no action has been taken. "This time we hope the local authority would step in immediately to clear up the areas around the abandoned units and charge the fees to the owners. Thirty-years is too long a wait,'' added Chua. RA secretary Ruben Rajkumar said what is more frightening is that large reptiles were seen lurking in the undergrowth and it is difficult to locate them despite the services of firefighters. "As secretary of the RA, I have sent several appeal letters, e-mails and even to the council's complaints website, but there was no reply from them,'' said Rajkumar. He said when he went to see them personally, he was told that MPS could not do anything as they were private properties and the council does not have the authority to enter the premises. "Most of the units are abandoned by the owners and I am sure MPS know the owners; therefore they can clear the areas and charge the fees to the owners,'' said Rajkumar. With all avenues failed with MPS, the residents met Rasah MP Anthony Loke and the local councillor recently to help solve the problem. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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