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Friday, April 07, 2006

The Betty Mahmoody of Malaysia!

I love happy endings – in fact I am a sucker for such, sometimes sneaking a few teardrops without anyone noticing wannabe-macho KTemoc ;-)

One of the happiest ending must be for Australian Jacqueline Pascarl. If you want to know how things for her and her married life marched up to today, the New Straits Times has a fairly accurate version here.

The Australian end of the story tends to evolve over time – eg. Jacqueline Pascarl was a (teenage) ticketing agent in a MAS office in Melbourne when she met and married Raja Bahrin, her Malaysian husband more than 20 years ago, but now she’s mentioned as a ballet dancer - and also/naturally favours the Australian side.

After their dramatic spiriting away by their father, the 2 children grew up in Malaysia. 14 years later, at 21 years old, Jacqueline's daughter Shahirah has flown down to Melbourne to be reunited with her to everyone’s delight. The reunion eventuated after 3 years of covert e-mailing.

Jacqueline Pascarl said the things most mother torn apart from their children would say, the principal one being her terrified concerns that she might not live up to Shahirah’s expectations when they met, but they got along just great. She is now bracing herself for the next encounter with her 23 year old son who will see her one day soon. I wish them well.

Shahirah’s father, Raja Bahrin is of course wanted in Australia for kidnapping. Many Australians think of him as a criminal. While it’s very sad for families to be broken up in the way as Raja Bahrin and Jacqueline Pascarl and their 2 children had experienced, and I believe both parents have been and are equally loving to the kids, I am fairly sympathetic with Raja Bahrin’s side of the story.

I am of course not condoning the rather dramatic kidnapping conducted by Raja Bahrin, but unfortunately in Australia, fathers have generally been the losers in divorce cases especially with custody of children. Raja Bahrin was deeply concerned that his 2 kids were not brought up as Muslims in accordance with the settlement agreement. He retrieved them by stealth to ensure they were raised as Muslims.

Discussing this case, revived after it happened years ago, with Aussie friends who wanted to mangle Raja Bahrin for his criminal kidnapping, I stumped them easily when I likened Raja Baharin to Betty Mahmoody. Without fail, my Aussie friends would suddenly see the other side of the story. I am not sure whether Raja Bahrin would be pleased for me to call him the Betty Mahmoody of Malaysia but certainly he now appears in more favourable light in the eyes of a few Australians.

Betty Mahmoody’s story, which many film and book critics advised us to take with a hugh grain of salt because it’s written by a woman who hated her Iranian husband and at the same time wanted to dramatise her book for sales, and therefore for us to keep a finger on the ‘Maybe’ button, relates her side of a broken marriage and the fight for custody of her daughter across international boundaries.

It tells Americans and the western world of how she courageously spirited her daughter out of terrible Iran back to the good ole democratic USA, and away from her nasty abusive Iranian husband. If that didn't win Americans over, I don't what would. Her book ‘Not Without My Daughter’ was made into a film, where award winning Sally Field played heroic her.

Of course Americans and the West loved her story, despite it being one sided. She was honoured as Outstanding Woman of the Year by Oakland University and as the Most Courageous Woman of the Year and Woman of the Year in Germany. She also received an honorary degree from her Michigan alma mater, Alma College.

But the other side of the coin had her telling flagrant lies to dramatise and popularise her story. And I can bet there would be very few Americans, especially today, who would express their sympathies for a lonely father somewhere in Iran who would be missing and pining for his daughter.

Of course Raja Bahrin has written his side of the story and so did Jacqueline Pascarl. Books are not only an income earner but more importantly they tell your side of what had occurred and who had been the rotten side. If their short-term tragedy is to be made into a film, I could volunteer to play Raja Bahrin but I want Nicole Kidman to be Jacqueline Pascarl – and I would want the film to focus not so much on the ‘kidnapping’ but more on the happier early years of Raja Bahrin and Jacqueline Pascarl.

But seeing a well mannered and mature Shahirah on TV reunited lovingly with her mum (the love between them was evident on TV), talking sweetly and confidently without any bitterness, I have to say the credit must go to Raja Bahrin for bringing his kids up well without poisoning their minds and allowing them to still love and be re-united with Mum. Well done, Dad!

And well done too, Shahirah for showing Aussies that a Muslim upbringing hasn’t diminish the sweetness you obviously have plenty of.

Oh, please excuse me – some damn thing got into my eyes!

40 comments:

  1. long live the king! i'm glad everything ended well...

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  2. I've followed this story closely ever since the kidnapping and am sure glad that it ended 'happily ever after'. Raja Bahrin is indeed a hero in his children's eyes and a guy to be respected.

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  3. Well done Raja Bahrin. You've shown to the people out there, you've done a great job as a father and that you can do it! And I hope Iddin and Shahirah will always be a good son and daughter and a good Muslim.

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  4. as a friend of the daughter, i must say that credit goes to her for shaping herself and not letting the people around her break her spirit and hinder her personal growth. i quote the daughter :
    "in the absence of parents to care for me..not my image, just me..myself..i have grown myself. i have turned to books and observation..i just hope someday i will grow some courage."

    this was years ago.

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  5. I think I must be reading craziness. It is obvious that the MAN who wrote this piece is completly without a soul. If you think that Raja Bahrin is anything akin to Betty Mahmoody. Betty was a prisoner in Iran, her daughter was the property of her father...people are NOT property!!! Women and children are not property!! How dare you people respect a man who stole the children from their mother, how dare you call him a hero. If you think any God in any realm thinks that this was a righteous move you really need to check out what LOVE is, what God is. There is no God who would condone causing such pain to one individual women. SHame on you!

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  6. You think Muslim men has no love for their children? You think that a western justice system that believes a child in most cases should go with the mother is always right?

    I wrote:
    Betty Mahmoody’s story, which many film and book critics advised us to take with a hugh grain of salt because it’s written by a woman who hated her Iranian husband and at the same time wanted to dramatise her book for sales, and therefore for us to keep a finger on the ‘Maybe’ button, relates her side of a broken marriage and the fight for custody of her daughter across international boundaries.

    Property of her Iranian father? Yes, but according to Betty Mahmoody's gospel.

    Raja has been a father who saw a divorce agreement to raise his children as Muslims not fulfilled, which forced him to act with overwhelming odds against him. He raised his children with LOVE, as evidenced by their freedom to move around now they are of mature age. That is not to say the mum wouldn't have raised them with love too. But you have already excluded the Muslim man from those feelings and ability, believing they are all Ayatollahs. Even Ayatollahs are fathers with fatherly love.

    I wrote:
    But seeing a well mannered and mature Shahirah on TV reunited lovingly with her mum (the love between them was evident on TV), talking sweetly and confidently without any bitterness, I have to say the credit must go to Raja Bahrin for bringing his kids up well without poisoning their minds and allowing them to still love and be re-united with Mum.

    Did Betty Mahmoody achieve or enble that? So who is superior in higher values of LOVE and fairness, Raja or Betty?

    Causing pain to such a woman? What about Betty Mahmoody causing pain to a father? This was what I wrote:
    But the other side of the coin had her telling flagrant lies to dramatise and popularise her story. And I can bet there would be very few Americans, especially today, who would express their sympathies for a lonely father somewhere in Iran who would be missing and pining for his daughter.

    The fact that I have to requote my posting to you indicates you have read without seeing, except with an impatience to strike out at the Muslim party. Shame on you.

    Stole from their mother? Ah, so they were properties of their mum?

    BTW, I am not a Muslim nor a Malay. I am a Chinese. I am not fanatically blind with hatred for Muslims.

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  7. They were properties of their mum, Lagal property. This man commited a criminal offence. It's called KIDNAP. He denied their mother all contact for their whole ubringing. A man who supposedly loved his children denied them their mother if they really were free and he loved them so much he would have allowed his children to see and speak to her whenever they wanted, that is freedom. I pity you for not knowing what unconditional love is and for seeing things in such a warped manner. If you knew what love was or was a mother yourself you would see this for the tragedy it was. What sort of hero would do that to two small children and the woman he was once married to.
    He was never denied contact or access to his children while they were living in Australia and was encouraged to make decisions on their welfare.
    A hero? A man with no other choice? Are you forgetting he's a prince with a lot of money and had plenty of choices and influence?
    This was an act of revenge, a man with a damaged ego and religion used as an excuse to defend his actions only when it suited him. Would they have been any less if they stayed in Australia and influenced by both parents? Or are only muslim men capable of raising good muslim children as he once remarked?
    I am ashamed as a muslim when my religion is used to justify a criminal offence and honorate a man for it.
    Do you hate women mr man from china?
    Do you support criminals?

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  8. mr man from china

    That tells me all about you ;-)

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  9. Thank you for your insightful and intelligent comment and for answering my questions.
    It was a pleasure having a two way conversation with you and thank you for judging a person you don't know and ignoring the real issues, issues that you yourself are posting.
    Racism and cheuvanism is in ones own mind.
    If you can't handle a debate and someone having their own thoughts and opinions on a subject and only see critism, why do you have a blog?

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  10. after reading the comments here, I have to say it's kind of horrifying that you are condoning years of keeping two children from what was clearly their preferred home (australia) and blatant disregard for the legal rights of these children to be at home with their family. the australian, malay and indonesian governments were grossly incompetent in doing the right thing for them. shah has made her decision to stay permanently in australia with her mother after living twice her life overseas, being abused by her fathers staff and forced to proclaim that she wants to be a muslim - how any child of seven can know which religion they want to be is beyond me. kidnapping is wrong wrong wrong, whether it's the mother or the father who is doing the kidnapping. raja was 'forced' to act, hey? illegally and against his childrens' wishes? look beyond idealistic views and see how shah and iddin were robbed of their lives with their family to be taken to malaysia to live with a man they barely knew and hardly liked.

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  11. You know - there's never ever going to be agreement on such an issue because there are two sides to the coin of a broken marriage.

    You said "... keeping two children from what was clearly their preferred home (australia) ..."

    You've discredited yourself by attribting to the 2 young children their ability to make a choice to be in Australia, and where is that proof of that choice THEN?

    You talked about LEGAL rights - of which country?

    Shahirah NOW made a choice to linger in Australia with her mum (and good for her) because part of the reason was that she was harassed by a university lecturer back in Malaysia - her father mentioned that. She is now a mature person and free to make a choice.

    You made rather astonishing claims that she was abused by her father's staff - prove it!

    You said "how any child of seven can know which religion they want to be is beyond me" - I agree - that's why I am not supportive of any religious baptism of any person who is still a child. I used the word 'baptism' loosely to refer to the practice of Christianity, Islam or Judaism.

    Kidnapping? I don't want to go into this because it may be hurtful to the mum, because each country would view who the perpetrator could well be - in Australia the father was undoubtedly the kidnapper, but in Malaysia .....?

    You made some unsubstantiated claims as to the two children's feelings against their father. Prove it.

    The reality is in every broken marrriage the children are always caught in between. The important thing is how they would be brought up, to hate the other parent or to be balanced people. Judge for yourself.

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  12. I went to school with Shah and was a very close friend.

    "being abused by her fathers staff" - Despite the many stories she told me about her father, family and feelings, she never ever mentioned that, so I'm not sure where that came from.

    "forced to proclaim that she wants to be a muslim" - She CHOSE to go to a religious school, I don't see any force in there.

    Anyway, I don't condone the kidnapping, but I think the whole sequence of events that took place shaped her and Iddin into mature people. Shah is beautiful inside and out. And I'm happy that she has made the decision to be happy wherever she is. But I do miss her greatly and I do hope that she will visit Malaysia once in a while. And I hope she maintains the upbringing that made her into the beautiful person she is.

    (Oh gosh, I've got something in my eyes, too, now. :p)

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  13. Occasionally it's good to have 'something in one's eyes' ;-) which brings out the superior emotions of love, compassion and empathy, and wash away those inferior emotions.

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  14. I am surprised that not even Jacqueline in her book sees her marriage at age 17 as Raja Bahrin's first execution of kidnapping. There is no doubt in my mind that violence and force to some extent was used in that relationship. Who had the power? Who had the means to move, to buy, to order servants...? But he only had that in Maylasia, especially under Islamic law and with his royal status. He had the power of money in Australia but it did not buy him around Australian laws.

    If he was capable of violence in his marriage you can be damn sure he is capable of that in any possible relationship, including with his own children...until he himself becomes weak (looked a little gray in those pictures!) and someone else becomes stronger... Iddin is how old and how tall?

    Raja Bahrin is not a hero. He is a man. And an old one at that. Hopefully a dying sort. I am happy for Jacqueline and her children and their re-union. They have a lot to learn from this enormous capable woman.

    May the childrens' stories one day be told by themselves. And may people read their books and not get their opinions and facts from lousy half-assed journalists or bloggers who think they can form our minds and opinions with heresays and guesswork.

    I myself am going to try to find Raja Bahrin's own book at the library. (Not going to waste my money buying it. I don't want to think I am giving him any of my hard earned money).

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  15. Good on you for wanting to read more, that is, both sides of the sad tragedy, without yet making up your mind.

    With your fairness I wonder why you would bother to read the book of a 'violent' man?

    Just the query of an half-assed blogger ;-)

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  16. I myself have just read this amazing book and as a mother of three, was deeply touched by Jacqueline's plight. The facts are clear though, she did have custody and religion aside, had the legal right to raise her children in Australia. Her ex-husband did the unthinkable to achieve nothing more than to punish his ex-wife for her disobedience. As a mother I can only imagine the grief that poor woman went through and don't believe for a second that that man felt the same way when seperated from his children. I can't help but turn my mind back to the incident when Shah's nappy goes unchanged for 24 hours, not to mention the mental, physical and horrible sexual abuse Jacqueline went through at the hands of that arrogant, self satisfying man. I wish Iddin, Shah and Jacqueline all the best for the future and hope that the waste of good air in Malaysia rots in his kingdom.

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  17. I have just finished the book,and found myself left with a huge admiration for Jacqueline, but also left disatisfied with the outcome of the story. (thus leading me here in search of a happy ending) if the ending of the story left me disappointed , i can only imagine the torment that their mum went through..

    to be honest i am completely shell-shocked reading the comments left her, declaring raja bahrain a good father and even a hero. it DOES NOT take a good father to mould young children into what he wishes them to be, all it takes is a very manipulative person.

    as for the topic of custody, there is a very clear reason why Jacqueline was granted custody. Bahrain continuosly lied in court. is this a good example for children? this man is arrogant and utterly twisted. in the early years of the childrens lives their father showed little to no interest in them. if he cared so much for his childrens welfare, why would he beat their heavily pregnant mother?

    whether or not this man transformed into a good father you cannot escape the fact that, to kidnap children from their family, and to uproot them to a totally different culture, is wrong.

    i wish Shah , Iddin and Jacqueline all the best and hope that they can make up for lost years and that the children can enjoy a free relationship with both their parents.

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  18. Ktemoc, what is your motive for holding up the husband as having virtue in this issue?
    My information has come from Jacqueline's book and this afternoon looking on the internet so I am aware that I am not in possession of all of the facts. However there are a few points which can't be disputed which point to Bahrin being a callous man who either did not have the understanding of what his children needed or else a disregard for their needs. Particularly the kidnapping of his children and subsequent complete isolation from their mother.
    Many things have, are and will be done in the name of God but it doesn't make it right, nor does it make the perpetrator Godly.

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  19. Every one has an opinion/judgement about Raja Baharain or Jacqueline but i have to say to you all is that i read Jacquelines book last night & finished it in one night as i was eager to know every detail of them reuniting. I have cried, laughed and got angry as i read this book. i felt every pain and i understood every word written as i am in a very similar situation and havent been with my children for the past twelve years. The gifts being returned, the children being told i dont want them and i have been told my own kids hate me.
    My exhusband insecurity have now gone to the extreme and he wont let my children go to university.
    I have been living with a hope that one day i will get that special email or call from them.
    My suggestion is dont make any judgement on any one's personal life as only that person knows all the facts.
    All i want to wish for Jacqueline and her children is they have a great & loving time together as a family and every moment be special. Iddin and Shah should just respect their father as their father and maybe just forgive him for his actions.

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  20. Man, I have the feeling that you have no idea of what you are talking about.
    So far, you did not answer one basic question: how a loving father could isolate his kids from their loving mother for fourteen years? Without never allowing them to even talk by phone or letter?

    How can you defend this? You're being absolutely naïve in buyng Bahrin's story. Perhaps you never had to cope with someone so disturbed like him, able of pretending to be a kind guy to the society and becoming a monster with his wife and kids behind the closed door of their house. It has nothing to do with religion, it is a mental sickness.

    Indeed, it seems that there is something in your eyes. You should wash them and try to see clearer. Did you read her book? Do you think she is so talented to invent all those details, to fake such vivid emotions in print?

    Go find some eye drops.

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  21. I'm glad for Jacqueline you've all bought her book. Good on you for supporting her cause, but remeber, in any broken marriage there are two sides to a story.

    I opt to be fair to both. Would you? Don't worry, it was just a rhetorical question a syou've amply made your affiliations quite clear.

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  22. After read her book last week, I'm very pleased knowing Iddin and Shah wants to live with their mum in Australia.Even I haven't read Bahrain's book but as a Malaysian I knew how royal families will act.They have a right and a power.You just can't win.
    I'm sure Iddin and Shah didn't want to live with their father.They just live there because they have to not because they want to.Can someone imagine 14 years without any calls,emails or letters?How cruel is that?
    Anyway,I don't want to go that far.I just waiting another happy episode from the three of them.Am sure after counting days..reaching age 21 was a big relief!!!Good for them!!Now I hope nobody can take away their happiness this time.

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  23. ;-) you claimed you read her book - which one? check her latest (2nd) book and read the concluding paragraphs where she acknowledged her two children's love for and allegiance to their father - yes, it's in black and white.

    I am not sure whether you are the same Anon who has been dropping comments, wanting dearly for people to believe only the mum is the good parent and the dad (oh my god, a Muslim!) the evil one.

    In any marriage split, the outcome especially for the children is always tragic but it can do without outsiders (with an invincible bias agaisnt either fathers or Muslims) addding to their problems with tainted views. We should be celebrating for the two children a happy ending without adding bullsh*t malicious assertions.

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  24. Yes, the 2nd book..Since I was A Princess, and I do have Once I was A Princess.Am sure they will be the 3rd one,,just wait and see...the very happy one..
    I'm not the same anon you're talking about.I'm not their mum or their dad side.I'm sure we not the right person to judge their life because we only saw outside but not inside of their life.
    All I can say, I'm very happy for them, no matter what they've been through,am sure sooner or later they will be with their mum.It's only woman instincts.

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  25. hi, you mentioned that Raja Bahrin also wrote his side of the story, "Raja Bahrin has written his side of the story...". Do you happen to know the title of his book and if its in english? Thanks in advance.

    i hope i get a reply...

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  26. Raja Bahrin's Story: A Fathers Dramatic Rescue Mission. That's what I saw in the internet. I'm dying to get that book too, don't know where I can get them.

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  27. Having read Once I was a Princess only very recently I have to say it broke my heart. As a mother of three young children I can't even imagine how Jackie must have felt. Having read "Heroine of the Desert" and "No one Takes My Children" by Donya-al-Nahi I am of the opinion that there are alot of muslim men out there who seem to be able to justify kidnapping their children in the name of religion and sometimes they don't do it for the love of the children they do it just so the child can be brought up as another muslim. I don't quite know how they sleep at night.

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  28. I've just logged on for the first time after reading both the princess books. I have to say I'm very suprised to see people holding Bahrin up as a hero.
    I do believe there are always two sides to a story (in this case I think it's more like four because the only people you know you will get the right story from are the children.)
    I don't see how it is possible to say there are two sides to the story and then hail one of them as a hero.
    Ignoring the religion, and allegated abuse in the marriage. I do not think it is fair or loving to take children away from a loving parent (mother or father) with absolutely no contact. Think how damaging and destressing that must have been for two young children. The only side that should be taken is that of the childrens.

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  29. "I don't see how it is possible to say there are two sides to the story and then hail one of them as a hero."

    'Hero' is your own word, to suit your argument. This was what I wrote of Raja:

    But seeing a well mannered and mature Shahirah on TV reunited lovingly with her mum (the love between them was evident on TV), talking sweetly and confidently without any bitterness, I have to say the credit must go to Raja Bahrin for bringing his kids up well without poisoning their minds and allowing them to still love and be re-united with Mum. Well done, Dad!

    Hardly heroic, but certainly a good father!

    I don't aim to take sides in a broken marriage, but since you brought it up, I wonder who was the first who took the children away without telling the partner what was in store? WAs there truth in the allegations that the children were nto brought up as Muslims (no pork etc).

    Why alleged to 'abuse' when there's no proof? The story on the other side was that one party grew bored as a closeted 'royalty' and yearned for the earlier 'freedom' enjoyed. I suggest you consider the other side of the coin, and I wonder at your (unnecessary) qualification that you made your 1st visit here at this post.

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  30. You stated that "credit must go to Raja Bahrin for bringing his kids up well without poisoning their minds and allowing them to still love and be re-united with Mum".

    I find it difficult to comprehend how denying any form of contact with between mother & children can be considered to be "allowing them to still love ... Mum".

    You seem to be forgetting that Bahrin had visitation access, unlimited telephone access and the financial means to implement both had he wished. Jacqueline however was given no such access.

    I also query how their freedom to move around at a mature age is evidence of the father raising the children with love? Many people move around freely as adults (as is their right) without loving their parents or their parents loving them.

    And why do some find it acceptable that the children were taken in the name of the muslim religion, implying that the muslim faith is of much more importance than the christian faith their mother exposed them to? Surely their are many muslims raised devoutly in Australia, or else their would be no need for the Islamic school they are currently building in Sydney. Again, Bahrin chose not to participate in making choices for the children in oz even though he had the opportunities.

    And then you want evidence of the "alleged" abuse. What evidence would you expect their to be, perhaps a written affadavit by Bahrin himself admitting to it? I don't think so. you could equally pose the question of where is the evidence that he didn't? Both questions are impossible to answer.

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  31. On a whim, I did a google on raja bahrain o find out how the kids are progressing after being reunited with their mother. Its amazing how you can put such a spin on the kidnapper. I remember the event from the very beginning and I remember there were a lot of press about how bad the mother was insinuating that she was an unsuitable mother etc. I would say that in spite of the father's effort, the children felt closer to their mother than their father and secretly established contact with their mother when they were old enough to be independent. Sure this is a happy ending, for the kids and the mother.

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  32. How can anyone possibly look at this man (Prince Raja Bahrin) in a positive light!!! He abused (sexually and verbally) his adoring wife of four years to the point where she felt it necessary to flee, kidnapped the kids illegally from Australia, forced his religion on them (children in anything) and not once did he allow his children to at least call their mother and confirm their safety. In my oppinion he's a monster and anyone who thinks otherwise of him needs a serious slap in the face and to read Jacqueline Pascarls book. JACQUELINE PASCARL IS A HEROE AND A TRULY AMAZING WOMAN.... AND I'M DISGUSTED ANYONE THINKS BAHRIN IS THE GOOD GUY.... No religion should condone violence within a family, its evil!!!!!

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  33. I feel so sad that people like Bahrin exist in this world but there will always be some truly evil people. What I find even more disturbing is that others then praise such evil. It at times makes me feel so hopeless, that this world contains people who in the name of religion condone the most hideous acts. Religion has been this worlds BIGGEST downfall. It has caused countless wars and continues to do so. I read Jacqueline's 1st book with horror, I'm a mother of two and couldn't imagine the torment of knowing the sort of environment they are growing up in. She herself experienced 4 years of it. Even Bahrin himself said that his upbringing had been less than loving. How horrendous to sit for 14yrs not knowing what your own children were having to endure. Maybe they aren't scarred on the outside but only they will know the damage that was done on the inside.
    I agree there are always two sides to a story but I really fail to see that anything that man has to say, after the endless lies and violent outbursts, is going to hold any truth. He has been brought up to believe he's the superior sex and where money and corruption can cover any kind of behaviour. Details aside, here is yet again another man, who has been brought up in an environment where woman are worthless, he has twisted and turned the islamic faith as a way to hide behind his reasons for not only breaking the law (which he and the Malaysian royal family are above anyway) but also to remove his children from their only source of love and security. A parent who loves their child, would never do this. At its core, the islamic faith is a peaceful religion, its those that have twisted its teachings to justify certain behaviour, those who rattle on about it all being for Allah, who have tainted it. How can any belief system that regards females as worthless be something god would condone? If he believed that, then would he not have created man and left it at that? Oh wait, thats right, women are there to have babies - a completely worthless act. I found the whole experience of reading Jacquelines book quite disturbing, first Bahrin's behaviour, then the Australian Government and Media. I live in New Zealand and felt sick that so little was done for Jacqueline, the incompetence was almost hilarious and the Governments indifference and some media comments disgusting. It seems utterly crazy that for 14yrs, a supposed royal is able to carry on with his life and the world does nothing. Everyone is too scared and that makes me feel the most hopeless for the future of our world.

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  34. I have just finished the book and just have to 'google' to find out how the children are doing. I am so pleased that they have grown up and established their own identity. Even more pleased to know they have reunited with Jacqueline. It is so disgraceful for a Malaysian royalty to abuse his powers and manipulated Muslim religion teachings to his 'cause'. Shame on you Bahrin, and shame on those who support his so-called jihad.

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  35. ... and haven't they grown up to be normal well-balanced well-adjusted adults, indeed with their (own) established identity?

    And just who should get the credit for their fair upbringing, which they would be unlikely to get from someone like, say, ... like Betty Mahmoody or you? ;-)

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  36. KT Moc,

    With your permission, could I link your blog here into my blog? OR would you give me the permission to copy them into mine?

    I have started to post only one side of the story about Jacq's books. Perhaps my blogger friends would love to read the other side of the story...

    May I? Thank you.

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  37. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  38. Disgusting violent man! You will meet your maker one day and have to answer to your cruel vile behaveur!

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