That Mystery Floating Alongside

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  “The side of the ship made an opaque belt of shadow on the darkling glassy shimmer of the sea. But I saw at once something elongated and pale floating very close to the ladder. Before I could form a guess a faint flash of phosphorescent light, which seemed to issue suddenly from the naked body of a man, flickered in the sleeping water with the elusive, silent play of summer lightning in a night sky. With a gasp I saw revealed to my stare a pair of feet, the long legs, a broad livid back immersed right up to the neck in a greenish cadaverous glow. One hand, awash, clutched the bottom rung of the ladder. He was complete but for the head. A headless corpse! The cigar dropped out of my gaping mouth with a tiny plop and a short hiss quite audible in the absolute stillness of all things under heaven. At that I suppose he raised up his face, a dimly pale oval in the shadow of the ship’s side. But even then I could only barely make out down there the shape of his black-haired head. Howev...

Federal Territory Day (Malaysia)

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February 1 is Federal Territory Day or Hari Wilayah Persekutuan, a state holiday for federal territory in Malaysia, celebrated each year in Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya. Wikipedia explains the day was introduced in 1974. “The date marks the anniversary of the formation of the Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory ceded by the state of Selengor to the federal government of Malaysia.”

The capitol (Kuala Lumpur) is found in Western Malaysia. Operation World reports a population of nearly 28,000,000 people divided into 183 people groups, speaking 145 languages. 62% of the population are Muslim and approximately 12% are Hindu. Since sharing the gospel with Malay people is illegal, materials like this are intended for non-Malay peoples.

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