ONE day in September 2004, Endon Mahmood went to the Wiro Kuto batik shop in Pekalongan, Central Java. This was not part of the official visit made by the now deceased wife of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. She was in fact returning from more treatment from a traditional healer in the Pemalang region, for the breast cancer that she was suffering from.

The owner of the shop, Romy Oktabirawa, was certainly very happy. Not jus