<div><p>KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters Life!) - Thousands of Malaysian boys will begin the journey into adulthood at mass circumcision ceremonies that start this month throughout this mainly Muslim Southeast Asian nation.</p><p>The events, held to coincide with the year-end school holidays which run into December, are a rite of passage for Muslim boys aged between 6 and 12 and whose faith requires removing the foreskin of the penis.</p><p>This Sunday, more than 120 Malaysian Muslim children at the National Mosque in the capital of Kuala Lumpur marched to the drumbeat of traditional Malay music to heralds the ceremony.</p><p>As their waited their turn, some boys whiled away the time playing games on their mobile telephones, while others confessed they were nervous ahead of the religious ceremony.</p><p>"I am a little scared, but I know I have to do this as part of my faith," said ten-year-old Ikmalluddin Ali, who was to be circumcised with his twin brother, Akmalluddin Ali.</p><p>The procedure takes 15 minutes and costs 150 Malaysian ringgit ($44) and Ali's experience will be shared by scores of other boys in this Southeast Asian country of 27 million people over the next few weeks.</p><p>Mass circumcisions are also held in neighboring Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, although among Muslims in the Middle East, circumcision tends to be a more private affair.</p><p>A CLEAN CUT</p><p>Each of the boys, dressed in traditional Malay clothes, left the mosque after the procedure with a gift bag containing a T-shirt and a souvenir.</p><p>Many parents also took home their sons' foreskins.</p><p>"We will be taking back my son's foreskin to bury it at home. It is our custom, not religion, to respect it as part of the body," said Mohammad Zaini, whose 9-year-old son, Mohammad Muhaimin, was circumcised.</p><p>Modern surgical techniques mean circumcision is now relatively painless -- a local anesthetic is applied to the penis and a special device is used to hold the foreskin firmly in place before it is cut by a doctor.</p><p>Afterwards, the boys need a day's rest, said Mohammad Zaidi Radzuan, chief executive officer of Wawasan Medik, the medical company that carried out the procedures inside the mosque.</p><p>"Prior to this, circumcision meant stitches and confinement in bed as it would be difficult to walk," he added.</p><p>(Editing by Denny Thomas and Miral Fahmy)</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=64049224&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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