Good point Donatella. NM would do well to get on to this pretty quick and generally bolster up security before it finds its own webmasters and contributors suddenly switching to a diet of broken red rice gruel.
Why need to be vague about foreign funding when you have nothing to hide ? When Bersih calls for “transparent elections”, shouldn’t they walk their talk too ?
Greg
We all know that BERSIH is not about electoral reform but regime change. It is nothing but a vehicle for Anwar for a power grab, since he failed to do so democratically or via his infamous Sept 16 political piracy attempt.
While I agree Malaysian electoral process not of world class, I would hard classify them as one-sided as Pakatan or Greg would like the readers to believe.
It is a fact that many online news portals and NGOs in Malaysia are established with one single aim : to support the cause of Pakatan. Ambiga of Bersih is hardly alone in carrying the can for Anwar.
A useful reference is Songkhram Thuang Khuen Phaen Din (The War to Recover the Lost Territories) by Dr. Wichitwong Na Pomphet (a graduate of the University of Queensland), published in 2009. I understand we can expect to see an English translation some time next year.
The issue of ‘foreign funding’ is one that is repeatedly used to detract from the work that is done by human rights NGOs in Malaysia. Oddly enough, those using it seem to be either oblivious to the compromises made by the Government to attract foreign funding (also known as foreign direct investment) to the detriment of the human rights of Malaysians. Union-busting, low wages and poor conditions in factories, often with elements of both class and gender bias, are all part and parcel of the deal that the Government has made with foreign funders at the expense of ordinary Malaysians.
On the other hand, the foreign funding received by NGOs such as Bersih does not involve, say, the dumping of radioactive waste on our lands. It doesn’t involve suppression of workers rights and voices. If it distorts in any way, it increases the power of the ordinary Malaysian.
And the only reason many NGOs are less than transparent about the sources of their funding (not a practice I personally agree with, but one I understand) is because the print media in particular takes umbrage at them, without giving them the right to reply.
Perhaps you should have added that PAS, a major partner in the Pakatan Rakyat, is the cause of politicising of Islam in Malaysia. They brought the radical islam into politics.
BTW, PAS stands for the Islamic Party of Malaysia. And they believe in the Wahhabi principles of Islam, the very same brand of Islam that a certain Osama B Laden believed in passionately.
In fact, the de facto leader of PAS, Nik Aziz has gone on the record of defending Osama many a times. In fact he did that even after Osama was killed, a fact that PR-supporting alternative media did not report. I am very sure it is also fact that Mr Lopez here would rather not get published here. Just read on and judge yourself. You can Google on Nik Aziz if you want to verify my words here. So much for a gentler brand of Islam, don’t you think so Greg ?
=======================================
He added that as for the involvement of Osama in terrorism, ‘I leave it to God because he has not been proven but the propaganda that was pioneered by the United States. However, whether Osama was really involved in terror is still a vague matter that could not be confirmed, but the involvement of the United States has proven itself in all the violence it caused globally
This is clearly the attack on Afghanistan and Iraq that destroyed the two countries with the aim of finding weapons of mass destruction that could not be found until today. What about the U.S. actions against Israel are openly committing acts of terror in Palestine?
Not only does the U.S. not act, it offers strong support for Israel. Hence, if Osama was considered as a terrorist, then Israel should be referred to as the more violent and American forces also can not escape from term ‘terrorism’.
Blasting the Malaysian PM on his statement that the world is safer after Osama’s death, the elder Muslim and leader of the Islamic Party in Malaysia said: “As for those who say that the world is safer with the death of Osama, I think the fact that as you are not careful and your only aim is to appear as a supporter of America. If the world is safer with Osama’s death, ask whether the world is safer with the existence of the United States?
This shows the “depth” of your knowledge and your analytical skills. Obviously you don’t understand the workings of international diplomacy and geo-strategy and I am not about to educate you either.
FYI, even if this deal doesn’t go through Najib has cemented his position with the Australian govt. What matters more is the spirit of cooperation and Najib has amply demonstrated that.
Also, PR and their supporters such as you shouldn’t be too happy for there gonna be a backlash soon. This court decision will have a huge repercussion that a lot of opponents of the deal in the Oz will pay for it.
Also, PR will also directly pay for it as well. Their staunch opposition and undermining of the deal (directly as well indirectly via NGOs and people like yourself) will not be forgotten or forgiven by the Oz govt or the ordinary people (especially when the flood of migrants who will hit Australian coasts in a matter of weeks)…
@Seh Fah said:
“It was only when the Sia O rose to prominence that the king had a close relative sufficiently obnoxious to taint his reputation.”
I believe that the CP’s conduct, no matter how obnoxious it is, did not taint the K’s reputation. Most Thai people are aware of the CP’s misbehaviour, and many have seen the “oh-so-hot” picture album of his wife. They did not expect much of him. In fact, they actually see the CP’s private life as a fun topic of gossip, and I have never seen any Thai who gets angry (no matter how ‘fanatical’ they are to the King) when they are engaged in a conversation regarding the misbehaviour of the CP. In fact, many of them actually go along with the gossip, with great enjoyment. They did not think of him highly, and many of them wish for Phra Thep (Sirindhorn) to reign as the next Monarch.
Many of my friends who have seen the ‘oh-so-hot’ picture album of his wife did not think badly of the K after they have seen it. They see the K as K and the CP as CP: they are two different persons. In fact, many of them did say (after they saw the 100+ oh-so-hot pictures) that they actually “feel sorry for the K for this terrible thing his son has done to damage his family reputation”.
If there was some act which really tarnished the image of this family, it was the Q’s attendance to the cremation ceremony of Nong Beau the PAD. I remember about that event; it was the “Adam and Eve eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge” of Thai politics. It tarnished the image that the “Monarchy is above politics” to ashes. The image of the Monarchy has changed forever since that day, and no amount of propaganda to convince people that “Monarchy is above politics” today will change people’s belief otherwise.
Oh no…not another unacademic, poorly written and BN/UMNO bashing article from Greg !
First of all, the writer has to do some real research and then do some analysis before coming out with an opinion piece. Certainly we expect a higher quality from an academic with an Australian University. Certainly we don’t expect the kinds of articles that we see day in and day out in pro-Opposition media such as M kini, MInsider, MChronicles, etc from an academically credible website such as the New Mandala.
The objective of this article is not so much in providing an academic dissection of the issue but merely provide more ammunition to blame the BN/UMNO. This “article” is extremely long on unsubstantiated accusations and very short on data and analysis.
Let’s see if Greg can answer these basic questions.
1. How do you know these graduates are from Malaysian universities ? Do you have the breakdown before making simplistic and wrong conclusion that the Malaysian universities are to be blamed. It is well known that many of the unemployed grads are overseas educated.
2. Do you know the breakdown of the graduates’ qualifications ? How many of them from humanities and other less marketable courses ? One of the big problems of unemployed graduates are less marketable courses such as arts, religious studies, etc. PAS govt of Kelantan routinely sends thousands of students to overseas for religious studies without worrying about employment of these students.
3. Have you considered the employment of bumi grads in Chinese businesses ? It is a known fact that these businesses unfairly discriminate against non Chinese (bumis, Indians, natives, etc). If you do not want the unemployed grads to blame these businesses, you need to examine the data and not make statements without basis.
Yet without these basis data, you have made vast logical jumps and concluded that the local universities and the BN/UMNO are to be blamed.
Your objective is not too difficult to see. ” It is the fervent hope that these unemployed Bumiputera graduates correctly identify Barisan Nasional’s policies and themselves for their predicaments..”. So what you are trying to do here is to channel the anger among the unemployed bumi grads to vote banks for Pakatan. This shows a remarkable alignment to the tactics currently employed by Pakatan Rakyat. As the next GE is fast approaching, PR is desperate for bumi votes and looking at bumi unemployed grads for salvation.
All these only strengthens my suspicions that you are no mere PR sympathiser but actively churn out “scholarly” articles in support of PR.
Seh Fah #46 I believe that Khun Pavin was really making reference to Thongchai Winichakul’s thesis published as “Siam Mapped”. An excellent book and a “must read” for anyone who believes in Thailand’s 700 year history.
Also I think you have the Thailand vs Siam debate a bit round the wrong way. Between the 17th and 19th century the borders of Siam were demarcated following European ideas. By 1893 Siam was shown on maps to encompass all the area of modern Thailand and more, not just the central valley. But this land area enclosed people who were not necessarily considered Thai. King Chulalongkorn for example referred to the people of modern day Isarn as “Lao”.
Phibun’s nationalistic ideas led him to change the name to Thailand to emphasis that all these lands belonged to the Thai people. Many considered this as disenfranchising non-Central Thai ethnic groups.
Of course Phibun was impressed by Italian and German fascism and this led to the irredentist movement and “reclaiming” of what were Cambodian territories to return Thailand to its “true borders”. Some in the PAD would like to turn the clock back to these times again.
I havent registered in Electronic Board Exchange. Thank you for the info.
I studied industrial engineering*. It was not something that I really want to do. Its not my passion yet I survived 4 years of intense engineering study. Alot of people either drop out or switched their studies. Isnt that prove something of myself? I accepted the offer as it was my chance to go overseas.
I did try looking for a job that has something to do with my engineering degree (eg. production planner/assistant) but the basic salary offered was between RM1500-RM1800. I couldnt see how I could survive with that salary being away from my family especially that I eventually plan to get a car. And most of the jobs required me to have a car. Even a good second hand car would cost me around RM10k.
Anyway, I dont like engineering that much and I am trying to find something else where i can still apply my engineering knowledge. But, in malaysia, in my opinion, people dont understand the intensity of engineering study (especially in universities outside Malaysia) that they think I wont be able to grasp other jobs denying me a chance to be interviewed. Almost all decent job ads (including engineering) required to have at least CGPA of 3.2 and above. I remember sending a job application to a job agency for trainee post. There are looking for possibly 50 people to be initiated in various governance and admin positions and its opened to all major of studies. 5 mins later I got a reply, “Your CGPA isn’t qualify you for this opening”. I noticed there are thousands of applications. What about those people who majored in business, psychology, or other arts related subjects (no offense) with CGPA of more than 3.2, do they accept them? Yes they do! A friend of mine who studied marketing in local university, who barely speak english, got accepted! Dont they differentiate between those who studied engineering and arts or social sciences related studies?? Heck no. I studied managerial and financial accounting to name a few of business classes that I took as a minor when I was in the university and those are the classes that I easily scored A as compared to engineering classes. Them, who ever they are, who are responsible in selecting people, I dont think they know what American or other countries education system is like. The fact is, CGPA 3.00 and below, you are cut off from good jobs!
I have attended a lot of interviews but they dont questions me on the stuffs that I studied in university. I dare to say that I ace almost all of my interview as of why I got job offer one after another easily. The thing is, the interviews that Im called to are all sales job and call centre from various banks and companies. Having had my past experience with a call centre, I dont think i would want to go back there. Yet, its only call centre offers that I got up to these days.
Another thing that I observed, a lot of job offering in Malaysia, race and religion always come into play. Application forms online or not, would make race and religion sections as compulsory (Im not a muslim nor malay). But what do you know, I need to adapt in this part of the world where discrimination is embedded in the culture and accepted norm. There is a big multinational company called WD, where the human resource deparment is dominated by the Malays, so you can guess who get more calls for the interviews. Another friend of mine, got a diploma in forestry earned from a local university used to worked as an HR executive with them. That is just one example. Not trying to be tooo pessimistic ( even though I am already). The government is even worst. Everyone knows that one needs an insider to get in.
*For the record, its the top 50 public university in the USA.
The canine was born on 15 June 1997. The owner got possession of him, as a gift from the group of canine breeders of Chatuchak Market when she took a tour there, on 9 August the same year.
Hi glovak…what a story…I started work in 1988 after graduated in 1987. For one year i stayed in kampong selling burgers and helping family rubber tapping. Only when my wife came back after finishing her master then i came down to KL. Time was tough then and JPA released me. With a 3.1 CGPA architecture degree when all my friends with 3.4 and above were taken by university to be lecturers. Worst still the american architecture graduates were not recognized by the governing bodies and all private sectors whereby the first question they would asked during the interview was where did you graduate from then when you told them from the US then came the second question whether you have any job experience. I was arrogant enough not to accept part time offer during summer break wanting to rest and the thought of going back only to work with JKR…that is where graduates worked and meant for what, to serve in the public sector when you were given the JPA scholaship. I started work in a small firm with a salary of rm400/month and my wife had a part-time lecturer in UPM with like rm750/month. In 1989 we had our first kid, no TV everyday watch and play with cuty small daughter and with no car only one 1974 WA421 kapcai..then lucky she got offered in UiTm just right after ‘pantang’. I stayed with the firm ever since, saw the firm grew from 7 odd staff to 40 at one time and now we are at 15 or so doing what we are and i m doing best..architecture…and proud to see your ‘hasil tangan ‘ out physically all around klang valley and the nation. I worked hard and even harder for my professional registration because of the authority did not recognize the degree going through few additional processes and tests. Now as a junior partner, I could afford a big car what not from that rm400 factory worker salary but with a 5 year degree ‘selalu tak tidur malam siapkan’ assignments and class project but what is that for. People expected me to have a semiD at-least but a double-storey terrace is good enough for me. So-nya as for me is simple…if you want to chase life then you would not have a life and by the time you had your life then you have little life left. Think about it, do not blame others but ourselves..off-course right attitude employer is very much important..good luck and all the best to you
I wasn’t suggesting it was any more than a coincidence that the Contempt of Courts Act was raised in parliament! And even if it had been revoked, I assume that as the alleged offence occurred before this happened they would still face the charges, although I may be incorrect.
I also don’t think she is trying to muzzle the press. She’s hardly going to lose many friends for taking U Myat Khine to court either, although that may be lost on an international audience.
It was Field Marshal Phibun Songkhram who changed the name of the country from Siam to Thailand. Siam refers only to the central river valley; Thailand refers to any territory occupied by people of Thai ethnicity. The current national anthem, introduced at the same time, actually explains the meaning of the new name, describing it as a homeland for every person of Thai blood.
Is it possible that Field Marshal Phibun was inspired by Hitler’s vision of Gross Deutschland, with every ethnic German community in Europe rejoining the Reich?
Personally I’d like to see the name changed back to Siam.
When I was a language student in Bangkok back in the 1970s one of my teachers told me that the queen was not all that popular because she had a large extended family and many of her close relatives exploited their proximity to the throne for personal gain, which aroused a considerable measure of resentment. The king, on the other hand, had only his mother (a commoner) and a non-resident sister. It was only when the Sia O rose to prominence that the king had a close relative sufficiently obnoxious to taint his reputation.
Thanks for your comments. I guess our academic friend has left the debate. A very unacademic gesture I must say.
Coming back to the debate, perhaps you did not catch the points that I was making. I certainly did not claim that Malaysia is on par with Australia, the UK, the US,etc in terms of democratic freedoms and human rights. In fact we are not even at the level of our Asia peers such as Indonesia, India or even the Philippines when it comes to democracy.
But what I am saying is that in the last several years we have made some key progress, starting with Badawi and continuing with Najib. No one in their right mind would say that Malaysia has regressed democratically. Unless of course the person has a hidden political agenda like a certain “academic” whom we are familiar with.
I agree some of those things happened during the Mahatir era hardly shinning moments for Malaysian democracy. But then before we jump and beat Mahatir’s legacy senseless and accuse him to be an iron-fisted and cruel dictator, we need to look at things in perspective.
One, it is unfair to judge at things happened during that era (70s and 80s) with current standards of human rights and democracy. I don’t think even countries like Australia, the US and the UK would be proud of some of the things done in those decades.
Second, some of the incidents such as Operasi Lallang, Memali,etc are now have been distorted some much in the pro-Opposition alternative media that some people have a very wrong idea what had really happened. As someone lived through these events, I can tell that the reality is very different. In any case, this is a subject beyond the scope of our debate.
Let’s come back to the points that you are making. I can say comprehensively that you are wrong, completely wrong. Let’s examine one by one. Reading your comments making me think that you are totally off the mark on what’s happening in the country, perhaps you had been staying away for years and depending entirely on a diet of anti-BN, pro-PR web portals for news.
1. “Barisan Nasional’s ability to use the police and judiciary for partisan political purposes has been critical in its attempt to discredit the Opposition and retain power. ”
– Can you please provide example for this ? And please do not go back to history books and dig up examples from 10,20 years ago.
2. “Government/UMNO control on the media and the not-so-veiled-threat of the Internal Security Act (for Thought Crimes) are part and parcel of an intimidation regime.”
– Control of the media ? Do you really think UMNO controls MalaysiaKini, Malaysian Insider, Harakah, the Rocket, all the Tamil and Chinese media, etc etc ???
– ISA is used to control thought crimes ? Please give examples when people are jailed under ISA for thought crimes. And please give breakdown of ISA detainees by their “crimes” and state how many are for political “crimes”.
3. “Additionally, members of the MCA and MIC are held virtual hostage within Barisan; they fear being completely left out if not in the Ruling Coalition & being starved for federal funding. This is currently happening with oil royalties in Kelanatan, which voted in PAS, the Islamic party.”
– Are you really being serious here ? MCA and MIC are free to leave the BN and some BN component parties actually did (SUPP). No state has been starved of Federal funding, including those under the Opposition rule.
– Kelantan oil royalties : I think you don’t seems to understand that under the law the state does not have a claim for oil royalties if the oil fields are situated beyond a certain distance off shore. Sabah and Sarawak are getting it because they do fulfill this requirements and it is also covered under the agreement they signed when they joined the Malaysian Federation. There is nothing in the law that compels the Feds to give oil royalties to Kelantan. And since this did not happen even when Kelantan was under BN, so you point is completely wrong.
4. “Personally, I find Malaysian political parties based on race or religion to be part of the divisiveness of Malaysia. I’m not sure why any sane citizen would want to view his country through that prism.”
– This is yet another oft-repeated accusations by the pro-Opposition circles. Unlike your other points, this at least has some credibility to it. While, this has a nice, feel-good, righteous ring to it but again it is not entirely accurate.
– Unlike some countries (Indonesia, Thailand, etc) the Malaysian model is not based on assimilation of races. It is based on embracing multi-ethnicity. This means there are Chinese, Tamil Punjabi schools, national radios,TVs & newspapers in various languages. Cultural and ethnic identities are allowed.
The proponents of “Bangsa Malaysia” speak about a single race, yet they still want to retain their cultural and religious identities, newspapers, schools, etc etc. How can these two vastly different concepts can be reconciled ?
The simple truth is that many Malaysians still want to retain their cultural and religious identities. The Chinese for example, will never allow the Chinese schools, radio /TV stations, temples, cultural associations, etc etc to be closed. But many of them support “bangsa Malaysia” not because they see race as unimportant but see that as a route to the elimination of the bumi affirmative action policies.
A true Malaysian who supports Bangsa Malaysia should be willing to forego all ethnic and religious identities. At the same token help must be rendered to all Malaysians irrespective of their race. How many Malaysians do you think would support such stance ? While many minorities would support the 2nd but very few if any would support the first point.
BTW do you really think PR parties support such policies ? PAS is modeled on Wahabbi Islam. DAP is a Chinese majority party that even refuses to don Malay constume even for formal events while mouthing “Malaysian Malaysia”. At least BN is not as hypocritical.
I did notice that there is a ‘pig’ on the cake. I had doubts too that perhaps it is the female owner’s birthday as her nickname is Eid (р╕нр╕╡р╣Кр╕Ф), which means a female pig. Nevertheless, as everyone said it is Foo Foo’s birthday, I had to go along with it. Thank you for the clarification 🙂
I think we are over the edge here in bias against what “we think” should be exposed or not.
Part of the reason for anonymity is to safeguard the public’s right to know, as well as to be exposed to differing viewpoints and opinions. When we allow, advocate or support and fail to oppose actions that encroach on that essential anonymity, or even non-anonymity but with the same freedom of expression, then we are underpinning one of the fundamental strengths of repression.
It becomes clear that IP addresses are quite important for LM prosecutions.
There was also discussion recently on another post wondering if ANU would give out IP addresses to the Thai government. That made me look a bit further.
There is behavioural tracking code from Quantcast, WordPress Stats, Google and Clustrmaps in the New Mandala blog. These companies track what we do on the blog, and in turn are happy to share the collected information with yet others.
I wonder why New Mandala lets third parties over whom they have no control track and record our behaviour on the site?
“It is far too early to divine whether the tide has turned in favour of one brave journalist due to a new govt or unprecedented public support but this judge gave some new hope, at least, that genuine justice will prevail for Chiranuch Premchaiporn.”
…which is why there should be a substantial presence in the public gallery not just on day one.
Morning sessions are scheduled to start at 09:30 and afternoon sessions scheduled for 13:30.
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Prachatai trial update
Good point Donatella. NM would do well to get on to this pretty quick and generally bolster up security before it finds its own webmasters and contributors suddenly switching to a diet of broken red rice gruel.
Malaysia in turmoil?
Sonia
Why need to be vague about foreign funding when you have nothing to hide ? When Bersih calls for “transparent elections”, shouldn’t they walk their talk too ?
Greg
We all know that BERSIH is not about electoral reform but regime change. It is nothing but a vehicle for Anwar for a power grab, since he failed to do so democratically or via his infamous Sept 16 political piracy attempt.
While I agree Malaysian electoral process not of world class, I would hard classify them as one-sided as Pakatan or Greg would like the readers to believe.
It is a fact that many online news portals and NGOs in Malaysia are established with one single aim : to support the cause of Pakatan. Ambiga of Bersih is hardly alone in carrying the can for Anwar.
Thailand’s succession planning
Pete S #48
A useful reference is Songkhram Thuang Khuen Phaen Din (The War to Recover the Lost Territories) by Dr. Wichitwong Na Pomphet (a graduate of the University of Queensland), published in 2009. I understand we can expect to see an English translation some time next year.
Malaysia in turmoil?
The issue of ‘foreign funding’ is one that is repeatedly used to detract from the work that is done by human rights NGOs in Malaysia. Oddly enough, those using it seem to be either oblivious to the compromises made by the Government to attract foreign funding (also known as foreign direct investment) to the detriment of the human rights of Malaysians. Union-busting, low wages and poor conditions in factories, often with elements of both class and gender bias, are all part and parcel of the deal that the Government has made with foreign funders at the expense of ordinary Malaysians.
On the other hand, the foreign funding received by NGOs such as Bersih does not involve, say, the dumping of radioactive waste on our lands. It doesn’t involve suppression of workers rights and voices. If it distorts in any way, it increases the power of the ordinary Malaysian.
And the only reason many NGOs are less than transparent about the sources of their funding (not a practice I personally agree with, but one I understand) is because the print media in particular takes umbrage at them, without giving them the right to reply.
Malaysia’s Islamic future
Greg
Perhaps you should have added that PAS, a major partner in the Pakatan Rakyat, is the cause of politicising of Islam in Malaysia. They brought the radical islam into politics.
BTW, PAS stands for the Islamic Party of Malaysia. And they believe in the Wahhabi principles of Islam, the very same brand of Islam that a certain Osama B Laden believed in passionately.
In fact, the de facto leader of PAS, Nik Aziz has gone on the record of defending Osama many a times. In fact he did that even after Osama was killed, a fact that PR-supporting alternative media did not report. I am very sure it is also fact that Mr Lopez here would rather not get published here. Just read on and judge yourself. You can Google on Nik Aziz if you want to verify my words here. So much for a gentler brand of Islam, don’t you think so Greg ?
=======================================
He added that as for the involvement of Osama in terrorism, ‘I leave it to God because he has not been proven but the propaganda that was pioneered by the United States. However, whether Osama was really involved in terror is still a vague matter that could not be confirmed, but the involvement of the United States has proven itself in all the violence it caused globally
This is clearly the attack on Afghanistan and Iraq that destroyed the two countries with the aim of finding weapons of mass destruction that could not be found until today. What about the U.S. actions against Israel are openly committing acts of terror in Palestine?
Not only does the U.S. not act, it offers strong support for Israel. Hence, if Osama was considered as a terrorist, then Israel should be referred to as the more violent and American forces also can not escape from term ‘terrorism’.
Blasting the Malaysian PM on his statement that the world is safer after Osama’s death, the elder Muslim and leader of the Islamic Party in Malaysia said: “As for those who say that the world is safer with the death of Osama, I think the fact that as you are not careful and your only aim is to appear as a supporter of America. If the world is safer with Osama’s death, ask whether the world is safer with the existence of the United States?
Najib still an asset?
Greg
Good try….
This shows the “depth” of your knowledge and your analytical skills. Obviously you don’t understand the workings of international diplomacy and geo-strategy and I am not about to educate you either.
FYI, even if this deal doesn’t go through Najib has cemented his position with the Australian govt. What matters more is the spirit of cooperation and Najib has amply demonstrated that.
Also, PR and their supporters such as you shouldn’t be too happy for there gonna be a backlash soon. This court decision will have a huge repercussion that a lot of opponents of the deal in the Oz will pay for it.
Also, PR will also directly pay for it as well. Their staunch opposition and undermining of the deal (directly as well indirectly via NGOs and people like yourself) will not be forgotten or forgiven by the Oz govt or the ordinary people (especially when the flood of migrants who will hit Australian coasts in a matter of weeks)…
Thailand’s succession planning
@Ajarn Somsak ka,
Thank you ka for the information.
@Seh Fah said:
“It was only when the Sia O rose to prominence that the king had a close relative sufficiently obnoxious to taint his reputation.”
I believe that the CP’s conduct, no matter how obnoxious it is, did not taint the K’s reputation. Most Thai people are aware of the CP’s misbehaviour, and many have seen the “oh-so-hot” picture album of his wife. They did not expect much of him. In fact, they actually see the CP’s private life as a fun topic of gossip, and I have never seen any Thai who gets angry (no matter how ‘fanatical’ they are to the King) when they are engaged in a conversation regarding the misbehaviour of the CP. In fact, many of them actually go along with the gossip, with great enjoyment. They did not think of him highly, and many of them wish for Phra Thep (Sirindhorn) to reign as the next Monarch.
Many of my friends who have seen the ‘oh-so-hot’ picture album of his wife did not think badly of the K after they have seen it. They see the K as K and the CP as CP: they are two different persons. In fact, many of them did say (after they saw the 100+ oh-so-hot pictures) that they actually “feel sorry for the K for this terrible thing his son has done to damage his family reputation”.
If there was some act which really tarnished the image of this family, it was the Q’s attendance to the cremation ceremony of Nong Beau the PAD. I remember about that event; it was the “Adam and Eve eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge” of Thai politics. It tarnished the image that the “Monarchy is above politics” to ashes. The image of the Monarchy has changed forever since that day, and no amount of propaganda to convince people that “Monarchy is above politics” today will change people’s belief otherwise.
Bumiputera graduate unemployment and Malaysia’s world class education system – a recipe for disaster
Oh no…not another unacademic, poorly written and BN/UMNO bashing article from Greg !
First of all, the writer has to do some real research and then do some analysis before coming out with an opinion piece. Certainly we expect a higher quality from an academic with an Australian University. Certainly we don’t expect the kinds of articles that we see day in and day out in pro-Opposition media such as M kini, MInsider, MChronicles, etc from an academically credible website such as the New Mandala.
The objective of this article is not so much in providing an academic dissection of the issue but merely provide more ammunition to blame the BN/UMNO. This “article” is extremely long on unsubstantiated accusations and very short on data and analysis.
Let’s see if Greg can answer these basic questions.
1. How do you know these graduates are from Malaysian universities ? Do you have the breakdown before making simplistic and wrong conclusion that the Malaysian universities are to be blamed. It is well known that many of the unemployed grads are overseas educated.
2. Do you know the breakdown of the graduates’ qualifications ? How many of them from humanities and other less marketable courses ? One of the big problems of unemployed graduates are less marketable courses such as arts, religious studies, etc. PAS govt of Kelantan routinely sends thousands of students to overseas for religious studies without worrying about employment of these students.
3. Have you considered the employment of bumi grads in Chinese businesses ? It is a known fact that these businesses unfairly discriminate against non Chinese (bumis, Indians, natives, etc). If you do not want the unemployed grads to blame these businesses, you need to examine the data and not make statements without basis.
Yet without these basis data, you have made vast logical jumps and concluded that the local universities and the BN/UMNO are to be blamed.
Your objective is not too difficult to see. ” It is the fervent hope that these unemployed Bumiputera graduates correctly identify Barisan Nasional’s policies and themselves for their predicaments..”. So what you are trying to do here is to channel the anger among the unemployed bumi grads to vote banks for Pakatan. This shows a remarkable alignment to the tactics currently employed by Pakatan Rakyat. As the next GE is fast approaching, PR is desperate for bumi votes and looking at bumi unemployed grads for salvation.
All these only strengthens my suspicions that you are no mere PR sympathiser but actively churn out “scholarly” articles in support of PR.
Thailand’s succession planning
Seh Fah #46 I believe that Khun Pavin was really making reference to Thongchai Winichakul’s thesis published as “Siam Mapped”. An excellent book and a “must read” for anyone who believes in Thailand’s 700 year history.
Also I think you have the Thailand vs Siam debate a bit round the wrong way. Between the 17th and 19th century the borders of Siam were demarcated following European ideas. By 1893 Siam was shown on maps to encompass all the area of modern Thailand and more, not just the central valley. But this land area enclosed people who were not necessarily considered Thai. King Chulalongkorn for example referred to the people of modern day Isarn as “Lao”.
Phibun’s nationalistic ideas led him to change the name to Thailand to emphasis that all these lands belonged to the Thai people. Many considered this as disenfranchising non-Central Thai ethnic groups.
Of course Phibun was impressed by Italian and German fascism and this led to the irredentist movement and “reclaiming” of what were Cambodian territories to return Thailand to its “true borders”. Some in the PAD would like to turn the clock back to these times again.
Bumiputera graduate unemployment and Malaysia’s world class education system – a recipe for disaster
I havent registered in Electronic Board Exchange. Thank you for the info.
I studied industrial engineering*. It was not something that I really want to do. Its not my passion yet I survived 4 years of intense engineering study. Alot of people either drop out or switched their studies. Isnt that prove something of myself? I accepted the offer as it was my chance to go overseas.
I did try looking for a job that has something to do with my engineering degree (eg. production planner/assistant) but the basic salary offered was between RM1500-RM1800. I couldnt see how I could survive with that salary being away from my family especially that I eventually plan to get a car. And most of the jobs required me to have a car. Even a good second hand car would cost me around RM10k.
Anyway, I dont like engineering that much and I am trying to find something else where i can still apply my engineering knowledge. But, in malaysia, in my opinion, people dont understand the intensity of engineering study (especially in universities outside Malaysia) that they think I wont be able to grasp other jobs denying me a chance to be interviewed. Almost all decent job ads (including engineering) required to have at least CGPA of 3.2 and above. I remember sending a job application to a job agency for trainee post. There are looking for possibly 50 people to be initiated in various governance and admin positions and its opened to all major of studies. 5 mins later I got a reply, “Your CGPA isn’t qualify you for this opening”. I noticed there are thousands of applications. What about those people who majored in business, psychology, or other arts related subjects (no offense) with CGPA of more than 3.2, do they accept them? Yes they do! A friend of mine who studied marketing in local university, who barely speak english, got accepted! Dont they differentiate between those who studied engineering and arts or social sciences related studies?? Heck no. I studied managerial and financial accounting to name a few of business classes that I took as a minor when I was in the university and those are the classes that I easily scored A as compared to engineering classes. Them, who ever they are, who are responsible in selecting people, I dont think they know what American or other countries education system is like. The fact is, CGPA 3.00 and below, you are cut off from good jobs!
I have attended a lot of interviews but they dont questions me on the stuffs that I studied in university. I dare to say that I ace almost all of my interview as of why I got job offer one after another easily. The thing is, the interviews that Im called to are all sales job and call centre from various banks and companies. Having had my past experience with a call centre, I dont think i would want to go back there. Yet, its only call centre offers that I got up to these days.
Another thing that I observed, a lot of job offering in Malaysia, race and religion always come into play. Application forms online or not, would make race and religion sections as compulsory (Im not a muslim nor malay). But what do you know, I need to adapt in this part of the world where discrimination is embedded in the culture and accepted norm. There is a big multinational company called WD, where the human resource deparment is dominated by the Malays, so you can guess who get more calls for the interviews. Another friend of mine, got a diploma in forestry earned from a local university used to worked as an HR executive with them. That is just one example. Not trying to be tooo pessimistic ( even though I am already). The government is even worst. Everyone knows that one needs an insider to get in.
*For the record, its the top 50 public university in the USA.
Thailand’s succession planning
khun CT #44
The canine was born on 15 June 1997. The owner got possession of him, as a gift from the group of canine breeders of Chatuchak Market when she took a tour there, on 9 August the same year.
Bumiputera graduate unemployment and Malaysia’s world class education system – a recipe for disaster
Hi glovak…what a story…I started work in 1988 after graduated in 1987. For one year i stayed in kampong selling burgers and helping family rubber tapping. Only when my wife came back after finishing her master then i came down to KL. Time was tough then and JPA released me. With a 3.1 CGPA architecture degree when all my friends with 3.4 and above were taken by university to be lecturers. Worst still the american architecture graduates were not recognized by the governing bodies and all private sectors whereby the first question they would asked during the interview was where did you graduate from then when you told them from the US then came the second question whether you have any job experience. I was arrogant enough not to accept part time offer during summer break wanting to rest and the thought of going back only to work with JKR…that is where graduates worked and meant for what, to serve in the public sector when you were given the JPA scholaship. I started work in a small firm with a salary of rm400/month and my wife had a part-time lecturer in UPM with like rm750/month. In 1989 we had our first kid, no TV everyday watch and play with cuty small daughter and with no car only one 1974 WA421 kapcai..then lucky she got offered in UiTm just right after ‘pantang’. I stayed with the firm ever since, saw the firm grew from 7 odd staff to 40 at one time and now we are at 15 or so doing what we are and i m doing best..architecture…and proud to see your ‘hasil tangan ‘ out physically all around klang valley and the nation. I worked hard and even harder for my professional registration because of the authority did not recognize the degree going through few additional processes and tests. Now as a junior partner, I could afford a big car what not from that rm400 factory worker salary but with a 5 year degree ‘selalu tak tidur malam siapkan’ assignments and class project but what is that for. People expected me to have a semiD at-least but a double-storey terrace is good enough for me. So-nya as for me is simple…if you want to chase life then you would not have a life and by the time you had your life then you have little life left. Think about it, do not blame others but ourselves..off-course right attitude employer is very much important..good luck and all the best to you
Censorship in Myanmar, and beyond
Moe Aung,
I wasn’t suggesting it was any more than a coincidence that the Contempt of Courts Act was raised in parliament! And even if it had been revoked, I assume that as the alleged offence occurred before this happened they would still face the charges, although I may be incorrect.
I also don’t think she is trying to muzzle the press. She’s hardly going to lose many friends for taking U Myat Khine to court either, although that may be lost on an international audience.
Thailand’s succession planning
Pavin #39
It was Field Marshal Phibun Songkhram who changed the name of the country from Siam to Thailand. Siam refers only to the central river valley; Thailand refers to any territory occupied by people of Thai ethnicity. The current national anthem, introduced at the same time, actually explains the meaning of the new name, describing it as a homeland for every person of Thai blood.
Is it possible that Field Marshal Phibun was inspired by Hitler’s vision of Gross Deutschland, with every ethnic German community in Europe rejoining the Reich?
Personally I’d like to see the name changed back to Siam.
Thailand’s succession planning
CT #37
When I was a language student in Bangkok back in the 1970s one of my teachers told me that the queen was not all that popular because she had a large extended family and many of her close relatives exploited their proximity to the throne for personal gain, which aroused a considerable measure of resentment. The king, on the other hand, had only his mother (a commoner) and a non-resident sister. It was only when the Sia O rose to prominence that the king had a close relative sufficiently obnoxious to taint his reputation.
Malaysia – a simple institutional analysis
Dear Angmoh Antarabangsa
Thanks for your comments. I guess our academic friend has left the debate. A very unacademic gesture I must say.
Coming back to the debate, perhaps you did not catch the points that I was making. I certainly did not claim that Malaysia is on par with Australia, the UK, the US,etc in terms of democratic freedoms and human rights. In fact we are not even at the level of our Asia peers such as Indonesia, India or even the Philippines when it comes to democracy.
But what I am saying is that in the last several years we have made some key progress, starting with Badawi and continuing with Najib. No one in their right mind would say that Malaysia has regressed democratically. Unless of course the person has a hidden political agenda like a certain “academic” whom we are familiar with.
I agree some of those things happened during the Mahatir era hardly shinning moments for Malaysian democracy. But then before we jump and beat Mahatir’s legacy senseless and accuse him to be an iron-fisted and cruel dictator, we need to look at things in perspective.
One, it is unfair to judge at things happened during that era (70s and 80s) with current standards of human rights and democracy. I don’t think even countries like Australia, the US and the UK would be proud of some of the things done in those decades.
Second, some of the incidents such as Operasi Lallang, Memali,etc are now have been distorted some much in the pro-Opposition alternative media that some people have a very wrong idea what had really happened. As someone lived through these events, I can tell that the reality is very different. In any case, this is a subject beyond the scope of our debate.
Let’s come back to the points that you are making. I can say comprehensively that you are wrong, completely wrong. Let’s examine one by one. Reading your comments making me think that you are totally off the mark on what’s happening in the country, perhaps you had been staying away for years and depending entirely on a diet of anti-BN, pro-PR web portals for news.
1. “Barisan Nasional’s ability to use the police and judiciary for partisan political purposes has been critical in its attempt to discredit the Opposition and retain power. ”
– Can you please provide example for this ? And please do not go back to history books and dig up examples from 10,20 years ago.
2. “Government/UMNO control on the media and the not-so-veiled-threat of the Internal Security Act (for Thought Crimes) are part and parcel of an intimidation regime.”
– Control of the media ? Do you really think UMNO controls MalaysiaKini, Malaysian Insider, Harakah, the Rocket, all the Tamil and Chinese media, etc etc ???
– ISA is used to control thought crimes ? Please give examples when people are jailed under ISA for thought crimes. And please give breakdown of ISA detainees by their “crimes” and state how many are for political “crimes”.
3. “Additionally, members of the MCA and MIC are held virtual hostage within Barisan; they fear being completely left out if not in the Ruling Coalition & being starved for federal funding. This is currently happening with oil royalties in Kelanatan, which voted in PAS, the Islamic party.”
– Are you really being serious here ? MCA and MIC are free to leave the BN and some BN component parties actually did (SUPP). No state has been starved of Federal funding, including those under the Opposition rule.
– Kelantan oil royalties : I think you don’t seems to understand that under the law the state does not have a claim for oil royalties if the oil fields are situated beyond a certain distance off shore. Sabah and Sarawak are getting it because they do fulfill this requirements and it is also covered under the agreement they signed when they joined the Malaysian Federation. There is nothing in the law that compels the Feds to give oil royalties to Kelantan. And since this did not happen even when Kelantan was under BN, so you point is completely wrong.
4. “Personally, I find Malaysian political parties based on race or religion to be part of the divisiveness of Malaysia. I’m not sure why any sane citizen would want to view his country through that prism.”
– This is yet another oft-repeated accusations by the pro-Opposition circles. Unlike your other points, this at least has some credibility to it. While, this has a nice, feel-good, righteous ring to it but again it is not entirely accurate.
– Unlike some countries (Indonesia, Thailand, etc) the Malaysian model is not based on assimilation of races. It is based on embracing multi-ethnicity. This means there are Chinese, Tamil Punjabi schools, national radios,TVs & newspapers in various languages. Cultural and ethnic identities are allowed.
The proponents of “Bangsa Malaysia” speak about a single race, yet they still want to retain their cultural and religious identities, newspapers, schools, etc etc. How can these two vastly different concepts can be reconciled ?
The simple truth is that many Malaysians still want to retain their cultural and religious identities. The Chinese for example, will never allow the Chinese schools, radio /TV stations, temples, cultural associations, etc etc to be closed. But many of them support “bangsa Malaysia” not because they see race as unimportant but see that as a route to the elimination of the bumi affirmative action policies.
A true Malaysian who supports Bangsa Malaysia should be willing to forego all ethnic and religious identities. At the same token help must be rendered to all Malaysians irrespective of their race. How many Malaysians do you think would support such stance ? While many minorities would support the 2nd but very few if any would support the first point.
BTW do you really think PR parties support such policies ? PAS is modeled on Wahabbi Islam. DAP is a Chinese majority party that even refuses to don Malay constume even for formal events while mouthing “Malaysian Malaysia”. At least BN is not as hypocritical.
Thailand’s succession planning
@Ajarn Somsak ka,
I did notice that there is a ‘pig’ on the cake. I had doubts too that perhaps it is the female owner’s birthday as her nickname is Eid (р╕нр╕╡р╣Кр╕Ф), which means a female pig. Nevertheless, as everyone said it is Foo Foo’s birthday, I had to go along with it. Thank you for the clarification 🙂
US legal action on lese majeste
I think we are over the edge here in bias against what “we think” should be exposed or not.
Part of the reason for anonymity is to safeguard the public’s right to know, as well as to be exposed to differing viewpoints and opinions. When we allow, advocate or support and fail to oppose actions that encroach on that essential anonymity, or even non-anonymity but with the same freedom of expression, then we are underpinning one of the fundamental strengths of repression.
Prachatai trial update
It becomes clear that IP addresses are quite important for LM prosecutions.
There was also discussion recently on another post wondering if ANU would give out IP addresses to the Thai government. That made me look a bit further.
There is behavioural tracking code from Quantcast, WordPress Stats, Google and Clustrmaps in the New Mandala blog. These companies track what we do on the blog, and in turn are happy to share the collected information with yet others.
I wonder why New Mandala lets third parties over whom they have no control track and record our behaviour on the site?
Prachatai trial update
“It is far too early to divine whether the tide has turned in favour of one brave journalist due to a new govt or unprecedented public support but this judge gave some new hope, at least, that genuine justice will prevail for Chiranuch Premchaiporn.”
…which is why there should be a substantial presence in the public gallery not just on day one.
Morning sessions are scheduled to start at 09:30 and afternoon sessions scheduled for 13:30.