I have no idea? Then come and talk to Thais and find out instead of making assumptions. You have no idea or at least you can’t explain or justify your regurgitated comments. You don’t seriously think there are links with what happened with the Berlin Wall and current Thailand do you. Or perhaps you do.Either way youn can’t debate the issue. But no problem just keep hitting the voter button and don’t concern yourself with debate or sourcing facts.
The voting and replies suggest that you’re too scared to come to Thailand and debate with the majority of Thais. Scared because you know the New Mandala view is not accepted by the majority. I talk to Thais and they read your posts. You don’t gain respect or credibility by shouting out your views and not accepting the points of view of others. It doesn’t bother me, I understand New Mandala, but you’ve lost it when you treat Thais with that sort of contempt.
Matt Owen Rees has no idea what the majority of Thais think. no one can know because of the ongoing repression.
The author simply stated that opposition was emerging. How is that biased? The very fact that NM publishes the nonsense spouted by Owen Rees is testiment to a lack of bias.
There are a lot of Thammasat students who want freedom from this junta and the right to speak freely about all topics in order to move their nation forward. Lately, the students are getting braver and braver speaking out in the classroom. Expect to hear more voices breaking the calm soon.A mass protest by students abandoning classes at universities on an agreed day may occur in the near future.
Widodo’s a disappointment only to those Peter Pans who thought he’d be different to any other politician. He wants votes! And will grovel with pondscum to get them! Quelle surprise!
Meanwhile, what else is his Govt doing?
Minister Susi’s crackdown on illegal fishing in the Arafura has real and perhaps lasting strategic significance for Australia.
Of immediate concern is her total ban on trawls and seines. Indonesia has had a ban on trawling before, but the shrimp/prawn fisheries of Aru and Papua were exempt, as trawling is the only method of capture. Unless Susi has an army of underwater prawn wranglers ready to dive into action, she might be forced to compromise on that part of her masterplan. The decree, intended to come into effect last month, has been delayed until September due to protests and to allow mariners the ‘time to refit with new gear.’ The tropical Snapper and bottom fish boats can certainly change to lines, the shrimp fleets can’t, and face large scale unemployment.
A significant development is the closure of PT Avona Mina Lestari, one of the juniors belonging to the Jayanti group. They closed their operations at the secretive Port Avona, near Kaimana, last week, with over 2000 laid off and having to evacuate. Port Avona is a large complex, appearing after Jayanti had logged out the Merbau. It immediately became the support and transit base for Chinese owned catcher fleets and mother ships, some registered in the Caribbean and Panama. In the first decade of this century their operations straddled the Arafura border, requiring a military response to deter. Some border boffins will no doubt welcome the end of Avona, as will many Papuans. Before cracking a coldie of Bintang though, they should consider
1.The displacement caused, and whether this will impact our side of the border
2.PRC reaction to what looks to be a setback to their interests and food security.
As an indication of how the expansion of Chinese markets into the Arafura has the potential for wider strategic impact, consider this.
Jayanti’s Merbau from Avona/Kaimana was delivered to the Chinese mainland to their partners. Jayanti then supplied arms to Liberian Dictator Charles Taylor’s militias in exchange for logging concessions. Many suspect the militias also helped to secure new forest resources in Liberia’s neighbours. An International travel ban was slapped on Jayanti’s boss.
If Minister Susi’s brave gambit pays off, an exodus of foreign catchers, crews and motherships should take pressure off the Arafura demersal fisheries, secure the resource for more local involvement and onshore value adding.
Like the asylum seekers still flooding into Indonesia that Canberra doesn’t want to mention any more, boats and crews will be displaced, to somewhere, and the PRC will be reluctant to walk away from an important link in their food security chain.
A public discussion would only have one point of view, the others won’t come, There is a large silent majority in Thailand who are watching and waiting, and remembering.
This is a nonsense comment. The article makes no claim to presenting what “The Thais” really think. It simply analyzes the activities of a subset of the population and suggests they might portend problems for the military government. Furthermore, the suggestion that the author doesn’t spend time in Thailand talking to “real Thais” is baseless and laughably off the mark.
The comparison between Germany and Thailand is not valid. Broadly, most Germans wanted a democratic system and there were a higher number of avtivists anyway. Come and talk to Thais here in Thailand and you’ll reach a different conclusion. The activists are fewer in number and the culture accepted by the people is not the same as in Germany then or the West now.
Fahmeeza is not from “out of this world”, just another UMNO cybertrooper.
It is standard practice for UMNO to temporary load ICs from Malays to do the voting. Of course, this cannot work, unless the EC is also in on it. One has to show the IC for voting, the difference should be obvious, but these stand-in voters seem to be able to vote anyway.
Furthermore – the guy who exposed the washable indelible ink got fired instead of the perpetrators getting the stick – you go figure that one out, because I have given up.
It’s only a matter if time before protests against this illegal junta grow. The international community is watching closely as evidenced by the presence of observers at the sentencing of two students for LM yesterday. The crunch will come when the new constitution is revealed and people realise that this military government has no intention of returning Thailand to representative democracy.
Yes I do believe in phantom voters because I myself WAS ONE OF THEM !!!!! You must be from out of this world, as such a level of unprecedented, sheer ignorance amazes me !!
An open invitation to come to Chiangmai and talk to a broad range of Thai people and find out exactly what The Thais really think of the present situation. Are New Mandala “academics” up to listening and debating views outside their currently held views from afar. Taking one-sided opinions is bad academic practice. Listen and debate. But I suspect you’ll continue to regurgitate your bigoted and uninformed views.
Seeing this page 3 years after the final post in it, I have to say that what would “genuinely help a few people who may stumble upon this article (and its ensuing controversy)” would be to provide them with the alternate translation demanded by many of the posters. Or at the very least, writing a clear-cut and easy to understand conclusion (one directed at laymen, especially since the subject is so big and important per the author’s claims) to the article, such as saying that the whole concept of breathing meditation was just hogwash. Responding to and refuting the ‘equation’ written by Jeffrey Longo and the points he raised. Explaining how exactly it is impossible for a pre-existing term to be given a new spin by the Buddha (such as how it happened with karma). Something.
Instead what we get is a haughty man belittling others and failing to provide a solution to the problem he raises that, nevertheless, he assures us is of epic proportions. The use of the word “flatulence” in the title is warranted indeed, but not for the reasons the author has intended, I’m afraid.
I find it surprising that the Australian taxpayer is subsidizing this “academic” blog. There is very little analysis in the video, just opinion. The Australian researcher in ANU are biased. And it will become increasingly so as Australian-Indonesians relations deteriorate.
Prabowo wasn’t following script??? In all this there is a undercurrent of racism and smug superiority. Prabowo should have gone all amok and acted as the white liberal elite expected a native to have acted. Right??
I appreciate Mr. Fealy’s discussion. I find, however, a minor aside he makes about Prabowo not being “on script” to be revealing about the mindset of experts on Indonesia, particularly the way in which they framed their analysis and commentary during and after the election.
Too often, analysis and commentary gave way to unnecessary invective and unearned approbation. For instance, reading Marcus Mietzner and Ed Aspinall’s piece on “Prabowo’s Game Plan” felt almost surreal, not only because of how completely unmoored it was from any facts but because it began to seem that the experts were beginning to move away from analysis and toward a world they had created for themselves, where the Good and the Bad have it out and our trusted guides are here to point out who is who.
In the future, I would suggest that the experts simply refrain from writing the scripts that engender surprise when Jokowi or Prabowo or whoever end up deviating from them. And ANU is not singularly at fault, this problem extended last year to journalists covering the election as well, whose Twitter feeds provided a steady stream of mockery toward Prabowo but little in the way of analysis of real policy proposals.
You may be surprised that Prabowo went off the script you wrote for him, but few Indonesians are.
How can one go back to a country where there is rampant corruption at the highest level, discriminate him/her because of the ethnicity and race in education and workplace? I will not want to raise my children in such an environment where we don’t surround ourselves with the best people and talent but rather the opposite. The mind is a terrible thing to waste and already over the years the government had destroyed many bright Malaysian minds. And we wonder why we are seeing this brain drain problem over the years. If the government wants to change for the better, she needs to have the guts and courage to do what’s right and take the difficult steps to correct what’s wrong. I am sorry but the government just doesn’t have what it takes to do what’s just and morally right. This is proven over the last 40 -50 years.
For the records, I have been subjected to such prejudices from young and questioned the human right policies of Malaysia ever since I left home at a very young age because of such discrimination. I am staying put here in the US and is very happy to contribute to this great nation where I’ve called home for many years. I am judged and compensated solely based on my merit of my work, not by my race or language I speak. The govt can reason all she wants why she thinks she can stop the brain drain. If she truly wants to succeed, cure the fundamentals. Does she has the courage to acknowledge the real underlying problems of this issue and the guts to correct it? If I am a betting man, the answer is NO.
It’s always best to prevent a problem from happening in the first place rather than letting a problem surface and then try to fix it.
This piece may have satisfied the Jakarta Post’s standards but New Mandala should insist on something better. For a start, the author doesn’t seem to know what ‘deferential’ means. Australian officials have not recognised the need to be deferential to Indonesia, because Australia is a sovereign country, not a colony.
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V-Day resistance to the junta’s coercive regime
I have no idea? Then come and talk to Thais and find out instead of making assumptions. You have no idea or at least you can’t explain or justify your regurgitated comments. You don’t seriously think there are links with what happened with the Berlin Wall and current Thailand do you. Or perhaps you do.Either way youn can’t debate the issue. But no problem just keep hitting the voter button and don’t concern yourself with debate or sourcing facts.
V-Day resistance to the junta’s coercive regime
The voting and replies suggest that you’re too scared to come to Thailand and debate with the majority of Thais. Scared because you know the New Mandala view is not accepted by the majority. I talk to Thais and they read your posts. You don’t gain respect or credibility by shouting out your views and not accepting the points of view of others. It doesn’t bother me, I understand New Mandala, but you’ve lost it when you treat Thais with that sort of contempt.
V-Day resistance to the junta’s coercive regime
Matt Owen Rees has no idea what the majority of Thais think. no one can know because of the ongoing repression.
The author simply stated that opposition was emerging. How is that biased? The very fact that NM publishes the nonsense spouted by Owen Rees is testiment to a lack of bias.
V-Day resistance to the junta’s coercive regime
There are a lot of Thammasat students who want freedom from this junta and the right to speak freely about all topics in order to move their nation forward. Lately, the students are getting braver and braver speaking out in the classroom. Expect to hear more voices breaking the calm soon.A mass protest by students abandoning classes at universities on an agreed day may occur in the near future.
The unfulfilled promise of Joko Widodo
Widodo’s a disappointment only to those Peter Pans who thought he’d be different to any other politician. He wants votes! And will grovel with pondscum to get them! Quelle surprise!
Meanwhile, what else is his Govt doing?
Minister Susi’s crackdown on illegal fishing in the Arafura has real and perhaps lasting strategic significance for Australia.
Of immediate concern is her total ban on trawls and seines. Indonesia has had a ban on trawling before, but the shrimp/prawn fisheries of Aru and Papua were exempt, as trawling is the only method of capture. Unless Susi has an army of underwater prawn wranglers ready to dive into action, she might be forced to compromise on that part of her masterplan. The decree, intended to come into effect last month, has been delayed until September due to protests and to allow mariners the ‘time to refit with new gear.’ The tropical Snapper and bottom fish boats can certainly change to lines, the shrimp fleets can’t, and face large scale unemployment.
A significant development is the closure of PT Avona Mina Lestari, one of the juniors belonging to the Jayanti group. They closed their operations at the secretive Port Avona, near Kaimana, last week, with over 2000 laid off and having to evacuate. Port Avona is a large complex, appearing after Jayanti had logged out the Merbau. It immediately became the support and transit base for Chinese owned catcher fleets and mother ships, some registered in the Caribbean and Panama. In the first decade of this century their operations straddled the Arafura border, requiring a military response to deter. Some border boffins will no doubt welcome the end of Avona, as will many Papuans. Before cracking a coldie of Bintang though, they should consider
1.The displacement caused, and whether this will impact our side of the border
2.PRC reaction to what looks to be a setback to their interests and food security.
As an indication of how the expansion of Chinese markets into the Arafura has the potential for wider strategic impact, consider this.
Jayanti’s Merbau from Avona/Kaimana was delivered to the Chinese mainland to their partners. Jayanti then supplied arms to Liberian Dictator Charles Taylor’s militias in exchange for logging concessions. Many suspect the militias also helped to secure new forest resources in Liberia’s neighbours. An International travel ban was slapped on Jayanti’s boss.
If Minister Susi’s brave gambit pays off, an exodus of foreign catchers, crews and motherships should take pressure off the Arafura demersal fisheries, secure the resource for more local involvement and onshore value adding.
Like the asylum seekers still flooding into Indonesia that Canberra doesn’t want to mention any more, boats and crews will be displaced, to somewhere, and the PRC will be reluctant to walk away from an important link in their food security chain.
http://www.radarsorong.com/index.php?mib=berita.detail&id=33311
The unfulfilled promise of Joko Widodo
Not all foreign observers would be surprised by what has transpired thus far under the Jokowi presidency. See, for example, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJw3dKxoZ8Y).
V-Day resistance to the junta’s coercive regime
A public discussion would only have one point of view, the others won’t come, There is a large silent majority in Thailand who are watching and waiting, and remembering.
V-Day resistance to the junta’s coercive regime
This is a nonsense comment. The article makes no claim to presenting what “The Thais” really think. It simply analyzes the activities of a subset of the population and suggests they might portend problems for the military government. Furthermore, the suggestion that the author doesn’t spend time in Thailand talking to “real Thais” is baseless and laughably off the mark.
V-Day resistance to the junta’s coercive regime
The comparison between Germany and Thailand is not valid. Broadly, most Germans wanted a democratic system and there were a higher number of avtivists anyway. Come and talk to Thais here in Thailand and you’ll reach a different conclusion. The activists are fewer in number and the culture accepted by the people is not the same as in Germany then or the West now.
Why is Malaysia experiencing a brain drain?
Fahmeeza is not from “out of this world”, just another UMNO cybertrooper.
It is standard practice for UMNO to temporary load ICs from Malays to do the voting. Of course, this cannot work, unless the EC is also in on it. One has to show the IC for voting, the difference should be obvious, but these stand-in voters seem to be able to vote anyway.
Furthermore – the guy who exposed the washable indelible ink got fired instead of the perpetrators getting the stick – you go figure that one out, because I have given up.
V-Day resistance to the junta’s coercive regime
It’s only a matter if time before protests against this illegal junta grow. The international community is watching closely as evidenced by the presence of observers at the sentencing of two students for LM yesterday. The crunch will come when the new constitution is revealed and people realise that this military government has no intention of returning Thailand to representative democracy.
V-Day resistance to the junta’s coercive regime
“regime is not crumbling” said the democracy activists in East Germany on 8 November 1989. “We must wait,” said they. “A year, maybe two.”
And less than 24 hours later, the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain were gone.
Why is Malaysia experiencing a brain drain?
Yes I do believe in phantom voters because I myself WAS ONE OF THEM !!!!! You must be from out of this world, as such a level of unprecedented, sheer ignorance amazes me !!
V-Day resistance to the junta’s coercive regime
An open invitation to come to Chiangmai and talk to a broad range of Thai people and find out exactly what The Thais really think of the present situation. Are New Mandala “academics” up to listening and debating views outside their currently held views from afar. Taking one-sided opinions is bad academic practice. Listen and debate. But I suspect you’ll continue to regurgitate your bigoted and uninformed views.
Flatulence and breathing meditation
Seeing this page 3 years after the final post in it, I have to say that what would “genuinely help a few people who may stumble upon this article (and its ensuing controversy)” would be to provide them with the alternate translation demanded by many of the posters. Or at the very least, writing a clear-cut and easy to understand conclusion (one directed at laymen, especially since the subject is so big and important per the author’s claims) to the article, such as saying that the whole concept of breathing meditation was just hogwash. Responding to and refuting the ‘equation’ written by Jeffrey Longo and the points he raised. Explaining how exactly it is impossible for a pre-existing term to be given a new spin by the Buddha (such as how it happened with karma). Something.
Instead what we get is a haughty man belittling others and failing to provide a solution to the problem he raises that, nevertheless, he assures us is of epic proportions. The use of the word “flatulence” in the title is warranted indeed, but not for the reasons the author has intended, I’m afraid.
Rape and the pantomime of misogyny
A typical religion induced pseudo pious culture that will not recognize, Eroticism, Arousal and the appropriate responses.
Even the Pope has espouse tolerance over previously unspeakable transgressions.
Misogyny, do not even begin to describe what this religion allow a fellow female believers, let the none the infidel.
The unfulfilled promise of Joko Widodo
I find it surprising that the Australian taxpayer is subsidizing this “academic” blog. There is very little analysis in the video, just opinion. The Australian researcher in ANU are biased. And it will become increasingly so as Australian-Indonesians relations deteriorate.
Prabowo wasn’t following script??? In all this there is a undercurrent of racism and smug superiority. Prabowo should have gone all amok and acted as the white liberal elite expected a native to have acted. Right??
The unfulfilled promise of Joko Widodo
I appreciate Mr. Fealy’s discussion. I find, however, a minor aside he makes about Prabowo not being “on script” to be revealing about the mindset of experts on Indonesia, particularly the way in which they framed their analysis and commentary during and after the election.
Too often, analysis and commentary gave way to unnecessary invective and unearned approbation. For instance, reading Marcus Mietzner and Ed Aspinall’s piece on “Prabowo’s Game Plan” felt almost surreal, not only because of how completely unmoored it was from any facts but because it began to seem that the experts were beginning to move away from analysis and toward a world they had created for themselves, where the Good and the Bad have it out and our trusted guides are here to point out who is who.
In the future, I would suggest that the experts simply refrain from writing the scripts that engender surprise when Jokowi or Prabowo or whoever end up deviating from them. And ANU is not singularly at fault, this problem extended last year to journalists covering the election as well, whose Twitter feeds provided a steady stream of mockery toward Prabowo but little in the way of analysis of real policy proposals.
You may be surprised that Prabowo went off the script you wrote for him, but few Indonesians are.
Why is Malaysia experiencing a brain drain?
How can one go back to a country where there is rampant corruption at the highest level, discriminate him/her because of the ethnicity and race in education and workplace? I will not want to raise my children in such an environment where we don’t surround ourselves with the best people and talent but rather the opposite. The mind is a terrible thing to waste and already over the years the government had destroyed many bright Malaysian minds. And we wonder why we are seeing this brain drain problem over the years. If the government wants to change for the better, she needs to have the guts and courage to do what’s right and take the difficult steps to correct what’s wrong. I am sorry but the government just doesn’t have what it takes to do what’s just and morally right. This is proven over the last 40 -50 years.
For the records, I have been subjected to such prejudices from young and questioned the human right policies of Malaysia ever since I left home at a very young age because of such discrimination. I am staying put here in the US and is very happy to contribute to this great nation where I’ve called home for many years. I am judged and compensated solely based on my merit of my work, not by my race or language I speak. The govt can reason all she wants why she thinks she can stop the brain drain. If she truly wants to succeed, cure the fundamentals. Does she has the courage to acknowledge the real underlying problems of this issue and the guts to correct it? If I am a betting man, the answer is NO.
It’s always best to prevent a problem from happening in the first place rather than letting a problem surface and then try to fix it.
Strategic imperatives for Australia-Indonesia relations
This piece may have satisfied the Jakarta Post’s standards but New Mandala should insist on something better. For a start, the author doesn’t seem to know what ‘deferential’ means. Australian officials have not recognised the need to be deferential to Indonesia, because Australia is a sovereign country, not a colony.