The book’s title is “Burma’s Spring”, but the reviewer kept using the politically correct word Myanmar, for which nobody knows how to form an adjective or a genitive. Myanmarese or Myanmese or Myanmartian or what?
Another problem is that Burmese words get written in English the way they are spoken in the main dialect and not the way they are written (orthographically) and tacitly assuming that the English speaking people would pronounce it the way Burmese would. That causes a lot of problems. MeNMar is of course making fun of the way English speaking people pronounce Myanmar: My-an-mar! In fact, the written word is actually Mranma, with an “r”, that most people in Burma can’t pronounce anymore. It is still correctly pronounced for example in Buddhist texts written in Pali or in certain dialects such as those in Arakan (Rakhaing) State. Rangoon is also written with an “r” in correct Burmese “Rankun”, but the Burmese seem to be not linguistically educated enough to make a more scientifically accurate transliteration of their language into the Roman alphabet. It is just too ad-hoc and of course, Burmese grammar is not identical to English grammar, so adjectives and cases become messed up. Lost in transliteration, as it were!
Disclosure: I was born in Burma, before Burma became independent!
It is odd that a director for ‘humanitarian dialogue’ should follow up a sentence on Jokowi’s execution of five foreigners on 19 January (there was also an Indonesian, and the six were in fact executed on 18 January) by claiming that he prefers ‘cautious, conservative decision-making’. Had this really been Jokowi’s preference, he would have chosen to keep these human beings in jail for life. Brazil and the Netherlands would then not have recalled their ambassadors for consultations. If Jokowi remains unmoved by the protests of both foreign governments and his domestic human rights community, up to 60 more prisoners are to be shot. Quite how Jokowi hopes to advance his maritime axis, apparently his main policy goal, by first emptying death row escapes me. (Mr Abbott, who must be the worst poker player currently at a government’s helm, has unfortunately already said that he will not allow the possible execution of two Australians to affect our bilateral relationship.)
There is now enough evidence to show that Jokowi has very poor judgement about personnel. Megawati, who is herself largely bereft of talent, likewise has a very weak eye for spotting talent in others. Loyalty seems to be the only criterion that shapes her decisions. Jokowi’s repeated failure to reject her unhelpful recommendations or instructions perhaps goes well with his ‘aw shucks!’,rustic style, but it is not serving Indonesia well.
Coordinating Minister Tedjo comes badly out of the Budi Gunawan fiasco, since his statement that Budi would stay suggests he has no idea what damage this appointment has done to his boss. Attorney-General Prasetyo, another controversial appointee, can’t even be blamed on Megawati’s dire influence.
We should, however, take some comfort from Puan Maharani, Megawati’s much-maligned daughter. By her zealous promotion of jamu, soon reportedly to be served at Indonesian diplomatic functions, Puan may have stolen a march on Susi Pudjiastuti, publicity-wise. And we sure needed a break from Susi.
Disappointed to see such an intellectually lazy article published on this website. Full of wild generalizations about 1.6 billion people and willful disregard of the many reformist, thoughtful Muslim voices out there.
Rather than come out from Megawati’s all-enveloping shadow, President Jokowi seems to have simply made the shadow more permanent. He has show shown poor judgement, and when given the opportunity to show independence and the ability to rise above ‘baser’ instincts, he has not done so. It may well be still ‘early’ in his administration, the appearance of too many Wayang puppets with strong strings attached, is not an encouraging sign.
Political correctness is a cancer on expression, and it prevents us being honest when comparing religions. Though I am an atheist I can see that some religions are better and more constructive than others. Given there are thousands of religions, ranging from those of African tribes to those of New York cults, not to mention thousands of others long extinct, it would be absurd to say, “They are all equal in every way,” or, “None are better or worse than any other,” yet political correctness dictates we do.
To cut to the chase, it is clear to me that Islam is a primitive religion. In that graph of religions, you would find it on the lower end of sophistication. Like most primitive religions, it contains a lot of violence, and is very warlike.
Education is the cure, and as young Muslims receive better educations, they will move further away from their parents’ old world views. We need at least another three generations to see good results. Much of the Muslim world was uneducated in the past; something that is rapidly changing now. The internet, combined with cell phones alone, will help educate young Muslims. In the end it will be science and technology that rescue us from the savagery of Islam.
Point taken, but Puffy really wasn’t an independent variable in any important way more so a tool of “old capital”- the royal network.
I see that Thaksin has been a positive political force in many ways for example being a point of focus and inspiration for many to become more politically active, providing benefits for Chao Baan, and being a creative opposing force. I do not like or dislike him but see him as a factor that shakes up and strikes fear into the status quo.
You’re right, the phrase bloodless neoliberalism is a little too emotional and probably not the right way to describe what Thaksin practices. I agree with you that crony capitalism and neo-liberalism are different. But there is an overlap in that the two both adhere to the maxim, one baht one vote. That being said the Thaksin regimes have not really been brave in trying to reform the system, i.e actively working to making it more democratic. I only want to emphasize that at this point in Thai political development investing to much hope in the Thaksins to lead the country to democratic reform may bring disappointment. Further, if some sort of understanding is reached between the two main groups it deflects from the main problem, royal influence over how everything works. What Thailand needs are more people with “eyes open” so that when the right time comes some real reform can occur. This is why discussions like these are important.
Thank you Professor Kessler for exploring the notion of the ISIS type Islamic state as an attempt to reclaim an ideal type Islamic Caliphate typical of pre or early early modernity; a transnational type of religious/political state which was surpassed by the rise of powerful nation states and the subsequent separation of religion from politics. However, I do wonder if the neoliberal social imaginary of the last forty years doesn’t also represent an equally dogmatic form of trans national ideology which, in its extreme manifestation, seeks to impose its market based values globally on nation states through transnational organisations like the World Bank. therefore, maybe, western states need to be more mindful that the concept of a society using the market as the primary organizing principle could be offensive to other ideologies /philosophies/religions/ cultures just as it is too many people in western cultures. So, maybe, prior to requesting moderate Islamic scholars to debunk a pre-enlightenment concept of governmentality, we should also be open to input on the reigning western political and economic social imaginary in the form of neoliberalism. For example, it is somewhat surprising that there hasn’t been more critical analysis of neoliberalism by western states post GFC. For example, in the USA, where this form of economic ideology developed in the fifties in the Chicago School of Economics by Hayek, Friedman, Buchanan etc.it has led to a society whose policymakers accept that inequality is a by product of this ideology. And even more surprising Universities Australia has argued the case for full deregulation of Australian universities as an antidote for a lack of government funding. Never the less, once again I welcome the focus on a form of integrated transnational governmentality in your article. It provides a baseline for more comparative studies in forms of transnational governmentality.
Faith is nonsense for primitive human beings. It is heartening to see how quickly atheism is catching on it the Muslim world. As soon as people get a computer and access to the internet, it acceleterates the rate at which people are liberated from religion. Let’s make sure that all Muslims have internet access, then it’s bye-bye and good riddance to Islam.
I think the deadly mixture of “bloodless neo-liberalism” with the “power center” is exactly what we had when the puffy-faced Oxford grad was in the passenger seat.
It hardly seems accurate to refer to the man who gave Thailand a universal healthcare program and has thrown trillions at various pro-poor policies as “bloodless”.
Similarly, a multi-billionaire who came at his mountain of wealth through the coziest of crony-capitalist rent-seeking cannot really be called a “neo-liberal”.
The phrase has to mean something more than “pro-capitalist rich person who I don’t like”, after all.
“The divisions had as much to do with ethnicity as thy did with religion.”
What is “ethnicity” in this sentence? What separates most of the various ethnic groups in the former Yugoslavia is religious-cultural, not genes or language. Taking the three main ethnic groups in the former Yugoslavia involved in the fighting during the 1990s – Croats, Bosnians, and Serbs – genetically they are similar mixes of Euro-Mediterranean peoples and they all speak Serbo-Croatian. The distinctive factor here, taking Croats and Serbs first, is the adoption of Roman Catholicism by the Croats and Eastern Orthodox Christianity by the Serbs. This affected their respective cultures immensely from which alphabet they use (Roman or Cyrillic) to which part of Europe they look to for support: west-central for Croatians, east and Russia for Serbs. Thus religious factors and accompanying cultural factors are determinate in distinguishing their ethnicities, not genetic-linguistic factors. The Bosnians differ in that they converted to Islam after the Turkish conquests of the Balkans, they have neither a Turkish gene pool nor do they speak Turkish; however, the Bosnian conversion to Islam orientated them to Turkish culture which supported Islam. No one says: ‘the Bosnians converted to Turkish culture and it so happened that Islam came with it’. Religion thus appears to play a determinate role.
Apart from the ludicrously-named National Council for Peace and Order (Burma-light), I get the best laugh from Gen. Prayuth. He should play Napoleon in the next stage production of Animal Farm.
Best appreciated on radio, his boring rants are an endless stream of “blah blah blah… (pause) na krap… (pause) snort snort”.
Chupong didn’t really try to predict an outcome but observes that… paradoxically an acquittal may be the most worrisome outcome. Red shirts who love Yingluck would be pleased with the prospect that the leader of the party they support would probably become PM again. This may dilute and weaken the movement for real democratic reform(or revolution) while the dominant hierarchy and power center of the royal system and the leeches who surround it is perpetuated. Imagine a system where the bloodless neo-liberalism represented by Thaksin joins forces with those who consider themselves above the rest. It is nauseating to think about.
Finally a testable hypothesis. Let’s see what happens with this impeachment. 5 year ban? Invitation to join the club? … Do I read that correctly? This hypothesis predicts an acquittal in the impeachment?
Because coming to some arrangement with Pheu Thai is obviously the easiest and most acceptable way out (for everyone except those plumping for democracy as opposed to its appearance through electoralism), it seems as though this may very well be the tactical value of “retroactive impeachment”.
Absurd though it may sound, there are moves being made in the USA to have a few out-of-office politicos retroactively impeached. It isn’t just a Thai thing.
‘The issue of Islamic terrorism must be resolved by Muslims if they want to be accepted in secular parliamentary democracies.’
This is exactly what Muslims in Bangsamoro are doing now, with the blessing of Pope Francis. And help from Malaysia. We deployed people to Mindanao. Our policy objective was to separate JI and others from the Bangsamoro nationalists. This is a win for us.
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Review of Burma’s Spring
The book’s title is “Burma’s Spring”, but the reviewer kept using the politically correct word Myanmar, for which nobody knows how to form an adjective or a genitive. Myanmarese or Myanmese or Myanmartian or what?
Another problem is that Burmese words get written in English the way they are spoken in the main dialect and not the way they are written (orthographically) and tacitly assuming that the English speaking people would pronounce it the way Burmese would. That causes a lot of problems. MeNMar is of course making fun of the way English speaking people pronounce Myanmar: My-an-mar! In fact, the written word is actually Mranma, with an “r”, that most people in Burma can’t pronounce anymore. It is still correctly pronounced for example in Buddhist texts written in Pali or in certain dialects such as those in Arakan (Rakhaing) State. Rangoon is also written with an “r” in correct Burmese “Rankun”, but the Burmese seem to be not linguistically educated enough to make a more scientifically accurate transliteration of their language into the Roman alphabet. It is just too ad-hoc and of course, Burmese grammar is not identical to English grammar, so adjectives and cases become messed up. Lost in transliteration, as it were!
Disclosure: I was born in Burma, before Burma became independent!
Jokowi: The First Hundred Days
It is odd that a director for ‘humanitarian dialogue’ should follow up a sentence on Jokowi’s execution of five foreigners on 19 January (there was also an Indonesian, and the six were in fact executed on 18 January) by claiming that he prefers ‘cautious, conservative decision-making’. Had this really been Jokowi’s preference, he would have chosen to keep these human beings in jail for life. Brazil and the Netherlands would then not have recalled their ambassadors for consultations. If Jokowi remains unmoved by the protests of both foreign governments and his domestic human rights community, up to 60 more prisoners are to be shot. Quite how Jokowi hopes to advance his maritime axis, apparently his main policy goal, by first emptying death row escapes me. (Mr Abbott, who must be the worst poker player currently at a government’s helm, has unfortunately already said that he will not allow the possible execution of two Australians to affect our bilateral relationship.)
There is now enough evidence to show that Jokowi has very poor judgement about personnel. Megawati, who is herself largely bereft of talent, likewise has a very weak eye for spotting talent in others. Loyalty seems to be the only criterion that shapes her decisions. Jokowi’s repeated failure to reject her unhelpful recommendations or instructions perhaps goes well with his ‘aw shucks!’,rustic style, but it is not serving Indonesia well.
Coordinating Minister Tedjo comes badly out of the Budi Gunawan fiasco, since his statement that Budi would stay suggests he has no idea what damage this appointment has done to his boss. Attorney-General Prasetyo, another controversial appointee, can’t even be blamed on Megawati’s dire influence.
We should, however, take some comfort from Puan Maharani, Megawati’s much-maligned daughter. By her zealous promotion of jamu, soon reportedly to be served at Indonesian diplomatic functions, Puan may have stolen a march on Susi Pudjiastuti, publicity-wise. And we sure needed a break from Susi.
A rage against history
Disappointed to see such an intellectually lazy article published on this website. Full of wild generalizations about 1.6 billion people and willful disregard of the many reformist, thoughtful Muslim voices out there.
Jokowi: The First Hundred Days
Rather than come out from Megawati’s all-enveloping shadow, President Jokowi seems to have simply made the shadow more permanent. He has show shown poor judgement, and when given the opportunity to show independence and the ability to rise above ‘baser’ instincts, he has not done so. It may well be still ‘early’ in his administration, the appearance of too many Wayang puppets with strong strings attached, is not an encouraging sign.
A rage against history
Political correctness is a cancer on expression, and it prevents us being honest when comparing religions. Though I am an atheist I can see that some religions are better and more constructive than others. Given there are thousands of religions, ranging from those of African tribes to those of New York cults, not to mention thousands of others long extinct, it would be absurd to say, “They are all equal in every way,” or, “None are better or worse than any other,” yet political correctness dictates we do.
To cut to the chase, it is clear to me that Islam is a primitive religion. In that graph of religions, you would find it on the lower end of sophistication. Like most primitive religions, it contains a lot of violence, and is very warlike.
Education is the cure, and as young Muslims receive better educations, they will move further away from their parents’ old world views. We need at least another three generations to see good results. Much of the Muslim world was uneducated in the past; something that is rapidly changing now. The internet, combined with cell phones alone, will help educate young Muslims. In the end it will be science and technology that rescue us from the savagery of Islam.
Review of Burma’s Spring
“… should the book be translated into the Myanmar language.”
Er, don’t you mean Burmese???
Impeaching Yingluck Shinawatra
Point taken, but Puffy really wasn’t an independent variable in any important way more so a tool of “old capital”- the royal network.
I see that Thaksin has been a positive political force in many ways for example being a point of focus and inspiration for many to become more politically active, providing benefits for Chao Baan, and being a creative opposing force. I do not like or dislike him but see him as a factor that shakes up and strikes fear into the status quo.
You’re right, the phrase bloodless neoliberalism is a little too emotional and probably not the right way to describe what Thaksin practices. I agree with you that crony capitalism and neo-liberalism are different. But there is an overlap in that the two both adhere to the maxim, one baht one vote. That being said the Thaksin regimes have not really been brave in trying to reform the system, i.e actively working to making it more democratic. I only want to emphasize that at this point in Thai political development investing to much hope in the Thaksins to lead the country to democratic reform may bring disappointment. Further, if some sort of understanding is reached between the two main groups it deflects from the main problem, royal influence over how everything works. What Thailand needs are more people with “eyes open” so that when the right time comes some real reform can occur. This is why discussions like these are important.
Reponse to Poh Soo Kai’s allegations
[…] 3.The response to Part I from Mr Burhan Gafoor, Singapore’s High Commissioner to Australia, can be read here. […]
A rage against history
Thank you Professor Kessler for exploring the notion of the ISIS type Islamic state as an attempt to reclaim an ideal type Islamic Caliphate typical of pre or early early modernity; a transnational type of religious/political state which was surpassed by the rise of powerful nation states and the subsequent separation of religion from politics. However, I do wonder if the neoliberal social imaginary of the last forty years doesn’t also represent an equally dogmatic form of trans national ideology which, in its extreme manifestation, seeks to impose its market based values globally on nation states through transnational organisations like the World Bank. therefore, maybe, western states need to be more mindful that the concept of a society using the market as the primary organizing principle could be offensive to other ideologies /philosophies/religions/ cultures just as it is too many people in western cultures. So, maybe, prior to requesting moderate Islamic scholars to debunk a pre-enlightenment concept of governmentality, we should also be open to input on the reigning western political and economic social imaginary in the form of neoliberalism. For example, it is somewhat surprising that there hasn’t been more critical analysis of neoliberalism by western states post GFC. For example, in the USA, where this form of economic ideology developed in the fifties in the Chicago School of Economics by Hayek, Friedman, Buchanan etc.it has led to a society whose policymakers accept that inequality is a by product of this ideology. And even more surprising Universities Australia has argued the case for full deregulation of Australian universities as an antidote for a lack of government funding. Never the less, once again I welcome the focus on a form of integrated transnational governmentality in your article. It provides a baseline for more comparative studies in forms of transnational governmentality.
A rage against history
Faith is nonsense for primitive human beings. It is heartening to see how quickly atheism is catching on it the Muslim world. As soon as people get a computer and access to the internet, it acceleterates the rate at which people are liberated from religion. Let’s make sure that all Muslims have internet access, then it’s bye-bye and good riddance to Islam.
Impeaching Yingluck Shinawatra
I think the deadly mixture of “bloodless neo-liberalism” with the “power center” is exactly what we had when the puffy-faced Oxford grad was in the passenger seat.
It hardly seems accurate to refer to the man who gave Thailand a universal healthcare program and has thrown trillions at various pro-poor policies as “bloodless”.
Similarly, a multi-billionaire who came at his mountain of wealth through the coziest of crony-capitalist rent-seeking cannot really be called a “neo-liberal”.
The phrase has to mean something more than “pro-capitalist rich person who I don’t like”, after all.
For Indonesia’s oligarchs, the party isn’t over
I choose Golkar long long time ago, now i change my mind 🙂 i hope Golkar’s fragmentation provide good impact for Indonesian people.
A rage against history
“The divisions had as much to do with ethnicity as thy did with religion.”
What is “ethnicity” in this sentence? What separates most of the various ethnic groups in the former Yugoslavia is religious-cultural, not genes or language. Taking the three main ethnic groups in the former Yugoslavia involved in the fighting during the 1990s – Croats, Bosnians, and Serbs – genetically they are similar mixes of Euro-Mediterranean peoples and they all speak Serbo-Croatian. The distinctive factor here, taking Croats and Serbs first, is the adoption of Roman Catholicism by the Croats and Eastern Orthodox Christianity by the Serbs. This affected their respective cultures immensely from which alphabet they use (Roman or Cyrillic) to which part of Europe they look to for support: west-central for Croatians, east and Russia for Serbs. Thus religious factors and accompanying cultural factors are determinate in distinguishing their ethnicities, not genetic-linguistic factors. The Bosnians differ in that they converted to Islam after the Turkish conquests of the Balkans, they have neither a Turkish gene pool nor do they speak Turkish; however, the Bosnian conversion to Islam orientated them to Turkish culture which supported Islam. No one says: ‘the Bosnians converted to Turkish culture and it so happened that Islam came with it’. Religion thus appears to play a determinate role.
Impeaching Yingluck Shinawatra
Guilty as charged!
Impeaching Yingluck Shinawatra
Apart from the ludicrously-named National Council for Peace and Order (Burma-light), I get the best laugh from Gen. Prayuth. He should play Napoleon in the next stage production of Animal Farm.
Best appreciated on radio, his boring rants are an endless stream of “blah blah blah… (pause) na krap… (pause) snort snort”.
Impeaching Yingluck Shinawatra
Chupong didn’t really try to predict an outcome but observes that… paradoxically an acquittal may be the most worrisome outcome. Red shirts who love Yingluck would be pleased with the prospect that the leader of the party they support would probably become PM again. This may dilute and weaken the movement for real democratic reform(or revolution) while the dominant hierarchy and power center of the royal system and the leeches who surround it is perpetuated. Imagine a system where the bloodless neo-liberalism represented by Thaksin joins forces with those who consider themselves above the rest. It is nauseating to think about.
Impeaching Yingluck Shinawatra
Finally a testable hypothesis. Let’s see what happens with this impeachment. 5 year ban? Invitation to join the club? … Do I read that correctly? This hypothesis predicts an acquittal in the impeachment?
Impeaching Yingluck Shinawatra
Because coming to some arrangement with Pheu Thai is obviously the easiest and most acceptable way out (for everyone except those plumping for democracy as opposed to its appearance through electoralism), it seems as though this may very well be the tactical value of “retroactive impeachment”.
Absurd though it may sound, there are moves being made in the USA to have a few out-of-office politicos retroactively impeached. It isn’t just a Thai thing.
Impeaching Yingluck Shinawatra
Thais would be have a much better future without the monarchy. There is now not the slightest shadow of doubt that it brings out the worst in them.
A rage against history
‘The issue of Islamic terrorism must be resolved by Muslims if they want to be accepted in secular parliamentary democracies.’
This is exactly what Muslims in Bangsamoro are doing now, with the blessing of Pope Francis. And help from Malaysia. We deployed people to Mindanao. Our policy objective was to separate JI and others from the Bangsamoro nationalists. This is a win for us.
Ron,’A rage against Islam’ – you’ve nailed him!