Dr Poh and many of his generation were attracted by Socialism and even Communism. Society was indeed unjust. But they staked their claim with Lim Chin Siong, who was a communist operative being ran by the Communist Party of Malaya. After being arrested, there was no way they could have admitted their mistake. It would have been absolutely shameless. Poh and the rest of the leftists, might have knew, or might have suspected, they were wading in a shallow pool with communists, but all was too late once the Brits and Malayans decided to launch Operation Coldstore. The only choice was to be stubborn for men of their stature.
Assessment to Her Majesty:
“I said I had recognised all along that a threat was presented by the communists in Singapore. I had not however previously been convinced that a large number of arrests was necessary to counter this threat. Recently, however, new evidence had been produced about the extent of the communist control of the Barisan Sosialis and also there had been indications that the communists might resort to violence if the opportunity occurred. Recent statements by the Barisan Sosialis and Party Rakyat supporting the revolt in Brunei confirmed this. Accordingly H.M.G. [Her Majesty’s Government] were prepared to see [arrest] action taken in Singapore…”. CO 1030/1160, Selkirk to SSC, Tel. 582, 14 Dec 1962 (para 5)
Could you slightly elaborate your critique? The argument that the merger was a mistake is approvaede by history. as far as I know, Singapore is not part of Malaysia. That Harry Lee wanted to gain dominance over the PAP and rule over Singapore, what required to get rid of his main competitors is as well a historical fact. That those who opposed Harry L├Цee were injailed based on the ISA without any court ruling for decades is as well a historical fact.
I think there are many reasons to discuss about why they were kept in jail even long after Singapore had established itself. Perhaps this can only be explianed by a psychological aseessment of the leader.
Just that they were leftists, and that there were a few leftists in the colonial administration is no legitimation whatsoever for such a treatment.
Do I understand your last sentence right that neo-liberal free floating financial markets are sexy? This sounds rather perverted to me.
What is to be expected from a typical Leftist mantra; too bad, little of it is true. LKY hardly wanted Leftists any more than the British. One VERY common mistake, though, is the belief that the only Leftists in the Foreign Office were at the Arab, India, Turkey and Russia desks. That is NOT the case. There were some British Leftists in the Foreign Office handling Malaya, and what would be Burma, but there were very few of them. The stereotyping of the British and LKY works well for Barisan Socialis, but they protest at what they perceive as stereotyping of them ? What is there to stereotype ? They are Leftists
(you know: All ideologies are equal, but some are more equal than others).
No, the Emergency was just a Maoist illusion and 1965 in Indonesia never happened. Or so BS and its cohorts would have you believe. BS is quite happy to whine about jailed Singaporean and Malayan activists, which has some legitimacy, but strangely silent about all the dead British soldiers that prevented Malaya from becoming a ‘Maoist’ paradise; could it be because they were just ‘Orang Putih’ and not deserving of any credit ?
Socialism, like pornography, looks great in print, but when you are faced with the real thing, it does not shine as well.
We are honoured to receive this endorsement. We do what we can to continue your father’s fine work, and the work of the others who have sought to understand borders and ethnicity across Southeast Asia. The image of the toast is one to treasure.
Thank you Nick for your kind acknowledgement of Gehan Wijeyewardene and Ted Chapman, the pioneers of the Thai-Yunnan newsletter and early work on borders and ethnicity in mainland Southeast Asia. I am certain that Gehan would be extremely interested in all the changes that have taken place in the region, and in the virtual spaces that have opened up since his death in 2000. He would also be very supportive of the contribution of New Mandala to the debates on the region and would no doubt want to raise a toast (whiskey, neat, no water, no ice) to the work that you, Andrew Walker and others are now engaged in.
Has NM descended to the depths of Private Eye or similar? Come NM publishes some good stuff -Nick Noseltiz (sorry about the spelling but it is the Vin Dalat)- but this thread should appear in the Bangkok Tattler not NM! Cheers from Hanoi
Mohamed Akram Ali, writing in the (Rangoon) “Guardian Magazine” for August 1960, made the following perceptive comment in an article on Pages 31-32 which he entitled “Unity Among Ourselves”. He wrote: “I feel very sorry to mention that there is a lack of unity among the Arakanese Muslims themselves. The main causes of the disruption of unity among them are racial and sectional prejudices. Some of them style themselves as Roewengyas while other call themselves Kamans and Chittagonian descendants etc. and they take pride in being so called. Some of them have a deep-seated sense of localism and therefore take pride in their birth places such as Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Akyab, Mrohaung, Kyauktaw, Kyaukpyu, Sandoway etc. If we go on in this way, I can say with certainty that we will not be able to achieve any good work, nor will we be able to get unity among ourselves. This will indeed hamper the progress of our community in particular and of Arakan in general. I should therefore like to request my people that they should forget the past and make the future bright by sinking their racial differences. Then only, I hope, we can reach our goal without fail.”
At the time (1948-1962), four main designations for Arakanese Muslims were in vogue: Roewengya, especially favoured by the Muslim scholar U Ba Tha which U Kyaw Min also mentioned as recently as 11 August 2014 (as an alternative designation to Rohingya) ; Rwangya which had been promoted since 1948 by the indigenous ‘Yakhain Kala’ (and which Khin Maung Yin in ‘Salience of Ethnicity’ 2005 says is a term by which Rohingya are also known) ; Ruhangya which seems to have been favoured by Chittagonians resident outside Arakan; and Rohingya to which I find scattered references in the Guardian Daily for 1960, which appears to have emanated from Maungdaw and was also favoured by the Mujahid.
As we know, it was Rohingya which eventually captured the market to become the dominant political force, thus achieving perhaps the unity among Arakan Muslims which Mohamed Akram Ali had advocated over 50 years ago, although the Kamans, I understand, are today not at all happy with this and fear that they too may be engulfed by the Rohingya movement sooner or later.
Another article in The Guardian of 3 August 1960 quoted the Ruhangya Youth League in Rangoon as claiming that Ruhangyas “numbered about 400,000 in Arakan and altogether about 700,000 all over Burma.” It is intriguing then that, though there was chaos and controversy in Rakhine State at the time of the recent Census, the large number of Rohingyas reportedly living outside Rakhine State completed the Census without controversy or confrontation. We might ask how they did it.
Hum .. I don’t know how to comment, because I really am clueless. But 2 people I really love the most are the King and his daughter, Princess Sirinddhon. Honestly I am not Thai.
When I pray, I added the King that GOD will bless and keep him until 100 years old.
[…] so many coups in its modern history that scholars sometimes refer to the last 82 years as its “coup season.” In between, violent political strife has beenchronic. The latest round […]
The depth of your sense of reason need to be questioned here.
1) The difference b/t Baghali and Rohingyas
2) the reasonable degree of demand under present circumstances.
Instead of being a Muslim Kala in Yakhine, a part of Myanmar Citizenry where the sentiment is strong against anything else your chosen arguments will go no where even if they are absolutely correct or close.
There are areas of Yakhine near Bangladesh where Banghali cross over freely to further migrate (undocumented) into the interior. Be prepared for more sectarian violence now that ASEAN gavel is no longer in Thein Sein hand.
The Pashtuns are from the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan. They have nothing to do with Burma, nothing to do with Rohingya and the Pashtuns are not known for being tradesmen who migrated in great numbers to the East. The Pashtuns are deeply conservative and do not follow any of the schools of Sunni Islam as practiced by North Indian, Rohingya (Bangladeshis) or Rakhine Muslims.
There were not enough Pashtun for him to insist. Besides, these Pasthun had intermarried with Bamar and were no longer maintained Pashtun culture. Rohingyas have a distinct culture.
I really feel for his highness the prince during this difficult time. He is clearly betrayed by a beautiful woman who he trusted implicitly and now has no option but to, regrettably, file for divorce albeit it pains his immeasurably to do so.
(Well, at least that’s the version I expect we’ll be hearing over here)
I wrote that letter to The Nation, based on a report in the Prachatai website. The report stated that it was the Education Minister himself who made the comparison, but I’m not sure it really matters who said it. The real reason for concerrn is surely what these comments reveal about prevailing attitudes within the Ministry.
After reading AMM’s book, Palace behavior is better put into context. Take for example the recent actions of the Crown Prince to repeal the royally given surname to his wife, Princess Srirasmi. Although, reports support the move because her relatives are affiliated with some of the cops undergoing corruption proceedings, there is more to the story. By repealing his wife’s surname, he sets up a possible divorce. If he divorces his wife, his sone becomes less of an option as an heir to the thrown. This bolster’s the Crown Prince’s position to assume the thrown. Interesting times ahead.
BBC has just reported ( http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30258759)
the Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn has just ordered his wife- Princess Srirasmi’s family be stripped of the royal titles bestowed upon. Apparently her family is neck deep in the recent upper police purges, her uncle Pongpat, erstwhile CIB Chief found with billions of assets in his house, and charged with Lese Majeste among other charges. Explains a lot about these recent police purges, it wasn’t for law and order but trying to divert succession away from the Prince as has been discussed on this site.
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Singapore’s ‘Battle for Merger’ revisited
Dr Poh and many of his generation were attracted by Socialism and even Communism. Society was indeed unjust. But they staked their claim with Lim Chin Siong, who was a communist operative being ran by the Communist Party of Malaya. After being arrested, there was no way they could have admitted their mistake. It would have been absolutely shameless. Poh and the rest of the leftists, might have knew, or might have suspected, they were wading in a shallow pool with communists, but all was too late once the Brits and Malayans decided to launch Operation Coldstore. The only choice was to be stubborn for men of their stature.
Assessment to Her Majesty:
“I said I had recognised all along that a threat was presented by the communists in Singapore. I had not however previously been convinced that a large number of arrests was necessary to counter this threat. Recently, however, new evidence had been produced about the extent of the communist control of the Barisan Sosialis and also there had been indications that the communists might resort to violence if the opportunity occurred. Recent statements by the Barisan Sosialis and Party Rakyat supporting the revolt in Brunei confirmed this. Accordingly H.M.G. [Her Majesty’s Government] were prepared to see [arrest] action taken in Singapore…”. CO 1030/1160, Selkirk to SSC, Tel. 582, 14 Dec 1962 (para 5)
Singapore’s ‘Battle for Merger’ revisited
Could you slightly elaborate your critique? The argument that the merger was a mistake is approvaede by history. as far as I know, Singapore is not part of Malaysia. That Harry Lee wanted to gain dominance over the PAP and rule over Singapore, what required to get rid of his main competitors is as well a historical fact. That those who opposed Harry L├Цee were injailed based on the ISA without any court ruling for decades is as well a historical fact.
I think there are many reasons to discuss about why they were kept in jail even long after Singapore had established itself. Perhaps this can only be explianed by a psychological aseessment of the leader.
Just that they were leftists, and that there were a few leftists in the colonial administration is no legitimation whatsoever for such a treatment.
Do I understand your last sentence right that neo-liberal free floating financial markets are sexy? This sounds rather perverted to me.
Female faces at the ASEAN Summit in Naypyitaw
That is a great idea, Olivia. Congratulations!
Singapore’s ‘Battle for Merger’ revisited
What is to be expected from a typical Leftist mantra; too bad, little of it is true. LKY hardly wanted Leftists any more than the British. One VERY common mistake, though, is the belief that the only Leftists in the Foreign Office were at the Arab, India, Turkey and Russia desks. That is NOT the case. There were some British Leftists in the Foreign Office handling Malaya, and what would be Burma, but there were very few of them. The stereotyping of the British and LKY works well for Barisan Socialis, but they protest at what they perceive as stereotyping of them ? What is there to stereotype ? They are Leftists
(you know: All ideologies are equal, but some are more equal than others).
No, the Emergency was just a Maoist illusion and 1965 in Indonesia never happened. Or so BS and its cohorts would have you believe. BS is quite happy to whine about jailed Singaporean and Malayan activists, which has some legitimacy, but strangely silent about all the dead British soldiers that prevented Malaya from becoming a ‘Maoist’ paradise; could it be because they were just ‘Orang Putih’ and not deserving of any credit ?
Socialism, like pornography, looks great in print, but when you are faced with the real thing, it does not shine as well.
Southeast Asian borders and research
Thank you, Ajarn Ingrid,
We are honoured to receive this endorsement. We do what we can to continue your father’s fine work, and the work of the others who have sought to understand borders and ethnicity across Southeast Asia. The image of the toast is one to treasure.
With all best wishes,
Nich
Southeast Asian borders and research
Thank you Nick for your kind acknowledgement of Gehan Wijeyewardene and Ted Chapman, the pioneers of the Thai-Yunnan newsletter and early work on borders and ethnicity in mainland Southeast Asia. I am certain that Gehan would be extremely interested in all the changes that have taken place in the region, and in the virtual spaces that have opened up since his death in 2000. He would also be very supportive of the contribution of New Mandala to the debates on the region and would no doubt want to raise a toast (whiskey, neat, no water, no ice) to the work that you, Andrew Walker and others are now engaged in.
Crown Prince’s family update?
Has NM descended to the depths of Private Eye or similar? Come NM publishes some good stuff -Nick Noseltiz (sorry about the spelling but it is the Vin Dalat)- but this thread should appear in the Bangkok Tattler not NM! Cheers from Hanoi
Myanmar’s Muslim mosaic and the politics of belonging
Mohamed Akram Ali, writing in the (Rangoon) “Guardian Magazine” for August 1960, made the following perceptive comment in an article on Pages 31-32 which he entitled “Unity Among Ourselves”. He wrote: “I feel very sorry to mention that there is a lack of unity among the Arakanese Muslims themselves. The main causes of the disruption of unity among them are racial and sectional prejudices. Some of them style themselves as Roewengyas while other call themselves Kamans and Chittagonian descendants etc. and they take pride in being so called. Some of them have a deep-seated sense of localism and therefore take pride in their birth places such as Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Akyab, Mrohaung, Kyauktaw, Kyaukpyu, Sandoway etc. If we go on in this way, I can say with certainty that we will not be able to achieve any good work, nor will we be able to get unity among ourselves. This will indeed hamper the progress of our community in particular and of Arakan in general. I should therefore like to request my people that they should forget the past and make the future bright by sinking their racial differences. Then only, I hope, we can reach our goal without fail.”
At the time (1948-1962), four main designations for Arakanese Muslims were in vogue: Roewengya, especially favoured by the Muslim scholar U Ba Tha which U Kyaw Min also mentioned as recently as 11 August 2014 (as an alternative designation to Rohingya) ; Rwangya which had been promoted since 1948 by the indigenous ‘Yakhain Kala’ (and which Khin Maung Yin in ‘Salience of Ethnicity’ 2005 says is a term by which Rohingya are also known) ; Ruhangya which seems to have been favoured by Chittagonians resident outside Arakan; and Rohingya to which I find scattered references in the Guardian Daily for 1960, which appears to have emanated from Maungdaw and was also favoured by the Mujahid.
As we know, it was Rohingya which eventually captured the market to become the dominant political force, thus achieving perhaps the unity among Arakan Muslims which Mohamed Akram Ali had advocated over 50 years ago, although the Kamans, I understand, are today not at all happy with this and fear that they too may be engulfed by the Rohingya movement sooner or later.
Another article in The Guardian of 3 August 1960 quoted the Ruhangya Youth League in Rangoon as claiming that Ruhangyas “numbered about 400,000 in Arakan and altogether about 700,000 all over Burma.” It is intriguing then that, though there was chaos and controversy in Rakhine State at the time of the recent Census, the large number of Rohingyas reportedly living outside Rakhine State completed the Census without controversy or confrontation. We might ask how they did it.
Wisdom of General Prayuth
[…] for most of media not to report about it. From a seemingly endless stream of gaffes (see a ”best”-of list from September here), here are three […]
Crown Prince’s family update?
Hum .. I don’t know how to comment, because I really am clueless. But 2 people I really love the most are the King and his daughter, Princess Sirinddhon. Honestly I am not Thai.
When I pray, I added the King that GOD will bless and keep him until 100 years old.
Beatrice
Counting Thailand’s coups
[…] so many coups in its modern history that scholars sometimes refer to the last 82 years as its “coup season.” In between, violent political strife has beenchronic. The latest round […]
Myanmar’s Muslim mosaic and the politics of belonging
The depth of your sense of reason need to be questioned here.
1) The difference b/t Baghali and Rohingyas
2) the reasonable degree of demand under present circumstances.
Instead of being a Muslim Kala in Yakhine, a part of Myanmar Citizenry where the sentiment is strong against anything else your chosen arguments will go no where even if they are absolutely correct or close.
There are areas of Yakhine near Bangladesh where Banghali cross over freely to further migrate (undocumented) into the interior. Be prepared for more sectarian violence now that ASEAN gavel is no longer in Thein Sein hand.
Myanmar’s Muslim mosaic and the politics of belonging
The Pashtuns are from the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan. They have nothing to do with Burma, nothing to do with Rohingya and the Pashtuns are not known for being tradesmen who migrated in great numbers to the East. The Pashtuns are deeply conservative and do not follow any of the schools of Sunni Islam as practiced by North Indian, Rohingya (Bangladeshis) or Rakhine Muslims.
Myanmar’s Muslim mosaic and the politics of belonging
Unlike the Tayoke, Rohingyas did not come from another country. It is the Burman who began to arrive Yakhine Pye in 10th century.
Myanmar’s Muslim mosaic and the politics of belonging
There were not enough Pashtun for him to insist. Besides, these Pasthun had intermarried with Bamar and were no longer maintained Pashtun culture. Rohingyas have a distinct culture.
Thailand’s Prayuth: Not just another coup-maker
Has Prayut denied this pro-NORTH Korea stance is endorsed by his junta ?
Review of Kingdom in Crisis
I really feel for his highness the prince during this difficult time. He is clearly betrayed by a beautiful woman who he trusted implicitly and now has no option but to, regrettably, file for divorce albeit it pains his immeasurably to do so.
(Well, at least that’s the version I expect we’ll be hearing over here)
Thailand’s Prayuth: Not just another coup-maker
I wrote that letter to The Nation, based on a report in the Prachatai website. The report stated that it was the Education Minister himself who made the comparison, but I’m not sure it really matters who said it. The real reason for concerrn is surely what these comments reveal about prevailing attitudes within the Ministry.
Review of Kingdom in Crisis
After reading AMM’s book, Palace behavior is better put into context. Take for example the recent actions of the Crown Prince to repeal the royally given surname to his wife, Princess Srirasmi. Although, reports support the move because her relatives are affiliated with some of the cops undergoing corruption proceedings, there is more to the story. By repealing his wife’s surname, he sets up a possible divorce. If he divorces his wife, his sone becomes less of an option as an heir to the thrown. This bolster’s the Crown Prince’s position to assume the thrown. Interesting times ahead.
Review of Kingdom in Crisis
BBC has just reported ( http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30258759)
the Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn has just ordered his wife- Princess Srirasmi’s family be stripped of the royal titles bestowed upon. Apparently her family is neck deep in the recent upper police purges, her uncle Pongpat, erstwhile CIB Chief found with billions of assets in his house, and charged with Lese Majeste among other charges. Explains a lot about these recent police purges, it wasn’t for law and order but trying to divert succession away from the Prince as has been discussed on this site.