History Lessons

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) has come under public scrutiny due to a "controversial guidebook" which was used to teach a course on Ethnic Relations. The guidebook allegedly blames certain factions for inciting the infamous May 13 racial riots.

On Sunday, I got upset after watching a video of an ugly spat between two student groups at the same university. You can read Wong Chun Wai's analysis on the event here. On Tuesday, ex-PM Tun Dr Mahathir officiated the launch of The Chinese Malaysian Contribution. According to The Star, the book records contributions made by the Chinese migrant community. On Wednesday, The Sun published an editorial suggesting biasness in some history books used in schools.

I've just finished reading a book called Understanding Iraq which details the nation's history from medieval times through Saddam Hussein's regime to the American invasion. The author William Polk emphasises that America is repeating the same mistakes Britain made back in the 1950s when it was occupying the region. Polk suggests that Americans (specifically those in power) have been poor history students.

It is absolutely crucial for good history students to exist to ensure that past mistakes are not repeated. It is important that a repeat of May 13th does not occur.

On top of that, excellent historical literature is necessary as well. The role of every community throughout the history of Malaysia needs to be emphasised equally. Less stories are told about some communities as no one bothers to write them. Less stories are known because no one values them.

It's a downward spiral. Poor historical literature gives rise to poor history scholars who then produce poor(er) historical literature.

Iraq on YouTube

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I'm Back!

I'm back in KL and suffering from MAJOR jet-lag. Anyway, I've put up some graduation photos so scroll down and click on the flikr thingy.

Also, I'm proud to announce that Wen Tao has started a blog. Check it out here at www.oh-gluttony.blogspot.com

More Work Experience

Here's something I've written about Malaysia. Click here.

And, if you ever need to know about economic growth, click here.

Work Experience

It's been a really good week for me as I've been enjoying my work experience stint with Guardian Unlimited. A friend of mine got married on Wednesday as well. (He's a little shy so I won't mention names)

The work experience program is pretty flexible -meaning that I can do anything I want as long as my boss Mark approves. This week I've had to research crude oil prices, write the daily news quiz and visit an oxygen bar at Harrods 102 with Mark among other things.

Most of the Explainers on the Business Section were written two or three years ago so they were badly in need of an update. This was totally up my street since I've been writing similar material for Mobile World. So if you ever do want to know about broadband, 3G or Enron then click away.

At 10 a.m. everyday the newspaper holds a conference in which anyone from the paper can attend. Basically the editors leaf through the paper's main section and give comments. When they're done, everyone discusses the day's lead stories.

The Guardian is apparently the only newspaper which does this sort of democratic discussion thing. Everyone seems to be really laid-back at the office. I'm told that the stereotype Guardian hack is a "muesli-eating, sandal-wearing, tree-hugger cyclist".

Today I got to check out how they recorded The Guardian podcast in their in-house studio. Apparently around 20 to 30 thousand people download their podcast daily.

The weekend is here and I hope I'll get to run a bit as the weather's quite nice. My work experience was supposed to end this week but in a fortunate turn of events my services have been extended. I get to go back to the office on Monday so I'm quite happy about that.

Punting in Oxford

Tao and Henry working hard.

Henry helping Tao out because we got stuck in the bushes.

It's so relaxing!

Caught in the bushes again!

OK, it's not so nice when you actually have to do the work.

A BIG Thank You to Henry for showing us around Oxford. I owe you a tour round LSE....shouldn't take more than an hour so we can go to Chinatown after that.

State of Paranoia

British authorities came under criticism earlier this month following the June 2 raid in Forest Gate. To recap: two brothers had been suspected of building a chemical bomb designed for terror purposes. Neither weapon nor traces of terrorist activity were found.

Botched security measures are nothing new to British authorities. The Sunday Times reported yesterday that British police had in fact been fore-warned about last year’s July 7th attacks. Previously, official statements with regards to the London bombings had declared the attacks as totally unexpected. Check it out here and here.

It has now been confirmed that Mohammad Sidique Khan, leader of the London bombers, had been “monitored and tape-recorded over a period in 2004”. An electronic tracking device (planted by Special Branch officers to monitor suspected terrorists) was recovered from Khan’s car.

Computer expert Martin Gilbertson has also alleged that he had warned police about “suspicious activities” by Khan and one of his accomplices Shehzad Tanweer. Gilbertson described to The Sunday Times how he helped produce anti-Western videos and came into contact with radical Islamists including Khan and Tanweer at his workplace.

The revelations of British authorities having prior intelligence to the plans of the London bombings is just another badge of dishonour to be added to their list of incompetencies along with the botched Forest Gate raid and the accidental killing of Jean Charles de Menezes.

Not too long ago, Simon Jenkins wrote a convincing piece partly in defence of British security forces. His basic message: Being paranoid about everything is making things worse. He urged the public to rekindle its trust for the police force as it should accept a certain degree of danger so as to “maintain freedom of speech, movement and civil liberty in Britain”. With tougher security measures there will necessarily be tradeoffs in terms of the erosion of civil liberties and individual privacy as well as further increases in bureaucracy.

The informational gap between what technology-savvy criminal and security analysts have access to compared to the general public has been greatly reduced due to the conveniences of the World Wide Web. Previously, people merely accepted authorities’ failed security measures. However, due to today’s narrowing informational gap it is a sad convenience that we now are able to question, blame and condemn the police for not being able to predict the future.

Adventures in France

Tao and I had lunch here. It's this place in Bordeaux which was featured on Rick Stein's TV show.

Danu, Hasnain and I. Hasnain was really excited about climbing up this 200-step tower. If I remember correctly, it was part of the Church of St Andre in Bordeaux.

Ning, Viv, Ming, Nicole and I having a cheap set menu dinner in Bordeaux (again).

Nicole, Emily and I at a really good French bistro called Polidor in Paris.
Check out the flower-shaped ice creams we had at Amorino in Paris.

Danu, Emily, Tao, Hasnain, Ning and I at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Exams Are Over!

There’s been a lot of buzz about who the contenders for the 2008 US presidential seat will be. The media started of initially by pitting current Secretary of the State Condoleezza Rice against the former first lady Hillary Clinton. It makes a really good story –something the masses would enjoy. Two women, one Republican the other Democrat, competing to be the most powerful and influential person in the world (excluding Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Dan Brown of course).

In April, Vanity Fair released its first ever “green issue” which focused specially on environmental matters. An A-List Green Team made up by Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Al Gore appeared on the magazine’s cover. At the Cannes Film Festival in May, Al Gore made waves thanks to a documentary based on the former US vice-president’s environmental campaigning titled An Inconvenient Truth.

A presidential race between Ms Rice and Mrs Clinton would be an interesting one. Regardless of who wins, the situation would surely be a triumph for women’s rights activists everywhere. A more interesting race to monitor would be the one among Democratic ranks with regards to the party’s presidential nominee.

In a speech delivered at the National Press Club in Washington, Clinton called for Americans to make changes in the face of Iraq war and high petrol prices. Gore on the other hand, has been relatively low-profile compared to Hillary Clinton amidst his environmental campaigning.

However, with all the talk about environmental degradation lately, it may not be too late to write him off as a potential 2008 nominee. At least he distances himself further from the Bush administration compared to Hillary Clinton (he is anti-war while Clinton supported the war).

Undoubtedly, the environment hardly invokes as much passion and nationalistic pride among the American public compared to a central national issue like Iraq and oil.

It is likely that if Clinton triumphs, there are bound to be certain policy changes which will favour gender equality (although it may not be marketable for her to admit that). If Gore wins, these policy changes will favour environmental awareness and protection. If being president means being able to leave a legacy on the American public then I would probably favour the tree hugger.

This is Awesome

If you are:

(a)living in a hall and can't download stuff because you're firewalled
(b)having exams but can't study
(c)bored

Check this out. They have Monty Python!!

p.s. will write more soon. i'm thinking of changing my blog format once i'm done with exams. may try something a little more structured in terms of writing style -more organised and concise thoughts.

Lipschitz Condition

I haven't read anything by Charles Krauthammer recently. I was introduced to his work by my former boss last summer and I think that he writes very well. Everytime I read his column, his points come across very, very clearly. Compare this piece to this one by David Aaronovitch of The Times -pretty interesting material, but none entirely original and too waffly in my humblest opinion.

He poses an important point towards the end of his piece. He says:

For Fukuyama to assert that I characterized it as "a virtually unqualified success" is simply breathtaking. My argument then, as now, was the necessity of this undertaking, never its ensured success. And it was necessary because, as I said, there is not a single, remotely plausible, alternative strategy for attacking the root causes of Sept. 11: "The cauldron of political oppression, religious intolerance, and social ruin in the Arab-Islamic world -- oppression transmuted and deflected by regimes with no legitimacy into virulent, murderous anti-Americanism."

Since anti-Americanism was the root cause of the Sept. 11th attacks, could it not be the case that the root cause of these sentiments was the over extension of American power? Proceeding to over-extend even more by attempting regime change in Iraq may have been a bad move. If one of the reasons why these people are so upset is because you've messed around in their affairs for too long then maybe you should have swallowed your pride rather than exacerbating the problem. Maybe a semi-isolationist foreign policy would mean more funds for health care and social security services which have been left wanting in America.

Random: I was MSN-ing with a friend tonight and I sent him the link to Mr Aaronovitch's piece. I was very kindly informed that this whole "the Jews are taking over the world" hypothesis isn't something entirely groundbreaking.Anyway, said friend mentioned that banks, press and politics in the US are under strong Jewish influences. Interestingly, I wiki-ed (don't you just LOVE Wikipedia) both Krauthammer and Aaronovitch's names. And what do you know? They're both at least half-Jew and they both studied at the same college in Oxford around the same time as well!

Breakfast

I thought I'd treat myself to a nice, big breakfast today so:

Cereal; yoghurt and mandarins, prunes, banana chips + maple pecan crunch; toast with LOTS of butter + some jam and honey; apple juice; coffee (I'm buzzing now, whee!)

This was one of the headlines in today's Telegraph. It's about JK Rowling's take on girls having waif-thin women as their role models. I checked out her site, and managed to find her alleged rant. It's a little difficult to maneuver but if you click the hair brush you'll get to some other page with a pin-up board thing. If you click the miscellaneous option there you'll find a link to "For Girls Only, Probably...".

I must admit that I would like to look like Madonna when I turn 75. But right now, this is what inspires me. Isn't that something? One of the busiest people in the world.

Chips

I have a problem pronouncing "crisps".

Crisp? Crips? Crispspspsps?

FT Internship

The details for this journalism scheme only came out this week. I initially wanted to try out for it and I waited for the whole of my Lent term for information about it. But I think it's a little too late now as I've got exams to mug for. Was also thinking about going back to KL by August because I miss my sister. But anyway, this 3 month-stint with the Financial Times does look quite promising if anyone's interested. Click here.

Turning 80

Here's a depressing article on growing old.

"In an injustice that is bitterly resented, people with savings or homes worth more than £20,500 have to use them to pay for residential care, which — by contrast — is free for anyone with no assets."

What other choice is there? Wouldn't it be worse if lower income groups received zero residential care. Frankly, I would think that in your old age your care for all things material would cease.

The End of History

I've just read a piece on Francis Fukuyama whose name has recently become a buzzword again in the international political-world. Notice the use of again: He initially gained attention when he wrote a paper titled "The End of History" which I think I've may have mentioned before.

Mr Fukuyama was among those who urged the Bush administration to take out Saddam Hussein in Iraq during President Bush's first term in office. But now he's making a roundabout turn and says that the Iraq War has been, "wrong in theory and practice".

Mr Fukuyama believes that although Saddam Hussein was leading a very oppressive regime in Iraq, he implies that perhaps the "human costs" of removing him may have outweighed the benefits.

The article was pretty informative and it gave me a better idea on what Mr Fukuyama stood for. I'd like to think that the Iraq War was a necessary evil because of the potential threat posed by the supposed existence of weapons of mass destruction. But on the other hand, the amount of damage that this unilateral act has done in terms of sunken military costs, military casualties, civilian casualties, American credibility, UN credibility, oil prices etc. begs me to think otherwise.

Here's a random ramble from an excerpt I picked up from an excerpt of his new book, "After the Neocons":

"Much of the campaign against jihadist terrorism will be fought out in Western Europe by our allies; we will have little direct role in this struggle since many of the terrorists will be European citizens.Outside of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the anti-jihadist campaign will look more like a police and intelligence operation than a war."

The first part is quite a bold claim and he hasn't backed it up. Maybe I'll need to read the actual book for more info on this. I agree with the second part. My lecturer said the other day that we're all being monitored 24/7.There are CCTVs everywhere; using your Oyster Card when taking public transport allows the system to keep records of all your journey details(that's probably why using your Oyster is so much cheaper now compared to buying single tickets).

Free Food

We had our annual Petronas briefing on Saturday morning. Lunch was superb because it was a buffet and also because Fara and I sat right in front of the dessert counter. It was also quite fun seeing everyone looking all smart and preppy. Shouldn't have worn a white shirt though...some lady thought I was a waiter or something.

Hasnain won the best dressed prize in my books. He wore this really old skool tie which actually belonged to someone else's grand dad.

Henry's one of the smartest people I know. Not many people know this but he's actually a robot.

Hajar's someone I've known from high school. a superb dancer and singer. Siti Nurhaliza with an engineering degree. It's quite a blurry shot but I thought she looked quite hot so... yeah. [I really cannot describe Vivien. She's FULL of surprises.]

Nadia's my French classmate. Without her, I would have dropped out of French class a long time ago.

Dinner at Belgo's

Jason and I I think I look retarded here but since Jason NEVER visits, I thought I'd pay homage to his visit by putting up a picture of him.

Farara and Tao

Adrian, Ju Ni, Fara and one third of Tao

Inkyhands.net

This is a Malaysian-created online magazine for aspiring creative writers. I must confess that I haven't actually read anything that's been sent in. But they just started a blog and when I checked it out this morning they had an interesting entry on writing essays. Good stuff. Check it out here.

News Summary III

Today's weather in London was really sunny and I managed to go out for a run. Well I did walk up that final bit of Primrose Hill since I'm allergic to inclined slopes. And maybe I should say 'jog' and not 'run' since I actually go quite slowly. Maybe 'brisk walk which looks like a jog'. Hmm.

1. BA is increasing the retirement age of its workers to tackle its pension fund deficit. Cabin crew and pilots will have their compulsory retirement age increased from 55 to 60 years old. According to BA, there are airlines who have pilots above the age of 60 still flying aircraft. That's disturbing.
2. Car prices in Malaysia will be reduced starting next week as the government announced a new duty structure in the National Automotive Policy. Although we're going to get cheaper Peroduas, Protons and possibly Honda Citys and Nissan Centras, the Malaysian Automotive Association president expects the price of MPVs, 4WDs and SUVs to increase under the new structure.

If I'm right, middle class white collar workers will be the social group who will predominantly benefit from this. That's great. Another ten million drivers on Jalan Ampang. I'm not really irked by the potential rise in prices for 4WDs and SUVs.

I am slightly concerned about the MPVs. Here's the way I see it: MPVs are owned by lower income families with lots of kids to ferry around. You're more likely to see people driving home alone in their 4-seater Protons rather than in a 7-seater MPV, no? Additionally, what about small businesses who need MPVs for transporting goods?