Friday, November 30, 2007

India's Tamil Nadu MPs support chief minister

According to reports in NDTV , Economic Times and The Times of India, Tamil Nadu parliamentarians accross partisan lines have urged India's government to take up the "Tamils issue" with the Malaysian authorities. Hindustan Times has also reported Tamil Nadu chief minister, M Karunanidhi as saying that it is his "duty" to "defend" Tamils and he is prepared to accept any "punishment" for doing so.

US defends right to peaceful protests in M' sia

PM of M' sia offers formal apology to Indonesia

Thursday, November 29, 2007

US defends right to peaceful protests in M'sia

According to AFP, " the United States underscored Wednesday the rights of Malaysians to hold peaceful protests, after Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's government swiftly suppressed mass rallies and threatened to use a draconian law to detain protestors indefinitely without trial ". It is the first US response to the situation in Malaysia after two massive rallies broke out recently in defiance of police ban.

M' sia rejects US comments on protests in KL

M'sian Hindu rally stirs passion in Tamil Nadu

M' sian Hindu rally stirs passion in Tamil Nadu

According to news reports in Hindustan Times, The Hindu, Times of India and The Tribute, the chief minister of the Tamil Nadu state in India, M. Karunanidhi (pix above) has urged Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh " to take immediate and appropriate action on the 'sufferings and bad treatment' of Tamils in Malaysia". The last time passion was stirred in India with such emotive intensity by an event in Malaysia was probably the arrest, prosecution, 'conviction' and execution of martyr S.A. Ganapathy in 1949 when even Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), the first prime minister of independent India, had to made public statements pleading for justice and also decrying the "extreme folly" of the colonial authorities of British Malaya.

Winning people's hearts, minds with tear gas

British introspection on Empire' s end in Asia

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Umno 'lawmaker' assaults PAS representative

Yesterday, Umno's Kelantan State Assemblyman for Paloh Nozula Mat Diah literally or physically kicked Mohd Zaki Ibrahim (PAS-Kelaboran) during a Question-&-Answer session in the Kelantan State Assembly and the scene has been captured live. The latest doctrine of Umno is Islam Hadhari or 'Civilisational Islam' which was promulgated by its president and Malaysia's prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

PM of M' sia offers formal apology to Indonesia

Monday, November 26, 2007

Dear Uncle Raju : I am sure you felt very proud yesterday when you saw from ahigh in Heaven the little people's knowledge and skills of self-defence in crowded streets, which you imparted to us boys and girls in the early 1970s, have not lost. As you once taught us in the public toilet of Ipoh's Children Playground, we must not be aggressive but we must also be willing, able and ever ready to protect ourselves as well as our honour and dignity without fear against the big bullies.

Old Ipoh honours D.R. Seenevasagam's legacy

History must also be fair to non-Umno Malays

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Winning people' s hearts, minds with tear gas

Despite the prior warning issued by DPM and Defence Minister Najib Tun Razak, 'pre-emptive strikes' mounted by the police and public appeal made by 'moderate and responsible community leaders' in the mainstream and official media, an estimate of about 30,000 to 35,000 Indian Malaysians from all over the Peninsula gathered this morning in downtown Kuala Lumpur in response to a call by the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) to collectively protest against the 150-year marginalisation, discrimination and oppression of the Indian community from colonial days to the present era when the Umno-dominated regime has been reigning supreme for the past 50 years.

Winning people' s hearts & minds with 'love' ?

Indian martyrdoms for Malaya's independence

In the rakyat's struggle for the independence of tanah air kita, many progressive Indians were stereotyped in the colonial and pro-colonial media as 'troublemakers', 'bandits' or 'gangsters', goaled, banished to India en masse or martyred. For example, one day after martyr P. Veerasenan was killed by colonial mercenaries in Negeri Sembilan on 3 May 1949, the president of the of the postwar 300,000-strong Pan Malayan Federation of Trade Unions (PMFTU), martyr S.A. Ganapathy was hanged to death at the gallow in Kuala Lumpur's Pudu Jail after being "convicted" for allegedly "in illegal possession of a revolver".

People re-claiming Malaya' s history from elite

Dr. Abraham: Chin Peng is "a freedom fighter"

PAS: Communist party helped secure Merdeka

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Mandarin-speaking Rudd to be new Aussie PM

Very warm congratulation to my old and new friends of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) who have finally made it back to federal power and also to Mr. Kevin Rudd who is going to be the new Australian PM. The first time I witnessed ALP returning to power after many years of being in the political wilderness was in 1983 when I was a first-year undergraduate of Monash University in Melborne where I also served as a leafleteering volunteer for ALP in the principal campus itself and the adjacent Clayton area, especially along Wellington Road where I shared a unit of a very cheap apartment with friends of both sexes.

Facts & figures of Australia' s general election

Rudd' s Mandarin impresses Chinese president
I have been back to my hometown since last evening to visit mother and also chat with old and new friends like Belinda. Many shops and places have already been decorated with Christmas trees and other symbols of the holy day that has become an organic part of the socio-cultural landscape of Ipoh which was also historically known as Paloh.

May Mrs. Sybil Kathigasu' s spirit shine forever

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Honouring anti-colonial martyr P. Veerasenan

According to my friend Arutchelvan, a football tournament is organised every year since 1992 in honour of the memory of anti-colonial martyr P. Veerasenan and this year's match will be held on 9 December (Sun) at the Padang Rumah Pangsa Asah Jaya in Kajang starting from 8 am. A very popular and prominent postwar trade unionist, P. Veerasenan joined the armed struggle for the independence of Malaya and was martyred in 1949.

End-of-the-world 'theology' studied critically

Last week, my friend Lucia came again on her way back to Melbourne from London. This time she brought for me as a gift Jonathan Kirsch's book, A History of the End of the World (London, Harper Collins, 2006) which seems to be another thought-provoking (or even mind-blowing) book simply because it is recommended by Lucia whose deep knowledge of the Western world I really cannot dispute, published by Harper Collins and received some very positive reviews.

I am certainly interested in the origin and evolution of the idea of the end of the world because, since I was a primary school boy in Ipoh some thirty years ago, I have occasionally been coming into contacts with some kind-hearted men and women who warn me that the world would literally end 'tomorrow' or ' Tuesday next week' or 'Friday night the week after next'. Before Lucia left, I returned to her the copy of Red Star Over China which she left in my house last year and I also asked for her help to look out for me other good books that discourse the genesis and development of the belief or state of the mind that 'the world is humbuggery' (of course, with the exception of he or she who proclaims it) and its links to the idea of 'the end of the world'.

Surveying worldwide resurgence of religions

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

'Great Red Scare' victim Milo Radulovich dies

According to New York Times, Milo Radulovich, an American citizen of Serbian origin who was removed as an officer in the US Air Force Reserve in August 1953 as the result of irrational anti-communism in the 1950s but who also fought back bravely, has died at the age of 81. There were two distinct periods of 'Great Red Scare' in the history of the United States: (1) from 1917 to 1920 in the aftermath of the October Revolution in Russia, and (2) from the late 1940s to 1950s which was caused by the postwar emergence of the communist Soviet Union as one of the two superpowers as well as the military victory of the Communist Party of China (CPC) over the Kuomintang rightwing in the 1946-1949 Chinese Civil War and the 1950-1953 Korean War.

October Revolution remembered 90 years on

Long March documentary to be shown in U.S.

People reclaiming Malaya' s history from elite

Very excited to know that Where Monsoons Meet: A People's History of Malaya is to be publicly launched on 24 November 2007 (Saturday) at 2 pm in Kompleks Masyarakat Penyayang Penang. Like its original edition, it has been re-issued in three languages, viz Malay, Chinese and English. Clare Street wishes to warmly congratulate its writers, artists, language translators and publishers, both past and present.

Revigorating Malaysia' s progressive tradition

May Mrs. Sybil Kathigasu's spirit shine forever

Why I dislike Prof. Khoo Kay Khim' s posturing

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Leading US presidential candidates to debate

According to Reuter, " top candidates for the White House should meet in three debates beginning on September 26, 2008, which would feature extended discussions and the chance to directly address each other, the panel sponsoring the debates recommended on Monday ".

US politics impacts on international relations

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Revigorating Malaysia' s progressive tradition

This morning, former Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) social science lecturer Dr. Rohana Ariffin (second from right), well-known public intellectual and writer Rustam A. Sani (left), editor of the Chinese-language malaysiakini Yong Kai Ping (right) and myself spoke at the Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (吉隆坡暨雪兰莪中华大会堂) in downtown Kuala Lumpur to launch the second volume of the memoirs of a veteran of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) Abdullah CD and relaunch of the autobiography of another legendary woman anti-colonial fighter Shamsiah Fakeh. The forum was chaired by publisher Chong Ton Sin (second from left) of Gerakbudaya and the widely acclaimed and award-winning documentary produced by Fahmi Reza, Sepuluh Tahun Sebelum Merdeka was screened.

Also attending the launch and forum were Samsiah Fakeh's China-born and Mandarin-speaking son Jamaluddin Ibrahim as well as Dr. Syed Husin Ali, Dr. Mohamad Nasir Hashim and Dr. Jeyakumar Devaraj. Shamsiah herself was absent because of health reason.

In launching Part II of Pak Abdullah CD's memoirs Penaja dan Pemimpin Regimen Ke-10, I said the most central element of the progressive tradition in Malaysia, which was built on the blood of the martyrs of all races, is the uncompromising committment to multiethic solidarity and fraternity in the continuing struggle to enlarge the realm of democratic freedom for all, advance social justice for the working people and preserve the independence and sovereignty of the nation.

I also pointed out that appreciating the contribution and sacrifice of the martyrs and forerunners of all races in their struggle against colonialism, fascism and imperialism which began in the mid-1920s and drawing inspirations as well as lessons from their struggle is as important as building and defending tombs and monuments, and the great and glorious tradition serves to balance against bookworm'ism although analysis of the current and future situations needs to be scientific and intellectual enough to answer questions of a new age.

Lee Meng thanks counsel P.G. Lim from heart

Remembering National Literati Usman Awang

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Well, I still enjoy watching cartoon movies occasionally to keep the heart young and jovial. Good cartoon movies also ease up the mind.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Winning people' s hearts & minds with 'love' ?

As contrived fear is losing its grip fast on the hearts and minds of the rakyat, the coming general election could see Zams use 'love' or 'feel-good' more intensively and extensively as the central theme of their electoral propaganda and psychological operations to re-gain support but then how effective is 'love' or 'feel-good' if it is merely rhetorical without structural and institutional reforms at all levels ? Has PM Abdullah' s administration not been relying on 'love' and 'feel-good' image since it came into power in the 2004 General Election and yet the massive Yellow Saturday still occurred with a big bang ?

My collection of observations on by-elections

Fear losing grip on people' s hearts and minds

The Yellow Saturday has quite clearly demonstrated that contrived fear is no longer as effective on the hearts and minds of the people as in the past and it is certainly interesting and exciting to watch what is still kept unused in Zams' toolbox for the coming election.

Malaysia Today's pictorial collection of Yellow Saturday

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Caucasian face, Western technology for Zams

Could someone carry the little gadget shown in the picture above and ask Zams to repeat the assertion that there were only 4,000 people participating in last Saturday's public protest rally in Kuala Lumpur ? Meanwhile, after looking at the many pictures of the rally, my friend Beng Cheng observes that wearing coats and neckties to participate in crowded street protests in the tropic is as " socially awkward " as putting on slippers and singlets to lead debates in the Dewan Rakyat.

Jews' contribution to Southeast Asian Studies

Communist 'masterminds' China's lunar probe

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Why do even young and educated Umno leaders like so much to challenge their opponents publicly "to fight like a man" or "to be a man" ? Are they not sub-consciously suffering from gender or sexual identity crisis ? What have their grandmothers, mothers, sisters and wives said or done to them in private to make them so obsessive with the need to reaffirm their 'manhood' ?

Or, what have they been watching in DVDs, VCDs and Internet video clips secretly that makes them so ever anxious to unendingly prove they are also men ? Well, most of us who are self-assured and self-confident of our true manhood just go on living normal and natural lives (including safe and healthy sexual lives) without needing to periodically and noisily debase women as being physically inferior, directly or indirectly, to reassure ourselves that we are indeed men.

In any event, is there no other means to prove or reaffirm one's manhood except to contrast it with what is supposed to be women's lack of physical strength ? Are all the men necessarily 'tough' and 'heroic' and women, 'weak' and 'timid'? These are the questions that should be explored for a Revolusi Minda to achieve true modernity.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Yellow Saturday in more pictorial collections

At Bersih's rally held in downtown Kuala Lumpur last Saturday, I failed to locate my friend Elizabeth Wong (黄洁冰) in the crowd but got her image later in malaysiakini's photo gallery after I had returned home. By the way, there are now another two free collections of pictures of the protest gathering, namely Harakah Online and Merdeka Review.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Bird-eye view of a massive protest rally in KL

A bird-eye view of a segment of the crowd participating in Bersih's mass protest rally in Kuala Lumpur in the afternoon of last Saturday. The photo gallery of malaysiakini provides more colourful pictures of the people's movements and police actions on the ground on that day.

Popular Chinese-language online media Merdeka Review quoted former Bar Council Chairman Yeo Yang Poh (left) as opining that the thousands of participants of the largest protest rally since 1998/99 were largely "disciplined" and "peaceful" even after the police fired tear gas and spread chemical water at them in the vicinity of Masjid Jamek. Mr. Yeo was one of the 40 Bar Council observers at the gathering.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Thousands join multiracial protest rally in KL

At today's Bersih mass protest rally, I met many old and young friends of all races, including my cells in and around the KL Central Market. My network of cells in downtown Kuala Lumpur estimates that about 40 to 50 thousand rakyat participated in the rally despite rain, police ban and the prior warnings against the public gathering issued by PM Abdullah and his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin at the UMNO Assembly.

No signs of Stockholm Syndrome in Nathaniel
Deepavali in Malaysia and Singapore is also called Diwali in India but, according to Kerala Online, 'Diwali' is merely the abbreviation of the Sanskrit word 'Deepavali'. Sanskrit is a very important ancient Indian language that had noticeably influenced the subsequent development of many other languages in Southeast Asia such as Malay and Thai, and it is still the liturgical language of Hinduism as well as Buddhism.

Friday, November 09, 2007

Jews' contribution to Southeast Asian Studies

Xiao Qing, the daughter of my friends Beng Cheng and Siew Lan, has brought back from Singapore for me the 3rd edition of Professor Michael Leifer's Dictionary of the Modern Politics of South-East Asia (London, Routledge, 2001). I have been using the first edition of the book as reference since its publication in 1995 but I think it is time to upgrade my infrastructure to prepare for intellectually more challenging time ahead in this fast-changing world.

Like world-renowned Cambridge historians Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper who specialise in the studies of the history of the now defunct British Empire in Asia, Michael Leifer also factually recorded in the all the editions of Dictionary of the Modern Politics of South-East Asia " that the most well-known veteran of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) Chin Peng "was born in Malaya". (1995, p. 82; 2001, p.87)

Professor Michael Leifer (1933-2001), a fair-minded and no-nonsense British scholar (of Jewish origin) of Southeast Asian studies, always articulated very thoughtfully and discoursed with accurate as well as dispassionate language on emotional and difficult subjects like past wars and other types of conflicts in the region, including Malaysia and Singapore. Like Professor Herb Feith (1930-2001), Dr. Leifer's books, monographs and articles have certainly and significantly contributed to my foundational as well as factual understanding of Southeast Asia and its modern politics at the domestic, regional and global levels.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Communist 'masterminds' China' s lunar probe

The chief designer and architect of China's first and quite successful lunar exploration program (CLEP) Chang'e-1 is actually a 78-year old research professor, Sun Jiadong (孫家棟) who is also a communist. As a matter of historical fact, human being's scientific exploration of the outer space began on 4 October, 1957 when the first artificial satellite Sputnik-1 was successully launched by the communist Soviet Union where Professor Sun Jiadong studied at the Jukovski Institute of Air Force Engineering and graduated with a Gold Medal in 1958.

October Revolution remembered 90 years on

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Clare Street wishes all Hindu readers Happy Deepavali or தீபாவளி.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Welcoming visitors from Canada' s Parliament

Earlier this evening, I met the Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, Peter Milliken (left) and his delegation of Canadian Members of Parliament, representing both the ruling and opposition parties, at a welcome party in Kuala Lumpur hosted by the High Commissioner of Canada to Malaysia, David Summers (centre). Other fellow VIPs whom I also met includes the United States' Ambassador to Malaysia, James Keith and DAP Member of Parliament for Batu Gajah, Fong Po Kuan.

Surveying worldwide resurgence of religions

In 2004, British journalist John Micklethwait co-authored The Right Nation - Conservative Power in America with his intellectual partner Adrian Wooldridge, observing, studying and exploring the political landscape in the United States where rhetorical or heartfelt religious moralism is, for good or for ill, a major feature. Mr. Micklehwait has followed the broad subject up recently in the Economist - again with healthy doses of cynicism and sarcacism - with a worldwide survey on religion and public life which provides an opportunity or entry-point for serious and critical exchanges of ideas not only among theists but also between theists and atheists as well as those upholding belief-systems in between the polar extremities, like skeptics or agnostics. 'What is' , to be sure, is never synomunous with 'what ought to be' and the discrepancies between appearance and reality as well as form and substance have always to be factored into discourses on religion.

Monday, November 05, 2007

Remembering martyr ' Ah Nam ' in Hong Kong

Octogenarian and technically former Malayan Ho Weng from Hong Kong would like to posthumously salute his old and good friend P. Veerasenan whose whereabout had been unknown to him since he was banished in mid-December 1948. Uncle Ho hopes that 'Ah Nam' would now rest in perpetual peace and everlasting glory and he also thanks Clare Street for finally answering his question of Ah Nam's whereabout after fifty nine years.

Remembering Pak Rashid Maidin (1917-2006)

Ah Hai's memoirs now out in English language

A Merdeka salute to martyr S. A. Ganapathy !

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Opposition in Japan reiterates hardline stand

Like it or not, the political development in Japan does not seem to be very promising or positive for the United States and other countries which want the Japanese navy to resume its refueling mission in the Indian Ocean as soon as possible after the acting president of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Naoto Kan has reiterated that the Opposition in Japan "has no plans to compromise over legislation that would allow the country to resume a refuelling support mission for US-led operations in Afghanistan". The 'softer' DPJ president Ichiro Ozawa, who is an ex-lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has announced his resignation from the top post in the DPJ.

Japan' s Leader of Opposition offers to resign

Japan' s Leader of Opposition offers to resign

According to BBC, " Japan's main opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa has offered to resign from his position as head of the Democratic Party of Japan ". It is noteworthy that the chief of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) comes under criticism and pressure from within the rank of the opposition front not because he has taken a hardline position vis-a-vis the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) government but, on the contrary, for appearing to be soft and entertaining the hope of compromising with PM Yasuo Fukuda on the question of forming a coalition government as a quid pro quo for legislative cooperation.

No end in sight of impasse in Japan' s politics

No end in sight of impasse in Japan' s politics

According to a Reuter report, Japan's leading newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun has observed that the political impasse between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) that may jeopardise Japan's bilateral relations with the United States could last for the next ten years. PM Yasuo Fukuda will reportedly meet President George W. Bush on 16 Nov in Washington.

However, it is unlikely that the Bush-Fukuda meeting in Washington would overcome the political impasse in Tokyo in the near future because the strengthened Opposition in Japan under the leadership of DPJ's Ichiro Ozawa (left), which has just won the control the Upper House in a recent election, seems to be very determined in the defence of the stricter interpretation of Japan's postwar pacifist constitution.

The very fact that Fukuda's Minstry of Defense ordered Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force home from the Indian Ocean after envoys from 11 countries including the United States and Pakistan had already urged Tokyo on 27 September to extend its naval mission in support of U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan clearly shows that cost-and-benefit calculation of domestic politics prevails over larger consideration of international relations and that external pressure does not work very well in the now politically polarised Japan.

Moreover, the United States itself is now quite divided between the Republican and Democratic parties on a wide range of foreign policy issues like Iraq, Iran, Turkey and other parts of the Middle East as well as Russia and China at a time when there is only about one more year left for President Bush's second and last term in the White House and when presidential candidates of both major parties in US are debating and refining their positions.

In any event, the dilemma of President Bush is that if he does not appear to be doing something firm and decisive to keep its Japanese ally on the correct line in such a critical relations as defense and security, the United States would be perceived by other allies, friends as well as enemies alike as lacking leadership but if that 'something firm and decisive' is widely seen or felt in the Japanese society to be 'overbearing' or 'inconsiderate', it could backfire as many more voters in Japan, especially those of the younger generations, may become critical of America and its friends in Japan who appear to be 'slavish'.

Japan halts refueling mission for US warships

US politics impacts on international relations

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Pipe bomb found near US nuke power facility

According to Reuter, guards of the largest nuclear plant in US found a pipe bomb in a worker's truck as he tried to enter the facility. Last month, the US Air Force vowed to discipline 70 airmen " involved in the accidental, cross-country flight of a nuclear-armed B-52 bomber following an investigation that found widespread disregard for the rules on handling such munitions " and three colonel-ranked senior officers of the US Air Force have since been relieved of command.

Heads roll in US over nuke warheads on B-52

Friday, November 02, 2007

Turkey's rising flag-waving ethno-nationalism

Al Jazeera has featured a report on the disturbing trend of rising Turkish ethno-nationalism directed against the Kurds both inside and outside Turkey. Turkey's population consists of about 20% Kurdish minority the absolute majority of whom shares the same religion with the Turks but owns its distinct ethnic language, culture and tradition.

According to Beverley Milton-Edwards and Peter Hinchcliffe of Queen's University Belfast, although there has been "a softening of the attitude of inflexible non-recognition of a specifically ' Kurdish ' issue by the Turkish government ... persecution and harassment (against its own Kurdish ethnic minority by the Turkish authorities) continues". (in Conflicts in the Middle East Since 1945, London, Routledge, 2004; p.82)

Milton-Edwards and Hinchcliffe also observes that the original denial and suppression of the ethnic identity of Kurds in Turkey has its root in "Kamal Ataturk's aggressive policy of Turkish nationalism" which resulted in an earlier situation in Turkey where "all public vestiges of Kurdish identity were banned, including schools, associations and publications" (ibid; p.81). (Mustafa) Kamal Ataturk (1881-1938) was a modernist army officer of the Ottoman Empire, the founder of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and its first President from 1923 to 1938.

Armenia responds to Turkey on ' genocide' bill

Kurds as a nation with no state in Middle East

China mulls third ' land-bridge' across Eurasia

According to China Radio International, experts are mulling over the feasibility of building the third Asia-Europe Land-Bridge, "with the aim of promoting trade exchange between the two continents". There are already two existing land-bridges on the vast Eurasian landmass.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

One of the very important instructions I received from my Italian ex-landlord ' Fishy Bill ' ( well, he and his wife operated a Fish and Chips Grocery nearby ) when I first arrived at Melbourne in 1982 was to be extremely careful with matches, lighters, mirrors and shinning metals during summer to avoid starting uncontrollable wildfire accidentally.

BBQ time again with mates from Down Under

October Revolution remembered 90 years on

Despite the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991, the 1917 Bolshevik or October Revolution in Russia as a world-historic event of the 20th century that changed the international alignment of forces and the real lives of millions of people on earth is still being remembered as well as introspected even in the English-speaking world like Australia and Britain. The revolution, which falls on 7 November (or 25 October in traditional Russian calender) was inspired by Karl Marx's ideas .

Marxist don's son now UK's Foreign Secretary

Resistance to fascism remembered in Europe

Historian Carr on "progress in human affairs"