james wong wing-on online
The picture showing Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan and Shahrir A. Samad stands out to some sharp-eyed friends because the backdrops clearly suggest that it was taken in a private house or a hotel room at night. The authenticity of the photograph has not been challenged in public.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 2:36 PM
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Malaysia Today has just made public a set of pictures of Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 23, who is believed to be the person who has lodged a police report against former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for "sodomising" him recently. It is very clear from the set of photographs, whose authenticity has not been in dispute, that Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, a very tall and physically well-built ex-student of Universiti Tenaga Nasional who has married with a woman, is close - and enjoys access - to several Umno leaders with Cabinet positions.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 6:50 AM
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The name of Nelson Mandela, legendary African freedom fighter who symbolises the struggle against the now defunct Apartheid regime in South Africa, has been officially removed from the US 'terrorists' list. The long anti-Apartheid struggle was both peaceful as well as armed.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 9:23 PM
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An Islamic leader in Australia Keysar Trad has recently called upon the country's Federal Government to recognise polygamous marriages but Attorney-General Robert McClelland has issued public warning against any violation of the existing marriage law which proscribes polygamy.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 12:30 AM
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According to White House spokeswoman Dana Perino (pix), President Bush believes the Iran nuclear issue can be solved diplomatically and the allies of United States including Israel favour the same approach. However, there is no sign that the military option has been ruled out entirely or foreclosed permanently by the US and its allies like Israel.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 6:50 AM
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With strategic and operational details in mind, an analysis in the CBS Evening News in the US gives a more complex picture of the current situations in West Asia involving the US, Israel and Iran. The Islamic republic has very officially warned of its readiness and willingness for massive retaliation through warfare 'without limit in time and space'.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 5:44 PM
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According to a report in Jerusalem Post, the Chairman of USA's Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen will pay Israel a "surprise visit" at the end of this week for talks with Israel Defense Force's Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi who will visit Washington DC. Meanwhile, Press TV in Iran reported a senior Iranian commander as saying that the armed forces of the Islamic republic are prepared to deliver an 'awe-inspiring' response to any attack against his country.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 1:00 AM
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A former USA ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton has been quoted by Daily Telegraph in Britain as saying that he believes "Israel could attack Iran after the November presidential election but before George W Bush's successor is sworn in". Iran has officially warned of its readiness and willingness for limitless warfare against any strike.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 6:55 PM
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In the most authoritative and also bluntest official response to date to what appears to be an Israel's military preparation for a ' surgical ' strike against its nuclear facilities, Iranian Defence Minster Mostafa Mohammad Najar has warned of the Islamic republic's willingness and readiness to defend itself "against any aggression" with unrestricted warfare and it would be carried out "without limit in time and space".
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 12:30 AM
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According to Penang lawyer Darshan Singh Khaira, CPM's veteran Chin Peng (above) will take further and more actions "as a matter of great principle" for the right to return to his homeland in accordance to the letters as well as spirit of the 1989 Peace Accords concluded and also duly signed between the Government of Malaysia and the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM). Darshan Singh also told Clare Street that legal avenues at the international level are also being seriously explored by the legal team led by former Bar Council president Raja Aziz Addruse.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 8:17 PM
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Reiterating its rejection of suspending uranium enrichment, Iran has also said that it considers a military attack on its nuclear facilities by Israel as "impossible". In 1981, Israel launched a surgical strike under Operation Opera to destroy the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq before it was loaded with nuclear fuel. Operation Opera, which is also known as Operation Babylon, was, like it or hate it, an operational success.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 9:40 AM
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In response to the recently reported moves that appears to be Israel's military prepration for a surgical strike to pre-emtively destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as well as the Director General of United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamad ElBaradei have expressed their opposition.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 5:37 PM
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posted by James Wong Wing-On at 2:24 PM
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While Israel has reportedly "carried out an exercise that appears to have been a rehearsal for an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities", Iran has also reportedly countered with a very forceful warning to Israel. In 1981, Israel successfully launched a surgical strike to destroy the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq before it was loaded with nuclear fuel.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 8:50 PM
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Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly said Thursday the "new game" of the West in the nuclear standoff with Iran "would end in humiliation". An US-EU-UK united front has threatened to toughen sanction against Iran unless it "verifiably" ceases to enrich uranium.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 9:00 AM
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According to news reports, Iran has not only rejected an international incentive package aimed at reining in its nuclearisation programmes but is also developing alternative economic and financial connections in non-Western countries to neutralise the US-EU-UK sanction threat. India's Foreign Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is on public records as stating that the Indian-Iranian and Indian-US bilateral relations are "independent of each other" as India sees Iran as a source of energy.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 7:42 PM
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Almost immediately after US President George W. Bush had built the US-UK-Europe united front against Iran, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France announced his country's return to the US-led NATO Command. Like it or not, the apparently coordinated moves would be perceived and felt by many in the non-Western worlds, rightly or otherwise, to be a consciously-designed grand strategy to institutionalise 'Western unity' in term of hard powers, including the military, against 'Others', as outlined and envisioned in American political scientist Samuel Paul Huntington's controversial bestseller titled The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (1996). In the subsequent Who Are We: The Challenges to America's National Identity (2004), he further argues for a reaffirmation of the Anglo-Protestant heritage as USA's official identity in the contemporary world of many national cultures.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 1:00 AM
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According to a BBC analysis, "one of the many things that makes this (America's presidential) election so intriguing is that perhaps the old paradigm of 'Red States' (those that voted for George W Bush) and 'Blue States' (Al Gore or John Kerry states) may be less relevant". If that is accurate, it means Republican candidate John McCain , as I have reasoned earlier in an entry in Clare Street, "certainly cannot take the American heartland for granted" in his bid for the top post.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 6:00 PM
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Democratic candidate in the US presidential election Barack Obama reportedly revealed that he would visit Iraq and Afghanistan before November's polling. Pakistan is not on Obama's announced itinerary.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 7:35 AM
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Just while an USA-EU-UK united front has been formed and directed against Iran, very serious and dangerous tension has risen between Pakistan and Afghanistan that are supposed to be US allies in Bush's 'war against terror' launched in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in Washington DC and New York in 2001. Pakistan, currently also facing political turmoils domestically, has been a nuclear power since 1998 and it is believed in the US, Europe and India to be one of the major sources of both religious extremists and loose nukes in today's world. Osama bin Laden, the paramount leader of Al Qaeda, is also believed in the United States and Europe to be hiding somewhere in Pakistan.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 12:01 AM
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Like it or not, PM Gordon Brown's Britain has not only joined the US-Europe united front against Iran but also committed to an increase of British troop level in the US-led war in Afghanistan, and there is also no implicit sign or explicit suggestion of UK's forces to be withdrawn from Iraq as speculated in the media prior to Bush's visit to London. How would this latest transatlantic development impact upon: (1) the stands taken respectively by US presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama and (2) the diplomatic positions of member states of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), is worth observing. However, what is already clear and certain is that the retirement of former British PM Tony Blair has not changed the very essential and fundamental relationship between Britain and the United States for the institutional links and ties between two of them are still strong.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 10:27 PM
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Yesterday, the mammoth building in Kathmandu which was once used as royal palace was reopened by PM GP Koirala as a People's Museum. No paranormal or supranatural phenomenon in Kathmandu on that day has been reported by any creditable channel of news and information.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 8:34 AM
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AG Khan's rogue nuke ring, which once made Malaysia well-known in the world, has again surfaced in US and international news with new and additional information that was previously unknown to the world.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 1:30 AM
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US president George W. Bush's recent tour to Europe seems to have marked an improving relation with Germany and France which have undergone an evident shift of politico-ideological position since 2005. While this is a positive development for Israel, how Iran's neighbours and fellow member states in the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) such as Saudi Arabia would react or respond is certainly a very interesting issue to be followed closely in the next few months. What impact this development will have on the political sentiment and also threat perception of voters in the US presidential election is no less important as both parties in US are in a feverish mood to champion their respective candidates as the best guardian of national security. Like it or hate it, both John McCain and Barack Obama have already publicly committed to the position of ensuring the existence and also security of Israel although they may differ on some ways and means.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 8:45 AM
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I took a very short break in Pahang's Cameron Highlands for two days from Friday to Saturday and visited, among other places, the Boh Tea Centre. Boh Tea has been a legendary brand name of the still popular Ceylonese tea leaves in Malaysia and Singapore. When the plantation first came into my sight, the memory of Pak Rashid also surfaced in my mind as he once told me - and also recalled in his autobiography - how he worked and suffered as a poor child labour on the green field. Before coming back to Subang USJ, I also stopped for two hours in my four-generation hometown Ipoh to catch up with some old friends for coffee and chats. Luckily, the weather on that two days was not bad.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 1:00 AM
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The very severe strain in the US-Pakistan bilateral relations and also President Bush's warning of "all options open on Iran" absolutely does not augur well for regional peace and stability in the already turbulent West Asian region. The passions and sentiments there are potentially contagious in this epoch of (almost) real-time telecommunication and the political rhetoric in the US presidential campaigns in the next few months may further complicate issues and aggravate situations while US-led troops are still battling their enemies in Afghanistan and Iraq. President Bush's ideas and moves on West Asia, especially Iran, from now on to the formal assumption of office of next US president early next year is still noteworthy for he no longer needs to worry about his personal popularity and re-electability when making critical decisions.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 10:42 PM
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Nepal has long been a very poor country where many of its people had to sell their self-respect to become mercenraries for their ex-colonial master. When I visited Kathmandu in 1993, I witnessed with my own eyes hungry and lethargic children begging for money or food in front of Lama and Hindu temples (I was also quietly told by some good and progressive friends in the Tribhuvan University that child prostitution was rampant in the tourist districts). Yet, AFP has just been reported that Nepal's former 'god-king' "is thought to have close to 200 million dollars stashed away inside the country and even more abroad". I am unabashedly glad that the majority of Nepali people, energised with moral clarity and political courage, have decided that their state and society have to progress with a quantum leap to a higher formation, so that their children would grow up with healthier bodies and minds and with a sense of self-respect and self-worth as citizens of a truly independent nation, and a progressive and people-centered society.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 6:57 PM
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Although it is often reported or opined that US President George W. Bush is very unpopular in Europe, he has just managed, for good or ill, to obtain EU support to threraten the Islamic Republic of Iran with " further sanctions unless it verifiably suspends nuclear enrichment ". Like him or otherwise, Bush also won his second term in 2004 in spite of the reportedly very widespread opposition, including in the United States itself and Europe, to his decision to launch the 2003 Iraq War.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 6:00 AM
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While "churchless" Christian Barack Hussein Obama's successful clinch as the Democratic candidate for the US presidential election seems to have generated a tidal wave of 'Obamania' among many people in the world, those in Pakistan and India seem to be more cautious in their responses. Obama's toughest challenge at this point, however, is to neutralise and turn over the 'Red States' in the heartland of America. How would the Democrats convince US voters in general to give them the White House in addition to the Capitol Hill that they have already controlled since 2006 is also an aspect worth observing with interest because, as politically mainstream thinking, average Americans could quite instictively distrust and dislike concentration of political power.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 12:14 AM
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According to Nick Bryant, Australia's PM Kevin Rudd (left) is actually "an unabashed republican" and "a monarch-less Australia" has been on the official platform of the Labor Party in Down Under since 1991.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 1:02 PM
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The debate between McCain and Obama on US national security with reference to Iraq has now been succintly outlined in a write-up in the Washington Post. How should USA conduct its relations with Iran has also been passionately subject to debate in the presidential election. With the ongoing US-led military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the existential fear of the American homeland being once again attacked in the 9/11 fashion, the potential rise of an Iran that is nuclearised and also hostile to US has aggravated national security concerns within America vis-a-vis the heartland of the Islamic world. It is rather clear from their reported statements that, while McCain and Obama differ on some strategic and tactical approaches, both of them still share the goal of protecting the values and interests of US from threats posed by various elements in West Asia or Middle East.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 6:55 PM
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The learned observations of British academics Timothy J. Lynch and Robert S. Singh on the United States' post-Bush foreign policy as well as conduct of international relations are very noteworthy for serious and mature observers, writers, teachers or students of world affairs.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 6:05 AM
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Amid the seemingly widespread opposition to the Iraq War, Presdent Bush was re-elected in 2004 for a second term with the overwhelming support in the 'Red States'. However, since 2005, Bush's glorious day was over and since 2006, the Democrats have gained firm control of the American Congress. So, in 2008, many people in 'Jesusland' may have also changed their political sentiment (as long as Barack Obama does not declare himself to be a Muslim) and McCain certainly cannot take the American heartland for granted in his bid for the presidency.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 5:30 PM
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At the dinner party held in KL Hilton Hotel just now to celebrate the National Day of Sweden, I met, among other ambassadors and high commissioners, HE Sisa Ngombane of the Republic of South Africa.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 10:30 PM
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According to New York Times, foreign reactions to Obama's claim for the American presidency are "favourable" but that was also the case for John Kerry in 2004 until they discovered the 'Red States' situated on that vast patch of American heartland which some call 'Jesusland' where people are reportedly very "churchy" and could be God-fearing, Jesus-loving as well as feverishly patriotic at almost the same time. In this connection, The Right Nation - Conservative Power in America (New York, Penguin, 2004), authored by two fairly respectable British journalists John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, is certainly still a very insightful and also highly readable outline of the socio-cultural landscape of that corner of the earth where the inhabitants staunchly backed Bush in 2004 despite seemingly widespread liberal opinion in Washington D.C., New York, London, Paris, Canberra and Melbourne.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 1:00 AM
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According to the BBC, "Hillary Clinton will withdraw from the race to become the Democratic candidate for the US presidency, and back her rival Barack Obama". The factional bitterness among Democrats themselves during the long primary slug-out between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have certainly to be healed quickly to rebuild the party's collective morale and unity of purpose to confront a common enemy in the form of McCain and his Republican Party whose appeal to the average voters in US must never, given the sense of insecurity bedevilling America in the fluid strategic landscape of the world, be under-estimated. Remember Bush's 2004 re-election amid seemingly widespread opposition to his foreign and national security strategy ? Who can better lead the United States and protect it in a "dangerous" post-9/11 world is certainly one of the major questions in the minds of many Americans when they are making up their minds in the next several months on whether to cast their votes for Obama or McCain.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 9:56 AM
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Now that "churchless Christian" Barack Obama has certainly clinched nomination as the official presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, the battle line is drawn and he is confronting one-to-one John McCain from the Republican Party. Since the American Congress has been in the firm control of the Democrats, would US voters opt for a check-and-balance to ensure that powers won't be too concentrated ? Or, would they go for change regardless of its impact on the balance ?
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 11:32 PM
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The dethroned last Hindu 'god-king' on earth in Nepal has reportedly agreed to leave the palace ( which would be turned into a museum ) soon to live as a common citizen in the newly set up secular republic. All his pomps and pageants in the past have proven to be illusionary.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 2:41 PM
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Just as the Auatralian troops serving under an US-led coalition in Iraq have completed their five-year committment and begun to withdraw, a high-level row has also broken out between Australia and the United States on the original justification for the US-led military operations.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 7:52 AM
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The online edition of the Chigago Tribune has just published a fairly rational and balanced analysis on the divergent worldviews between John McCain and Barack Obama which may contribute to the foreign policy making and conduct of international relations of the post-Bush America. However, historical cases and patterns also show that a US presidential candidate may also say and do things which are different after he actually becomes the president because of many factors such as domestic pressures from lobby groups and/or changes of regional or/and international balance of power or/and influence. The choices of McCain's and Obama's vice presidents would also be very critical.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 1:00 AM
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So, for anyone who wants to know more about religions and politics in the United States, feel free to share your ideas and perspectives with Professor Dr. Joseph R. Stimpfl on 5 June, 2008 (Thursday). I can certainly volunteer myself to be a Malay-English and Mandarin-English instantaneous interpreter if and when there are such needs.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 10:57 AM
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To minimise political damages and to ensure ultimately victory in the US presidential election, leading Democratic candidate Barack Obama has quit the controversial Trinity United Church of Christ. Obama was once speculated in Islam-sensitive US to be a Muslim and to dispel it, his campaign has been projecting him to be a very faithful Christian. Isn't it time for us to rediscover the truly timeless insights of Edward Gibbon in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ? (There are many abridged versions of the magnum opus of the British historian and the latest and shortest edition is The Christians and the Fall of Rome published by Penguin about three years back in London).
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 4:46 PM
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Member of the Eighth Parliament (1990-95 ). Publication Consultant.
