USA & its foreign relations from 1989 to 2001

A fairly updated and quite thought-provoking book I am reading now is American Between The Wars : The Mis-understood Years Between The Fall Of The Berlin Wall And The Start Of The War On Terror, by Derek Chollet and James Goldgeier ( New York, Public Affairs, 2008). It is prestigiously designated as A Council On Foreign Relations Book.

Obama presidency under spotlight in Malaysia

Reading books still vital in age of information

In this age or era when news and information of all sorts are instantly available in the cyberspace, reading books is still important for those who wish to master more coherently about the historical backgrounds and deeper meanings of many current issues, whether local or global.

Sharing books with young friends with a hope

Red village embraces information technology

Although the kampung in southern Thailand where some of the Malay veterans of CPM now reside is quite remote from urban centres, it is well- equipped with parabolic discs, telephone lines and also Internet. Abdullah CD and his wife Suriani also keep a collection of good books.

Malays' identity well-preserved in Red village

Malays' identity well-preserved in Red village

I toured Ban Chulabhorn 12 in Sukhirin, southern Thailand thrice and I have observed that CPM's Malay veterans preserve all the elements of Malays' collective identity well. All the Malay veterans of CPM told me they joined the party and the armed struggle voluntarily to fight for a cause they believed -and still believe- to be just. None has regretted.

Abdullah : more people understand CPM now

Abdullah : more people understand CPM now

When I met and chatted wth CPM's veteran Abdullah C.D. recently, he looked and sounded fairly spirited. He told me that the manuscript of the third and final book of his three-part memoirs have been given to the publisher. He also said that he enjoys reading comments dropped at Mat Amin's blog although he does not agree with some of them. He added: " more people now understand our struggle for independence".

Comments in Mat Amin' s blog excites Suriani

Comments in Mat Amin' s blog excites Suriani

Suriani Abdullah (nee Eng Ming Ching) certainly looked much healthier than I was led to think before catching up with her again in her house recently. Comments dropped at Mat Amin's blog thrills her very much.

Meeting fighter for independence Siti Mariam

Meeting fighter for independence Siti Mariam

I also visited Siti Mariam @ Atom who joined the anti-colonial war in 1949 in Temerloh, Pahang. @ Atom, 83, now enjoys processing herbs with organic healthcare values in the Malay village where she resides.

Legendary Red Minah still fit to hear & speak

Legendary Red Minah still fit to hear & speak

When I visited CPM' s veteran Siti Norkiah Mahmud Baginda @ Minah again recently, she looked and sounded alright, with the exception of her eyes. Siti Norkiah joined the armed campaign against colonialism in mid-1948 and had been an armed personel until 2 December, 1989. @ Minah revealed to me that her mentor and comrade Kamarulzaman Teh ( 1920-2002 ) was laid to rest in a Muslim cemetery not far away.

CPM' s Siti Norkiah thanks friends & comrades

Coherent account on massacre at Batang Kali

The Massacre at Batang Kali in 1948 has been a well- known and long-running battle for factual truth and earthly accountability in Malaysia and Britain. Finally, there is now a well-researched and very coherent account of the happenings in the form of a new book, titled Slaughter and Deception at Batang Kali ( Singapore, Media Masters, 2008). The 228-page book is authored by two famous Singapore-based Australian veterans of journalism, namely Ian Ward and Norma Miraflor who are also the co-authors of the historic Alias Chin Peng: My Side of History ( Singapore, Media Masters, 2003 ). Mr. Ward also reported the riots on May 13 in 1969 from the ground in the turbulent Kuala Lumpur for the Daily Telegraph, a respectably conservative newspaper in Britain.

On root cause of English-language chauvinism

Speaking and writing in English to promote the language is, as I have always maintained, sterile and futile. Denigrating other languages in English -language discourses among conventional or existing users of the English language only serves to fan English -language chauvinism. We need more multi-lingual English teachers, not English chauvinists.

Preaching to already converted always easier

Solid facts & sound reasoning more appealing

I think if we are deeply confident in our viewpoints and perspectives, we would not use harsh words and vulgar languages in public debates. Convincing arguments are built upon solid facts and sound reasoning.

Sharing books with young friends with a hope

Mahathir' s racial history rebuked in Red blog

Dr. Mahathir's racial views on the history of the struggle for Malaya' s independence has been given serious rebuttals in the blog set up and operated by CPM veteran Mat Amin bin Awang Chik @ Pak Tuah (pix).

Red blog offers more views on M' sian history

Obama presidency under spotlight in Malaysia

Just came home after participating in a MAAS/MACEE seminar in UM on President Obama's First 100 Days: Promises & Performance. It was a very enlightening forum where America's politics, economy and also international relations, especially the situations in Afghanistan, were discussed very critically in a fairly rational and dispassionate manner. Of particular interest to me is the exploration on the current state of American economy, especially the debates on the role of government.

Red blog offers more views on M' sian history

Like thousands of Malaysians, I have been 'addicted' in recent days to the now very well-known and popular blog set up and operated by Mat Amin, who is a veteran of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM). The blog is evidently more tolerant of a diversity of opinions than Utusan Malaysia and other one-sided mainstream media controlled by UMNO.

Chin Peng & John Davis reconciled in London

Chin Peng & John Davis reconciled in London

In her biography of the equally legendary John Davis, British historian Margaret Shennan verifies that the former and also deceased official of colonial Malaya and CPM veteran Chin Peng met again in London in 1998. She also observes in Our Man in Malaya (London, Sutton, 2008) that: " For more than fifty years their mutual respect overcame their ideological differences". John Davis ( 1911-2006 ) passed away at 95.

Rest of British Commonwealth less vindictive

Preaching to already converted always easier

The more effective way to promote the English language is to present the arguments in Malay, Chinese and Tamil mass media. Preaching to the converted is always easier than to try to 'convert the unbelievers'.

English for maths & science policy disputable