Posted in ASEAN, Conflict & disaster, Politics & government on March 14th, 2013 1 Comment »
The United States was entrenched deeply in two major wars throughout most of the first decade of the 21st century. Just after the shocking September 11, 2001 attacks organized by al Qaeda, the US responded strongly by invading Afghanistan and removed the Taliban from power. After a quick initial success in the landlocked country, the [...]
Posted in ASEAN, Liberty on March 8th, 2013 No Comments »
I have a fundamental objection to the Sulu and the Philippine claims of Sabah. Calling it the claim of Sabah is somewhat inaccurate because if the Philippine claim is wholly based on the Sulu claim, then by right the claim only covers roughly the eastern half of Sabah. Nevertheless, the objection that I have is [...]
Posted in ASEAN, Economics, Liberty on January 23rd, 2013 No Comments »
I have set a goal for myself. I want to travel more throughout Southeast Asia to learn about the region that I call home. So far, I have been to five Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia. I have travelled across Cambodia and Indonesia for roughly a month in total last year alone. Part of the reason [...]
Posted in ASEAN, Conflict & disaster on October 15th, 2012 No Comments »
Some peace is not worth it. A state that suppresses its citizens and others does not deserve peace for such peace only allows the state to continue to use its power to bully. Peace is sustainable only if rights are respected. No peace can stand with disrespect. For other peace, it is worth the shot [...]
Posted in ASEAN, History & heritage on May 23rd, 2011 No Comments »
I meant to write this more than a year ago when Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the Malaysian government agreed to relocate Keretapi Tanah Melayu’s terminus from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands. News that the Tanjong Pagar Station will finally close on July 1 encourages me to open up my archive of unfinished writings and [...]
Posted in ASEAN, Sports on December 27th, 2010 4 Comments »
I am happy that the Malaysian soccer team beat Indonesia by a large margin in the first leg of the Suzuki Cup final. This is especially so when Malaysia was beaten by 5 goals to 1 by Indonesia in the group stage earlier. While I do believe that the team deserves the win — the [...]
Posted in ASEAN, Conflict & disaster, Politics & government on July 1st, 2010 1 Comment »
The University hosted President Jose Ramos Horta of East Timor recently and I was lucky enough to get a seat for his speech. After Joseph Stiglitz, the President is the second ever Nobel Prize winner that I have had the opportunity to listen to first hand. The speech was interesting, but it was not a [...]
Posted in ASEAN, Conflict & disaster on May 16th, 2010 1 Comment »
A Malaysian diplomat once told me that among the neighbors of Malaysia, Thailand is our closest. He reasoned that despite stark difference in culture, Thailand has never been hostile to Malaysia, unlike Indonesia and the Philippines, which are supposedly our brothers. Thailand even helped Malaysia when the communist waged war against the federation. And compared [...]
Posted in ASEAN on October 5th, 2009 No Comments »
The very silly spat between Malaysia and Indonesia is a huge disappointment for regionalists who dream to repeat the European experiment of closer integration in Southeast Asia. It may be silly but it has dire ramifications to regionalism in the region. Even if one is not a regionalist but simply a citizen of either country [...]
Posted in ASEAN, Conflict & disaster on September 18th, 2009 No Comments »
Death is always unpleasant for life is always too precious to waste. Hence, I greet the death of Noordin Mohammed Top with a kind of bitter sweet feeling. Part of me regretted it while the other half is happy to learn that regional terrorist network has lost an important figurehead.[1] His ideal is disagreeable and [...]
The name is Hafiz Noor Shams.
For more about me, please go here.