Should we remind ourselves of the soldiers and the civilians that fell or the players that played the pawns?
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Category: Politics & government
Earlier today, one of the leaders of Islamic separatist in southern Thailand has been quoted saying that he has given up the idea of an independent state. His word, of which I am sure, was approximately translated to English from Malay:
This is the age of globalization. The world has moved on and there is no more room for separatism.
I have nothing but respect for the separatist leader. This is the wisdom that every other separatist movement the Aceh people, the MILF, the ETA, the IRA, the Quebecois and probably all around the world lack given the situation today. Though I am sympathetic of my fellow Muslim Malay brothers’ cause, I cannot help but feel their struggle is hopeless.
These southern Thai states lack the resources to develop their states alone and the political muscle to defend its interest just like East Timor. Though I am a green and in turn an advocate of decentralization, I feel an independent East Timor is a mistake. To support my view, East Timor, being small and powerless, has frequently been bullied by Australia in matter concerning its southern maritime border.
Even if they managed to break away from the Kingdom of Thailand and formed an independent state consisted of the Thai Malay states of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, they will probably be too dependent on Thailand or on their cultural ally, the Federation of Malaysia. Therefore, given a hypothetical scenario of independence, their political freedom in my opinion will be fairly limited relative to other stable sovereign nations. In the long run, these states will probably rejoin Thailand or become the members of the Malaysian Federation.
To Wan Kadir Che Man, the separatist leader, here is for you – hail to common sense.
p/s – Bye bye Houllier.
pp/s – James Lovelock and nuclear power. Via GreenSpin Watch and The Challenge.
From Greenpeace USA:
The Bush administration’s attempt to use an obsolete “sailormongering” law to prosecute Greenpeace failed when Judge Adalberto Jordan dismissed the charges in the midst of the trial. Shortly after the Justice Department rested its case, the judge granted Greenpeace’s motion for acquittal, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to send the case to the jury.
Victory!
p/s – I watched a debate between Tony Blair and Micheal Howard the other day and it was hilarious!
pp/s – concerning the Nick Berg’s beheading, there seems to be awfully lot of discrepancies. More on kuro5hin. And having seen the video and reading a lot of questions emerging from the cyberspace, I am starting to doubt the authenticity of the video. Furthermore, Bush’s reputation of lying to the United Nations Security Council does not help disspell the speculations.
ppp/s – Russia has agreed to back the Kyoto Protocol! More victory!
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[337] Of May Day
Capitalism is the unequal distribution of wealth. Communism is the equal distribution of poverty.
I dedicate this post to Keynes and Hayek on this Labor Day. They saved us from socialism and communism.
Maybe, we need to reprioritize our wants and needs.
Well, back to econometrics. Wish me luck for the exam.p/s – a major skirmish between the Thai authority and Pattani rebel had just happened, resulting more than a hundred dead. The event occured quite close to the Malaysian border and as a result, Malaysia is beefing up its security up north as to prevent a conflict spillover.
Earlier, Thailand Prime Minister had accused Malaysia of harboring these rebels but that misunderstanding has been solved a few weeks ago amicablly.
But make no mistake (love that cliche), something is really brewing up too close to home.
To come to think of it, it seems that only Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei could be considered safe and stable in the Southeast Asian region. In stark contrast, Indonesia has its Aceh and recently the reemerging Maluku problem while the Philippines with Mindanao and Sulu.
Well, maybe Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar sound stable for the moment but, pardon me, I don’t consider these countries as Southeast Asian. Their politics and cultures seem too disconnect with their archipelagoes friends – I could be wrong though; you could say almost the same thing for France and Cyprus.