Category: Politics & government

Categories
Politics & government

[39] Of Milosevic was only defending his homeland

I’ve never thought a spring break would be this boring. Ann Arbor seems like a cowboy town even when the Sun shines the day brilliantly. My only hope is that I won’t rot in my room.

However, I just received my first copy of National Geographic Magazine yesterday. After about six months of its absence from my life, I welcome the magazine with an overjoyed heart. Its arrival is a goodly-timed arrival. No other time would be most suitable for it. If it had reached me later, certainly my only activity will be hibernation.
Oh how I remember its distinct smell, its distinct yellow border design, its interesting articles and its magnificent photographs. It reminds me of my younger days. It reminds me how innocent I was when I was small. It brings back sweet memories and usually, memory tells, when I was small, I would just stare at the front page, tantalized. Remembering that vivid memory, I tried to savor the front cover which features diamonds on a strawberry but what caught my eyes this time was not the red-monopolized photograph of the strawberry but rather, an article entitled “Danube River: Harmony and Discord”.

I know what the Danube is from listening to Johann Strauss’ classic – Blue Danube. Feeling interested, I skipped all of the other sections and immediately was amazed by a picture featuring the ruins of the Freedom Bridge, a bridge that once ran across the Danube in Novi Sad before it was bombed by NATO a few years ago.

Yugoslavia is the home of the Slovakian culture, the Russia’s closest ally. It’s also the home of Slobodan Milosevic who currently is being tried in the International Court of Justice at The Hague, The Netherlands.

The breaking up of Yugoslavia was the worst event in Europe’s recent history. Through the process of secession, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo were born, leaving Yugoslavia’s only member, Serbia’s naked in the open field. Embarrassed and torn apart, Serbia decided that the other states secession from Yugoslavia is unjustified and must be prevented. Thus, the Balkans War was initiated by Serbian leader named Slobodan Milosevic. Under his command, Serbia sent troops to Bosnia and Croatia but the Bosnians and the Croats fought back with the help of the world community. The war closed its curtain with Serbia announced as the loser. Serbia was shaken and left weakened by the result of the war. During this period of grimness, Kosovo sought a chance for independence and won. Kosovan win did not come easy as the Serb tried hard to deny the independence of Kosovo. Fortunately for Kosovo, the West sees the fall of Yugoslavia as the final victory against the Slovak. The West aided the Kosovas. The Russian too realized this and tried hopelessly to help their ally. In the end, the Kosovo and the world won but nationalism received its major blow.

Back in The Hague, Milosevic is not being charged of genocide. Milosevic is not being tried because of crime against humanity but he is simply being tried because he was just trying to defend his homeland from chaos. Of course, the world community says that Slobodan Milosevic is a monster but if we look more closely, we will find that his struggle is justified and sacred. He was fighting in the name of nationalism.

The media of the West has highlighted the fight for independence as holy but it is true only if one is being invaded by an antagonist. The Afghans War was a war for independence but the Balkans War was not. The Balkans War was a fight for perseverance of a nation. The Balkans War has a lot of similarities with the American Civil War. If Slobodan Milosevic is guilty as charged, then Abraham Lincoln should be tried for committing a crime against humanity and Margerat Thatcher should be jailed for refusing the independence of Northern Ireland. The South was only fighting for its independence. The Irish is only fighting for their independence.

Therefore, I plead to the world for Slobodan Milosevic’s innocence. He was merely defending his homeland. He was just trying to preserve the integrity of the once proud Yugoslavia.

Categories
Politics & government Society

[18] Of I am a Malaysian

This shall be my last babble in Minneapolis.

Being too bored staring at the monitor, I’d decided to visit some stuff about Malaysia. My first stop was catcha.com.my. Nothing much to be mentioned there. Second stop, thestar.com.my. I browsed through the news and read some of it. The same stuff over and over again. Politics, car accidents, some events, racial segregation…

Wait! Racial segregation? What in the whole wide universe is this? Racial segregation in Malaysia? I thought this thing has become the thing of the past. Of course, the issue the Chinese conquering the upper level of education level and the meritocracy has become the hot talk when I was in Malaysia but racial segregation in the system?

I say, people will surely blame the British for their divide and conquer method of ruling. Well, the British was surely the one to be blamed but that is the past and nothing can be changed about it, unless of course, if the physicists found the secret of time travel (spelling it out, back through time), that will be another matter. I shout, there’s been a mistake in the Malaysian education architecture and design. I hail, the vernacular system should be stop one and for all, by phrase, slowly and be ended sometimes in the future. No All-Chinese, All-Indian, All-Malay higher education. The Chinese minority should not be allowed to establish a university of their own. Nor the Indian, nor the Malay themselves. The University in Shah Alam should be opened to all. Every University should be made for all. If the Malays argue that it is their right, then, let the quota for the Malay stand tall but not too big to degrade the quality.

I hate it when Malaysians are asked, “Which race are you belong to?” and the question is answered by “I’m a Malay”, or “I’m a Chinese” or “Indian”. Why can’t the answer be just “I’m a Malaysian”? Is it so hard so for us to claim ourselves as a Malaysian?

Categories
Economics Politics & government

[16] Of welcome the Euro

This coming new year will be another year with full of surprises. Once the clock marks midnight, the most enthusiastically awaited event for the European, the E-Day will be launched. It’s the launching of the Euro, the so-called rival to the United States Dollar.

The Euro was actually introduced in 1999 but its usage, up to now, is limited to financial transaction only. After two years of waiting, the Euro will finally emerge in the daily life of 12 European countries’ citizens. The Mirage 2001, Ford and Playstation 2 will be paid in the new Euro, not in Franc, Lire or the Deutsche Mark anymore. The new currency will be the glue that unites the European Union’s members as one and makes them more competitive in the game of globalization. The E.U. leaders smile victoriously as they now have another common ground to talk about Europeanism (if that term ever exist).

While they are embracing for the much-awaited changes, the whole world including the Europeans themselves are cautiously observing the situation and hoping the launch of the Euro won’t hurt the European themselves. The American perhaps hope the new project will be a folly and while the Asian countries hope that they will have an alternative to the Dollar. Such a huge change may help catalyst a lot of events and thus, opening up numerous paths into the future for everybody worldwide. If the usage of the Euro is successful, it may encourage dozens of regional currency. One of such region is Southeast Asia, held together by the ASEAN, an EU counterpart for 10 developing nations.

However, for the European citizens, the pizzeria owner in Italy and the pub owner in Germany will be reluctant to accept this change. The conservatives fear that their country identity will be lost forever. The Franc has been synonym with the Frenchmen since the dawn of the French Empire. Once the Euro takes over, the will be no more Franc that will be related to France. The French will for certain lost a French identity. I see this currency conversion is similar to the lost of the New York World Trade Center in September. As the Twin Towers crumbled down to earth, the American lost part of their soul. Surely, the magnitude of the lost of the Franc to the common Frenchmen is as huge as the lost of the Twin Towers to the Americans. For the Germans, the pharse “eine schnelle Mark machen” (in English, to make a fast D-Mark) are senseless without the Deutsche Mark*. It seems to me that Europeanism is sacking each and every distinct Europeans’ cultures.
While I’ll be celebrating the New Year in Chicago, I will certainly remember that on the eve of first January, the Europeans are betting their head for a better future. It may turn ugly but let us just hope that the Euro will be a good development for us. We don’t need another folly that will affect the whole population of Earth. We don’t need to suffer more than we do.

nb – The words marked by ” * ” is taken from Andreas Purkott’s entry in EUROTRASH.
Visit the official Euro site for the E-Day.

Categories
Politics & government

[14] Of the angels and demons of war

“Another head hangs lowly, child is slowly taken
And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken

But you see it’s not me, it’s not my family
In your head, in your head, they are fighting
With their tanks, and their bombs
And their bombs, and their guns
In your head, in your head they are cryin’
In your head, in your head, Zombie, Zombie
In your head, what’s in your head Zombie

Another mother’s breaking heart is taking over
When the violence causes silence
We must be mistaken
It’s the same old theme since 1916
In your head, in your head they’re still fightin’
With their tanks, and their bombs
And their bombs, and their guns
In your head, in your head they are dyin’

In your head, in your head, Zombie, Zombie
In your head, what’s in your head Zombie “

Listening to certain music will certainly make me think of a unwanted situation. A situation where war is everywhere; peace is nothing but a vain hope.
War is humanity greatest enemy. It kills lives unnecessarily, without mercy, without a second thought. Nevertheless, human long history has been tainted with blood. The red cold blood.

Can you imagine a child, who knows nothing of the cruel world, hugging her dead father body in the middle of a crossfire between two different group with different ideology. Both sides keep on firing; the child keeps on begging her father to wake up, hoping that her father will open his eyes and bring safety to her. She will keeps on hoping haplessly in the middle of the battlefield. The war will continue on. The firing will not stop. Never, ever.
Will you cry? Will you be indifferent? Will you be moved to run toward that child and pull her over? Will you say to yourself, “It’s too bad but I have my own life to live”? Or will you stop the war?

I myself am not very sure what I would do in that situation, seeing a child in the middle of a war. Of course, I, right now, in Minnesota, in a comfortable friend’s house, in front of a state-of-the-art laptop, knowing that I am safe here, knowing nothing of the real pain of war, will say, “Stop the war!!! For pity sake, cease firing!!!”. That’s a typical peace loving human. A peace lover will say anything but I doubt that I will ever go into the fire zone, run to the child aid, risking my precious life. In my opinion, most of the typical peace lovers will join the anti-war rally in the middle of the street but will be reluctant to join the people who are in the battle zone. I, myself included. By saying this, I’m not denying that there is somebody out there that really has the courage to fight for peace. To them, my uttermost respect.

However, isn’t fighting for peace, with M-16, Ak, etc. is an act of war itself?

In order to save the child, we send a bomb to both sides, killing all, including the child that we are going to save.

Peace, to achieve peace, we commit the crime of war. To let peace prevail, we force peace onto war. Isn’t that an act of war itself?

Maybe, right now you are thinking that I’m a person that thinks this is a world that just consists of black and white. Grey area is a non-existence. Well, in a way, I’m including the whole colors of this ironic world. Peace and war, they are two different terms describing one, single thing. Peace and war, they co-exist with each other. They are symbiotic to each other. Peace and war, they are yin and yang. Omnipresent, ominous.

In a battlefield, two sides, one is a rebel group, fighting for their state’s independence for the oppressive central power. The other is the government force, trying to preserve the integrity of the state for being torn apart by the cruel rebel. A girl, weeping in front of a dead body, innocent. The rebel, fighting for the future of their children. The government, fighting to preserve peace. The child, innocent, just wanting a peaceful life.

Will we help stop the war?

Will we help the child without any regard for our live?

Will we sit back and think who is right and who is wrong first?

There is a reason for peace. There is a reason for war but the fight is not merely between good and evil. It’s a combination of both. No sides are purely a devil, purely a saint.