Categories
Economics History & heritage

[1242] Of 1800 years before the construction of the USD7 billion Kedah-Kelantan pipeline

Three firms from Malaysia, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia are cooperating to build a pipeline worth USD7 billion to transport crude oil across the Malay Peninsula, bypassing the busy Straits of Malacca. The chairman of Trans-Peninsula Petroleum expects the pipeline to divert 20% of oil tankers traffic off the Straits of Malacca.

“The savings in using our pipeline to the oil producers, to oil traders, is enough to even pay for one month of storage,” said chairman of Trans-Peninsula Petroleum Sdn Bhd (Transpen), Mohd Kamil Sulaiman.

[…]

Mohd Kamil said the pipeline would help ease congestion in the Straits of Malacca where out of 60,000 vessels that transit the straits, 30 percent were oil tankers.

He said the pipeline would divert about 20 percent of the oil tankers. [Transpen’s US$7 Bln-pipeline To Cut Down Time Taken To Transport Oil. Bernama. May 29 2007]

While the project is huge, this is not the first time northern Malay Peninsula becomes a land bridge facilitating international trade. Not in such gigantic scale of course but still, in my humble opinion, far more significant.

The third century of the common era was a period of economic boom in Southeast Asia. The boom was caused by a civil war in China; the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The conflict threatened the reliability of the Silk Road, the artery of international trade and soon, the route between China and Rome became unsafe for passage.

Like water, trade seeks the path of least resistance. The unique circumstances encouraged the development of sea routes that ran through Southeast Asia. This is the impetus of the formation of many kingdoms in this region during this period. Three of the kingdoms were Dungsun, Pan Pan and Langkasuka. Another one, although not located on the Malay Peninsula but closely related to the history of the three Southeast Asia kingdoms was Funan.

Funan was a civilization that existed at the mouth of river Mekong. More importantly, it was the gate to southern China which was controlled by the kingdom of Wu. It is probably safe to claim that almost all goods originated or going to southern China went through Funan. Relating to the topic at hand, the three kingdoms at one time or another came under the influence of Funan.

To or fro Funan, depending on the flow of trade, goods would pass through Dungsun, Pan Pan, Langkasuka or by circumventing the Malay Peninsula. There may be other routes but there four are the major ones.

Dungsun was a kingdom located near the Isthmus of Kra. Its strategic location allowed it to connect the Bay of Bengal and the Bay of Siam. Apart from that, not much is known about it and this makes it so mysterious.

South of Dungsun was Pan Pan, centered around the cities of Ligor or Chaiya. It is worth remembering that Chaiya was the regional capital of the Malay empire of Srivijaya later in history. While that is clear, I find Pan Pan a little bit confusing though. Some called Pan Pan as Tambralinga while others recognized Tambralinga as Ligor. Nevertheless, Pan Pan accommodated international trade.

Even farther south was the kingdom of Langkasuka that roughly covered the old Malay kingdoms of Pattani as well as Old Kedah and its surrounding. Over land, goods traveled between Singora and Kedah or Pattani and Kedah. The Pattani-Kedah route in particular ran along Muda River in Kedah and Pattani River on the other side of the Peninsula. Anyway, as mentioned earlier, Funan exerted influence over Langkasuka but among three kingdoms, Langkasuka was the farthest from Funan and hence, Funanese controlled over it was probably the weakest.

About four centuries later, both Pan Pan and Langkasuka were absorbed by Srivijaya. Despite the presence of a new master, these two kingdoms still played the role they played back in the second century. Langkasuka specifically reached its peak between the 7th and the 10th century, coinciding with the Srivijayan golden age. The era made Kedah a very busy port. The archaeologically rich Bujang Valley provides some proofs of the prosperity Kedah once enjoyed.

So, when you ever passby that crude oil pipeline will connect Kedah and Kelantan around 2014, just remember that the idea of trade cutting through the Malay Peninsula went as far back as about 1800 years ago. Beyond Malacca, if I might add.

Categories
Environment

[1241] Of when justice was swift and sure

Somehow, I am proud of my uncle:

SULAIMAN Nordin was a new district forest officer in Pahang in the mid-Sixties. He had recently graduated in forestry from the University of Tasmania, where he had been a popular student, and hailed from rural Malacca, where breeding and good manners were particularly highly prized.

In all the years that I knew him, I had never seen him without a smile. Many who mistook his natural good nature as a sign of weakness had reason to regret their mistake. Underneath that gentle exterior of warmth and politeness was a man determined to protect and defend his personal values of self worth, honesty and integrity, at all costs.

Stories of corruption in forestry were legion. Sulaiman did not have long to wait for his scruples to be put to the severest test.

When he discovered that a company was engaged in illegal logging, he confiscated their Caterpillar and Komatsu equipment, the best in the business, worth several million ringgit. All this was done according to the law.

He was not surprised when two unsavoury characters came a-calling.

They had obviously been used to buying their way out of trouble, and previous DFOs had been more than accommodating in a situation such as this. They genuinely believed in the conventional wisdom that “every man has his price”. They were adept at name-dropping. Their conversation was laced liberally with stories intended to show the young forest officer how close they were to the state forest officer, the director of lands and mines, the state secretary and the district officer.

When Sulaiman showed he was not overawed, they changed tack. How about a night out, perhaps? They claimed they were going to Taiwan and Japan, and he would be most welcome to tag along.

Thank you, said Sulaiman, but he was too busy to go anywhere.

He was a difficult customer, the likes of whom they had never met before. They concluded that if a night out on the town, a jolly party to the geisha houses of Japan and close connections they enjoyed with the cream of Pahang society could not produce the results, they had another trick up their sleeve which, based on previous experience, was guaranteed to work.

Then, with the confidence that came with regular practice, the briefcase they had brought was pushed with all due ceremony across the table towards Sulaiman. He rose to his full height of five foot five, picked it up and hurled it out through the swing doors into the general office, to the astonishment of his staff.

In measured language, he read the riot act, warning his visitors he was reporting their attempt to bribe him, a government officer. He left them in no doubt that they were not to come to his office ever again.

He took the briefcase, full of high denomination notes, to the police and lodged his report. He thought, knowing how slow the wheels of bureaucracy moved, he would wait a few days to see the outcome of his fight against corruption.

To his utter disgust, he learnt that the police had orders not to proceed. He found himself bombarded with telephone calls from his head in Kuantan and other influential individuals to withdraw his report and release the logging equipment.

It was then that Sulaiman realised he was taking on forces that could destroy his career, but he was strengthened by his conviction that the system could not destroy his deep aversion for corruption. He was not going to be part of corruption, no matter what the material cost to him personally. He resigned, as he had obviously become the odd man out, and knew that the department of forestry was not an option for an honest professional.

My own direct experience of forestry corruption in high places started when I applied, in my capacity as the Guthrie executive responsible for land matters, among other things, for an additional 5,000 acres of state land adjoining Chenor Estate in Pahang. The 4,500-acre rubber plantation was being converted rapidly to oil palm and it was thought that a plantation of less than 5,000 acres would not be able to support its own mill.

I was so delighted the approval came so quickly that I overlooked the unusually big premium we were being asked to pay. On further enquiry, I was told that the area alienated to Guthrie contained very valuable timber, referred to as “merchantable timber”.

As I had to visit Kuantan to finalise the transaction with the land office, I thought I should drop into Chenor Estate and say hello to our Belgian manager, who came with the property when Guthrie acquired it.

Business completed, I proceeded to Kuantan, arriving in the early evening. In the late 1960s, the only decent accommodation to be had for love or money was the rather nice government rest house at Teluk Chempedak.

As I was enjoying a cup of tea and some cucumber sandwiches, in walked a former Pahang state forest officer, Eric Foenander, who, while in service, doubled as the game warden.

He was the famous big game hunter who wrote the much admired classic, Big Game Hunting in Malaya, published in England. I invited him to join me.

He wanted to know what I was doing in Kuantan. I mentioned the additional area that had been alienated to Guthrie, and he wanted to know where it was exactly and how much the premium was.

I produced the land office map of the surveyed area. When I said the premium was a little on the high side because the land contained “merchantable timber”, he literally exploded: “Tunku, what merchantable timber? There is absolutely nothing there. It was completely logged out almost as soon as I retired!”

Foenander, who knew Pahang like the back of his hand, said he would show me the area.

Early the following morning, he drove me in his Rover up a hillock near Chenor Estate. He spread a Malayan survey department map on the bonnet of his car and proceeded to point out the area in question. There was not a single tree that even the greediest logger would want to waste his time on.

Armed with this information, I asked the district forest officer of Temerloh for an explanation, then the state forest officer, followed by the director of lands and mines. I had no joy from any of them and reported the matter to (the late Tan Sri) Harun Hashim, the no-nonsense head of the Anti-Corruption Agency.

I remember seeing him on Wednesday morning and he said he would arrange for the menteri besar, then Datuk Yahaya Mohd Seh, to see me the following Monday. His letter would be on the MB’s desk.

The kindly Yahaya looked decidedly under the weather, and his opening remarks were: “Tunku, you should have come to see me first before going to Harun Hashim.”

I replied, “Datuk, I am from an old Kedah civil service family, and have been taught never to short-circuit established channels. It was only when I received no satisfactory explanation that I went to Harun.”

The upshot of my report was the mass transfer of senior federal officers out of Pahang.

Those were the days of swift action against the corrupt by a government determined to confront corruption decisively.

Harun was independent, a man of great courage who had the complete support of Tunku Abdul Rahman, the prime minister and Tun Ismail Abdul Rahman, the minister for home affairs.

The writer is a former president of Transparency International and former special adviser to the UN secretary-general on ethics. He can be contacted at tunkua@gmail.com. [Tunku Abdul Aziz. When justice was swift and sure. NST. May 27 2007]

When I first read the article over the weekend, I did not quite remember that I have an uncle by the name of Sulaiman and a grandfather named Nordin.

Silly me.

Fearing time turning the article into corrupted matters, I am reproducing this article here in totality.

Categories
Sports

[1240] Of Ajax in the Champions League

Despite ending second in the Eredivisie, the Dutch system forces Ajax to play a little tournament for a place in the Champions League. While the system sucks, Ajax get through nonetheless. Ajax beat AZ 3-0 at Amsterdam, with a 4-2 aggregate result:

[youtube]pymaan7aYqI[/youtube]

Watch that own goal by Donk. It is possibly the most beautiful own goal I have ever seen.

See you in the Champions League!

Categories
History & heritage

[1239] Of discussion on Malacca

From Srivijaya, the discussion moves on to Malacca. Gardam writes:

…I came to study the subject of Sriviyaja/Singapura/Malacca because of a research I did a few years back on Bintan and the Riau archipelago and found it indeed a fascinating subject.

There is in my opinion no doubt that Srivijaya was a far greater civilisation than Malacca. It lasted many centuries as opposed to barely one, it laid the basis of an economic and trade pattern that still defines the region to this day and which Malacca only tried to re-enact. It made the Malay language the lingua franca of South East Asia. Much less known, the Hindu-Buddhist spiritual legacy of Srivijaya is still alive today in Thibetan Buddhism (on that subject you should research the life of the Bengali Buddhist monk Atisha who brought the Srivijayan spiritual knowledge to the Land of Snow in the early 11th century).

And there is no doubt that the consensus in modern Malaysia to take Malacca as the starting point of Malay history exist only for purely religious reasons, to bind it to a Muslim identity which is largely a fabrication. This can be explained if one looks a little more closely at how the transition from Srivijayan heritage to Muslim Malay world took place in Malacca.

To carry on with this subject I am afraid to have first of all to correct you on something you said in the other blog that carries the answer to Menj. Your mistake can easily be explained because you simply repeat what keeps on being said everywhere, that the first “sultan” of Malacca was Parameswara/Iskandar Shah. For a long time this was indeed the version that prevailed, largely based on Wolters’History of Malacca. However more recent researchs, summarised in “the Malay Sultanate of Malacca” by Muhammad Yussoff Hashim (1992), have established that the first Malacca king to convert was the son of Parameswara who had taken the name Iskandar Shah by the time he went to the Ming Court to announce the death of his father in 1414.

The third ruler still had a Srivijayan name and was enthroned as Sri Maharaja. He eventually converted to Islam to become Muhammad Shah in 1436, a conversion told in the Sejarah Melayu as a miraculous event of the boat from Juddah. He is credited with initiating the rise to greatness of Malacca, but according to Ming sources was not yet a “Sultan”.

After two muslim kings ( and again according to foreign sources not yet sultans, this is an important point because they are much more neutral on this subject than the Sejarah Melayu) Raja Ibrahim, son of Muhammad Shah, again reverts to a Srivijayan name and is enthroned as Sri Parameswara Dewa Shah. This probably marks a Hindu/Buddhist reaction in the aristocracy living in the palace of Bertram, further up the Malacca river. He is the son of a princess form Sumatra and of pure Malais aristocratic descent. His half brother, Raja Kassim, is the son of a Tamil common woman, but he has the support of a Tamil faction that enjoys a growing influence in the port.

In 1445 Sri Parameswara II was killed in a coup d’etat by his half-brother who is the first Malacca king to take on the Arabic title of sultan to become Sultan Muzaffar Shah. And it is only under Raja Kassim’s rule that Islam became the state religion of Malacca.So we see that in fact Malacca was truly a Muslim state for barely more than half a century. Of course, later literature such as the many versions of the Sejarah Melayu (and remenber that they were in fact written in the 16-17th century in Riau when the descendants of the Malacca line were trying to boost their prestige) started calling kings of the Malacca line “sultan” all the way back to Temasek (first Iskandar Shah in the supposed grave of Fort Caning), as a way to give a Muslim identity to Malacca as early as possible, a fabrication now so well entrenched that it can hardly ever be corrected.

So why is Malay history today trying so hard to erase the memory of Srivija? Because the full transition from the Srivijayan heritage to an Islamic state in Malacca rests on a coup d’etat, a regicide and a fratricide, and because the first real sultan of Malacca was not a pure Malay aristocrat. Not quite the clean start that many people would like it to be, in particular in regards to the adat of utter respect and obedience to the king on which part of the Malay identity is supposed to rest in the Bumiputra concept. In my opinion this is precisely the reason behind the problem which Mahatir came to define as “the Malay dilema”. There is indeed an untold dilema because most of what defines the Malay identity rest on a lie that Malays can not help but subconciously perceive…

I have yet to read The Malay Sultanate of Malacca by Muhammad Yusoff Hashim. So, I am unable to go back to the source. However, for something less rigorous, do crosscheck with the excellent Sejarah Melayu by Sabri Zain on the internet. In particular, pages entitled Parameswara and The Melaka Empire. Apart from that, I do not think that site requires introduction.

Categories
Photography Travels

[1238] Of breathing Endau Rompin: Part VI

So, where were we?

Oh yes. We were back in Kampung Peta after that boat ride and hiking trip to Upeh Guling and Tasik Biru.

I do not remember anything special that night. All I remember is, there was dinner, a story telling session and a lot of tired people. The whole camp went to sleep relatively quickly. It was not even 2300 if I am not mistaken.

During dinner, a person announced that she was conducting a scientific quest of finding an endangered palm tree species; female palm in particular. She needed to find out how large an area would spores travel. This information is useful for conservation effort as well as the enrichment of human knowledge.

The next morning began, again, quickly. I would have loved another hour of sleep but we needed to start early. I skipped my morning bath as it was too cold to have one. That opinion is not unique to me, that much I could guarantee.

Today, our goal was the peak of Janing Barat.

While all members were informed of the expedition itinerary, I do not think many cared about it until now. One the first day itself, a lot of people, including me, were clueless about the details of the trip, despite the fact that the information was freely available previously. So, when some heard that there would be hill climbing today, a few chickened out, choosing to stay idle by the river and read some book, or whatever they could think of. Not a bad idea really. I myself brought a book with me, thinking that I could finally have some time to make some good progress with my reading list. Unfortunately, time for reading is something of an elusive luxury.

We left those that wished to stay behind and headed to Kampung Peta for a boat ride to Kuala Jasin.

Do you remember the flower that Gary said could switch color from red to white? Well, the flower stayed white. When we brought that to Gary’s attention, Gary insisted that it did not bloom that day. I took it that Gary was joking but after viewing somebody else’s photos on the expedition back in Kuala Lumpur, what Gary said was true.

So, we got on the boat.

Yesterday was a bright day with blue sky. Today, the sky was slightly cloudy and dull while the hills and mountains were covered with mist. It was hard to make out the peaks as the mist hid it among the cloud.

Copyrights by Katrin Schmidt. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Where does the earth end and the sky begin? Photo by Katrin Schmidt.

The weather did affect me. The cloudy day made me a little melancholy and drifted away, daydreaming, longing for something I did not know what, despite being slightly at peace with myself. I played with the water, loving every moment of solitude that I had. The individualist in me wished the moment to last forever; the moment of being alone.

By Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved.

The dude is contemplating on life. I lost that cap. But Go Blue!

That solitude was interrupted when the boat hit ashore. It was time to get out and hike.

Kuala Jasin did not lose the charm it had the first time we was here 24 hours earlier. The sound of water sculpting the rocks was pleasant. The birds would sing in chorus while the wind and insects providing percussions. Neither Bach nor Mozart nor Vivaldi but harmonious nevertheless.

By Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved.

Another shot of Kuala Jasin.

We gathered at the t-junction that I mentioned earlier. Yesterday, we took the route towards Kuala Marong. Today, it was Janing Barat. I was in the last group that started the ascend to Janing Barat.

Now, Janing Barat is referred to in Malay as gunung; meaning mountain. Just like Tasik Biru, it is a misnomer as Janing Barat stands at 427 meter up, which is about 1,400 feet. That however does not make the ascend any easier for a person that fails to exercise even once a week.

The first hundred steps or so were painfully challenging. I could feel my leg muscles being overwhelmed with lactic acid. The worst part was that I could not take a rest without hurting my ego. Luckily for me however, circumstance was in my favor. In our group, the camp’s only nurse, a female by the name of Dayang had problem with stamina. She stopped quite often to catch her breath and for some water. I was only happy to stop whenever she stopped, cleaning my system of lactic acid.

The trail to the peak is interesting with the trail lying on a narrow plateau. On either sides of the path, one could see how one is walking on the highest point of a cross section of the hill. The slope of the sides was probably stayed typically in between 60 and 70 degree. I definitely would not want to fall sideway.

Copyrights by Katrin Schmidt. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Observe the slope. This looks downward. Photo by Katrin Schmidt.

As I acclimatized myself, I built some stamina. Slowly, I noticed that I needed less rest though, for some reason, I yawned a lot.

It turned out, there were other people with even lower stamina. Our group, being the last to start walking up, started to overtake a number of fellow hikers. At some point of time, I and the rest of my group overtook Dayang, fastening our pace to the top.

Copyrights by Gary Phong. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Gary gets artistic. Photo by Gary Phong.

If one carefully observed his surrounding, concentrating not on his breathing, he would notice the interesting floras. At the bottom of the hill, typical tall and hard trunk trees like meranti are prevalent while the jungle floor is filled with undergrowth. Halfway up, palm trees dominate. Farther up, the palm trees still dominate though the floor is something like those in North America — clear and covered only with dead leaves.

By Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved.

Typical view of a not so typical environment. This is somewhere up.

We took some photographs. Some photographers required more time than others and we overtook more people. Soon, the group that started last were leading most of the expedition. Indeed, our group probably was the second one to reach the midpoint and the peak.

The midpoint is a relatively wide open space covered with a combination of tall hard truck trees and palms with a bench by the side before the ground falls to an abyss below. A perfect place to for a short stop. Time for a drink. Time for a sip. Probably for a nap too.

Copyrights by Katrin Schmidt. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

The bench at midway up. That is Azmi, waiting for slow folks like us. Also notice how the palm trees dominate the scenery. Photo by Katrin Schmidt.

In time like this, water is gold. The fact hit me as I realized that I did not fill my bottle with water!

Oh crap. With no choice, wishing not to beg for water from others, I reluctantly economized my consumption. It was déjà vu all over again. That however did not prevent me to enjoy nature.

Roughly ten minutes later, people started to pour in, making the place too crowded. Rested, it was only fair for us to give up space for the others. After a short exchange, we moved on, onward and upward.

The trail so far was between 0 and 30 degree. After the midpoint, the trail took a radical turn. At one place, we had to climb up with the gradient being something in the 70s or the 80s. It was practically rock climbing. For my personally, that part was the most exciting part of the climb.

For about another hour or less, we reached the top. It was a palm trees-covered plateau, nearly 500 meter up. I am not sure how to explain the plateau but I had a feeling of being in a lost world. It was as if I was expecting dinosaurs to roam the plateau. My imagination was running wild.

The atmosphere was very different with no undergrowth and only large wild palm growing liberally everywhere. The wide palm leaves tamed the sunlight and that probably explains the lack of undergrowth.

Copyrights by Katrin Schmidt. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Making mountain out of a, er, hill? Photo by Katrin Schmidt.

Not too far up, W** S**** and gang as well as Katrin and Christian and our Orang Asli guide, Azmi were enjoying the view. From here, we could see Upeh Guling in the horizon amid the uneven green background with cloud-filled sky overhead.

By Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved.

View on top of Janing Barat. Near the center is Upeh Guling.

With Azmi’s aid, we explored the plateau and found varieties of pitcher plant. There were other plants of course but pitcher plants were the stars of the day.
There were cute pitcher as large as my pinky and there were bigger ones which could fit a few of my fingers at one time. I did insert my pinky into one of that pitcher plant just to see if it would eat me. Carefully, of course since I did not want to hurt it. At the end of that exercise, both of us survived. I especially was disappointed to see my finger was still intact.

By Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved.

Nope. It did not try to eat me.

Also, we were hoping to see tiger’s prints but we did not find out.

Then, it was lunch, Upeh Guling far out there with the wind softly blowing much to my delight.