I have just realized that I am yet to wrap up my Bangkok trip. In hope of finally tying up a loose end, I am posting a picture of Vajiravudh’s statue at Vajiravudh College in Bangkok as a reminder to myself.
The last stop mentioned before I unceremoniously forgot about finishing up the travelogue is the Democracy Monument.
So, yeah. I was at the blogger gathering Bloggers United Malaysia Gathering 2007. I arrived at the place right on the dot but, then, Malaysian time, you know. Since almost everybody came after 1800, the whole event started late. The infamous snowball effect got on and later, a rather healthy guy riled up, sort of asking why he had to wait for dinner.
By luck, I met former schoolmate Nik Nazmi. I was quite happy to see him because finally, someone that I personally know!
Apparently though, sitting right beside him was a mistake. At the event, he became a favorite punch bag of anti-KJ fraction in UMNO. You know, the pro-Mahathir, anti-Pak Lah kind of thing. I had to endure a relatively heated debate that I rather not go into at that particular point of time.
With them coming up with racial nationalistic tone assaulting PKR’s New Economic Agenda, I felt sympathy for the friend of mine whom stood his ground, despite me myself do not quite buy into the PKR’s NEA. I do not quite buy it for an entire different reason however.
Apart from me, there were two other persons listening quietly to the debate. I do think he managed to secure at least three votes from that table, if he decides to run for office.
Elizabeth Wong shared the same table with me. First time meeting her in person. The last time was through a video conferencing at Stanford. According to sources, she will need to wear burqa soon.
Finally met Nat, a fellow blogger at Metroblogging Kuala Lumpur, of whom has yet to write his first post. I think he was the first person to hold a conversation me at the event. Friendly.
Also met his girlfriend, Li Tsin, (Politikus). I was surprised to discover that she knew my name and recognized my face. And, she seemed to be estatic about meeting Kenny Sia.
And oh, Kenny Sia, the big man himself, was there, at least, in the latter part of the event. His flight to KL was delayed. I half expected him to crack joke all the time. But he did not.
Then there was Mob. Not quite whom I had imagine he would be. I thought he would be this one angry big man. Hey, with all of his posters, it was hard to think of otherwise.
And John Lee, apparently, became a star by his own right.
There was Rikey. Seemingly angry that nobody knew he was there.
One of the organizers, Howsy is another guy whom I thought would be one of those Krakatoan people whom would explode at any moment. Instead, just as Marina Mahathir said, he is as cute as his cartoon (OMG! They killed Kenny! You bastard). So, okay, maybe little Krakatoa.
There was Mahaguru, being a little bit too friendly. I knew the gathering theme was engage and embrace but I did not know I had to do it literally.
Desi turned out to be an veteran. He had his own books on sale at a book stand but I had only RM20 to spare. According to my weekly budget. I needed the rest of my money to fly off to Australia!
To think of it, I had thought the mean and median of attendees would be young. Quite the contrary, I most likely I sat on the 4th quartile of the normal curve!
Lucia Lai was quiet. Or maybe, I took no initiative to talk to too many people.
Lulu was there. No, no. Not that Lulu. Or that Lulu. It is Lulu instead!
Shook hand with Tony Pua, Jeff Ooi and another person that I cannot remember, among others.
While a few people introduced me to other people as a green libertarian, Tian Chua introduced himself to me as some strain of anarcho-syndicalist and he thought I am a leftie. I certainly am not so.
Met Sharon Bakar. She thought my face looks similar to one of her students at the Malay College. Could it be, she asked? I replied, “I’m far too young for that (possibility)”.
At the very end, Nat, Tikus, Desi, Mob, Lucia, Nik Nazmi and me enjoyed a round of teh tarik in Subang Jaya, talking about a matter that Desi sternly warned shall not be blogged. Before he told us that, I was thinking, hmm…
And oh yeah, managed to watch Drogba fooled van der Sar! Yeah baby yeah!
After the day ended, there were too many names to remember and I needed a break:
[youtube]XvIMWyMxjq0[/youtube]
Panda Kong:
Roar!
IF THE guest list determined a meeting’s value, the Strategic Economic Dialogue between China and America on May 22nd would be a roaring success. Almost half the Chinese cabinet is trooping to Washington, DC, for the second of the twice-yearly discussions, conceived by Hank Paulson, America’s treasury secretary, between the world’s largest economy and its fastest-growing one. The process was designed, in large part, as an antidote to the latest case of Asiaphobia among America’s politicians. [America’s fear of China. The Economist. May 17 2007]
p/s — also at The Economist:
Conservationists—and polar bears—should heed the lessons of economics.
[…]
One reason for this taxonomic inflation is that the idea of a species becoming extinct is easy to grasp, and thus easy to make laws about. Subspecies just do not carry as much political clout. The other is that upgrading subspecies into species simultaneously increases the number of rare species (by fragmenting populations) and augments the biodiversity of a piece of habitat and thus its claim for protection.
In the short term, this strategy helps conservationists by intensifying the perceived threat of extinction. In the long term, as every economist knows, inflation brings devaluation. Rarity is not merely determined by the number of individuals in a species, it is also about how unusual that species is. If there are only two species of elephant, African and Indian, losing one matters a lot. Subdivide the African population, as some taxonomists propose, and perceptions of scarcity may shift. [Hail Linnaeus. The Economist. May 17 2007]
Srivijaya was great but it was not the only empires or kingdoms that impacted Malay or Malaysian history. Despite the perception that nothing important occurred before the coming of Islam to Southeast Asia and the Sultanate of Malacca, there were a number of kingdoms that flourished thanks to trade. We know this through Malay, Chinese, Indian, Arab and sometimes even European records. One of the kingdoms, as a reader shared his thought with me earlier through email, was a kingdom founded by Adityavarman.
By the 13th century, Srivijaya succumbed to various external and internal threats and changes. All was left in the 14th century were disparated Malay states, each claiming to be the successor of Srivijaya. In Malaysia, places such Subang Jaya, Petaling Jaya, Nusajaya and Putrajaya remind me of the radiant victory, which is what Srivijaya means in Malay, and auspicious victory in Sanskrit.
The Hindu kingdom of Singhasari, the predecessor of Majapahit, conquered the last vestige of Srivijaya, Jambi or the Malayu (Malayu-Jambi; I am unsure if the spelling is Malayu or Melayu but the difference is superficial for both refer to the same entity) in the 13th century, ending a Malay golden age that was only to be reignited in form of Malacca two centuries later. Singhasari fell to the Mongol along with its holding of southern Sumatra at the end of the 13th century. The Mongol was then defeated by Raden Wijaya, the founder of the most celebrated Javanese empire in history, Majapahit, not too long later. That is the last time Mongol forces ever set foot in Southeast Asia.
During that era, southern Sumatra under the leadership of Malayu-Jambi experienced short period of independence though the dream of reliving the story of Srivijaya was beyond its means. Matters of survival received greater attention than matters of glory. The Javanese Majapahit, after getting its house in order, finally asserted proper control over Malayu and the rest of southern Sumatra in 1347.
Under Srivijaya, the Javanese, did not like to live under the Malays. Under Majapahit, the Malays likewise. After the conquest, Gajah Mada, the designer of the conquest, the prime minister of Majapahit under the reign of Hayam Wuruk, needed somebody that could be accepted by the people of southern Sumatra. And thus, Gajah Mada sent Adityavarman, a half-Malay, half-Javanese prince as a sort of governor of Malayu Jambi.
Gajah Mada however misplaced his trust. Indeed, the Malays accepted Adityavarman except that the acceptance was beyond what the Javanese prime minister had imagined. After successfully gaining the support of the Malays, Adityavarman revoked this allegience to Majapahit and established an independent state of Jambi. Fearing Majapahit reprisal, he transferred his capital from Jambi near the mouth of Batang Hari river to upstream at a place Malayupura in the Tanah Datar. Tanah Datar is located in the modern day Indonesian province of West Sumatra, home of the Minangkabau. Malayupura (probably means city of the Malay in Sanskrit, if Singapura means city of lions) was located close to Pagar Ruyung, the center of Minangkabau culture. To make it clear, Adityavarman founded the kingdom of Pagar Ruyung.
A statue of Adityavarman at the National Museum of Indonesia. Photo by Thomas Lehmkuhl. Public domain.
Despite finding the kingdom, Adityavarman’s Buddhist belief clashed with local practice. Further, the difference between the local egalitarian governance and the Malay aristocratic model enhanced the conflict. Before the century came to past, the kingdom varnished from history record due to the differences. The culture however remains to this day.
Pagar Ruyung is of course, is closely related to the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan, where culture is remarkable different from other modern Malay states of Malaysia. I am interested in its history at the moment, not culture. So, I shall not digress.
In the 15th century when the part of former Srivijayan holding of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula came under the control of Islamic Malay Malacca, Minangkabaus started to migrate to modern day Negeri Sembilan. Islam rose to prominence under Malacca and the Minangkabaus, linked to Adityavarman, became Muslims along with other Malays. In the 18th century, the area came to the rightful successor of Malacca, the Sultanate of Johor-Riau Empire. The Malay of Johor however was busy holding the Bugis influence at bay and so, the Minangkabaus had to rely to someone instead of Johor. Who is our leader now, I would presume they had asked. They looked around and turned their attention to their ancestral origin, Pagar Ruyung.
While knowing full well that their origin was unislamic, they knew that history is above petty differences that religious conservatives nowadays harp on. The Minangkabaus of that time were not afraid of history. Those that fear history are only those that have something to hide: “berani kerana benar, takut kerana salah.”
From Pagar Ruyung, Raja Melewar was appointed as the the first Yamtuan Besar (basically, king) of the Minangkabaus with consent of the sultan of Johor in 1773. With that, home of the new ruler, Seri Menanti, replaced Pagar Ruyung as the center of Minangkabau culture on the Malay Peninsula. And the unique Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan was born. I was there at the palace ground earlier this year, celebrating history, knowing full well, Adityavarman had a hand on that particular night, knowing full well, short of going to Pagar Ruyung, that night was possibly the closest I would ever be to the half-Malay, half-Javanese prince that defied Gajah Mada and Hayam Wuruk.
This proves that Malaysian history, at minimum, the history of Negeri Sembilan, goes beyond the Sultanate of Malacca. And thus, this further strengthens the truth that Malaysian history, and Malay history, goes beyond Malacca.
How many Malaysians know this? How many of us tried to suppress part of our history?
It is only right:
Paul Wolfowitz is to quit as president of the World Bank following a bitter promotion row involving his girlfriend.
After lengthy talks with the bank’s board, Mr Wolfowitz said he would quit the global lending body on 30 June.
He had faced widespread calls for his resignation after being accused of a conflict of interest over a pay rise given to ex-bank employee Shaha Riza.
The White House, which had backed Mr Wolfowitz, said President George W Bush reluctantly accepted his decision. [World Bank head Wolfowitz to quit. BBC May 18 2007]
p/s — some of us are still waiting for Anwar Ibrahim to explain his involvement.