Chinatown

Sitting in Chinatown, on Jalan Petaling, KL finally feels like Asia. Hot and sweaty, a monk wandering the street in the midst of hawkers selling almost-real LV, Gucci, Adidas. Chaos, too many people, too much noise and light.

This is my final night in KL. Pretty much as I expected and feared it has been a week mostly without sightseeing. Many early nights caused by long and exhausting days, leaving little energy or time to venture out into the unknown. Today wasn't much different except for the urge to see one other part of town before I head out tomorrow night.

Not being able to sightsee doesn't mean that I haven't seen anything of the country though. If anything, this has probably been a much better week to learn about Malaysia than if I would have been backpacking. Maybe by talking and talking and more talking to many different people you find out more about a country than by seeing temples and palm trees.

Talking with NGO-workers, for example, who are explaining the complexities of Malaysian politics and the need for more transparency. And then, at lunch, the Indian woman of this group starts going off on Muslims and how we have to stop them from taking over the world. Right...

Or the couple, Chinese Malaysians, of which the woman speaks and writes Cantonese and English fluently but no Bahasa Malaysia at all. And the man speak and writes English and Malay perfectly but only speaks (and doesn't write) Cantonese. They commute into Singapore daily from Johor, on the southern tip of peninsular Malaysia.

Or Malaysian politics - which seems like a complicated maze as well. Current Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi is under heavy criticism after his party lost heavily in the general elections in last March (though they still have a majority in parliament). He's apparently sometimes compared to a Malaysian version of Gorbatsjev - opening up the country but currently risking his own position as a result of that. He's inherited many big issues from previous PM Mahathir Mohamed (also known as Dr. M). Although he built up the country so it now has 6%-plus annual economic growth things such as corruption and non-freedom of press became normal throughout the country. He also left the country with a heavy car-dependence. Obsessed with creating a domestic automotive industry, he heavily protected this industry and promoted individual car ownership. Now, in a time of record-high oil prices, Malaysia is also suffering. With the country dependent on cars, fuel subsidies were finally mostly removed last week causeing fuel prices to rise with 41%. Combined with the worldwide increase of food prices and an expected big hike in electricity prices next month, Malaysians are not a happy people right now.

This moment is an interesting time to be in Malaysia - not only for the ecnomic and political situation but also societal. The Indian and Chinese part of the population (making up almost 40% of the total population) is seeing the country transformed into a more Muslim-state, and the local Malay population (also called bumiputra's) gets advantages on all kinds of things: from favourable interest rates on mortgages to entry into government jobs and so on. At the same time, all population groups in Malaysia claim that the beauty of the country is that different ethnicities can live together peacefully. Yes, but only to a certain extent it seems. There's a lot of frustration hidden underneath that surface and it will be interesting to see how that will change in the coming years.

Democracy is overrated

Someone told me a few months ago that in my search for the perfect career I should pay more attention to the times that I get worked up or upset or excited about something. Admittedly, this doesn't happen all that much so strongly.

But, the thing that made me mad today was on the front of tonight's newspaper: one of the three coalition parties in the Netherlands (and many of the opposition parties) still thinks we should go ahead with a second referendum on the newly agreed European treaty.

Although it'll be months before an official decision is made I'm sure this'll be in the news for a while coming. It was a bad idea in the first place when they tried it two years ago. You cannot have the public decide on such a complex and huge issue by just answering Yes or No in a referendum.

Although I can understand that the policitians need to show the public that they did take the concerns at that time seriously. But they should also have the confidence that they did listen well (if the debate would have continued in a constructive way like it should have) and that the current treaty is the result of those concerns two years ago. Why does it warrant another referendum? Because I'm not confident that we'll get a Yes-vote out of it this time...

The European Union strikes me as inevitable and the Netherlands has a lot to gain from it.

Okay, maybe I'm overreacting. I hope they'll decide against it after all.

But still, is it bad that I sometimes think too much democracy is a bad thing?

China vs. Japan

For some interesting reading, the current China Brief from the Jamestown Foundation is all about Sino-Japanese relations. Have only scanned over the titles of the articles but it looks quite good!

The world re-considered

Through a recent discovery on the net, VPRO energie, I came across this pretty nifty world map.

It resizes the world proportional to their oil & gas reserves. Interesting stuff.

NOVA

For the Dutchies interested, the tv-programme NOVA has two nights almost exclusively dedicated to the cartoon-affair. Tonight (at 22:30) with reports on Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and the US position. And a full Friday night with discussions between politicians, journalists, cartoonists etc on the issues at stake. Could be interesting.

Should a tolerant society tolerate intolerance?

Warning: prepare for a long and rambling post…. I doubt the below makes sense.
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I`ve been meaning to write this post for some time but can`t seem to find a way to properly write down what I want to say. Mostly because I just don`t know what I want to say.

This cartoon/integration/Muslim vs. Europe-and-the-rest/freedom of speech/freedom of religion-thing is really getting to me. The more I read about it and the more I think about it, I am realizing that this is one of the biggest issues facing our society at this moment. In the Netherlands, but also in the rest of the world.

Should a tolerant society tolerate intolerance? That question is a big part of it, isn`t it?
To what extent do you have to make allowances for religion? When does it go too far and does it interfere with society? Is this unavoidable? Is this the irony of globalization: that globalization is making the world such an open place that it, instead of the rest of the world being Westernized (with all its faults), has shifted to the West being Islamized?

I was reading a long piece in a Dutch opinion mag on the bus to work today where they listed all the ways in which Islam was ‘invading’ the Netherlands and society. Surprisingly, or maybe not-so-surprisingly, it went on for pages and pages. One of the points made was also that there is less and less opportunity for Dutch and immigrants (for lack of better words I’ll use these two ‘categories’) to come in contact with each other. There are halal butchers, Islamic hospitals, Islamic schools etc etc etc. One can really stay in his own world. And of course this doesn’t only go for muslim immigrants, but for ‘native Dutch’ as well. I mean, when do I ever do my grocery shopping at one of the tiny Moroccan shops?

The things that struck me in the article were for instance that some Dutch schools now have gym classes seperately for boys and girls again; that female muslim students in medical school refuse to practice with a male fellow-student; that muslim men are refusing to shake hands with women; etc etc.
These are the kind of things that shift the character of a society. And I am really struggling with the question to what extent this shift should be allowed to happen. I truly believe that the Netherlands is an open enough society for all religions to have their place but obviously it is impossible, unworkable to fulfill all the needs in society of all these religions.

Back to the cartoons. I really do believe that freedom of speech is ultimate in this case. Yes, respect is needed but you cannot force respect out of people by establishing codes of conduct for the media or for the general public. The BBC reported today that President Chirac had said that “any subject matter that could hurt other people's convictions should be avoided.” Well, mabye. But ‘hurting someone’s feelings’: that is an incredibly broad concept. And it would mean that you can’t publish anything which is even the tiniest bit controversial anymore because it will always hurt someone.Not to mention that regulating the media to prescribe what they are allowed or not allowed to say comes much much too close to a police state/dictatorship/Big Brother scenario. (I already think the Netherlands is moving there closer as it is.)

The EU cannot give in to the sense of fear that seems so pervasive at the moment. If you do not fight for the extremes, what else is worth fighting for? (I’m quoting this from somewhere, but can’t find the source...). The EU should have backed Denmark much stronger than it has.

Freedom of speech is, to me, the fundamental aspect of Europe and the Netherlands, of democracy. Yes, people will get hurt. But there are ways to defend yourself against this too. As there are ways to protest the publication of the cartoons! This should definitely not be violence though. Especially not if one of the images that the protesters want to avoid is the image of Islam being a religion of violence. Burning embassies and rioting and doing all the things which are going on in the Middle East at the moment is almost equal to proving the point the cartoonist was trying to make! (Speaking of the outburst of violence, the BBC just reported that the US has accused Iran and Syria of inciting the violence)

On the other hand, aren’t we merely trying to make our morality (of freedom of speech, seperation of church and state, democracy, gender equality etc) win? And isn’t that what ‘the others’ (whether this be other religions, or people with other political ideas, or even other groups) are trying to do as well? We all think we are right and the others are wrong. No matter how much you would debate and argue there is not a chance of changing your opponent’s mind. An unwinnable battle?

When I put it like that, how will it ever be possible to – even if not agreeing on everything – but at least live together peacefully? To respect each other’s ideology and religion but to be able to have basic values in common in order to have a common society?

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I might fix this post in the morning. For now, I needed to get it written out.

The question in the title stuck in my head after reading it in a post at Classical Values...

Wow, it just keeps getting weirder....

This is bizar.

The oh-so-offensive cartoons were re-printed in an Egyptian (!) newspaper as early as last October, according to this blogger, Sandmonkey (with scans of the original paper). And nothing happened at that time? Then why is it such a big issue this time around?

...

More on the cartoons

[can you tell I'm bored at work?]

I've been discussing the issue of the Danish cartoons, the outrage that this has caused in the muslim world and, more in general, integration and multiculturalism with my colleague a lot today. It got quite intense at times, I should really not get into anything political at work...

I can not believe it's causing so much controversy.

Classical Values links to an article by a muslim commentator Safiyyah Ally which finally shows that apparently (fortunately!) this extreme reaction is not how all muslims feel.

He gives some good arguments why he doesn't agree with the over-the-top reaction.

Those up in arms don't seem to understand that the newspaper is not government owned or produced. It is an independent newspaper, and as such the guarantee of freedom of expression allows it to do what it did. It may be in bad taste and it may be insensitive, but the newspaper has a point: freedom of expression allows individuals to express themselves in ways that may upset or offend others. Yes, that freedom is to be balanced with freedom of religion, but even so, adherents of any faith cannot expect that they will never be offended. That is the price we pay for the freedoms we enjoy. Some may claim this is a good time to bring out those old blasphemy laws, but I disagree. In fact, I would argue there are no justifiable grounds for blasphemy laws in liberal democracies.

In any case, why these Arab countries would see fit to demand that Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen apologize is beyond me. If one wanted to protest the publication of those cartoons, one could always cancel one's subscription to the newspaper. But to boycott products from the country? Burn Danish flags? Remove ambassadors to express one's displeasure? Those sorts of responses are just nonsensical. The government is not to be blamed for the idiocy of a private newspaper.

I couldn't agree more.

Ascending the Japanese throne

Through Steve Silver I found a BBC report on a rally by Japanese politicians against allowing women on the imperial throne.

I *love* this comment by former trade minister Hiranuma:

"If Aiko becomes the reigning empress, and gets involved with a blue-eyed foreigner while studying abroad and marries him, their child may be the emperor," he told the rally at a Tokyo hall.

Pffff....

There are plenty of other ways to prevent this, if it really is so undesirable. I'm no expert on Japanese imperial succession but in the Netherlands the Royal family members who want to marry have to ask approval from the parliament, if they want to retain their rightful claim to the throne.

This sometimes leads to controversy - especially in the last few years - but it would prevent any unwanted people from claiming the throne.

How to make sense of the world...?

In absence of actual work to do I spend my days in the office reading news & blogs, posting away on boards, oh and finding job ads and writing applications. Who would have thought earning money would be this stressful!

The highlights of today’s news selection:

* Cultivating Loneliness – Robert D. Kaplan - an article by Kaplan on the differences between journalism and travel writing (through Coming Anarchy)

* The continuing controversy surrounding the Danish cartoons which were published in a national paper last September and depicted the prophet Mohammed:
Cartoon outrage bemuses Denmark
France enters Muslim cartoon row (unfortunately I haven’t been able to load the French site though...)

* The State of the Union – and mostly the fact that all reporting that I’ve seen on it focus so much on Bush's resolution to break the American ‘addiction’ to oil... (on imported oil, that is)
Bush urges end to “oil addiction”

And oh yeah, Iran. Apparently even Russia and China have said they recommend to refer the issue to the UNSC? Surprising... I wonder what will happen at the IAEA meet tomorrow.

I can't believe so much is going wrong at the same time (okay, maybe GWB's comments are positive but still). Weird world it is...

But to keep my mind away from serious stuff I’m also slowly expanding my network on Hyves (VERY slowly, that is)...
Hmm, will have to post something about that sometime too. Jules has written about blogs and communities, and the popularity of this interactive network (or whatever you should call them) in particular has really surprised me...

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okay, after reading through a few more blogs, here are some other posts about the 'addicted to oil'-catchphrase:
SOTU Followup by Kevin Drum
and of course lots at The Oil Drum

Japan vs North Korea --> in fiction

It is interesting to see how some things that happen in East Asia (economic, political, military whatever) get their own place in Japanese domestic society outside of politics. The research that I did on Japan and North Korea was mostly to show that the problems which exist between these countries seem to have grown past international politics and diplomacy and have taken up a firm place in domestic politics. In the case of the North Korean issue it is especially odd because domestic opinion focuses on very different issues than international consensus or what Japanese government policy would like to aim at.
[Oh, hang on... isn't this what happened with last week's EU referendum in the Netherlands also?]

Back to the North Korea story though. I'm the proud owner of several manga detailing the issues at stake; that is, manga showing a crazed Kim Jong Il heading for the red button as he sees US troops taking down Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad, while being entertained by his personal yorokobi-gumi [The yorokobi-gumi or 喜び組 is the name for Kim's personal entertainment squad, made up of pretty Korean girls]. It's a pretty funny read!
Recently a new novel was published which uses the North Korean threat as its main story line. I can't wait to get my hands on it, and actually have time to read it ;)
The book is called "Get Out of the Peninsula" or 半島を出よ（上＆下) and is written by well-known author Ryu Murakami. Most of the reviews on Amazon are raving about the book but I hope to get back to you about that when I've actually read it myself!

A recent LA Times article starts off with a description of the book:

One of the hottest-selling books here this spring is Ryu Murakami's "Get Out of the Peninsula," a novel set in 2010 that portrays a Japan in ruins, ravaged by economic and social collapse. Armies of homeless and unemployed have been cast adrift. Japan's alliance with America lies in tatters. Chinese and Indian criminal gangs run amok.
But Murakami's main villains are a group of North Korean commandos. On the opening day of the baseball season, they storm the Fukuoka Dome stadium on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu. As incompetent Japanese politicians fail to act, more North Korean troops arrive, sealing Kyushu off from the rest of Japan.

In Japan these days, bad guys just don't come any more sinister than North Koreans.

I'm not sure of the political orientation of Murakami. However, considering this story and the way in which it makes use of negative popular opinion it wouldn't surprise me if he is of similar orientation of people such as Abe Shinzo and Ishihara Shintaro. Then again, he might just be using the emotional content of the issue to ensure himself a bestseller. [Speaking of which, can any Japanese readers point me to listings of bestsellers and so on? I have no clue where to find such information!]
I suppose that in a way it is good that literature is used to discuss issues that not only focus on purely Japanese things. Then again, this doesn't seem to be the best use of this topic either. The North Korean issue is far from resolved and by keeping up domestic opposition to finalize the abductions issue (through these kind of stories), resolution will only remain a far-off hope.

Maybe I'm reading too much into the book. I do think that Japanese domestic politics and the mass media which is fuelling the hysteria need to re-think what they should be devoting their attention to: abductions or nuclear weapons? Although I don't agree with many of the articles and opinions that say that North Korea could strike any time etc etc, I do think there is an explosive situation at hand which needs resolving...

Sino-Nippon conflict continues...

From Gen Kanai's weblog I tracked down the following article on cyberwar between Japan and China.

As some of you might know, I find the East Asian region incredibly interesting because of all these states trying to claim their place in the system. For an idea of what I've done, check the thesis in the link listings.
In any case, the above link is pretty interesting as it goes into a new kind of trouble between China and Japan. It seems that quite a few Japanese sites have been hacked by Chinese groups lately. Interesting to read how this animosity is expressed in different ways.

My current research on the region is on its way smoothly. I'm still discovering new things daily though about what China and Japan are up to to get their oil and gas.
An example: there seems to be a vague - pretty unrealistic, if you ask me - plan out there to construct a canal through Thailand to take pressure off the Strait of Malacca. Apparently this was a Chinese project from some time back, and I've now heard rumours about Japanese plans for this... This seems quite absurd though. If it will happen, it is another sign of almost despair on the part of these countries to get their hands on natural resources.
Other issues that come up a lot recently are the East China Sea exploration/development battle and the pipeline from Angarsk to Daqing, no to Nakhodka, no maybe back again to Daqing issue. There should be a bit of progress on the latter issue soon it seems, so I'm very curious what will happen. Russia doesn't seem to be too reliable lately...

Okay, a quick note on other stuff than my weekends. Bye!

As expected....

So, what now? The end of the EU? Will they make us vote indefinitely until there's an 'aye'?

Volkskrant artikel (in Dutch)
and the BBC story

...

Ja of nee?

Goed, ik was niet van plan om hier blog-ruimte aan te spenderen, maar ik kan het niet laten.
Het is in elk geval jammer dat ik in de aanloop naar 1 juni in het buitenland ben. Waarom mis ik dit soort, toch redelijk belangrijke, politieke ontwikkelingen in Nederland toch altijd? Het verbaast me enorm dat er zoveel mensen tegen zullen stemmen bij het referendum over de EU grondwet vandaag - overigens een slechte naam, dit impliceert veel meer dan dat het eigenlijk is! Ik krijg de indruk dat velen tegen zullen stemmen om de verkeerde redenen, om zaken die helemaal niets met het verdrag te maken hebben. Ja, het is niet fijn dat het Nederland economisch gezien even niet voor de wind gaat, maar daar verandert een tegenstem echt niets aan. Ja, misschien wil je Turkije niet bij de EU hebben, maar ook daarover gaat het helemaal niet!
In mijn interpretatie betreft het hier veel bestuurlijke verbeteringen. En, voordat de EU verder wil uitbreiden denk ik dat het noodzakelijk is om eerst binnen de EU orde op zaken te stellen. Het verdrag waar Europa nu over stemt is een belangrijke stap in dat proces.
Ik zal niet alle argumenten voor (of tegen) afgaan, maar in elk geval een paar links:
# De Volkskrant geeft een duidelijke stemwijzer. Stellingen met uitleg wat de zgn. 'grondwet' daarover zegt.
# Een weergave van de mening van een mede-Tokyo-blogger Duidelijk, en ik kan niet anders zeggen dan dat ik het er helemaal mee eens ben.
# Voor een officiele kijk is er natuurlijk ook deze site met weerlegging van mythes, goede argumenten etc

Ik ben benieuwd wat het nieuws zal zijn als ik morgenochtend weer op kantoor kom! Ik hoop maar dat de zwevers op het laatste moment nog wat invloed kunnen hebben.