The Games We Used To Play

Datuk Lat has many fond memories of his childhood. He live life to the fullest during those days. The thot to blog came when I happen to stumble across these websites http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lat & http://knizam.com/2007/11/

This memoirs is just another example of how modernization has taken over our past childlhood

Years ago, we used to play games like gasing, layang-layang, polis sentri and teng-teng. Dont forget too the other warisan budaya Malaysia games like batu seremban, congkak, galah panjang (there are too many version for this), cari cucu and also Guli (my favourite game of course!). For those who already forgot about the games you can refer back to this website http://malaysiana.pnm.my/

Life in the kampung too is not complete if you cant climb the trees, catch some spiders (to put in your matchbox - do we have match boxes nowadays?), to try to fish at the drains, trapping birds etc. Of course there are still the ever dangerous "meriam buluh", which is still being played now due to its explosiveness and the thrill to claim the title of the "King of the Meriam". I still consider this paragraph as games as it has very special meaning to the kampung lifestyle

Then we got the fascination to play board games like Monopoly, Mind Reader, Risk etc. UNO is also such a wonderful delight those days

As techonology develops, we are more inclined to play more technological savvy games like Gameboy, Pacman, SuperMarios, Atari etc .. that is supposed to sharpen your reflexes!

Then we have come to our working phrase of our lives. How boring can work be without the ever time fulfilling games of Solitaire and Minesweepers!

Later came the demand for Playstation 1. Then comes Playstation 2. Now its Playstation 3! Xbox & Wii too has been the talking point to many of us

Maybe, in the short future... games on iPhone would be in demand. I am pretty sure about it!

The fact is that over the years... we have develop ourselves/our children to become couch potatoes. We no longer go outside to sweat and "discover" new frontiers. Our children hardly go out to ride bicycles in the evening because of the fear of traffic & the thought of child kidnappers.
I wonder what is going to happen to us in the next few years. Are we going back to basic? Or are we moving elsewhere?

I also wonder that if eventually when I retire and live back at kampung, can I survive with just RM100 per month? This RM100 is only to pay my Astro bills, electrcity and water. For I plan to live the frugal life; or a life of a farmer who rears my own chicken & plant my own grains & vegetables!

And so, the war between these companies would continue to be heated in in the years to come: Nintendo, Playstation 4(coming soon), Xbox and iPhone! Gone would be the traditional games...I hope not to happen (coming from the wise words of a Jedi Master)!!

Panglima Awang

Let's just start with history lessons. Who is the first man that completes the sail around the world? Most of the Western historians have given this credit to Ferdinand Magellan. Some others gave this honor to Juan Sebastian Del Cano. But the fact is, this honor should belongs to a Malay guy forced to become the slave of Magellen. Nobody knows his name for real, but he is known as Panglima Awang, Henrich or Enrique de Melaka.



How does this happen? A travel along the history lane will help us understand this:-
1) 1510 to 1511 - Magellan travels via East and reach Melaka (via the Portuguese King commandment), together with Lopez de Sequiera
2) 10th July 1511 - Melaka sultanate fall to the Portuguese
3) Aug to Sept 1511 - Pendekar Awang was captured and become the slave of Magellan. He was brought back to Lisbon, Portugal to become a navigator and the trusted slave
4) 20th Sept 1519 - Magellan started a new voyage after being funded by King Charles 1 of Spain. The Spanish priest asked Magellan to travel via West route, and not to conflict the route already established under the Portuguese
5) 27th April 1521 - Magellan was killed in the Philippines
6) The commandership of the fleet was taken over by Juan Sebastian Del Cano
7) The fleet still travels West bound (to complete the leg between Philippines and Melaka), thus finishing the cycle for Panglima Awang to claim the honor as the first man to travel via sea around the world
8) 8th Sept 1522 - the vessel reached Seville, Del Cano proved to the King that the world is indeed round

However, I would like to mention that there is another school of thought who is fairly documented but not fully exposed by the Western Historian. A Muslim Chinese mariner by the name of Cheng Ho or also known as Zheng He, has been claimed by the Chinese to be the first man to do this. It was said that the journey started in 1405 for more than 28 years and has covered more than 40 countries in Asia, Arab, Africa and Europe. The only document that is missing from this log is his journey to the American continent. Check this site for further readings: http://www.bharian.com.my/bharian/articles/ChengHokembali/Article/index

This book is actually an epic intertext between history and writer's interpretation of the history to make this book more dramatic. But the actual fact is that all the dates and sequences are kept as close as possible to the originals. For me, this is the easiest and funnest way to learn the history. This book was written by a Singapore teacher Cikgu Harun Aminurrashid. It was first published in 1957 by "Buku Punggok', and I am very lucky still have this copy in almost mint condition, a gift from my father just a few days back!

Personal review
This book is highly recommended. Although it was presented in old Malay literature, but I really got engrossed by the historical values of its presentation. I do hope that one of these days; a new publishing company will take the lead to reprint/reproduce back this book back. Actually I am still looking for many other old Malay books like Sejarah Melayu, Hikayat Munshi Ibrahim, Tenggelamnya Kapal Van DiVernk, Degup Jantung and many more. These are old literatures that the youngsters need to read and keep!



Publisher: Buku Punggok, Pustaka Melayu
Year Published: May 1958, First Edition
Writer: Harun Aminurrashid

Fascination of the ...stans!

Kashgar to turn into Economic Development Zone
By Maria Seow

www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/eastasia/view/1075951/1/.html

I have always been fascinated by the ...stans! This is eversince I watched the late P Ramlee movies which always have the ...stans taste. Goheadgostan! Kongostan! Hindustan! ...stan! ...stan! Who can forget the comical release of the movies.

The thought to blog came after I read the attached article about Kashgar. Where is Kashgar? I bet that 99.99% of the people that I know, if I ask them this question will never know where this place is.

This also happens during my last public forum some few months back. I asked the audience, does anyone know about Tartarstan? Of course, I was greeted with blank faces as Tartarstan is not significant to the general population. But...
Do you know that Tartarstan produces the highest quality of helicopters in the world?
Do you know that Tartarstan also produces high quality boats?
Do you know that Tartarstan is highly industrialized, ranks second to Samara Oblast in terms of production per km square?
Do you know that Tartarstan is very rich in oil and gas reserves?
Do you know that MM Lee Kuan Yew (ex PM of Singapore) has been there for 3 times to look for opportunities.
Why is it until now, Tartarstan has been out of the favor by most investing countries?

Around the borders the ex-Soviet or ex Turkic states, there are many other ...stans countries which we have never even bothered to know:-
1) Uzbekhistan
2) Turkmenistan
3) Afghanistan
4) Tajikistan
5) Bashkortostan
6) Karakalpakstan
7) Turkestan
8) Kyrgzstan
9) Kazakstan
10) Dagestan
11) ... maybe there are others that I dont know

There are also other countries not bearing the ...stans but worth mentioning. These countries are like Azerbaijan, Chuvashia, Tuva, Altai Republic, Khakassia, Yakutia, Tashkorgan and many others

In general these countries have a long history behind them. For instance Kashgar was one of the original silk road which has history of being conquered by the Chinese Han, Tang & Qing Dynasties, the Arab Caliphate, Uyghurs, Mongols and then First East Turkestan Republic via the battle of Kashgar. These are some long history to understand. Same goes with the USSR former occupation of the other ...stans states!

What I want to mention here is that there are business opportunities there. The countries listed above are mixed in their economy... some are rich and some are very very poor. Oil and gas seems to dominate the rich countries while dependence of agriculture dominates the poorer countries. But the potential is so huge.

In a very sceptical way, why do you think the American send more troops to Afghanistan? To fight the terrorist or to capture the rich minerals that Afghanistan have (they have an estimated USD100 trillion worth of minerals). Yet Afghanistan is still categorized as a poor country. Hummnn... this is another very strategic thinking of a far sighted opportunist country!


Still, the ...stans countries still fascinates me a lot!

The Girl in the Picture

The remarkable story of Vietnam's most famous casualty
- Denise Chong

This book is the story about Kim Phuc - the girl who survived the bombing of napalm in Vietnam. Kim was only 9 years old at the point of the bombing in 1972. A photoghapher by the name of Nick Ut, was fortunate to be there to capture this famous picture which ran prints all over the world. Kim Phuc and most of her family members survived the bombs, but not without cost. To date, Kim underwent at least 17 operations and still experiencing excruciating pain for the scars behind her back

Denise Chong explained in a very simple language detail events of the life before and the life after the bombing. But one thing remains the same, Kim's family was still poor. After the experience that she had in the hospital, Kim wanted to become a doctor. But the Vietnam government just wanted her to assist in the office because she is "the world's most famous war survivor'. She eventually overcome the obstable and granted the approval to study pharmacology in Cuba.

She met Toan, her husand in Cuba. Right after their marriage, the couple went to Moscow for their honeymoon. Unknown to Toan, Kim already planned an "escape" from being part of Cuba nor Vietnam (communist regime). While the plane was refuelling in Canada, the couple defected and seek political asylum. In 1998, they eventually got their Canadian citizenship together with their 2 sons.

Today Kim Phuc is a motivational speaker, a child welfare advocate and a peace activist.

page 362
... Sometime I thought I could not live, but God save me and give me faith and hope. Even if I could talk face to face with the pilot who dropped the bombs, I will tell him we cannot change history but we should try to do good things for the present and for the future to promote peace."

page 363
... "Kim, do you know the man that you're been wanting to find?" (the pilot who dropped the bombs)
"Yes?"
"He's right behind you."
She turned around and looked into the face of pain. She held her arms out.
Plummet (the pilot) fell into them. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."
"It's okay," she replied. "I forgive, I forgive."


Some Vietnam War Facts:-
1) 58,000 Americans died in Vietnam War
2) 300,000 Americans had come home wounded
3) 600 Americans had been captured
4) 1,300 Americans was still MIA in Vietnam
5) 3,000,000 American veterans who had served in Vietnam searched for the meaning of their sacrifices
6) 1 American President lost his office


Personal review
I bought this book in Cambodia some 3 months back, but haven't got the chance to read it until the 13th August 2010. It took me only 3 days to finish this 372 page book.

Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
First Edition
ISBN 0-7432-0703-3

Chilcot Inquiry

31st August is Malaysia's Merdeka day!

31st August too has been declared as the day when Americans "end their combat mission in Iraq".
So, is 31st August too shall be Iraq's Merdeka day?

Lets take a look briefly on the history when Iraq has been amBUSHed by the Americans and her allies. There were heated debate in the congress about going into the war in Iraq. But Bush is determined to bulldozed based on the WMD conspirancy. Years later, after extreme humiliation, more than 4,000 American soldiers death in Iraq & a few millions Iraqis death, everyone (including the US Generals & UN Security Council) confirmed that WMD is never in existance in the very first place. Embarrasing moments for the American huh?

Lets take a look into the Chilcot Inquiry which was aimed at Tony Blair. For better understanding, you can check this website:-
http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/

To be more specific, please look into this:-
http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/media/46499/Goldsmith-note-to-PM-30July2002.pdf

This is an actual letter from UK Attorney General to PM Blair advising him against using any force towards "giving independance" to Iraq. There are only 3 exceptions that they can go with the use of forces:-
1) Self defence
2) Exceptionally, to avert overwhelming humanitarian catastrophe
3) Authorization by UN Security Council
On Para 13, Lord Goldsmith further elaborate that "My view therefore is that in the absence of fresh resolution by the Security Council which would at least involve new determination of a material and flagrant breach, military action would be unlawful"

Then why did these two countries still go into forces when the senate has opposed and then the AG also opposed the war? Blood for oil?

This is a very starategic move indeed!

p/s "Merdeka day" is Independence day!