Melaka and George Town have been added into UNESCO’s World Heritage List a couple of days ago; the cities are jointly inscribed as the “historic cities of the Straits of Malacca”.
It’s the first Cultural World Heritage in Malaysia, in addition to the two Nature World Heritage we already have (Kinabalu National Park and Mulu National Park).
While some folks are celebrating the occasion, I wonder how many Malaysians really know what World Heritage is about. Both cities are certainly going to benefit from extra tourism activities, but do mind that World Heritage is not a tourism project, but meant to protect the natural and cultural heritages around the world.
I hope that related bodies will continue their hardwork to keep these two places intact, and congratulations for all the effort to getting the recognition.
The Pudu Prison area is going to be transformed into a commercial hub by end of 2008.
While some foreigners are trying to save the 113-year-old complex, Malaysians don’t seem to care much about the demolition of our historic building.
Is historic buildings and heritage that worthless to Malaysians? I wonder…
Umno Youth Chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein yesterday (April 25) apologised to the Malays and non-Malays for wielding keris two years ago… but does it sound like an apology?
He apologised to the non-Malays that the keris wielding has caused unease, while apologised to Malays for failing to uphold the Malay emblem as their symbol of heritage (video below)…
Thing is, most of the non-Malays have never denied the importance of keris as a symbol of Malay heritage… the non-Malays are offended because it was used at the wrong place, wrong function, and wrong timing.
And to add fuel to the fire, Hishammudin has in numerous occasions ridiculed the non-Malays for being too sensitive towards the keris issue instead of looking into the responds seriously.
In fact in this so call apology, he is trying to say that the non-Malays are scared of the keris as a Malay symbol, and as if the non-Malays are trying to take away a Malay heritage. Yet again the non-Malays are being ridiculed while he is trying to make himself a Malay hero.
The next thing he would say is that he has apologised, but too bad some of the Malaysians are not that forgiving… yada.
Prime Minister and UMNO president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi opened the UMNO General Assembly on Wednesday (Nov 7) at the Putra World Trade Centre. The following is the full text of his opening address [TheStar]…
STRENGTHENING CONFIDENCE – VENTURING INTO A NEW ERA
Alhamdulillah, with God’s will, we are convene for the 58th UMNO General Assembly.
2. Our assembly this year takes place in the glow of the 50th Merdeka celebrations. This is also our first assembly for the next 50 years. Beginning the first national elections, UMNO, as part of the Alliance and subsequently Barisan Nasional, has formed the national government based on the principle of power sharing. It also spearheaded the drive towards independence.
3. The Malayan Government, considered to be lacking in experience, faced myriad challenges. Twelve years after independence, the nation was riven by racial riots that threatened its survival. Thanks to mutual understanding and a strong spirit of cooperation, we overcame this test. That dark time in our history became a valuable lesson that taught us the need to strengthen our unity.
4. In the aftermath of this tragedy, the Government introduced three major measures. First, the Rukun Negara was introduced as a national ideology to ensure national unity and safeguard the integrity of the nation. Second, the New Economic Policy was designed to develop our economy based on fair and equitable growth. Finally, the Barisan Nasional was introduced as an effective and inclusive political vehicle. The implementation of these three measures has brought success, guaranteed our survival and brought us the prosperity that we enjoy to this day.
Read the rest of this post »
An article from The Jakarta Post about relationship between Malaysia and Indonesia.
The article is biased in some sense, but lots of the things mentioned are fact. Their influx of illegal immigrants have caused some social issues for us, but on the other hand Malaysians in general are not treating our foreign labours with dignity.
To make it worse not only the workers that were discriminated recently, but visitors and students were harassed as well.
The author in the end suggested that Indonesian will have to resolve to military might to win Malaysia’s respect… it sounds radical but mind that Malaysia is upgrading our military force as well with the recent purchase of the submarine and fighter jets.
It would be stupid though, if these 2 countries get into war for these matters.
Read the rest of this post »