04.01.08
Posted in History, Social-Cultural Analysis at 2:15 pm by Kam Weng
SOCIAL CONTRACT AND THE SPECIAL POSITION OF THE MALAYS
Some observations on the Historical Context
Excerpt
Malay ethnic nationalists (UMNO politicians in particular) in the past usually avoided making reference to the Social Contract. But recently, these UMNO politicians seem to have overcome their reservations and are urging Malaysians to respect the Social Contract. What is the [...]
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05.24.07
Posted in History, Social-Cultural Analysis at 11:07 pm by Kam Weng
The Reid Commission (1957)(Download PDF File)
I) Report of the Federation of Malaya Constitutional Commission 1957
(London: Her Majesty’s Stationary Office)
Colonial No. 330
3. The members of the Commission were appointed in the name of Her Majesty The Queen and Their Highnesses the Rulers with terms of reference as follows:
“To examine the present constitutional arrangements throughout the Federation [...]
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Posted in History, Social-Cultural Analysis at 10:41 pm by Kam Weng
Whoever seeks to redefine our past seeks to hijack our future. In this regard, recent attempts to rewrite the history of the Social-Legal Contract created at the founding of Malaya/Malaysia in 1957 and our Constitutional history are troubling. These attempts at rewriting of history include two goals: 1) legitimize the transformation of Malaysian politics premised on equal citizenship of all Malaysians to one based on Malay dominance (supremacy) since 1969 (one may call it subversion of Malaysian democracy), and 2) to strengthen demands for implementation of Shariah law in all sectors of society.
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07.27.06
Posted in History, Reviews, Social-Cultural Analysis at 11:25 pm by Kam Weng
The Holocaust has become a symbol of absolute evil among Western historians. This is because the Holocaust was perpetrated by what was arguably the most technologically and culturally advanced country of Europe at that time. That Germany then could systematically execute six million innocent and helpless Jews is both horrifying and incomprehensible. To be sure, scholars researching this episode have made considerable progress with increasing access to hitherto forbidden archives. We now know in great details the whole machinery of death deployed by the Third Reich that implemented the program of genocide. It is strange though, that despite all these new details, scholars are not any nearer in agreeing on an explanation for the causes of the genocide.
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05.31.06
Posted in History, Reviews at 2:07 pm by Kam Weng
The public often receives seductive calls coming from religious ideologues who promise us spiritual peace if only we submit to a power alliance between religion and government: Public order will prosper if the unchanging laws of God are implemented, if not imposed, by a central sovereign. Law, politics and religion form a threefold cable that cannot be easily broken and offers itself as a well nigh irresistible seduction to citizens who are disturbed by the breakdown of morality in modern society.
Political power is often legitimized by sophisticated ideological rhetoric. The difficult and delicate task of exposing the damaging consequences resulting from the entanglement between religion and politics requires a close analysis of the dynamics of power struggle between the protagonists. Social conflict is guaranteed precisely because the clerics are rigidly imbued with a sense of righteousness that must impose their religious vision upon pluralistic civil society without compromise and without any regard for citizens of different convictions. What is conflict but a disregard for compromise in the public sphere?
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04.14.06
Posted in History at 12:17 am by Kam Weng
Hitler’s Willing Executioners by Daniel J. Goldhagen
Reviewed by Ng Kam Weng
The Holocaust has become an symbol of absolute evil among Western historians. This is because the Holocaust was perpetrated by what was arguably the most technologically and culturally advanced country of Europe at that time. That Germany then could systematically execute six million innocent and [...]
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