As of the 12 of february 2009 i have begun writing on a new blog, located on

http://nicolasrobinson.wordpress.com/

Hope to see you there!

I Have been living in india since 2nd september 2006. I have decided to start writing on the blog again, see if I get visitors again. Experiences here have been wonderful. A few linkns to start you off…

my school: www.muwci.net
My photographs: www.flickr.com/photos/nickrobinson
my videos: http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=nickmuwci

I hope to be able to find some time to write here, last term was absolutely packed with work for me…
im back…
=)
nick

I Have been living in india since 2nd september 2006. I have decided to start writing on the blog again, see if I get visitors again. Experiences here have been wonderful. A few linkns to start you off…

my school: www.muwci.net
My photographs: www.flickr.com/photos/nickrobinson
my videos: http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=nickmuwci

I hope to be able to find some time to write here, last term was absolutely packed with work for me…
im back…
=)
nick

I Have been living in india since 2nd september 2006. I have decided to start writing on the blog again, see if I get visitors again. Experiences here have been wonderful. A few linkns to start you off…

my school: www.muwci.net
My photographs: www.flickr.com/photos/nickrobinson
my videos: http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=nickmuwci

I hope to be able to find some time to write here, last term was absolutely packed with work for me…
im back…
=)
nick

hello…after a long absence…im back. 330am here in ecuador, so ill just write a short anecdote on globalization. todayin FRA, while in ECUADOR, i read an AMERICAN newspaper in a SWISS hotel.In it, I focused on an article on SPAIN which had been written NCE

to think of it was pretty amazing….anyways, im off to bed!

TODAY, APRIL 16, IS THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THIS BLOG. STARTED A YEAR AGO TO LET OUT SOME OF THE IDEAS AND THOUGHTS I HAD INSIDE ME, IT HAS ATTRACTED OVER 4000VISITS OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS. SADLY, IT CANT ONLY BE OUR BIRTHDAY, AND WE ARE FORCED TO SHARE IT WITH THE FOLLOWING CELEBRITIES OF PAST AND PRESENT: MARTIN LAWRENCE, CHARLIE CHAPLIN, PETER USTINOV, KAREEM ABDUL JABBAR AND THE CURRENT POPE ALL HAVE THE HONOR OF SHARING THIS BLOG’S BIRTHDAY.
TO CELEBRATE, WHY NOT A GOOD COMMERCIAL FOR FIREFOX, WHICH CAUSED MANY LAUGHS IN THE HOUSEHOLD LAST NIGHT.HERE’S THE LINK:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Rcr9TGtJf00&search=firefox

We have reached 4000 visitors exactly one week before the 1st anniversary on the blog. gracias a todos los fieles visitantes.

If you have visited this blog for a long time, you will remember that a year ago(almost!!) I wrote about the rotten state of Italian Politics, and how the chnce would soon enough come for them to get Berlusconi out of office. On sunday, their chance will have come. Romano Prodi will hopefully be the man to rid the highest levels of the government of nepotism and corruption. One of his main promises is to withdraw his troops from Iraq as soon as he gets into power. Not only is this something that worked for Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in the Spanish 2004 election, but Prodi has the advantage of being 3% higher than Silvio Berlusconi in the latest opinion polls. Not much more to say on this, lets just hope Italians make the right choice on Sunday!

On April 16th it will be the 1st anniversary of this weblog….

Pio Leiva died this week, aged 88 and 10months, after succesfully completing a European tour. He was one of the artists who made up the ” Buena Vista Social Club”. This group took the love for cuban Music abroad, and infected the United States and Europe with their Cuban rhythm. The fact that Pio Leiva’s career lasted over 70years, but he was only internationally discovered in the 1990’s shows how much Cuba still has to offer in the way of Musical talent.
But there was another thing that this group has transmitted to thousands of people worldwide, and it was their will to live and have fun. If you google(Images) “Pio Leiva” you will see photos of an old but happy man, well dressed, smiling, smoking a cigar, and I know I’m not the only one who would like to die like that. He will be greatly missed, and his voice will bring nostalgic moments on more than one stereo in the world.

(not much to do with world events or politics, you might think)

Ive discovered Yahoo! Widgets. They are a database of little applications one can use to keep track of NCAA Scores, battery levels, chinese weather,traffic cameras, ALMOST ANYTHING! Ive found them extremely helpful( I also use a few to keep track of my email and the news) and I believe they make desktops look a lot nicer. Another great thing, is that it provides a bridge between Macintosh and Windows, providing some of the Mac positive aspects for windows(good looking windows, launchbar for applications) I reccomend it to all of you. WIll be back soon.

It is official now. 300 people die each month trying to enter Spain illegally, mainly africans from Morocco. My wonderful mathematics skills are good enough(hardly)to multiply that by the 12 months of the year and the answer is pretty scary.3600 dead people each year, many drowned, amongst which there are many youngsters and pregnant women(If their son is born in Spain, he automatically become European). I think somebody should draw a picture of 3600 stick men, to give a more visual impression, and show it to the Spanish and Moroccan governments. Something has to be done about this. It is absolutely ridiculous mass death can be treated with such little important as the mediterranean ocean turns into a mass grave aswell as a physical, political, economic and social division.

Some will think, what does this have to do with your blog?, but hey what an impressive person. Nadal, at only age 18, won so many games he began to be on the news every day, and reached that point in my head where he is expected to win and his victories should be normal. Spain and the world watched as he rised up faster and faster the ATP ranking, and at age 18 he reached no.2. after Roger Federer, one of the greatest players of all time. Sitting here and watching him beat Roger Federer was amazing, to watch this kid bouncing up and down the court because he’d beat the best player in the world, and breaking down and crying on the court…. But suddenly, he got injured. It is not important how or why, but he spent 4months “out of combat”, only to reappear and get to the marseille semi finals, and right after that, win the dubai tournament yesterday by, again, beating Federer in the finals. My congratulations to this kid, who has become the only contender for first place of the world at his age.

I GOT IN TO MAHINDRA UNITED WORLD COLLEGE! (WWW.MUWCI.NET)
IT STARTED AS MORE OR LESS A JOKE TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED, GOT MORE SERIOUS , AND FINALLY MY INTERVIEW WAS GOOD ENOUGH TO GET ME ACCEPTED AT MAHINDRA UWC. CHANCES ARE ILL BE THERE FROM SEPTEMBER 06 TO SEP.08 AND NOW MY PLAN IS TO KEEP AN INTERNET DIARY OF ALL THE STUFF WE DO, INCLUDING ARTICLES BY ALL THE PEOPLE WHO’LL LIVE WITH ME AND WANT TO WRITE ON THAT PAGE. IT WILL BE PARALLEL TO THIS BLOG, ALTHOUGH NOW I HAVE TO CONCENTRATE ON ORGANISING ALL THE MILLIONS OF VISA PAPERS, IMMUNISATION INJECTIONS, MEDICAL TESTS ETC THAT HAVE TO BE TAKEN BEFORE GOING THERE. WEEKS OF LAZINESS HAVE CAUSED ME TO HAVE TO HURRY THIS BECAUSE I HAVE LOADS OF HOMEWORKS OVERDUE WHICH I AM WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT!BYE!

i will not be writing a post today, nor yesterday as you may have noticed. this is because my sister has given me her crappy flu virus and im feeling like crap, so we can thank her for coughing everywhere where she was ina closed space with me and not covering her mouth…sorry. by the way, loads and loads of great answers about/from malaysia!

seems as if theres a mixed view of this. I post the large number of words that people answered to the post of the discriminations list, and this afternoon will write a new post.nick

Hi there. It seem like u are not satisfied with government. I’m Malay, and I know you Are talking about statistic. In fact, what is the major race in Malaysia? Who is the richest man in Malaysia? Is there anybody don’t have enough food in Malaysia? is there any bias judgment in Malaysia? Is there any Indian or Chinese killed by Malay because of race?
So let me answer that, the majority race in Malaysia is Malay, so, in most statistic, Malays will be the highest, but it doesn’t mean it is a bias. in fact the majority in pusat serenti is Malay too… the majority driver on the road now is Malay, majority people dead in percentage is Malay… yeah it simply because Malay is the majority. Majority is always right but it doesn’t mean the minority can’t speak… the minorities also get their own benefit. Your word smell of racism.. Please don’t provoke anything about race, as i ask before is there anyone get killed because of race in Malaysia? Past 14 may yes, now no. we live peacefully. Don’t kill the peace… there are none other government can handle multi race country like Malaysia. Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, they can’t be like Malaysia.
Yes Malays have their special right because they are majority. This is the way to keep the peace. If you are talking about fair and unfair, for your mention, when it is fair, it mean not fair and via versa. Confuse? let me explain it to you, let say you have two son, one in form one and the second one in university, monthly you just give 30 ringgit to your son in form one but you spend 300 ringgit a month for the one in university, is that fair??? Both suppose to get same amount of money. How come you give 10 times more for the one in the university??? Where is the justice???
You get it now I guess, both have their own needs. Same as race in Malaysia, Indian have their own need, Malay have their own too. So do Chinese. Malay people use to work in government sector, Indian as lawyer and doctor, Chinese in business, that how things work. For your mention, in medic, the majorities are Indian, is that racism? Government help Malays this kind of way, they help Indian in other way, and also they help Chinese. They always ask Malay to do that, do this, give that, give this, it simply because this majorities must work and do something in order to help the country. We can’t depend on the minority to support everything in the nation… both majority and minority must make move. in other word, government must do something to push the majority to work and contribute to the nation. Those majorities consist of lots of power and if they don’t do anything, government will face a major lost. That’s why its look likes only Malay that have the special threat. Actually everybody does. Have you ever go to school? If yes, government doesn’t leave you behind. everybody go to school, everybody eat rice, everybody have their religious places, everybody can vote, everybody can travel, everybody can get want they want, everybody can buy house, car, land, everything. what else you want dude? Have you ever thanks government that builds schools, hospitals, bus station for you. from before your first time come into this world, government already help you, until you big enough to go to school, until you go to secondary school until now…. why don’t we start thinking about ourselves, how much we have contribute to ourselves? Family? Religious? Race? Society? Nation?. I just giving my opinion, hope it benefit everybody, just care about the peace.
Comment by Azyzy — February 20, 2006 @ 10:08 am | Edit This
great, another bunch of stuff I didnt know, thanks for the comment. nick
Comment by Administrator — February 20, 2006 @ 7:03 pm | Edit This
great, another bunch of stuff I didnt know, thanks for the comment. nick
Comment by Administrator — February 20, 2006 @ 7:03 pm | Edit This
First of all, are we (the non-malays, that is) really to believe that the government will abolish or tone down the New Economic Policy in the near future? We must be realistic, if you have the right to buy a property at a discount and have scholarships for your children, would you let go of these rights?
With Chinese population dwindling in Malaysia, what needs to be done depends on the Chinese themselves.
There is nothing wrong with the brain drain. In fact, we should encourage our children to move to Singapore, Taiwan, China etc, if we disagree with Malaysian government policies that are based on race and religion.
When it comes to the matter of the dwindling number of Chinese Malaysians, we should talk about quality, not quantity.
We should resolve why the Chinese-Malaysian population is reducing. Official figures have more than one million Chinese Malaysians emigrating over the past 25 years. Why did they emigrate? I am sure the government knows.
Straight A students can’t get scholarships or university places. Nothing new, it is been that way for the past 35 years. Nowadays, even enlightened malay Malaysians are speaking up on this injustice. The MCA and Gerakan? Busy making money from private colleges.
What is so great about having TAR College or Utar which took more than 35 years of begging? Why should it be so difficult to set up an independent university when we have scores of public ones?
While we push young talented people away, other countries notably Singapore, the US and Australia welcome them with open arms.
Is it logical that we drive away our young talented ones and then invite retired Mat Sallehs to live here and exploit our low-cost of living?
Singapore’s success in particular owes much to these ex-Malaysians or their descendants including Hon Sui Sen, Goh Keng Swee, Goh Chok Tong, just to name a few.
About 30 percent of top management in both Singapore’s government and corporate sector are ex-Malaysians. We export them so that Singapore can compete with, and then whack us.
Korea and Taiwan, both way behind us in the 70s and 80s are now way ahead. Thailand is breathing down our necks.
Sadly, there is just no integrity in the nation’s leadership.
Comment by oversee — February 21, 2006 @ 3:50 am | Edit This
Chinese getting straight As are not allowed into universities. Not allowed civil service jobs. That is blatant discrimination.
Why do you support such discrimination?
Chinese Malaysians have built very successful businesses, hence they have the wealth that they have. This is not greed. They worked for what they now own.
Why do you envy what does not belong to you? Is this not greed?
It is quite untrue that business offers are conducted on the basis of race. Starting any business is very very hard work, but the malays did not have a hard working tradition to persevere. This is a cultural change the malays need in order to conduct businesses successfully.
Armed with this knowledge, do you still insist that Chinese Malaysians are greedy, and therefore it is right for malays to take what does not belong to them?
Your perception of business in Malaysia has got to be wrong.
Most goods and services can be conducted in open markets, and there is no particular reason to single out malays so that Chinese businessmen should swindle them. There are lots of swindlers in business so it is not just malays who get swindled.
Successful businessmen depend on providing real benefits to customers and partners so that it is worthwhile for them to do business again and again to both parties benefit. It is only when customers also get rich that businesses can grow.
The discrimination against Chinese, Indians and other peoples cannot be tolerated in the modern world. Countries that do this will face long-term decline.
Hard working people are not greedy as you accuse them. They are hard working because they have a mission in life to prosper, to give offspring a good chance in life to live to the full, to contribute their talents to the betterment of society……….
This is not greed.
Whereas, envy of others wealth and taking what they have not worked for is greed.
I would put is stronger. It is robbery and corruption. You talk like a Mafia extortionist when you said that worse could happen to the Chinese, so be thankful because there are more malays than Chinese, and therefore they can take even more from the Chinese if they want to.
You have to be joking to believe that your greed and prejudices are the wonderful things about Malaysia. Well, may be you do.
Malaysia as describe it is a country based on racism, lack of a conscience, and greed (taking from hard working foreigners).
Meritocracy is denounced. Robbing the wealthy is promoted.
How can there be a good future for such a country?
Looking from outside of Malaysia, it is easy to see that the malay-controlled government is enforcing a wealth-robbing programme from the Chinese who earned their wealth through hard work.
By barring bright well qualified Chinese Malaysians from entering Malaysian universities, Malaysia is pursuing a discriminatory policy based on race.
This is not tolerated in civilised countries. It is a policy that gives Malaysia a very bad reputation and deprives itself of its most talented.
It is a policy which tells the malays that robbing from the rich is not greed because being rich, being educated is the same as being greedy.
This is moral corruption and self contradiction which Malaysia will pay back a very heavy price.
Comment by hero — February 21, 2006 @ 5:49 am | Edit This
Imagine our prime minister lecturing on the real facts of peace and unity in Malaysia.
“We (government) do not practise meritocracy and social fairness. We practise discrimination and racism in our education system, housing allocation and discount, jobs, university entry. We blackmail and extort non-bumis through Approved Permits and shares equity. We dish out handouts to bumis, etc. That is how we achieve peace and unity in Malaysia.”
The only reason why there is peace and unity is because the non-bumis are tolerant, progressive, peace, moderate, magnanimous and loving, despite the racism, keris wielding and discriminatory policies.
If the future leader is bollocks then the future of this country is also bollocks.
The education system in this country from top to bottom is going from bad to worst, we are producing robots, incompetent, hapless, crony and brainwashed leaders.
Going by that, the track record of the Umno government is nothing less than embarrassing and shameful.
While the rich and famous in the Umno coalition is feasting off the richness of the land christened Malaysia, thousands more are languishing in poverty, sickness and adverse social circumstances.
I care for my fellow citizens regardless of race and religion and there is nothing more I wish to see that for them to be able to lead a decent life through diligence and honesty. But such values are of no worth in a corrupted and racist system like the Umno government’s.
The current debate is not about race, religion or political ideology. It is about good values or rather, the lack of them in the current Umno politicians.
One must not mistake hatred against racism with hatred against race. The former is admirable, and the latter is deplorable.
From the comments of you malay, I can conclude that he is either delirious and confused or he is simply a typical Umno politician - colored-vision, conceited and paranoid.
Your comments clearly show your insecurity as well as your inferiority complex. Unfortunately, your comments suggest that your views represent all the malays.
It also shows that you, as representing the malays, concede that you are not prepared and will never be prepared, even in the future, to meet with competition. You suggest that you need to be wrapped in cotton wool for all time.
You may be the ketuanan of Malaysia but what kind of Malaysia will that be by then if you continue with your tunnel vision and refuse to meet and compete with the rest of the world.
The world does not owe you a favour and will not wait for you. A big problem is that you expect the world and everyone to owe you a living. Get real the world owes you nothing!
You will be in a very small country and a small world of your own. You may be the ketuanan of such a country which may be weaker than a banana republic in time.
Under those circumstance, it may not be important whether you are the ketuanan of such a country which is not third rate but fourth rate, and which may be open to be taken by a stronger force. By then you will be too weak and friendless to defend yourself.
Please don’t think that Malaysia belongs to one particular race, you are insulting yourself, and your race, don’t ever forget that some key leaders in top government are with mixed blood, not pure malays……….please know your mission as a Malaysian, to live united with the other races and fight independently with the globalised world.
Don’t be narrow-minded anymore, do correct thing to make things right.
The “bumiputera” stole the land from Orang Asli. By right all of Malaysia should belong to them. If recall history as the current generation of malays came over from Sumatra, Jawa, and the island around.
If your thinking remains the same - please go back to Indonesia where you can proudly call yourself bumis there.
Comment by the model racist nation — February 21, 2006 @ 5:55 am | Edit This
Well, I worked in a few different countries and I have met some transplanted or former Malaysians (Chinese or Indian and even mixed blood). Almost all of them narrated the same treatment they received while they were in Malaysia, when I asked them why they wanted to leave the beautiful country Malaysia.
I have talked to an automotive engineer in Germany (ex-Malaysian married to a German); I met a mining engineer formerly from Ipoh who now lives in Canada; I met a petroleum engineer in Australia who is specialized in fracture stimulation (whatever that is);
I met a spacecraft engineer in Houston who has nothing good to say about Malaysia……….many more people with great talents and expertise who have given up Malaysian citizenships……….most interesting was a malay women who married to an American geologist……….she did not repay her RM90000 Mara loan and do not want to return to Malaysia.
So now I am in Malaysia for a year and I realized what those people told me about. Most of what they said I can now sympathies and understand the situation.
They never ever regret the choice make to give up Malaysian citizenships. Being a non-malay is a second or third class citizen in this country.
My job here is not to change the political situation……….I am just saying what I come across……….
Comment by expat — February 21, 2006 @ 6:07 am | Edit This
Migration and emigration of human beings is a pre-requisite of human progress and development. Without migration, human beings would be doomed to an existence worse than that of animals. Even animals migrate to seek a better habitat.
Patriotism is not a one-way thing, it is a two-way commitment. If one finds that one’s patriotism and loyalty is not reciprocated as having to live with a corrupt government, discriminatory policies, inhumane and repressive laws etc, one has a right to review one’s patriotism and commitment if one so chooses.
Why would people stay if their talents are not recognised in their own country and they do not have the opportunities to develop their potential? Why remain when they can have these opportunities in another country?
Indeed, it is very fortunate that we all live in this day and age of globalisation where we are free to live and work anywhere in the world as long as we have the skills and talent.
There is much less reason now to put up with bad governments, or corrupt, oppressive regimes and racist, anywhere in the world.
Of course the grass is never greener on the other side. You still need the same energy, enterprise and sometimes luck to make it. But there is no doubt in my mind and in those who have worked here and overseas - the playing field is more level abroad.
Whilst, I may add that most lower middle-class Malaysian citizens and professionals are the main bulk of immigrants to countries abroad. They need to get settled first and have a few contacts to start life anew.
To expect them to be millionaires in businesses will take a generation or more and we are beginning to see that now. If they had not emigrated, they would have been hard pressed to send their children abroad and everybody knows the quota system for universities, jobs, job promotions and opportunities back home.
In Canada, we experience the best there is in life. Every citizen has equal rights. They have done well in every aspect of life.
In the US, anyone whether black, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Mexican etc, has the right to run for president. There are no restrictions, one only needs to secure the votes.
Nobody should operate under the assumption that migration is a bed of sweet, smelling roses. Roses have thorns.
Certainly, migration is not a dirty word. In fact, migration is the reason for this multiethnic paradise I call home today. The question is, can Malaysia retain her talents?
We are simply losing good people to the more developed countries, and this problem is also faced by other countries such as India and China.
Singapore has been absorbing our talents regardless of the medium of instruction they have been taught in. Perhaps the biggest slap on our face is the fact that thousands and thousands of Malaysians have been recruited to bloom in the Lion City’s workforce, while our own industry leaders have done nothing to help the government keep these investments from going abroad.
Many people leave the country for a variety of reasons. Some leave for economic reasons, some for better education, some over concerns for the climate of democracy in their home country. There is no reason to deride any migrant for their choices in life. Every human being is entitled to the right of social, physical and geographical mobility - you seek your place on earth and call it home.
So leave if you must, go while you can, but don’t give up on the march.
That is a worthy sacrifice that requires courage.
Congratulations to those who have found a better future in life.
Comment by lion — February 21, 2006 @ 6:13 am | Edit This

This is a comment posted by “human book”, a few days ago. I am`posting it as a new post because of its length, and I believe its pretty important to know this stuff(if its true?)
any comments regarding this list are welcome

List of racial discriminations in Malaysia, practiced by government as well as government agencies. This list is an open secret. Best verified by government itself because it got the statistics.

This list is not in the order of importance, that means the first one on the list is not the most important and the last one on the list does not mean least important.

This list is a common knowledge to a lot of Malaysians, especially those non-malays (Chinese, Ibans, Kadazans, Orang Asli, Tamils, etc) who were being racially discriminated.

Figures in this list are estimates only and please take it as a guide only. Government of Malaysia has the most correct figures. Is government of Malaysia too ashamed to publish their racist acts by publishing racial statistics?

This list cover a period of about 48 years since independence (1957).

List of racial discriminations (Malaysia):

(1) Out of all the 5 major banks, only one bank is multi-racial, the rest are controlled by malays

(2) 99% of Petronas directors are malays

(3) 3% of Petronas employees are Chinese

(4) 99% of 2000 Petronas gasoline stations are owned by malays

(5) 100% all contractors working under Petronas projects must be bumis status

(6) 0% of non-malay staffs is legally required in malay companies. But there must be 30% malay staffs in Chinese companies.

(7) 5% of all new intake for government police, nurses, army, is non-malays.

(8) 2% is the present Chinese staff in Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), drop from 40% in 1960

(9) 2% is the percentage of non-malay government servants in Putrajaya. But malays make up 98%

(10) 7% is the percentage of Chinese government servants in the whole government (in 2004), drop from 30% in 1960

(11) 95% of government contracts are given to malays

(12) 100% all business licensees are controlled by malay government e.g. Taxi permits, Approved permits, etc

(13) 80% of the Chinese rice millers in Kedah had to be sold to malay controlled Bernas in 1980s. Otherwise, life is make difficult for Chinese rice millers

(14) 100 big companies set up, owned and managed by Chinese Malaysians were taken over by government, and later managed by malays since 1970s e.g. UTC, UMBC, MISC, etc

(15) At least 10 Chinese owned bus companies (throughout Malaysia, throughout 40 years) had to be sold to MARA or other malay transport companies due to rejection by malay authority to Chinese application for bus routes and rejection for their application for new buses

(16) 2 Chinese taxi drivers were barred from driving in Johor Larkin bus station. There are about 30 taxi drivers and 3 are Chinese in October 2004. Spoiling taxi club properties was the reason given

(17) 0 non-malays are allowed to get shop lots in the new Muar bus station (November 2004)

(18) 8000 billions ringgit is the total amount the government channeled to malay pockets through ASB, ASN, MARA, privatisation of government agencies, Tabung Haji etc, through NEP over 34 years period

(19) 48 Chinese primary schools closed down since 1968 - 2000

(20) 144 Indian primary schools closed down since 1968 - 2000

(21) 2637 malay primary schools built since 1968 - 2000

(22) 2.5% is government budget for Chinese primary schools. Indian schools got only 1%, malay schools got 96.5%

(23) While a Chinese parent with RM1000 salary (monthly) cannot get school-text-book-loan, a malay parent with RM2000 salary is eligible

(24) 10 all public universities vice chancellors are malays

(25) 5% - the government universities lecturers of non-malay origins had been reduced from about 70% in 1965 to only 5% in 2004

(26) Only 5% is given to non-malays for government scholarships over 40 years

(27) 0 Chinese or Indians were sent to Japan and Korea under “Look East Policy”

(28) 128 STPM Chinese top students could not get into the course that they aspired i.e. Medicine (in 2004)

(29) 10% place for non-bumi students for MARA science schools beginning from year 2003, but only 7% are filled. Before that it was 100% malays

(30) 50 cases whereby Chinese and Indian Malaysians, are beaten up in the National Service program in 2003

(31) 25% is Malaysian Chinese population in 2004, drop from 45% in 1957

(32) 7% is the present Malaysian Indians population (2004), a drop from 12% in 1957

(33) 2 millions Chinese Malaysians had emigrated to overseas since 40 years ago

(34) 0.5 million Indian Malaysians had emigrated to overseas

(35) 3 millions Indonesians had migrated into Malaysia and became Malaysian citizens with bumis status.

(36) 600000 are the Chinese and Indian Malaysians with red IC and were rejected repeatedly when applying for citizenship for 40 years. Perhaps 60% of them had already passed away due to old age. This shows racism of how easily Indonesians got their citizenships compare with the Chinese and Indians

(37) 5% - 15% discount for a malay to buy a house, regardless whether the malay is rich or poor

(38) 2% is what Chinese new villages get compare with 98% of what malay villages got for rural development budget

(39) 50 road names (at least) had been changed from Chinese names to other names

(40) 1 Dewan Gan Boon Leong (in Malacca) was altered to other name (e.g. Dewan Serbaguna or sort) when it was being officially used for a few days. Government try to shun Chinese names. This racism happened in around year 2000 or sort

(41) 0 temples/churches were built for each housing estate. But every housing estate got at least one mosque/surau built

(42) 3000 mosques/surau were built in all housing estates throughout Malaysia since 1970. No temples, no churches are required to be built in housing estates

(43) 1 Catholic church in Shah Alam took 20 years to apply to be constructed. But told by malay authority that it must look like a factory and not look like a church. Still not yet approved in 2004

(44) 1 publishing of Bible in Iban language banned (in 2002)

(45) 0 of the government TV stations (RTM1, RTM2, TV3) are directors of non-malay origins

(46) 30 government produced TV dramas and films always showed that the bad guys had Chinese face, and the good guys had malay face. You can check it out since 1970s. Recent years, this tendency becomes less

(47) 10 times, at least, malays (especially Umno) had threatened to massacre the Chinese Malaysians using May 13 since 1969

(48) 20 constituencies won by DAP would not get funds from the government to develop. Or these Chinese majority constituencies would be the last to be developed

(49) 100 constituencies (parliaments and states) had been racistly re-delineated so Chinese voters were diluted that Chinese candidates, particularly DAP candidates lost in election since 1970s

(50) Only 3 out of 12 human rights items are ratified by Malaysia government since 1960

(51) 0 - elimination of all forms of racial discrimination (UN Human Rights) is not ratified by Malaysia government since 1960s

(52) 20 reported cases whereby malay ambulance attendances treated Chinese patients inhumanely, and malay government hospital staffs purposely delay attending to Chinese patients in 2003. Unreported cases may be 200

(53) 50 cases each year whereby Chinese, especially Chinese youths being beaten up by malay youths in public places. We may check at police reports provided the police took the report, otherwise there will be no record

(54) 20 cases every year whereby Chinese drivers who accidentally knocked down malays were seriously assaulted or killed by malays

(55) 12% is what ASB/ASN got per annum while banks fixed deposit is only about 3.5% per annum

There are hundreds more racial discriminations in Malaysia to add to this list of “colossal” racism. It is hope that the victims of racism will write in to expose racism.

Malaysia government should publish statistics showing how much malays had benefited from the “special rights” of malays and at the same time tell the statistics of how much other minority races are being discriminated.

Hence, the responsibility lies in the Malaysia government itself to publish unadulterated statistics of racial discrimination.

If the Malaysia government hides the statistics above, then there must be some evil doings, immoral doings, shameful doings and sinful doings, like the Nazi, going on onto the non-malays of Malaysia.

Civilized nation, unlike evil Nazi, must publish statistics to show its treatment on its minority races. This is what Malaysia must publish……….

We are asking for the publication of the statistics showing how “implementation of special rights of malays” had inflicted colossal racial discrimination onto non-malays.

I spoke just now about how behind Spain seemed to be in the area which makes up their border with France. What better than this to show how something seems to be wrong. I promise it is my own photo and I have not modified it in any way to change the writing. For those of you who do not read Spanish, it basically means “National Poo Reserve”

Isnt tourism wonderful!!

I have been travelling the past few days, and will be until sunday aswell. Travelling is something I love, for all sorts of different reasons. On of the things I noticed is that a border town in spain looks like this

Just a few kilometres away, across the french border, we can find a town like this

Why the change? Why is it that something that looks like a poor peasants town in Spain can look so grand and Napoleonic in France? I think that it has something to do not only with the french obsession with grandness, but with the period of economic and social isolation established by the Fascist Franco Regime in Spain. Strange…. anybody know anything about this?

Emails have arrived in my inbox asking me what SachatamiaGroup is. SachatamiaGroup is a weblog which is completely open to comments, whether they be positive or negative. Sachatamia means “cloud forest” in Quechua, and it is an ecuadorean word I also adopted for my store . Here I have talked for the past 10months about al osrts of global events and politics, mainly to teenagers, yet also to older people. Anybody is welcome to be here and say what they want, which I believe is how everything should be.

We all know the US government(and others, yes) will go out of its way to kick communism out of this world.(Unless your country has people who will work for 35cents an hour). But what would happen if a communist party won national elections, in a democratic state? Should it be allowed to rule the country?? Should Hamas be allowed to rule over Palestine??
I do believe so, because it is the will of the people that is above anything else in democracy, yet some conditions should be applied, just as they are with other parties.(i.e they should not try and take full control of government etc…) This is perhaps a weak argument with no backing evidence but it is a thought that has been in my head since the Hamas victory in Palestine, and I think, one to think about. One more small thing: I sent my application for Mahindra UWC today, hoping for good luck. If I were to move countries, though, I am sure to carry on blogging my head off, so do not worry(comment directed at you members who emailed me scared I would stop. Come on, you know me better than that!! lol) Will be in contact with you with the result through my blog.

Just when we thought it couldn’t get much more interesting, we were all proved wrong. Fake rocks full of computer chips and transmitters were found in Moscow, apparently belonging to so called “british spies!”. This is one of those times when I simply dont belueve those people who say ” Politics, world events? thats a pretty boring subject, how can u write a blog on only that??”
This is just one of the latest events that show how much the various treaties to disarm and finish with secrets amongst nations have failed(Just look at the Palestininan electoral victory this week, another example. but thats another story) To say the truth, I would not be at all surprised if the Brits actually spied on Russians, and I think that they deserved to be caught. But I think the same of the russian spies in London who have never been catched and probably never will be catched. We must realise that these things are not isolated events, but that they go on regularly in many countries by many organisations, but mainly FBI,CIA,and MI6.

Computers(with internet) play a vital role in 21st century communications. They have led (amongst MANY MANY other things) to development in more rural areas all over the developed world. Now, wouldnt it be fair for poor children to have a computer with internet in Less economically developed countries? It is a possible dream, I think, and programs such as this one have helped to prove it. Why so much reluctance from governments to helping poor children in developing countries? Sure, we do get the odd small contribution here and there, along with the publicitary photo, but help is nowhere near what is needed. I have a theory. Apart from greed, I think we are scared of where these children can get. Living in Spain, I get a chance to see hundreds of incredibly smart immigrants working in low paid jobs such as garbage pick up and brick-layers. These people come with years of experience in given fields such as doctors, engineers or pilots, yet the spanish government stops them from being able to carry out their real jobs by simply making their licenses not valid. In my opinion, the minute citizens of LEDC’s are given good educations they could excel, and rise to the highest levels of knowledge and business, because they have learnt since they are kids how to give the little they have and to get the best of it. Anyway, just another one of those posts at 1am.good night!

My war on Iraq money counter( lower down thia page on the right margin) is now at about $235,864,800,000.
If we were to buy Nicholas Negroponte’s new 100$ computer we would be able to buy $2,358,648,000 computers with that money, which could be spread around the globe at one computer per 10km2…I’m not going to even do the math, it is clear that this is another way that money could have been spent to makle the world a better place. Of course, Mr.Hussein would still be a HUGE threat to humanity, so we can thank the americans for that:)!! (??)

After a break from blogging due to exams, parties and other terrible things ! I am back to blog my view of the world, and next up is my view of using the internet to change poor people’s lives!!I am particularly happy the site has topped 3200 hits in its less than a year history, and thats all thanks to you, so thanks for visiting the page folks….
NICK

I am sorry to say that for the next week or so I will be blogging even less because I will be in the middle of exams. I apologise to anyone who reads my blog. I will be back in the holidays, hipefully with a daily post.REGARDS!

For me, it is sad to see inmigrants lose their ethnic identity as they try and hide their origins once they have arrived at their destinations. Madrid is a great example of how ecuadoreans, eastern europeans and africans all try to “blend into the mix” amd “do as the romans do”. Far from asking them to dress like the people in the photo(towards whom I have nothing against) I do believe they should keep some of their traditions, accents, family connections. It is possible that people want to leave a sadder part of their lives behind, and start a clean page. However, I believe immigrants here, and all over the world try(usually fail) to change their looks or accents because of their desire to fit in, which is increased by the lack of tolerance of many spanish people. Whether its children in schools, or their parents at work, signs of this intolerance can be seen everyday by anybody who is attentive. It is things like these which prevent a long term mix of cultures that would no d0ubt benefit the city. A perfect example of this could be Los Angeles, California. Home to Americans, Latinos, Ethiopians, South americans, Europeans, Asians etc etc etc, it has developed a sense of respect and/or admiration for different points of different cultures. Not only do the citizens benefit from this but the state, from its massive amounts of imports which satisfy their global customers. It is a city where you can blend in, without losing grip with your culture, and can proudly say something like: “I am ethiopian” without being looked at with a strange face of uncomprehension. Perhaps it is the few years Spain has been open to this “public”, maybe time will decide, but hopefully before these hundreds of thousands of people and their kids turn into ordinary middle class spaniards and behave like everybody else.

what do these people think they are doing? I mean, if you are really angry you go out and demonstrate outside some building.Far from being an article trying to change peoples way of revolting against governments, ill for once be a bit of a radical(for once?)if you are really angry, go ahead, burn the prime ministers car in sign of protest. What do the french arabs that are revolting against the system think they are going to do by burning their neighbours cars? is it a revolutionary way of recruitment, burning up the cars of people that are in your same situation and hope that because of it they will be smashing and burning the streets next evening?Martin Varsavsky pointed out something similar in his blog referring to the disruption caused in Mar del Plata after president Bush’s visit.I was in paris last week and it is kind of scary to think that this was going on at the same time that i was there. Thank you T.C for the link. If you have quicktime, click on the following link to watch a pretty shocking video taken just a few days ago.

http://joi.ito.com/archives/2005/11/04/home_video_clip_of_paris_police_shooting_in_suburbs.html#comments

Promusicae Spain anounced today that as of november 1st a cd will be considered a “golden album” by selling 40,000 instead of 50,000 copies(amounts of cd`s that had to be sold before). The “planitum LP” will be given to albums that sell over 80,000 copies, and not 100,000, as was required before. This, of course, is due to the huge crisis that the music industry is going through. Most people blame it entirely on black africans selling fake cd´s on the streets, but I have another idea to add to this theory. I, personally, am much more keen to go buy a cd by an unknown artist who is trying to make his name in the industry than go out and buy the latest system of a down CD, however much I like the music.Why is this?
simply because I believe that he needs it more. I think that if Britney Spears stopped showering with evian water, renting out the most exclusive hotels and buying the most exclusive homes, and appearing on MTV CRIBS showing us all her latest cars and the new gold plated dining room or something of the sort, many people would be much more keen to go after the CD for the music, and not for the woman on the cover or the size of her Malibu estate. Who knows, perhaps I am wrong, but am i the only one who finds the first cd amazing, waits for ages for the next one to come out, only to find it is totally crap?

I wont be able to post anything today, I am writing this from work, briefly. Internet connections in Spain are nothing amazing, and I have been disconnected for a pretty long time now…hopefully the arrival of FON on november 7th will provide a good WiFi connection in my house for blogging…
once again, I am sorry for this, and dont stop coming!

Martin Varsavsky has started many company’s up to now. He has demonstrated he has the skill to master entrepreneurship in fields as varied as Real Estate, Medical, and Telecommunications. Two of his biggest successes have been “ya.com” and Jazztel, probably his most famous company up to date. But it looks as if this will change soon, as preparations for FON are nearing their end. The company will officialy launch its program November 7th, as Varsavsky announced on his official webpage( http://spanish.martinvarsavsky.net). So what exactly IS FON? you might be asking yourselves right about now. Why is it such a revolutionary idea and why is it receiving so much coverage all over the internet?
Well, it is ordinary an idea as it may seem. Varsavsky wants to create a WiFi community in Spain, where members share their wifi connection which in turn shares it with anybody else who has given their connection password to the company. Perhaps it is necessary to put it in a different way.(my parents certainly thought so when I first explained it to them)
You have a WiFi connection in your house.You give your connection password to FON(and so do another 1000people). While travelling in Your city, or for that matter, anywhere in Spain, you can use anybody’s wifi connection provided that they are members of the “tribe”, and additionally have access in >Starbucks and other establishments of the sort. For those technically deprived people(me included) who do not have a wifi connection to give they can either pay a fixed rate (about the price of an adsl line) to enter the group, or ask FON to install WiFi in their homes. This idea may seem bad because of the vast areas of land that have to be covered, but with a large number of members(something that looks likely from the way the news has shaken the internet world) it can be a very powerful idea. So powerful(when linked to WiFi phones), that it could even threaten Telefonica’s monopoly of spanish communications.

After a long, long break, I am back. My absence is due to many factors, from laziness to very bad internet providers in Spain(more on that, and Martin Varsavsky’s new idea,FON, tomorrow).

In Spain, there is one king sport. Unlike North America, where you can enjoy good baseball, hockey, basketball, american football, etc, spanish people are in general, completely addicted to soccer. It is so engraved in society that there is seldom any mention of any other sport in the media. But there is one thing that is the same (as far as I know) all around the world, and that is the importance that is given to some unimportant small issues. Today, spanish papers seemed incredibly worried about Ronaldo’s ankle which is sprained for two weeks than a few other people who have won world championships, or are repreenting SPain at the highest level in global sports, and obtaining medals nonetheless. I know this to be true in The US aswell. The New York Times would rather report that Terrell Owens prefers one training field to another than report that a man who had his leg amputated after cancer is triumphant in a paralympic global decathlon. In my opinion not only is this ridiculous, but also the fact that newspapers or newspaper sections call themselves “Sports” which is obviously not the case, as they whould cover a much wider array of news to read about different subjects.

Another link to an organisation. This time, OneVoice Movement, founded and run by the great Daniel Lubetzky. The organisation helps to promote peace between israelis and palestinians.Enjoy

Even more criticisms for the United States and,this time, Canada. Living in Spain, with 5TV channels, I have always complained about the quality of the home entertainment, which is not only limited, but very bad. The answer, I got British cable tv,and that problem is now pretty much solved. But now in my trip, I have realised how American television consists of biased news channels, people trying to sell you brooms that work better than your own, or brainwashing watchers into buying the latest drug that will save you from sure death. With this kind of entertainment,it is not surprising that the United States,despite being rich, powerful, and having some of the most intelligent people in the world, is raising generations of very ignorant people who live fearful of the many things which might happen to them.Moving to New York in a couple of days, and hopefully some good posts will come out of there!

Travelling in the USA for some 10 days, and then moving to Canada for another week or so, there is one thing that has attracted my attention. In the US, all the badly paid jobs i.e employees at coffee shops, souvenir stores, etc are carried out either by latinos or blacks, and somehow you getthe impression thatthey got up very early, are tired and bored of their job and cannot make ends meet. Moving up to Canada, a much wider variety of people do these jobs. But there is a large difference. Whether they be latino, indian, caucasian, black, everyone seems to be more friendly and much more happy to do their job, and help you out in whatever they may need. I happened to hear a Michael Moore interview yesterday something that, I think, is exactly the right reason.In his own words: “Canadians have structured their societyin a different way to Americans. Their view is, we’re all Canadians, we’re all in the same boat here. If a person falls upon hard times in Canada, we should help him/her out. Here in America, we Beat Up on our poor. We want to punish them for being poor.”
I think, having been in LA recently, a city of such rich and poor extremes, that this argument Mr.Moore makes is quite valid and true. WHich is better??you decide!

Todays post is simply an invitation to visit the SPR Website. StopPrisonerRape is an oranisation based in Los Angeles which helps to stop raping in jails and is spreading out the word very quickly. Due to their growing popularity, they deserve to have a link of their own. To enter, simply click anywhere on this post!

In Spain, more and more attention is being given to older people and the way they use new technologies. Studies are being carried out, mostly, by various different technological companies,and I don’t blame them. All research shows that the elder men and women of our society(on the whole, of course) either refuse, or are reluctant to use new devices and technologies. When asked why, they answer that they feel left out by the new generation and new companies, and there was also a great deal of “When I was younger….” and “Before you were born…”. A few days ago I stood in Los Angeles airport at a check in desk, where most of the check-in attendants have been substituted by computers. Needless to say, there were many people(40years and above) who had absolutely no clue as to how to use these machines. They were put in “special lines”(interpret as you wish) to be assisted after10 minutes by a woman who did not have a working printer and took way too long to do her job(despite her best intentions).This article is not to say that elder people do not, or do not want to use new technology( many of them engage in these activities successfully) It is not a way of criticising the Continental desk at Los Angeles airport.In my view it’s simply this: Most 21st century hi-tech companies should make much more of an effort with this sector of the population, as it would help not only their consumers, but themselves, allowing them to increase their market size considerably.

Three is the number of felonies that you have to commit in California to go to jail for life. No matter how small they are, steal some sweatpants from a shop because you’re desperate for money, or take some jewelery from a store, the third time you’re in for life. It seems kind of odd that in the land of the free with justice for all, somebody who is an alcoholic or a drug addict and needs money cannot get a second chance, or any type of rehabilitation. This, Im sure, shows on the tax payers bills, not only in California, but all over the country, because, as I have said before, about 2.1million americans are imprisoned in the united states. Some estimates show that 37%of black males have “prison experience”. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do not want alcoholics or druggies coming up to rob me on the street, but if they do go to jail, let it be for a few years only, and they should certainly receive state-funded rehabilitation, in a country where most state governments refuse to pay for many services such as rehab programs or homeless shelters.

The German sporting company founded by Adi Dassler announced yesterday that it would buy Reebok for a sum 3,100 million Euros. Immediately, reebok shares in the s&p500 rose, and so did adidas’. The buy is aimed at making The german company more competitive against Nike,the global leader. This is a fine example of what I wrote about some posts ago( Controlling the Media). It is kind of sad that when we were able to buy from just three large competitive companies, we now have to choose between two…but that’s business in action, I guess.

exuse me for my sparse posting these days. I have been visiting(of course, as a cultural experience in the interest of culture and science) the six flags hurricane harbor waterpark, the Hollywood chinese theatre, the stars, and many other interesting sites in LA. I will move on tomorrow to Canada, which I already know, and I think I will have a computer at my fingertips more often than I do here, which is good as I promise to post some more.I know Summer is the time when the most people visit SachatamiaGroup, so for all of those who are loyal to the site, I refuse to shut it down.:P

Not very tuned in lately to world news, so apart from somebody not being able to use $1.4billion to fiz some foam on a spacecraft, this is the only thing that really catched my eye in the world news. It was published in a Costa Rican newspaper. Apparently, while the special guards were making sure the president was safe, a group of robbers stole 30 computers that had been bought with prizes money and donations. How? They apparently covered the whole thing in underwear.:S The president should be thinking of far better security than that….( i apologise again for the weak post)hopefully the world panorama will get more interesting in the next few days!

Im in the USA as of yesterday, and like most people from Europe who come here, Obesity is one of the first things I noticed. I have been here before, and I know how hard it is to not eat too much( as I myself usually come back with a few extra pounds ) But this time I noticed something else. Americans(in general) do no exercise in terms of walking anywhere,especially. One of the first things to notice in US airports, are little electronic carts which, on the whole, carry people who are perfectly able to walk themselves. Sinks have no taps, because they work by a sensor. Everything here is designed to do the least work possible, and I am sure that it is a factor that greatly contributes to being overweight. “Oh,It’s very hard to lose the weight”, “I can’t do anythign abbout it, My family is overweight, so its in my genes” all sorts of comments like these serve to make ridiculous excuses but I know only too well that theyre stupid.I know people who come from families in which most people are overweight and they have made a huge effort to lose the weight. I apologise for the short post, but I do not know how much the hotel charges for internet and do not want to find myself with a surprise on the family bill. More posts on my american adventure soon!

JUST A RANDOM THOUGHT:

A few hours ago I went to the local supermarket to buy the last little supplies for my imminent trip to Los Angeles, California. I suddenly realised something that has stayed in my mind for hours. I went through the coffee aisle, and I was faced by something which nowadays is pretty normal. Some of the coffee was fair trade, and it had the corresponding sticker with a happy colombian family.Most people took the cheaper stuff without even looking, but thats another story. The Supermarket chain couldn’t be prouder of how much it helped workers live in better conditions, and they advertised it everywhere.
But then, as I advanced towards the “paying line”, I was faced with large signs, advertising shirts for 3.90 Euros, packs of 5kit-kat bars for 1.35, and a 500pack of printer paper for6.95. I couldn’t help thinking how much the worker in china, the cocoa farmer in Ecuador, and the Lumberjack in Brazil were making.
I think that this shows that even though a lot of effort is going into fair trade(both from retailers and consumers) there is a very long way to go if we really want to achieve the originalfair trade objectives.
Anyways, this isnt much of a post, so I’ve included the fun map in case any of us have forgotten what each nation is for

This year, China will receive 50 million dollars from the canadian government as “foreign aid”. It seems stupid to give this money to a nation that has a booming economy,a huge army, and a space program, among others, and ridiculous that Canadian government has to rely on giving China aid so that their diplomatic relations continue to flourish.