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Xavi demands more Barca intensity Posted: 15 Sep 2011 03:57 AM PDT MADRID, Sept 15 – Barcelona have uncharacteristically surrendered the lead in their two most recent matches and club captain Xavi wants more intensity from the side at home to Osasuna on Saturday. The Spanish and European champions gave up a two-goal advantage to draw 2-2 at Real Sociedad in La Liga last weekend, before conceding a stoppage-time equaliser at home to AC Milan in a 2-2 draw in Tuesday's Champions League Group D game. Spain playmaker Xavi (picture) admitted the team had taken their foot off the gas in the second half at Sociedad, but insisted that Milan's last-gasp goal had been "totally unfair". "It's pretty clear that we could have done without the first and last thirty seconds of the game," the 31-year-old told Barca's TV channel, after Alexandre Pato had given Milan the lead 24 seconds into the match and Thiago Silva netted a 92nd-minute equaliser. "But sometimes football is unjust like that, and this time we were on the receiving end," he added. "The team is a bit down, we can't explain it but we have to carry on. "We're playing good football, but we have to play with more intensity at certain times." Barca's night was further soured on Tuesday when midfielder Andres Iniesta was forced off shortly before halftime with a hamstring tear that will sideline him for around a month. The Spain international, who has been plagued with leg muscle injuries in recent years and almost missed last year's World Cup, joins Chilean forward, new signing Alexis Sanchez and central defender Gerard Pique on the injury list. Barca's great rivals Real Madrid are bidding to end the Catalan club's three-year grip on the Spanish title and top the standings after two matches, a 6-0 demolition of Real Zaragoza and a 4-2 win over city neighbours Getafe. Jose Mourinho's side play at Levante on Sunday with a question mark hanging over the availability of Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo needed several stitches in his right ankle after Wednesday's 1-0 Champions League win at Dinamo Zagreb and complained after the match he and other top players did not get enough protection from referees. "It's worrying to see Cristiano Ronaldo receiving stitches in the dressing room," assitant coach Aitor Karanka, standing in for the banned Mourinho, said at a news conference. "All players should be equally protected." Early surprise package Real Betis, who have won their first two games following promotion from the second division are third on goal difference behind Real and Valencia, play at Athletic Bilbao. Bilbao's Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa is still without a win in his first campaign in charge at the Basque club following stints at the helm of his native country and South American neighbours Chile. – Reuters

People envy my cash and looks: Ronaldo Posted: 15 Sep 2011 03:17 AM PDT MADRID, Sept. 15 – Opposing fans give Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo a hostile reception because he is "rich, handsome and a great player," the Portuguese said after yesterday's 1-0 Champions League win at Dinamo Zagreb. Ronaldo (picture), the world's most expensive signing, was roundly booed and whistled during the Group D opener in Croatia and was also the target of some robust challenges, one of which drew blood on his right ankle and required several stitches. The 26-year-old was unhappy with referee Svein Oddvar Moen and said top players were not getting enough protection. "We are very happy with three points we took, but I'm not so satisfied with the refereeing," he told reporters. "I hope we never have this referee again. People talk of fair-play, of protecting good players, but I never get any of that. I don't understand a thing. "I'm sad because I hear referees saying they will protect skilful players, but while some are untouchable it seems I can be mauled." Ronaldo was asked about the behaviour of the Dinamo fans, who gave him the kind of unfriendly reception he endures week in week out in La Liga and chanted the name of his Barcelona rival and World Player of the Year Lionel Messi. "I think that because I am rich, handsome and a great player people are envious of me," he said. "I don't have any other explanation." Argentine winger Angel Di Maria scored for Jose Mourinho's side in the 53rd minute as Real began their quest for a 10th title in Europe's elite club competition. – Reuters

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Happy days as ‘Fonz’ actor Winkler honoured by Queen Elizabeth Posted: 15 Sep 2011 03:11 AM PDT LONDON, Sept 15 – "Happy Days" actor Henry Winkler has been awarded an honorary OBE by Britain's Queen Elizabeth for his work with children with dyslexia and special educational needs. The 65-year-old, most famous for his portrayal of the leather-clad rebel "Fonzie" in the popular US television series Happy Days, received the award at the British embassy in Washington DC yesterday. Winkler (picture), who was diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult, spent much of the last two years touring Britain to discuss learning difficulties with schools and policy makers. He is also the author of 17 books for children about Hank Zipzer, a young man with dyslexia. "Receiving this honour is a very humbling experience," Winkler said in a statement on the embassy website. "My goal when I started working with children was never to bring accolades on myself, but instead to change how people think about those around them for whom learning is a struggle. "I am flattered to have had my work recognised in this manner, and hope to continue showing kids that their learning difficulty isn't a disability." The full title bestowed on Winkler was Honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE). – Reuters

Hugh Grant joins Hanks in ‘Cloud Atlas’ Posted: 15 Sep 2011 02:14 AM PDT Hugh Grant will join Tom Hanks in 'Cloud Atlas'. – AFP pic LOS ANGELES, Sept 15 – With an all-star cast including Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving and Susan Sarandon, the film Cloud Atlas added Hugh Grant to the production, as it starts shooting this week in Glasgow, Scotland. Adapted from 2004 novel by the David Mitchell, the epic story follows six narratives, following a soul from the nineteenth century to a post-apocalyptic future, to illustrate the interconnected ripple effect of an action through time and space. Directors Andy and Larry Wachowski who made The Matrix will be joined by Tom Tywker (Run Lola Run) to helm the film. Co-stars include Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) and Ben Whishaw (Perfume, I'm Not There). As Entertainment Weekly reports, it has been two years since Grant was last seen on film appearing in the romantic comedy Did You Hear About the Morgans? with Sarah Jessica Parker. Cloud Atlas is scheduled for an October 2012 release. – AFP

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Playboy goes retro, slashes price to 60 cents Posted: 15 Sep 2011 02:23 AM PDT Octogenarian Hef — 58 years of a stylish life of posh nightclubs, wild parties, men's fashion, free speech and, of course, naked women. — Reuters pic LOS ANGELES, Sept 15 — It was among the most exciting periods of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's life, so what could be better in a bad economy than to retrace the 1960s' good times and give readers a break on the price of his magazine? Hefner is slashing the cost of Playboy's October issue, which hits newsstands today, to 60 cents. His editors have styled the men's magazine with retro look matching 1961, when the first Playboy Club was founded, and linked it to the debut of TV show "The Playboy Club" by putting star Laura Benanti on the cover — and inside the pages. "It's hard to put into words the fact that, obviously, everything changed for me in that time frame," Hefner told Reuters. And that statement from a man who has made words one of the centrepieces of his life. The October 2011 cover released to Reuters. — Reuters pic The octogenarian known as "Hef" who embodies a stylish life of posh nightclubs, wild parties, men's fashion, free speech and, of course, naked women, said that six years after he founded the magazine in 1953, his life changed quickly. The magazine that made its biggest splash publishing nude pictures of Marilyn Monroe was, by that time, being read by millions. From late 1959 through 1960, he held his first jazz festival, hosted his first TV show and opened his initial Playboy Mansion in Chicago. "Those were some of the best and most romantic years of my life," Hef said. There is no doubt Hef will take a bath at newsstands with the October issue. But Playboy makes more money from subscriptions, and Hef said he expected to significantly make up the losses with increased advertising. The April 1963 cover released to Reuters. — Reuters pic Editorial director Jimmy Jellinek said ad pages were up 70 per cent for the October issue compared with last year, well beyond the 16 per cent year-to-date boost the magazine had already seen in 2011. Moreover, the book has lured new advertisers in fashion, grooming and entertainment. "This issue is a love letter to vintage Playboy," Jellinek said, "At the same time, we're also being relentlessly modern." Broadway's bunny Indeed, among the hottest fashion trends for men are retro looks inspired by TV shows such as "Mad Men", which no doubt was an inspiration for other period programmes such as NBC's new "The Playboy Club", a fictional primetime drama about what goes on behind the scenes of one of the '60s-era nightclubs. The October issue is inspired by that lifestyle, with a 10-page spread featuring original Playboy "Bunnies", women who worked at the clubs, and an "insider's guide" that offers the chance to win a trip for two to the current Playboy Club at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Benanti, 32, an actress and singer who won Broadway's Tony for a revival of "Gypsy" and stars in TV's new "Playboy Club", slips into one of the Bunny costumes for the cover, then sheds some of her clothing for pictures inside the issue. "I was nervous, but everybody made me feel comfortable," she said of her photo shoot with little more than a scarf. The performer hadn't aspired to be a Playboy model. "Never. Never, never, never. My focus was being on Broadway . . . on my talent and never on my physical" looks. But she talked with past models and "learned how much they loved the job and how much fun they were having", she said. Where the TV show is concerned, Hef and Jellinek are excited about its September 19 premiere. If it's a hit for NBC, the publicity should bolster the magazine and real clubs, and if it's a miss, they don't see it as harming the Playboy brand. As for criticism from conservative groups and activists — including long-time Hefner detractor, feminist Gloria Steinem — who have called on viewers to boycott the show because they claim the magazine and the programme objectify women, Hef has been hearing that since 1953. He sees their calls as little more than trying to get publicity for their own causes. "I recognise there is a need to get publicity, so one has a certain motivation," he said. "I understand why Gloria would say the things she is saying because nobody remembers her, and I find that sad because I think she is a well-meaning lady." — Reuters

September 11 art show stands out for what it avoids Posted: 14 Sep 2011 05:48 PM PDT Sculpture "Woman on a Park Bench", by George Segal, as shown in this handout photo. — Reuters pic supplied NEW YORK, Sept 15 — The attacks of September 11, 2001, were the most witnessed disaster in history, yet to capture their impact, a new exhibit has no art, pictures or music depicting that fateful day. Works in the show, "September 11", which opened last Sunday at New York's MoMA PS1, make reference to the World Trade Center towers or to a blue and sunny sky reminiscent of that day, but let viewers make their own connections to the deadly attacks. In fact, most of the 70 or so works in the exhibit at MoMA PS1, the Museum of Modern Art's satellite location in the New York City borough of Queens, were made before 2001. A man takes a picture of One World Trade Center through a window overlooking the construction site in New York. — Reuters pic Selected from a broad brush of contemporary artists, with some work dating back to the 1960s, the exhibit is meant to trigger memories and emotions 10 years after planes crashed into the twin towers, bringing them down and killing thousands of people, without addressing that day explicitly. "There were certain things that we did not want to see, I think in part because of how much we have been forced to see," said MoMA PS1 curator Peter Eleey, describing the challenge of assembling an art show on the well-documented tragedy. The torrent of images from September 11, Eleey said, "dramatically complicated how art could respond". So he chose instead to avoid showcasing it directly. Curators installed a 1999 audio recording called "World Trade Center Recordings: Winds after Hurricane Floyd" by artist Stephen Vitello in the basement boiler room of the museum. The recording is of eerie creaks and groans of the skyscrapers as they were buffeted by a hurricane. An untitled 2008 work by artist Roger Hiorns consists of mounds of silvery dust of a pulverised passenger aircraft engine spread on the floor in a seemingly haphazard way. A photograph by American artist William Eggleston of a hand twirling a colourful iced drink in the sunny cabin of an airplane might bring to mind how an ordinary flight turned into a hellish nightmare. The photo, "Untitled (Glass in Airplane)", is from the 1960s. The show also includes a light installation by James Turrell, and works by American artists Diane Arbus, Alex Katz and Ellsworth Kelly. It ends on January 9, 2012. — Reuters

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PPSMI: Abim gesa Page, JMM jangan cetus polemik baru Posted: 15 Sep 2011 03:36 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, 15 Sept – Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim) menggesa pertubuhan bukan kerajaan Page dan Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM)  tidak mencetuskan polemik dengan meminta supaya dasar pengajaran dan pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI) dihidupkan semula secara pilihan. Ketua Biro Penerangan Abim, Abu Qassim Nor Azmi berkata, gesaan Page dan JMM agar diberikan "autonomi" kepada sekolah untuk memilih PPSMI adalah berdasarkan kajian mereka yang mendakwa sebahagian besar guru dan ibu bapa mengharapkan agar ia dilaksanakan semula. "Walaupun menghargai keprihatinan dan komitmen yang ditunjukkan oleh Page dan JMM dalam usaha mereka mengendalikan kajian tersebut, akan tetapi Abim mendapati terdapat keraguan pada cara pelaksanaan dan hasil dapatan kajian tersebut yang boleh dipertikaikan kesahan dan kebolehpercayaannya," kata beliau. Dalam satu kenyataan dikeluarkan hari ini, Abim menyambut baik ketegasan Timbalan Menteri Pelajaran Dr Fuad Zakarshi yang menolak kajian yang dikemukakan oleh JMM atas faktor yang sama. Selain itu, hujah Page untuk menyokong cadangan mereka pada kali ini adalah ulangan kepada hujah-hujah mereka sebelum ini yang telah dibahaskan dalam siri persidangan meja bulat yang lalu dan dimuktamadkan oleh Timbalan Perdana Menteri dengan pengenalan dasar Memartabatkan Bahasa Melayu, Memperkasakan Bahasa Inggeris (MBMMBI) pada 25 November 2009. "Perkara seperti kepentingan penguasaan Bahasa Inggeris, kecemerlangan subjek Sains dan Matematik, diskriminasi kepada golongan yang beribundakan Bahasa Inggeris dan ketidakkesanan kepada Perkara 152 Akta Pendidikan dan Falsafah Pendidikan Negara telah dibidas dalam buku 'Mengapa Kami Bantah' serta diambil pertimbangan sewajarnya dalam mempersiapkan dasar MBMMBI," kata beliau. Dalam perkembangan yang berkaitan, Abu Qassim berkata, Abim berpandangan bahawa cadangan pemberian kuasa "autonomi" memilih dasar kepada sekolah adalah kecelaruan terbesar dalam sistem pendidikan negara. Tidak ada autonomi bagi perkara dasar melainkan hanya dalam soal pentadbiran dan pengurusan sekolah seperti yang diamalkan di sekolah kluster, kata beliau. Katanya, komuniti sekolah hanya sebagai pelaksana dan bersama memberi sumbang saran  dalam penggubalan sesuatu dasar tetapi tidak untuk memilihnya bagi kecenderungan tertentu. Hal ini mencabar kredibiliti Kerajaan khususnya Menteri Pelajaran dalam menentukan masa depan negara kerana ia tercorak dari dasar yang diperkenalkannya. "Di samping itu, cadangan Page dan JMM tersebut akan menimbulkan konflik dan ketegangan sosial serta kesenjangan di kalangan rakyat apabila dua arus perdana ini bertembung dalam masyarakat. Ini akan menggagalkan usaha penyatupaduan rakyat seperti mana yang terkandung dalam matlamat Pelan Induk Pembangunan Pendidikan," kata beliau. Tambah Abu Qassim, Abim berpendapat bahawa cadangan tersebut juga dilihat tidak munasabah kerana akan menimbulkan kesulitan di peringkat pelaksanaan, penilaian dan pemantauannya. "Ia akan menimbulkan masalah dalam proses latihan dan penempatan guru, penyediaan bahan mengajar, penerbitan dan pengagihan buku teks, penggubalan dan pencetakan kertas soalan, dan yang lebih utama penilaian berpusat bagi para pelajar yang menduduki peperiksaan awam. "Oleh itu, ABIM menyeru agar Timbalan Perdana Menteri merangkap Menteri Pelajaran tegas menolak kajian dan cadangan yang dikemukakan oleh Page dan JMM berdasarkan hujah yang dikemukakan," katanya lagi.

Isma gesa kerajaan tegas kuat kuasa halang Syiah Posted: 15 Sep 2011 03:33 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, 15 Sept – Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) mahu pihak berkuasa bersikap tegas dengan menguatkuasakan fatwa bagi menjamin kesejahteraan akidah umat Islam di negara ini daripada pengaruh ajaran Syiah. Ketua Unit Kajian Syiah Isma Mohamad Ismail berkata, sebuah artikel dalam majalah yang diterbitkan di Najaf, Iraq, bilangan orang Melayu yang menyertai Syiah adalah seramai 30,000 sehingga 35,000 orang. "Gerakan Syiah ini juga memiliki markas atau pusat gerakan yang dikenali sebagai Hauzah Ar-Redho di seluruh negara termasuk di Kedah, Gombak dan di Kelantan. Di Johor terdapat empat  hauzah Syiah," ujar beliau dalam satu kenyataan. Tambah beliau, mereka menggunakan isu cinta ahli bait sebagai kunci untuk menarik umat Islam menyertai mereka. Berdasarkan keputusan Muzakarah Khas Jawatankuasa Fatwa Majlis Kebangsaan 5 Mei 1996, aliran Syiah telah diwartakan sebagai bercanggah dengan akidah Ahli Sunnah Waljamaah. Kata beliau, Isma terus komited dan bersungguh-sungguh dalam usaha menyedarkan masyarakat tentang bahaya ajaran Syiah. Isma setakat ini telah menjalankan 16 program kefahaman bahaya Syiah di seluruh negara bermula Mei lalu, katanya. "Isma telah menjalankan 16 program ceramah dan diskusi dalam tempoh lima bulan dan ini membuktikan Isma serius dalam memberi kefahaman tentang kesesatan akidah Syiah," kata Mohamad. Ketika ditanya berkenaan bukti kesesatan akidah Syiah, Mohamad berkata, "kita boleh menemui kesesatan akidah Syiah terkandung dalam buku-buku tulisan tokoh-tokoh Syiah sendiri." Menurut beliau, pengikut Syiah kini semakin agresif dalam menyebarkan aliran mereka. Pada 17 Disember 2010, pihak Jais telah menyerbu hauzah di Gombak dan telah menahan 200 orang yang menghadiri majlis yang diadakan di situ. Pada 25 Mei lalu, empat pemimpin Syiah telah ditangkap oleh Jais kerana telah cuba menarik keanggotaan ahli baru. Mereka ditangkap semasa diadakan majlis meraikan kelahiran Saidatina Fatimah di Gombak. Pada 25 Ogos pula, Jabatan Agama Islam Melaka telah menyerbu sebuah rumah di Taman Paya Dalam, Melaka yang dipercayai menjadi markas sebuah kumpulan penganut fahaman Syiah. Sebanyak 35,000 buku dan risalah Syiah yang diharamkan ditemui dalam keadaan siap dibungkus untuk diedarkan melalui pos ke seluruh masjid dan jabatan kerajaan. Mohamad tidak menolak kemungkinan usaha Syiah di Malaysia disokong dan dibantu oleh rakyat Iran yang menetap di Malaysia.

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History’s never black and white Posted: 14 Sep 2011 05:17 PM PDT SEPT 15 — First and foremost, I hate the term "freedom fighters." In the English language, it's a necessity to point out, as the late comedian George Carlin once did: if fire fighters fight fire, and crime fighters fight crime, what do freedom fighters fight?! I find his observations valid especially when air stewards and stewardesses insist on me getting "on" the plane instead of "in" it. Subsequently, while people (myself included) continue to claim that Tunku Abdul Rahman was a brilliant leader, let's not forget that no leader is infallible. And no, I'm not talking about his drinking, gambling or joget habits. I'm talking about the fact that he once supported the Malayan Union, which Umno itself protested against. Looking through Malaysian history, you can find all sorts of discrepancies in our leaders or would-be leaders. So I will admit that perhaps Malaysiakini has a point; in truth, if there was a referendum on who would run Malaya after its formation, Tunku may not have been the people's first choice. So we have a PAS leader calling a communist Malay Malaysian leader of the CPM 10th Regiment a freedom fighter. Now, while Mat Sabu is going around preaching this, I want to ask him a few things. First and foremost, what took him so long?! Shamsiah Fakeh is dead, Rashid Maidin is also dead, Mat Indera is also dead. Is it now PAS's policy to praise dead communists in order to get votes from the living? If PAS were to go out and truly praise the communists, why not talk about Abdullah CD, former chairman of the CPM, who is still alive in exile? Why not fight to bring both him and Chin Peng home? For me personally, the timing and angles taken by PAS for all this is very suspect. PAS needs to decide whether or not it wants to truly delve into the Bukit Kepong incident and support the actions of the communists under Mat Indera at the time. This would include, of course, the murder of both the wife and son of Marine Constable Abu Bakar Daud, and the wife and daughter of Constable Abu Mohd Ali. Does PAS support the murder of non-combatants, or does it consider this acceptable collateral damage? While PAS is so adamant about supporting one dead communist leader in an assault on a Johor police station, why not voice its support for other leaders of the communist party? Let's talk a bit about Shamsiah Fakeh, who died in 2008, shall we? Shamsiah was the leader of Angkatan Wanita Sedar (AWAS) who faced a lot of trials and tribulations throughout her life. She was abandoned by her first husband while pregnant. She literally gave birth to a child while in the forests of Malaya, and had her newborn child murdered by her own comrades. She is perhaps the only Malaysian Malay woman who can truly be labelled a nationalist feminist icon. She died in 2008. PAS didn't even acknowledge her by attending her funeral. Tony Pua from the DAP and Syed Husin Ali from PKR were there. And yet, now suddenly PAS wants to fight for the former communist Malay Malaysians? What does Islam say about hypocrisy again? Personally, I view the communist insurgency as what it is; a period of attrition which saw all sides, left and right political wings, conduct acts that were both despicable and revolting. But then again, I read Chin Peng's book, Shamsiah Fakeh's memoir as well as Abdullah CD's, thanks very much to my father's insistence of wanting both sides of history to be seen on his ever glorious bookshelf which I raid every now and then. However, this came later in life. These actions were never mentioned in our history books, or all those reference books published by Pelangi, Longman or Sasbadi. Mat Indera was not a "freedom fighter", if you refer to my first paragraph. He was a left-wing nationalist who believed that independence could come from armed struggle if the masses were to join the revolt. The masses didn't. And thus, since history was written by a blemished, non-independent pro-propaganda government body, the communists and other left-wingers did not get any credit until Fahmi Reza did his indie documentaries, "10 Tahun Sebelum Merdeka" and "Revolusi '48". It just goes to show that Churchill had a point when stating that history is written by the victors. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

Our kids hate history Posted: 14 Sep 2011 05:07 PM PDT SEPT 15 — There is a reason why most Malaysians zone out in their school history classes, it is hard to follow. So they go for the next best thing, they just memorise enough to ace the exam, work around the system and then perform weird and not necessarily wild rituals after their SPM (O-levels) to forget everything thereafter. Why is it hard to follow? I'll skip my own classes with Puan Maimun and her pearls on why Umno raised me from obscurity, that I should just be grateful and accept Malaysia's race politics.  It is hard to follow, more than your general history curriculum, because it is disjointed. The following will look at the politics of history, rather than the truth of history or the politicians espousing "true" history. History's fact depravity History, which most of us would readily admit, is the recording of the past. In true cliché, yesterday is past already. However it is not all factual, and no, this is not a prompter for conspiracy theories. There are incontrovertible facts like an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. In the pursuit of truth earnest students can and even should question what everyone else holds to be correct, but in practical terms, saying that there was no such bomb on that locality on that day will invite ridicule. Unfortunately, the world has been around for a long time. A lot of things have happened. The collection of iron-clad historical facts mankind has is very limited when set in the background of all the other things — those suspected of happening, and were to have happened in a specific way for a specific reason. Therefore then, the larger field of history relies on observations and general evidence. Every day people visit the A Formosa in Malacca. All that remains is a gate and some walls. This used to be a daunting fort protecting Portuguese presence in the region, and later doing the same for the Dutch. The British under William Farquhar is accused of commencing the demolition of the fort in the early 1800s while they temporarily held Malacca for the Dutch East Indies Company, whose home nation was in turmoil following the Napoleonic Wars. They stopped the carnage when a certain Stamford Raffles lobbied for the fortress to stay. That the fort was being blown up and then the endeavour stopped is largely uncontested. However whether Farquhar acted independently, or was instructed by the British East Indies offices in Calcutta, or other hands were in play is contestable. Whether Stamford Raffles lobbied hard, or lobbied harder, cannot be verified as much except for his own account of the situation. Whether the British were worried about the bad relations with the Dutch as an afterthought or just ran out of cannonballs, again cannot be absolutely verified. There would have been at least 100 British personnel, colonies of Dutch-speaking people, a smaller sub-section of largely Portuguese-speaking but less Portuguese-looking people; and the less mentioned local inhabitants, who'd outnumber them all. Everyone had a slice of their own observations, but only a minority of those were recorded. And of that, only a minority of it seen to be reasonable, valuable and verifiable enough to be re-mentioned as "history". What makes Raffles' observations more credible than his servants', or perhaps his scribe Munshi Abdullah's later who would have been a 10-year-old during the demolition? For prevailing history emerges from first the gathering of information, records, observations and evidence as collated; then rigorously debated in academic circles and which then is written to be slammed down or celebrated. Because of the nature of the process, the most credible held historical facts are always going to be challenged by enough people. After listing the clear facts, and then the credible facts, man still finds gaping holes of a vast and rich past. For his life is the result of a past, drives him to seek answers even when the evidence starts to thin. Man needs resolution through an understanding of the past, even the ones no one wrote about it. At this point historians theorise. Especially since the little evidence is scattered and possibly filled with contradictions. Scientific tools are used to reconstruct, gather and generally move forward. Malaya's often theorised and actively debated topic is who does it exactly owe its Islamic civilisation to? Was India responsible, or would it be the more emotive choice of Arabs or the politically dominant Chinese or from more infant Islamic states in the region? The reason why the above, which is a relatively newer period of history, is largely theorised is because documentation for most of Malaya's pre-colonial history is lacking. It is commonly stated that history is written by victors. Perhaps it is more concise to say history is written by those who can write, who then are willing to write, and are fortunate to live in a time these writings are stored. Reverting back to historical facts, largely held facts and rigorously discussed theories, the very character of history invites public discussion. Without getting into the directionless history discourse in Malaysia at the moment, it is considerably conservative to say that those who say that all history in Malaysia is irrefutable are those lacking either intellectual rigour or are just plain stupid. Most of history is up for debate indefinitely. That is the right of all of earth's inhabitants. Some might say it is the contesting of these historical "facts" which actually renders them relevant and known. The history championed, which is taught Even without political considerations, history is voluminous and complex. The whole nine yards is left to the men and women in ivory towers who want to spend their energy on it. History is taught in nations as a way to explain their existence, to shape citizens' appreciation of the world and their country in particular. National history which shapes the majority of history curriculum in most countries is a collection of historical developments selected which the nation champions. Nations champion it by putting it up for reading and study by almost all its people in its education system. Since Malaysia has had only one government, then the selection becomes tricky. There has never been a prolonged period since independence when the history curriculum was not revamped. Most Malaysian students on the day they graduate from university would find noticeable alterations in emphasis, retelling, content and omission if they walked into a school bookshop and checked the latest SPM (O-levels) history textbook. It is a like a story book which is cut and pasted here and there every couple of years for different reasons. Most people won't write a story book in their lives, but they acquire enough to know when a story lacks continuity and is glaringly missing characters, motivations and plot development. This is why history, as taught in Malaysian schools, is sneered by the majority of students like the black plague. There is a reason why the old communist propaganda films from the old Soviet Union are not part of the classic category in video stores. They tend to be one sided, expand outrageously the role of party leaders (Kruschev the liberator of Stalingrad or Stalin frees Eastern Europe from vicious capitalism) and omit anything undermining the party's contribution. It does not make interesting viewing. And sure does not make interesting reading. And in time it has been ignored except as a cautionary tale. But the parallels of the old Soviet Union to a party in Malaysia is stark indeed, enough to be recorded for future readers. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

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