FORGOTTEN SOLDIERS

They call themselves America’s forgotten soldiers.

Four decades after the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency hired thousands of jungle warriors to fight communists on the western fringes of the Vietnam War, men who say they are veterans of that covert operation are isolated, hungry and periodically hunted by a Laotian Communist government still mistrustful of the men who sided with America.

“If I surrender, I will be punished,” said Xang Yang, a wiry 58-year-old still capable of crawling nimbly through thick bamboo underbrush. “They will never forgive me,” he said of the Laotian government. “I cannot live outside the jungle because I am a former American soldier.”

In a small hillside clearing here about 15 kilometers, or 9 miles, east of the Mekong River, Yang and four other veterans scratch out a primitive existence with their wives, 50 children and grandchildren. Their camp is a 15-hour walk up and down low-lying mountains and across streams that are knee-deep in the dry season but can become roaring torrents when the weather turns. They are miles from any rice paddies or hamlets but make rare visits, usually at night, to friendly farmers for supplies, traveling with their AK-47s and wearing flip-flops or cheap plastic shoes for lack of better footwear.

Yang says his group has been attacked by government troops twice this year: in September soldiers killed a 5-year-old boy, Mee Xiong, whose grave is in the outskirts of their temporary jungle camp here. And in May a pre-dawn raid killed a woman and her 2-year-old child. The group moves camp every few weeks to avoid attack.

Read the full article here.

DON’T FALL OFF THE TRAIL

According to Tess Gerritsen:

A writer’s career is like walking an endlessly scary cliffside trail.

I was reminded of this after corresponding with a very well-known thriller writer, a writer with a long and bestselling past.

About a decade ago, after establishing a reputation for thrillers, this writer wrote a completely different type of book, a book of the heart. It didn’t sell well.

Ever since then, sales have slumped, even though the quality of the books hasn’t. And now the editor has told the writer it’s time to go begging for quotes from current “big-name” authors to help sell the next book.

This author used to be a big-name author. But one little slip, one little miscalculation, and there you go, tumbling off the trail, frantically grabbing for any handhold before you hit bottom.

This is the way a writing career feels these days.

CRONYISM AND NEPOTISM

Here’s something provocative to think about.

If you were a politician, would you use your power to aid family and friends familiar to you? Or would you use it to aid citizens unknown to you?

Try as we might, we can’t escape the human tendency to gravitate towards cronyism and nepotism. The very roots of corruption and mismanagement in Malaysia.

Here’s another way to look at it: as Asians, we’re instilled with a shame culture rather than a guilt culture. Shame is external; guilt is internal. So what you have today are politicians who feel shame when they don’t enrich their family and friends, yet feel no guilt when they misappropriate public funds and resources.

Right becomes wrong. Wrong becomes right.

And those who lose out in the end are the citizens.

REEVALUATING THE RAPE OF NANJING

When I was a kid growing up in Honolulu, Pearl Harbor was a vivid, recurring reminder of Japanese wartime aggression. At 11:45 a.m. on the first working day of every month, a test of the city’s air raid sirens would start up and I’d wonder what it must have felt like to hear them whine on Dec. 7, 1941. As a Japanese American, though, my feelings about the attack were always somewhat conflicted.

Ten years ago, while I was studying Japanese history in college, I discovered just how complicated those feelings could become. That was the year Iris Chang published her seminal book, The Rape of Nanking, about Japan’s brutal occupation of the Republic of China’s capital in 1937. After reading about the wartime genocide during which hundreds of thousands of Chinese died in a matter of weeks — events commonly referred to as the Nanjing Massacre — I felt a crushing sense of shame.

Dec. 13, 2007, marks the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, and since my college days, my sense of shame has led me to seek a better understanding of what really happened.

Read the full article here.

NEW ZEALAND NATIONAL ANTHEM

God of Nations at thy feet,
In the bonds of love we meet;
Hear our voices we entreat;
God defend our free land;

Guard Pacific’s triple star;
From the shafts of strife and war;
Make her praises heard afar
God defend New Zealand.

THE POLITICS OF FEAR

According to The Star, Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo is warning Malaysians to ignore an SMS about a Hindraf gathering in Kampung Baru. Here’s the most delicious bit:

“Hindraf should not provoke the Malays in Kg Baru, which was where many Malays struggled for the country’s independence and where they protected themselves during the May 13 incident in 1969.”

Consider the political implications of Mr. Toyol’s words.

In the same sentence, he equates nationalistic struggle with the May 13 incident.

And in doing so, Mr. Toyol casts Hindraf as an enemy of the Malays.

One has to wonder.

RISK/REWARD IN PUBLISHING

Love it or hate it, publishing is a business.

Its goal is to make money.

The more money, the merrier.

What most people don’t realise is that much of the publishing industry today is controlled by five media conglomerates (Time Warner, News Corporation, Viacom, Disney, and Bertelsmann). Four are American. One is German. And they aren’t in it to create art. They are in it to deliver a reasonable rate of return to their shareholders.

But it’s not an easy task.

Because here are the stats: out of every five books published, two will fail, two will break even, and only one will make money.

Against such odds, there is not much room for risk-taking.

Of course, two years ago, I didn’t know that.

I’d written what I thought was an interesting novel. The story of a woman who discovers that her ex has vanished in Sudan. She is compelled to travel there to uncover his fate. From there, the novel alternates between her perspective and his, in an A, B, A, B fashion.

Digging up the courage, I submitted the first chapter to an agent in New York.

He liked it enough and asked for the whole thing.

So I mailed it to him in hard copy. Then waited.

A month and so later, he gets back to me.

He says: “John, I’m going to level with you. Your writing is decent. But the story itself is going to be kinda hard to sell in today’s market.”

My face scrunches up. “Hard to sell? Why?”

“As I read through it, I got confused as to what it’s supposed to be…”

“Uhm… it’s a romantic action-thriller.”

“That’s just the problem. It’s too violent to be love story, too sappy to be a thriller.”

“Really?”

“To put it another way, the action keeps getting in the way of the romance. And the romance keeps getting in the way of the action.”

“So you don’t like the mixing of genres.”

He sighs. “No one does.”

“What do I do?”

“Rewrite the whole thing. Make it a pure romance or make it a pure thriller.”

I swallowed, painfully. “I might as well toss the manuscript and start a new one.”

Ahem.

Since then, I have personally ditched heaps of promising stories.

It’s scary, to think of all the work that’s never going to see the light of day. Ever.

But here’s what I’ve learned: if you are a writer just starting out, originality is good, but don’t overdo it. Don’t colour too far outside the lines. Because, ultimately, we are dealing with an industry that’s allergic to risk.

ASKING THE JEWS TO PETITION THE NAZIS

The Star (once again acting as the mouthpiece of misinformation and misdirection) reports:

SHAH ALAM: The Sultan of Selangor has voiced his unhappiness at the actions of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), which he said has incited hatred and damaged the country’s image by taking its campaign overseas.

Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah said he was “upset and angry” that Hindraf had proceeded with its illegal protest in defiance of the police and causing disruption to many in Kuala Lumpur.

He was also unhappy at the action of the Hindraf supporters in carrying banners and pictures of Queen Elizabeth II during the recent protests, which drew thousands of people.

“Why were they displaying her pictures and asking her to intervene in Malaysia? They can always bring their case to the Government and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” he said in an interview at the Istana Mastika here.

The Tuanku also hit out at Hindraf leaders for claiming that “ethnic cleansing” occurred in Malaysia, saying that it was an outrageous claim, which had damaged Malaysia’s image.

“I am disappointed with what Hindraf has done. I am upset. There are better ways of doing things. To stage a protest and fight with the police, I cannot accept. This is not the way to do things in Malaysia,” he said.

Sadly, the way things are done in Malaysia are just plain dishonest.

To put things into perspective, asking Hindraf to petition the government is just like asking the Jews to petition the Nazis during the Second World War.

Here’s a fact check: Indians in general and Hindus in particular have long voiced their discontent. Many, many times. Through the “proper” bureaucratic channels. But, again and again, their appeals fell on deaf ears.

Unlike their richer cousins who retain the option of moving abroad, the disenfranchised and the abused did the only thing they could. They took to the streets. They made noise. Lots of noise.

Even so, the Malaysian regime (including the Sultan of Selangor) remains appallingly arrogant and deceitful. Worse still, many Malaysians (especially the Chinese) choose to be non-political and disengaged. There is so much denial. Scarcely any accountability.

Is it any wonder that Hindraf is taking its message abroad?

Calling upon the orang putih to save Malaysians from themselves?

It’s disgraceful.

TERRORISM?

The Star (that bastion of government propaganda) reports:

KUALA LUMPUR: There are signs lately that the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) is trying to garner support from terrorist groups, the police charged yesterday.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said Hindraf has also set up a fund by misleading the public into believing that the money is to finance its activities.

“We view such matters very seriously. It is also very worrying especially when we live in a multi-racial society.

“The police will not hesitate to take stern action against anyone to ensure that peace and security prevails in this country,” he said.

Terrorist.

Such a loaded term, in this day and age.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines terrorism as:

The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence against people or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives.

But if we rewrite it a little, and switch our focus, then we can defined war as:

The lawful use or threatened use of force or violence against people or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives.

Consider the implications. Those with the lawful right to wage war (wage war on enemies, wage war on crime, wage war on dissent) are called police officers and soldiers. Those without this right are called, quite simply, terrorists.

Yet, to invoke an old cliche, one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. Think about it: many of the independence heroes in Malaysian textbooks must have seemed very much like terrorists to the British colonial establishment.

Who is or isn’t a terrorist is a political label that changes, depending who holds the reins of power.

Let’s get back to the news report. The esteemed Inspector-General of Police goes on to remark:

(Hindraf) is also trying to rope in gangsters to prevent local authorities from demolishing illegal temples in the near future.

It’s a statement that reveals almost as much as it conceals.

When the government demolishes a Hindu temple (arguably a violent act of desecretion), they frame it as lawful. But when Hindraf takes steps to oppose, it is called terrorism.

But let’s flip the looking glass around, and see things through Hindraf’s eyes, if you will.

To them, the Inspector-General of Police is nothing more but a licensed, state-sponsored terrorist.

In fact, the thug seems to be saying, “It’s perfectly alright for us to demolish your holy places and spit in your face. It’s alright because it’s the law. But you ought not to fight back, you cheeky blackies. Because if you do, you are breaking the law. Our law.”

Alas, Thomas Jefferson once declared, if any government turns tyrannical, the citizenry not only have the right to disobey, but the duty to disobey.

If Hindraf is indeed planning forceful action, shouldn’t all Malaysians be asking themselves: How in the bloody hell did we allow it to come to this?

EMBLEMS OF A CRISIS

CHANGSHA, China — Unnoticed and unappreciated for five decades, a large female turtle with a stained, leathery shell is now a precious commodity in this city’s decaying zoo. She is fed a special diet of raw meat. Her small pool has been encased with bulletproof glass. A surveillance camera monitors her movements. A guard is posted at night.

The agenda is simple: The turtle must not die.

Earlier this year, scientists concluded that she was the planet’s last known female Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle. She is about 80 years old and weighs almost 90 pounds.

Read the full article here.