Posts by Dismal Soyanz
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
I've only read some excerpts of his speech via the newswires.
Just what is it that Mubarak believes he will achieve by staying on?
Given the amazingly peaceful way in which the protests have evolved in combination with the Army's refusal to get drawn into taking a position (and thus refraining from using force on either side), it hardly seems that his removal would result in social disorder or even a power vacuum.
I have some sympathy for the view that constitutional changes are needed and these need to be thought through properly but then Mubarak doesn't need to be there for that to happen.
My inner conspiracy-theorist says he might be buying time to ensure that either he or or those close to him have time to hurriedly shift assets into offshore havens. Either that or the other members of the elite are so concerned that his departure would expose them and that they need to manipulate the transition so that the resulting power structure continues to protect them.
-
Hard News: "Orderly transition" in #Egypt, in reply to Dismal Soyanz,
Figured out how this google-interweb-myface thingy works.
-
Hard News: "Orderly transition" in #Egypt, in reply to Stephen Judd,
It’s probably dropped of the Al Jazeera website but I noticed a few days ago they had a comparison of web searches for Al Jazeera vs Foxnews.
Someone’s ass dun get whupped.
-
Hard News: "Orderly transition" in #Egypt, in reply to Simon Grigg,
Talk about a fracas that has no point….
Oh I dunno. You kick an invading power out, 600 years later they're back.
-
Hard News: "Orderly transition" in #Egypt, in reply to Simon Grigg,
ahhh. PERC - used to read them a lot. Out of touch with them recently but I used to find that they missed quite a few of the on-the-ground subtleties.
I agree that there are political tides that are pushing Malaysia and will see more protests and tear gas and water cannon. I take your point on frequency but I'd rather wait to see if it is maintained before saying that was indicative of anything more substantial. Like I say, I think the elections will be the more likely avenue of major political change than the demands of protesters.
-
Protests of 3-5,000 where the Klang Valley has a population of 7+ million.
Contrast that to Cairo which has population of 17 million, and how many tens of thousands were protesting even during the "quiet" periods.
I guess it depends on how you interpret "massive".
Given the context of the Mason article, it is the nature of the protesters that was being described as "westernised."
-
Hard News: "Orderly transition" in #Egypt, in reply to Simon Grigg,
Singapore does see itself as ‘west’ though and the desire of a smallish sector in Malaysia to do likewise is a reason amongst many that festering hodge podge of discontent could explode at any time.
Singapore is an interesting (in an anthropological sense) mixing of influences. However, whether the average Singaporean thinks they are "Western" or "Asian" is quite a different matter. I never felt that any of the Singaporeans I knew/interacted with ever considered themselves "westernised". Certainly they would be comfortable with many institutions that are common across western countries, and they drink Coke, drive BMWs and watch Hollywood films. But they also "take" teh tarik, ride the MRT and buses and watch Asian films. [And yes, these are things that may be an indication of development but that's different from being "westernised".]
From a political/national perspective I can see the "west" leaning. For example, although it has several national languages, the lingua franca of government is English. Administratively this was easier to maintain after independence but by not an absolute necessity.
As for Malaysia, there are significant groups which are unhappy with the political system - along both racial and ideological lines. Explode is somewhat dramatic though. Support for the PKR doesn't seem vehement enough to generate massive protests. The security services, while obviously targetting political activists and opponents of UMNO, don't seem to be noticeably overt. Any time? I think there would need to be a combination of major economic ructions (accompanied by increasingly obvious wealth disparity) for dissent to really threaten "the system". I think you are more likely to see BN lose its mandate at the polls than a revolution on the streets of KL.
-
Hard News: "Orderly transition" in #Egypt, in reply to Simon Grigg,
TED / Martin Jacques on China and the West.
Great link. Thanks.
Almost entirely unrelated, this is also on TED.
"What the world needs now is ... ukelele."
-
Hard News: "Orderly transition" in #Egypt, in reply to BenWilson,
Interesting perspective.
Which makes me ask: What does "westernised" actually mean? Do people in "the West" have a reasonably consistent interpretation of the term? What about people from outside "the West"?
-
Hard News: "Orderly transition" in #Egypt, in reply to Angus Robertson,
That one occurred to me, too, but was even less sure about how that fitted with the way "westernised" was used by Mason. Bottomline is that because the term was used in an almost throw-away sense, trying to actually figure out Mason's intent is hard. Hence my original comment as to the lack of justification.