Leaving your mark – History and Education

Yesterday, one of the world’s older bank, Lehman Brothers, est 1850, closed down. At least their place in history – educationally – is assured: Lehman Brothers Collection at Harvard, came online Feb 2008.

Whatever Badawi will be remembered for, tussles for leadership should not be one of them in these times of instability and uncertainty.

If the Lehman Brothers Collection didn’t get you far in terms of educational value, you can try:

• eBooks@Adelaide – Free Web Books, Online – “includes classic works of Literature, Philosophy, Science, and History“, where I often read, and re-read Orwell’s ‘Politics and the English Language‘.

• The other is of course Wikisource, everyman’s library of the internet.

• Open Yale courses, under Creative Commons license, which provides lecture notes (text and video) as well as background info on some interesting subject matters, philosophy anyone? Check out their ‘About‘ section for more on how to use the free materials.

Before I forget, let me just add one final thing here – ‘Google on the High Seas‘, I fell off the chair on this one. That’s innovation.

Dear Prime Minister: Whose truth? Whose facts?

(in support of A Joint Merdeka Day Message – available here)

On Wednesday, 3rd Sep 2008, our PM Abdullah Badawi said that we should ‘uphold truth without fear‘. Yet, I don’t think he understands the point.

It’s not the principle of telling the truth that Malaysians fear. So what if they did tell the truth? Will the relevant authorities act on principle? The last I heard, they are corrupt. Is that wrong? I also believe that they are quite incompetent. Is that also wrong? Finally, the banning of an entire website for comments relating to one post at Malaysia Today goes against the very grain of fairness and reason. Am I wrong to say this?

Judging Politicians

(from the department-of-the-not-so-blind)

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
Erasmus – Dutch philosopher & scholar (1466 – 1536)

Although Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam is not popular today, during the Reformation he was known as ‘Prince of the Humanists’.

Nearly 500 years ago, Erasmus knew that ideas and deep-seated beliefs are more dangerous, and harmful, than the individuals behind such misleading ideas. Similiarly, Prime Ministers of Malaysia may come and go – whether it was Mahathir, is Badawi, and might be Anwar – their practises and ideas last longer than their administration. And if they are wrong, the damage to Malaysia is that much greater.