chenchow
25-12-2004, 01:07 AM
I am posting this after a friend of mine, Nick asked me to spread the words about possible formation of a Malaysia Forum in East Coast of US. Currently, there is a Stanford Malaysia Forum, as well as a Malaysia Forum in Los Angeles area, and ReCom founder, Syamsul has been playing a great part in it. So, it would be great, if such efforts are done in East Coast of US, and perhaps in other regions of the world. This would allow us to just talk or discuss about Malaysia. This would be a complement to ReCom, and perhaps with the regional meeting up, there could be more awareness shared.
I'm Nick and I'm a Malaysian student in Stanford. I've just recently
come to the bay area from Texas(I am a proud longhorn!) and will in Palo Alto for the next couple of years in that interminable tunnel
called grad school. When I came to the bay area, I found to my great surprise that there is a small but very socially conscious community of Malaysians in the Bay Area and LA who formed a discussion group talk about social issues back home a couple of years ago. Currently the discussion takes place in two forms:
1. A Stanford Malaysia Forum mailing list in which issues pertinent to Malaysia and Malaysians are brought up every now and then by any member of the mailing list, and discussion on those issues continue in small threads of conversation in a very ad hoc and informal manner.
2. A meeting about once or twice a quarter in which a speaker is
brought in or some other activities organised that focus, again, on
issues affecting Malaysians and our home country.
the same basic principles apply in these two avenues of discussion:
1. A neutral, impartial platform for debate. Anyone, and everyone, is
encouraged to voice their views on the issue currently discussed.
There is no organizational bias toward any political party,
organization, personality, or credo.
2. No censorship of comments. Only foul language and discussions not relevant in any way to the broad umbrella of topics that we
discuss(Anything related to Malaysia, basically) will be moderated.
Thus freedom of speech is paramount in any discussion.
I have found that SMF has been a great avenue for discussion for us to air out opinions on matters that have traditionally been taboo in our society(Race, corruption, etc). Here in the States we enjoy a freedom that is unimagined by the majority of our compatriots back in Malaysia, freedom of speech that is unfettered by fear. One of our goals is to provide that avenue and platform for socially conscious Malaysians to practice that right of free speech. Another hope of the organization is that through dialogue, we who are the future of Malaysia might reach consensus on important matters and thus work together toward the common good, while understanding, accepting, even embracing, views contrary to our own.
We recently had a meeting in which we discussed the possibility of a mailing list similar in spirit to SMF, in the East Coast. I'm here for
the winter break and I believe Sim, one of the founders of SMF, will
be here(NY) for New Year's as well and I(and Sim too, I believe) would like to meet up with Malaysians interested in setting up an SMF East Coast. We would be able to provide help and feedback on what's worked over in the West, and what hasn't.
I personally have been extremely thankful that there is an
organization such as SMF, and that there are so many socially
conscious, proactive Malaysians interested in the future of our
country. It would be great if we could all work together to facilitate
a future where Malaysians can speak up, speak loud, and speak unafraid for the good of the country. This future starts with a small step, and I believe it is up to us to take such a step.
best wishes,
Nick Choo
(650) 387 7430
nickc@<hidden>
I'm Nick and I'm a Malaysian student in Stanford. I've just recently
come to the bay area from Texas(I am a proud longhorn!) and will in Palo Alto for the next couple of years in that interminable tunnel
called grad school. When I came to the bay area, I found to my great surprise that there is a small but very socially conscious community of Malaysians in the Bay Area and LA who formed a discussion group talk about social issues back home a couple of years ago. Currently the discussion takes place in two forms:
1. A Stanford Malaysia Forum mailing list in which issues pertinent to Malaysia and Malaysians are brought up every now and then by any member of the mailing list, and discussion on those issues continue in small threads of conversation in a very ad hoc and informal manner.
2. A meeting about once or twice a quarter in which a speaker is
brought in or some other activities organised that focus, again, on
issues affecting Malaysians and our home country.
the same basic principles apply in these two avenues of discussion:
1. A neutral, impartial platform for debate. Anyone, and everyone, is
encouraged to voice their views on the issue currently discussed.
There is no organizational bias toward any political party,
organization, personality, or credo.
2. No censorship of comments. Only foul language and discussions not relevant in any way to the broad umbrella of topics that we
discuss(Anything related to Malaysia, basically) will be moderated.
Thus freedom of speech is paramount in any discussion.
I have found that SMF has been a great avenue for discussion for us to air out opinions on matters that have traditionally been taboo in our society(Race, corruption, etc). Here in the States we enjoy a freedom that is unimagined by the majority of our compatriots back in Malaysia, freedom of speech that is unfettered by fear. One of our goals is to provide that avenue and platform for socially conscious Malaysians to practice that right of free speech. Another hope of the organization is that through dialogue, we who are the future of Malaysia might reach consensus on important matters and thus work together toward the common good, while understanding, accepting, even embracing, views contrary to our own.
We recently had a meeting in which we discussed the possibility of a mailing list similar in spirit to SMF, in the East Coast. I'm here for
the winter break and I believe Sim, one of the founders of SMF, will
be here(NY) for New Year's as well and I(and Sim too, I believe) would like to meet up with Malaysians interested in setting up an SMF East Coast. We would be able to provide help and feedback on what's worked over in the West, and what hasn't.
I personally have been extremely thankful that there is an
organization such as SMF, and that there are so many socially
conscious, proactive Malaysians interested in the future of our
country. It would be great if we could all work together to facilitate
a future where Malaysians can speak up, speak loud, and speak unafraid for the good of the country. This future starts with a small step, and I believe it is up to us to take such a step.
best wishes,
Nick Choo
(650) 387 7430
nickc@<hidden>