Asia's New Look In A Century

When I was in Melbourne in April, the very first day I arrived there, I left my luggage at Chee Yeong's sister's place. CY, me and Lydia went to the city to Ajisen Ramen for lunch.

Mid way, we passed through the State Library and my, my. We were in for a surprise. We walked right into a demonstration coming in the opposite direction. Haha.

It was Melbourne Chinese students and residents support for China and the protests against violence, media oppresion and the China - Tibet relationship.

I saw thousands of Chinese marching in towards the city centre and gather at the State Library. Amazing. After my lunch, I could see that the crowd dispersed and when I walked past Chinatown, wow, almost everyone had China's flag painted on their face. Most of them carried China's flag and some wore T-Shirts with the words "We are Brothers, We are Sisters, We are in One Family".

It was a peaceful demonstration in Melbourne and there were presence of police there as well. Police were on foot, on horses and in cars to guide and guard the protestors.

Hmm. The Politburo of China should not take all these protests lightly. They should perhaps look at their adminstration, ideologies and policies to ensure the rising Dragon does not get pulled down by its own people.

However, there are two sides of a coin. What we hear from overseas Chinese citizens are primarily their opinion. Some citizens in China have the same thoughts too. But to say that all Chinese disagree with the Politburo is really wrong.

Perhaps, again as I said before, rapid development will always bring about many "side dishes" a.k.a problems, just like Malaysia. China will one day be facing a political crisis, like it or not.

The Politburo will be facing problems and need to revamp their system of administration as well as policies if they do not want to falter. The people's power is great.

Asia is facing a lot of changes at the moment and will face more reforms as well as development in the space of a century. At least that is what I foresee. Specifically, massive changes will be seen in Malaysia, Thailand, China, Vietnam and Burma.

We are seeing changes, be it good or bad in terms of policy reforms, democracy and people's voices in Malaysia are playing a significant role in moulding a better Malaysia. But I have said enough of Malaysia all these while. For now, I am highly interested in China Politburo's future as well as Thailand's politics.

Thai politics has never been the same ever since Thaksin Shinawatra became PM with his Thai Rak Thai party. The people's power voted him in. But the Generals and the elite in Bangkok sent him out. In the North, Thaksin is a Saint and revered only at a rank below King Bhumibol.

We perhaps need not go far to find a supporter of Thaksin. Run outside Bangkok, where non-elites live, you can surely find pro-Thaksin Thais.

I am very interested in Thailand's politics and Thaksin's ideas, governance and policies. If there are any Thais reading my blog or there are any experts out there who know about Thailand's political landscape, feel free to have a conversation with me.

Thailand's politics is like a land mine. Those in power are always under scrutiny by the people. And the PM of Thailand is not the most powerful in the country. King Bhumibol is. Or rather, whoever the King of Thailand is. King Bhumibol might be succeeded by his Crown Prince soon, if I am not mistaken. King Bhumibol has been in and out of several health dilemma in recent years.

There were comments that Thaksin might be able to make a comeback given that he has a "close" relationship with the Crown Prince of Thailand. Read it somewhere.

Like it or not, the current People's Power Party swept into power because of Thaksin's influences. It was formed after the military government disbanded Thai Rak Thai.

Thaksin Shinawatra has the politics of Thailand in his palm. But to balance things out, the Democrats there are heavily dependant on the "silent" Palace towards the administration heavily influenced by Thaksin.

One thing is for sure in Thailand, and this matter is even greater than in Malaysia. The King of Thailand is revered and in some parts of Thailand (or perhaps the majority), he is like a heavenly figure - a God. The King is highly respected by everyone in Thailand. And I really mean, EVERYONE.

Hmm. I will leave the other countries aside and not comment on them. Haha. I am just very interested in Thai politics at the moment.

As for Malaysia's side, we all have to wait for news on the outcome of the Glenmarie Hotel Shah Alam retreat by the Supreme Council of UMNO. Then only we can see where we are heading.

Yes, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim can say all he wants. All those MPs who want to defect, I strongly urge them to resign. The people not only voted for their choice of MPs but the fact that they were representing a certain party in March 2008 played a significant role in decision making too.

This shows how much respect Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has for the people's choice of Government in March 2008. Or wait, perhaps he is the impatient PM-wannabe?