Reinventing the Tennis Court Pledge or Legacy of a Tree in the Silver State?

Controversial Tree: Historic or Disgrace? You decide

This entry originally  published on 2nd march 2009.

1. Disclaimer: As an academic, I will remain neutral on Malaysian politics. This time it is tempting to offer brief remarks from historical perspective (French revolution to be exact) on the recent development of politics on our own backyard as it has vivid parallels.

The most recent episode of the Silver State’s political tumult draws parallel  with the Tennis Court Pledge(TCP)–the part where the meeting hall’s door was locked.

It didn’t stop there, the drama continues.  Just like in Versailles in1789, deputies of the 3rd estate refused to leave after finding the door to the assembly hall  was locked and gathered at a court and vowed not to leave until a constitution is drafted. The “deputies” of the assembly in our story here too gathered at an alternate place except this time it is under a tree ( a large rain-tree). I wonder if the protagonists studied the French revolution or what happened there is just a coincidence? Whatever the case is the recent controversy in this particular state certainly carries powerful symbolism parallel to the TCO.

Now can you see that what we learn in Modern Europe has its utility too in understanding the symbolism and subtext of the current affairs.

Shall we call this The Re-making of the Tennis Court Pledge ? Or probably some of us has other suggestions?

Counterpoints

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/3/4/nation/3396765&sec=nation (Disgrace Tree)

http://anilnetto.com/civil-society/pokok-demokrasi-stands-tall-as-institutions-lose-lustre/ (Democracy Tree)

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/3/4/nation/3396736&sec=nation (neutral coverage)

2.Exhibition on European Union @ HS Square (Tuesday 3rd March) . Support our classmates.

3.Ideologies in the 2nd half of 19th century (slides) can be viewed @ http://www.scribd.com/doc/12944835/ISM2ez?secret_password=kmyq9534xnj3ww80fgc

What is Europe Lecture’s Outlines

What is “Europe”?

What criteria—geography culture language/s customs, etc?

Dynamic meanings from the days of ancient Greece to the late 20th centuries.

Syllabus for Europe

syllabus  for  Modern Europe  has been uploaded.
syll25200910

French Revolution

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My Facebook

 

Below is French revolution slides.

best wishes

HZ

WW1: What Lessons can we learn from this madness?

Role Play: If you were a statesman/policy maker on the eve of WW1,  what & how would you handle the conflict (differently), to avoid it from escalating into WW1.  What could you do  to avoid this madness called the “great war”? Come up with your plans/strategies.

Slides

Terms:

Causes–Immediate & Root Causes

Franz Ferdinand

Austrian-Hungarian Empire

The Black Hand

Triple Alliance vs. Triple Entente

Root Causes: Alliance System, Nationalism, Militarism, The Mood of 1914

Rasputin song by Boney M (Thanks Claytonia)

Our classmate under pseudonym of Claytonia Virginica has recommended this song. It is also recommended by another classmate “ice”. So I’m putting this clip here.

enjoy and best wishes

Modern Europe Class projects, Russian Rev Slides

View this document on Scribd

Our classmate with a certain nickname Claytonia has recommended this song Rasputin.Thanks Claytonia.

1. Exhibition on Hitler

When: Tuesday , 10/3/09, 10.am-11.20am

Where: HS Seminar Room(to be confirmed)

2. Exhibition on Hitler @ HS Square, Thurs, 12/3/09 9am -3pm

3.  Theater on  French Revolution (starring Max Robespierre himself)

When? Wed.18 March 09

Time: 9.00 pm Venue: Experimental Hall

*please note that BONUS marks (can’t reveal the exact points) will be given to Euro students who attend and support this theatrical performance. Let’s appreciate their great efforts and get as many of your friends especially those not taking our class to attend this historic night.HIST 1000 students are also encouraged to attend this performance.

regards and salam

HZ

HIST 1000 Roman Civilization & Students’ Web projects

1.As I have mentioned during class, unfortunately,there will be no slides download available for you, when there is one it is considered a bonus or an aberration instead of a norm. This time there is one on Roman civilization. Follow this link:

http://moderneurope.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/roman-civilization-slides/

or try http://www.slideshare.net/secret/EyhxPiDWLyjY8Q

2.Please visit our classmates webs (see under link section) and offer comments, evaluations and suggestions.

Modern Europe Mid-Term at HS Seminar Room (Modern Europe) & New venue for PSCI 2520 @LR26

Fellow Europeanists:

We have secured a permanent venue for both sections –1 &2. This will be our permanent venue for the rest of the semester@LR 26 (Level 3 next to CERDAS- a centre headed by Dr Tunku Mohar). It is on the third floor on the same wing as HS Cafe (except HS cafe is on the 1st floor)

MID TERM

Venue: Seminar Room, HS, 3rd Floor (confirmed)

Time: Regular class time. Sec. 1 @ 10 am;

sec. 2 @11.30 am.

5th Feb 2009 (Thursday)
Format:
1. Map/Geography (remember that I have given the handout at the beginning of the semester, do ensure that you have done this exercise on your own)
2. MCQ
3. Short Essay/Short Notes or both-   10 points

Sample Map Question:
You’ll be given the same blank map of Europe labeled with 12 marked Numbers

Question: Identify the numbers that appear on the map. Write the answer next to the number. The answers are to be selected from the list below.
“Fake” States: macedonia, bulgaria, andorra, slovenia, belarus, ukraine, uzbekistan (probably maximum 16 states will be given)
Fake Bodies of Water & Mountain Range: Gombak Ocean, Pusu River, Gombak Mountain, KL Mountain, Klang River, China Sea, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean.
Sample Geography Question:
Identify the majority ethnic group & official language of the following:
Dominant Ethnic Group Official Language
1. Russia
2. Ukraine
3.France
*DON’T PANIC! KEEP IN MIND THAT THE QUESTIONS TO BE TAKEN ONLY FROM THE LIST OF MAP/GEOGRAPHY HAND-OUT GIVEN TO YOU/INCLUDED IN THE COURSE READER.

TOPICS COVERED: See course syllabus.
Best wishes

Hafiz

Engaging Hamas? Hamas is a Mideast Reality (LA Times)

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-gerges31-2009jan31,0,4432297.story

Hamas is a Mideast reality

The group has evolved dramatically as a movement that can’t be wished away by the U.S. and Israel.

By Fawaz A. Gerges

 

January 31, 2009

Now that the guns have fallen silent and the dust is settling over Gaza, it is time to revisit the received wisdom in Israel, the United States and some European quarters that Hamas is a monolithic, Al Qaeda-like terrorist organization bent on Israel’s destruction and that, therefore, Israel has no choice but to isolate Hamas and use overwhelming force to overcome it.

Israeli Atrocities in Gaza

The recent Israeli human rights violation during its 22 days assault has been extensively covered on the web. One of the best resources is Aljazeera.

What can we do to help the Palestinians?

1.Remember that Palestinian crisis is not Palestinian problem alone. It is ours. Indeed, Aqsa is the first qiblah, Muslim sacred land. Do something to the best of our ability to help them. How?

2.The weakest response is to remember them in our prayer. Perform salat hajat & qunut nazilah for them.

3.Donate to the Palestinian cause for many of our brothers/sisters have “donated”/sacrificed their blood and even life for this sacred land.

4.Try our best to boycott Israel (even country/ies which support Israel) products.

On a lighter note, the following is Zubir Ali’s award-winning song  (in Malay)”Balada Seorang Gadis Kecil”, which was composed in remembrance (and condemnation of) of Israeli massacre in Sabra & Shatilla in the early 80s (Indeed, Israel’s crime against Palestinians is not new- it has been a long standing one at least dating back to 60 years ago since its occupation and seizure of Palestinian lands)

Save Gaza! Save Palestine!

Modern Europe classes (29 Jan) @ EDU LR5

Just to remind everybody that our classes for both sections on 29th Jan 09, will take place at EDU LR5.

Industrial Revolution (IR)

Lecture’s Contents

1Intro. Remark &Defining the IR
2Factors facilitating IR
3Why different rate of ind. (Why Britain first?)
4Is technology alone enough to make it happen?
cultural & religious considerations?
5.Impacts

Why England First?
l.Productive English agriculture-new techniques in farming-high a.agricultural output—the most basic need- food was secured
Implication: price of food was cheap—availability of fund for investment
b. Surplus income -high agric. productivity and low food prices

2. effective central bank and well-developed credit market
3.The English government allowed the domestic economy to function with few restrictions and encouraged both technological change and a free
4. England also had a labor surplus -an adequate supply of workers for the burgeoning factory system
5.Geography: small country
6. Infrastructure
7. political stability (free from Napoleonic War)

Protestant Work Ethics
Max Weber, a German sociologist (d.1920), coined the term “protestant work ethic.”
-proposed that the origins of the capitalist mentality was located in the PROTESTANT ethics of seventeenth century England
-Based on the perception that the Protestant-dominated parts of Europe were industrially more advanced than the Catholic ones

His term encompassed the following traits: hard work that glorifies God, a long term view of the future (savings and putting off current wants to meet tomorrows needs), and self-reliance rather than government reliance

It’s the Policy, Stupid:Political Islam and US Foreign Policy (Esposito’s article)

It’s the Policy, Stupid: Political Islam and US Foreign Policy

by John Esposito John L. Esposito is University Professor of Religion & International Affairs and Director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. He is the author of Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam and co-author with Dalia Mogahed of Can You Hear Me Now? Listening to the Voices of 1 Billion Muslims (forthcoming).

US foreign policy and political Islam today are deeply intertwined. Every US president since Jimmy Carter has had to deal with political Islam; none has been so challenged as George W. Bush. Policymakers, particularly since 9/11, have demonstrated an inability and/or unwillingness to distinguish between radical and moderate Islamists. They have largely treated political Islam as a global threat similar to the way that Communism was perceived. However, even in the case of Communism, foreign policymakers eventually moved from an ill-informed, broad-brush, and paranoid approach personified by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s to more nuanced, pragmatic, and reasonable policies that led to the establishment of relations with China in the 1970s, even as tensions remained between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Venue for Modern Europe Classes

Section 1 (T-Th) 10 am

Sect: 2: 11.30-1250

Section 1:
8 Jan. 09: Viewing Room D, 13 Jan Viewing Room D, 15 Jan, Multipurpose Room.

Section 2  (15 Jan)11.30 am Auditorium

20 January: Library Auditorium

22nd Jan. Only Section 1: Viewing Room D

22nd Jan.  Sec 2: EDU LR5

29 Jan. Classes for both sections (1 & 2) back to EDU LR 5

*In case, all venues at multi-media section are booked we will go back to EDU LR5, but by default, we will try our best to get a venue at Multi Media Section, Library (3rd floor).
The situation is a bit fluid as Library doesn’t allow us to book venue for the whole semester. we can only book it max 2 weeks from the booking date- it is on 1st come 1st serve basis.