Two Faces: Detention Without Trial - Malaysiakini

Two Faces records Syed Husin Ali's experiences during his six-year detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA). His detention followed a spate of demonstrations in 1974 by students who supported the peasants in Baling, Kedah (Malaysia), and protested against poverty and the rise in prices of daily necessities.

Toward the end of the second year of his detention at Kamunting (located at Perak state), he was put in solitary confinement for six months in an unknown place in Kuala Lumpur. During this time he was interrogated and subjected to all kinds of torture and harassment.

There was an attempt to implicate him with a number of politicians and journalists who were then detained for alleged involvement in a "communist conspiracy" in Singapore and Malaysia. Interestingly, there were also attempts to implicate some senior UMNO leaders, including Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

Two Faces links some personal experiences of the author with the social and political context of the time. (Source: Kinibooks at Malaysiakini) (Note: I’ve bought the bahasa Melayu version. I like it)

Lim Kit Siang: The Star Editor is “mischievous” - Malaysiakini

DAP supremo and veteran politician Lim Kit Siang was clearly upset with the suggestion that he had ‘sold out’ his party policies in a “secret pact” jointly signed by top Pakatan Rakyat leaders, reports Malaysiakini.

"He said it was “mischievous” of The Star editor-in-chief Wong Chun Wai to infer that DAP was being opportunistic and had in a “dishonest act of political expediency” inked the document to uphold Malay rights and status of Islam."

The book is Winning Strategies of Anwar Ibrahim. This book is an objective analysis of the strategies and meticulous planning employed by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim which enabled the opposition to win five states and 82 parliamentary constituencies at the recent 12th general elections, thereby denying the ruling Barisan Nasional its two thirds majority in parliament.

It is said that the author focuses on the details of the strategies planned by Anwar Ibrahim months before the general elections and how he successfully implemented them. (Source: KiniBooks)

Jasmines the flower and Jasmine the lady

It took me three hours to read Jasmines on the 4^th Floor. It’s a love story by Maclean Patrick published by Alaf 21 Sdn. Bhd, between a Chinese lady and an Ibanese man. Happy ending love affairs, but this novel has an element of surprise.

A good first book by the author. A lot to be improved, though.

Synopsis
Jasmine finds solace in her world of flowers on her 4th floor apartment. She dreams of the day she would leave the apartment for Singapore. But all her plans are sidelined the day she meets the mysterious Remy.

Remy is on the run from himself. Desperately trying to find meaning in his life, he hides in the flat complex called Rifle Range (located at Penang). There he befriends Jasmine and immediately takes interest in her. Jasmine, the happy-go-lucky girl is the answer to his problems.

It is a friendship that helps both of them cope with their tortured past and their need to love and be loved. Ultimately Remy’s secret threatens their blossoming love and hopes of a life together.

Could the strengths of their friendship and love overcome the secret that Remy hides?

Publisher: Alaf 21 Sdn. Bhd, 2008
Price: RM 10.00
Pages:208, paperback
ISBN: 978-983-124-336-7

We provide catering services for the following; courses, trainings and seminars, product launching, PR events, birthdays, parties, family day, doa selamat, wedding, etc. Varieties of menus are available; Malay dishes, Chinese & Indian style & Western.

Personal Justice by Ramlee Awang Murshid

When Hilman met his daughter Jeslina in New York, after years of separation, they were both happy beyond compare. However, their happiness were short-lived when they were involved in road accident.

Jeslina went into coma while Hilman was accused of drunk driving. In that chaotic situation, Mia Sara, an officer from Malaysian Embassy in Washington D.C, appeared. With her help, Hilman was advised to appear in court.

But, when Hilman found out about a conspiracy to hide the real cause of accident, he decided to seek justice on his own.

As a sharpshooter in the Malaysian Royal Police, survival was his playground. His investigation on the conspiracy, finally, led him to the White House!

And, Hilman was never in awe standing before its door...

I like all Michael Crichton fictions

I still reading Rising Sun by Michael Crichton by the time this entry published. I’ve been the follower of all Michael Crichton’s fictions and enjoy every single of it. Then I realize that this novel has been filmed, sometimes in 1993. I’ll try to look for the film, if still available.

I already read Timeline, The Terminal Man, State of Fear and Andromeda Strain.

Synopsis from publisher

During the grand opening celebration of the new American headquarters of an immense Japanese conglomerate, the dead body of a beautiful woman is found. The investigation begins, and immediately becomes a headlong chase through a twisting maze of industrial intrigue and a violent business battle that takes no prisoners.

Comment by Publishers Weekly

A young American model is murdered in the corporate boardroom of Los Angeles's Nakomoto Tower on the new skyscraper's gala opening night. Murdered, that is, unless she was strangled while enjoying sadomasochistic sex that went too far.

Nakomoto, a Japanese electronics giant, tries to hush up the embarrassing incident, setting in motion a murder investigation that serves Crichton ( Jurassic Park ) as the platform for a clever, tough-talking harangue on the dangers of Japanese economic competition and influence-peddling in the U.S.

Divorced LAPD lieutenant Peter Smith, who has custody of his two-year-old daughter, and hard-boiled detective John Connor, who says things like ``For a Japanese, consistent behavior is not possible,'' pursue the killer in a winding plot involving Japan's attempt to gain control of the U.S. computer industry.

Although Crichton's didactic aims are often at cross-purposes with his storytelling, his entertaining, well-researched thriller cannot be easily dismissed as Japan-bashing because it raises important questions about that country's adversarial trade strategy and our inadequate response to it. He also provides a fascinating perspective on how he thinks the Japanese view Americans--as illiterate, childish, lazy people obsessed with TV, violence and aggressive litigation.