Former Malaysian leader a poor choice for Nobel prize ?
Former Malaysian leader a poor choice for Nobel prize ?
By Anushka Anastasia Solomon- Denver Post
Two words came to mind when I heard Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the former Malaysian prime minister, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize: distressing and interesting.
Distressing because Mahathir's nomination by external groups, spearheaded by former Bosnian president Ejup Ganic, does not adhere to the word, letter and spirit of Alfred Nobel's intentions: " ... the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."
Interesting, because it was the United States and NATO that bombed Serbia to stop ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Bosnia. And it was Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under the Clinton administration, who negotiated and later chaired the conference that led to the Dayton Peace Agreement, ending the 3 1/2-year- long war. Holbrooke, a supporter of Israel, is a seven-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. Mahathir and the Malaysian government, on the other hand, publicly express anti-Jewish sentiments and have declared that all Malaysians, regardless of race or religion, are forbidden to travel to Israel.
Distressing because proposing Mahathir is tantamount to recommending Hitler for uniting the Europeans under the German flag.
Interesting because Hitler was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1939.
Distressing because Mahathir was on a committee for the defense of Saddam Hussein and last week hosted a peace conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to criminalize war while criminalizing his own deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, Pakistani national Munawar Anees, and former Parliament member Lim Guan Eng for opposing him.
Only recently, the Malaysian government publicly televised its willingness to shed blood to maintain Malay Muslim supremacy in multiethnic Malaysia.
Mahathir's nomination elicits neither joy nor pride. As a Malaysian citizen, it is distressing to observe a man responsible for implementing Malay-Muslim supremacy in Malaysia held up as a champion against ethnic cleansing in Europe. Then again, another recent candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize was Dr. Anees, who sought refuge in the United States after fleeing Malaysia and torture, humiliation and criminalization under Mahathir's regime. What does this say about the nomiating process?
In 2006, the Nobel Peace Prize rightly went to Bangladeshi Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen bank. Yunus, called the "banker to the poor," invented microlending and creatively utilized his professional skills to help bring peace to that part of Asia.
The Grameen model of micro financing, focusing for the most part on women, addresses the subject of war and peace in a humane way.
For 30 years, Yunus busied himself with the creation of opportunities for the poor in Bangladesh. His words in the Nobel Lecture on Dec. 10, 2006, burn like poetry. He said, "In 1974, I found it difficult to teach elegant theories of economics in the university classroom, in the backdrop of a terrible famine in Bangladesh. Suddenly, I felt the emptiness of those theories in the face of crushing hunger and poverty. I wanted to do something immediate to help people around me, even if it was just one human being, to get through another day with a little more ease."
The Grameen model proves that poverty can be eradicated by locals within an impoverished economy, and has impacted communities in 23 other countries, including the U.S.
We may not all be able to agree on the war in Iraq, terrorism or Nobel Peace Prize nominees, but we can, as Carl Sandburg wrote of wars, "follow great causes not yet dreamed out in the heads of men" and become, like Yunus, poems of action.
Anushka Anastasia Solomon (www.atthewindow.us) is a Malaysian writer and poet in exile. She was a Colorado Voices columnist in 2002-03. Applications are being accepted for the new panel of Voices writers until Feb. 20.
Malaysia Tun Dr Mahathir Nobel prize
By Anushka Anastasia Solomon- Denver Post
Two words came to mind when I heard Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the former Malaysian prime minister, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize: distressing and interesting.
Distressing because Mahathir's nomination by external groups, spearheaded by former Bosnian president Ejup Ganic, does not adhere to the word, letter and spirit of Alfred Nobel's intentions: " ... the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."
Interesting, because it was the United States and NATO that bombed Serbia to stop ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Bosnia. And it was Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under the Clinton administration, who negotiated and later chaired the conference that led to the Dayton Peace Agreement, ending the 3 1/2-year- long war. Holbrooke, a supporter of Israel, is a seven-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. Mahathir and the Malaysian government, on the other hand, publicly express anti-Jewish sentiments and have declared that all Malaysians, regardless of race or religion, are forbidden to travel to Israel.
Distressing because proposing Mahathir is tantamount to recommending Hitler for uniting the Europeans under the German flag.
Interesting because Hitler was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1939.
Distressing because Mahathir was on a committee for the defense of Saddam Hussein and last week hosted a peace conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to criminalize war while criminalizing his own deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, Pakistani national Munawar Anees, and former Parliament member Lim Guan Eng for opposing him.
Only recently, the Malaysian government publicly televised its willingness to shed blood to maintain Malay Muslim supremacy in multiethnic Malaysia.
Mahathir's nomination elicits neither joy nor pride. As a Malaysian citizen, it is distressing to observe a man responsible for implementing Malay-Muslim supremacy in Malaysia held up as a champion against ethnic cleansing in Europe. Then again, another recent candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize was Dr. Anees, who sought refuge in the United States after fleeing Malaysia and torture, humiliation and criminalization under Mahathir's regime. What does this say about the nomiating process?
In 2006, the Nobel Peace Prize rightly went to Bangladeshi Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen bank. Yunus, called the "banker to the poor," invented microlending and creatively utilized his professional skills to help bring peace to that part of Asia.
The Grameen model of micro financing, focusing for the most part on women, addresses the subject of war and peace in a humane way.
For 30 years, Yunus busied himself with the creation of opportunities for the poor in Bangladesh. His words in the Nobel Lecture on Dec. 10, 2006, burn like poetry. He said, "In 1974, I found it difficult to teach elegant theories of economics in the university classroom, in the backdrop of a terrible famine in Bangladesh. Suddenly, I felt the emptiness of those theories in the face of crushing hunger and poverty. I wanted to do something immediate to help people around me, even if it was just one human being, to get through another day with a little more ease."
The Grameen model proves that poverty can be eradicated by locals within an impoverished economy, and has impacted communities in 23 other countries, including the U.S.
We may not all be able to agree on the war in Iraq, terrorism or Nobel Peace Prize nominees, but we can, as Carl Sandburg wrote of wars, "follow great causes not yet dreamed out in the heads of men" and become, like Yunus, poems of action.
Anushka Anastasia Solomon (www.atthewindow.us) is a Malaysian writer and poet in exile. She was a Colorado Voices columnist in 2002-03. Applications are being accepted for the new panel of Voices writers until Feb. 20.
Malaysia Tun Dr Mahathir Nobel prize
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