Poll of a Billion Monkeys

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Introduction

I''ve been invited by our kind host at The Missal to join as an occasional contributor, and I've decided to have a go at it. So here is a brief introduction.

I started blogging in April, 2004 at Agam's Gecko. "Agam" is the name I go by when I'm in Indonesia, a nickname which was given to me by local friends during my first visit to Aceh in 1990. I have lived in Bangkok, Thailand for the past 15 years. I'm originally from Canada.

On Agam's Gecko I write about practically any sort of current affairs which catch my interest, often related to the ongoing ideological struggle taking place across our world. I do keep up with developments in Indonesia (I can watch all their national networks here via satellite broadcast), and visit there fairly often. It's a tremendously important country in this current time of "hearts and minds" ideological tug-of-war around the globe, and sometimes I think it may turn out to be the key to the whole thing, at some point. Indonesians comprise the most Muslims of any nationality on earth, and they have a natural affinity toward brotherhood. It's also amazingly misunderstood in the West.

I also write about happenings in Thailand of course, which last year included a mass popular movement against our former tycoon Prime Minister, the sham elections he conducted, the military coup d'etat against him in September and the still unsolved New Year's Eve bombings in the capital.

I also have long been interested in the situation of Chinese-occupied Tibet, and frequently write about that issue. In fact, that's almost all I wrote about during last October (if you'd like to check out my archives), after Chinese troops opened fire on a group of Tibetan refugees attempting to cross a high Himalayan pass into Nepal, and killing several of them. Mountaineers provided the damning photographic and video evidence, proving beyond doubt that for Tibetans, attempting to flee the oppressive rule of China and seeking freedom in India with the Dalai Lama can result in being shot on sight.

That should give some idea of where I'm coming from, and I want to thank Jack very much for his kind invitation.

Digg!

Save This Page

No comments: