KUCHING (Nov 26): A book titled ‘An Examined Life – Politics And Principles’ which will compile essays written by former Bandar Kuching MP, the late Sim Kwang Yang, will be launched on Facebook at 8pm tomorrow (Nov 27).
It will include 62 essays written by Sim which were published in Malaysiakini, The Nut Graph, and Hornbill Unleashed, Sim’s blog.
Sim passed away in the early morning of Nov 27, 2014 at the age of 66. His friends said he died in his sleep.
Sim was first elected as Bandar Kuching MP in 1982 and had held the seat until 1995.
A close friend to Sim, Otto Steinmayer, described him as “a great man: a patriot who as MP and politician of utmost integrity defended Sarawak, and the whole of Malaysia, its land, and its peoples, especially the native and dispossessed, with courage and passion, and who was a lucid, learned, and pungent writer”.
According to the friend, the book is a fraction of Sim’s entire output, collecting some of his best pieces.
“It’s good we have a paper book, a physical volume that will sit on the shelves until it hooks its chosen reader. Pieces published on the Internet tend to dissolve into their primal electrons and be lost forever,” he said in a review.
Steinmayer said there was far too much matter in the book for him to survey in the review.
He said the collection was divided into four sections namely Political Reform, Examined; Electoral Reform, Examined; Social Reform, Examined; and An Examined Life of the Mind.
“I personally did not read straight from front to back. I skipped around, treating myself to a humanistic piece from the last section when paying attention to politics became too hard,” he added.
He pointed out that Sim certainly deserved a biography, perhaps a collection of memoirs by friends in one volume given that Sim’s life was remarkable.
“Sarawak can be proud to have been the birthplace of this great and humane thinker and doer. Read his essays. He justifies himself (without intending to) more than I can do justice to him here,” he said.
A panel discussion involving six panelists will also be held in connection with the book launch available on the Facebook page of the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0).
The discussion is to be officiated by Suara Rakyat Malaysia’s (Suaram) Dr Kua Kia Soong and moderated by Nalini Elumalai.
The expected panelists are UndiSabah’s Mahirah Marzuki, Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj, Bersih 2.0’s Thomas Fann, Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How, Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto and Jeffrey Sachs Centre on Sustainable Development’s Dr Wong Chin Huat.
At the time of Sim’s passing, Democratic Action Party (DAP) national leader Lim Kit Siang said Sim was one of the first young Sarawakians to join the party when DAP Sarawak was formed in 1978.
“Sim left footprints in Sarawak and Malaysian politics. His heart was always with the underdog, regardless of origin. Pioneer in DAP reachout to longhouses. RIP,” said the Iskandar Puteri MP in an old tweet.
The post Book compiling essays of late Bandar Kuching MP Sim Kwang Yang to be launched on Nov 27 appeared first on Borneo Post Online.
from Borneo Post Online https://ift.tt/377cMW0
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment