Mar 30th 2008 12:00 pm Sim Tze Tzin
Sim Tze Tzin, co-founder of the original Stanford Malaysia Forum, followed Jeff Ooi in teleconferencing from Penang, where he was recently elected as the state assemblyman for Pantai Jerejak. Sim opened by speaking about the contributions of student leaders who eventually radically changed the course of history like Sun Yat Sen and Mahatma Gandhi. Sim was quick to dismiss the suggestion that Malaysia might need a radical revolution; however, he made it clear that he believes “the country is not going in the right direction”.
He moved on to describe the founding of the Stanford Malaysia Forum one bitter California winter four years ago. “Stuck in a coffee shop,” he and a few others resolved that they needed a space for overseas students to engage in dialogue about the home country we all care for. He put it as a “spirit of civil society,” where we begin first with discussion, and continue on to form small projects to improve the country and maybe later fully “engage in the nation-building process,” as he and Jeff have done.
Posted by johnleemk / NMF 2008