( Early notes for a speech at an upcoming Malaysian forum at Harvard University, Boston Massachusetts, USA, March 2008. )

Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains

(- Jean Jacques Rousseau )

Man has no nature, what he has is history

(- Ortega y Gassett )

When I was invited to this gathering of young thinkers, movers and shakers, and public intellectuals, I was writing about hope. The Malaysian Revolution of 2008 was about hope materializing. It was about 'freedom' fought and won.