The GRAND Mother of all Olympics!! "888"

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The GRAND Mother of all Olympics will begin today 8 August at 8pm (888) Beijing time, which coincidentally is the same as our Malaysian local time. So we will be watching really "Real Time"!

I won't be writing about Beijing Olympics which you can read everywhere in the net. I am writing about how China is what it is today. Beijing is the second largest city in China, after Shanghai. Beijing has a population of 18 million. In a span of 30 years its size stretches 50 km from the city centre.

It was in this historic city, on October 1 , 1949 that the Communist Party of China, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, announced in Tiananmen Square the creation of the People's Republic of China and renamed the city back to Beijing.

Mao's famous declaration, "To-day, the Chinese People have stood up!!" marks the beginning of what China is to-day. The Chinese people have stood up!! No more the sick men of Asia. Mao Zedong laid the foundation of what China is to-day. Due to our local political slant towards the USA, communism was viewed with contempt and no positive information was ever disseminated to the then Malayan public.

If one is to understand the pivotal role of the Communist Party of China and why the Chinese people supported Mao Zedong, one has to understand the political history during those turbulent years of the revolution. Two very authoritative books come to mind. One is "The Red Star Over China" by Edgar Snow. This book pricked the conscience of the Western aggressors and imperialists. The other book which came later is "The Morning Deluge" by Dr Han Suyin, which described and analyzed the political developments leading to the victory of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of the Communist Party of China. It also gave a detailed write up of the life of Mao Zedong during the revolutionary years; and also a very detailed description of the infamous Long March.

Yes, to-day is the most important historic day after "The Chinese People Have Stood Up" Declaration. The man, instrumental for this great achievement is none other than Chairman Mao. He laid the most important foundation for the rising up of China. He might have made terrible mistakes especially instigating the Cultural Revolution with horrible consequences; but his overwhelming contributions to China overshadow all his faults.

Then came the master strategist, at par with Zhuge Liang of the "Three Kingdom" fame, Deng Xiaoping with the famous quotation, "I don't care if it's a white cat or a black cat. It's a good cat so long as it catches mice." Within a span of 20 years of the later part of his life, he built up China, and to-day the Chinese people have stood up to host the GRAND Mother of all Olympics!

Secretly, in the heart of every Chinese is this: "China to be at the top of the medal list at the end of the Games!!"

Can they do it? I will stick my neck out for this: YES!!