Telecommunications

Another one from dad's 'collection' of stories.

In the 1990s, some Chinese archeologists were digging in a district of China. As they dug, they soon achieved some potential 'success' when they discovered copper in the ground. It was considered a major discovery, as it was possibly a missing piece to a long-standing puzzle. Thus, much effort and research was put into the discovery. Sure enough, the Chinese managed to prove (from the copper) that a during the Ming Dynasty a few hundred years ago, China already had the telephone technology; the copper being remains of the telephone lines.

The Americans weren't at all happy. Alexander Graham Bell's renowned 'invention' of the telephone was being challenged. Besides, the Americans did not feel at ease being beaten by an Asian country. So a mega project was launched; archeologists from all over the United States started digging. Sure enough, they soon discovered something more valuable - silicon! It didn't take long before the Americans claimed that hundreds of years ago they had already been using fibre optics; the silicon being the left-overs.

Now, the Malaysians were quietly observing the two nations' progress. When the Americans announced their discovery, the Malaysian government too decided to go with the flow - they launched a similar project as well. The best Malaysian archeologists started work straight away. After many long months of digging, they found nothing. Yes, nothing at all! So, the Malaysian government, at the end of the project, announced their findings. It went like this:

"We have, for the past 10 months, been digging every inch of possible territory in the country. The best archeologists were hired; they worked tirelessly. At the end of this project, we have discovered absolutely nothing in the ground. Therefore today, we are proud to announce the final findings - Malaysia's telecommunication system had always been WIRELESS! Malaysia boleh!!"