It seems almost cruel to abandon them…

I read the following heart rending article on drought in Zimbabwe, currently presided over Robert Mugabe. This excerpt gives and idea of the dire straits that country is in.

“The government is very happy about the food situation as they know they can use food to make people vote for them again,” he says. “They use every advantage.”

At the next village, Grandmother Dedi Ndlovu is complaining about pain in her legs. She harvested just 20kg of maize for her nine grandchildren, eight of whom are orphans. “Not even half a bag,” she says. “In the past we would get six or seven bags. Sometimes I think, what if I get sick and die? What will happen to these children?”

It is a while before I notice something even more eerie than the impending famine. These are villages of grandparents and grandchildren. There is nobody of my age. In a whole day we meet only one person between the ages of 20 and 50.

“All the young people have either died or gone,” explains Pastor Raymond, the local clergyman.

In a country where drought has consumed that land, an inflation rate of 15000% and the government resorting to paying gangsters to make sure shopkeepers comply with price restrictions, you can call the powers that be insane, almost diabolic for thinking about using food to barter for votes.

But what shocked me was the following comment left at the end of the webpage.

…the West should leave Africa to sort out its own problems. However, they are incapable of doing so, and have no intention of doing so, because come hell or high water, African leaders will NEVER act decisively as one to get rid of their dispicable peers, such as Mugabe.

In fact, the West should give Africa up as a lost cause, because that is what it is, very largely. and it will remain so until African leaders …

The crude generalization of Africa and the West as beggar and benefactor should repulse us.

But then in the name of respecting national sovereignty, would anyone just stand by and watch a country waste to ashes?  Could you, after seeing what starvation does to a person, just sit by and pontificate about a country, no even a whole continent, being a ‘lost cause’? Does “God helps those who help themselves” apply in this case?

The Golden Compass

Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials Trilogy entranced me the very first time I read the 3 books. The Golden Compass is the first title in the series and is to be cast onscreen coming December 7th.

If you haven’t caught the book, buy it! (Or borrow from the National Library, sure have one!) It is engaging, well-written in crisp English. The plot is intelligent and imaginative. Principal protagonists like Lyra capture your heart and make her story, your story.

Capturing all that in this movie adaptation will be a tall order. I just hope that with pedigree like Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman together with first-timer Dakota Blue Richards, it will score well.

Nathaniel Tan arrested by the Police!

In the wake of the recent scandal involving Deputy ISM, Datuk Johari Baharum, Nathaniel Tan, and aide to PKR’s information chief Tian Chua has been remanded by the police.

The circumstances surrounding Nat (Nathaniel Tan’s) arrest are highly suspicious. I was made to understand that 3 plainclothes policemen approached him and apprehended him. He was held for six hours in an unknown location without access to his family and legal counsel. Supporters and PKR members were finally able to track him down at the Dang Wangi Police Station. He was in good spirits when he was found.

I’m doing my bit to create awareness of this blatant act of intimidation. Apparently he was held over some comments left on his blog. However, police have been unable to state which offense is he being held under, waffling between three charges before settling on Section 420 of the Penal Code.

Here are other sources: Global Voices Online, Screenshots, Rocky’s Bru, Infernal Ramblings,Bobjots.

*Edit: My apologies for the original misleading header. Nat Tan’s arrest was in conjunction with a comment left on his blog with respect to the fee-for-freedom scandal involving the Deputy ISM. He is currently being held under OSA.