Tibet and bootlicking

I wonder what Singapore has to gain from sucking up to China?

“Singapore supports the declared policy of the Chinese Government to protect the lives and property of its citizens from violent demonstrators with minimum use of force. We are opposed to the politicisation of the Olympics. We note the comment of Premier Wen Jiabao that China is prepared to hold dialogue with the Dalai Lama based on “One China” and the renunciation of violence, and we are relieved that the situation in Tibet is calming down.”

Link

When on the opposite end of the world, reported in the British papers:

An Associated Press reporter, Charles Hutzler, described one young Buddhist monk who yelled “Tibet is not free! Tibet is not free!” and then burst into tears.

Link 

Perhaps it not my place to criticize MFA’s policy.  But this is the second time Singapore has taken a ‘close one eye’ stand with regard to violent suppression of dissent. Remember Myanmar?

Photographs are not the whole truth. But who can deny their immediacy? The accompanying photograph with the TimesOnline article is especially poignant.

A significant speech

One of the best speeches of the presidential race so far. Inspiring, thought provoking and gently rebuking.  Here’s the full transcript on TimesOnline.co.uk

A photo is worth a hundred words, yet thousands more are left unspoken

When reading the history of the Vietnam War-albeit not the most neutral account of it-on Wikipedia, the impression I got was that the Vietcong were the good guys. The American supported South Vietnam forces were inept, corrupt and cowardly.

Like many other conflicts during the Cold War era, this one would be seen as a proxy war between Communism and Capitalism, two economic doctrines as opposed as the north pole is to the south pole. But unlike many conflicts of the 20th century-this war had a photo that is iconic to it as the war itself was an icon of the 60-70s era.

The chilling execution of a Vietcong rebel by a South Vietnamese general.

Eddie Adams was the photojournalist-and one thing I learnt today: In subsequent interviews, he (Eddie) ‘wished he hadn’t taken the picture‘.

Adams wrote in Time magazine, “The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them, but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths. What the photograph didn’t say was, ‘What would you do if you were the general at that time and place on that hot day, and you caught the so-called bad guy after he blew away one, two or three American soldiers?’”

The linked article is a must read if we are to understand what we really want in an independent press. Yes, the Malaysian public has a right to know, a right to know truly-and truly know.

Mass effect

Mass Effect for the Xbo360 ships. Reviews are generally good. Gamespy reported technical glitches running on the Xbox which then leads me to ask

Will it come out of the PC? And will it perform better?

Bioware has ported many of its titles to the PC at some later date e.g. KOTOR, Sith Lords and Jade Empire. It would be surprising if ME didn’t get ported.

I’ll be on a lookout on this one.

VIDEO: Crazy driving lesson

This brings back memories about learning how to drive for the very first time. But I laughed my head of watching it. Depending on certain sensitivities, you either will be really humoured or really offended.

(By the way, what’s with an ABC  having a mother who speaks in a Filipino accent?)

Oh my God!

I first read about it in RockyBru’s blog. A video-clip showed lawyer, VK Lingam having a phone coversation somebody, allegedly our current Chief Justice way back in 2002. You bet that it has nothing to do with the fish head curry they had in Restoran Mamak.

Heading over to Anwar Ibrahim’s blog, I watched the clip. Although the audio was good, it was still hard to make out what they are talking about. A written transcript is available and a cursory scan shows that something fishier than fish head curry is afoot, or rather has happened.

This sort of confirms what everybody has been suspecting all along, lawyers, judges and well connected Datuks are all in cahoots.

A can of worms has been opened and the next few days will see many, many fierce verbal attacks.  The way I see it-and I hope that I’m wrong-this will be a battle between the alternative media and the print and broadcasting media over whose version of the events will become ‘truth’.

…And I can’t help but notice how well timed this release was-so close to the ‘imminent’ GE. Anwar is shrewd.

Colin MacRae dies in heli crash

Fans of rally sports will be saddened to know that Colin MacRae died in a helicopter crash.

Reported in the TimesOnline.co.uk

THE former rally driving champion Colin McRae was killed and his five year-old son feared dead in a helicopter crash yesterday afternoon. The aircraft came down in Jerviswood, Lanarkshire, half a mile from the family’s home and burst into flames just after 4pm.

What’s also tragic was that it happened during a family and friends outing, as evidenced by the fact that his 5 year old son was with him.

Negaraku–NameWeeKu

Over at Screenshots, Jeff Ooi publicizes a number of forums organized by DAP no doubt in various locales around the country. Personally, spare me the pseudo- social commentaries and abstract political posturing on “Defending Meng Chee” (Yes this is a jibe against the DAP.)

MCA has come out in another way, choosing instead to “continue to assist” (whatever that means!) Meng Chee. I just hope they mean and do what they say so confidently in the newspapers.

But the Cabinet takes the hardline with an ambigious “the law will have to take its course“. That’s just being kecil hati. 

I have watched the video, and I wonder at the storm in teacup that suddenly brewed over. I myself chuckled a little, identifying straightaway at the rap. But he wasn’t the first one, how about that fellow from Muar? Also the same thing what…

Must be because never use Negaraku….

But whatever the case, I think there’s too much attention given to him given much more pressing issues at hand, a sentiment echoed by Lim Kit Siang. YouTube is first and foremost a video sharing site. Think of it as a public wall, where anyone and everyone is invited to draw graffiti on it. It is public and a medium for self expression. A phenomenon of Web 2.0-which I’m sure not one cabinet minister even understands what it is-YouTube videos are VERY PERSONAL.  If you don’t like something, all you needed to do was to close the tab. A threat to prosecute Meng Chee really amounts to thought policing. Shudder the thought.

For whatever is worth, we give too much credit to Meng Chee by politicizing this YouTube clip. It’s like making a big fuss that your teenage daughter starts keeping posters of Shah Rukh Khan in her room. Just the hormones for goodness sake!

With the stock market spiralling down to less that 1200 points, our pukul enam setengah of a Cabinet certainly won’t have the energy to tell the AG (they are not supposed too btw) to persecute. And I don’t think the AG has much of a case anyway. Sedition Act? Can’t even tell the difference between an expression of discontent with an incitement to rebellion?

Doesn’t anyone recognize satire when they see it?

Nathaniel Tan and Steven Gan on Al-Jazeera English

Text link

Riz-Khan interviews Nat (who was recently held by the police for 4 days alleged OSA violations) and Steven Gan of Malaysiakini.

A no holds barred interview. They discuss blogs, press freedoms and government reactions.

A documentary on the development of the Final Fantasy franchise

Any gamer worth his salt knows the legendary Final Fantasy collection of video games. For some of us, having sweaty fantasies with Yuna from FF10 maybe the first time we became acquainted with this great body of work. But for others with more refined tastes like me our journey may have started with Final Fantasy 7 or earlier.

Personally I have played (using the Japanese version of numbering) 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. I’ve completed 5, 7 ,8 and 9. 4 was just too hard and 6…well let’s just say I’ve yet to find the motivation.

And hence it was so wonderful to stumble across this 13 part documentary, Final Fantasy Retrospective. So far only 3 parts have been aired (online).

Free for viewing and download here.