asians please speak up

two major gatherings of world leaders took place within a week in malaysia, the asean +3 east asian summit and the global peace forum. is there anything coming out from the two major asian events that are worthy of a meeting of so many leaders and costing so much funds? the east asian summit came out as a feel good forum for asian leaders to be seen to be able to get together, to rub shoulders, to talk shop. and talk is about what came out from it. the global forum is a talk session and they talked. mahathir talked the most. and his impact is still the greatest. mahathir called for more asian ngos, movements and the media to stand up and put an asian voice to the world map. that asians must organise and set the agenda and tell the world what is right or wrong, how asian sees events and through asian perspectives. he embarked on an attack on usa policies and how the usa set the agenda for the world, war on terrorism, regime change etc. he encouraged asians to emulate some of the western movements like the movement to protect the environment, to stand up for the people of the world. for a long time, all these movements are western dominated, standing up on issues or attacking countries, and representing mainly western interests. our journalists were quite vocal in their support for anti terrorism but quite muted in regime change. do they have any stand on this? interesting to know if they support regime change from the outside. would asians be able to take up the cudgel and contest with western ngos, to take on western governments and reset the agendas. could other agendas be set by asian organisations, initiated by asians and financed and supported by asians? there are signs that the asians are standing up to be heard, and able and willing to push their positions and agenda at the wto meeting in hongkong. the koreans were very active, the taiwanese too. they could be the pathfinders for other asians to rethink and organise themselves. and the media and internet communities could do their part to support these movements. surprisingly the one issue hongkong mob was not to be found. without the westerners to lead them, they could only gather to cry for democracy, tiananmen and human rights. they could not think of other issues to demonstrate. if asians could rally together, then there will be a more balance view, a contest of ideas rather than one small group drumming down on the rest of the world on what is right and what the world should be concerned with.

singapore, 3rd world country with 1st world pretension...gerrie lim

how could gerrie lim claimed that singapore is a third world country pretending to be first world? didn't he see our splendid world class theatre? even our man in the street, our taxi drivers, have grown very affectionate about it. they embraced it as part of them. they don't call it ass..pla..nay but durian, a pungent smelling fruit that you eat along the road side with your hands and smell for the next three days. our people are cultured from the ground level up. or we have brought the taste of the arts to the people. isn't that first world? and anything the first world have, we have it here. just let us know and we will built one that is bigger, larger, higher, taller, and more expensive. we outdo what the first world countries have. we excelled in sports with a lot of gold medals from our imported sports talents. and we are in the book of guinness world records. our people have climbed the highest mountain, walked the antartic, and now attempting to stay inside a container filled with water for 10 days. these are great feats that we aspired to show to the world that we also can do. the next thing probably will be standing in the sahara desert for 40 days. but we need someone to do it first. then we copy and try to do one day better. of course we are in the first world. and we are also rich enough to start throwing tips at our cab drivers to ensure that they smile and provide us with the best service money can buy. and all these are for real, even if they appear queer. we also boleh.

prayer or schizophrenia

i like this. the quote is posted in soc.cul.spore. when man talks to god, it is called prayer. when god talks to man, it is called schizophrenia. (seow liao)

bush said he will attack any country

george bush said he will attack any country if needed to. and mahathir is furious. mahathir is calling on the world to prevent mass murderers from becoming world leaders. estimated 30,000 iraqis and more than 2,000 americans dead since the iraq invasion, and still counting. and the americans are going to spend $500 million in psychological warfare and propaganda in the world media to influence the thinking of people who are against their war on terrorism. they are going to use money to buy influence to change people's perception of their wrong into becoming right. our straits times should capitalise on this windfall and publish news favourable to america at a price. it must be smart enough not to pay to publish them. if the americans want good things to be said about them in the straits times, they pay. how nice.

big cheers for orchard turn

the high bid for orchard turn has been greeted with big cheers by market players. it has brought a big smile to many happy faces. the property market is going to use it as a benchmark to guage property prices. it is a good sign that property prices are looking up. is it a good sign or a bad sign? singapore is losing its reputation as a shopper's paradise. the prices of things here are getting more expensive compare to our competitors. if malaysia can get its acts together, all the shoppers will be flocking up north. they have so many natural advantages. low wages, lower property prices, all means lower cost. why is it that we are cheaper than them? there is no reasons for malaysia or any other asean countries not to sell their products cheaper than us. all their costs are lower than us. and with our property prices being driven up again, it is a matter of time before we priced ourselves out of the market, just like our labour. once we are deemed as expensive, game over. we lose our competitive advantage. our retailers cannot make a living with such high cost of land and rental. they can only sell to a captive market up to a point. when people find it cheaper to buy from neighbouring countries, they will do so. when tourists find it cheaper to buy from somewhere, they will skip here. all the supporting industries will fall apart. three cheers to higher property prices. three cheers to welcome the death of retail businesses. and three cheers to the death of shopper's paradise.