women and cedaw

the women are waving the cedaw card, convention for the elimination of discrimination against women. hey guys, how about cedam? other countries i am not too sure. but we need cedam in singapore. we need both. there are cases of discrimination against women. there are also discriminations against men, especially in our antiquated laws. and then national service is one big discrimination. not that i am for women to serve national service. but the guys need to be treated more fairly while doing a service to the nation. i hope cedaw is not calling for the closing down of crazy horse. it is a place where women are discriminated. they performed and the men watched and clapped and whistled. and they are naked while the men are fully clothed. now is that discrimination? the men paid for the women to do things to make them happy, do things at their callings. but some may say the women in crazy horse are showing how well perfected they are as a specimen. they are proudly exhibiting what nature has done for them, beautiful, feminine, charming and exciting. can't imagine men performing the same kind of show without dressing like women. what do women want? you ogle at them they give you the bitchy look. you ignore them and they get angry. they do not want to be ogled and also do not want to be left on the shelf. they dressed up to be seen but not to be seen. some dressed up to the nines but put a black sack over them. women, to be adored and loved, and to be pissed off.

mahathir and his political truth

Things Mahathir did not say .... when he was in power "The country should have a strong government but not too strong. A 90% majority is too strong. We need an opposition to remind us if we are making mistakes. When you are not opposed you think everything you do is right." "The Internet must be used extensively so that an alternative media would be available to publish and expose lies, be downloaded and distributed." "Although I am already 80-years old, I am not senile." (reproduced from littlespeck.com) when one is in power, one says and believes in a different set of rules that suits that position and situation. when one is out of power, a different set of rules apply. which is the better truth? it all depends on where one is. but i like the part that he said, 'when you are not opposed you think everything you do is right.' this will be a perpetual truth and will be repeated over and over again until one is thrown out of power. only then will one realise that all along one has been making mistakes but peddled as good decisions.

why are people so unhappy with khoo swee chiow?

if i were khoo swee chiow, and if there are people or organisations with money but do not know what to do, and are willing to give me for my little frills, i will take it. why should people blame him for his feat? he just sold his ideas and people bought it happily to the tune of $150,000. i will say well done swee chiow. never mind whether what you are doing is worthy or nonsensical. it is not your fault. next time tell them you will attempt to live inside a mpv for one month. i am sure the car manufacturers will eagerly queue up for the advertisement and pay you handsomely. and you might get the mpv for free as well. for commercial enterprises, they always have budgets for marketing. what i am concern with is people managing public fund. for public organisations or ipcs, they better be careful when they throw money away like sponsoring this kind of acts. i am still not sure whether the sponsorship money goes to any charity or just for swee chiow's little fun.

caricature of a face

i was watching lim hng khiang delivering his speech at the wto. at an instance i was engulfed by this feeling of sadness. i was wondering where it came from. then i realised that face, a face of sadness. why did he wear that sadness in front of the tv and at the wto. and he had that sadness with him all this while. the closest person that has a similar expression is ho peng kee. but his has a slight variation that appears more worried than sad. a face that carries a lot of problems and issues that bothering him. compare to lily neo, when she is making a speech in parliament, you just cannot disagree with her even if you cannot agree with her. she has that disarming sweetness in her that you just sit there and let her speak, without any anger or thoughts of opposing her, not even want to rush her. interrupting her would seem rude. it is amazing how a face can convey a message more than shouting and thumping tables. this leads me to ponder on the variety of faces that we see in the box. charles chong has lately appear to look like maitreya, the laughing buddha, with his big fixated smile. and there is wong kan seng with another kind of smile. the smile of a magician that can pull out all kinds of tricks to wonder you. and lim boon heng has that gentle look with a perpetual quiet smile like mona lisa. while khaw boon wan has the calm and serenity of a morning mountain. there are other variations. tan soo khoon has one that has the 'cannot tahan' look, that he cannot accept anything he sees or hears. while teo chee hean's face says everything is smooth flowing, everything goes, and life is a stroll. then there is yeo cheow tong who reminds one instantly of the word affordability. as i meditate over a peaceful sunday morning, many kinds of faces make their appearance in my imaginations. but not all can be put to a particular personality. i was trying to figure out who has a blur like sotong look, or who looks like he needs more sleep, a sleepy head. the face of a never say die look, a fighter, a gangster, or the face of a grandfather. or is there anyone that has the bob hope look, or a george bush, or a peace maker like tommy koh. a cocky look or the look of a maverick. or is there one that looks mean? i couldn't find one that has the mahathir's 'boleh' look. this is just a little distraction from the otherwise dull whinning of how things could be better. i hope people have a little sense of humour as i, myself, try to find a little of that in me that has long been lost.

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.