cartoon caricatures: muslims retaliate

the indignation felt by the muslims over the cartoon incident is expected and understandable knowing how they revered prophet mohammed. the spontaneous protests in muslim countries around the world have driven home the message of how sensitive the issue is and should not be repeated. and i think this point is well taken by the western nations. but further violence and destruction of life may negate whatever injustice felt by the rest of the world for the muslims. the muslims must not assume that the incident is a licence for them to take lives or go on a rampage. the recent incident in sydney should be a reminder to the muslims that there are many westerners who can be as violent as them. there are many rightists and anti muslim groups in western countries that could not wait to retaliate and respond in kind to what the muslims are doing. attacking europeans and their properties in muslim countries may give reasons and justifications for the violent prone to similarly attack muslims and their properties in western countries. it is not an issue for any party to prove how violent they can be for whatever reasons. hatred begets hatred and violence begets violence.

taro aso: taiwan benefitted from colonisation

taro aso is really an arsehole. he is telling the taiwanese that being colonised by the japanese was a good thing. this is like telling a woman that being rape is a good thing. and what have chen shui bian and the rest of the taiwanese got to say about it? i think they agree. maybe japan should colonise taiwan one more time.

32 year old thinking of emigrating

why would a 32 year old professional think of emigrating and separated himself from the comfort of home and love ones? his reasoning is that the shelf life is too short here. imagine being over the hill by 40 and unable to find decent employment by 50. this is a very serious problem for professionals who spent so many years acquiring the paper qualifications only to see the end of the road staring at their faces. a 20 year working life prospect is very depressing what is happening to our system?

the botak incident was anything but racism

the shaving of the heads of several senior citizens having a game of mahjong, similar to bridge, is serious enough for a police raid and the men, ordinary citizens in their 50s and 60s, were arrested during chinese new year and bungled to the police station. a very petty crime, if there was, the men were shaved bald by the police. and what did the politicians or opposition or interest groups complained about? police abuse of power, violation of human rights, high handedness. no one dare to whisper the word, 'racism.' racism is so entrenched and institutionalised in the country that if anyone from the minority dares mentioned it will bring the wrath of the majority and the law upon him. only the majority has the privilege to use that term when they like to harass and threaten the minorities. so there is no racism. it is the police hitting back at the calls for police reformed.

life is getting tougher at home

forumer jimmy ho kwok hoong wrote a long article in today paper explaining why life is tough from birth to death in this prosperous country when unemployment rate is as low as 2 and a half per cent, and wealth and richness are on display everywhere. how can life be tough? isn't that a misconception or an irony? people are all doing very well, million dollar salaries, landed properties, driving around in mercedes and bmws, car show rooms are packed with happy customers. jimmy then listed out the struggle of a child, their parents to bring them up, and the parents lost of high paying jobs, the short lifespan of working, and the downgrading of lifestyles when one becomes unemployed. foreign worker's policies seemed to be the biggest culprit. this is supported by another forumer nelson quah who wrote that in australia, citizens and prs have priority over foreigners when employment is concerned. hey, this is alien to singaporeans. we have been following the western model of free economy and free everything, even giving our citizens' jobs to foreigners on a free competition basis. how can such things happened in australia? why are countries protecting their citizens for jobs and we think it is alright for our citizens to lose their jobs to non citizens? with the election around the corner, will the govt pay a heavy price for such a policy? or the views of the two forumers were wrong. that people are all very happy and well taken care off by the govt? looking at the confidence and happy faces of the mps and ministers, everything is fine. the people will continue to give a strong vote of confidence for the policies of the govt. now who is right?