tudung compulsory for malaysian policewoman

abdullah badawi confirmed that tudung is compulsory, not optional, for non muslim women in the police force.. and this happens only after a few weeks ago when najib said tudung was not compulsory in schools.. why are the malaysians so obsessed with their women covering up? why is songkok acceptable as an official dress in parliament and official functions? the distinction is that one being a part of the national character and national dress.. tudung is not really a part of the malay culture but a middle east import with religious connotations. it is not only that, compare to the malay scarf that the malay ladies used to wear, one is graceful and feminine, the other is ugly and distasteful.. the tudung is a vestige of the medieval past when women were a sex object of the men, a possession, to be covered up for the private entertainment of the male owner..it is actually quite derogatory to subject women to such a backward practice of male dominance and sexual inequality. in our hot tropical climate, the thick and dark piece of sack is very unhealthy.. couple with the perspiration, it smells.. try following a tudung down a escalator in a hot day.. unless the wearer changes it daily and is not the sweaty type, the 'ba ool' is very unpleasant. wrapping one's head in thick cloth is very unpractical.. even the sikhs are slowly giving up their cultural turban for a short clean cut.. the human specie always adapt things for their betterment, to go forward, not backward. the tudung is not only a step backward in hygiene and practicallity, it is to extend and continue the subjugation of the women by men.. the men takes great pride in imposing their will on their weaker womenfolks.. it is very sad that a modern intellectual like badawi would succumb to such a medieval practice.. and it is sadder to see the modern malay women wearing this badge of inequality with pride. could these women think for themselves and stop allowing the men to dictate what is good for the men and bad for the women?

teachers blogging! should they be doing it?

sunday times lifestyle has a page screaming 'teachers are blogging - should they be doing at all?' the immediate impression is that blogging has the same status as smoking and drinking for the underage, or even teen sex.. why is blogging seen as something so negative? some of the words used to describe bloggings are self explanatory - blogging is a minefield, teachers blogging seen as unprofessional, gripings about personal lives, gossips, flaming, a can of worms, bitching, etc and yes, cursing and swearings.. blogging is a bad influence and has a very bad image, like videoing self performing sex on a handphone.. blogging, including posting in forums should be avoided. but there are teachers who use class blogs very effectively as a channel of communication with the class, students and teachers, disseminating information and exchange notes and views.. blogs and forums are just a convenient tool, like the internet and handphone.. it is the users that bring along the bad image of the tools. look at some of the blogs, especially ypap.. should forums be in that form? are our educated, with tertiary education, that bad, that they think that it is cool or the right way of expressing themselves? the cruder, the more vulgar, the more cool and respectable? isn't education suppose to turn animals into respectable men? sip tea, drink wine, go to concert, fine dinner and fine company? or university education is meant to turn adults into the same mould as those uncles and aunties in the kopitiams? screaming vulgarities and spitting and littering everywhere? why are there people who choose to pay hundreds of thousands to be in exclusive clubs? one thing for sure, a member cannot be a misfit in such surroundings.. there will be a bit of decorum and respectability, social grace and good manners. blogs and forums too can be a cool place in all the right notes and colours. i need decent bloggers and forumers to help me develop www.redbeanforum.com into a decent and cool place for a chat.

we need a decent forum

why must an uncontrolled forum ended up in a mess? i have seen many forums and found that everyone eventually became a place for forumers to hurl expletives at each other.. profanity seems to be the end result even with highly educated and knowledgeable people. the only forum where forumers chat without ending in a vulgar and personal combat will be those that are controlled.. the channelnewsasia forum is one of such.. and it has quite a good bunch of forumers there, all implicitly accepting the control and living with it.. and they chose for their posts to be vetted and clear by the moderators. this simply proves that a totally unrestrained forum is not the cup of tea for everyone.. and also, a totally free and unrestrained forum cannot exist.. the natural tendency is that it will either turn bad or need to be controlled to remain decent. i am experimenting here to have a forum without rules and that freedom of speech can exist with people chatting together, and not being abused or attacked wildly by other forumers. can such a thing be a reality? can anarchy exist or that it is an idealistic dream? i need all forumers who cherish their freedom of expression to support me in this quest.. to be able to post in a forum that does not need control or to approve postings. is this such a difficult thing to do? all i am asking is a little self restrain by not attacking another person, and not to use expletives and think it is cool.. and not to avoid it and think that it is decent not to do so.. just be natural and expressive and let others be comfortable while chatting with you. lets be a friendly community, disagree and still be on good terms. can there be a safe haven for freedom of expression? i want redbeanforum to be one such place.

bear not allowed on the street

a guy dressed up in a bear suit with a placard saying 'god save the bear' was hauled away. i can't believe that a bear would require the attention of our police and be hauled away.. is a bear as dangerous as the white elephants in buangkok or school girls selling white elephant t shirts? is this what irene ng meant when she said, 'all singaporeans are free to voice their opinions and form associations and, indeed, are encouraged to engage actively in politics if they feel so inclined..' what she meant actually is - no white elephants or bears or t shirts, but... for singaporeans to 'put forward his suggestions, and get either the pap or opposition politicians to raise them in parliament, or contest elections...' irene was responding to a writer, david cai, who claimed that the 'image problem' of singapore is due the ruling party's "hardline management of political dissent," that speaking out against the govt is like treading on a minefield - one miscalculated step and one would be like jbj or chee soon juan. apparently the freedom of expression, or the way freedom of expression can be conducted, are perceived differently. irene could actually point to the ypap forum and said singapore has the freeist forum in the world.. but a martyn see will be a problem.

an honest survey in malaysia

an independent merdeka centre for opinion research survey found negative stereotyping of race was deeply entrenched.. among the findings were: malays were lazy, chinese were greedy and indians cannot be trusted. reading the other way round, malays were not greedy and can be trusted.. chinese were not lazy and can also be trusted.. indians were not lazy and also not greedy.. mind you, this is an honest survey.. i am not sure how much money spent and how much effort put in to produce such an enlightening survey and reports that the little kids knew all the time. the survey also found that the policies of favouring malays have resulted in envy and resentment.. thanks for the survey.. otherwise nobody will know that there are envy and resentment.. but then the honest survey describes the malay as honest, not greedy but lazy.. and if there is no malay favouring policies, then the malays will be cheated, and will be poor as they are not greedy and also lazy.. the survey actually confirms that the malays must be helped by govt policies forever.