A friendly visit

Earlier this week I received a surprise visit from Shiri, a friend from Israel and former classmate. She was in the Southasian neighborhood and decided to see what Singapore is all about. It would seem that my blog has contributed to the increase of tourism to Singapore, at least by one.

We Started with the Asian Heritage museum, where Shiri and Mailan took over the children’s inactive corner, and had fun dressing up.





At the museum, I found proof for something that I have always known to be true, I am Asian. Where in Asia you ask? Well this map clearly shows that I’m from West Asia. Makes sense, if there is East Asia, South Asia, why not West Asia? So that’s now settled.






The next day we went to Sentosa Island, and checked out the Butterfly & Insect museum.

All in all we had a great time, adding a little fun and perspective to my otherwise dreary student life. I’ve got 5 weeks left here, so if your planning a visit make it quick!!!

Celebrate good times

One of nice things about Singapore is its ethnic and cultural diversity. last week saw two big holidays, Deepavali and Id al Fiter (locally referred to as Hari Raya). Good food and a local atmosphere, almost made me forget that I am in Singapore…

And when my time came, there were none left to fight on my behalf….

Solidarity!!

In solidarity with all globe-hoppers, here is some inspiration.

The guy is called Matt Harding, he is a computer engineer who got sick of it all, decided to go traveling, and filmed himself doing a jig wherever his legs took him.

Have you no shame, Sir?

Right, there is only so much I can take, and I lose it when confronted with brazen misbehavior. Call me a romantic, but I feel that in the past the bastards of the world had a sense of shame that would prevent them from publicly displaying their dastardly behavior. Not that in the past human beings, leaders included, were better, but they had “fear” that inserted a certain sense of humility in them. Nowadays that fear seems to have dissipated from the public sphere.

Two recent events have instigated my wrath, and earned this rant. First is the soon-to-be-former President of Israel, Moshe Katsav. Allegations that began earlier this summer of sexual impropriety, have recently culminated in official police charges of several charges of rape and sexual assault. The charges have been floating for several months, yet it took a police indictment to cause the soon-to-be-former-President to think, maybe it isn’t appropriate for an accused rapist to be opening the winter session of the parliament. He should have stepped down in August to face the music, instead of submitting us to his shame yet he didn’t. Even after the police indictment the soon-to-be-former-President has not resigned, just keeping a low profile, hopping that maybe rape charges can blow over as the world, and politicians, continue to spin.

The second has been the recent banning of the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) from Singapore. This was brought on after they published an article in which they quoted Chee Soon Juan, a local opposition party member, who was openly critical of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. Now, what grinds my gears is not the defamation suite itself, which is not new here, but rather the content of the suit itself. FEER is charged with not only quoting the “scandalous” remarks made by Chee ("How many libel suits have Singapore's great and good wrongly won, covering up real misdeeds?") but also publishing the article on their website, offering free access to their readers (see Article 20 of the writ).

Now to most people this would seem to be the common mode of operation of a free press, one that strives to “generate interest and discussion”, rather then a reason for a lawsuit. In Singapore, where dissenting views are intimidated by lawsuits and restricted by laws, there is no room apparently for such debates. LKY success in eradicating all forms of meaningful public discourse in Singapore has been so great, that when an uppity foreign newspaper publishes their “sensational remarks”, they must be removed from the public domain. Where dissent does not exist, that is the only way.

Where in most places the laws defend the weak, here they protect the powerful. Where constitutions are erected to protect the governed from the governors, here it is reversed. When enough time has passed, this abnormal relationship becomes the norm, and the politicians lose their shame. And here is where the shamelessness comes in, LKY will win the lawsuit. He can openly sue FEER for doing what a news media should do, providing information and a free platform for all opinions, and win. Free speech, freedom of information, and public scrutiny are being attacked and violated, not in the backrooms of censors, but in plain view, without contention.

When someone hides their actions, they acknowledge that those deeds are foul and should be kept from view. It would seem today that politicians no longer appreciate when their behavior is in the wrong, and don’t bother veiling it. These last vestiges of shame protected the public sphere from the onslaught of depravity, yet sadly seem to have eroded away.

Bent reality

To help push my site-counter above the 500 line, I’m pasting this fascinating movie clip , to keep my fans happy.

This clip challenges our perception of reality, and raises serious questions concerning how popular conceptions are manipulated.

Harvest Moon

I discovered another weird cultural coincidence this past weekend. This week is the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, or Feast of the Tabernacles. It is also the Chinese Moon festival. Both are traditional harvest festivals, so while I may not have a tabernacle to be in, I did have moon cakes.

Considering the large Chinese community here in Singapore, it is not surprising that there were several events around town. We walked around Chinatown which was bustling as usual, and then continued to the Esplanade to hear several free music events.

I figure that video is better then stills, and (hehehe) I do have video on my phone, so thought I would share these short clips. Enjoy!!

Cambodia Part 3

I have been saving the best for last, Angkor. The national park known as Angkor in fact holds numerous temples and sites. We spent an entire day roaming about the sites, and another at further sites around Siem Reap. I have to many picts to upload here, so you will just have to follow this Link.

Around the area we saw temples with amazingly detailed engravings, monkeys, and even managed a short trek. People often only see the end product of the trips and don't realize how difficult it is to get to certain places. Case in point, Kbal Spean is known for its River of Lingas, to get there, however is a 10 km ride on the back of a motorcycle over an unpaved potholed road that gets muddy and nearly impassable in the rainy season. The hike up is through picturesque landscape however and is worth the trip up. In summary, I loved Cambodia, and recommend that everyone get there as soon as possible….

Interlude

God I love this guy, he is amazing!!

Olbermann's special commentary on Clinton vs Fox interview.

To view the Clinton interview, follow the below link:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6119737638039170671&q=label%3Aglobal+warming

Cambodia Part II

After 2 days, we moved on to Battambang, where there isn’t really much to see. The reason we went there was for the 3 to 8 hour riverboat journey to Siam Reap. It took us 6. We were lucky.

The ride was neat, not amazing though. I did get to sit on the roof, which was pretty neat.

Cambodia Part I

After a great weekend in Bangkok, I continued to Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capitol city. The 1st day was dedicated to recovering from a very early flight, so We ventured to the Royal palace and the adjacent temples.

The next day was dedicated to the somber matter of the Khmer Rouge genocide during the mid 1970’s. We went to the “Killing Fields” of Choeung Ek, where countless victims were brought to be murdered and buried in mass graves. After that, we went to the Tuol Sleng Museum, which housed Pol Pot’s Security Prison 21. Walking through the dank cells that once held those unfortunate souls deemed a “threat to the nation” reminded me why I study what I do, and do what I do.

The "killing fields"

SP 21

reach out and touch someone

Had to share this....

Another night in Bangkok

So what did I get up to while I was in Bangkok? First day I visited some temples.


After that I went shopping in the markets, and on my birthday got a kick-ass message (literally, they walk all over you…).

I also visited some SIPA friends and swam in their pool. Very chilled, very nice.....

Who ordered coup?

When I heard that a military coup took place, I called my travel agent, and got there as soon as I could. I arrived in Thailand on Thursday Sept 29, and if anything, it looked more peaceful then when I left it a month earlier. Traffic was normal, garbage was being collected, and people were on the streets. I woke up the next day, and went about town to look for signs of trouble. Once again not much to report, all I found were a few Army soldiers directing traffic (with yellow ribbons on their guns). I asked a tok-tok driver how he felt about the coup, and he replied that he was very pleased with it. I asked if he could show me where the soldiers are, and he said he would.

We had to look hard to find them, and once we did I was quit surprised. Several tanks and APCs had been parked outside the central Government offices, and barriers erected around them. The barriers were not to deter the crowds, but rather control the hordes of Thais taking pictures with the tanks. It was all quite bizarre, but in a positive way. I couldn’t resist, and took a pict to…

When I left a week ago, Thailand was calm. The new Airport had just opened and local people seemed glad to be ride of the former PM Thaksin. While military coups are for the most part a bad thing, the general feeling in Thailand is that something drastic needed to be done in order to progress. The important question that remains open is if the military return power to the people gently, as promised, or through bloodshed, as in the past. As of now things seem to be progressing in the right direction.