Friday, March 16, 2007
Wth?!
Dear friend,
I'm sorry disturbing you by this letter. But it offers an information about Tai Chi from China. If you or your friends happen to be interested in Tai Chi, it is then an usefull message. Please read:
At the north of China a historic event is taking shape: the First International Taijiquan Science Seminar, scheduled for August 5-11 in 2007 at Changchun city. This is an unusual seminar making history: Taijiquan for the first time ever as a modern science discipline stands in our world. Please visit: ***.
The Seminar features courses in whole 6 days, which will present the aspects and structure of this art as a modern discipline. So this seminar should be a "must" event for any kinds of instructors of Taijiquan, who want to heighten themselves in this occupation, and also for the beginners who want to learn this art in correct way just at the beginning. And a meaningfull travel line, the Taijiquan Tour through China, will be offered after the seminar. Participants will visit important places in Taijiquan history, such as the Chen Village where Taijiquan originally came into being, Shaolin Temple, and Beijing Chen-style Taijiquan Institute. Please visit: ***.
Thank you for your attention.
sincere your
Chinese friend
Dear friend,
I'm sorry disturbing you by this letter. But it offers an information about Tai Chi from China. If you or your friends happen to be interested in Tai Chi, it is then an usefull message. Please read:
At the north of China a historic event is taking shape: the First International Taijiquan Science Seminar, scheduled for August 5-11 in 2007 at Changchun city. This is an unusual seminar making history: Taijiquan for the first time ever as a modern science discipline stands in our world. Please visit: ***.
The Seminar features courses in whole 6 days, which will present the aspects and structure of this art as a modern discipline. So this seminar should be a "must" event for any kinds of instructors of Taijiquan, who want to heighten themselves in this occupation, and also for the beginners who want to learn this art in correct way just at the beginning. And a meaningfull travel line, the Taijiquan Tour through China, will be offered after the seminar. Participants will visit important places in Taijiquan history, such as the Chen Village where Taijiquan originally came into being, Shaolin Temple, and Beijing Chen-style Taijiquan Institute. Please visit: ***.
Thank you for your attention.
sincere your
Chinese friend
"When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators." - P. J. O'Rourke
***
In media statements, government leaders talking about the race riots of 1964 (which are nowadays portrayed as an apocalyptic threat to the very survival of the nation) took pains to portray them as atypical, stressing that the kampung spirit still existed. Hurr hurr.
We all know protectionism is bad because firms will not go out into the marketplace and compete. But similarly, laws protected citizens from offence are bad because then they will not mature.
Using the excuse that Asians are not mature enough for democracy is most ironic, because this was what the colonial powers told Indians and Asians. The sturggle for independence was an attempt by the fathers of our nations to show their maturity, and now our governments tell us we are not mature enough for it. Tsk.
It seems car reviews in Singapore are all very neutral (a spillover effect from the fear of defamation suits), and reading them one would not know which to buy. The law of unintended consequences strikes again.
If a majority of Singaporeans cannot accept homosexuals and the State then discriminate against them, what if a majority is racist against Indians?
I love 'context' - you can make any text mean anything you want. Bits you are uncomfortable with can thus be explained away merrily by saying they referred to very specific contexts. But then, bits you like can similarly be interpreted away with 'context' - what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Alternatively, since texts are situated in their times, we must be mindful of their contexts and so nothing they say can possibly apply to us today.
Capitalism supposedly thrives by making you feel inaequate and lacking so it can sell you something, but you will never be made to feel satiated so Capitalism will always have a raison d'etre. Similarly, Marxism thrives on making you feel exploited and victimized, but you will never not be exploited and victimized, so Marxism will always have a role. Ditto for Feminism, Critical Theory etc.
I read a book on victimology (the role of the victim in crime - it takes two to tango) and a very clear case of victim blaming is car theft (the victim is blamed for causing, precipitation or allowing the crime to happen). Car theft is the only crime with an organised victim-blaming lobby. In contrast, rape is a crime where it is rare to look at the role of the victim and this can have untoward effects.
I just realised why girls take pictures in toilets. They spend so long in there, so they need souvenirs to remember the 'good' times. Hurr hurr. [Someone: lemme tell you - the lighting is good and there are mirrors]
Swiss-made Delice Japonais has palm oil in it. Damn.
***
In media statements, government leaders talking about the race riots of 1964 (which are nowadays portrayed as an apocalyptic threat to the very survival of the nation) took pains to portray them as atypical, stressing that the kampung spirit still existed. Hurr hurr.
We all know protectionism is bad because firms will not go out into the marketplace and compete. But similarly, laws protected citizens from offence are bad because then they will not mature.
Using the excuse that Asians are not mature enough for democracy is most ironic, because this was what the colonial powers told Indians and Asians. The sturggle for independence was an attempt by the fathers of our nations to show their maturity, and now our governments tell us we are not mature enough for it. Tsk.
It seems car reviews in Singapore are all very neutral (a spillover effect from the fear of defamation suits), and reading them one would not know which to buy. The law of unintended consequences strikes again.
If a majority of Singaporeans cannot accept homosexuals and the State then discriminate against them, what if a majority is racist against Indians?
I love 'context' - you can make any text mean anything you want. Bits you are uncomfortable with can thus be explained away merrily by saying they referred to very specific contexts. But then, bits you like can similarly be interpreted away with 'context' - what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Alternatively, since texts are situated in their times, we must be mindful of their contexts and so nothing they say can possibly apply to us today.
Capitalism supposedly thrives by making you feel inaequate and lacking so it can sell you something, but you will never be made to feel satiated so Capitalism will always have a raison d'etre. Similarly, Marxism thrives on making you feel exploited and victimized, but you will never not be exploited and victimized, so Marxism will always have a role. Ditto for Feminism, Critical Theory etc.
I read a book on victimology (the role of the victim in crime - it takes two to tango) and a very clear case of victim blaming is car theft (the victim is blamed for causing, precipitation or allowing the crime to happen). Car theft is the only crime with an organised victim-blaming lobby. In contrast, rape is a crime where it is rare to look at the role of the victim and this can have untoward effects.
I just realised why girls take pictures in toilets. They spend so long in there, so they need souvenirs to remember the 'good' times. Hurr hurr. [Someone: lemme tell you - the lighting is good and there are mirrors]
Swiss-made Delice Japonais has palm oil in it. Damn.
"Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience and rebellion that progress has been made." - Oscar Wilde
***
MFTTW: look lah. in my world any one who is a big fan of people who "think" rather than do, aren't worth my time.
Me: haha
no wonder you're an engineer
eh I am into aspects of philosophy also :P
MFTTW: yeah but you're a mathematician
that's acceptable lah
applied maths remember
Me: ...
MFTTW: you know
philosophers are the types who wail and cry over not enough people taking up the arts and social sciences
and then wail and cry over social scientists being underpaid beaus ethey don't contribute anything concrete to society
and wail and cry because they don't get enough welfare
and wail and cry because they are falling behind
but still refuse to get off their intellectual pedestal
......annoying
Me: so what should they do
MFTTW: get a real job
and pay taxes
hurhurhurhurhur
we don't live in ancient greece any more
when any ah seng ah beng can spend their days eating grapes and arguing with people in courtyards
Me: they had slaves
actually if social scientists are underpaid we should reduce the supply for them
then the market clearing wage will rise
MFTTW: how come they didn't complain the slaves were being marginlalized
imagine if you were born into slavehood
and all around you, you were only exposed to people telling you taht you should be a slave
and you don't see any future for yourself except that of slavery
then can you blame the slaves for turning out to be slaves?
:D
Me: they complain now mah
uhh
your point?
MFTTW: nothing lah. i'm being facetious
Me: ...
Noodles: can't wait for monday man
so exciting
i wanna know how it goes!
Me: ...
thnaks ah
Noodles: why? arent u excited? i am!
man i doubt i'll get sleep tonight
the suspense is killing me!
Me: "We all have strength enough to endure the misfortunes of others." - Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Noodles: lol
i wish it happened to me
then i could blog about it
...
i only have one void in my life and that's one for $$
Me: why are women so materialistic
Noodles: i'm ust pragmatic
and besides, void in my life /= desperate for money
just that i realise that i have everything i need to be happy, except for money
Someone: aiya the problem with singaporeans these days is that they think there is only one way, the correct govt way of doing things
you can see it in the myopic way she writes
there's only one correct definition of intellectual, one correct definition of atheist, one correct definition of christian
i blame it once again, on the government and its lousy education policies
Someone else: ask u not to piss ppl off
might as well ask nus lower tuition fees
someone: i went to watch 'music and lyrics'
and ther eis this pop star who is obsessed with india
and her routine features her emerging from behind a giant buddha, wearing almost no clothing
and i thought, hmm, so are the buddhist going to riot?
My No 1 Fan: so who's the target for propositioning????
YOU???
they could go up to u to recommend a better rebonding hairstylist?
=x
hahaha
i dunno lar
it's jusy a funny thing for me
u're asexual
u...u dun appeal to men or women
not that i know of anyway
i see u as a big brain
like, top to bottom, all-brain
so the idea of prostitutes propositioning a bare naked brain is fascinating
=x
***
MFTTW: look lah. in my world any one who is a big fan of people who "think" rather than do, aren't worth my time.
Me: haha
no wonder you're an engineer
eh I am into aspects of philosophy also :P
MFTTW: yeah but you're a mathematician
that's acceptable lah
applied maths remember
Me: ...
MFTTW: you know
philosophers are the types who wail and cry over not enough people taking up the arts and social sciences
and then wail and cry over social scientists being underpaid beaus ethey don't contribute anything concrete to society
and wail and cry because they don't get enough welfare
and wail and cry because they are falling behind
but still refuse to get off their intellectual pedestal
......annoying
Me: so what should they do
MFTTW: get a real job
and pay taxes
hurhurhurhurhur
we don't live in ancient greece any more
when any ah seng ah beng can spend their days eating grapes and arguing with people in courtyards
Me: they had slaves
actually if social scientists are underpaid we should reduce the supply for them
then the market clearing wage will rise
MFTTW: how come they didn't complain the slaves were being marginlalized
imagine if you were born into slavehood
and all around you, you were only exposed to people telling you taht you should be a slave
and you don't see any future for yourself except that of slavery
then can you blame the slaves for turning out to be slaves?
:D
Me: they complain now mah
uhh
your point?
MFTTW: nothing lah. i'm being facetious
Me: ...
Noodles: can't wait for monday man
so exciting
i wanna know how it goes!
Me: ...
thnaks ah
Noodles: why? arent u excited? i am!
man i doubt i'll get sleep tonight
the suspense is killing me!
Me: "We all have strength enough to endure the misfortunes of others." - Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Noodles: lol
i wish it happened to me
then i could blog about it
...
i only have one void in my life and that's one for $$
Me: why are women so materialistic
Noodles: i'm ust pragmatic
and besides, void in my life /= desperate for money
just that i realise that i have everything i need to be happy, except for money
Someone: aiya the problem with singaporeans these days is that they think there is only one way, the correct govt way of doing things
you can see it in the myopic way she writes
there's only one correct definition of intellectual, one correct definition of atheist, one correct definition of christian
i blame it once again, on the government and its lousy education policies
Someone else: ask u not to piss ppl off
might as well ask nus lower tuition fees
someone: i went to watch 'music and lyrics'
and ther eis this pop star who is obsessed with india
and her routine features her emerging from behind a giant buddha, wearing almost no clothing
and i thought, hmm, so are the buddhist going to riot?
My No 1 Fan: so who's the target for propositioning????
YOU???
they could go up to u to recommend a better rebonding hairstylist?
=x
hahaha
i dunno lar
it's jusy a funny thing for me
u're asexual
u...u dun appeal to men or women
not that i know of anyway
i see u as a big brain
like, top to bottom, all-brain
so the idea of prostitutes propositioning a bare naked brain is fascinating
=x
"It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this." - Bertrand Russell
***
Noodles: i'm not taken, how to have bf stolen?
bryan yes
the other one.. doesn't love me
Me: your voice too squeaky?
Noodles: i dunno
maybe?
maybe hair and boobs not as nice as yours
Me: I no boyfriend also leh
Noodles: it's okiee
neither do i :)
Me: so what happened to the current one
popped your cherry and ran away ah
Noodles: no lah. if he did that he'd be dead by now
Me: oh you got STD ah
shit
Noodles: hahaahahha
rubbish lah
i mean i'd kill him with my own two STD-less hands
Me: no one has STDs on hands lah
Noodles: isn't it in the blood or sthg?
Me: you have much to learn, young grasshopper
Someone: you know gabriel.... the biggest problem I have talkng to you is that I never know when you are serious and when you are not :P
Me: a little bit of both ;)
Someone else: you're really phenomenal you know, you pour so much energy into these mad theoretical frameworks that have nothing to do with.... real, vital life
it's freaking astounding
Someone: hah...seems like your conversations with *** are always stillborn.
meta-discourses
it's like solving a simple algebraic quadratic equation by analyzing the 4th order differential equations
or, maybe solving a 1st order differential equation by analzying a 5th order DE
MFTTW: [a life] full of specificity and void of generalizations ah
like that v tiring leh
you must compartmentalize every single interaction?
Me: men tend to be more abstract
women more specific
MFTTW: yah ok, but, when you say that i'm thinking that men will say "i want a thing to put my books" and women will say "i want a beige teak bookshelf for the corner of my living room"
not like "i don't know what 'should not' and 'should not complain' means"
-_-
MFTTW (commenting on an earlier conversation): eh
at 13 she felt that her roles in the world are very limited and women are ornamental? are you sure she's a Raffles Guy she sounds like a None-Young girl
eh
this is RGS we are tlaking about leh
they are king of telling women we aren't limited to being ornamental
i think..... if she's like that liao think about how big a chip on her shoulder she would have if she went to another school
that's bullcrap loh
seirously
and if she's my age we had Carmee Lim
and NO ONE could accuse her of being ornamental
yah Carmee still there
eh
i don't spend my time getting insulted by ornamental owmen in G movies loh
but maybe it's just me
but even in my circle of friends, i doubt anyone was that badly affected by the bouncing boobies on disney characters.
come on. think Mulan! Pocahontas!
Me: you were subconsciously affected and socialized =D
MFTTW: hah
it says alot about hte depravity of the human condition if we cant be trusted to make up our own minds of how we want to live our lives
but instead are subject willy nilly to the whims of external forces
***
Noodles: i'm not taken, how to have bf stolen?
bryan yes
the other one.. doesn't love me
Me: your voice too squeaky?
Noodles: i dunno
maybe?
maybe hair and boobs not as nice as yours
Me: I no boyfriend also leh
Noodles: it's okiee
neither do i :)
Me: so what happened to the current one
popped your cherry and ran away ah
Noodles: no lah. if he did that he'd be dead by now
Me: oh you got STD ah
shit
Noodles: hahaahahha
rubbish lah
i mean i'd kill him with my own two STD-less hands
Me: no one has STDs on hands lah
Noodles: isn't it in the blood or sthg?
Me: you have much to learn, young grasshopper
Someone: you know gabriel.... the biggest problem I have talkng to you is that I never know when you are serious and when you are not :P
Me: a little bit of both ;)
Someone else: you're really phenomenal you know, you pour so much energy into these mad theoretical frameworks that have nothing to do with.... real, vital life
it's freaking astounding
Someone: hah...seems like your conversations with *** are always stillborn.
meta-discourses
it's like solving a simple algebraic quadratic equation by analyzing the 4th order differential equations
or, maybe solving a 1st order differential equation by analzying a 5th order DE
MFTTW: [a life] full of specificity and void of generalizations ah
like that v tiring leh
you must compartmentalize every single interaction?
Me: men tend to be more abstract
women more specific
MFTTW: yah ok, but, when you say that i'm thinking that men will say "i want a thing to put my books" and women will say "i want a beige teak bookshelf for the corner of my living room"
not like "i don't know what 'should not' and 'should not complain' means"
-_-
MFTTW (commenting on an earlier conversation): eh
at 13 she felt that her roles in the world are very limited and women are ornamental? are you sure she's a Raffles Guy she sounds like a None-Young girl
eh
this is RGS we are tlaking about leh
they are king of telling women we aren't limited to being ornamental
i think..... if she's like that liao think about how big a chip on her shoulder she would have if she went to another school
that's bullcrap loh
seirously
and if she's my age we had Carmee Lim
and NO ONE could accuse her of being ornamental
yah Carmee still there
eh
i don't spend my time getting insulted by ornamental owmen in G movies loh
but maybe it's just me
but even in my circle of friends, i doubt anyone was that badly affected by the bouncing boobies on disney characters.
come on. think Mulan! Pocahontas!
Me: you were subconsciously affected and socialized =D
MFTTW: hah
it says alot about hte depravity of the human condition if we cant be trusted to make up our own minds of how we want to live our lives
but instead are subject willy nilly to the whims of external forces
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
"Love thy neighbour as yourself, but choose your neighbourhood." - Louise Beal
***
"Deformed person" (handicapped sign)
Networks available from my room, including "SureMakeMoney"
"Composition of a woman's personality: Irrational fits of spontaneous jealousy, Inability to decide anything, Petty Mind Games, Shallow Self-interest, Conspiracy plotting, General nagging / bitching, Plain old bullshit, Lies"
I have since found out it came from Maddox. I wonder if there's one for men.
"With this I'm going to control your LIFE!" - from an unnamed sociologist
***
"Deformed person" (handicapped sign)
Networks available from my room, including "SureMakeMoney"
"Composition of a woman's personality: Irrational fits of spontaneous jealousy, Inability to decide anything, Petty Mind Games, Shallow Self-interest, Conspiracy plotting, General nagging / bitching, Plain old bullshit, Lies"
I have since found out it came from Maddox. I wonder if there's one for men.
"With this I'm going to control your LIFE!" - from an unnamed sociologist
"Behind every great fortune there is a crime." - Honore de Balzac
***
Quotes:
[Me: Women are attracted to jerks] I'm not attracted to you.
[On being ugly] People used to throw things at me.
[Year 3 student:] I look worse and worse every sem. [Me: So you must have looked fabulous when you entered NUS.]
[Me on someone's jacket: You something something, let's hug.] Maybe it's 'You bastard, let's hug'.
Look up Alpha Chiang if you're not clear about that. My favourite book.
I love business. It's all about exploiting people... My degree is the best. Finance. You risk money, but it's not your money. It's other people's.
[On the prata sausage roll] It's damn expensive, for something that isn't even as thick as my dick. [Me: At least it's more tasty] My dick isn't flaking.
[On Romancing Singapore] We are making a funny claim that romance leads to sex. That sex needs a - lubricant.
[On creating new consumers, producers and defence forces for the warfare state] When you have sex, you're not thinking: 'Ooh, by doing this I'm populating the world'
[On Romancing Singapore] Working harder leaves less time for human relations.
[On pornography] It masquerades as art, like Crazy Horse, so it satisfies our 'artistic sensibilities'.
It's a dis-utopia (dystopia)
How do you show that consumption smoothing is better than - *student raises hand* I haven't even asked the question yet.
I begin to suspect that when I go to Indonesia, calamities follow... Before or after... After I left... earthquake... Before I boarded the plane - Garuda plane crash.
I started off as a young Marxist in my university days, but I thought that class struggle quickly has diminishing marginal returns as a way of looking at things... I threw all the conspiracy theories out of the window. I still keep some, from time to time.
[On a picture of a Filipino slum] Oh, that's where I lve. [Student: That's why you come here.] Yeah.
I own some property in London. Unit trusts... I own probably one staircase.
What do economists debate about nowadays? [Me: Mathematics]... [Ronald Coase said:] When economists want to study a problem, when economists want to study a camel, they sit in the office and draw some equations. They can just go to their next door neighbor and look at the camel... Ronald Coase never did mathematics.
The chief economist of the IMF is from the University of Chicago. And guess what? He says yes to regulations.
[On the value of trademarks] If a bag is Cartier it's worth $200, even if it's made in China... If it's *his name* - worthless, even if it's the same.
[On tax evasion in the US] $1 - the IRS will let you go. $2 - they will trace you... You cannot leave the US. *Toot toot toot* 'This person has not paid the tax'
[Me on zaogeng-ing: Later the one who'll be standing here is not me but ***] He already cannot teach, don't distract him further. [Student 2: Maybe if you distract him he'll teach better.]
Compared to him, even *** is ok. His notes are okay. You can't understand what he's teaching but at least you know what he's trying to teach.
In Applied Theory, we sometimes have strange findings. We found the cost function - it was decreasing. Something must be wrong [Ed: Maybe with the theory of decreasing costs]
[On exogenous variables] Exogenous - minimum price, minimum age in Singapore
[On a symmetric semi-definite matrix representing the cost function] You know Paul Samuelson... He said there were some mathematical things which can't be explained. This is one of them.
[On pirating textbooks] First guy incurs cost. It will cost him 20 minutes. Maybe half an hour. Then the second guy will come, his cost will be 0... It's like an [market] entry. First guy incurs cost.
[On economic analysis] Maybe not very meaningful, but people in institutions, they like these graphs.
It's a bit of mags (maths)
***
Quotes:
[Me: Women are attracted to jerks] I'm not attracted to you.
[On being ugly] People used to throw things at me.
[Year 3 student:] I look worse and worse every sem. [Me: So you must have looked fabulous when you entered NUS.]
[Me on someone's jacket: You something something, let's hug.] Maybe it's 'You bastard, let's hug'.
Look up Alpha Chiang if you're not clear about that. My favourite book.
I love business. It's all about exploiting people... My degree is the best. Finance. You risk money, but it's not your money. It's other people's.
[On the prata sausage roll] It's damn expensive, for something that isn't even as thick as my dick. [Me: At least it's more tasty] My dick isn't flaking.
[On Romancing Singapore] We are making a funny claim that romance leads to sex. That sex needs a - lubricant.
[On creating new consumers, producers and defence forces for the warfare state] When you have sex, you're not thinking: 'Ooh, by doing this I'm populating the world'
[On Romancing Singapore] Working harder leaves less time for human relations.
[On pornography] It masquerades as art, like Crazy Horse, so it satisfies our 'artistic sensibilities'.
It's a dis-utopia (dystopia)
How do you show that consumption smoothing is better than - *student raises hand* I haven't even asked the question yet.
I begin to suspect that when I go to Indonesia, calamities follow... Before or after... After I left... earthquake... Before I boarded the plane - Garuda plane crash.
I started off as a young Marxist in my university days, but I thought that class struggle quickly has diminishing marginal returns as a way of looking at things... I threw all the conspiracy theories out of the window. I still keep some, from time to time.
[On a picture of a Filipino slum] Oh, that's where I lve. [Student: That's why you come here.] Yeah.
I own some property in London. Unit trusts... I own probably one staircase.
What do economists debate about nowadays? [Me: Mathematics]... [Ronald Coase said:] When economists want to study a problem, when economists want to study a camel, they sit in the office and draw some equations. They can just go to their next door neighbor and look at the camel... Ronald Coase never did mathematics.
The chief economist of the IMF is from the University of Chicago. And guess what? He says yes to regulations.
[On the value of trademarks] If a bag is Cartier it's worth $200, even if it's made in China... If it's *his name* - worthless, even if it's the same.
[On tax evasion in the US] $1 - the IRS will let you go. $2 - they will trace you... You cannot leave the US. *Toot toot toot* 'This person has not paid the tax'
[Me on zaogeng-ing: Later the one who'll be standing here is not me but ***] He already cannot teach, don't distract him further. [Student 2: Maybe if you distract him he'll teach better.]
Compared to him, even *** is ok. His notes are okay. You can't understand what he's teaching but at least you know what he's trying to teach.
In Applied Theory, we sometimes have strange findings. We found the cost function - it was decreasing. Something must be wrong [Ed: Maybe with the theory of decreasing costs]
[On exogenous variables] Exogenous - minimum price, minimum age in Singapore
[On a symmetric semi-definite matrix representing the cost function] You know Paul Samuelson... He said there were some mathematical things which can't be explained. This is one of them.
[On pirating textbooks] First guy incurs cost. It will cost him 20 minutes. Maybe half an hour. Then the second guy will come, his cost will be 0... It's like an [market] entry. First guy incurs cost.
[On economic analysis] Maybe not very meaningful, but people in institutions, they like these graphs.
It's a bit of mags (maths)
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
"If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much." - Donald H. Rumsfeld
***
Young Republic on Walsh, Malays and the SAF:
>Mr Walsh wrote that a heavy emphasis on safety and the fact that "any major injury
>or death causes a very public uproar among parents" has resulted in a force less
>than ready for deployment.
>
>Taking a different view, Col Lim argued that "an emphasis on safety and rigorous,
>realistic training are not mutually exclusive" and that the SAF prepares its
>servicemen to "fight, survive and win" in battle.
A: Walsh has hit on the major argument used for the abolition of military conscription in peacetime in France, namely that the *armed forces* were against it. Clearly when the force is conscripted, public opinion is likely to have a much lower tolerance of serious injury or death, and rightly so. But this merely hampers the ability of any armed force to carry out its operations effectively. This is not clear yet since Singapore has carefully avoided any ACTUAL operations for the last 30 years (the peacekeeping operations Sg has joined are all relatively safe, and minor).
And anyway I can testify that in their emphasis on safety they have neglected one major cause of unsafety: having idiots for commanders.
B: "In fact, Malay officers have risen through the ranks and held senior
appointments." In fact. In fact, this was such a notable achievement that it has to use "in fact" - it doesn't seem adamant enough to say that "OF COURSE" they rise through the ranks and hold senior appointments. This does suggest that (in fact), there is substantial racism.
Me: Notice also the comma after "in fact". This indicates that the writter of this response had to pause to gather his thoughts and steel himself before spewing out the lie about Malay officers, which he subconsciously cringed at writing.
C: How many of you when reading the word "Malay pilots", immediately think of fighter pilots?
Truth is, yes there are malay pilots. 2-3 of them in the whole RSAF and they are on the transport side. So much for race NOT being a barrier in Singapore.
I have many Malay friends who applied to be a pilot, but they were rejected even before going for the COMPASS test.
***
On the 'Moral Majority' in Singapore:
Cock: I do wish we refrain from having an excessively christian-centric view of Singapore. May we remind ourselves that as a percentage of the population christian Singaporeans ( including catholics) form 15% of the population- only slighlty more than the muslim population. Even if it is true that an excessive number of the nation's elite are christian, that still leaves a substantial percentage of people of various other faiths, like buddhists, taoists, worshippers of various chinese deities, hindus, sikhs, etc. Describing the opposition as the "Christian morality brigade" unfairly singles out one particular group as being opposed to social progress, whereas if you actually asked other groups what they thought about the issue it is likely that you would find a wider social consensus.
Therefore, it should be "morality brigade" as opposed to "christian morality brigade". The former description more readily acknowledges that social progress in Singapore is being impeded by many groups, not just christian ones.
A: I agree that other people who are socially conservative might be against cohabitation, but they do not form a brigade. This is because they do not week together weekly to foment their conservative schemes. Only Christians do this. When the govt announced that it would hire openly gay people in the public sector, only pastors wrote in crying fire and brimstone. While individual Muslims and Hindus also wrote in, no imams or Hindu priests did so. Thus, while they might be a silent majority or whatever, only Christians form a 'brigade' of any sort against progressive values.
Believe me, the culture wars are merely the latest US import to Singapore, and -- since the govt isn't responsive on abortion -- they are focusing their efforts on gay-bashing.
Just look at James I-am-a-moral-retard Dobson and friends and their efforts to move the evangelical agenda in the US back to the far right to what they claim are the 'great moral issues of the day' (i.e. gays, sexual morality in general, and abortion), instead of, say, world poverty, global warming, war and peace, etc.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/11/opinion/edchristian.php
This moral stupidity accompanied by a crusading attitude has already infected Singaporean Christianity, and you can bet your bottom dollar that its continued focus will be sexual morality.
It is largely at their feet that we can lay the blame for a) the dismal state of sex education in schools b) the continued persecution of homosexuals and c) the increasing lack of interest among Christian organisations in charity work -- where in the past they were focused on building schools, hospitals and clinics, today they are interested in self-righteous opposition to cohabitation, pre-marital sex, homosexuality, etc etc etc etc etc.
Oh sorry just to add to the whole 'great moral issues of our time' thing, I believe there's also, oh... DARFUR and the genocide going on there on which James Dobson and friends have said... nothing.
I've just been reading Pogge's World Poverty and Human Rights and apparently since the end of the Cold War more than 250 million people, most of them children, have died from starvation, malnutrition, or preventable diseases, due to acute poverty.
But, no the 'great moral issues of our time' are apparently 'the sanctity of human life, the integrity of marriage and the teaching of sexual abstinence and morality to our children', for which read abortion, gay marriage, and pre-marital sex.
Idiots.
***
Young Republic on Walsh, Malays and the SAF:
>Mr Walsh wrote that a heavy emphasis on safety and the fact that "any major injury
>or death causes a very public uproar among parents" has resulted in a force less
>than ready for deployment.
>
>Taking a different view, Col Lim argued that "an emphasis on safety and rigorous,
>realistic training are not mutually exclusive" and that the SAF prepares its
>servicemen to "fight, survive and win" in battle.
A: Walsh has hit on the major argument used for the abolition of military conscription in peacetime in France, namely that the *armed forces* were against it. Clearly when the force is conscripted, public opinion is likely to have a much lower tolerance of serious injury or death, and rightly so. But this merely hampers the ability of any armed force to carry out its operations effectively. This is not clear yet since Singapore has carefully avoided any ACTUAL operations for the last 30 years (the peacekeeping operations Sg has joined are all relatively safe, and minor).
And anyway I can testify that in their emphasis on safety they have neglected one major cause of unsafety: having idiots for commanders.
B: "In fact, Malay officers have risen through the ranks and held senior
appointments." In fact. In fact, this was such a notable achievement that it has to use "in fact" - it doesn't seem adamant enough to say that "OF COURSE" they rise through the ranks and hold senior appointments. This does suggest that (in fact), there is substantial racism.
Me: Notice also the comma after "in fact". This indicates that the writter of this response had to pause to gather his thoughts and steel himself before spewing out the lie about Malay officers, which he subconsciously cringed at writing.
C: How many of you when reading the word "Malay pilots", immediately think of fighter pilots?
Truth is, yes there are malay pilots. 2-3 of them in the whole RSAF and they are on the transport side. So much for race NOT being a barrier in Singapore.
I have many Malay friends who applied to be a pilot, but they were rejected even before going for the COMPASS test.
***
On the 'Moral Majority' in Singapore:
Cock: I do wish we refrain from having an excessively christian-centric view of Singapore. May we remind ourselves that as a percentage of the population christian Singaporeans ( including catholics) form 15% of the population- only slighlty more than the muslim population. Even if it is true that an excessive number of the nation's elite are christian, that still leaves a substantial percentage of people of various other faiths, like buddhists, taoists, worshippers of various chinese deities, hindus, sikhs, etc. Describing the opposition as the "Christian morality brigade" unfairly singles out one particular group as being opposed to social progress, whereas if you actually asked other groups what they thought about the issue it is likely that you would find a wider social consensus.
Therefore, it should be "morality brigade" as opposed to "christian morality brigade". The former description more readily acknowledges that social progress in Singapore is being impeded by many groups, not just christian ones.
A: I agree that other people who are socially conservative might be against cohabitation, but they do not form a brigade. This is because they do not week together weekly to foment their conservative schemes. Only Christians do this. When the govt announced that it would hire openly gay people in the public sector, only pastors wrote in crying fire and brimstone. While individual Muslims and Hindus also wrote in, no imams or Hindu priests did so. Thus, while they might be a silent majority or whatever, only Christians form a 'brigade' of any sort against progressive values.
Believe me, the culture wars are merely the latest US import to Singapore, and -- since the govt isn't responsive on abortion -- they are focusing their efforts on gay-bashing.
Just look at James I-am-a-moral-retard Dobson and friends and their efforts to move the evangelical agenda in the US back to the far right to what they claim are the 'great moral issues of the day' (i.e. gays, sexual morality in general, and abortion), instead of, say, world poverty, global warming, war and peace, etc.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/11/opinion/edchristian.php
This moral stupidity accompanied by a crusading attitude has already infected Singaporean Christianity, and you can bet your bottom dollar that its continued focus will be sexual morality.
It is largely at their feet that we can lay the blame for a) the dismal state of sex education in schools b) the continued persecution of homosexuals and c) the increasing lack of interest among Christian organisations in charity work -- where in the past they were focused on building schools, hospitals and clinics, today they are interested in self-righteous opposition to cohabitation, pre-marital sex, homosexuality, etc etc etc etc etc.
Oh sorry just to add to the whole 'great moral issues of our time' thing, I believe there's also, oh... DARFUR and the genocide going on there on which James Dobson and friends have said... nothing.
I've just been reading Pogge's World Poverty and Human Rights and apparently since the end of the Cold War more than 250 million people, most of them children, have died from starvation, malnutrition, or preventable diseases, due to acute poverty.
But, no the 'great moral issues of our time' are apparently 'the sanctity of human life, the integrity of marriage and the teaching of sexual abstinence and morality to our children', for which read abortion, gay marriage, and pre-marital sex.
Idiots.
"My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular." - Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.
***
2 interesting Twitter friends I have on my list (currently at 15) are bbcscitech (Science and Technology from the BBC) and bbcworld (World News from the BBC). Though I suspect updates are coming so fast, Twitter is choking up (or not sending them to me at all to save on international SMS fees, though then again maybe I'll wake up with 18 SMSes in my inbox again).
There's also wxsingapore (the weather forecast for Singapore), but there's no point subscribing to something that tells me, everyday, "Hot and Wet".
***
2 interesting Twitter friends I have on my list (currently at 15) are bbcscitech (Science and Technology from the BBC) and bbcworld (World News from the BBC). Though I suspect updates are coming so fast, Twitter is choking up (or not sending them to me at all to save on international SMS fees, though then again maybe I'll wake up with 18 SMSes in my inbox again).
There's also wxsingapore (the weather forecast for Singapore), but there's no point subscribing to something that tells me, everyday, "Hot and Wet".
Script for the play, "Talking in Bed":
Characters:
Richard (35)
Sue (10)
Scene 1
(Bedtime. Richard is tucking Sue in bed.)
R: Good night Sue.
S: Good night Daddy.
Due to the font used, at first I thought the "t" was a "f" (one other girl confessed to having noticed that a split second before I pointed it out to her). Meanwhile, one other person saw it as an "s".
"The NUS University Scholars Club
in support of the KK Hospital Cleft & Craniofacial Support Group
featuring children from the KKH CCSG
presents
Talking in Bed"
Interestingly, none of the people in the poster are acting in the play, except for one who is dancing.
Poster: "We talk, but who listens?"
Me: "We act, but who watches?"
Characters:
Richard (35)
Sue (10)
Scene 1
(Bedtime. Richard is tucking Sue in bed.)
R: Good night Sue.
S: Good night Daddy.
Due to the font used, at first I thought the "t" was a "f" (one other girl confessed to having noticed that a split second before I pointed it out to her). Meanwhile, one other person saw it as an "s".
"The NUS University Scholars Club
in support of the KK Hospital Cleft & Craniofacial Support Group
featuring children from the KKH CCSG
presents
Talking in Bed"
Interestingly, none of the people in the poster are acting in the play, except for one who is dancing.
Poster: "We talk, but who listens?"
Me: "We act, but who watches?"
Monday, March 12, 2007
In addition to the biased sample of hate mail (due to comment deletion) where even a moderate Christian got flamed (fundies will never be satisfied) on the original page, the undisguised hatred has now spilled onto voctir's LJ:
'amusedtonoend' (new LJ account, created 2007-03-11 15:21:04): A certain sign of pathology, as acknowledged by medical scientists all over the world is when patients indulge in self-satisfying monologues and promptly feel gratified with the delusion that their case have been well-fought.
'complexcubic' (new LJ account, created 2007-03-12 03:19:23, birthday 1980-07-30):
WE ARE COOL!!!! MERDEKA! WE HAVE FREE SPEECH! WE HAVE THE RIGHTS TO HURT AND INSULT OTHERS!!!!
The both of you have the right too, to cake your male appendages in peanut butter and then dip it into a cauldron of ants. You have the right to call your girlfriend’s mother a monkey-looking whore when you see her for the first time. You have the right to go drag wearing your sister's panty hose and peddle your wares in the darkest alleys to drunk sailors.
You see, the similarities between the 3 things I described above and what you both did such as parodying the post of someone who was gushing about whoever she likes in her blog and nurturing & then communicating extreme, crude and uncivilised hate-mongering about Christians who have done nothing to you, were that you have the right to do those things but they just make you look totally stupid.
You two should spend less time on trying to appear cool, intellectual, argumentative and witty by hurting, offending and attacking entities who have done you no wrong to deserve your acts of barbaric childishness “in the name of FREE SPEECH and RIGHTS!! YAY!! MERDEKA! WE ARE COOL! WE HAVE FREE SPEECH TO INSULT PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T DESERVED IT!” and spend more time on growing up and becoming less of a disgrace to your parents and schools.
Gosh what a fat-cist loser you are!
You are such a loser, you just can't "lose", you must have the last word and cannot appear to have quit even if it means posting lame ass platitudes or one-liners or one of your usual monologues that ramble on and bore everyone to tears, amusing only the pathetically psychotic side of you.
What are considered "absurdities", "iniquities" and "injustices" in the world to you may not be a view shared by others. Grow up! You're claiming you're doing NOTHING more than maintaining your right to "rock the boat" and denying all the insulting and mocking words you have used, not merely on the practices of a group, but striking directly at the figure of worship of billions of others? You have displayed complete delusion, arrogance and disrespect to entire groups to the highest degree, ridiculing the cornerstone of the faith of others and not merely attacking doctrines nor practice nor behaviour (which you also did).
Does this mean that one has the right to slander, hurt, murder and defame with no boundaries of ethics and judgment as long as he uses the placard of holding a view that whatever victims under his bloodthirsty hands are to HIM, either an "absurdity", "iniquities" and "injustice"? Are you as stupid and naive as you are fat and unwanted? I see the answer is yes.
Atheists are everywhere and have you ever wondered why you're the only one behaving this way?
Were you abused as a child?
I must say, of all the hate mail I've gotten over the years, this has hit a new apogee (or nadir, if you like) of entertainment value. Irony died a long time ago.
Even though Philip Yeo may likewise teem with ad hominem insults and non-sequiturs, he at least dares to use his real name to post.
"Love the Christian, hate Christianity"
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."
'amusedtonoend' (new LJ account, created 2007-03-11 15:21:04): A certain sign of pathology, as acknowledged by medical scientists all over the world is when patients indulge in self-satisfying monologues and promptly feel gratified with the delusion that their case have been well-fought.
'complexcubic' (new LJ account, created 2007-03-12 03:19:23, birthday 1980-07-30):
WE ARE COOL!!!! MERDEKA! WE HAVE FREE SPEECH! WE HAVE THE RIGHTS TO HURT AND INSULT OTHERS!!!!
The both of you have the right too, to cake your male appendages in peanut butter and then dip it into a cauldron of ants. You have the right to call your girlfriend’s mother a monkey-looking whore when you see her for the first time. You have the right to go drag wearing your sister's panty hose and peddle your wares in the darkest alleys to drunk sailors.
You see, the similarities between the 3 things I described above and what you both did such as parodying the post of someone who was gushing about whoever she likes in her blog and nurturing & then communicating extreme, crude and uncivilised hate-mongering about Christians who have done nothing to you, were that you have the right to do those things but they just make you look totally stupid.
You two should spend less time on trying to appear cool, intellectual, argumentative and witty by hurting, offending and attacking entities who have done you no wrong to deserve your acts of barbaric childishness “in the name of FREE SPEECH and RIGHTS!! YAY!! MERDEKA! WE ARE COOL! WE HAVE FREE SPEECH TO INSULT PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T DESERVED IT!” and spend more time on growing up and becoming less of a disgrace to your parents and schools.
Gosh what a fat-cist loser you are!
You are such a loser, you just can't "lose", you must have the last word and cannot appear to have quit even if it means posting lame ass platitudes or one-liners or one of your usual monologues that ramble on and bore everyone to tears, amusing only the pathetically psychotic side of you.
What are considered "absurdities", "iniquities" and "injustices" in the world to you may not be a view shared by others. Grow up! You're claiming you're doing NOTHING more than maintaining your right to "rock the boat" and denying all the insulting and mocking words you have used, not merely on the practices of a group, but striking directly at the figure of worship of billions of others? You have displayed complete delusion, arrogance and disrespect to entire groups to the highest degree, ridiculing the cornerstone of the faith of others and not merely attacking doctrines nor practice nor behaviour (which you also did).
Does this mean that one has the right to slander, hurt, murder and defame with no boundaries of ethics and judgment as long as he uses the placard of holding a view that whatever victims under his bloodthirsty hands are to HIM, either an "absurdity", "iniquities" and "injustice"? Are you as stupid and naive as you are fat and unwanted? I see the answer is yes.
Atheists are everywhere and have you ever wondered why you're the only one behaving this way?
Were you abused as a child?
I must say, of all the hate mail I've gotten over the years, this has hit a new apogee (or nadir, if you like) of entertainment value. Irony died a long time ago.
Even though Philip Yeo may likewise teem with ad hominem insults and non-sequiturs, he at least dares to use his real name to post.
"Love the Christian, hate Christianity"
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."
Penal Code: Proposed changes 'relevant and compassionate'
"The National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) is of the view that generally speaking, the proposed amendments to the Penal Code (PC) are relevant, timely, compassionate and appear well thought through.
In presenting this feedback, the NCCS is mindful of the role of governing authorities and the Scriptural injunction to Christians on their attitude towards the higher powers (Romans 13:1)...
"'(a) the proposed section 298A PC ("Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion or race, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony"). An issue that arises for consideration (quite apart from the legal issue of what is the mens rea [i.e. blameworthy state of mind] involved in this intended offence) is what scenarios are envisaged by the Government as constituting: -
(i) words/signs/visible representations that "[promote] disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious … groups or communities" or
(ii) acts that are "prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious … groups or communities … which disturbs or is likely to disturb the public tranquillity"
The deeper or underlying issue is how these intended PC offences correlate with fundamental rights enshrined in Article 15(1) of the Constitution safeguarding the freedom of religion (i.e. the right to profess, practise and propagate one's religion). Will a Christian who shares his/her faith to a non-Christian trigger off the commission of a criminal offence under this section? This issue may not be unique to Christians alone. It may also impact on devotees of other "missionary" religions such as Islam.
Other examples come to mind. If a Christian narrates his testimony of conversion in his web log or personal website and makes reference to how he failed to find fulfilment and meaning in his former religion and only found the same in Christ, could that constitute promoting disharmony or feelings of ill-will (even if it does not meet the conceivably higher threshold of promoting enmity or hatred) between different religious groups/communities?
Assuming that we have a situation of a Muslim convert that wishes to be baptised in a local church … could the act of baptism performed by the pastor be prejudicial to the maintenance of religious harmony and likely to disturb the public tranquillity?
In this regard, it is interesting to note that the language in the proposed section 298A PC is similar to section 8(1) of the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (Cap 167A) ("MRHA"). That section allows the Government to make a restraining order against religious leaders where the Minister is satisfied that that person has committed/is attempting to commit acts that cause "feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility between different religious groups". As far as we know, no restraining order has been made under the MRHA since that legislation was enacted. However, the present statutory changes envisaged to the PC elevate the commission of such acts to a criminal offence. The danger with this is the possible subjectivity and arbitrariness of the judgment which may be made about which acts transgress the boundaries and which do not. The uncertainty is unsatisfactory.
To remedy the same, one view is that the Government should insert some illustrations and explanatory notes to this statutory provision to clarify what constitutes an offence under this new section and what does not. This approach adheres to the scheme of the PC as originally codified. This will enable the parameters of the criminal offence concerned to be spelt out clearly."
***
In presenting this feedback, we are mindful of the role of non-Christians and the Scriptural injunction to Christians on their attitude towards those who offend them (Matthew 5:38-44)...
"'(a) the proposed section 298A PC ("Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion or race, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony"). An issue that arises for consideration (quite apart from the legal issue of what is the mens rea [i.e. blameworthy state of mind] involved in this intended offence) is what scenarios are envisaged by the Government as constituting: -
(i) words/signs/visible representations that "[promote] disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious … groups or communities" or
(ii) acts that are "prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious … groups or communities … which disturbs or is likely to disturb the public tranquillity"
The deeper or underlying issue is how these intended PC offences correlate with fundamental rights enshrined in Article 15(1) of the Constitution safeguarding the freedom of religion (i.e. the right to profess, practise and propagate one's religion [or lack thereof]). Will a non-Christian who shares the reasons for his/her lack of faith to a Christian trigger off the commission of a criminal offence under this section? This issue may not be unique to non-Christians alone. It may also impact on non-adherents of other religions such as Islam.
Other examples come to mind. If a non-Christian narrates his testimony of deconversion in his web log or personal website and makes reference to how he failed to find fulfilment and meaning in his former religion, could that constitute promoting disharmony or feelings of ill-will (even if it does not meet the conceivably higher threshold of promoting enmity or hatred) between different religious groups/communities?
"Our Western politicians avoid mentioning the R word (religion), and instead characterize their battle as a war against 'terror', as though terror were a kind of spirit or force, with a will and a mind of its own. Or they characterize terrorists as motivated by pure 'evil'. But they are not motivated by evil. However misguided we may think them, they are motivated, like the Christian murderers of abortion doctors, by what they perceive to be righteousness, faithfully pursuing what their religion tells them. They are not psychotic; they are religious idealists who, by their own lights, are rational. They perceive their acts to be good, not because of some warped personal idiosyncrasy, and not because they have been possessed by Satan, but because they have been brought up, from the cradle, to have total and unquestioning faith."
"And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people."
"The Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven"
"As for the Disbelievers, Whether thou warn them or thou warn them not it is all one for them; they believe not. Allah hath sealed their hearing and their hearts, and on their eyes there is a covering. Theirs will be an awful doom."
"The usual fawning praise was then heaped upon their god. They talked about praise for nations, despite the fact that the world is ridden with grief, conflict and strife. Their raising of funds for a van for Sri Lanka was then highlighted, and their god then praised, despite not only not having contributed to the relief effort, but allowing the problem to happen in the first place through its negligence. Well done!"
Would such lines be considered to "[promote] disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious … groups or communities"? For then we would have to ban not only The God Delusion, the Da Vinci Code and a popular Singaporean blog, but the Bible and the Koran too.
In this regard, it is interesting to note that the language in the proposed section 298A PC is similar to section 8(1) of the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (Cap 167A) ("MRHA"). That section allows the Government to make a restraining order against religious leaders where the Minister is satisfied that that person has committed/is attempting to commit acts that cause "feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility between different religious groups". As far as we know, no restraining order has been made under the MRHA since that legislation was enacted. However, the present statutory changes envisaged to the PC elevate the commission of such acts to a criminal offence. The danger with this is the possible subjectivity and arbitrariness of the judgment which may be made about which acts transgress the boundaries and which do not. The uncertainty is unsatisfactory.
To remedy the same, one view is that the Government should insert some illustrations and explanatory notes to this statutory provision to clarify what constitutes an offence under this new section and what does not. This approach adheres to the scheme of the PC as originally codified. This will enable the parameters of the criminal offence concerned to be spelt out clearly."
"The National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) is of the view that generally speaking, the proposed amendments to the Penal Code (PC) are relevant, timely, compassionate and appear well thought through.
In presenting this feedback, the NCCS is mindful of the role of governing authorities and the Scriptural injunction to Christians on their attitude towards the higher powers (Romans 13:1)...
"'(a) the proposed section 298A PC ("Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion or race, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony"). An issue that arises for consideration (quite apart from the legal issue of what is the mens rea [i.e. blameworthy state of mind] involved in this intended offence) is what scenarios are envisaged by the Government as constituting: -
(i) words/signs/visible representations that "[promote] disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious … groups or communities" or
(ii) acts that are "prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious … groups or communities … which disturbs or is likely to disturb the public tranquillity"
The deeper or underlying issue is how these intended PC offences correlate with fundamental rights enshrined in Article 15(1) of the Constitution safeguarding the freedom of religion (i.e. the right to profess, practise and propagate one's religion). Will a Christian who shares his/her faith to a non-Christian trigger off the commission of a criminal offence under this section? This issue may not be unique to Christians alone. It may also impact on devotees of other "missionary" religions such as Islam.
Other examples come to mind. If a Christian narrates his testimony of conversion in his web log or personal website and makes reference to how he failed to find fulfilment and meaning in his former religion and only found the same in Christ, could that constitute promoting disharmony or feelings of ill-will (even if it does not meet the conceivably higher threshold of promoting enmity or hatred) between different religious groups/communities?
Assuming that we have a situation of a Muslim convert that wishes to be baptised in a local church … could the act of baptism performed by the pastor be prejudicial to the maintenance of religious harmony and likely to disturb the public tranquillity?
In this regard, it is interesting to note that the language in the proposed section 298A PC is similar to section 8(1) of the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (Cap 167A) ("MRHA"). That section allows the Government to make a restraining order against religious leaders where the Minister is satisfied that that person has committed/is attempting to commit acts that cause "feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility between different religious groups". As far as we know, no restraining order has been made under the MRHA since that legislation was enacted. However, the present statutory changes envisaged to the PC elevate the commission of such acts to a criminal offence. The danger with this is the possible subjectivity and arbitrariness of the judgment which may be made about which acts transgress the boundaries and which do not. The uncertainty is unsatisfactory.
To remedy the same, one view is that the Government should insert some illustrations and explanatory notes to this statutory provision to clarify what constitutes an offence under this new section and what does not. This approach adheres to the scheme of the PC as originally codified. This will enable the parameters of the criminal offence concerned to be spelt out clearly."
***
In presenting this feedback, we are mindful of the role of non-Christians and the Scriptural injunction to Christians on their attitude towards those who offend them (Matthew 5:38-44)...
"'(a) the proposed section 298A PC ("Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion or race, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony"). An issue that arises for consideration (quite apart from the legal issue of what is the mens rea [i.e. blameworthy state of mind] involved in this intended offence) is what scenarios are envisaged by the Government as constituting: -
(i) words/signs/visible representations that "[promote] disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious … groups or communities" or
(ii) acts that are "prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious … groups or communities … which disturbs or is likely to disturb the public tranquillity"
The deeper or underlying issue is how these intended PC offences correlate with fundamental rights enshrined in Article 15(1) of the Constitution safeguarding the freedom of religion (i.e. the right to profess, practise and propagate one's religion [or lack thereof]). Will a non-Christian who shares the reasons for his/her lack of faith to a Christian trigger off the commission of a criminal offence under this section? This issue may not be unique to non-Christians alone. It may also impact on non-adherents of other religions such as Islam.
Other examples come to mind. If a non-Christian narrates his testimony of deconversion in his web log or personal website and makes reference to how he failed to find fulfilment and meaning in his former religion, could that constitute promoting disharmony or feelings of ill-will (even if it does not meet the conceivably higher threshold of promoting enmity or hatred) between different religious groups/communities?
"Our Western politicians avoid mentioning the R word (religion), and instead characterize their battle as a war against 'terror', as though terror were a kind of spirit or force, with a will and a mind of its own. Or they characterize terrorists as motivated by pure 'evil'. But they are not motivated by evil. However misguided we may think them, they are motivated, like the Christian murderers of abortion doctors, by what they perceive to be righteousness, faithfully pursuing what their religion tells them. They are not psychotic; they are religious idealists who, by their own lights, are rational. They perceive their acts to be good, not because of some warped personal idiosyncrasy, and not because they have been possessed by Satan, but because they have been brought up, from the cradle, to have total and unquestioning faith."
"And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people."
"The Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven"
"As for the Disbelievers, Whether thou warn them or thou warn them not it is all one for them; they believe not. Allah hath sealed their hearing and their hearts, and on their eyes there is a covering. Theirs will be an awful doom."
"The usual fawning praise was then heaped upon their god. They talked about praise for nations, despite the fact that the world is ridden with grief, conflict and strife. Their raising of funds for a van for Sri Lanka was then highlighted, and their god then praised, despite not only not having contributed to the relief effort, but allowing the problem to happen in the first place through its negligence. Well done!"
Would such lines be considered to "[promote] disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious … groups or communities"? For then we would have to ban not only The God Delusion, the Da Vinci Code and a popular Singaporean blog, but the Bible and the Koran too.
In this regard, it is interesting to note that the language in the proposed section 298A PC is similar to section 8(1) of the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (Cap 167A) ("MRHA"). That section allows the Government to make a restraining order against religious leaders where the Minister is satisfied that that person has committed/is attempting to commit acts that cause "feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility between different religious groups". As far as we know, no restraining order has been made under the MRHA since that legislation was enacted. However, the present statutory changes envisaged to the PC elevate the commission of such acts to a criminal offence. The danger with this is the possible subjectivity and arbitrariness of the judgment which may be made about which acts transgress the boundaries and which do not. The uncertainty is unsatisfactory.
To remedy the same, one view is that the Government should insert some illustrations and explanatory notes to this statutory provision to clarify what constitutes an offence under this new section and what does not. This approach adheres to the scheme of the PC as originally codified. This will enable the parameters of the criminal offence concerned to be spelt out clearly."
"He who praises you for what you lack wishes to take from you what you have." - Don Juan Manuel
***
A: guess this is the dumbing down of the masses into making them expect even demand simplistic feel-good shit, which is why they need real art to shock, challenge, enlighten and eventually emancipate them. but this is crit theory already la.
B: i think actually this is the purpose of critical theory AND art - both need to constantly challenge the norms.
but then i was wondering (on a completely random note) if this means that there should ALWAYS BE a refusal even when we have come to a point when things are okay (according to the marxists)?
C: See the thing about Critical Theory that i like is that _ when will we ever reach a happy state? One man's meat is another man's poison so for many the Happy state is here. But for many it isn't. WHat critical theory does is it challenges and opens a space for consideration as to what can be changed, what SHOULD be changed. Utopia is elusive but critical theory seems to offer a way towards it, by changing what we are unhappy about. So the way I see it, Critical Theory offers a way for people to realise what makes them unhappy - through art. IT does not require a complete rejection of everything all the time. It just challeneges - the its upto you to decide if you like this status quo or not.
Me: Alternatively, Critical Theory assumes you are unhappy even if you're not, and then "shows" you how you "are", like how Marxism assumes you are exploited even if you're not, and then "shows" you how you "are".
***
A: guess this is the dumbing down of the masses into making them expect even demand simplistic feel-good shit, which is why they need real art to shock, challenge, enlighten and eventually emancipate them. but this is crit theory already la.
B: i think actually this is the purpose of critical theory AND art - both need to constantly challenge the norms.
but then i was wondering (on a completely random note) if this means that there should ALWAYS BE a refusal even when we have come to a point when things are okay (according to the marxists)?
C: See the thing about Critical Theory that i like is that _ when will we ever reach a happy state? One man's meat is another man's poison so for many the Happy state is here. But for many it isn't. WHat critical theory does is it challenges and opens a space for consideration as to what can be changed, what SHOULD be changed. Utopia is elusive but critical theory seems to offer a way towards it, by changing what we are unhappy about. So the way I see it, Critical Theory offers a way for people to realise what makes them unhappy - through art. IT does not require a complete rejection of everything all the time. It just challeneges - the its upto you to decide if you like this status quo or not.
Me: Alternatively, Critical Theory assumes you are unhappy even if you're not, and then "shows" you how you "are", like how Marxism assumes you are exploited even if you're not, and then "shows" you how you "are".
Sunday, March 11, 2007
"Jeyaretnam’s predecessor, David Marshall, founder of the Workers’ Party, in a talk to undergraduates at the National University of Singapore in 1995, castigated the government for creating what he described as a nation so fearful to speak up and be heard. After prodding the university students to speak up frankly — and receiving little response — he concluded that even university undergraduates were also affected by the climate of fear...
Perceptions of Undergraduates and Youths
[T]he extent of public participation of governmental policies and other public issues by the more educated, student and youth population is patently negligible. A general observation even by people who have not stayed long in the Republic will confirm this; the many surveys conducted on this matter validate such a perception. To begin with, despite the assurance from the government that voting in the elections is secret, the existence of serial numbers on the ballot paper, which the government said is needed for administrative purposes, seemed to have turned off many undergraduates. A survey of undergraduates at the National University of Singapore in 1991, conducted by the Democratic Socialist Club, found that a high 42.1 per cent of undergraduates believed that the ballot is not secret.’ This finding actually echoed the sentiment raised by the Workers’ Party some months earlier:
Of relevance to our discussion here is the conclusion of at least four studies that were conducted of educated youths, particularly the undergraduates of the National University of Singapore, in different periods: in 1971, 1987, 1989/90 and 1994/95. They all reached a roughly similar conclusion: that university students are politically unaware, disinterested and apathetic. As an example, the study in 1971 concluded that:
In the 1989/90 study of educated youths in three organisations (the NUS, the People’s Association and the PAP Youth Wing) it was found that “political participation of the youth in Singapore takes place through avenues that are government-designed and defined.” Admittedly, it would have been more representative and useful if the above studies have bigger samples and conducted more randomly, but they do offer some feel about the extent of political awareness and involvement among Singaporean youth.
“SUBJECT” POLITICAL CULTURE
As referred to earlier, a country’s “political culture”, defined briefly here as “the particular distribution of patterns of orientation t political objects among the members of the nation” Almond and Verba: 1963:15), can be measured by three main types of citizens’ participation in the country’s politics: “parochial”, “subject” and “participant”. Debatably, for a long time, Singapore’s type of political culture is that of the “subject” variant. In this particular type of culture, citizens have some clear ideas about the country’s political system and process but they do not participate sufficiently in the political affairs of the State, as they would in a “participant” culture (Almond and Coleman: 1960; Almond and Verba: 1963; Almond and Powell: 1966). In a “participant” (or evaluative) culture, the citizen:
Lest one forgets, such a participant culture had indeed existed here in the past. One example was the period of the early 1960s when the PAP was embroiled in a factional strife that not only gave birth to the Barisan Sosialis, but also witnessed a period of competitive politics between Government and Opposition forces. In 1963, university students protested against the government’s issuance of “Suitability Certificates” to screen students when they apply for university admission.’ In 1974- 75, Tan Wah Piow, Juliet Chin and other leaders of the University of Singapore Students Union openly criticised many government policies. Of course, these were exceptions. By and large, this Republic’s political culture, given the many governmental policies and other socialisation schemes has not assumed a “participant” variant. Such a political malaise seemed to be the case even in more recent times when indications of civil society were thought to have emerged...
This dearth of civil society is yet another reason to distinguish Singapore’s dominant one-party system and illiberal democracy from countries with approximate political orientations, such as Korea, Taiwan, and Israel.
Perceptions of Undergraduates and Youths
When tertiary students and educated youths themselves acknowledged the low level of political participation in Singapore, then at best, civil society is at an incipient stage of growth in the Republic. In 1993, the Singapore government initiated the National Youth Seminar with the theme “The Future is in Your Hands”. The Seminar brought together many educated youths from all segments of the society, and was organised by the National Youth Council with the Prime Minister delivering the keynote address. Asked to be a Resource Person for the Workshop Group on “Participation in the Political Process”, this present writer noted how the participants themselves concluded that much needed to be done to resolve the low level of involvement of youth in the political process. Being a government coordinated national seminar, it was revealing to know what they thought were the reasons for such a state of affairs. In the first workshop, seminar participants concluded that out of the six factors noted — as follows — four were related to the government’s policies and governing style:
• The PAP’S top-down rather than bottom-up approach.
• The youths were conditioned through the educational system to accept authority without question.
• Clubs and societies in tertiary institutions were not allowed to make political pronouncements, let alone participate in the political process.
• The element of fear, which makes people toe the establishment’s line of thinking.
• Given the absence of pressing issues or crises people were generally satisfied with the government’s performance.
• The over-emphasis on economic factors, which led people to be more interested in their careers and families.
In the second workshop, which separately discussed the same topic of political participation, the findings were quite similar:
• A perceived lack of freedom in Singapore. (Laws such as the Employment Act were offered as examples that were thought to constrict freedom).
• The general perception that the courts were somewhat biased and strongly influenced by the government.
• The fear that if people were to speak freely against the government, they may be arrested.
• The main reasons for the lack of youths’ interest in politics were “70% apathy and 30% fear”; and that “the only way to take part in politics was through the PAP...if they were to go against the PAP, they would be subjected to unfair scrutiny and prosecution.”
Yet another undergraduate survey painted the same picture: “The general consensus was that by and large, Singaporeans are afraid to speak up” (Demos, NUS Democratic Club: Vol. IV, NT I, p.2). Among the reasons offered by the undergraduates were the Republic’s “Asian culture” which was said to have not only discouraged openness, but made teachers less tolerant of new ideas. The respondents also stated that the general state of peace and stability enjoyed by the Republic have led to the notion “If nothing is wrong, don’t fix it” (Ibid.). The survey report ended with the statement that:
Obviously, one should be mindful to take these views as “perceptions” of university undergraduates and the youth in general as captured in the surveys and workshops. Given the limited nature of the samples, further verification from other surveys is needed to verify and confirm the findings. Certainly there are the psychological or emotional hangovers that most youth experience in some stage of their lives, and these may have little or no relationship at all to the government’s manner of ruling the country. Nonetheless, since such perceptions arc recurrent and probably widespread too, they do offer some indicators as to the nature of political culture in Singapore.
Many Singaporeans still remember the many veiled warnings by PAP leaders against critics who publicly commented on government policies — such as PM Goh’s warning in 1995:
--- Hussin Mutalib, Parties and politics : a study of opposition parties and the PAP in Singapore, 2004
Perceptions of Undergraduates and Youths
[T]he extent of public participation of governmental policies and other public issues by the more educated, student and youth population is patently negligible. A general observation even by people who have not stayed long in the Republic will confirm this; the many surveys conducted on this matter validate such a perception. To begin with, despite the assurance from the government that voting in the elections is secret, the existence of serial numbers on the ballot paper, which the government said is needed for administrative purposes, seemed to have turned off many undergraduates. A survey of undergraduates at the National University of Singapore in 1991, conducted by the Democratic Socialist Club, found that a high 42.1 per cent of undergraduates believed that the ballot is not secret.’ This finding actually echoed the sentiment raised by the Workers’ Party some months earlier:
... the numbering of the ballot papers meant that the ballot was no longer secret. The PAP took advantage of the minds of voters by instilling fear...if they voted against them, they would be victimised.
(Hammer 1990: Issue 5)
Of relevance to our discussion here is the conclusion of at least four studies that were conducted of educated youths, particularly the undergraduates of the National University of Singapore, in different periods: in 1971, 1987, 1989/90 and 1994/95. They all reached a roughly similar conclusion: that university students are politically unaware, disinterested and apathetic. As an example, the study in 1971 concluded that:
… if the government...exercises often its coercive powers, (such people) realise that they cannot do much to influence the government and become cynical, thus have low feelings of political efficacy.’
In the 1989/90 study of educated youths in three organisations (the NUS, the People’s Association and the PAP Youth Wing) it was found that “political participation of the youth in Singapore takes place through avenues that are government-designed and defined.” Admittedly, it would have been more representative and useful if the above studies have bigger samples and conducted more randomly, but they do offer some feel about the extent of political awareness and involvement among Singaporean youth.
“SUBJECT” POLITICAL CULTURE
As referred to earlier, a country’s “political culture”, defined briefly here as “the particular distribution of patterns of orientation t political objects among the members of the nation” Almond and Verba: 1963:15), can be measured by three main types of citizens’ participation in the country’s politics: “parochial”, “subject” and “participant”. Debatably, for a long time, Singapore’s type of political culture is that of the “subject” variant. In this particular type of culture, citizens have some clear ideas about the country’s political system and process but they do not participate sufficiently in the political affairs of the State, as they would in a “participant” culture (Almond and Coleman: 1960; Almond and Verba: 1963; Almond and Powell: 1966). In a “participant” (or evaluative) culture, the citizen:
...not only thinks he can participate, he thinks that others ought to participate as well. Furthermore, he does not merely think he can take a part in politics: he is likely to be more active.’
(Almond and Verba: 1963:14-24)
Lest one forgets, such a participant culture had indeed existed here in the past. One example was the period of the early 1960s when the PAP was embroiled in a factional strife that not only gave birth to the Barisan Sosialis, but also witnessed a period of competitive politics between Government and Opposition forces. In 1963, university students protested against the government’s issuance of “Suitability Certificates” to screen students when they apply for university admission.’ In 1974- 75, Tan Wah Piow, Juliet Chin and other leaders of the University of Singapore Students Union openly criticised many government policies. Of course, these were exceptions. By and large, this Republic’s political culture, given the many governmental policies and other socialisation schemes has not assumed a “participant” variant. Such a political malaise seemed to be the case even in more recent times when indications of civil society were thought to have emerged...
This dearth of civil society is yet another reason to distinguish Singapore’s dominant one-party system and illiberal democracy from countries with approximate political orientations, such as Korea, Taiwan, and Israel.
Perceptions of Undergraduates and Youths
When tertiary students and educated youths themselves acknowledged the low level of political participation in Singapore, then at best, civil society is at an incipient stage of growth in the Republic. In 1993, the Singapore government initiated the National Youth Seminar with the theme “The Future is in Your Hands”. The Seminar brought together many educated youths from all segments of the society, and was organised by the National Youth Council with the Prime Minister delivering the keynote address. Asked to be a Resource Person for the Workshop Group on “Participation in the Political Process”, this present writer noted how the participants themselves concluded that much needed to be done to resolve the low level of involvement of youth in the political process. Being a government coordinated national seminar, it was revealing to know what they thought were the reasons for such a state of affairs. In the first workshop, seminar participants concluded that out of the six factors noted — as follows — four were related to the government’s policies and governing style:
• The PAP’S top-down rather than bottom-up approach.
• The youths were conditioned through the educational system to accept authority without question.
• Clubs and societies in tertiary institutions were not allowed to make political pronouncements, let alone participate in the political process.
• The element of fear, which makes people toe the establishment’s line of thinking.
• Given the absence of pressing issues or crises people were generally satisfied with the government’s performance.
• The over-emphasis on economic factors, which led people to be more interested in their careers and families.
In the second workshop, which separately discussed the same topic of political participation, the findings were quite similar:
• A perceived lack of freedom in Singapore. (Laws such as the Employment Act were offered as examples that were thought to constrict freedom).
• The general perception that the courts were somewhat biased and strongly influenced by the government.
• The fear that if people were to speak freely against the government, they may be arrested.
• The main reasons for the lack of youths’ interest in politics were “70% apathy and 30% fear”; and that “the only way to take part in politics was through the PAP...if they were to go against the PAP, they would be subjected to unfair scrutiny and prosecution.”
Yet another undergraduate survey painted the same picture: “The general consensus was that by and large, Singaporeans are afraid to speak up” (Demos, NUS Democratic Club: Vol. IV, NT I, p.2). Among the reasons offered by the undergraduates were the Republic’s “Asian culture” which was said to have not only discouraged openness, but made teachers less tolerant of new ideas. The respondents also stated that the general state of peace and stability enjoyed by the Republic have led to the notion “If nothing is wrong, don’t fix it” (Ibid.). The survey report ended with the statement that:
Many Singaporeans do not wish to speak up because they do not want to be ostracised. They would rather follow the crowd than say something controversial.
(Ibid.)
Obviously, one should be mindful to take these views as “perceptions” of university undergraduates and the youth in general as captured in the surveys and workshops. Given the limited nature of the samples, further verification from other surveys is needed to verify and confirm the findings. Certainly there are the psychological or emotional hangovers that most youth experience in some stage of their lives, and these may have little or no relationship at all to the government’s manner of ruling the country. Nonetheless, since such perceptions arc recurrent and probably widespread too, they do offer some indicators as to the nature of political culture in Singapore.
Many Singaporeans still remember the many veiled warnings by PAP leaders against critics who publicly commented on government policies — such as PM Goh’s warning in 1995:
“If you land a blow on our jaw, you must expect a counterblow on your solar plexus”.
(Straits Times: 24.1.1995)
--- Hussin Mutalib, Parties and politics : a study of opposition parties and the PAP in Singapore, 2004
"Whenever I dwell for any length of time on my own shortcomings, they gradually begin to seem mild, harmless, rather engaging little things, not at all like the staring defects in other people's characters." - Margaret Halsey
***
A: Frankly I'm sick of hearing all this negativity. About Andy, about Singapore's politics, about damn near everything we talk about on this email list. I don't set aside free time to read my mails to get more depressed than I already am offline!
so i'd like to hear from you: what is good about Singapore? today ST ran an article on our *shock!* 800,000-strong foreign-born (but all featured were caucasian, heheh) residents, and mostly they were like "oh taxi driver was friendly to me thats why i dropped my british passport and bought my sweet little hut in bukit timah isn't it
adorable?". k seriously, what about life in Singapore is better than in other cities? many of you are or have been overseas, so I'm hoping to gain a wider perspective from your collective experience.
positive comments appreciated.
me, I heart the kopitiam. coffeeshop. food court. the urban planner's greatest gift to us. try finding its equivalent in new york (disclaimer i only spent like 3 days there so perhaps i may have missed one if there were). the concept is alien there and yet to me it just seems like the most natural thing in the world.
>^<
B: Food.
Infrastructure.
Warmth.
Weather.
Public libraries.
The waterfront.
Transport.
A: transport?? i much prefer the NYC bus&train systems, dunnoe if I'm taking sgp for granted on that count. then again, SMRT never shuts down cos of a worker strike :)
i don't know about public libraries though. it's a good point. "Infrastructure" is pretty vague as a point by itself.
>^<
C: But their subway looks so crappy... (Ours is newer so it's not too surprising, but...)
There's a small food place with several outlets in a local mall here, and sounth of our campus there's a road packed with restaurants and other food-selling things. I think in some parts of NYC there aren't even malls, so you won't expect to find large food-places.
The life expectancy is pretty good in Singapore. It's reasonably wealthy. Plenty of good things I'm sure. But it's not fun to talk about good things, since there isn't much to say about it, but "yay!"...
D: Hi I think one main advantage Singapore has that other countries lack is security. There's an exceptionally low crime rate and if there was a crime, you can be pretty sure that the police would do something abt it. But in Britain/US, this is not the same case. You would never know when someone may suddenly attack you and even if he did so, the police may not do anything serious about it. And of course, there's explicit racial prejudice overseas which is not present here.
E: Yes. Indeed. When I am walking in San Francisco, I constantly shudder at the thought of the possibility of someone sneaking up behind me, knocking me out and then up. Then when I show my bruises and wounds to the police, they will be very unsympathetic and say, 'you chinkychongchink, get back on the boat from which you alighted!"
Yes. Right.
Me: San Francisco Crime Statistics and Crime Data (San Francisco, CA)
Overall San Francisco Crime Index
2004 Total: 40254
Per 100,000 People: 5373.1
National per 100,000 People: 4627.9
STATISTICS SINGAPORE - KeyStats - Annual Statistics
2006 - Crime Rate (Per 100,000 Population): 745
For those who require explication, these statistics show that Singapore has roughly a sixth the crime of San Francisco.
North Gate News Online :: Cop Panel Ignoring Brutality Claims, Activists Charge
"SAN FRANCISCO - Angry Bayview residents accused the San Francisco
Police Commission of ignoring accusations of police brutality at a
news conference at the Hall of Justice today.
*snip*
"Over the last couple years, we've seen a decline in the accountability of the police department," Mark Schlosberg, Police Practices Policy Director of the ACLU of Northern California, said. "We have cases of serious misconduct being dismissed because the Police Commission doesn't act on them in a timely manner.""
In case no one understood the meaning of that quote, it means that the San Francisco police are alleged to be brutal and to use excessive force.
As Johann Hari said about Guantanamo,
"We have to start by adopting a defensible position. Too many of the critics have let the Bush administration off the hook by basing their opposition to the camp on the claim that virtually everyone in Gunatanamo Bay as innocent as Dilawar. A string of
documentaries and dramas have presented Islamic fundamentalists who went to Taliban Afghanistan immediately after 9/11 as akin to Cliff Richard in 'Summer Holiday', setting off on an innocent jaunt and astonished to find themselves on the battlefield alongside Mullah Omar's men. The Australian detainee David Hicks is an Islamic
fundamentalist who told his father he was going to Afghanistan to make sure the Taliban was not toppled by "the Jews' propaganda war machine" and to ensure "we live under Muslim law again." Yet John Pilger describes him lyrically as merely "a larrikin", the kind of person who was "lauded by our bush poets and balladeers"."
If this requires explanation, it basically means that refusing to adopt a reasonable position because you're blinded by ideology or personal feelings means that you look stupid and that no reasonable people will take you seriously.
F: Singapore has many things going for it.
1) Excellent infrastructure. This includes well-maintained roads, good public transport system, internet connectivity, etc.
2) Clean, green environment.
3) Close to zero corruption in the public sector.
4) A competent government composed of intelligent people. Singaporeans like to criticise the government, but so do people everywhere. In my opinion, the PAP has its flaws, but it does a much better job of governing the country than most other countries in the world, and especially when compared to its neighbours.
5) Excellent education system.
6) Adherence to meritocratic principles.
E: Gabriel,
I assure you that police brutality occurs anywhere. The point is that you should have safeguards against it, e.g. a free press and laws that prevent policemen from having excessive powers. This is not the case in Singapore, where there is evidently no free press and there are no such laws governing policemen. Indeed there are no such laws governing the police system as a whole - last time I checked, Singapore had no habeas corpus. And it is not that there is no police brutality. It is that SPH simply sees no point in reporting it. I also recall very brainless police raids on gay clubs like Happy, ostensibly for drugs, but this came one day after the cancellation of the Squirt (or one of those Fridae-organised parties). In this case they also man-handled everyone, and many made very shitty homophobic jokes in full view of the gay men who were (like me) gawking in horror at their very stupid Andy-Hoesque opinions on gay men and how they behave.
Which brings me to my next point. I see no point in trying to defend the Singapore system. since, though Singapore is excessively 'safe', there are no safeguards against, say, abuse. What comes to mind - let's see, the entrapment of gay men in the late 1990s comes to mind. So very interesting.
Oh and another incident comes to mind - I remember being very horrified once when my friend regaled me with a shitty tale of how her friend went to the policemen, having been molested by this very shitty person. But the policeman was merely very 'oh you
are dressed very skimpily, are you sure you didn't bring it upon yourself'.
Next point - I get very irritated when people are like 'oh in the US and the UK things are very dangerous'. Since I assure you that this is not the case. It is not significantly MORE dangerous. One does not live in fear of one's life when one is walking in London, or New York, or wherever. To state otherwise is ridiculous. When I am in NY, the feeling that I get is not one of 'OH MY GOD I WILL BE MURDERED BY THAT HOBO.' Instead, the feeling that I get is 'I can do whatever the fuck I want here, and no asshole policeman is going to be able to annnoy me without me having the right to recourse and calling the press down his neck.'
Me: Fair enough, mostly, but man-handling (you probably mean shoving and pushing aside?) and making homophobic jokes isn't quite brutality. Shitty, yes, but calling it brutality is like calling the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians a Holocaust - it mocks those who truly suffer police brutality.
I question what the true level of police brutality is. Even the SAF cannot cover up its misdeeds these days with forums and IRC, yet we don't hear of policemen in Singapore roughing anyone up. If nothing else, there's a reason they invented the aircon treatment, you know.
One may not live in fear of one's life in London, or New York, or whatever, but one does not visit certain neighborhoods alone, especially not at certain times of the day.
A: security.. well.. I was a little chilled by Tom Plate's account of his first interview with LKY (i think it was in an article called "This article on Singapore, you sure you want it to run?"), when he asked why political dissidents had been detained without trial and LKY chose not to answer that, but instead stared him straight in the eye and said, "Tom, look at the streets. They're safe." This was of course in the not-so-stable context of the 1960's-70's...
i've also been thinking about the fact that we have no earthquakes like in Sumatra and no Katrina-like disasters. worst we had was that recent flooding (was it Napier rd?) and those poor plant growers complained that they lost all their stock. imagine trying to build a world-class anything hub when every few years an earthquake or tsunami wipes out your effort.
>^<
G: To be fair, racial discrimination is still a problem with the police in places like NYC and LA, I believe last year this black guy was shot 23 times by a policeman even though he was unarmed.
Thus Stephen Colbert's joke: "I don't see race. People tell me I'm white, and I believe them, because the police call me 'sir'."
HOWEVER, such incidents are immediately widely reported in the media, and are subject to official investigations, etc.
And as for general public safety, obviously how safe a city is depends on whether it has a very large and mobile population, very poor ghettoes, etc.
Singapore is very similar demographically to Stuttgart, I believe, and the last murder to take place in Stuttgart was like in 2005. When I walk home from my friends' house at 4 am in the morning in Oxford, I do not take a can of pepper spray with me for personal protection. Now, of course, what I encounter on my walk home in Oxford might be more unsavoury/interesting (depending on your point of view) than what I encounter in Singapore -- e.g. drunken boys throwing up in the street, naked man running after his mates who are holding his clothes, etc. But these drunks/naked men do not kill/rob/threaten me. There is a big difference between disorder and being unsafe. Singapore is definitely more orderly, but I don't think significantly more safe.
***
A: Frankly I'm sick of hearing all this negativity. About Andy, about Singapore's politics, about damn near everything we talk about on this email list. I don't set aside free time to read my mails to get more depressed than I already am offline!
so i'd like to hear from you: what is good about Singapore? today ST ran an article on our *shock!* 800,000-strong foreign-born (but all featured were caucasian, heheh) residents, and mostly they were like "oh taxi driver was friendly to me thats why i dropped my british passport and bought my sweet little hut in bukit timah isn't it
adorable?". k seriously, what about life in Singapore is better than in other cities? many of you are or have been overseas, so I'm hoping to gain a wider perspective from your collective experience.
positive comments appreciated.
me, I heart the kopitiam. coffeeshop. food court. the urban planner's greatest gift to us. try finding its equivalent in new york (disclaimer i only spent like 3 days there so perhaps i may have missed one if there were). the concept is alien there and yet to me it just seems like the most natural thing in the world.
>^<
B: Food.
Infrastructure.
Warmth.
Weather.
Public libraries.
The waterfront.
Transport.
A: transport?? i much prefer the NYC bus&train systems, dunnoe if I'm taking sgp for granted on that count. then again, SMRT never shuts down cos of a worker strike :)
i don't know about public libraries though. it's a good point. "Infrastructure" is pretty vague as a point by itself.
>^<
C: But their subway looks so crappy... (Ours is newer so it's not too surprising, but...)
There's a small food place with several outlets in a local mall here, and sounth of our campus there's a road packed with restaurants and other food-selling things. I think in some parts of NYC there aren't even malls, so you won't expect to find large food-places.
The life expectancy is pretty good in Singapore. It's reasonably wealthy. Plenty of good things I'm sure. But it's not fun to talk about good things, since there isn't much to say about it, but "yay!"...
D: Hi I think one main advantage Singapore has that other countries lack is security. There's an exceptionally low crime rate and if there was a crime, you can be pretty sure that the police would do something abt it. But in Britain/US, this is not the same case. You would never know when someone may suddenly attack you and even if he did so, the police may not do anything serious about it. And of course, there's explicit racial prejudice overseas which is not present here.
E: Yes. Indeed. When I am walking in San Francisco, I constantly shudder at the thought of the possibility of someone sneaking up behind me, knocking me out and then up. Then when I show my bruises and wounds to the police, they will be very unsympathetic and say, 'you chinkychongchink, get back on the boat from which you alighted!"
Yes. Right.
Me: San Francisco Crime Statistics and Crime Data (San Francisco, CA)
Overall San Francisco Crime Index
2004 Total: 40254
Per 100,000 People: 5373.1
National per 100,000 People: 4627.9
STATISTICS SINGAPORE - KeyStats - Annual Statistics
2006 - Crime Rate (Per 100,000 Population): 745
For those who require explication, these statistics show that Singapore has roughly a sixth the crime of San Francisco.
North Gate News Online :: Cop Panel Ignoring Brutality Claims, Activists Charge
"SAN FRANCISCO - Angry Bayview residents accused the San Francisco
Police Commission of ignoring accusations of police brutality at a
news conference at the Hall of Justice today.
*snip*
"Over the last couple years, we've seen a decline in the accountability of the police department," Mark Schlosberg, Police Practices Policy Director of the ACLU of Northern California, said. "We have cases of serious misconduct being dismissed because the Police Commission doesn't act on them in a timely manner.""
In case no one understood the meaning of that quote, it means that the San Francisco police are alleged to be brutal and to use excessive force.
As Johann Hari said about Guantanamo,
"We have to start by adopting a defensible position. Too many of the critics have let the Bush administration off the hook by basing their opposition to the camp on the claim that virtually everyone in Gunatanamo Bay as innocent as Dilawar. A string of
documentaries and dramas have presented Islamic fundamentalists who went to Taliban Afghanistan immediately after 9/11 as akin to Cliff Richard in 'Summer Holiday', setting off on an innocent jaunt and astonished to find themselves on the battlefield alongside Mullah Omar's men. The Australian detainee David Hicks is an Islamic
fundamentalist who told his father he was going to Afghanistan to make sure the Taliban was not toppled by "the Jews' propaganda war machine" and to ensure "we live under Muslim law again." Yet John Pilger describes him lyrically as merely "a larrikin", the kind of person who was "lauded by our bush poets and balladeers"."
If this requires explanation, it basically means that refusing to adopt a reasonable position because you're blinded by ideology or personal feelings means that you look stupid and that no reasonable people will take you seriously.
F: Singapore has many things going for it.
1) Excellent infrastructure. This includes well-maintained roads, good public transport system, internet connectivity, etc.
2) Clean, green environment.
3) Close to zero corruption in the public sector.
4) A competent government composed of intelligent people. Singaporeans like to criticise the government, but so do people everywhere. In my opinion, the PAP has its flaws, but it does a much better job of governing the country than most other countries in the world, and especially when compared to its neighbours.
5) Excellent education system.
6) Adherence to meritocratic principles.
E: Gabriel,
I assure you that police brutality occurs anywhere. The point is that you should have safeguards against it, e.g. a free press and laws that prevent policemen from having excessive powers. This is not the case in Singapore, where there is evidently no free press and there are no such laws governing policemen. Indeed there are no such laws governing the police system as a whole - last time I checked, Singapore had no habeas corpus. And it is not that there is no police brutality. It is that SPH simply sees no point in reporting it. I also recall very brainless police raids on gay clubs like Happy, ostensibly for drugs, but this came one day after the cancellation of the Squirt (or one of those Fridae-organised parties). In this case they also man-handled everyone, and many made very shitty homophobic jokes in full view of the gay men who were (like me) gawking in horror at their very stupid Andy-Hoesque opinions on gay men and how they behave.
Which brings me to my next point. I see no point in trying to defend the Singapore system. since, though Singapore is excessively 'safe', there are no safeguards against, say, abuse. What comes to mind - let's see, the entrapment of gay men in the late 1990s comes to mind. So very interesting.
Oh and another incident comes to mind - I remember being very horrified once when my friend regaled me with a shitty tale of how her friend went to the policemen, having been molested by this very shitty person. But the policeman was merely very 'oh you
are dressed very skimpily, are you sure you didn't bring it upon yourself'.
Next point - I get very irritated when people are like 'oh in the US and the UK things are very dangerous'. Since I assure you that this is not the case. It is not significantly MORE dangerous. One does not live in fear of one's life when one is walking in London, or New York, or wherever. To state otherwise is ridiculous. When I am in NY, the feeling that I get is not one of 'OH MY GOD I WILL BE MURDERED BY THAT HOBO.' Instead, the feeling that I get is 'I can do whatever the fuck I want here, and no asshole policeman is going to be able to annnoy me without me having the right to recourse and calling the press down his neck.'
Me: Fair enough, mostly, but man-handling (you probably mean shoving and pushing aside?) and making homophobic jokes isn't quite brutality. Shitty, yes, but calling it brutality is like calling the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians a Holocaust - it mocks those who truly suffer police brutality.
I question what the true level of police brutality is. Even the SAF cannot cover up its misdeeds these days with forums and IRC, yet we don't hear of policemen in Singapore roughing anyone up. If nothing else, there's a reason they invented the aircon treatment, you know.
One may not live in fear of one's life in London, or New York, or whatever, but one does not visit certain neighborhoods alone, especially not at certain times of the day.
A: security.. well.. I was a little chilled by Tom Plate's account of his first interview with LKY (i think it was in an article called "This article on Singapore, you sure you want it to run?"), when he asked why political dissidents had been detained without trial and LKY chose not to answer that, but instead stared him straight in the eye and said, "Tom, look at the streets. They're safe." This was of course in the not-so-stable context of the 1960's-70's...
i've also been thinking about the fact that we have no earthquakes like in Sumatra and no Katrina-like disasters. worst we had was that recent flooding (was it Napier rd?) and those poor plant growers complained that they lost all their stock. imagine trying to build a world-class anything hub when every few years an earthquake or tsunami wipes out your effort.
>^<
G: To be fair, racial discrimination is still a problem with the police in places like NYC and LA, I believe last year this black guy was shot 23 times by a policeman even though he was unarmed.
Thus Stephen Colbert's joke: "I don't see race. People tell me I'm white, and I believe them, because the police call me 'sir'."
HOWEVER, such incidents are immediately widely reported in the media, and are subject to official investigations, etc.
And as for general public safety, obviously how safe a city is depends on whether it has a very large and mobile population, very poor ghettoes, etc.
Singapore is very similar demographically to Stuttgart, I believe, and the last murder to take place in Stuttgart was like in 2005. When I walk home from my friends' house at 4 am in the morning in Oxford, I do not take a can of pepper spray with me for personal protection. Now, of course, what I encounter on my walk home in Oxford might be more unsavoury/interesting (depending on your point of view) than what I encounter in Singapore -- e.g. drunken boys throwing up in the street, naked man running after his mates who are holding his clothes, etc. But these drunks/naked men do not kill/rob/threaten me. There is a big difference between disorder and being unsafe. Singapore is definitely more orderly, but I don't think significantly more safe.
"We rarely think people have good sense unless they agree with us." - Francois de La Rochefoucauld
***
voctir: The love that dares speak its name
"I can't help but prostrate in the love and presence of Bob.
I can't contain his love for me, his presence in my life, his faithfulness to me, his mesmerizing ways, most of all his glory!
In the quiet of room, when I worship him, and when I feel his glory filling me up, I can barely contain it. I just want to lay down and bask in his glory; I feel so small in the presence of his power that I have to genuflect. I feel so small yet so loved.
I love you, though my love is weak compared to your love for me which is so boundless and without reservations. Thank you for saving me from my almost-despair! Thank you for your time, patience and kindness. Thank you for your protection. Thank you for your wonderful plan for our lives which I see. Thank you for all the angels you have sent to me. And most of all, thank you for your love.
My loving Bob, I will not leave you again!
I wish I could spend the rest of my life on my knees in the overwhelming power of your glory. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you. Everything else is secondary!"
This Bob, he must be the luckiest guy in the world.
***
voctir: The love that dares speak its name
"I can't help but prostrate in the love and presence of Bob.
I can't contain his love for me, his presence in my life, his faithfulness to me, his mesmerizing ways, most of all his glory!
In the quiet of room, when I worship him, and when I feel his glory filling me up, I can barely contain it. I just want to lay down and bask in his glory; I feel so small in the presence of his power that I have to genuflect. I feel so small yet so loved.
I love you, though my love is weak compared to your love for me which is so boundless and without reservations. Thank you for saving me from my almost-despair!
My loving Bob, I will not leave you again!
I wish I could spend the rest of my life on my knees in the overwhelming power of your glory. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you. Everything else is secondary!"
This Bob, he must be the luckiest guy in the world.
"The time to stop talking is when the other person nods his head affirmatively but says nothing." - Henry S. Haskins
***
Quotes:
The greatest Indians are the ones who don't talk... So that when they speak, it's words of wisdom.
[Student: Critical Theory is a Marxist notion.] That's because other people have better things to do.
[Student: You've been watching all the forums.] I'm such a lurker. [Another student: Stalker.] Psycho-stalker.
It's perpetual catching up. Just as the Nation will never be complete... By drawing attention to the one or two who succeed, you make it obvious the rest haven't.
[Student: God helps those who help themselves. All texts are contradictory.] Look at the birds and the bees. They don't work, why should we?
Everyone talks about Asian Values. Lee Kuan Yew, Tommy Koh, Kishore Mahbubani. Then 1997 comes along. Asian Financial Crisis. Cronyism, Nepotism, Corruption. I thought we're not supposed to have financial crises. Nobody talks about Asian Values anymore.
[On hegemony and truth] Partly it's manipulation... [but] the PAP is not out to screw us all.
Multiracialism, meritocracy, pragmatism. They've meant very different things to people over the years... We're all involved. It's a different way of thinking about 'active citizenry'.
[On youth apathy] When we come forward, you smack us down. Then now you want us to dance to your tune.
Neo-Gramscians talk about rearticulaton. Philosophy is nonsense... You take things from here and there...
I feel so horrible, because one of the things everyone said in the feedback was that you all want a break.
[Student: Ukraine sells a lot of weapons to Burma, but they always deny it.] 'They'? Somewhere else, closer to home...
[On distractions] It's just removing a chair from a window. It's more interesting than what I am saying. Wow, there's no competition.
Why was Singapore Rebel banned?... It presented Chee Soon Juan as a reasonable man... We know he's a horrible man. He's this man who just screams at the Prime Minister.
[Student: Shall I draw the graph?] Of course, of course. They ask you to solve graphically. You need the graph... That's all? [Student: I have to explain?]... Show the dynamic adjustment. [Student: This graph ah?] Sit down, sit down.
Wrong... Wrong... It's not a lottery, okay, you have to think about it systematically.
[Student on 'supermen': Girls, is it?] Yeah. Guys have more sense than that.
[On the exam] Ok. Time's up. Don't make me work too hard.
[Student on Critical Theory: Cognitive.] It's a Science in that way. It's not like some fluffy thing.
[On repression and enlightenment in Critical Theory] As a minority you're being repressed. You don't want to face it. On racial harmony day you join hands, wear cultural costumes and dance around on stage.
[Student: Did they say you should teach Critical Theory in the schools?] The Frankfurt School was composed of academics, so their world was, if you like, an ivory tower... They were accused of being elitist... The man on the street didn't understand [Critical Theory]
What does autonomy mean? Setting up for a very ironic moment.
[Student on the Great Refusal: Is doodling considered art?] You doodle doodle doodle. Suddenly: 'My mother!' You go back and have a chat with her... You sit in class, it's damn boring... Your only means of escape is to doodle. You're resisting over-rationalisation of your life through irrationality.
The artist may secretly yearn to be banned or censored, because the artist becomes a martyr. People love banned authors.
If you ban slash, all the teenage girls will kill you. [Student: That'd be nice.]
[Me: My theory is they wear leggings so they don't get upskirted.] They don't think so practically.
[On giving back the exam] Usually it takes time. 1 month, usually.
We will do it quite fastly. (quickly)
Very difficult concept. The more I think about Nash [Equilibrium], the less I actually understand it.
I'm a girl. I'm irrational. Girls are irrational. It is our duty to be irrational to perplex guys.
[On the Cobb-Douglas function] You are students. You are young, your memory is good. You can remember this. I cannot remember this.
Why do we need convex set? It's nice... It's not look nice, it behaves nice. (Not because it looks nice, but because)
Let's say me and *** [another Professor's name], we're perfect substitutes.
Why is it called 'constant elasticity of substitution'? Because it has constant elasticity of substitution.
I have come to hypothesise that when pissed, all girls will go: 'Whatever, whatever, whatever'. I base this upon 4 girls.
[On someone looking through my wallet] Look at what girls check out first. Your credit card.
Singaporean girls have nothing to show, so it doesn't matter if they go around topless. [Me: Like you lah. I'm larger than you.]... I have nice nipples... I want to keep my nipples to myself.
Whatever I type into the search engine, I find your blog.
***
Quotes:
The greatest Indians are the ones who don't talk... So that when they speak, it's words of wisdom.
[Student: Critical Theory is a Marxist notion.] That's because other people have better things to do.
[Student: You've been watching all the forums.] I'm such a lurker. [Another student: Stalker.] Psycho-stalker.
It's perpetual catching up. Just as the Nation will never be complete... By drawing attention to the one or two who succeed, you make it obvious the rest haven't.
[Student: God helps those who help themselves. All texts are contradictory.] Look at the birds and the bees. They don't work, why should we?
Everyone talks about Asian Values. Lee Kuan Yew, Tommy Koh, Kishore Mahbubani. Then 1997 comes along. Asian Financial Crisis. Cronyism, Nepotism, Corruption. I thought we're not supposed to have financial crises. Nobody talks about Asian Values anymore.
[On hegemony and truth] Partly it's manipulation... [but] the PAP is not out to screw us all.
Multiracialism, meritocracy, pragmatism. They've meant very different things to people over the years... We're all involved. It's a different way of thinking about 'active citizenry'.
[On youth apathy] When we come forward, you smack us down. Then now you want us to dance to your tune.
Neo-Gramscians talk about rearticulaton. Philosophy is nonsense... You take things from here and there...
I feel so horrible, because one of the things everyone said in the feedback was that you all want a break.
[Student: Ukraine sells a lot of weapons to Burma, but they always deny it.] 'They'? Somewhere else, closer to home...
[On distractions] It's just removing a chair from a window. It's more interesting than what I am saying. Wow, there's no competition.
Why was Singapore Rebel banned?... It presented Chee Soon Juan as a reasonable man... We know he's a horrible man. He's this man who just screams at the Prime Minister.
[Student: Shall I draw the graph?] Of course, of course. They ask you to solve graphically. You need the graph... That's all? [Student: I have to explain?]... Show the dynamic adjustment. [Student: This graph ah?] Sit down, sit down.
Wrong... Wrong... It's not a lottery, okay, you have to think about it systematically.
[Student on 'supermen': Girls, is it?] Yeah. Guys have more sense than that.
[On the exam] Ok. Time's up. Don't make me work too hard.
[Student on Critical Theory: Cognitive.] It's a Science in that way. It's not like some fluffy thing.
[On repression and enlightenment in Critical Theory] As a minority you're being repressed. You don't want to face it. On racial harmony day you join hands, wear cultural costumes and dance around on stage.
[Student: Did they say you should teach Critical Theory in the schools?] The Frankfurt School was composed of academics, so their world was, if you like, an ivory tower... They were accused of being elitist... The man on the street didn't understand [Critical Theory]
What does autonomy mean? Setting up for a very ironic moment.
[Student on the Great Refusal: Is doodling considered art?] You doodle doodle doodle. Suddenly: 'My mother!' You go back and have a chat with her... You sit in class, it's damn boring... Your only means of escape is to doodle. You're resisting over-rationalisation of your life through irrationality.
The artist may secretly yearn to be banned or censored, because the artist becomes a martyr. People love banned authors.
If you ban slash, all the teenage girls will kill you. [Student: That'd be nice.]
[Me: My theory is they wear leggings so they don't get upskirted.] They don't think so practically.
[On giving back the exam] Usually it takes time. 1 month, usually.
We will do it quite fastly. (quickly)
Very difficult concept. The more I think about Nash [Equilibrium], the less I actually understand it.
I'm a girl. I'm irrational. Girls are irrational. It is our duty to be irrational to perplex guys.
[On the Cobb-Douglas function] You are students. You are young, your memory is good. You can remember this. I cannot remember this.
Why do we need convex set? It's nice... It's not look nice, it behaves nice. (Not because it looks nice, but because)
Let's say me and *** [another Professor's name], we're perfect substitutes.
Why is it called 'constant elasticity of substitution'? Because it has constant elasticity of substitution.
I have come to hypothesise that when pissed, all girls will go: 'Whatever, whatever, whatever'. I base this upon 4 girls.
[On someone looking through my wallet] Look at what girls check out first. Your credit card.
Singaporean girls have nothing to show, so it doesn't matter if they go around topless. [Me: Like you lah. I'm larger than you.]... I have nice nipples... I want to keep my nipples to myself.
Whatever I type into the search engine, I find your blog.