Links - 31st March 2016

Ed: This was post #9,000 on this blog

There's a petition to ban David Cameron re-entering the country

Startup bringing driverless taxi service to Singapore

ST editor tells Lee Kuan Yew’s daughter to be happy that “we don’t spit on your dad’s grave” - "In the post he criticised Ms Lee for being a “sourpuss” and said that “if we hadn’t done this barrage of tributes, some political enemies might write bad things about us”. He asked Ms Lee to be glad that “we don’t spit on your dad’s grave.” The Straits Times led the sycophantic hero-worship of Mr Lee Kuan Yew with an entire series of articles in their newspaper just one year after the former Prime Minister’s death."

Lee Wei Ling - Lee Kuan Yew would have cringed at the hero worship... - "Lee Kuan Yew would have cringed at the hero worship just one year after his death... What made me write this article was a front page report in The Straits Times (Mar 21). It carried a photo of an outline of Papa's face made with 4,877 erasers that form an installation which is 2.3 m wide and 3.1 m tall, titled Our Father, Our Country, Our Flag. That was the work of 110 Singaporeans aged 17 to 35 using erasers with the Singapore flag on it. It was a well-meaning effort but it made me wince. Here is why: The photo brought back memories of my first visit to China with my father in 1976. It was the end of the Cultural Revolution and I have vivid memories of our delegation being greeted by young children lining the streets chanting loudly: "WELCOME, WELCOME, A VERY WARM WELCOME." It was very contrived and my father was not impressed. We are Singaporeans, not prone to excessive, unnatural displays of emotion. Papa merely waved at the children, as he would have done in Singapore. I refused to even do that. I stared straight ahead, feeling very sad for the people of the "Middle Kingdom" that was still run like a kingdom."
What would the FAPs have said if this had been written by someone else?

Fans Create A Road To Captain America: Civil War Supercut Using All MCU Movies

‘Use me’: outcry after scantily-clad women brave cold on streets of Beijing to promote phone app - "A publicity stunt has been strongly criticised on the internet in China after a group of women in their underwear braved the cold on the streets of Beijing to advertise a smartphone social media app. About 20 women wearing black underwear and high heels walked around the city’s business district promoting the product until they were stopped by security guards, the Beijing Times reported. The women all had the Chinese characters “use me” stamped on their back and computer scanning product codes on their buttocks... Police in Beijing briefly detained at least two foreigners dressed as Spartan warriors in July who took part in a publicity stunt on the streets of the capital to promote a salad company. Dozens of young foreign men dressed in tight leather shorts and flowing capes took part in the promotion."
PETA needs to go to China

Hand-in-hand with a white man: Dating and racial hierarchies in Singapore — Chinese Privilege - "To a young Tamil Singaporean woman like me, the concept of racism is nothing new or inconceivable. Nonetheless, it wasn’t until I started going out with my fiancé, who happens to be Caucasian, that I began to see a new side to racial discrimination in Singapore. The surprised looks by strangers were one thing, but the harsh comments made to me by fellow Indians, especially men, implying that I had somehow betrayed Indian men as a collective, came as quite a shock to me... Strangely, the most disapproving looks I have received are from fellow Indians. Some of my male Indian friends have remarked to me that my decision to date a Caucasian man, presumably before other Indian men, speaks to a broader pre-occupation with the white male ideal. These friends have even implied that it is insincere of me to be critical of heterosexual white male privilege and date a white man at the same time."
So Sangeetha claims Indian men date Chinese women to benefit from Chinese privilege, but publishes an article by an Indian woman dating a white man who doesn't call it benefiting from white privilege and who says those who criticise her are racist. Win.

*Some links removed as they're duplicates from Links - 15th March 2016*