Links - 5th June 2017 (1)

The Trump Documents - The Onion - America's Finest News Source - "The Onion has obtained hundreds of documents from an anonymous source within the White House."
When The Onion mocks you...

Malay population the most unhealthy group in Singapore - "Although Malays account for 13.5 per cent of the population, they make up 24.4 per cent of people on dialysis... Malay men are 1.5 times more likely to suffer [a stroke] compared to Chinese men for instance... The only major illness which the Malay population is not the most likely to get is cancer. This is most prominent among the Chinese... He admits that he does not exercise "because lazy lah". Although he lives fairly near the National Kidney Foundation's dialysis centre in Kim Keat Road, he would ride his motorbike there rather than walk."
Maybe this news should be suppressed to prevent racism, stereotyping and marginalising of a minority

Malaysia's obesity rate highest in Asia - "49% of women and 44% of men in this country were found to be obese... Malaysia was rated heavyweight at 45.3% of its population, followed by South Korea (33.2%), Pakistan (30.7%) and China (28.3%)."

Against The Grain: Arabisation and the Malay identity - "In the past, for example, Muslims in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia would use the term “buka puasa” for the breaking of the fast during the month of Ramadan. These days, however, the Arabic word, iftar, is often heard... More and more male Muslims in the region are using the Arab thobe rather than the sarong or kain pelikat. In fact, a variety of thobes originating from the United Arab Emirates, Oman and other countries in the Arab world can be seen in our mosques and at religious functions... Those Malays and Indonesians who adopt such ways perhaps imagine that they are practising a more authentic version of Islam. In doing so, they set themselves apart from the larger Malay society, contribute to the erosion of Malay traditions and practices, and could be a party to the infusion of extremist interpretations of Islam."

‘My name is Noordin, but I am not Muslim’ - "Lim was born to Buddhist parents in Penang and has never changed his religion. But on his MyKad, he is Johann Lim Noordin bin Billy Noordin and his religion is given as “Islam”. The errors were made when he applied for his MyKad at the age of 12 and he has had to live with them since. His problem first came under the media spotlight three years ago, but Lim said even that failed to help him resolve his problem... “My constitutional rights have been violated. No one dares to do anything to help. All they do is keep telling me to go to the shariah court.”"
Malaysia Boleh!

Harley Quinn's shorts have been edited to look longer in Malaysia

Andreas West's answer to What do you think of the next 5 years living in Malaysia? - Quora - "After living in Malaysia for almost 5 years, still at a different level as a Mat' Salleh, I noticed a lot of rise of crime, had my own experiences with it and my experience of reporting it to the police and then never heard anything on it despite video evidence, license plate and description of culprit... My assessment for the next 5 years was negative... crime rate has gone up tremendously (70% in the last 3 years according to this link which places Kuala Lumpur on the 6th place of most dangerous cities in the world: 10 Dangerous Cities In The World). Where crime happened outside of KL in the past, in one year 13 of my close friends and colleagues got robbed, their cars got stolen from their own ground, breaking into their house and a personal attack that left one with severe bleeding head injuries as the thief couldn't immediately snatch her handbag. All happened in the middle of KL, during daytime! My condo asked for upgrading their Nepalese guards (by many seen as the best in the world) to armed guards to equal to the gangs who are operating with guns, no longer just knifes/parang! This video shows you how the robbers think they are above the law, they have the balls to come back and attack the family again all in front of the security camera at a public gas station... There have been religious workshop places set on fire, fights and all other stupid things over this and these radical groups won't give up until all non believers are killed and their religion is the only one. Just that stupid discussion about who owns a certain word, who can use it and who's not is ridiculous enough... corruption is all over the place and isn't addressed at all... All in all I've made my decision to startup my own business in Singapore, for all of the above reasons not in Malaysia. It's such a pity as it was one country before but I didn't regret my decision a single second."

Guess Which 4 Cities In Malaysia Were Listed As Asia's Most Dangerous? - "According to worldatlas.com, the following cities are some of the most dangerous places in the Asia continent:
1. Karachi, Pakistan
2. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
3. Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
4. Gurgaon, India
5. Klang, Malaysia
6. Dhaka, Bangladesh
7. Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia
8. Manila, Philippines
9. Quezon City, Philippines
10. Johor Bahru, Malaysia"
The Facebook post was full of butthurt Malaysians slamming the article and the site with cock logic

Erotic party host makes Malaysia her home - "Banahan, however, said that she has no plans to expand her erotic party business to Malaysia. “I understand that Malaysia is a Muslim country and is generally conservative. I feel that you have to be respectful, that is why I don’t host parties here,” she told The Star Online recently. “I also try to dress appropriately and cover up a bit. I don’t wear really short tops with my boobs hanging out,” she added. With her light blond hair tumbling down in loose curls, stopping at the slim waistline of her white knee-length bodycon dress, Banahan looks the part of a budding entrepreneur... “I started off when I wanted to throw a surprise lingerie sex party for my boyfriend and I invited about five friends, and it turned out to be a massive orgy of about 35 people and even had a celebrity turn up at the party,” she said.
Apparently in Malaysia entrepreneurs look blond

Pig character in The Monkey King 2 film poster gets the chop in Malaysia - "Cinema posters and a billboard advertisement for a Hong Kong blockbuster film have been modified in Muslim-majority Malaysia to erase a half-man, half-pig character. The Monkey King 2, an action-fantasy movie set to hit cinema screens during the Lunar New Year next month, has a star-studded cast including Gong Li and Aaron Kwok.

Popiah is Indonesia's heritage, claims group - "the protestors distributed flyers of the "Lumpia Delight" brand during the protest. "It looked like a promotion of the brand," said the source. The protesters also brought along popiahs to the 30-minute demonstration with Indonesian flags stuck on the rolls as a symbol of popiah ownership. According to Indonesian portal kompas.com, the protesters also reportedly sang Rasa Sayang outside the embassy. They also demanded that embassy representatives meet them to taste the popiah they had brought. The portal claimed that a Malaysian Police personnel met the protestors and was promptly offered the spring rolls. The personnel, named Hafidz had accepted a roll and returned to the embassy without giving comment. It is uncertain what stirred the protest as Malaysia has never officially claimed the dish as its own... the protestors are from Semarang, Central Jawa, where they claim the popiah originates from. In the past, Malaysians and Indonesians have wrestled over the origins many traditional food and items. Among them are batik, the Rasa Sayang song, wayang kulit, rendang and the keris. The popiah and its variants are widely found in East and Southeast Asia although is believed by many to have originated from Fujian, China."

Is Singapore a racist country? | Surekha A. Yadav | Opinion | Malay Mail Online - "there are people who argue than Singapore is truly a meritocracy that disregards race. My husband, who is from a very dominant majority in his country of birth, often accuses me of over-reacting. Singaporean Indians are too “jumped up” he says — most people don’t really care about the colour of your skin."
The fact that her husband (who is Sri Lankan) has scolded her on more than one occasion is telling. At least she's honest enough to mention that

What It’s Like to Be an ‘Invisible Expat’ | Surekha Yadav - "Taking a tuk-tuk alone can lead to awkward conversations, with the driver insisting I speak Sinhalese and my meek explanations in English only confusing him or confirming his suspicions: Here is an arrogant Sri Lankan who has forgotten her roots. At other times, I end up saving money and hassle as I find myself paying local rates and being ignored by tourist-trapping touts. More than simply saving money, my invisibility also means that I’m less likely to be treated like an outsider. I find myself invited to weddings, temple functions and birthdays more often than other expats. It has certainly worked in my favor in a few instances at work, where the odd nugget of information has slipped before a business meeting because no one realized that I was the Singaporean consultant they had been expecting."

Hello, can speak English? | Surekha A. Yadav | Opinion | Malay Mail Online - "Nobody could understand what the sales agent was saying to us. Mixing up words, non-existent grammar and resorting to gesticulating when she could no longer find the sounds: the woman was not an English speaker. And this pissed me off. It took me a while to – firstly, calm down and secondly ask myself why did it bother me so much anyway? After all, there are XXX languages in the world so why would I expect everyone to speak the one I did? Later, my husband would remind me that my position reeked a little of elitism and that frankly English wasn’t even the language of my ancestors anyway"

After furore, UMP claims anti-hysteria kit has ‘proven track record’ - "Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) has justified its RM8,750 anti-hysteria kit that supposedly wards off “evil spirits”, claiming that experiments on 50 cases showed its efficacy. The public university’s Islamic centre and human development director Dr Mahayuddin Ismail told local daily News Straits Times (NST) that the kit — which comprises everyday items like chopsticks, salt, lime, vinegar, pepper spray, and formic acid — was proven to be able to cure hysteria sufferers... “It is syariah-compliant and free from deviant elements. We can provide our expertise to help the person recover,” he said. UMP’s anti-hysteria kit was produced by the public university to combat the alleged high rate of possessions in the country."

German intel agency notes dramatic increase in Islamic extremism - "the radical Islamist scene in the country had grown considerably, from only about 100 people in 2013 to some 1,600 today. Indeed, according to BfV chief Hans-Georg Maassen, the number had jumped by several hundred in a matter of months."

Recruiters shocked as junior bankers stick selfies on CVs - "recruiters in Asia are no longer keen on seeing images of any ilk on CVs. At best, if your photo looks professional, recruiters will remove it before forwarding your resume to their banking clients. At worst, sending in a badly-taken selfie could get your application rejected. Recruiters won’t think you’re an innovative candidate just because you’ve managed some clever camera angles; they’ll think you’re a fool... “A candidate for a finance position in Singapore sent me a picture of her posing against a pole. I really didn’t know what to make of it,” says Ben Batten, country general manager of recruitment firm Volt in Singapore. “That’s the odd thing about many selfies and photos in CVs these days: more and more of them aren’t flattering. People in beach wear, wearing sunglasses, at a bar – how is this supposed to help a job application for a banking role?” Vince Natteri, director of recruitment at search firm Pinpoint Asia in Hong Kong, says he recently saw a photo on a CV that “seemed like a prison mugshot”... An increasing number of recruiters in the Asian finance centres will remove all images from CVs as a matter of course. “This is because some employers are now flat-out rejecting receiving any resumes with photos from us, just to avoid potential accusations of discrimination,” says Dass from Randstad. “It’s illegal to consider factors like age, race, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability status in hiring decisions.”"

Epistocracy– the Alternative to Democracy Being Promoted by Those in Koch-Funded Academic Positions - "the origins of these concepts are very clearly cosmopolitan and European– not American—the product of a loose collaboration between Le Roy, a French mathematician and philosopher with an obsessive interest in metaphysics, Teillard de Chardin, a French paleontologist who was also a Jesuit priest with very a very mystical theological bent, and Vernadsky, a Soviet mineralogist and biochemist with a visionary sense of the cosmos. But the promoters of “epistocracy” typically explain the concept by citing the intentions of the Founding Fathers, not the musings of these three eccentric, if compelling, European thinkers who lived in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century–and who developed these ideas in years immediately before and after the Second World War."

95% engineers in India unfit for software development jobs: study - "According to a study by employability assessment company Aspiring Minds, only 4.77 per cent candidates can write the correct logic for a programme — a minimum requirement for any programming job... The study further noted that while more than 60 per cent candidates cannot even write code that compiles, only 1.4 per cent can write functionally correct and efficient code"

Criminal Minds and smearing Singapore: why can’t Hollywood ever get Asia right? | South China Morning Post - "We’re asking studios and writers to be sympathetic to Asian cultural and geopolitical sensitivities when they can’t even get basic ethnicity right in casting actors."
This is why diversity is a losing proposition

"I Want to Extend My Personal Apologies To All Singaporeans": The 'Singaporean' cop from Criminal Minds

Detroit Police Department reacts to 'RoboCop' depiction as corrupt force in most dangerous city - "Like other movies associated with Detroit, "RoboCop" appears to be the latest film to capitalize on a stereotype of the city as the most dangerous in the U.S. with a lawless, irresponsible department, said Adam Madera, a DPD public information officer. "We just chalk it up to them selling the movie," Madera said. "That's show business ... I guess.""
Luckily, when stereotypes on the silver screen are domestic, people understand that it's show business. So you shouldn't bother showing other countries - just stick to your own

The Best Welfare Reform: Give Poor People Cash - "When governments give people in-kind support like food, it frequently costs more to deliver that support than it would to distribute cash—and for the same or even a lesser impact... cash recipients didn’t spend more on tobacco or alcohol... At less cost to the government, cash programs led to the same health outcomes as food-based programs, but also provided additional resources for recipients to spend on schooling, medicine, and transport. This is not a one-off finding. In many cases, cash programs are simply much more effective than in-kind transfers at turning dollars spent into positive nutritional outcomes"

Coming out on your resume? Great idea, especially if you’re black - "When the fictional “resumes” contained a reference to membership in a gay university student organization, the callback rate dropped by 40%. Tilcsik’s survey of 1,769 potential employers found discrimination was worst in some states, such as Florida and Texas, where the gay callback rate was less than one-third that of the non-gay applicants... for black male applicants, coming out may actually result in a higher starting salary... stereotypes of black men being “more aggressive”—which negatively impacted applicants’ chances—were effectively cancelled out by “the feminine stereotype” of gay men"
Does discriminating against members of a white pride association mean discriminating against white people
Interestingly, the salary premium for gay black men is positive - even over straight white men. So straight white men are discriminated against