Against Big Corporations

I've always not been fond of big corporations, and have been trying to argue that the one of the most important role of the government in the 21st century is not to be corporation friendly, but to make things "difficult" for corporations by ensuring that they are socially and environmentally responsible, that they do not influence politics in any way, and to regulate the market such that there is a more equal distribution of wealth. Yes, this is not the free-market ideology espoused by a lot of people (including the Singapore government), and this is somewhat autocratic. However, I believe that we will be for the better in the long run. If anything, at least try to keep the corporations out of politics. Want to see how corrosive it can be? Watch the clip below. The speaker is Ralph Nader and one of his speech against big corporation is being remixed with some cool background music.

When Free Speech Is Not Free Speech

I am not a big fan of censorship, unless in some cases (i.e. you don't show porn to kids under... 12 years old). However, I do not agree with most people that you are free to say anything, or at least my definition of "free speech" does not mean that you can make any statements without impunity. I do think it is important that when someone makes a statement, he or she must back it up with facts and evidences, well-thought-out rationale, good logic and must not subscribe to any fallacies. Sadly, if you look at some of the people who are opposed to the PAP, they make this kind of arguments (I'm looking at you, Chee Soon Juan). And the sad thing is, when they are challenged on their lack of evidence, they come up with all sorts of bullshit like the state-controlled media has falsely informed the people, or that the "truth" is not told to the people, etc etc etc, or that there is a conspiracy against them, etc etc etc.

This is kind of frustrating. Because although I agree with the government on some issues, there are certain issues and policies that I disagree with. And there are good people out there who are making sensible arguments against the government with regards to their bad policies, or policies which makes no sense (think 377a). However, the antics of assholes like CSJ undermines these valid arguments that the other people are making.

Here is a clip from Bill Maher's show, Real Time, recently, where a few 9-11 conspiracy theorists (who believes that 9/11 was a coordinated effort by the US government i.e. there were no terrorist, the government blew up the twin towers in an orchestrated effort) hijacked the show to protest against the host. Bill Maher threw them out (which I think was a correct move). Again, these crazy 9-11 truthers blur the issues with their crazy assertions, which is the Bush administration has badly handled the war and lied the American people into it. This is kind of how it is when people like Chee Soon Juan shoots off his mouth. His crazy antics are then easily dismissed by our government, and it blunts the real criticisms that other people may make against out government. Think about it.

My Pet Hamster

I've named him Cartman.

不受欢迎并不代表不正确

(刊登于联合早报2007年10月28日)

李资政在两个星期前为国际律师协会的常年大会主持开幕式所发表的演讲中指出，新加坡之所以有今天的成就，是因为政府当初采取了很多让人民建立起凝聚力的政策，例如集选区的少数民族候选人、政府组屋的种族配额、推广英语的使用等等。尽管许多政策长期以来不受人民欢迎，不过李资政指出它们最终还是让新加坡社会达到种族和谐的目的。

仔细想想，有关当局其实还推行了许多不受欢迎的政策，例如电子公路收费制和公积金制度。尽管许多国人都有所抱怨，不过也不得不承认这些政策的效率。就拿电子公路收费制，近来伦敦和纽约等著名城市也考虑效仿我国实行类似制度。

也就是说，有关当局向来都不畏实行不受欢迎的政策，就算起初引起大众不满，不过只要政策有益，有关当局都坚持立场。因此，就算我对于有关当局对于刑事法典377A的废留问题所采取的态度和立场不惊讶，却对他们所提供的理由感到失望。许多议员碍于多数持有保守观念的国人还没做好公开接受同性恋准备的情况下，因此决定不废除刑事法典377A。

本人稍早前曾指出，排挤同性恋者与新加坡建国宗旨背道而驰，因为宣誓里的 “不分种族、言语、宗教” 暗示着某种与不同组群合作以建立美好家园的包容精神，而新加坡人一直以能够包容不同文化而自豪。因此，当有关当局以类似少数应该服从多数的理由驳回废除该刑事法典时，不禁让人感觉他们似乎在自掌嘴巴。

或许本人误会了有关当局的用意。或许他们是考虑到维持本地社会现有的凝聚力，所以才决定服从多数人的意愿。许多议员也表示不废除的理由是不想让 “政府是否支持同性恋者的生活方式” 的议题分裂社会不同族群。然而，本人认为此决定虽然从短期利益的角度看似合理，不过从长远的角度却弊多于利。因为曾犯了迎合大众口的先例，所以如果下次想要推行不受大众欢迎的政策时，是否会显得没有说服力？英明的政府不该做出迎合大众口味的决定，而是做出有利于人民的决定，这好像是有关当局不仅一次发表过的声明。

况且，没有一个国家或社会是完全没有意见分歧的族群。就算不是多元文化、宗教和种族的国家，其人民的想法也不可能一致。因此，有关当局所能做的就是提供不同族群同等的自由发表空间，不在任何法律或者制度上偏袒或者排挤任何一方。有关当局对待不同宗教团体就是发扬此精神的一个好例子。有关当局不偏袒任何宗教，不在任何公共机构提倡，然而也不会干涉任何人的宗教自由，前提是这不会破坏咱们社会的秩序，或者不会使得任何社会成员受到伤害。

或许，这就是对于刑事法典377A的废留问题的重点。至少，反对废除的群众所给的理由是假如废除刑事法典377A，这就等同有关当局在提倡同性恋者的生活方式，而这将瓦解整个社会的家庭结构。就第一点而言，我觉得这些反对的群众模糊焦点了，因为如果废除刑事法典377A，提倡的不是同性恋者的生活方式，而是人人皆平等的崇高包容态度。换另个角度看待此问题，不知道大家是否记得几年前的头巾风波？当时教育部不允许某些学生戴头巾上学，并非是针对某个宗教，而是出于在教育场所人人平等的前提下。如果运用此逻辑，就可以理解为何废除刑事法典377A不是等同提倡同性恋者的生活方式。

关于接纳同性恋者和保持社会的家庭结构，这并不是个二选一的抉择，而是可以同时实行的。毕竟，并不是所有的离婚者或是不婚者都是同性恋者，而当一对同性恋者在私人空间进行性行为时，并不会在社会某处就有一个美满的家庭就因此受到摧毁。在反对废除的理由如此贫乏和缺乏逻辑时，有关当局迎合大众的口味而做出不废除的决定，是否还是一个明智的决定呢？

Bill Maher New Rules 26th October 2007

Bill Maher on fear, and what to fear.

The Professor

"i got this when i was young,
when i was conquering my first tree,
but then gravity conquered me instead"
pointing to a scar on his forehead
he said boastfully, beaming
like a proud son to his father
even though i never knew him
all my life, this stranger
was talking to me on the jetty

i smiled, nodded, looked over
his shoulder, looked over
the fishing rod, thinking about the line
and what was on the end of it

"i caught myself a big one, last week
you should have seen the baby, big"
he said, with renewed vigour
"it was struggling, like a prize fighter,
it was defiant, like a rampant bull,
reminded me of myself, but then
i pulled the baby in. and man it was
huge." he was almost breathless, "and i laid it
for all to see, right at this seat where i am
sitting now. right at this spot."

i remained silent, but smiled
politely. everybody likes to tell
a story once in a while
but today i'm only listening
i'm only thinking about
what's on the end of the line

"you'd never guess my profession,
i'm teach, lecture, yes, in the university
yeah, got my degree way back then
got my doctorate in the states. worked
my ass off, but now here am i, speaking
to you. and fishing. damn it seemed so
fucking surreal. it seemed like yesterday."

he was beginning to strut
like a proud peacock
like an old sea sailor
after a whiskey and a rum
selling his adventures
but no, he was a professor,
and now he is fishing
or was he parading his life story
standing himself like a trophy

and the line began to move
he excused himself and
he kept on pulling, trying
to rail the line in
i was watching
and he kept on pulling
and he kept on pulling

Demetri Martin -- Trendspotting: Social Networking

Demetri Martin is a talented young comedian. I really like his dead-pan style of execution, and unlike a lot of other comics, he does not rely on the usual jokes about race or gender. Instead, if you look carefully at his jokes, they rely much on creative word-play and out-of-the-box comedic thinking.

Trendspotting is a segment on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in which Demetri contributes sporadically, but what he lacks in quantity, he makes up with quality. Check out this clip on social networking, which had me laughing my ass off.



The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - The Most Trusted Name in Fake News

黄美珍 -- 女爵

Lewis Black During the 2007 Emmys

Bill Maher Demonstrates The Ridiculousness of Religion

Oh my god, god exists, because I saw his face on a taco! Or does anyone remember the story a while back about the Monkey God appearing on the bark of a tree in Toa Payoh? Bill Maher lampoons this kind of naive thinking with comedy of pure gold...

新宝岛康乐队访问

虽然说这是新宝岛康乐队的访问，不过好像都是阿升在说话。

Part I



Part II



Part III

陈升 -- 純情青春夢

这是阿升早期为潘越云写词的一首歌。这是他最近在台南的一个活动现场Live演唱，以unplugged的方式来诠释这首歌。

==========================================================================
《純情青春夢》

作詞：陳升　作曲：鄭文魁　編曲：李正帆

送你到火車頭　越頭就做你走
親像斷線風吹　雙人放手就來自由飛
阮還有幾句話　想要對你解釋
看是藏在心肝底較實在

阮也有每天等　只驚等來的是絕望
想來想去　抹凍辜負著青春夢　青春夢
咱兩人相欠債　你欠阮有較多
歸去看破來切切　較實在

送你到火車頭　越頭阮要來走
親像斷線風吹　雙人放手就愛自由飛
不是阮不肯等　時代已經不同
查某人嘛有自己的想法

甘願是不曾等　較贏等來是一場空
想來想去　同款辜負著青春夢　青春夢
唱歌來解憂愁　歌聲是真溫柔
查某人嘛有自己的願望

阮也有每天等　只驚等來的是絕望
想來想去　抹凍辜負著青春夢　青春夢
咱兩人相欠債　你欠阮有較多
歸去看破來切切　較實在

陈升 -- 风筝

太喜欢这首歌了。总觉得阿升应该就是一个贪玩的孩子，所以才能写得出这个歌词。或许自己也是一个大顽童的关系，因此每次听到这首歌时都感同深受。

===========================================================================
《风筝》

词曲： 陈升

因为我知道你是个 容易担心的小孩子
所以我将线交你手中 却也不敢飞得太远

不管我随着风飞翔到云间 我希望你能看得见
就算我偶尔会贪玩迷了路 也知道你在等着我
我是一个贪玩又自由的风筝 每天都会让你担忧
如果有一天迷失风中 要如何回到你身边
因为我知道你是个 容易担心的小孩子
所以我会在乌云来时 轻轻滑落在你怀中

我是一个贪玩又自由的风筝 每天都会让你担忧
如果有一天迷失风中 要如何回到你身边
贪玩又自由的风筝 每天都游戏在天空
如果有一天扯断了线 你是否会来寻找我
如果有一天迷失风中 带我回到你的怀中

因为我知道你是个 容易担心的小孩子
所以我在天上的时候 却也不敢飞的太远

Seinfeld's History Class

This is a classic clip from Saturday Night Live a few years back, where Seinfeld is a history teacher trying to teach a class of ignorant students about history. Although I am not teaching history but psychology, I can attest to the fact that a lot of kids nowadays are like the students in the clip.

Toshihiko Koga's Superb Seoi Nage

When I was playing judo back in high school, Koga was a player I admired most, mainly for his kick-ass Ippon and Morote Seoi Nages (i.e. one and two armed shoulder throws). Here is a clip that shows just how devastating his shoulder throws were.

Another Tirade On Intelligent Design

This time it is not by me, but by Neil deGrasse Tyson, a famous astrophysicist in the Beyond Belief Conference in 2006.

David Beckham's Free Kicks

陈奕迅 -- 随意门

Jon Stewart On Mixed Martial Arts

This is a clip from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he and John Hodgman, probably one of the most dead-pan satirist in America now, discusses about mixed martial arts.



The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - The Most Trusted Name in Fake News

Antony and the Johnsons -- If It Be Your Will

This is a clip from the new documentary about Leonard Cohen, I'm Your Man, where Anthony covers one of his songs, If It Be Your Will.

女权主义

(One of the few "image poems" I've written...)

新寶島康樂隊 -- 一百萬

这是阿升早期与黄连煜在新宝岛康乐队里一首非常动听的歌，讲述的是台湾南部当时很多青少年到台北寻找更好的未来，却不慎误入歧途的故事。曾读过一篇评论，说这首歌许多台湾南部的人当时听了都很有感触，因为他们的身边都有一个类似的故事。

Flock of Dodos: Unintelligent Design

These are two clips from the award winning documentary, Flock of Dodos, which looks at the absurdity that is Intelligent Design and why so many people do not believe in evolution. The official website is found here.

Bill Maher New Rules 19th October 2007

Bill Maher on defense against aliens....

Banning of creationism education

Gee whiz, I wonder if anyone would say that the Swedish government are not a democratic society because they banned the expression of "free speech" in their textbooks. This is a report on the internet (here) in which creationism is going to be banned from Swedish schools, probably as a reaction to the religious fundamentalists out there who wants to bring civilization as we know it back to the dark ages. I am not sure of our education policies here, but this is one thing that I would like to see banned from our schools as well. It probably is, and so I guess people like Chee Soon Juan (whom I heard has a religious view that is way skewed towards the right) would cry foul over the fact that the government are indoctrinating our kids.

===========================================================================
Creationism to be banished from Swedish schools

Published: 15th October 2007 07:57

The Swedish government is to crack down on the role religion plays in independent faith schools. The new rules will include a ban on biology teachers teaching creationism or 'intelligent design' alongside evolution.

"Pupils must be protected from all forms of fundamentalism," said Education Minister Jan Björklund to Dagens Nyheter.

Some Christian schools teach biology students that the world and the organisms on it were created by a supreme being. This is often presented as another valid scientific theory alongside evolution - something most scientists reject.

Religious Education will remain on the curriculum and it will still be allowed to start the school day with prayers. But in classes teachers will be expected to stick to the curriculum.

"End-of-term services in school are great," he said, and added that religious education would remain a school subject. But all elements of religious worship would have to be completely separate from class teaching.

Most independent schools in Sweden are privately owned but funded by government grants.

Björklund also said the Swedish National Agency for Education would double the number of inspections of both council-run and independent schools. He also announced a ban on anonymous financial donations to schools and said he would make it easier to close schools that were breaking the rules.

The stricter rules will be introduced in next year's education act.

Is MM Lee an atheist?

When I came over to the United States and looked at how religion bled unhealthily into the society here, it made me reflect on the policies in Singapore. I suddenly realized how secular a society that Singapore is, and that a lot of our policies were aimed at creating a secular society. It then occurred to me that whoever was in charge of running our government must be a secularist (or an atheist?) and took extra steps into ensuring that religion does not mix with politics, even though sometimes you are accused of violating human rights.

One thing that came into my mind was the tudung incident a few years back when Chee Soon Juan accused the government of violating human rights because MOE refused to back down from allowing the Muslim girls from wearing tudungs in school. At that time, I was kind of nonchalant about the incident, but seeing how religion corrupts education in the Unites States (think of the debates regarding teaching creationism in school), I realized that the government back then had made a correct decision, and that Chee Soon Juan is a huge dick (not that I am not aware of that from other antics that he has pulled in the past).

Recently, I came across this newspaper report in the Straits Times where MM Lee was talking about dealing with religious difference in Singapore, and I cannot help but think that he is either an atheist, or a very pragmatic secularist. Just read what he says, and you tell me that this is the words of someone who is very religious? I don't think so.



===================================================================================
Oct 15, 2007

'Unusual steps' needed to get people to gel
MM: Policies like GRCs, ethnic quotas needed because of heterogeneous mix

By Li Xueying

SINGAPORE has had to take 'unusual steps' to get to where it is today - a society of people who gel despite their heterogeneous mix.

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said this last night as he explained the rationale for policies such as the group representation constituencies (GRCs), ethnic quotas in public housing estates, and the use of English.

A delegate at the International Bar Association had asked if Singapore's 'amazing' achievements were due to the fact that the country was 'not so democratic'.

Responding, Mr Lee gave an account of the Singapore Story to the audience of international legal practitioners, while making clear that he did not 'speak of this as a model. I speak about how Singapore got where it is'.

Any society which wants to move forward needs a certain cohesion, he said.

Singapore began as a society of migrants of different races who lived separately, spoke different languages, and who intended to return to China, Indonesia or India.

'So we were like different kinds of fishes in an aquarium, each with different salinity that would occasionally meet at the edges,' he said.

What the Government did, among other things, was to make English the common language, and it got people to physically interact through the ethnic quotas in the public housing programme. 'We rebuilt the city and did not give anybody any choice of who their neighbour would be.'

While of 'great discomfort' for many years, it helped the races to eventually accept each other as one community.

'If we had not done that, today we'll have a big terrorist problem,' he said.

And to ensure minority representation in Parliament, GRCs were created.

'Are these democratic procedures?' he asked. 'My opponents say they are not because they can't find good minority candidates because they are not likely to win.

'So, therefore, should I abandon it and have no minority candidates?'

Rankings by groups such as Amnesty International cut no ice with him.

'I do not measure myself by the yardstick of Amnesty International... I measure myself by the objective of governance of my people. What must a government do? They must establish a system and there's peace, stability and opportunities for everybody to live a full life - which means good health, good housing, good jobs, good education, good hospitals,' he said to applause.

And while Singaporeans 'have access to all information', he said, 'we do not allow certain subjects to be made bones of contention'.

Globalisation meant that what happened in one country could become a world issue, he noted, citing the Danish cartoons of Prophet Muhammad that angered the Muslim world.

'It's a clash of civilisations. I'm not sure that we can avoid this. I'm not saying that because... mad fundamentalists threatened us with death and destruction, we must retreat.

'But I believe it is practical and sensible not to be offensive. Live and let live. They want a good life, we want a good life. They want to do it their way, pray five times a day, live a certain way of life, well, so be it.'

This, Mr Lee added, is 'a problem which we are facing with increasing difficulty'.

He recalled going to college with Muslim friends who shared his food. But today, they are concerned not just about food, but whether the same dishwasher is used.

He recounted going campaigning with a Muslim ex-minister: 'He'd drink beer, I'd drink beer. He'd have a whisky, I'd have a whisky.' But four years ago, at a dinner, when Mr Lee offered him wine, 'he looked around and held up his hands and says, 'No, thank you''.

There was also an increasing number of madrasahs, where Malays were sending their daughters, while sending sons to secular schools.

'That's going to cause trouble,' he said. 'Do we stop it? If we can, we would. But will we have trouble? Yes, of course.'

So to 'put a damper on it', students were required to also pass in English, maths and science.

So 'starting from a heterogeneous base trying to get this mix to gel, you have to take unusual steps and procedures that have enabled us to get this far', he said.

Radiohead -- Videotapes

Another brilliant song from Radiohead's new album, In Rainbows.

All Glory To The Hypno-Toad!

For those who are fans of Futurama, you will definitely get this reference (or joke). For those who aren't getting the joke, click on the clip below to give you a clue. ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNO-TOAD!!! BUY THE NEW FUTURAMA DVD COMING OUT NEXT MONTH!!!

Lewis Black

Lewis Black on the way politicians and the mainstream media dwells on the non-issues (i.e. focusing on the surface rather than what really is important).




The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - The Most Trusted Name in Fake News

President Al Gore??? In another parallel universe...

Al Gore has just won the Nobel Peace Prize, which he had truly deserved. I hope now people will really take the threat of global warming seriously and fucking do something about it.

This was a clip done by Al Gore for Saturday Night Live! a year or so back. Many of my USA friends who saw this clip (save for the die-hard Republicans, or the so-called loyal Bushies) was so depressed and wished that Al Gore was the one that had been elected. Given his progressive views and his position on global warming, who knows how things might have turned out, not just for America, but for the whole world.