Bernard Trink Alive?

Samut Prakan River Temple

Bernard Trink was for several decades the voice of expat life in Bangkok, until he was retired a few years ago by the Bangkok Post, then went off to his haunts to pen his independent columns about nightlife in Bangkok. His weekly column died about a month ago, and I declined to edit and republish his column, and am now wondering if the old guy from New York City has finally met his maker. Anyone know?

Giant Mekong Catfish

Bangkok Fish Market

I was shopping yesterday at local outdoor market and noticed an enormous fish for sale, and the owners told me that the big guy was recently snagged up in northern Thailand near the sleepy town of Chiang Khong, a marginilized town a few clicks east of Chiang Saen. Really amazing fish. It was expensive, but still a bargain at per pound level, so I bargained, then brought the fish home and cut the sucker into smaller portions, and put remainders into plastic bags in freezer. Anyone need some fish?

Big Mekong River Catfish For Sale by National Geo

Manila Collapse

Building Collapse in Binondo Manila

God help the Philippines, now going through yet another government collapse as the ruling president has admitted she made a phone call during last years election to check on her Mindanao stats - this years' latest and hotest SMS and phone beep message. Then her husband flees overseas condos to obviously escape the law, and her son flees overseas condos to escape the law, all since they seem to be caught up in the same gambling (juteng) rackets as Erap, who ruled the land until his mafioso schemes put him into jail.

The Philippines. Always a racket and worthy of an American reality based series.

Philippines: Who's running the Gambling Racket Now?

Erap?

Gloria?

Some Chinese Dude?

Arroyo problems see minister quit

Mrs Arroyo's government is under mounting pressure. The Philippines' Agriculture Minister Arthur Yap has resigned to contest tax evasion charges filed against him.
The move seemed designed to shore up President Gloria Arroyo's government, already undermined by allegations of vote rigging and influence-peddling.

On Monday, Mrs Arroyo admitted talking to an election official during the vote-count of last year's election. She also said her husband, whom critics accuse of taking pay-offs from illegal gambling groups, would move abroad. Mr Yap is one of several cabinet members seen as close to Mrs Arroyo.

"I have become convinced that I should clear my name - not as a member of the president's cabinet but as a citizen of the republic," Mr Yap told a news conference on Thursday. But he insisted he was not guilty of tax evasion, nor was he resigning in response to the mounting pressure being heaped on the president.

Mrs Arroyo, who has made the fight against corruption a key pledge of her presidency, is trying to win back public trust after a series of potentially damaging incidents. On Monday, she admitted to having called an election official during the May 2004 vote count, which while not illegal, is likely to be viewed by many Filipinos as unethical conduct.

Mrs Arroyo apologised to the nation for what she called a "lapse of judgement" but denied trying to influence the outcome of the poll - in which she beat the now-deceased film star Fernando Poe by more than a million votes. Her admission came after the opposition released an audio tape in which a woman who sounded like the president could be heard speaking with a senior election commissioner. The president's husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, widely known as Mike, has also been accused of scandal, along with their son and Mrs Arroyo's brother-in-law.

BBC Reports

China Loves You Too Much

China = Ashcroft

China has long gone beyond the pale to introduce authoritarian limits to free speech, but what about human tragedies such as these in the local newspapers. Not a peep.

The arrested female was an Uighur woman. She did not seem particularly concerned about being arrested. She said that she lived with her son. She and her husband were about to get divorced, and he did not care about her. The police knew full well that her husband would not come to the station. The Uighur woman had a trump card -- she knew that under the law, the police could not lock both her and her son up. There is an Uighur Child Assistance Center, but it would not take in a child so young. Everybody knew that the police had to let her go.

Late that night, a man named Ah Sum showed up to post bail for the woman. The man identified himself as a friend of her husband. So the police had no choice but to let her go. Before doing so, the police read her the requirements of the bail -- she had to report to the police station the next day, for one thing.

Of course, the woman did not show the next day. She turned off her telephone and she moved to a different place. The police rescinded her bail and then went looking for her again. After three days, they caught her again. This time, she was alone. When she was brought back to the police station, she became very nervous. She did not have her trump card this time. In her handbag, the police found 10,000 yuan, wrapping and string to package drugs as well as a scale for weighing drugs. Obviously, she was still busy at work. The woman confessed that Ah Sum was actually her husband. In any case, the case was considered solved and she was formally arrested.

Afterwards, Ah Sum came to the police station a couple of times. He did not know that his wife was arrested yet. But since Ah Sum still insisted that he was only a friend of the husband, the police told him that the case can only be discussed with direct relatives. On the third visit, Ah Sum had just called his home in Xinjiang and found out that his wife had been arrested. So on this visit, he finally admitted to the police officer that he was the husband.

The police officer informed him that his wife has been formally arrested. If he wanted to know more, he needed to go to another police station where the officer-in-charge works. The man demanded that his wife be released because he couldn't take care of his son, but this police officer told him that it was his responsibility. He glared at the police officer, who glared back at him. Anyway, the husband left for the other police station. There, he issued a different kind of threat. Let us follow the photo-play for some gory action (WARNING!). I repeat, this is seriously disturbing as to what people will do to themselves in order to get what they want.

ESNW Reports -- You Decide

Condi and her Iranian Lover

Condi Contemplates Love

Things have not been going well for Condi in recent years, after she hitched her bandwagon to Dubya and has been obligated to follow his voyage into the hell of Iraq. She's a trooper, but that badge and six bucks will get you a latte at Starbucks, so it's not really not that much of a surprise that she (perhaps) had a failed relationship, with an Arab student during her days in college.

The heart of U.S. policy?

One Iranian lawmaker claims to know why Secretary of State Rice is taking such a hard line against his country - she was spurned by an Iranian boyfriend in college.

"She had her heart broken by a young man from [the town of] Qazvin while they were students," Shokrollah Attarzadeh was quoted by the ISNA news agency as saying.

Mysteriously, he added: "This is the result of an investigation by a woman MP, who cannot be named."

More Garbage and Unsubstaniated Rumors from New York Daily News

Motorcycle Tripping in Europe

Motorcycle Outfit for Prague

OK, so Catwomen was a bomb and Slate/Salon rarely publish any good travel stories, but thanks Slate for coming up with the ongoing series about a young lady and her boyfriend tripping around Europe on their rented 600cc motorcycle.

My boyfriend, L., will be driving. He's been riding his own motorcycle, a 1970 BMW R60/5, for a dozen years, and so, we think, he's fully prepared to handle what's ahead: highways, byways, winding mountain roads, and the cable cars that trundle along iron grooves through every city. I'll be navigating: In addition to reading maps, and bereft of Slavic languages, I get to go into gas stations and ask for directions using sign language. L. has taken long motorcycle trips before, from Phoenix to Denver and from southern Georgia to Kentucky. I, on the other hand, have never been on a motorcycle for more than an hour or so at a time. L. has warned me that I may not find multiple hours in the saddle very comfortable.

Slate Travel

Michael Jackson Hits Bahrain

Michael Jackson in Bahrain

This is not good news. Michael Jackson beats his child sex rap, and then packs his bag for the friendly nation of Bahrain. Also, does anybody else remember the New Yorker article in 1993 about the first Jackson incident, and is it available anywhere online?

THE US RELEASES THE 2005 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

On June 3, 2005, the United States Department of State issued the Trafficking in Persons Report for the year 2005 (TIP Report). The report highlights that trafficking in persons is still a significant problem in many countries around the world, especially in the fourteen Tier 3 countries that failed to fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in accordance with Section 108 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, as amended by the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003, and that are not making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with such standards.

"It is to be observed that many of the Arab countries are listed in Tier 3, namely Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates. Something has to be done - especially considering that the Arab region has been excluded from real reform that is essential to combating the problem in the region," commented Mohamed Mattar, Adjunct Professor of Law and Executive Director at The Protection Project at The Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Professor Mattar added that "None of these countries recognizes trafficking in persons, whether for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation or labor exploitation, and that none of them has specific anti-trafficking legislation."

Protection Project Report

Michael Jackson Vacations in Bahrain
Jun 30, 6:57 AM (ET)

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) - Pop star Michael Jackson arrived in the tiny Gulf kingdom of Bahrain as a guest of honor of the king's son, an official close to the royal circle said Thursday. Jackson's visit to Bahrain is his first trip overseas since he was found not guilty of child molestation charges on June 13. Jackson, who arrived on a private plane from Europe on Wednesday night, was "here to relax," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because private visits involving the royal formally are not authorized to be announced.

The official said Jackson was a guest of Sheik Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the king's son, in one of the royal palaces. Sheik Abdullah, believed to be in his early 30s, is a friend of Jackson's brother Jermaine. He described the visit as "very, very private." It was not immediately clear if any of Jackson's family accompanied him on the trip. Jermaine Jackson has close links with Bahrain's royal circle. In January, he and Sheik Abdullah announced plans to record a charity theme song written by the prince.

Michael Jackson Vacations in Bahrain

Cat Love in Jakarta

Cats Might be Gods

Is there anything more tragic than the death of your pet? No. People become attached to their pets to a degree beyond comprehension, and certainly past personal attachments to other people. Cats and dogs give unrequited love, as shown today by photographer Brandon in Jakarta in his best ever post to date. Read this and weep.

It was a sad, sad day.

Today I had to put my cat to sleep, and she was just a kitten.

About two months ago, as I was walking out of work I saw a kitten near our security guard’s desk. I’m a sucker for little animals, so I took the street kitten home. I’ve been watching her grow for the past 8 weeks into a ball of fur and energy. She’s been getting adventurous lately, playing in front of our house in the park across the street.

This morning my maid was working in the yard when she heard the cat growling and screeching. A moment later a Chinese woman was yelling at her dog, and my maid knew something was wrong. The woman’s dog had severely bitten my cat. Instead of looking after the cat, my maid chased after the woman asking her to please speak with me when I got home. The woman claimed the dog wasn’t hers, and went on her way. My maid has seen her walk the dog numerous times, so she’s blatently lying. I truly don’t understand people like that.

When I got home, the cat was lying in a basket with very little energy to raise her head. I noticed there wasn’t much blood, and her wounds didn’t appear too serious. I considered leaving her to rest without taking her to the vet. An hour later I knew something was seriously wrong. We took her to the vet, and as they were feeling her small body, they said it felt as if the kitten’s backbone was broken. An x-ray later sank my heart into my stomach. The poor little thing’s spine was snapped - severing all of her vital functions below her shoulders. The doctor said we had no choice but to put her to sleep.

At 4pm, the 12 week old kitten went to sleep, never to wake again.

Brandon in Jakarta Weeps for his Cat

Carl Parkes at Taj Mahal

Carl at Taj

There's an amazing amount of great blogs coming out today, and I hope to post some of the highlights in this blog, including summaries from my Bloglines subscription. Really, some heartfelt insights from ESNW, Cowboy, and others.

Letter to the Nation

Siam

A somewhat unusual but straigthforward letter was published today in The Nation from Bangkok, about a basic problem with international marketing from Thailand to Western nations. It's an honest and emotional look at why Thailand has long failed to market Thai products to the world.

After marrying a Thai citizen and moving back to my own country of Canada, I developed a loving relationship with the country of Thailand. I love the people, the culture, the food and the way of life. It is this love for your country that brings me to your website daily.

The trade deficit concerns me, but I’m not sure the government is addressing the problem correctly. Every country in the world is facing the same problem with oil prices; it seems like daily they are getting higher and higher. The end result of this is not only a higher price at the petrol station, but a higher-priced product at the shopping centre.

Now let’s look at China’s approach. China sees its need for more oil and is buying into oil companies all over North America. It has purchased here in Canada and in the United States. Now I’m not suggesting that Thailand buy into the oil and gas companies of the world; I’m just asking why is China increasing oil consumption and Thailand is looking at limiting? The answer is simple: China’s exports have skyrocketed, while Thailand’s have not. Part of that is because China has fixed its currency low on the world stage, but there is another reason: China’s products can reach consumers more cheaply than some countries can produce themselves. So once again you may ask, what’s my point?

Well here it is. In 2004, I attended the Thailand Trade Exhibition in Vancouver, British Columbia. There were some wonderful products there, everything from fruit to furniture. When asked about how much it would cost to purchase some of these products, the cost was outrageous. This happened for two reasons:

Members of the trade show wanted to make some money to cover their cost of travel.

There is a misconception that because foreigners have such high standards of living, they can afford to pay a lot.

So from what I could understand, the trade show was a complete failure. Apart from selling a few high-priced items, most people went back to Thailand at a complete loss. Not only did they fail to sell much, but no business contacts or contracts came about. But at least everyone had a chance to come to Canada.

So this piece of the puzzle I feel was never, or never will be, addressed by the government:

Educate Thai business owners or salespeople that long-term stability means more than one sale and that foreigners aren’t interested in buying something that’s overpriced. It’s not always how much, but how many.

Hold the trade fair in a suitable place. In Canada, we never have trade shows in shopping centres. Trade shows in Canada are usually held in large venues like arenas or stadiums on weekends. Business people are usually working during the week, especially during the daytime.

– Market trade shows to business people. As far as I know, that trade show was only advertised on a multicultural radio station. The audience for this advertising would have been mostly immigrants.

The end result of a perfectly executed trade show would be an increase in exports. Increased exports would balance out the trade deficit, end of story. Money would come back into the country, more products would have to be made, more jobs would be created

The Nation Letters to the Editor

Motorcycle Tripping in Thailand

Four Kinds of Farangs

The Bangkok Post has a travel section every Thursday called Horizons, which is largely a big spew of press releases from hotels about their latest improvements and spa additions, but sometimes the section also includes some first-person travelogues that get under the tourism skin. Lloyd has been traveling around the country on his motorcycle over the last few months, and submitting his insightful and funny stories to Horizons, and thereby providing the best commentary in an otherwise dull section. Great work, Lloyd! I've emailed Lloyd and asked him for a website with the stories, and if he responds, I'll post the link and summary of his stories. Here's a sample and link, which will expire in a few days, so check it out immediately.

THAILAND ON TWO WHEELS

Welcome to the roller coaster
Riding on the curvy road to Ranong was fun. And the visa run to Burma was easy
Lloyd Sullivan

In my description of the ride from Chumphon to Ranong on Highway 4 some time ago, I touched on the joys of mountain motorcycle riding and there's no need to repeat myself here except to say that Highway 4 is to Highway 4006 what a garter snake is to an anaconda. The 4006 from Lang Suan over to Ratcha Krut near the Andaman coast is a twisting turning rising falling 70-kilometre stretch of road that could have been used as the blueprint for the Kinda Ka Roller Coaster in Six Flags, North Carolina.

There isn't a flat stretch on it or if there is I don't remember it because I was too busy trying to keep my heart out of my throat. That's not to say I rode recklessly. I kept my speed at a reasonable level considering the ever present reality of Thai highways: that the unexpected is to be expected. Even so, the traffic was light enough and the pavement good enough to allow me to roll on a bit of throttle, to lay the bike over to where I might have scraped a floorboard once or twice. Exhilarating stuff, easily the best stretch of road I'd been on yet.

The shoreline at Kaw Thaung, Burma

The 4006 runs up the Klong Lang Suan valley, but I never saw the valley floor from the highway. This was hill country, hills bounded by mountains and more mountains behind them out to the horizon. I wound past coconut plantations, rubber plantations, palm oil plantations.

I saw my first papaya tree. Until that time I'd always thought papayas grew on supermarket shelves and the sight of an actual tree took me by surprise. They were short and spindly, these plantation trees, the hanging fruit disproportionately immense. If you've never seen a papaya tree imagine a rail-thin Thai fashion model wearing a pair of American footballs for earrings and you have the image almost exactly.

It was a hot tropical day when I'd left the coast at Pak Nam Lang Suan, but now as I cruise through the turns a cool breeze sweeps across my arms. Just ahead of me a dump truck full of sand is chugging slowly up the hill, belching black smoke, dripping water from its tail gate, tiny pieces of grit blowing off the top of the load, stinging like nettles. I can't pass him. I drop back, out of range, frustrated at the sudden loss of my momentum. Time drags for a minute. I keep the bike in low gear, engine revs at the high end of the range. Highway 4006 doesn't have a lot of straight stretches so passing has to be done quickly and with care. At the top of the hill an opportunity presents itself and I take it. This is where the torque of the bikes 750 cc V-twin pays off, not at all bad for a mid-size cruiser. In moments the truck is lost from sight behind me.

Bangkok Post Horizons Motorcycle Touring Story by Lloyd

Hilltribe Discrimination in Thailand

Wat Phra Keo in Bangkok

For too many years, the government of Thailand has discriminated against the ethnic hilltribes of northern Thailand, who have been denied citizenship and all the rights associated with being a member of the Thai nation. Today, another call for the institution of their rights, including citizenship, the right to own property and participate in national elections.

Citizenship call for all born on Thai soil

Chiang Mai _ Human rights defenders and highland people's networks in the North have proposed amending the Citizenship Act to allow hilltribe children born on Thai soil to automatically receive Thai citizenship. At present, the system classifies parents into two groups _ those who migrated to Thailand before Oct 3, 1985, and those who arrived after that date. Hilltribe children born to the first group can seek Thai citizenship, but it must still be approved by the interior minister. Children of those in the second group have no right to seek Thai citizenship since their parents have no legal status.

Suraphong Kongjanthuk, deputy chairman of a Law Society of Thailand sub-committee on the human rights of indigenous people, said Article 7(3) of the Citizenship Act created major problems since it treats children of hilltribe people as aliens because their parents are illegal immigrants under the Immigration Act.

''If arrested they must be deported despite the fact they have committed no crime. This practice is very unfair and ruins their futures,'' he said. ''Under the Act, about 900,000 tribes-people and their children are living as 'stateless people' in Thailand. Clearly they suffer greatly since they have no rights or access to social welfare,'' he said. This meant stateless people and their children cannot access the health-care system or get an education. As a result, many were jobless and forced into informal employment, including prostitution and dealing drugs.

''In light of this, we demand the authorities amend Article 7[3] by granting citizenship to the children through their 'right of birth', even though their parents have yet to receive Thai nationality. We believe that if all the children were granted citizenship, the problems faced by stateless people would eventually be eliminated,'' Mr Suraphong said at a three-day public seminar on the rights and status of hilltribe and indigenous people in Thailand.

About 300 hilltribe people, NGO representatives, human rights' activists and state officials took part. The seminar, which will end today, is aimed at identifying solutions and developing plans to promote the rights of hilltribe and indigenous people. Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng was expected to attend today to listen to the demands of hilltribe people.

Wiwat Tamee, coordinator of the Ethnic Minority Groups in Thailand, did not understand why the government failed to comply with the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), given that the country ratified it on Jan 29, 1997. Signing up meant the country pledged to protect the rights of all children born in Thailand.

Prayong Doklamyai, adviser to the Federation of the Northern Farmers, suggested the cabinet issue a resolution empowering the interior minister to grant Thai citizenship to all Thai-born children of ethnic minority groups, not just hilltribe people.

Bangkok Post

Cuba Hotel News

Castro in Better Days

Nothing to do with Asia, but Gridskipper is an excellent blog with a dozen daily posts on hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs around the world, including today's notice about recent hotel developments in Cuba. They also have a good collection of links to stories about Singapore and Bangkok, a useful RSS feed, and the contributors are encouraged to use humor and sometimes go over to the dark side with commentary about hookers and other fun stuff. Check 'em out and put them in your Bloglines account under your Travel folder.

Visit Cuba While the Hookers are Still Cheap

Okay, we’re kidding about the hookers bit, but it’s just gotten easier—and hopefully chicer—to visit the land of 1950’s autos (and political ideologies). French hotel group Accor SA recently took over management of Cuba’s famous Riviera (picture from Amy of NewYorkology to the right) and Capri hotels—top pre-Castro mafia joints when Havana was the playground of sloppy gringos—and yesterday Virgin Atlantic inaugurated direct London (Gatwick)-to-Havana flights. In his typically restrained manner, Virgin owner Richard Branson took the first flight and on arrival posed on the wing of his jumbo jet with two dancers from Havana’s Tropicana cabaret and British lightweight boxer Amir Khan.

Cuba’s mafia hotels get new owner [Reuters via CNN.com]
Virgin Atlantic Link to Boost U.K. Tourism to Cuba [Reuters]
Cuban Monster Hotels Goin’ Legit [HotelChatter]
Cuban Monster Hotel Photo [HotelChatter]

Gridskipper with Hotel News from Cuba, including Links

Tourism Slogans for Vietnam

Cambodian not Vietnamese King

The mania for national tourism slogans in Southeast Asia started in 1987 when Thailand Tourism (TAT) came up with "Amazing Thailand" to promote their lovely country, and it proved a smashing success as the country passed one million visitors for the first time. Other countries in the region soon followed suit and invented new and improved slogans in the vain attempt to emulate Thailand, but in many cases the slogans themselves have proven somewhat ridiculous, even to the present day.

What does Malaysia mean with their current slogan "Truly Asia?" Are they implying that the rest of SE Asia is somehow not "Truly Asia" or is this just a dig at their southern neighbor of Singapore? I think the latter. The Philippines went with "Philippines Wow" which said absolutely nothing about their country aside from the fact that the Philippines Tourism office in Rizal Park has a problem with the English language.

Vietnam Tourism refuses to spend a nickel on professional English language services or tourism promotion companies, so they are leaving their next national tourism slogan up to volunteer suggestions from the public. Sure, Vietnam, that will work.

OK. Here's your big chance to make ammends for the last slogan contest that Vietnam held oooh... not 4 months ago. This time Vietnam Tourism are running the show and you've got until September 27th to come up with something that sticks.

“Logo and Slogan Design Contest for The National Tourism Action Programme for 2006 - 2010” is to draw attention of all Vietnamese and foreigners with the aim at selecting a unique slogan and logo for the new promotion and marketing campaign of Vietnam Tourism in the next phase.

The use of the adjective 'unique' is slightly misleading. They don't just want one slogan they want 20+

There will be 2 first prizes, 2 second prizes, 2 third prizes and 14 consolation prizes. Apart from the prizes for the finalists, the organizing board will also present “Logo/slogan of the week/month” awards for online entries received by Tourism Information Technology Center and for newspaper-based entries received by Vietnam Tourism Weekly.

Yup. Everyone's a winner baby. Before you rustle up your entry, you might like to scan through some of the many superb entries already submitted. I quickly zapped through of few of the nearly 400 up there so far and came up with a draft shortlist and suggested target markets. See below verbatim submissions:

Conservationists, botanists and geography teachers get a decent look in:

Vietnam – A Lovely S Destination !
Vietnam - attractive ecosystem
Vietnam _ The marvellous bamboo.

Need cosmetic surgery? Alight here?
Viet Nam-enlarging your eyes

The casual and familiar
Been Here yet?
Funny go and cheery comeback !

Sex tourism:
Coming to feel
Vietnam, deep inside
Viet Nam , not only once you come .

Crime fiction market:
Vietnam – More mysterious than what been told
VietNam- Push your invetigation

Hippies, new age travellers and dogs on bits of string:
Vietnam, a destination of all the trips
Vietnam with millions speaking flowers!

For the charitable sector:
Tourism of Viet Nam - has waited so long...!
viet nam beauty from simples!

And finally for food fans:
Vietnam - Sunk in Feast
Vietnam - Feast in Feast

I think you'll agree it would be quite a challenge to improve on the excellent entries above, but if you think you can do better, drop your suggestion in the comment box and of course go enter the contest.

Noodle Pie Translates the Contest and Provides All the Necessary Links

Freedom Tower New York City

Freedom Tower 01

Freedom Tower 02

Freedom Tower 03

Freedom Tower 04

Freedom Tower 05

Freedom Tower 06

"This new design reflects a soaring tribute to freedom and a bedrock commitment to safety and security," Pataki said. The building, which has been dubbed "The Freedom Tower" by Pataki, will remain 1,776 feet, symbolizing the year the United States declared its independence.

It would be almost 100 feet taller than the Taipei 101 Tower in Taiwan, currently the tallest building in the world.

It also will retain a spire, containing a 400-foot broadcast antenna which will emit light at night and is intended to echo the Statue of Liberty's torch. The tower will be more slender and occupy a smaller footprint in the northwest corner of the 16 acres where the 110-story twin towers once stood, and it won't be completed until 2010, two years later than the original plan.

New Design for Freedom Tower

Brainstorming with The Peking Duck

Richard Slides

You rarely get posts like this one. Richard at the Peking Duck is going through a personal crisis and has asked for some suggestions. After many years as a professional writer and resident in several places in Asia, he now works public relations in Arizona and spends most of his time writing about technology, routers and servers and whatever. And he hates it, and thinks he may want to return to Asia and perhaps live in Taipei and teach English, but he's opened up this question to his readers. Great posts from many people who truly care about Richard and the possible directions for the rest of his life.

Time for some serious brainstorming

Today I had to work on a case study for a storage networking company. One of the few gifts God gave me is an ability to write about technology even though I can barely download my own email. But this gift wasn't in evidence today. I kept struggling, because I kept getting distracted by thoughts of Asia. And I realized just how much I hate what I do.

What on earth am I doing here in Arizona writing about storage area networks, routers and switches, and hardware testing technology when there is literally nothing on this earth that I more detest? I began to feel sick and the copy was swimming around on the screen, making no sense, filling me with a sense of frustration and foreboding. Does this really have to be my life? What the fuck is a storage area network anyway, and who gives a fuck? What happened? How did it come to be that my fucking life is about fucking storage area networks??

I got promoted a few months ago and got a big pay raise. But I can't even begin to put into words just how empty the feeling is, knowing you are contributing nothing to society, knowing that you are going through the motions, a cog in a huge corporate machine where you are under-utilized, under-appreciated and vastly underpaid (even with the raise).

Read the Rest Plus Over 100 Comments

The Portuguese Tsunami Vicitims

Banda Aceh Before and After

Here's an unusual story about a group of white-skinned people who have lived about three hours south of Banda Aceh for several centuries, until the tsunami of last year largely wiped out their community. The article includes a photo of the last surviving male member and speculates on the origins of this very unique collection of fishermen, now perhaps completely lost of the world.

Sadness of last man in white tribe that the ocean made and destroyed
Times Online
From Nick Meo
Lamno, Sumatra

THE fury of the sea brought them to Sumatra centuries ago. And the fury of the sea destroyed their unique community in just a few terrible minutes. Before December 26 there were more than 50 families of Putehs, white-skinned descendants of shipwrecked European sailors, possibly from Portugal, who had merged into the culture of Aceh over the generations but maintained their striking Western looks.

Now there is one man left.

The Putehs — the name means white in Acehnese dialect — lived in fishing communities at the edge of the ocean which suffered the worst destruction from the tsunami. Nearly all died and their villages were wiped from the face of the earth. The sole surving man from his tribe is Jallaluddin Puteh, a 42-year-old fisherman, who, together with his wife, lived because their home was at the landward side of the village and they had a head start running towards higher ground when the wave struck.

Mr Puteh believes that all of his extended family who lived around the town of Lamno on the west coast of Sumatra died in the disaster — about 500 souls in six villages. His immediate family, and a handful of women who had married and moved to the capital Jakarta, are probably all that is left of one of Indonesia’s most unusual communities.

Read the Rest

Hong Kong Quicktime Shorts

79 Floor IFC looking at new Youth Hostel

Hong Kong Great Architecture

But I don't recommend you actually go down there are walk around, as streetside Hong Kong is nothing short of hell on wheels.

Electric Utiltiies in the Philippines

Abstract Art in Manila

Abstract Art 2 in Manila

If you leave your utility meter open to inspection by utility useage meters, you also risk having some common thief come into your backyard and perhaps visit your house for better findings. So, most Filipinos find it expeditious to put their meters outside their property and thereby create abstract but also sad reminders of life within a dangerous society.

Credit goes to the Lawyer in Manila, who took the photos and always threatens to sue anyone who posts her photos without permission.

AftonBladet

Aftonbladet 2

Bangkok Post||

Thai Blogs Sakdipat on Bangkok Taxis

Siam Map

The taxi situation in Bangkok has long been a source of literary fascination with both the local and international press, who have yearned to know the true owners of those infamous black license taxis that dominated the Bangkok International Airport for several decades. Mafia? Drug lords? Nobody seemed to really know who these characters were, and the government and airport officials never seemed to care about the extortionat cartel which terrorized international travelers for several decades. Mai pen rai, as they say.

Today, in the always informative Thai Blogs website, a local Thai citizen tries to sort out the confusion, and the following few paragraphs should probably be included in every future guidebook to Bangkok and Thailand.

Taxis in Thailand
Posted by: SaKdIpAt

There are many kinds of taxis in Thailand. Two of the kinds I would like to talk about today are the motorcycle taxis and car taxis. Many people would probably have been on them but may not have noticed the identifications of these taxis. I use their services all the time but it took a while to figure out how they function and how would I know which is owned by whom. First, I would like to talk about normal Bangkok taxis. A lot of people may notice the color of these taxis and not knowing why theyÂ’re different from other colors. Well, they are! Most taxis we see around Bangkok are Green-Yellow taxis. These taxis are privately owned. This means that every one of these Green-Yellow taxis are owned by an individual. These taxis run on a daily basis.

In Thailand, only a few manufacturers allow their cars to be converted into a taxi. These manufacturers include Toyota, Nissan etc. Honda cars are not permitted to be converted into a taxi. However, there are huge numbers of taxis running around Bangkok and most of them are Toyota Collora. Toyota Camry and Soluna are not permitted to be used for taxis. These cars will have to be converted by a legalized garage. As we all know, taxis have to last much longer than normal cars. After this process, a taxi showroom is generated.

In Bangkok, most taxis are Limo (Collora) and the standard price of these Limos are between 600000-700000 baht. These days petrol are extremely expensive so most taxis turn to use Gas which additional installation will have to be initiated. IÂ’ve been talking to taxis about how many hours theyÂ’ll have to work to cover up the investment they put in. Some of them told me it could take up to 5 years on a 5 day working basis. Some said it takes them around 3-4 years. This difference depends mainly on luck and the amount of miles they travel. They also added that customers tend to choose the look of taxis. The newer the better! Some drivers use a 6-year old taxi and said no body really gets into his car because the air is not chilling and the seats are not comfortable. I feel sorry for these drivers.

Another kind of taxi is the Red-Blue taxis. These taxis are owned by a particular taxi garage. Meaning that there is an owner who invested some money to buy maybe 20 taxis and open up a garage to fix these taxis. There are many of these investors around. These garages operate by a manager (called “Tao-Gae” meaning old man). He fixes the time schedule of a taxi. For example, a taxi runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There might be 40 taxis in his control. Some are new and some are old. A driver comes in and requests for a new taxi. This kind of taxi could cost him 1200 baht a day. In 12 hours, he’ll have to make more than 1200 plus fuel to cover his rental cost. However, he can go for a cheaper and older taxi which might cost him 700 baht. This request would be booked in advance and the driver will have to be a regular driver in order to work for the owner.

Also these days there are also special licensed taxis. By saying this, I mean there might be an all green colored-taxi or all yellow colored-taxi etc. These taxis have a company of its own. For example, the green taxis are owned by a particular famous person who authorized 20 taxis and open a garage. This person has the rights to use another color taxi. In additional, meter charge is 35 baht. First 2 kilometers will remain at 35 and it cost approximately 3 baht every kilo. Radio taxis (if called) are charged an additional 20 baht. If you call one from the airport, an additional 50 baht is charged. Only the authorized taxis are allowed to enter the BKK international airport.

Another kind of taxi in Thailand is the Motorcycle taxi. Motorcycle taxis are very common in Thailand. They are fast, convenient and cheap. As we all know, motorcycle are very convenient for short distance travel. So, almost every house would have one. In Phuket, a house would have an average of 2 taxis. In Bangkok, most people use these taxi services instead. In nearly every 200 meters there would be a “station” (called “Vin” in Thai). These stations are unique. This means, they would have a name of their own. A station has around 20 or more motorcycles depending on how big the station is. Every driver would have a vest and it is the key identification of these stations. A vest would cost around 10000 baht. After buying, you can become one of the members of these stations. A vest would have a unique color and a name. A station should always have someone there to be ready for service. Also at the station, there would be a price list. The price of destinations would be written on the list to be fair. However, the prices are not very different between Vins. I guess it is like marketing and there are rivalries.

This is all I wish to talk about today. I hope you can become more understanding of the functions within taxis in Bangkok at lease. I would have no knowledge of taxis in other provinces but Motorcycle taxis should all be the same. I know for a fact that there are no car taxis in Phuket. Only motorcycle taxis and tuk tuk like taxis. These tuk tuk are not metered taxi so you would have to negotiate prices on your own.

Bangkok Taxis Reported in Thai Blogs

Mango Sauce from Bangkok

Rangsit Freshman Initiation Rites

Catholic priests in America are convicted of child sex with young boys, and the Vatican pays out hundreds of millions of dollars to the victims of rampant and undisciplined pedofilia (yes, I know the regular spelling). Why am I not surprised that such behaviour also exists within the Buddhist heirachy and highest government enclaves of Thailand? Power. Religion. Child Sex. All go hand in hand.

Thai law-maker & cleric exposed as illicit shaggers

We all enjoy a good sex scandal – particularly when the miscreants make a living by urging other people to behave themselves. Our Mango Sauce Nightlife Correspondent spotted two such stories in a single day:

Today, as part of Mango SauceÂ’s Amazing Thailand series, we present two stories of illicit sex culled from our morning newspaper. Our first concerns a paternity suit against an 80 year old politician and the second raises the question "how do you defrock an abbot who is already defrocked?"

In our first story, Khun Tavich, a veteran politician seemingly fell head over heels in love when he was 76 years old for the charms of Khun Petchaporn, a 14 year old girl who worked in the Milin tea shop across the road from the Parliament building. After a busy morning passing bills and chairing committees, Khun Tavich would pop over the road and gaze adoringly at her. Such was his love that he eventually asked the girlÂ’s mother and auntie if he could take her as his wife (which of course he never did).

Well the inevitable happened, and sometime later our waitress found herself with a child and in need of financial support. In court, our politician now 80 years old and frail claimed from his wheel chair "I’m not the father. It wasn’t me – it was my chauffeur". The judge didn’t believe him and ordered that he pay 40,000 Baht to the mother every month until the child reached 20 years.

Beside the obvious point, albeit with hindsight, that he could have had an awful lot of nookie for 40,000 Baht a month, the story also raises the question how was it possible for him to have carnal relations with a 14 year old girl when it is illegal in Thailand with girls under 18 years old. The answer, apparently, is that it is possible providing you have parental permission.
Hence, if any Mango Sauce reader has the misfortunate to be caught with Khun Noo, a shapely 17 years and 364 day old go-go dancer, in a short time hotel, he should not worry but simply say "MÂ’ Lud. IÂ’m innocent. I got permission from NooÂ’s mum and auntie first".

Our second story concerns Pra Khru, the abbot of Wat Don Yai in Prachin Buri, who after a morning spent chanting and praying began to feel rather randy. Not being able to control his urges he got into his van and drove off into town in search of a little female companionship. Once heÂ’d found the lady of his choice he then drove into the countryside, parked the van in a secluded glade, whipped off his robes and began to have his nefarious way with her in the back.

In a fine example of coitus abbotus interruptus, a passing motorcycle cop, who was intrigued by the rocking van, stuck his head inside and asked " 'Allo, 'allo. WhatÂ’s going on 'ere?" He didnÂ’t think much of his neighbourhood abbot having it off with village girls and insisted on driving the van and its occupants to the nearest police station where the abbot's superior was called. The senior cleric too was not amused and insisted, there and then, on de-frocking the miscreant; which was all very well, but difficult, as the randy abbot wasnÂ’t wearing any robes in the first place.

If octogenarian Khun TavichÂ’s career takes a dive because of his sexual ndiscretion, he might consider becoming a good-will ambassador for Viagra. Pra Khru wins a coveted Mango Sauce bumper-sticker bearing the popular slogan "DonÂ’t come knocking while the van is rocking."

Posted by David
June 24, 2005

Mango Sauce from Bangkok

Disney Hong Kong and Sharks

Average Shark Fin Soup Consumer

Looks like Michael Eisner has finally come to his senses, and decided that the upcoming wonder Disneyland Hong Kong will not be serving fins of sharks to their customers over on lovely Lantau Island. Why have they reversed their policy? Human concern about the situation with dead sharks? Ha Ha. Concern about all the bad press they have received over the last six months? Ha Ha. Nope, it all boils down to pure economics. They figure they can't make enough money on selling the product, so they cancelled the product. Pure Disney. Pure Eisner. Walter is still turning in his grave.

HK Disney scraps shark's fin soup
By Chris Hogg
BBC, Hong Kong

Environmentalists say methods of collecting fins are cruel
Disney is withdrawing plans to serve shark's fin soup at its new theme park due to open in September in Hong Kong. The company had resisted pressure from environmentalists who argued that Disney would be contributing to the sharp decline in shark populations.

But Disney announced the change on Saturday saying it was unable to find ecologically sound suppliers. It is a U-turn from a company that had insisted on serving shark's fin soup out of sensitivity to local customs.

Disney had planned to offer the expensive dish at banquets and special events. But that decision exposed the company to a barrage of complaints from environmentalists around the world. They say the mass harvesting of the gelatinous cartilage for the soup has led to a marked decline in shark stocks.

And they says it is cruel - in particular the process known as finning, where a fin is hacked off and the shark thrown back into the sea to die. Disney tried to broker a compromise, offering to buy only from suppliers who could prove their ecological credentials.

Now, though, the company has admitted defeat. It says it has been unable to find an environmentally sustainable fishing source.

Shark Story

Tsunami Victims Screwed Again

Tsunami India

Tomorrow marks the six months since the horrific earthquake and tsunami of December 2004, and very little progress has been made to aid the truly desperate victims of the extraordinary disaster. Here's yet another report on the plight of the most needy and devastated tragedies, and where all the aid money may really be going.

Tsunami aid 'went to the richest'

Thousands in Aceh have not been able to move out of camps. Six months after the Asian tsunami, a leading international charity says the poorest victims have benefited the least from the massive relief effort. A survey by Oxfam found that aid had tended to go to businesses and landowners, exacerbating the divide between rich and poor.

The poor were likely to spend much longer in refugee camps where it is harder to find work or rebuild lives. Oxfam has called for aid to go to the poorest and most marginalised. They must not be left out of reconstruction efforts, the charity said.

The tsunami in the Indian Ocean on 26 December killed at least 200,000 people in countries as far apart as Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Somalia. David Loyn, the BBC's developing world correspondent, says it is perhaps not surprising that the poorest suffered the most from the disaster itself. Living in frail shelter, on marginal land, they were literally swept away by the waves, and the survivors among the poorest communities had less access to medical help than richer people did.

The survey points to the marginalisation of dalits - outcasts in India - and specific problems in Sri Lanka where aid has gone to businesses and landowners rather than the landless.

Identifying victims 'to take months.' This poverty gap is worst in Aceh, the Indonesian province which was the most badly affected area, already impoverished by conflict before the tsunami hit. Half a million survivors were homeless. Yet the wealthier among them have already been able to move out of temporary camps.

Another survey by a group of British academics monitoring the delivery of aid has found that, six months on, there is little evidence of permanent accommodation being built for most people. It says starkly that these failures would not be tolerated after a disaster in the developed world. All aid agencies, as well as regional governments must share some blame for this failure, our correspondent adds.

The unprecedented international response to the tragedy means that the immediate humanitarian demands could be fully funded. Failure to deliver assistance effectively to the poorest, or to plan properly for the future, reveals fundamental weaknesses in the system.

BBC Reports on Tsunami Relief

Psycho or Scicyo?

Psychotic Patients at Hollywood Scientology

I admit it. I was a Scientologist once, for about six weeks in Salt Lake City. After I graduated from UCSB, I did the requisite summer trip to Europe and then returned to my parents home in Riverside, and proceeded to glorify my college education by building houses in Palm Springs. Then I announced to my folks that Carl was getting the hell out of Riverside and heading north to Salt Lake City to be my world's most desired occupation: ski bum.

I found a place in SLC near the university at 2 South and 13 East in some apartment building then managed by a fairly attractive lady in her early 30s, vegetarian, quite kooky, but outgoing and fun, and she wanted to mate with a blond guy to produce more offspring. Like, me. So we mated. She then told me about Scientology, which I had never heard about, but she steered me downtown SLC for free introductory lessons. I also did some research at the local library to learn something more about the place and the religion and this guy called Hubbard.

I never fell for the rap and story and e meters and engrams -- I've had enough religion and mythology in my life -- but it was an interesting experience to see a fanatic religious sect in action. Wait, no, I was raised as a Mormon, and so I know about such things.

Tom Cruise has fallen through the rabbit hole and I doubt we will ever see him again, aside from his new role as preacher for radical religion.

Scientologists vs. Psychiatrists
Why they don't get along.
By Daniel Engber
Posted Friday, June 24, 2005, at 3:28 PM PT

In an interview shown on NBC's Today this morning, celebrity Scientologist Tom Cruise railed against modern treatments for mental health problems. "I've never agreed with psychiatry, ever," he said. Do all Scientologists have a problem with psychiatry?

Yes. Scientology has its roots in a maverick form of psychological counseling that rejects the principles of modern psychiatry. In 1950, L. Ron Hubbard published Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. (He founded the Church of Scientology a few years later.) The book outlined a philosophy of mental and physical illness and a method for treatment. Hubbard rejected the notion that psychiatry could provide lasting cures for psychological problems and condemned psychiatric treatments he deemed inhumane, like electroconvulsive therapy.

The extent of the feud might stem from the immediate backlash that Hubbard received from mainstream mental health organizations. Dianetics was published in May 1950; by September, the American Psychological Association had advised therapists to avoid it. Not long after, the board of medical examiners in Hubbard's home state of New Jersey pursued legal action against him for practicing phony medicine.

Hubbard responded by challenging conventional mental health practitioners to a sort of therapy-off. "Two neurotic individuals" would be subjected to one week each of dianetics and psychiatry; if the psychiatric patient turned out better, Hubbard would withdraw his claims. It's unclear if this showdown ever took place.

According to Hubbard's principles, the mind has an "analytic" and a "reactive" component. Under certain circumstances of emotional or physical distress, the analytic brain shuts down and the reactive brain records a deep, "cellular" memory (what he called an "engram") of the stressful event. These memories can extend back to the moment of conception and to past lives.

Hubbard claimed that mental and physical problems are often psychosomatic manifestations of those memories. If a patient could be coerced into re-experiencing that engram through a process of "dianetic reverie," the memory might be erased and the condition cured. He said that even infections like tuberculosis were susceptible to dianetic therapy.

Scientology emerged a bit later as the spiritual outgrowth of the dianetics movement. With the development of Scientology came some of Hubbard's more far-out concepts, like the prehistoric invasion of Earth by space aliens.

Link

Corruption? Africa vs. Asia

Nigerian Billionaire Gen. Sani Abacha

Does anyone remember the glorious days when Suharto, Marcos, and other political leaders in Southeast Asia could loot their national treasuries with impunity? Gad, it was always so much fun to watch Suharto blatantly steal billions of dollars from the national treasury, while Erap over in Manila ran the nation's largest illegal gambling machine. Those were the days. But nothing these ruthless, merciless, completely self-centered rulers ever did will compare with the total anarchy of Africa -- especially that icon of email fraud, Nigeria.

The scale of the task facing Tony Blair in his drive to help Africa was laid bare yesterday when it emerged that Nigeria's past rulers stole or misused £220 billion.

That is as much as all the western aid given to Africa in almost four decades. The looting of Africa's most populous country amounted to a sum equivalent to 300 years of British aid for the continent.

Former leader Gen Sani Abacha stole between £1bn and £3bn. The figures, compiled by Nigeria's anti-corruption commission, provide dramatic evidence of the problems facing next month's summit in Gleneagles of the G8 group of wealthy countries which are under pressure to approve a programme of debt relief for Africa.

Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, has spoken of a new Marshall Plan for Africa. But Nigeria's rulers have already pocketed the equivalent of six Marshall Plans. After that mass theft, two thirds of the country's 130 million people - one in seven of the total African population - live in abject poverty, a third is illiterate and 40 per cent have no safe water supply.

With more people and more natural resources than any other African country, Nigeria is the key to the continent's success. Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, set up three years ago, said that £220 billion was "squandered" between independence from Britain in 1960 and the return of civilian rule in 1999.

"We cannot be accurate down to the last figure but that is our projection," Osita Nwajah, a commission spokesman, said in the capital, Abuja.

The stolen fortune tallies almost exactly with the £220 billion of western aid given to Africa between 1960 and 1997. That amounted to six times the American help given to post-war Europe under the Marshall Plan.

British aid for Africa totalled £720 million last year. If that sum was spent annually for the next three centuries, it would cover the cost of Nigeria's looting.

Corruption on such a scale was made possible by the country's possession of 35 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. That allowed a succession of military rulers to line their pockets and deposit their gains mainly in western banks.

Gen Sani Abacha, the late military dictator, stole between £1 billion and £3 billion during his five-year rule

Link

Miss McDonald in Manila: The Horror/Fetish Show Continues

Miss McDonald Fights for Freedom

Miss McDonald Cleans Her Yard

Miss McDonald Swings in Paco Park

Miss McDonald Relaxes at her Estate

Horror in Manila: Ms. McDonald

Welcome Home, Honey

Chinese Hopes and Dreams

Beijing 2008

What would Chinese like to see in their country in 2020?

If you ask me what I would want for China 20 years in the future. In short, I hope our seciety will be highly harmonious. Being harmonious definitely includes high level of equality and freedom.

I think there are as many Chinese people who care about equality, freedom and democracy as Americans. But we also understand that different countries are reading the different pages of development. Equality, freedom and democracy definitely needs to be achieved someday, but without social stability and economic prosperity, they could only be something in the air. Simply put, is today's China able to afford the massive cost of American style election?

A lot of Chinese people do complain about the government's policies and its corruption, but they also have confidence in the government coz it is really trying to reform as Wen Jia bao said early this year in front of the press. Can anybody name a government in any other developing countries who has done a better job in terms of the consistency of policy-making and the efficiency of policy-implementation in the past 20 years? No, not India. No, not East European countries. No, definitly not Ukraine. And do Chinese people have the right to believe in their own government?

When westerners are talking about freedom in China, have they ever considered China's freedom of development? When they are talking about the equality in China, have they ever taken the structure and process of development into account? When they are talking about democracy, would they accept some other form of democracy different than their norms?

Chinese on China via Public Enemy 1

No Dogs or Chinese Allowed

Mao Baby

Was there ever a sign in a Shanghai park that announced "No Dogs or Chinese Allowed?" Or is this yet another urban legend out of control? The question was revived recently by Richard at Peking Duck.

I can see why they don't all love us. (This is per the request of a commenter in a recent thread.)

Update: Apparently this picture is a fake. And commenters are telling me no such signs ever existed in China. Just another myth?

Baked by Richard TPD

Comments

Where is that from?
Posted by: shulan at June 13, 2005 08:43 AM

I copied it off a bulletin board (China Daily?) a long time ago; I think they said it was from a park in Shanghai.
Posted by: richard at June 13, 2005 08:48 AM

I doubt the authenticity of this. Seems more likely to be a mock-up from a movie.
Posted by: Filthy Stinking No.9 at June 13, 2005 08:50 AM

Read the Rest

**********************

Richard at The Peking Duck then follows the story with some great insight provided by one of his readers, and some photos of the original sign which probably inspired the discredited mythology.

No Dogs and Chinese, Part 2

Reader Shanghai Slim has done his homework and uncovered some interesting background information on the controversial sign (apparently a fake) that we've been arguing about lately. Here are the actual photos Shanghai Slim scanned (sources follow).

An early, undated photo of Huangpu park

The sign, translated above

A higher-quality close up of the sign

Compare that with the fake photo that started it all:

Shanghai Slim explains:

The photo is from a Chinese book, the translated title is "The Bund - History and Vicissitudes", edited by Lou Rongmin, Shanghai Pictorial Publishing House, circa 1990.

The sign reads as follows:

PUBLIC AND RESERVE GARDENS.

REGULATIONS.

1. The gardens are reserved for the foreign community.

2. The Gardens are open daily to the public from 6 a.m. and will be closed half an hour after midnight.

3. No persons are admitted unless respectably dressed.

4. Dogs and bicycles are not admitted.

5. Perambulators must be confined to the paths.

6. Birdnesting, plucking flowers, climbing trees or damaging the trees, shrubs or grass is strictly prohibited; visitors and others in charge of children are requested to aid in preventing such mischief.

7. No person is allowed within the band enclosure.

8. Amahs in charge of children are not permitted to occupy the seats and chairs during band performances.

9. Children unaccompanied by foreigners are not allowed in Reserve Garden.

10. The police have instructions to enforce these regulations.

By Order,
N.O. Liddell,
Secretray, Council Room, Shanghai, Sept. 13th 1917.

--------

I guess "No birdnesting or Chinese" doesn't have the same racist ring, does it.

Actually, it sounds more like classism than racism, as poorly-dressed foreigners were also barred. Anyway, while the sentiments were real, the infamous sign apparently was not.

More thoughts from Slim:

Given the controversy surrounding it, I can't figure out why this photo is not better known! The book I found it in was published in China, written in both Chinese and English.

While there is still the possibility there were other more succinct signs before or after this one, at least this photo proves the story is a bit more complex than
some would have it.

I think this tells us FSN9 and ESWN were on the right track -- it's about class more than race. There's no evidence I've seen so far to indicate there ever was an acual sign that said No Dogs and Chinese hanging over Huangpu Park. It's a myth, and judging from some of the comments it's a myth some do not want to let go of.

Thanks again, Mr. Slim, for helping us better undertand this sensitive subject.

Update: If this topic interests you, you'll want to see this.

Read the Rest and Check Out the Amazing Photos

*****************************

Then EastSouthWestNorth follows the discussion with some photos of modern examples of racism in China.

There is a Peking Duck post (and the follow-up) about the authenticity of a sign that says "No Dogs Or Chinese Allowed" at the entrance of a park in foreign-leased-territory in Shanghai. That issue has been beaten to death without a definitive answer as to whether such a sign really existed. Hearsay doesn't count and unauthenticated photographs don't count. What is required is a dated photograph of such a sign published in the 1910's/1920's, and that has not yet emerged.

But it is not the purpose of this post to deal with that piece of history. As far as I am concerned, the case is closed -- since Bruce Lee included such a scene in his movie Fists Of Fury (also sometimes known as The Chinese Connection) the entire Third World already believes this to be true! And we live in a globalized democracy and the majority rules! Here is the sign and Bruce kicking it to smithereens! See, it is true!

Anyway, I hope that you understand the preceding was said in jest. I am really more interested in contemporary examples of the same sign that can be readily authenticated. Here is the first one that was reported about a month ago:

ESWN Photos from China

Chris Myrick Loses His Mind

Chris Dreams of Shark Farms

Chris, formerly of Singapore and now resident in Shanghai, always seemed like a nice guy with a talent for writing, but he has obviously gone over the edge to the dark side on his latest missive. We all hope for a speedy recovery.

CHRIS: Excellent, I shall abandon my plan for a shark farm and will instead raise ostrich and genetically engineer them to be my evil army. . . Lisa, do ostrich have hooves or are they web-footed?

LISA: They have claws.

CHRIS: Interesting, when they attack do they make a fist or simply claw a pound of flesh from their enemies?

LISA: I believe sir, that they have the option of doing either.

CHRIS: Excellent, that's so much better than sharks - the shark farm was a stupid idea anyway, sharks couldn't attack my land-based enemies.

LISA: I thought you were thinking of an army of cats?

CHRIS: No!!! That was last year. I then decided I wanted an army of nefarious porpoises. Then I decided on sharks.

LISA: Hmmm?

CHRIS: Yes you see.. cats do not follow orders, but having a dolphin farm would raise suspicions..

LISA: Especially if you have a sign saying "nefarious porpoise farm."

Insanity in Shanghai

Southeast Asia, Tourism and Islamic Terrorists

Bauhaus Clothing Advertisement

This may not be the best time in the world to take that fabled vacation to the lovely region known as Southeast Asia, thanks to some terrorist organizations which have somehow forgotten that Islam is the self-proclaimed "religion of peace."

S.E. Asian extremists said readying attacks
Yoshinari Kurose Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

Three Southeast Asian radical Islamic organizations are believed to be in the final stages of preparing simultaneous bombings in Jakarta, Manila and Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines, according to security sources.

Southeast Asian security officials have warned that the terrorist plan has entered the execution stage and are scrambling to avert the attack by cracking down on members of the radical organizations.

Security sources told The Yomiuri Shimbun that the three organizations are Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a Southeast Asian terrorist group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is seeking independence for the southern Philippines, and Abu Sayyaf.

Abu Faraj al-Libbi, the Al-Qaida terrorist network's No. 3 man arrested in northwestern Pakistan in May, ordered the joint terrorist operation to target major countries' facilities, possibly including U.S. and British embassies, the sources said.

Saudi Arabian supporters funded the operation and pledged to pay a bonus to terrorists should their attack damage U.S. facilities, the sources said.

Azahari Husin and Noordin Muhammad Top, two JI leaders believed to have been responsible for the terrorist bombings in Bali, Indonesia, in October 2002; Dulmatin and Umar Patek, two senior JI members thought to be under the protection of MILF; and Khaddafy Janjalani of Abu Sayyaf planned the terrorist attacks, the sources said.

Husin and Top are in hiding in Indonesia, according to the sources.

The three organizations, which have formed an alliance in an attempt to foil the police crackdown, are also thought to be behind the Feb. 14 simultaneous bombings in Manila, and Davao and General Santos on Mindanao, the sources said.

Azahari and his followers wired five passenger cars with bombs in Indramayu, West Java Province, Indonesia, about 175 kilometers east of Jakarta, and had suicide bombers--who underwent training at a secret camp called Jabal Quba near Mt. Kalalao on Mindanao--drive the vehicles to Jakarta, the sources said.

It is highly likely Azahari and Top traveled to Jakarta to take charge of the attacks, the sources said.

Because embassies in the countries have stepped up security measures to prevent terrorist attacks, the terrorists might instead attack softer targets, including European and U.S. hotels, the sources said.

Terrorists driving car bombs could slip through police cordons in Jakarta and Manila to target buildings that are less tightly protected, the sources said.

On June 3, an official of the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta warned U.S. citizens in Indonesia that terrorists were planning to blow up lobbies of Jakarta hotels popular with Westerners.

Link

Burmese Ghost Story

Ghost Story by Giancarlo Neri

General Ne Win was the psychopathic, insanely suspicious ruler of Burma back in the good old days, when his paranoia and bloodthirsty demand for total control almost completely ruined the country. No, I take that back. He did ruin the country. His long list of absurdities would be funny if they weren't so tragic for the Burmese people, who were subjected to his seriously deranged mind. Here's yet another example of a madman in control of a country.

Myanmar to release first ghost movie in 30 years
Press Trust of India
Yangon, June 24, 2005

Straying from traditional love stories, Myanmar's film industry will soon release its first ghost movie in more than three decades, a local journal reported today.

The movie, 'The Night of the Ghost Buster,' will be released on video and will be "vey scary," the Myanmar-language Kumudra journal said, quoting a well-known Myanmar movie director, Maung Myo Min. "I will produce more ghost movies based on true stories," he was quoted as saying.

Ghost movies were popular among Myanmar people, who are generally superstitious, before the genre was banned in the late 1960s by the late socialist dictator Gen. Ne Win.

Ne Win nationalised more than 400 cinemas throughout the country in 1968 after he introduced a socialist system, banning movies that contained stories about ghosts and the supernatural, a film industry source said.

'The Night of the Ghost Buster' will be released in two parts, both of which have already been filmed and feature popular actors and actresses, the report said.

The director was quoted as saying that he had some difficulty making the ghost movie, and that they had shot the film at houses considered to be haunted.

Link

The Forgotten Victims of Khao Lak

Burmese with Wackin' Great Cheroot

Most people unfamiliar with Thailand will probably associate the tsunami of 2004 with the popular beach resort island of Phuket, as most video coverage of the event was taken on that tropical island, with less plentiful coverage coming from nearby Ko Phi Phi and Ao Pranang. But the most serious damage and death occurred an hour north of Phuket on a long stretch of beach commonly known as Khao Lak near the town of Takua Pa, where an estimated 5000 lives were taken that morning and dozens of hotels and beach resorts were instantly wiped out on that terrible morning. Less well known is that thousands of immigrant Burmese workers were also killed, and that the Thai government has done almost nothing to aid these unfortunate victims, who are now the main work force rebuilding the devastated coastline.

Forgotten Tsunami Victims Rebuild Resorts
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 24, 2005

TAKUA PA, Thailand (AP) -- Migrant workers from Myanmar were the cheap labor that built Thai resorts where 2,000 foreign tourists died in the tsunami. Now, they're rebuilding bungalows and hotels on this splendid beach to lure back tourists.

Despite their economic role, they say they are the forgotten victims -- having received little or no aid from either Thailand or their own government in the six months since the disaster. As foreign governments helped Thailand in the search for tsunami victims, nobody looked for the Myanmar workers, whose death toll is estimated between 1,000 and 7,000.

The laborers say they watched from their shanties and cinderblock homes as food and supplies were handed out to their Thai neighbors.

''When I come here to help do construction work for them (the Thais), I make them happy, but when something happens to me, they don't help me,'' 56-year-old Aung Than said, holding two photos of his son and nephew, who were killed in the Dec. 26 tsunami along with his niece. Only the body of his nephew was found, while the other two are still missing.

Of the approximately 5,400 people officially listed as dead along Thailand's Andaman Sea coast, half were foreigners. Some Thai officials estimate 1,000 of the migrants from Myanmar died, but the Tsunami Action Group, a nonprofit organization that helps the workers, puts the toll at 6,000 to 7,000.

The exact number is unlikely to ever be known because of the large number of undocumented workers from Myanmar, which is also known as Burma. Many Burmese workers refused to go to mortuaries to identify colleagues, fearing police would arrest them for not having work permits.

Before the tsunami, there were more than 31,000 Burmese workers registered in Phang Nga province, north of the resort island of Phuket. Afterward, their numbers fell to 23,000, the Tsunami Action Group said, but added the actual number might may be twice that.

The reconstruction boom in the Khao Lak resort area on Phang Nga's coast makes the area look like a city being built from scratch. Earning about $3 to $6 for a day's labor, Burmese comprise a majority of the work force, living in temporary shelters behind the luxury resorts they are building.

Read the Rest

Indian Cuisine in Malaysia

See Malaya

On my recent press trip to Malaysia, our group of travel writers and photographers were treated to several Indian meals in Kuala Lumpur, and we all were dazzled with the smells, colors, and mood elevation effects of the subcontinental cuisine. I wondered why the meals were so satisfying, and today I finally found the secret to this magical blend of herbs and spices.

Malaysia 'addicted' to herb food
By Jonathan Kent
BBC, Kuala Lumpur

Mr Mohamad says the food is laced with opium poppy seeds. A Malaysian MP has accused the country's Indian Muslim restaurateurs of lacing their food with habit-forming herbs. Mohamad Said Yusof told parliament patrons of what are known as Mamak restaurants had been fooled into thinking the food was simply tasty.

But in reality they had become addicts, he said.

Earlier this year Malaysia announced plans to send its most popular Indian Muslim dishes into orbit. Most saw it as a patriotic if eccentric gesture. Now, though, some suspect that it may truly be space food.

Mr Mohamad, an MP in Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's party, says the food is laced with opium poppy seeds - known as kas kas in Malay, and used legally by chefs around the world. He told parliament that it had become the norm for young Malaysians to hang out in Mamak restaurants into the small hours of the morning. He believes they and many others have become addicted to the food and he called for kas kas to be banned.

However, Mr Mohamad stopped short of demanding that offending restaurant owners be locked up under Malaysia's Internal Security Act.

BBC Reports

Sumatra Tsunami Aid Almost Frozen

Banda Aceh Tsunami Destruction

The world has donated over $10,000,000,000 for the victims of last year's tsunami, but very little of that money has reached the Indonesians, Thais, Indians, and Sri Lankans, who continue to live in miserable conditions. Where has the money gone? Why are the Sumatrans still living in flooded tents? Why has the land of the impoverished in Khao Lak been stolen by the rich and powerful? Why are Sri Lankans being forced back from their valuable beachfront land and told to live somewhere inland? Tsunami aid relief is unquestionably an explosive issue that will gain momentum with time, but what about the victims? Where is the money? Where is the aid?

Aceh: only 1% of tsunami aid spent
6.55PM, Fri Jun 24 2005

Six months on from the Asian tsunami, ITV News has found that only one per cent of aid has been spent on rebuilding homes in one of the worst-hit regions.

Up to 130,000 people died as a result of the Boxing Day tragedy in the Indonesian province of Banda Aceh.

The British public raised more than £400 million in response to the devastation, which left half a million people homeless.

But in Aceh, they still live in flooded tents and rickety wooden shacks, and we found only a penny in every pound has been spent on rebuilding homes.

The head of Aceh's rebuilding programme, Korro Mangusubroto, has admitted: "Only one per cent of the money has been spent. I know we need to move fast, but we need to be supported.

Read the Rest

Tom Cruise -- Scientology Victim?

Tom and Matt

Has anyone else noticed that Tom Cruise has turned into one of the world's most idiotic assholes? He is living proof that Scientology can turn people into pompous, arrogant, know-it-alls without a shred of civility. Cruise was interviewed this morning by Matt Lauer on the Today show, and the transcript below shows that he has totally lost any decency he may have had.........hopefully his fiancee will wake up and run, run, run from this blathering idiot.

CRUISE 'WAR OF WORLDS' INTERVIEW TURNS INTO SHOWDOWN ON PSYCHIATRY, SCIENTOLOGY

NBC 'TODAY SHOW' host Matt Lauer was lectured by star Tom Cruise on the dangers of psychiatry and antidepressants during a promotional interview for WAR OF THE WORLDS.

The exchange aired Friday morning.

LAUER: TOM CRUISE CREATED A FIRESTORM WHEN HE CRITICIZED BROOKE SHIELDS FOR REVEALING THAT SHE WENT INTO THERAPY AND TOOK ANTIDEPRESSANTS TO DEAL WITH HER POST PARTUM DEPRESSION. AS A SCIENTOLGIST, HE DOESN'T BELIEVE IN PSYCHIATRIC MEDICINE. I ASKED HIM ABOUT HIS COMMENTS.

CRUISE: I've never agreed with psychiatry, ever. Before I was a Scientologist I never agreed with psychiatry. and when i started studying the history of psychiatry, i understood more and more why i didn't believe in psychology.

//And as far as the Brooke Shields thing is, look. You gotta understand, I really care about Brooke Shields. I-- I think here's a-- a-- a wonderful and talented woman. And-- I wanna see her do well. And I know that-- psychiatry is-- is a pseudo science.

MATT LAUER: But-- but Tom, if she said that this particular thing helped her feel better, whether it was the antidepressant or going to a counselor or psychiatrist, isn't that enough? //

TOM CRUISE: Matt, you have to understand this. Here we are today where I talk out against drugs and psychiatric abuses of electric shocking people (PH), okay, against their will, of drugging children with them not knowing the effects of these drugs. Do you know what Aderol (PH) is? Do you know Ritalin? Do you know now that Ritalin is a street drug? Do you understand that?

Limited Transcript of Tom Cruise Interview at Drudge Report

The Entire Interview Posted at MSNBC Website

Animusic Announces Disc Two

Animusic 01

Animusic 02

Animusic 03

Animusic 04

Animusic 05

Animusic Creator

After a short delay of, oh, six years, the genuis creators of Animusic have finally announced the immenent release of Disc Two, of their extraordinary collection of computer graphics and computer music as often featured on PBS TV stations here in the U.S. You have never seen anything like this and if the description sounds up your alley, send in a pre-order.

Of course, the CD ships in October. But it's that good.

ANIMUSIC 2 Release Date
Hello, friends of Animusic!

Our new DVD, Animusic 2, now has an official release date of October 29, 2005.

Production is really kicking into high gear! With most of the animation now complete, we'll soon be mixing the music (in both Surround and Stereo), creating the menus, completing the cover art, and wrapping up all the other last minute details.

The DVD will include both Widescreen and Fullscreen versions of all music animations (custom rendered for each format), to give an optimal viewing experience regardless of the shape of your TV or monitor. And like on our last DVD, we’re going over the top on bonus material.

We do appreciate all the interest in Animusic 2, and we thank you for your patience. Not a day goes by when we don't get email asking, "When is the new DVD going to be ready?". Related comments include everything from “Hurry up already” to “Take your time and make it great”.

We won't get a second chance to produce Animusic 2, so we're being quite meticulous in order to make it as good as we possibly can. We hope you'll find it's worth the wait.

For now, there are new preview images on the web site, and also a video clip of "Starship Groove". We'll be adding more images and clips, plus more details about the Animusic 2 DVD, as the release date approaches!

Thanks for your support and encouragement,

Wayne, Dave, Greg, Jeff, Diane, Pat

Animusic Announces Disc Two

Gloria Arroyo Hots up the Waters

Gloria Glorious Gloria

In case you haven't heard, the current president of the Philippines, Gloria Arroyo, is now in hot water and politically treacherous terrority after somebody recorded her private phone conversations which seem to indicate that perhaps somebody was manipulating the Filipino elections of Fall 2004. I don't know, but the snippets of sensitive conversation are now being posted as phone rings and all the country is going nuts.

A president of the Philippines accused of corruption or political manipulation?

Horrors. The mind reels.

The last guy, Erap, was run out of office after accusations that he and his family were closely associated with a popular gambling game called jueteng, and his extended relatives had made tens of millions off the game, kinda like old-time numbers back here in the States. Marcos was voted out after he foolishly agreed to spontaneous elections during a live TV broadcast on American TV. I still remember that night. And then the Filipinos march down to EDSA Highway in Makati (the Wall Street of Manila) and protest until the president resigns and they figure out who the hell will replace their corrupt president.

It's all happening again after Gloria may have been caught checking in with her Mindanao campaign managers who perhaps, perhaps guaranteed her a victory of one million votes. It all sounds bogus to me, and I just wish the Filipinos could figure out how to maintain a singular, civil government for an entire four-year term of the presidency. Don't they just get tired of overthrowing their government every few years with demonstrations down EDSA?

Great analysis from Torn and Frayed:

I can't help thinking about the parallels and dissimilarities between what is happening now and the events that toppled a Philippine president four and a half years ago.

Superficially, there is much that ties the two events together. Both scandals involved huge payments to the president and his or her family from jueteng gambling lords. If anything, Gloria's offences are more serious than Erap's. Not only did her family enrich themselves from illegal earnings, she appointed a known swindler as commissioner of elections and, it now appears certain, colluded with him to fix the election results in Mindanao.

Still, there are many more differences between the two crises and, hard though I try, I can't see Gloria taking a barge up the Pasig any time soon. Here are a few (roughly in order of importance, in my view):

* The middle class, which was in the vanguard of Edsa 2, may be disgusted with the wiretapping and jueteng revelations, but has shown no enthusiasm whatsoever to take to the streets again.

* Edsa 2 followed a broadly successful People Power revolution in 1986. The Aquino and Ramos administrations were disappointing, but not too many Filipinos would have preferred a continuation of martial law under Marcos. So, why not try it again? Kick them out! The 2005 wiretapping and jueteng scandals, on the other hand, follow a People Power revolution (Edsa 2) that disillusioned almost everyone. The prevailing feeling this time around is sort of hopeless: if we get rid of this load of crooks the next lot would probably be worse.

* In 2001, the revolution was televised. The high drama of Estrada's impeachment hearings gripped and politicized the nation. There is nothing to compare with that this time around. A "Hello Garcia" ringtone just doesn't hack it.

* The economy is better in 2005 than in 2000/2001 and for the first time in eight years (since I came to the Philippines in fact) the economic projections are positive.

* In the 2005 crisis, the Vice-President is from the same party as the President.

* The 2005 president has balls. Or at least the tenacity to cling to power like a little barnacle. I can't see her ever just giving up as Erap did.

Torn and Frayed Comments on the Latest Crisis in Manila

Hidden Christian Bible

Ms. Christ in Makati

Are there lost chapters to the Bible, which were once censored by Catholic prelates who have hidden the true story of Christ from the world for over 2000 years? Who gives a fuck? But Christian conspiracy theories are always great fun and seem to dredge up whatever guilt you were cursed with growing up as a kid in America.....or even the Philippines. So, sometimes Sassy Lawyer in the Philippines (confirmed atheist as far as I can tell) will rag on about the Christian church, their abnormal control over Filipino society, the tyranny of Cardinal Sin (thankfully dead), conflicts in her country between State and Religion, and other stuff, and yesterday she wondered about some lost books of the Bible.

Sassy, it's all a joke........but the comments are excellent and you will find your best Catholic comments about Christianity in Asia coming from the Philippines (of course) and Sassy allows the discussion to flow. Good stuff.

This is interesting. It isn’t new information but it is certainly new to me. A group of clerics excluded a lot of text from the Bible, including the Book of Enoch. This group decided what could be and could not be read, what could and could not be practiced. Where it derived its authority, I am still trying to find out.

It all began with end of the war between Rome and Persia. Arian Valens, a Christian, Roman emperor and ruler of the eastern half of the Roman empire, was trying to resolve theological divisiveness that was the product of the reigns of previous ‘pagan’ emperors. Hence, the assembly of the clerics called the Council of Laodicea. It laid down 60 canons (some say 59), one of which specified what would be included in the Bible. One of those excluded was the Book of Enoch.

According to The Reluctant Messenger, Enoch was the grandfather of Noah. He is quoted in the Book of Jude but where could the quote be based on? So, it appears that until the 3rd or 4th century after the death of Jesus, the Book of Enoch was very much part of Christian reading. Then, the Council of Laodicea took place and the book went into extinction. Almost.

Sassy Lawyer in the Philippines

Name that Siamese King

Rama 7?

Ron Morris over at the always informative and entertaining www.2bangkok.com has just posted an undated and undescribed image of Royal Procession Siam and asked for an identity of the young king up on his palaquin, obviously cruising through one of the finer neighborhoods in Bangkok. His best guess is King Rama VII, but does anyone recognize the young ruler? Please send your best guesses over to Ron!

2Bangkok Guessing Game - Big Prizes!!!

Tour Guides in Myanmar

Happy Birthday, Aung San Suu Kyi

I've been to Burma several times and have occasionally hired drivers or guides to show me around, and help me avoid some of the heat and humidity that makes travel in that repressed Asian country so miserable. But I've never had a guide who felt free enough to express any political opinions and have rarely met an average Burmese citizen who felt safe enough to make any remarks about the political holocaust of the country.

One time, I arrived on a cruise ship from Singapore and hired a taxi from the dock, which is right downtown opposite the famous Strand Hotel, to take me up to the residence of Suu Kyi, and he seemed excited to transport a Westerner up to her house on the southern banks of some local lake. But he was also paranoid, and insisted on parking his cab a block down the road near a cafe to avoid prying eyes.

I never made it in to see Suu Kyi since appointments are always necessary and the journalist arriving without advance notice is somewhat suspicious, to say the least. But I chatted with a lady writer from Paris Match and had a look around the front yard of Suu Kyi and the sad condition of the decrepit house she has been confined to for over a decade.

However, a recent colorful article in Irrawaddy Times, an independent anti-Rangoon website coming from Chiang Mai, talks about the honesty and directness of local travel guides. I don't know. Anyone ever met an outspoken guide or driver in Myanmar?

Tour guides aren’t scared to tell the truth

Burma’s independent tour guides can sometimes be refreshingly independent. San Tha Kyaw, the guide who welcomed us aboard the bus at the start of our package tour of Burma, was clearly no apologist for the regime, and his patter raised some eyebrows among our group.

A Burmese soldier rests in front of a stupa in the archaeological zone of old Pagan
“We are now driving along Pyay Road,” he informed us as we approached the city from the airport. “As we drive you will see that some parts of Yangon are not illuminated. That is because the government has established a rotating system to provide electricity to different parts of the city at a time. Our country is rich, but the people are poor. Our riches are taken by the military and big business.”

As the bus approached University Avenue, San Tha Kyaw informed us that Aung San Suu Kyi’s home was on this road. “But you cannot go there. She is under house arrest. She is a very nice lady, she is upright.”

A glowing description of Aung San Suu Kyi’s background, her life and achievements followed. “I can say that 99.9 percent of our people like her. Only 0.1 percent do not, and those are in the military.”

The unexpected utterances of our outspoken guide made more compelling listening than the usual recitation of facts and figures. We listened attentively, eager for more. Our guide didn’t disappoint us.

Read the Rest

Whale Burgers in Japan?

Ah, Whale Sushi

This is almost beyond comprehension. The Japanese have already hunted most fish from the wrld's oceans to the point where many species are now on the endangered list, but they continue to insist on the right to hunt and kill whales on the pretext of research. But now whale meat is showing up in fast food restaurants in Japan. What more do they want?

A small chain of restaurants in northern Japan has started serving whale burgers. The chain said it hoped to increase whale meat's popularity among locals. The new dish coincides with Japan's failure to overturn a ban on commercial whale hunting at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

Japan has said it will double the number of whales it kills for scientific research, a move that was opposed by an IWC vote on Wednesday. The chain of restaurants, on the island of Hokkaido, said the burgers were selling well. A spokeswoman said the timing of the new dish, coinciding with the annual meeting of the IWC in South Korea, was accidental.

But she said she hoped it would give more young people a chance to try whale, which was once commonplace on the menu, but has declined in popularity over the years. All of Japan's whale meat comes from the 700 or so it is allowed to kill every year for research purposes. Conservationists condemn this cull as unnecessary and unscientific.

BBC Report on Whale Meat as Fast Food

Corby Reaction in Australia

Javanese Court Dancer

Corby may be guilty and among the world's stupidest drug smugglers, but she may also be completely innocent and due for an immediate release from prison in Bali, but it's painfully apparent that nobody should be locked up for 20 years for importation of pot and Indonesian laws need to be ammended to distinguish between hard drugs such as heroin and relatively harmless drugs such as marijuana. But the Australian media also needs to settle down and debate the issues based on fact and not rumors or sensationalism, as pointed out in this excellent article by Glenda Kwek.

Australia has been gripped by the drug-smuggling trial of Schapelle Corby over the past few months. Not a day has gone by without her face splashed on the front page of a newspaper nor without repeated screenings on the news channels of her wading through the media scrum outside a Balinese courtroom.

But since the verdict of the case has been announced, the mood of Corby’s supporters has turned hysterical, with reports of people attempting to withdraw the money they donated to tsunami appeals and plans to boycott travel to Bali and Indonesia.

A talkback radio host has likened Indonesians to monkeys, a term also used by some Australians posting comments on news websites. The delivery of a biological agent to the Indonesian embassy in Canberra together with a highly abusive note has also been linked to the Corby case.

Two elements of this case - the role of the media in covering the case and the overt and subtle racism and xenophobia arising from anger about the verdict - should be considered. A recent Mediawatch on the ABC highlighted some of these issues, such as the repeated mantra that the Indonesian justice system was unfair and placed the burden of proof on defendants instead of on the prosecutors.

There were comparisons made between Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged mastermind of the Bali bombings in October 2002, who received a 30-month prison term, and Corby’s 20-year sentence.

Online Opinion on Corby in Bali

Maids in Singapore

Singapore Amah

Asia Times Online has just published a report on the maid situation in Singapore, and as you can imagine, it ain't pretty. Filipino, Sri Lankan, and especially Indonesian maids have long been abused in Singapore with zero days off per month, ridiculously long work days not unlike slavery, and exhorbitant fees demanded by maid employment firms both back home and in Singapore. Do check the monthly rates for the three nationalities.

Wages for FDWs are dictated by supply and demand. Filipino maids, who often speak some English, usually receive around S$351 a month. Sri Lankans, most with some education and English ability, get S$247, and the villagers who comprise the bulk of Indonesian FDWs are paid S$197. In addition, the employer pays the S$195 monthly levy to the government.

While the Employment Agencies Act of 2000 stipulates that agencies can only take 10% of a FDW's first month's salary, and another S$5 as a commission, social worker Jolovan Wham of HOME said in an interview it is the norm for agencies to take between three and six months of a FDW's salary as commission.

Asia Times Online Looks at the Maid Situation in Singapore

Macam Macam on Asian Currency

Lao 100 Kip

The Swanker at Macam Macam has posted an intriguing story about Malaysian currency, and asks us to contemplate what a national currency tells us about national imagery. Malaysian currency, for example starts out with a fairly humanitarian approach, then progressively becomes more economic achievement oriented as the denominations increase.

Banknotes: what do they tell us?

I have this theory that you can always tell alot about a country - how it sees itself, or how the government would like its people or foreigners to see it - by its banknotes. I take for example today, Malaysia's banknotes

The fellow on the front of the one ringgit note (and all other notes) is the Yan Di-Pertuan Agung, chief sultan amongst the bunch of Malay sultans that share the Head of State role every five years.

Like many nations borne of modern colonialism, some great heroic event or struggle is important in galvanising national identity and patriotism. So the reverse of the note shows Malaysia's National Monument in Kuala Lumpur. It depicts the nation's struggle against a Communist insurgency that last over a decade during the 1950s and 1960s.

Macam Macam on Malaysian Currency

Indcoup on Indonesian Maids

Average Indonesian Maid

Indcoup is a Brit living in Jakarta for over 10 years, who has used local maids the entire period, and he has a problem with a recent report produced by Human Rights Watch. Funny stuff, and certainly points out one of the glaring problems of HRW and their periodic reports on slavery conditions in Asia.

Domestic Help

Can live with ‘em. Can’t live without ‘em. Domestic maids. I love them so much. And for good reason too: I haven’t so much as washed or ironed a shirt in the last ten years, swept the floor or even cooked a meal. Call me a lazy bastard if you like, but at least I provide work for two young village girls, one aged 14 the other 16.

So looking through the latest news items on the Guardian website, I was most displeased to come across an article heavily critical of the employment conditions of young maids in Indonesia.

John Aglionby writes:

Read the Rest

Shanghaist by Dan Washburn

Shanghaist Goes Live

Longtime blogger, veteran traveler, and sports nut Dan Washburn in Shanghai has just started a new blog about all things Shanghainese, which is logically called Shanghaist (after parent company Gothamist), and it promises to be a priceless source of lives, innuendo, and gossip about the world's most exciting city.

**********************

We haven’t officially launched yet — we are currently in what they call “soft launch” or “beta” mode — but I think Shanghaiist.com is starting to look pretty damn good. So, go ahead, take a look. This is your invitation.

We’re still working out some kinks, and all of our features haven’t been added yet and most of our contributors still haven’t contributed anything. But there’s enough there for you to click around in. Let us know what you think. And feel free to leave some comments on the site.

Also, don’t forget to sign up for Consumating and 43 Things. And you Flickr users can start tagging your photos “shanghaiist” — when our photo page is live, you’ll see your photos there.

Finally, Shanghaiist is still looking for some dedicated posters who know Shanghai well. If you’d like to join our team, send us a non-boring email.

Now, get on over to Shanghaiist.

Shanghaist

The Nation Letters

E & O to Sukothai

Indian monks not exempt from two-tier pricing

Recently I accompanied two distinguished Hindu monks on a visit to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. At the ticket window, I asked if they could be exempted from paying the Bt250-admission fee on the grounds that they were Indian monks. I was told no, they had to pay, because they weren’t Thai. The Buddha wasn’t Thai, either. In fact, he was an Indian monk. If the Buddha were to come to Bangkok incognito today, they would charge him Bt250 to enter his own temple. Something to think about.

Diogenes

Bangkok

********************

Malaysia is getting the tourism mix just right

So, which of the following countries is promoting tourism? Country “A”:

l Ninety-day tourist visa upon arrival for many nationalities, 30 days for just about everyone else.

l Encourages shopping centres to extend operating hours to cater for tourists’ needs and habits.

l Tourists can purchase what they want, when they want.

l No travel restrictions

l Encourages entertainment operators to extend their hours to cater for tourists’ needs.

l Has a good reputation for making tourists feel welcome.

l Has an expanding tourism industry.

Country “B”

l Maximum 30-day tourist visas upon arrival for approximately 40 nationalities, 15 days only for about 15 others.

l Restricts shopping centre operating hours.

l Confusing (for tourists) sales for alcohol sales.

l No fuel sales at night restricts overnight travel.

l Restricted entertainment hours, often random and confusing early closing times.

l Is getting a bad reputation for hassling tourists (urine tests, passport checks, etc)

l Has a tourism industry in crisis.

The tsunami is now being used more and more as an excuse for Thailand’s declining attraction as a tourist destination. I would suggest that unless Thailand once again becomes more tourist friendly and recognises that the average tourist does not appreciate being dictated to as to when he or she can eat, drink, dance or spend their hard-earned money on their annual holiday, they will not return. I cannot recall any major tourist destination where one cannot eat, drink or dance after 1am except here.

Every right-minded person supports this government’s policies on eradicating underage drinking and drug abuse, but the effects on the tourist industry of total bans on everyone, irrespective of age or nationality, seems too financially destructive to an industry that was already reeling from ongoing natural attacks, Sars, avian flu etc.

Malaysia has clearly shown that good promotions, good advertising and clear policy do make a difference, and its government is predicting increasing tourist revenue.

Thailand still has many advantages. Its religious and cultural diversity, the variety of excellent quality foods available, a far greater range of attractions, better and cheaper internal transport systems, a better and cheaper range of hotels and resorts, etc. Bangkok is actually less congested and certainly easier to get around with more abundant and better-maintained taxis than KL. Thailand is still slightly cheaper and its people are certainly friendlier.

Only by making tourists want to visit Thailand will they return in significant numbers. A Bt1,000 reduction off Phuket visa fees and a reduction in landing fees will not make any major difference.

Make it easy for tourists to come here (visas), let them have fun, they are on holiday after all (entertainment hours), let them spend their money (shopping centre hours) and stop hassling them on the streets. Maybe, just maybe with good overseas promotions, they may return.

JR Smith

Bangkok

College Freshman Initiation Rites -- Thai Style

Remember College?

Most American fraternities and sororities have initiation rites for new members, but in Thailand, there exists entire colleges where freshmen must go through such rituals, as shown by the above photo recently posted in either the Thai chatroom at pantip.com or in Thai Rath, a Thai language newspaper big on sex and sensationalism.

It's not really what it seems, but you'll need to read the comments in the link below to find out. The Bangkok Post article about hazing rituals has expired, though Bangkok Planet thoughtfully posted the story.

Bangkok Metblog Link

Sarong Party Girl Scandal in Singapore

Sarong Party Girl

The latest sex scandal to erupt in conservative Singapore has been set off by a young female blogger who goes by the handle "Sarong Party Girl," after she posted a photo of herself in a semi-nude pose. Suddenly, she was the talk of the Singaporean blogosphere and subsequently earned a mention in the local rag sheet (the unlinkable Singapore Straits Times), before her folks saw the controversial image and shamed her into removing the offending image.

Prostitution is legal and regulated by the government in Singapore, but soft-core porn posted by local ladies still fascinates the local media.

Naked blogger bends Singapore's rules
Going for a Sarong
Nick Farrell
June 14, 2005

A 19 year old woman has got the Singapore's administrators all in a tizzy by posting naked pictures of herself in her sexy blog. The woman who pens her blog under the handle "Sarong Party Girl" is writing her site in a country that frowns on anything that looks vaguely like pornography.

However it seems that http://sarongpartygirl.blogspot.com/ is one step ahead of the law in Singapore. According to The Straits Times, most of Singapore's tough porn laws are for print and video, and the Internet is still seen as a grey area.

The weblog details Sarong Party Girl's life and numerous sexual escapades while she waits to penetrate the academic world. She has a following of about 3000 readers since she started her blog in February last year.

"There is nothing wrong with having a nude picture of yourself published or on show, as long as there is an artistic value to it," she told the newspaper. "These pictures were nice."

Asian Sex Gazette Link

Wanna Be a Pilot in Thailand?

Whale Suicide in Phuket

Thailand's latest budget air carrier -- Thai Sky Airlines -- is seeking to add experienced pilots to its roster, but the requirements are pretty stiff at 500 hours and the ability to speak English. Too bad about their job announcement:

URGENTRY REQUIRED

Thai Nationality Pilots

Thai nationality thae age 25 - 45 year old. Flying Time Total 500 HRS or more
Holding Commercail Pilot License and Instrument Rating or Airline transport pilot license

Please send resume or CV along with passport size photo ( Taken within past 6 mouths )

All aplicant must be able to communicate in English

Thai Sky Airlines is Hiring!

New York Times on "Hippie" Chiang Mai

Traffic Jams in Old Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai has for the last few decades been a hippie hideaway, a place where those who couldn't take the hustle-and-bustle of Bangkok or the sex-soaked southern beach scene came to chill out, study Buddhism in the local temples, or wats, and head into the surrounding wilderness in search of elephant camps, hill tribes and a more "authentic" Thai experience.

Ten years ago, however, the Four Seasons opened just north of Chiang Mai, offering five-star comfort in the realm of $5-a-night guesthouses. And in 2001, after Thaksin Shinawatra, a Chiang Mai native, became Thai prime minister, the region began to receive increased development funds and outside investment. Today, the old walled, wat-dotted, moat-bordered city of Chiang Mai is surrounded by a modern sprawl of shopping centers, highways, high-rise hotels and Starbucks, and the Four Seasons is no longer the only luxury game in town: there's the new Rachamankha, designed by the architect Rooj Changtrakul; the Chedi Chiang Mai, in the former British Consulate, set to open in July; and the D2, a boutique offering from the Dusit Thani chain.

New York Times on Chiang Mai

Aung San Suu Kyi at 60

Birthday Girl

Aung San Suu Kyi -- still under house arrest in Yangoon -- turns 60 this Sunday, and here's what a few of the world's figures have to say about her and her detention.

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“It is unfortunate that she is celebrating under circumstances that one would not have wished for her, a leader of her party, and I wish she were out amongst the people and her supporters, pushing for stability and democracy and democratization of her society.”

—Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General

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“As Aung San Suu Kyi celebrates her 60th birthday, I wish for her that those changes will happen as soon as possible, and that my silly idea—to hand her a rose—becomes a simple and easy thing to do.”

—Vaclav Havel, Former President of the Czech Republic

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“Because your cause is our cause, wherever freedom-loving people rise up to carry on the legacy of the Rose Revolution, the spirit and support of the Georgian people stand with you.”

—Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili

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“Her dedication, resolve, courage and patience are the mark of a leader. We stand tall for her, as she will again stand tall for herself.”

—REM lead singer Michael Stipe

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“We join people around the world in protesting the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, who is a leader in the struggle for freedom in Burma.”

—Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States, in her remarks on International Women's Day on March 8, 2005

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“There is nothing they have to lose [by releasing Suu Kyi]. It will make things easier for everyone.”

—Malaysia’s former premier Mahathir Mohamad

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“Her treatment by the Burmese authorities is indefensible…”

—British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw

The Irrawaddy Online

Good News in Pattaya

Party Time on Walking Street

Sounds like plenty of bars and nightclubs in Pattaya are now ignoring the early closing hours, and the police don't seem to bust anyone until the reasonable hour of 5 am.

Bar owners arrested for serving drinks after hours
Pattaya Mail
June 17, 2005

A police crackdown on after-hours drinking has resulted in the arrest of several beer bar owners on Walking Street.

Pol Col Somnuk Changate, superintendent at Pattaya police station, led a 5 a.m. swoop on June 10, officers first descending on the Marine beer bar where there was still a crowd of tourists drinking. The owner, who was not named, was arrested.

Officers then went on to other bars still open. They arrested Tiger Sports Bar owner and manager U-thai Khokhuntod, 36, and then went to the JP 1 beer bar, arresting owner and manager Panuwat Pungsanthia, 26. They then arrested Hard Rock beer bar owner Pitak Pinyo, 23, and Performance Bar owner Suthasinee, 27. Police charged all of them with being open over the time limit set by the law.

The arrested owners have complained that although there were some 20 beer bars open after hours, only a few arrests were made. If the orders are that all beer bar owners allowing their premises to be open after the legal time limit are to be arrested, why have only a few singled out, they asked.

Thai Omlette

Thai Omlette at Street Level

Thai Omlette Getting Set

Thai Omlette - Add Some Spice: dyed red coconut (don't ask me why), tofu, bean sprout, ginger, galanga, spring onion

Thai Omlette: another dash of bean sprouts

Thai Omlette: Spoon, fold thrice

Thai Omlette Ingrediants: Dyed red coconut, bean sprouts, green onion, peanuts, dried shrimp, diced chicken or other meat, exacto knife to be used on small, obnoxious children.

These photos are descriptions provided by Richard (and others, both farang and Thai), an English language instructor and administrator who lives about an hour south of Bangkok in the coastal town of Samut Prakan in Samut Prakan Province. God, Richard, I hope I got that right. Richard has an amazing website at www.thai-blogs.com and provides the most accurate, honest, and up-to-date information on what is real with teaching English in Thailand. I steal often from his website and always try to give him and his other writers such as Steve from Suphanburi proper credit, but sometimes I forget and this is an advanced apology for all future problems. I love you guys and wish you all the best, but if I make mistakes just let me know and I'll set things right.

The Beach! Leo. In an earlier life, Richard and myself (along with Joe Cummings in Chiang Mai) went over the story and possible environmental impact, then Rolf Potts joined the fray when he crashed the movie crew at their hotel in Phuket......and I've been to the place and visited Leo's room. Way too isolated, in my opinion. Better stay at my place in Kamala, but was totally devastated by the tsunami of 2004.

More on all that later.

Thai Food Omlette

Miraculous Cloud Elephant Formation over Buddhist Temple in Chiang Mai

So, who's the best farang blogger in Thailand? Beats me, but the finest two candidates are Ron Morris with his outstanding 2Bangkok.com website which just blows off my socks every day, and Thai-blogs.com by Richard that really provides the best advice for prospective English language teachers and tons of great local tips from Richard, Steve in Suphanburi, and others. Both rock. The above post about the creation of Thai omlettes on the street is a great example of what Richard does best - he looks at the very small details and expands them into larger views. Great work, Richard.

LadyBoy Thailand

Ladyboy Progression from Boy (left) to Girl Muang Thai (right)

Thailand's Ladyboys
Thai-Blogs.com
Steve in Suphanburi
June 11, 2005

Thailand here has many-a glorious site to feast ones eyes on, besides just a million temples, two million taxis and three million noodle soup stalls we have the one and only 'Thai ladyboy'. I had decided to stay away from such sordid topic til our cute little regular-commenteer friend from Indonesia here put in the query of 'Can Richard or Steve write a blog on ladyboys? - i just wanna know all the ins-and-outs about such a fine species'. Well, since our Webmasting friend Mr Richard is busy blogging to the likes of every Thai custom and superstition under the sun, Koh Changs's gruesome garbage piles and how to be a respected teacher in Thailand, its me instead who has had to put pen to paper and give yous all a behind the scenes adventure into the goings-on of that.... lusty Thai ladyboy.

Ive certainly had a ride of laughs during my decade here in the 'Land of Monks and Mangosteen' but nothing has made me crack-up as much as the site of the Farang man finding out that his future ex-wife wanna-be used to be, in fact, a man.

I can recall the very sad and sorrowful tale of an English guy a few years back who after meeting his darling in Pattaya decided to turn the relationship into a serious one. So, our English buddy here spends the next one and half years sending his loved one wads-a of cash, building for mum-in-law a spanking new house and enjoying quarterly year trips to visit his cherished beauty. Since our English friend here could not cope with the anguish of having to live a life alone in Boring Britain decided to propose marriage to the love of his life and take her back to his home country. That was until....the day of the interview at the British embassy.

After the officials had listened seperately to the backgrounds of the lovers, the officials promptly realised that perhaps our English laddie here was getting more than he bargained for. So they took the guy to the side and said "Mr fellow Englishman and law abiding citizen.....we have decided NOT to afford a fiancee visa to your future ex-wife because her passport in Thai language reads 'Mr' and not 'Miss', do NOT make a laughing stock of us here at the embassy, asking us to afford a fiancee-visa to a man! you must darned well know that British law hears nothing of such a despicable thing!

All the other visa-hopefuls that day had the more than laughable opportunity of witnessing our English friend here running round the embassy carpark for the next half hour booting his darling up the bum and shouting to the likes of "In the name of the Queen i have never been so humiliated in the whole of me life!"

Once, when living down in Krabi a long long time ago my Dutch buddy asked me to go with him to Patong, Phuket for a few days and since my friend here enjoyed the bar life i was soon following him up and down the main strip stopping at a few bars for a bevvie. Next, whilst sat at one bar at an awful time of the day, something like noon, a ladyboy on standing outside the bar was in a brawling match with this darned big Israeli guy on the other side of the street cursing each other to the likes of "Stop your mouth or i put my high-heel over your head" and from the former Israeli solidier: "Just you go back to your village and ride a buffalo".

After ten minutes of this verbal abuse the Israeli walks off and my Dutch friend on knowing this ladyboy asks her "What was all that about?" to which the ladyboy replied. "After spending last night with the guy, I just....this morning, decided to tell him that i was a ladyboy".

Now, our ladyboy friends down there on Phuket are well-known for one thing.. and that is flashing their 'works of operation-parts' at a whole host of pedestrains walking by. After a few farang grannies and grandads had almost died of a heart attack on seeing such private parts exposed, the Patong police decided to make such an offence illegal, and posted up a few warnings in Thai lingo to the likes of 'Any ladyboy caught flashing her watermelons in public will be prosecuted and fined: 500 baht'

Beyond a question of doubt, zillions of Farang have a fascination for Thai Ladyboys and to prove it you only have to look through the viewing statistics and refering search engines of thai-blogs.com. Whilst our dear webmaster friend here Mr Richard scores lots of new readers who have posted 'Grand Palace Photo' or 'Spicy papaya salad recipe' into a google search engine half the refering searches to my blogs can only be called 'sizzlingly saucy'

On top of the most common decent ones i get, number one (for sure)are viewers who ask for info to the likes of 'Thai girlfriends' and second most popular has to be 'Thailand + Ladyboys'.

Then, it astonishes me the inumerable amount of Farang who are unable to differentiate between an actual girl and a ladyboy! So for all you readers, here is some advice... on 'spotting a ladyboy':

Be suspicious to the likes of any supposed girl standing at the height of 6 foot 2 with an enormous chest and bulging biceps.

Beware of any husky voice asking to the likes of "Hello honey, where you go?"

And be real darned suspect if she has bigger feet than you and legs that look-like those of David Beckham’s

Even so, many of our ladyboy friends are pretty stunning to say the least and in places like Pattaya, are undoubtedly far better looking than most of the bar girls from Buriram. Talking about the height of them again, I am amazed to the high percentage of Thai men, who on being ridiculously tall, decide to have a 'sex change' and become a ladyboy.

On becoming a ladyboy it is essential first, to seek a change in your hormone system and so all the ladyboy wanna-bes can be seen popping into their local pharmacies and purchasing a whole years supply af that ladies' medicine; 'the pill'. While the doctors recommend consuming just one-a-day, the ladyboy wanna-bes are scoffing them down at the rate of 5-10 a day.

Next, the ladyboys on needing to slim down are terribly reknowned for taking a daily dosage of the world's most potent 'slimming pill' and that is 'methamphetamine' (Amazingly, a few crooked doctors in The States have been caught prescribing this drug to ladyboy wanna-bes over there, under its medical name: Desoxyn!) Tonnes of the ladyboys are addicted to this stuff, and so many a Farang who on in enjoying the bar scene down there in Patpong, Khao Sarn or Phuket are warned to be darned careful on any dealings with a ladyboy, yes stacks of them are suffering from the 'madness fever', and im not exaggerating!

Once upon a time i had a decent ladyboy friend of mine over there on Ratchdaphisek who was working as a make-up artist. I asked her one day to the likes of "What do your folks back home think about you?" to which she answered "They don't know im a ladyboy, in fact every time i go home i wear a big baggy jacket to disguise me chest and tell them ive long hair cause i play for a music band", and im not joking.

You may have wondered what happens when one of the insane pickpocketing ladyboys is jailed. Well, they get banged up in the girlie section and certainly not the male section. As the randy male inmates would be mouth-watering in delight at the prospect of a big-ballooned ladyboy as a jailmate. As for toilets, of course the ladyboy uses the female one.

Then there is the question of 'military service', what an embarrasing sight it would be for the Royal Thai Army to have a lipsticked ladyboy guarding the border with all the Khmer soldiers on the other side staring into their binoculars and having a right darned laugh at such a saucy spectacle.

And so, when the army on ordering a Thai male citizen to surrender to their recruiting office, a thorough inspection has to be made to the health of the guy. Of course, many a recruiter has been not-so-surprised to see the likes of a ladyboy walking through the door. Now, its army policy that the authenticity of the ladyboys' chest and underparts be analysed and classified 'real' by an army doctor before she is exempt from military service. As for any ladyboy wanna-bes who use tennis balls to fool the on-lookers, they are not, and are soon forced to serve the compulsory two years.

Ive been asked on a few occasions to - what happens to a ladyboy when they are past their sell-by-date ie. too darned old to be of any use anymore. Well, the answer is, just the same as any other normal woman and that is selling grilled pork by the side of the street, cutting hair or dealing in lottery tickets. as for the physical attraction of one! i'll let your imagination get the better of you there!

Then finally, I remember the classic newspaper headlines in the Thai Raj newspaper a couple of years back that read 'Accountant to sue hospital for the mysterious disappearance of his diggery-doo!' It seems that the pitiful accountant who on going for a back operation at a darned well-known Bangkok hospital was the victim of a despicable doctor cock-up after his 'operation details' got mixed up with those of a ladyboy wanna-be's! So, for any of you male readers out there wanting to have an operation in Thailand - you have been warned!

NOTES: Since this is a ‘family’ related website it has been decided to postpone the popular VOCAB FOR TODAY section this time round. As for the reasoning behind this, I’ll leave that to your own imagination’

Teaching English in Thailand

Prospective English Teachers on Khao San Road

English Teacher in Thailand
Thai-Blogs.com
Richard
June 11, 2005

I have told you before that it is one of my jobs to look after the foreign teachers at our school. It is also my job to read any e-mails that might come in from people applying for a job as English teacher. What I thought I would do today is give you some tips on how to make your application stand out from the crowd. I will also give some advice on not what to do!

* Always do some homework before you write your letter. Many schools now have their own web sites on the internet. Find out the names of some people and include them in your letter. Compliment the school on how beautiful it looks on the web site. Include any information that makes it look like you know their school already.

* If the school is asking for a native speaker then make sure you are a native speaker. Many schools are run like a business. They have to bow to consumer pressure. If parents insist that they want their children taught by teachers from the UK or America then the school has to provide these native speakers. It doesn’t really matter if a teacher from The Philippines or India is more qualified.

* Include all the relevant information in the opening paragraph. If they are asking for degree holders, TEFL certificate, native speaker, a woman etc. then make sure you make it clear you are fully qualified straight away. Then later go into more details. Not everyone will be fluent in English and might be put off by long letters. Also, don’t forget we receive many applications so we usually only read the first paragraph and skim the rest of the letter!

* If you don’t receive an answer from your letter after a week then follow it up with another. It is possible your first e-mail went missing.

* Don’t worry if you don’t have a TEFL certificate. Most schools will prefer if you have had some real classroom experience. If you have already taught in your home country or inside Thailand then consider taking an online TEFL course instead. It is much cheaper. Most schools won’t know the difference. Anyway, some schools won’t even care you don’t have a TEFL.

* If they ask for a degree then make sure you have one. To work legally in Thailand you need a work permit. To get a work permit you need a degree in any field. Some schools might not ask for a degree but then they won’t be employing you legally.

* If you are just interested in making lots of money then you are coming to the wrong country. You would be better off visiting one of our more affluent neighbours. Thai teachers have a starting wage of only 6,000 baht per month. People with more experience get about 8-10,000 baht per month. I know some foreign teachers who only get 10-15,000 baht. However, if you work in Bangkok you can expect 20-50,000 baht per month.

* Don’t send your letters as BCC – spam filters these days are very sensitive and will probably just put your application into the junk box. The chances are it won’t be seen. Also, try to avoid sending it by CC as well. We don’t really want to see that you are sending the exact same letter to other schools as well. We like to think that you have personally chosen our school and that we are the only people you are talking to!

* Don’t write to a normal Thai school looking for a job as a Geography or Math teacher. What makes you think you can teach Geography better than a local Thai teacher? Can you speak Thai fluently? Unless you have skills that a local person doesn’t have (i.e. you are a native English speaker) then you won’t get the job. If you insist on teaching something other than English, then apply for a job at an international school or somewhere that has a bilingual programme.

* Include a photograph of yourself. A smart appearance is very important. If you are a man, make sure you are clean shaven and don’t have a beard. If you are a woman, don’t wear a spaghetti strap top in the photo.

* Make sure your grammar is correct and that you haven’t made any spelling mistakes. It is surprising the number of letters we receive from people who make some clumsy spelling mistakes. Many word processors come with a spellchecker. Use it!

* Don’t start your letter with the phrase “it has always been my dream to teach in Thailand”. From experience, we know that 90% of the time you really are dreaming! We have wasted so much time writing back and forth to these people, even setting dates for their arrival, only to find they don’t turn up. These days, unless you can show you are sincere, we won’t take you seriously.

* A number of people suggest you shouldn’t visit the school unannounced. Personally I wouldn’t object. I would meet the person and give them advice of where to go if we couldn’t offer them a job. You never know, we might be looking for someone the very day you come knocking on the door. We would much prefer to give a job to someone we know that can speak English clearly than to someone who wrote a letter 1000 miles away.

* If you are going to visit a school, don’t turn up with your Thai girlfriend. Even more so if she looks like a “bar girl”. The school directors can be very conservative at times and won’t give you a second chance if it looks like you visit brothels.

* One of our main worries when we receive letters is whether that person can speak English clearly. If you are in Thailand, telephone the school. If the person that answers the phone doesn’t speak English then they will quickly transfer you to someone that does.

* If you have the skills, make a mini web site about yourself. If you have some pictures of you teaching children then show them. It would also be cool if you could put some sound clips so that we could hear you speak.

* If you are on holiday in Thailand and not ready to start teaching yet, then offer to teach at a school as a volunteer. If they like you, then they are more likely to invite you back in the future to teach fulltime. Certainly they would take you more seriously if you later write a letter saying you want to come back to teach in Thailand.

That is about it for now. If I get any more ideas and tips I will try and add to this page later. In the meantime, visit my blogs on School Life. There will be more blogs on teaching in Thailand soon.

The Best Advice on being an English Teacher in Thailand is at this Superb Website. I am NOT going to Repeat Myself - THIS is the place.

Singapore Sex with Minors

Singapore Wedding

Sex Online with Minors
The New Paper
Singapore
June 13, 2005

Earlier this year, Parliament debated whether to introduce a law to make it an offence for local men to have sex with underaged girls when they are abroad. But do such men exist here?

Sex with minors. A big no-no here. The law states clearly that it is an offence to have sex with anyone under 14. But law or no law, there are people here who look for sex with children. What The New Paper on Sunday found out was shocking. We entered chat rooms to see if there were any paedophiles on the prowl.

Two different identities were used. First, we posed as a 15-year-old girl. Within minutes of entering a chat room, our 'girl' received messages from at least six strangers. Some asked for sex.

The chat room is popular with teenagers and adults. Many topics - not just sex - were discussed. By the end of the two-hour session, our girl received countless requests to 'meet up'. Some brazenly got to the point quickly: Let's have sex. Whenever the strangers asked how old our girl was, we said she was turning 16 soon.

Only one or two backed out upon learning this, saying they didn't want to commit an offence by having sex with an underaged girl. These strangers stopped messaging our girl once they found out her age. But most persisted. They even asked very personal questions, like whether our 15-year-old girl was a virgin, or if she had boyfriends before. One stranger asked: 'What did you do with your ex-boyfriends? Kissing, petting?'

On our second try, we decided to raise the bar and posed as a 13-year-old girl. The law is more severe on men who have sex with under-14s than under-16s. We called our girl 'May'. Like our first girl, May was flooded with messages from strangers within moments of entering a chat room. Right from the start, they would ask May for her age. May always told them she was 13 going on 14.

Knowing full well May was a minor, they asked to meet up. Almost always, the strangers would talk about sex. They wanted to know if May was sexually active. A typical first message would read: 'Hi, you open-minded? Interested to get naughty together?' When asked what 'naughty' meant, one replied: 'Naughty thing lor... Body contact.' And inevitably, the subsequent messages would become more personal and explicit.

One asked: 'Did you do sex or petting before?' Another wanted to know May's waistline and how big her breasts were. Most wanted to see May immediately. 'Come over and I give you more,' one offered, after describing in graphic detail how he would touch May's body. One stranger who claimed to live in the UK but travels to Singapore regularly even e-mailed May three naked photos of his genitals. He said he would be coming here soon and wanted to meet May. The man encouraged May to e-mail him 'naughty' pictures of herself after sending May his naked pictures. He wrote in his e-mail: 'Here it is. Hope you don't get shocked. You can ask me whatever you want.

Read More

Note to Self: Do Not Try This at Home

Russian Rythmic Olga Kapranova

Expat at The Nation

Famous Book

The Nation
Expat
Phil MacDonald
June 13, 2005

Elite card selling well (ha ha ha); university students are naughty; TAT tells tall tales – again; Brit’s brain gets exit stamp; beach was there yesterday.

Bangkok post reporter Supradit Kanwanich has become a front-runner in the annual Suck Up Newspaper Journalist of the Year Awards with a liveless piece on the Chiang Mai Night Safari, which ran in last week’s Sunday Post.

Employing the very best in school of journalism known as “I better not ask any questions because of his high social status”, Supradit managed to scribble 1,200 words without so much as a twitter of criticism – quite a feat given the subject matter and the interviewee, slippery bureaucrat Plodprasop Surasvadi.

Plodprasop, the former permanent secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, is in charge of the Chiang Mai Night Safari project, which explains a lot.

The reporter even refers to Plodprasop as “Dr”, earning even more points on the suckup-o-meter. Anyway Supradit, now that you are in Plodprasop’s pocket, perhaps you could throw a few of these curly questions his way next time you two do lunch?

Let’s start with:

The budget for Chiang Mai Safari was set Bt600 million. But that was all gone after you banged up a couple of buildings and a fence to keep in all the exotic animals you hadn’t purchased yet because you had run out of money.

Q1: Dr Plodprasop, So where’d all the money go, then, huh?

Suddenly finding yourself out of money, you ask the Cabinet for more. The prime minister throws another Bt600 million your way. You then announce that with this money you would buy elephants . . .

From Thailand . . .

For a night safari . . .

Q2: At Bt200,000 each, how many elephants can you buy for Bt600 million? (Hint: 3,000. This number of pachyderms exceeds normal herd size, and, therefore, is commonly referred to as a “shitl***” of elephants”).

Q3: Could the money have been better spent? Perhaps on animals that were not elephants, were not from Thailand, and were nocturnal?

Q4: And where are these elephants, anyway? You haven’t even bought them yet, have you? Come on, own up.

Your budget has ballooned to Bt1.2 billion; the safari park’s infrastructure is still incomplete; you still don’t have any animals (including elephants) and you have constantly misled the public on the opening date (last opening date: April 12; next opening date: September).

Q5: So how much money you got left then, huh?

Conservation groups are holding up delivery of animals from Australia and Kenya. Among other things, protests are based on Thailand’s reputation as a hub for wildlife smuggling. But this didn’t stop you from hiring as a consultant Pim …...: the owner of Safari World, which has been accused of involvement in illegal wildlife smuggling?

Q6: So, why did you hire Pim. It couldn’t have been for the night safari’s credibility?

Given that nothing is ever going to happen to you and your associates if anyone ever bothers to investigate these dodgy goings on then:

Q7: Why am I writing this?

Privileged few

Defying all expectations, sales of the Elite privilege card have smashed through the 850-membership barrier. An upbeat Privilege Card Co source told Farang Affairs that the company was expecting its 851st member by the end of July.

“In celebration of our 850th member in just three years, we are proud to announce a number of other exciting privileges for Elite card-holders,” the source said, before being led away.

The new privileges include 30 per cent off fares on the No 38 bus on weekends; a 7-Eleven VIP-shopper discount card; and a free family pass to the Chiang Mai Night Safari (offer expires June 30).

Can’t think of good headline

TheatreWorks is delighted to offer two special performing arts workshops for children and teens. Why anyone would be delighted spending eight hours trying to keep dozens of screaming, precocious kids under control is beyond us, but anyway . . . The workshops are led by Dale Gutzman. Who the &*%$. is Dale Gutzman?

Dale Gutzman is an international theatre director and acting coach, whose most recent Bangkok credits include directing “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at The Bangkok Playhouse for United Bangkok Artists, a group he helped create . . .

Okay, okay. We just asked who he was, we didn’t want his bleeding life story.

Here’s what is happening:

Group 1: Nine to 12-years old; September 24, 9am-4pm.

Group 2: Teens 13-18-years old; September 25, 9am-4pm.

Call (09) 06 5259 or (01) 869 1104, or email TheatreWorks@sala.net for details.

Bible bashing

TheatreWorks will be running more Andrew Lloyd Webber biblical-based musicals during the year.

The first will be one based on the story of Moses, called: “Let My People Go, Prick!”. The second is the New Testament yarn “Get Your Rocks Off”, based on the story of Mary Magdalene.

Sans 7-Eleven

This would have to be a first: 7-Eleven in Bangkok has been demolished!

This brings the total number of 7-Elevens in the city down to 2,345,456.

The ex-7-Eleven was the one at the bottom of the On Nut Skytrain steps opposite Tesco.

Now stands a vacant lot where this 7-Eleven once stood.

We made enquires as to what will be built in its place and we were told a 7-Eleven.

Suicide watch

Pathologist Khunying Pornthip Rojanasunand disclosed evidence yesterday showing it was unlikely that a murder suspect surrounded by police had committed suicide by firing five bullets into himself.

No flies on Khunying Pornthip!

Students are normal

An ABAC Poll survey, in conjunction with the Office of the Thai Health Promotion Fund (ThaiHealth), found that university induction ceremonies are really boring.

However these freshmen initiation ceremonies are, according the Thai News Agency, “a practice annually condemned by society,” because no one invites them. A total of 46.8 per cent of freshmen surveyed spoke of being made to drink alcohol, which they considered wrong because they had to pay for it.

Another 8.9 per cent said that the “activities involved cigarettes”, including using them to smoke. A further 6.7 per cent said that some of the activities were dangerous, but not for them because they were too busy drinking.

Another 4 per cent said that they were involved sexual harassment, a figure well below the national average; 2.6 per cent said that they involved drugs, which is about the national average, and 1.4 per cent said that they were involved in visits to prostitutes, but they weren’t really complaining.

Dr. Supakorn Buasai, the manager of Thaihealth, said something so banal and out of touch its not worth repeating, while, Supachai Preechanoon, who was at the bus stop out front of The Nation’s office, said he waiting for bus No 141, which is far more interesting than a stupid beat-up from the Thai News Agency about university students acting like university students.

Second-place winner

Thailand has been ranked the most popular tourist destination in Asia by readers of the Conde Nast Traveler magazine, according to straw-clutching Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Juthamas Siriwan, who failed to add that it doesn’t mean that any of them are actually going to come here.

The amicable Thai News Agency reports that nearly 96 per cent of the readers of Conde Nast Traveler last year voted Thailand their favourite destination. It finished a close second to Australia, which received almost 97 per cent of the vote.

This report raises a number of interesting points:

n Thailand is ranked “the most popular tourist destination in Asia” despite finishing “a close second to Australia,” which was ranked as the most popular tourist destination in Asia.

n A total of 193 per cent of Conde Nast Traveler readers voted, which puts it just behind the 210 per cent of people who voted in the last Samut Prakan Provincial Organisation Association elections.

n Australia is in Asia.

Moveable beach

Following the first trial of extending North Pattaya Beach near the Dusit Resort, positive feedback from visitors and beach vendors has apparently pleased city councilors, says the Pattaya Mail, begging the question: How do you extend a beach on a trial basis?

And what would have happened if the feedback was negative (eg, “this beach extension sucks – too much sand!”).

Would that mean Pattaya city fathers would have to take it away and put back what was there before?

Brain’s exit stamp

Briton Robert David Sand, 34, was nabbed in Pattaya for having a fake passport. The Pattaya Mail reports that Sand threw away his own passport, then had a fake made by counterfeit document artisans in Khao San Road.

Convinced that the Bt500 investment to secure the fake passport was enough money to secure the very best forgery available, Sand - now named David Julian Dixon Kingham - headed off to his local Immigration office to extend his visa.

But an eagled-eyed immigration police noticed something amiss and Sand was knicked.

Sand explained to Immigration police that the reason he did this was because his “wife in the UK had sued him and he had a judgment to pay child support of Bt400,000 a month”. Bt400,000! How many kids has he got?

Normally we believe everything we read, but this story has more holes in it than Beach Road – unless Sand threw away his brain along with his passport and picked up a new one in Khao San Road, also for Bt500.

Web listing

Get the name of your company’s website in The Nation’s Web Directory for free. Send the details of your site to directory@nationgroup.com.

Meanwhile, if you are in the market for something – anything – check out www.nationmultimedia.com/webdir for all your shopping needs.

Really, it’s true, anything. And no, they didn’t make me write this.

Phil MacDonald
The Nation
Bangkok

Phil and Myself Once Wrote a Book Together

Sumet Jumsai and the Thai National Anthem

See Thailand via E&O

CULTURE CONTROVERSY
I cannot stand up for the republican anthem
The Nation
June 13, 2005

Sumet Jumsai, the well-known architect and historian, talks to Nation editor Pana Janviroj on our understanding of the national anthem, one of the centrepieces of the Thai national identity.

What do you think of the recent controversy concerning the national anthem?

The controversy arising from the potential musical variations by GMM Grammy [music company] and the protest by the minister of culture is really a storm in a teacup. It misses the basic question of whether the so-called “national anthem” should exist in the first place.

There have been a number of national anthems in the past. When I was a schoolboy we used to sing the “24th June Anthem” to coincide with National Day and to commemorate the coup which toppled the absolute monarchy in 1932. As I grew up, this was replaced by the republican anthem – that is, the present anthem. It gave way eventually to the Royal Anthem but was resurrected in the 1970s under the Thanin government, which was supposed to be staunchly monarchist.

Why do you suppose the national anthem is republican?

This country has two anthems, one royal, the other republican. Let me translate the wording of the latter for you to judge for yourself:

“Thailand comprises the Thai blood and race; it is the People’s State (that is, a republic) which belongs to the Thai race in its entirety. It preserves its entity by its pure Thai (blood) and unity. Thais love peace but are brave in battle. (Our) freedom cannot be compromised. We sacrifice every drop of blood for the country, for the Thai nation, for victory! Chai-yo!”

Are there problems with that?

Firstly, the monarchy is ignored in the anthem. Secondly, it is simply racist. I have a problem here because of my Chinese blood. Even on my Thai side, I am descended from Mon and Javanese Muslim ancestors, as are all the descendants of King Rama III and King Rama V. I am proud of that; but if I were a citizen from the South, that is, with Malay antecedents, I would find it difficult to stand up for the so-called “national anthem”.

In any case, I cannot stand up for the republican anthem; not in our case at any rate.

Isn’t that a criminal offence?

Many years ago, the French embassy celebrated their July 14 national day by playing the Marseillaise followed by the Thai republican anthem. MR Panthip Paribatra was there in the front row and sat down throughout the republican rendition! More recently, celebrating the same event, the embassy played the Thai republican anthem (again). I then walked up to the ambassador who happened to be a good friend and told him that it was out of tune. He understood and immediately instructed the band to replay the anthem – the correct one.

To answer your question: of course it is criminal to ignore the so-called national anthem. But thank God the guillotine is in the museum.

Recently you protested against the national anthem being played at the Cultural Centre. Could you elaborate?

It was at an embassy function earlier this year, a concert. When the republican anthem was aired, I simply sat down, like MR Panthip Paribatra before me. I then wrote to the National Culture Commission (NCC) to say that since we have not yet changed the Constitution, we should not pre-empt it.

Back in 1999 I wrote to then prime minister Chuan Leekpai to propose that we should have only one national anthem, the royal one, like in the UK. The PM’s Office was kind enough to reply saying that the NCC objected and something else short of being memorable.

I gather that for decades you have been advocating the Royal Anthem in association with “Siam” as the country’s name.

It isn’t just the name, but the concept of the country that is the real issue. “Thailand” entails ethnic connotations, hence exclusive; whereas “Siam” is inclusive, being a loose geographic entity comprising the different groups – ethnic, religious and cultural – all paying loyalty to the King who is protector of all the religions in the Kingdom – and this is unique in the world.

Both “Thailand” and “Siam” are the official names of the country, “Siam” being used only on auspicious occasions, or in conjunction with royal titles. So I would let it be and not disturb the status quo. All the same, for the South, the name “Siam”, and indeed its concept, would be infinitely more useful.

I should interject an anecdote here. Many years ago, in 1983, the late MR Kukrit Pramoj gave a talk at the Foreign Correspondents Club in which he related that Tungku Abdul Rahman once told him that he – the Tungku – was Siamese but that at the same time he could never be Thai.

As for the two anthems, I have tried my best to be open-minded about it. This country is full of contradictions. In fact it seems to thrive on the coexistence of the opposites. I don’t know what the future holds; I suppose the republican anthem might come in handy at some point. But I won’t be around then.

Sumet Jumsai Interview at The Nation

Blog Tips from Simon's World

Tasmanian Bloggers?

Blogging Tips
Simon's World by S. Masnick
Aug 24, 2004

Everything you wanted to know about blogging but were afraid to ask.

There are plenty of good guides to blogging and I was going to add my $0.02 to the pile. It's the thing to do once your blog reaches a certain age, and I figure turning one is about the right time. However I'm going to break with blogosphere tradition of jumping on the bandwagon and instead present a collection of various appropriate links at the end of this post. What I am going to share with you is all the things they don't tell you about in blogging school.

1. If you want to start blogging and have huge amounts of traffic instantly I can recommend one of three things: be an established journalist/opinion maker; be Glenn Reynold's brother; or porn. Otherwise face facts: you've got an awfully big hill to climb.

2. Never get your brother to guest blog for you. Trust me.

3. Before you start, read other blogs and get a feel for what they are like. Then completely forget everything you've read and seen so you can establish a new and distinct voice that will get noticed. This also helps a common problem: a really sucky first post. Trust me.

4. Prepare for the reality that the rest of the world may not share your high opinion of yourself and your site.

5. You know that movie where the guy built a baseball field and waited for some dead folks to turn up and play ball? Blogging's like that. Prepare to slog at putting up brilliantly crafted, accurate and to-the-point insights that will proceed to make no difference to anything at all.

6. Blogs live for two things: readers and links (not in order). There is no blogger alive who does not religiously follow Trackbacks - if you don't have trackbacks (that's especially for you Blogger folks) then use Kevin's manual Trackback pinger. Link liberally and eventually someone might notice you. You can even said emails to bloggers telling them about your new site or post. Try and keep it relevant, but unless they are a mega-blogger most will read the email. Here's a handy hint: do NOT title the email "Cheap Viagra".

7. The big bloggers (in terms of readership, not size. I'm sure at least some of them are thin) are big for a reason. They fill a niche, they have interesting opinions, they've been doing it for a long time. Whatever it is, you need to realise that overnight success can take years to create.

8. Buy a lottery ticket. Sometimes luck plays a chance. If a big blogger stumbles across your site and your brilliant entry catches their eye, you could have it made. If the post that catches their eye is a blow-by-blow description of your trip to the corner store, prepare to keep dwelling in oblivion.

9. Join the Bear's Ecosystem and learn about Technorati. They are good ways of learning your place. If you're new, try sending an example of your work to the New Blog Showcase. Send entries to the various Carnivals and link-fests that float around. You'll often get a flow of traffic and some might even like your site enough to come back.

10. Bloggers aren't just lonely nerds typing furiously to no avail. They are people. You can even meet some of them. Just ask. Many turn out to actually be nice people. Plenty of nerds too, if that's your thing.

11. Once you've made it, it's important to give something back. For example, you should liberally link to and recall this blog and this post, which gave you your start and set you on the path to greatness.

12. If you think this blogging caper is a path to fame and fortune, give up now.

13. It's not fair. It never was and never will be. Deal with it.

14. There are some good ways to attract attention to yourself and your blog. These can be broken down into the following:
a) talk about your sexual experiences a lot. This works far better for women than men.
b) have something interesting and new to say. This works far better for those that understand the basics of English grammar.
c) quirky slice-of-life types who are actually quirky. This works far better for those that are interesting people in real life.
d) humour sites. This works far better for those that are funny.
e) niche sites. There may well be a strong readership for those interested in mountain goats. It helps if you talk about stuff you know about.
f) be an iconoclast. If you are controversial you are likely to generate debate and people will come back for another look. The important thing is to be coherent and have a rational body of thought rather than a series of random pronouncements.

15. Learn to spell or how to use a spell-checker.

16. Most blogs have comments, at least until they hit the big time. Respond or get involved in any comments you get. It's rude not to reply to conversations. Most blogs will get few comments on each post, while others will get many. If you want comments, start talking about your sex life a lot. Leave comments at other blogs. It reminds people how witty or smart you are and sometimes it will lead to visits to your own site. It's important to note that many of the comments you get will be spam. These don't count as real comments and it's not worth replying to them, unless you have an unhealthy obsession with online casinos, get-rich-quick schemes and cheap drugs.

17. You will get trolls. Some ban them; others alter their posts; still others leave their idiotic comments for all to see. It's a fact of life. Another fact of life involves birds and bees. You will also get spam. If you are going to put your email address on your website so people can contact you, spell it out; split it across two lines; include NO SPAM in the address; or anything else that is obvious to a human but not a spambot. Spam is like the French: it is moderately annoying but ignorable in small doses and a huge pain in the backside in big doses.

18. Following 14 (f), the iconoclast can generate good traffic by either policing a mega-blogger or big media (papers, TV, etc.) Be prepared for heated debate and keep plugging away, but if you've found something genuine you'll end up getting the whole blogosphere beating a path to your door. Or not. It helps if you ignore others who argue against you or come up with valid points. It helps even more if you indulge in extreme language and opinions.

19. Do something original. Come up with posts on the good news in Iraq like Arthur Chrenkoff and before you know if you'll be a mega-blogger and published in the Wall St Journal.

20. Follow this handy rule-of-thumb: start a blog using Blogger. If you are still at it after 3 months, get off Blogger immediately. It is not as daunting as you think and there are plenty of hosting companies offering cheap plans and differing software packages like Movable Type or Wordpress. Make the move.

21. The golden rule of computing always applies: back-up. If you are drafting a post, do it in Notepad or in an email that can get saved as a draft. Cut and paste it at the end into your blogging software. Sometimes the software crashes and takes your valuable post with it, and trust me, you won't feel like writing it again. This also lets you do something essential: proof-read. Consider a post like an email: if it's trivial a quick skim might be OK, but if it's a manifesto on all that's wrong with the world you'll want to take care with it. If the world's going to ignore you, you may as well it's ignoring something that makes sense.

22. The great thing about blogging is plagiarising is encouraged. That's why so many academics blog. The only trick is plagiarising needs to be accompanied by links back to the original...because links are the lifeblood of a blogger. So go ahead and steal.

23. Learn blogging etiquette. Blogging is like golf: you can cheat but you need to be polite about it.

24. If you're thinking of blogging from work, read this first.

25. It's your site so you can do whatever the hell you like.

26. Like all esoteric fields, blogging has plenty of terminology. I've used a lot of it here in this post. Trackbacks, pings, permalinks, blogrolls: know what they mean and how they work. Alternatively enjoy having your Mum being your only daily reader.

27. Time in the blogosphere is frighteningly fast. By the time you link something, it has already been done. There's nothing you can say that hasn't already been said, probably better and funnier too. The one time you do hit across a link or idea that hasn't been linked elsewhere, someone else will find it and get all the kudos. It's not fair. Deal with it.

28. The one time you put up a joke post or idea, it will immediately get massive attention and be taken seriously by far too many people. This is called the Overblog phenomena. One blogger's joke is another's insult.

29. Forget what your schoolteachers told you. Form matters more than substance. If your blog is a hideous pink colour the best content in the world won't get people coming back. Invest effort in your design, or get a pro to do it for you. People respond a lot better to good designs. The key is simple: if you think you right good stuff, keep the design simple. If you write cr@p, then use as many distractions as you can.

30. Just like in life, extremism beats moderation and emotion beats logic. If you want reasoned discourse prepare to dwell in oblivion. If you want invective and ill-considered responses, watch the hits come in.

31. A good way to publicise your blog is tell people about it. A good rule here is to ask yourself if you'd be embarrassed if that person could read what you write. If not, tell them about it. Just once, though. No need to turn into a stalker.

32. Many bloggers adopt an alias or nom de plume. There are many reasons why this can be a good or bad decision. Just try and choose a good alias. The blogosphere already has several Tom Paines. As far as I know it doesn't yet have a King Kong.

33. You will visit your own site a lot. Sitting in front of it constantly hitting the refresh key does not count as genuine hits on your site.

34. Checking your sitemeter every hour will not increase the number of visitors to your site.

35. Learn to insult creatively.

36. Logic and reason are for the weak. Knee-jerk and off-the-cuff reactions are for the blogger.

37. Blogs are the perfect diversion. They send you on more tangents than a calculus class. Just remember that when reading blogs time seems to go much faster than normal.

38. There is no great diversion than your own blog. You will spend hours getting the coding right, the format right, the content right, fixing links, trying to get readers, reading other blogs. You don't get paid for it. In fact blogging is the one game where the more successful you are the more it costs you (e.g. in bandwidth charges). It really is a sucker's game.

39. Blog is an ugly word but we're stuck with it.

40. If you crave hits then try this simple technique: think about important upcoming or potential events, and write a blog entry with an appropriate title. That way the search engines like Google will give your entry prominent billing when people start searching for that information. For example: if you title a post "John Kerry's love child", should it turn out he has one (and I'm not saying he does, it's just an example) then Google will deliver you more hits than a crack addict in a crack-house.

41. Just like real writing, sometimes bloggers are hit with blog block. There are three ways to deal with this. Firstly, talk about your blog block. Everyone else has, you may as well tell everyone why your creativity sucks so badly too. Secondly, just post nothing. Sure you'll lose the 3 readers you had, but it's best not to make them sick by posting crap. Thirdly, fight your way through it by posting crap. This could involve recycling old stuff you wrote in a desperate "best of" kind of thing or just keep linking to others until you get inspired again and can write stuff on your own.

42. The stupidest, most off-the-cuff posts tend to get the most comments.

43. A good way to get people to visit your site is to visit theirs. Blog owners check their referrer logs religiously and when they see a new URL in the logs, they go check it.

44. You will encounter plenty of ignorance in this blogging caper. Much of it will come from other blogs. However even more of it will come from your friends and family. Blogging is like renovating: you find it endlessly fascinating, but no-one else gives a sh!t. They are unlikely to have even heard of blogs. It is your job to talk their ears off about it. Bamboozle them, tell them how great it is, print business cards with the URL on it. They all think your mad already.

Read the Rest, Including Great Links for More Blogging Tips

Bali, Schapelle Corby, and Some Drug Tips

Kuta Beach 1979 by Carl Parkes

The Not Schapelle Corby Post
EastSouthWestNorth
June 2005

This post is not about Schapelle Corby and my reasons are somewhat similar to Simon. I don't have the time and patience to sift through the evidence; without that kind of work, you don't need my off-the-top-of-my-head and most-probably-very-ill-considered pronouncements. There is plenty of that out there already.

This post is really a story of one of my job experiences with the Drug Enforcement Administration in New York City, from which I will draw two lessons for my readers.

One day in the late 1980's, I was resting in my New York City apartment. At around 11am, the telephone rang. It was from the Drug Enforcement Administration agent who was my regular contact for Chinese-to-English translation work (see this previous post Translation and its Discontents about my career). He explained, "I know that you don't normally interpret in person for us, but we have an emergency situation here for which we must have an interpreter present. Can you please please please help us just this once?"

Not having any better to do at that moment, I said "Okay." Two DEA agents came to pick me up in an unmarked car and we headed off to the Queens district, which is right across East River from Manhattan. We drove around in circles in one neighborhood for a while. The agents explained to me that there was a meet between two undercover agents and a target person. The two undercover Chinese-speaking agents were posing as drug buyers, while the target Chinese person was supposed to have a large stash of heroin imported from Thailand.

After some time, the message came over the radio that the parties were ready to make the transaction in the parking lot outside a restaurant. At that moment, my two agents put on their bullet-proof vests and took our their guns. I was in the backseat, and all they told me was: "If there should be any shooting, just duck low!" What did I get myself into?

ESWN Reports on his Drug Bust

Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea

Ryugyong Hotel

Ryugyong Hotel

Ryugyong Hotel Architect

Incheon to finish construction of Ryugyong Hotel!
The Marmot
4th June 2005

When Incheon mayor Ahn Sang-soo came back from Pyongyang with an agreement to make a co-hosting bid for the 2014 Asian Games, it went without saying that his city’s taxpayers also earned the privilege of pumping tons of cash into North Korea to develop its sporting and tourist infrastructure. Nothing prepared me for this, however:

Ahn reportedly vowed to finish construction of the Ryugyong Hotel in downtown Pyongyang, a famous structure 105 stories and 300 m tall — but a skeleton unfinished for 13 years. An official said experts estimate the additional construction costs at US$500 million. Add the repair costs, and it would come out to US$1 billion, he said.

In a way, this could be seen as a development — at least the North Koreans admitted that the Ryugyong Hotel, which Jeff Harrell of Shape of Days once called “the single most unsettling structure ever erected by the hand of man,” exists:

The same sense of pride that drove them to build the Ryugyong has driven the North Koreans to an almost pathological level of denial about the building. It’s no longer on the city’s maps. Guides claim not to know where it is. No one speaks of it. This state of affairs is made all the more surreal by the fact that the almost incomprehensibly massive Ryugyong is visible from every part of Pyongyang. It hangs over the horizon, never far out of sight. The ultimate expression of the idea of the elephant in the corner.

Well, if they admitted the Ryugyong exists, could their uranium enrichment program be far behind?

Marmot's Hole - Be Sure to Read the Hilarious Comments!

Party Time for Korean Ladies

Jenna Jameson Sells IRiver in Korea

Two-thirds of married Korean women 'can imagine affairs'
Korea Times
May 31, 2005

If one day your wife looks out the window and starts smiling for no reason you can discover, it may be because another man is in her heart. "It started out of curiosity," says 38-year-old Kim Yeong-mi (not her real name). Three months ago she met an old classmate through her Cyworld blog. They had dinner together, short dates grew into long drinking sessions, and one thing led to another.

"When I heard him say, 'You're still as pretty as ever,' I felt like a woman for the first time in a long while. It had been ages since I heard that or got that feeling from my husband."

The entire time she dated her lover, she felt pain thinking of her husband, her nine-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son. Yet each time she decided to break it off, she found herself waiting for her lover’s calls instead and arrived early at their place of rendezvous.

"I confessed to my friend, but she said to keep meeting him until I grew sick of him. Don't break up your family, she said. She said there’s barely a married woman who doesn’t have a bit on the side these days."

In a poll of 1,000 married women conducted by the Chosun Ilbo, the Korea Institute of Sexology, Pfizer Korea and Research Plus, 63 percent of respondents said they could imagine having sex with a man other than their husband. Some 21 percent said they were sitting on the fence, and only 16 percent said they could never sleep with anyone other than their husband.

Park Mi-jin (not her real name) is 43 and seeing a younger man despite being married for 15 years. "In the past, when I told my friends I had a lover, they used to say I was crazy, but now they say I'm clever."

Chun Kyoung-hee of DeRyook International Law Firm says, "Fewer people now think of marriage as an eternal promise, so infidelity and divorce are rising rapidly." As women grow more active in society and their economic power increases, their thinking about marriage and affection has grown freer, she said.

For a thesis on extramarital relationships, Sungkyunkwan University student Yang Da-jin interviewed 196 women in the Seoul-Gyeonggi Province area. “Of the respondents, 26 percent said they had had an extramarital affair,” she says. “The women were frank and unconcerned writing down their experiences on the questionnaire."

Some attribute this atmosphere to TV dramas and movies that make infidelity look good. Since the 1996 drama "Aein" (Lover), women’s infidelity has ceased to be the stuff of controversy, with films such as "Happy End", "Ardor", and "Three Women" following the trend. The Internet, too, makes illicit relationships easier. Most of the respondents who confessed they had lovers said they met the men on school alumni sites or online chat. Psychologist Lee Eun-ha says, "The environment, like dramas and films, just helped break social taboos; infidelity on the part of women is rising as they grow confident that they can live on their own even after divorce thanks to their increased economic power."

Choe Yeong-lee (assumed name), 37, who is having an affair with a colleague, said, "My husband thinks of me as someone who's there to do housework, but my lover is always considerate of me." What makes her stay with her husband? "My husband has had many flings with bar girls. We just pretend not to know," she says.

Korea -- Land of the Morning Calm

Party Time for Qatar Diplomat

Burj Dubai Tower due 2008

Qatari Prince guilty of child sex
By Matthew Borghese
June 1, 2005

Doha – Qatari Prince, Hamid Bin Abdul Sani al-Thani, has been convicted in Prague, Czech Republic of sexually abusing young girls and sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Prince Al-Thani was found guilty of paying to have sex with four girls under 15 years old, between 2001 and 2004, according to the BBC.

There is currently no official extradition treaty between Qatar and the Czech Republic leading to legal friction between the two countries, after repeated requests for al-Thani to be returned to Qatar for trial were denied by Czech officials.

Al-Thani was arrested last year and has spent 10 months in custody awaiting trial. Since he was living in the country as a private citizen, there is no diplomatic immunity and the Prince will serve his sentence without special treatment.

Does Michael Jackson Know about Prague?

Singapore Gay Party Banned, Moves to Phuket

Gay Sex in Singapore

Singapore gay party to be held in Phuket
Ban forces festival to switch venues
Bangkok Post and AFP
June 8, 2005

One of Asia's most popular international gay and lesbian festivals will be moved from Singapore to Phuket this year after the Singapore police turned down an application for a permit to stage the party, organisers said yesterday.

A gay website which had organised the festival in Singapore since 2001, (Fridae.com), said the police earlier this month rejected its application for a permit because it would be ''contrary to public interest''.

The event will now be held from Nov 4-6 on Phuket, which is still struggling to bring back tourists in the wake of the devastation of the Dec 26 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Held on Singapore's Sentosa island yearly to coincide with Singapore's National Day in August, the party had been increasingly attracting thousands of participants from around the world since it was first staged. It attracted 8,000 revellers in 2004 of which 40% were international visitors, Fridae.com said in a statement.

''We are disappointed that the authorities have deemed a National Day celebration by Singapore's gay citizens as being 'contrary to public interest,' when it had previously been approved four years without incident,'' said Fridae.com chief executive Stuart Koe.

''This is a direct contradiction to previous calls for embracing of diversity,'' he said. The police ban came three months after Senior Minister of State for Health Balaji Sadasivan said the festival may be behind a sharp rise in the number of new HIV infections in Singapore. Mr Balaji told parliament in March he based his statement on the opinion of an unnamed medical expert.

''An epidemiologist has suggested that this may be linked to the annual predominantly gay party in Sentosa, the Nation party, which allows gays from high prevalence societies to fraternise with local gay men, seeding the infection in the local community. ''However, this is an hypothesis and more research needs to be done by the experts,'' the minister said.

A record 311 people in Singapore had contracted HIV _ the virus that causes Aids last year _ up 28% from 2003. Mr Balaji said 90% of the people who contracted the virus last year were men, with a third of them gay. There are now more than 2,000 HIV or Aids confirmed patients in Singapore. Fridae.com, which bills itself as Asia's largest website for gays, angrily rejected Balaji's comments.

Tourism operators in Phuket welcome the planned change of venue. Phanu Maswongsa, vice chairman of Phuket Tourism Business Association, said the gay festival would be good for Phuket tourism.

''We should not look at them as gays. They are tourists just like any other tourist,'' Mr Phanu said.'' If we limit their right, soon nobody would want to visit Phuket. The festival should help boost room occupancy, which has fallen to only 15%," he said.

Singapore Bans Gay Celebration

Singapore Bans Fashion Magazine

Singapore Sign circa 1976

Singapore bans Benetton magazine for sexual content
Associated Press
June 9, 2005

Singapore - The latest edition of a magazine published by Italian fashion house Benetton has been banned in Singapore because of its explicit sexual content, the government's media regulator said on Thursday.

Colors magazine's spring issue contains explicit illustrations and photos of nudity and sexual acts, including orgies, the Media Development Authority (MDA) said. The magazine is known for its provocative pictures and hard-hitting topics like AIDS, race, religion, war and immigration.

"The MDA has directed the distributor of Colors magazine to withdraw all copies of the spring issue from the market," the MDA said in an e-mail. The MDA provides publication importers with a set of content guidelines and they are expected to self-regulate. "When in doubt, they can consult the MDA, but in this case, the distributor did not consult the authority," the MDA said.

Years of censorship have earned Singapore a reputation as Asia's "nanny state", although the city has relaxed some social controls. Last year, Singapore lifted a ban on Cosmopolitan magazine and on the television series Sex and the City, which had been deemed too racy.

Benetton Sex Rag Story

Mr. Chair on Bali Events

Hong Kong 2006

Schapelle Corby
By Phil at Flying Chair
Hong Kong
May 28, 2005

I have absolutely no sympathy for people caught trafficking drugs. Even in countries where the penalties are harsh, including use of the death penalty, people who get caught with drugs in an airport only have themselves to blame.

So boo hoo to the reaction down under to the sentencing of Schapelle Corby to 20 years in prison for smuggling over 4 kilograms of dope into Bali.

No one but Ms. Corby and any close associates can know for sure whether she is a drug smuggler or not. I don't know whether she is an innocent dupe caught up in a drug smuggling operation involving baggage handlers in Sydney Airport. Frankly I think it is irrelevant.

There are two facts that cause me to take a hard line:

Find something weighing 4.2 KG and pick it up. Now pick up a boogie board. The bag became approximately 10 times heavier after she checked it in, if her story is to be believed, and she still tried to take it through customs. She had access to her bag between the baggage conveyer and the customs officers and I find it very hard to believe she noticed the change in neither shape nor weight.

There was no lock on the bag. I cannot believe there are people dumb enough to travel anywhere and not lock their bags. I used to fly into places as diverse as Colombia and Thailand on a regular basis. I would religiously check my bags after collecting them for tears, broken locks, or anything out of place. I believe the only person responsible for what is in my bags as I pass through customs is me.
In Indonesia the law is absolute and the majority absolutely abhor drugs hence the tough penalties. I can't say I disagree. Her bag. Her responsibility.

I have talked to a number of people about this on both sides of the argument. Some argue that it is ludicrous for someone to bring in dope when it is available dirt cheap the moment you get off the plane. Actually, hydroponically grown marijuana sells for more in Bali than it does in Australia where it comes from. There is a market among the backpackers for weed not bought from locals in case they are undercover police looking to trap westerners.

Complaining Australians, who as a traveling nation should know better, need to understand a simple fact. She was caught in Indonesia, she is subject to Indonesian law for good or bad, and any feelings of superiority on culture, legal systems, or fairness of sentence are completely and utterly irrelevant and exhibit a deep seated racism which is clearly still evident among too many in that country (making it no different than any other westernized country I am ashamed to say).

She is lucky. If this had been Singapore then she might be facing the long drop. She only got twenty years in a country that proscribes the death penalty for trafficking. The fact that she is an Australian probably saved her life.

No links, just my opinion, which as always is open to argument. If someone thinks my facts are wrong, speak up.

******************************

Phil asked me by email why I've not commented on Schapelle Corby. My reply:...
By Simon World
Comments
Agreed she's probably guilty - and it was a dumb thing to do.

But you've got to admit - in Indonesia the severity of the sentencing depends on who you are (or what colour/race you are)....

eg. Quote from the judge in another case (the Bali bombings) - over 200 people KILLED.

" Baasyir was not present at the locations where the bombings occurred, BUT he HAD been aware of the plans and did nothing to stop the perpetrators from carrying out the attacks"

And for that the guy gets only 3 years jail
time...

Hmmmmm...

Read the Comments!

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More on the Corby case at Jakartass:

Well, I asked for it: more news of the gentle sex! Yes. Our family try and support a balanced view of the case, the extremes are bad news.
Are we seeing a Westerner at loggerheads with a less individualistic society?
compatriot nevertheless. | "May 28, 2005, 4:16 pm" | #

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As an Australian watching the frenzy in Australia over the Corby verdict, perhaps I can put the reaction of Australians in context. This is an unusual case in that massive sympathy in Australia has been shown for Corby whereas in most previous cases very little public feeling has eventuated.

That's possibly because of three things that are different in this case:-

Firstly, Corby has behaved through the whole imprisonment and trial just like we would expect an innocent person who has been falsely accused would behave. There's no sign of guilt and there's every sign of distress, fear, outrage and injustice in her behaviour.

Secondly, it now transpires that Australians who worked in the Qantas baggage handling department have been charged after a long investigation with using traveller's luggage to smuggle hard drugs between destinations. That would lend support to the claim that drugs may have been placed in Corby's unlocked bodyboard bag by someone after she checked the bag in at Brisbane. Furthermore, other Australians have come forward to say that they have arrived in Bali and found drugs in their bags, which they were advised to destroy rather than call the local police. A criminal in Australian jail also testified that he had overheard in jail that baggage handlers had put the drugs in Corby's bag from Brisbane to Sydney but the drugs were not removed at Sydney.

Thirdly, the head Indonesian judge in Bali has admitted that he has a 100% guilty track record in 400 cases that have come up before his court.

That means that the police are really the judiciary in Indonesia. If police charge a person and they say the right things, they will get a conviction and the conviction will result in a long jail term or even execution. Indeed, they only need to establish possession and it is assumed that having drugs in a bag which has been in the control of others is enough to establish possession.

The problem is, other people did have control of the bag in Brisbane, Sydney and Denpasar. Other people are now charged with placing drugs in other people's bags once they had handed the bags to the airline. And the police in Bali did not try to establish corroborating evidence by fingerprinting the plastic bag the drugs were in - because they know they don't have to, to get a conviction, or possibly because a lack of Corby's fingerprints may wealen their case.

So she may in fact be innocent and if there's one thing that seems to be revealed by this case, it's this: Quite a lot of Australians care more about the injustice of an innocent person who is wrongly punished than they do about a guilty person who is found not guilty. For those Indonesians who cheered in the court when she was found guilty, it would appear that a political motive was more important to them than fairness and justice.
Ray Salmon | "May 28, 2005, 6:56 pm" | #

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" So she may in fact be innocent .."

I agree. I'm not pre- or, indeed, post-judging.

What I have said is that this judgement appears to be based on circumstantial evidence ~ including that of criminal elements among Australian baggage handlers.

I also would not 'visit the sins of the father (and brother)' on anyone..

And yes, she has continuously expressed her innocence. And yes, the Indonesian legal process is flawed.

However, and this is where we may differ Ray; the Australian media, ergo the public, in their frenzy ~ beauty queen? would/do they kick up such a fuss about single guys? ~ have probably made things much worse. It's not about innocence or guilt. It's about public opinion being manipulated in favour of sales.

It's not about 'political motives'. Maybe things would have been much better for Corby if there hadn't been such a circus.

I cannot say if she is 'guilty' or 'innocent' because I'm not in full possesion of the facts. What I do say is that in arguing for a transfer to an Australian prison BEFORE the verdict was given, it would appear that it is the Australians ~ both politicians and media ~ who have prejudged her.

And this may well have predetermined the sentence, whatever doubts one may have about the Indonesian judiciary.

So, is it really the Indonesian police who are acting as the judiciary?

You judge, mate, you be the judge.

And, in answer to your 'compatriate nevertheless', yes, Jakartass will remain in tune with a MORE individualistic society.

That way, freedom lies.
Jakartass | Homepage | "May 28, 2005, 9:36 pm" | #

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"It's not about 'political motives'. Maybe things would have been much better for Corby if there hadn't been such a circus"

Yes it's true that the attention this case has generated in the Australian media and the hamfisted attempts by the Australian government to respond to the intense public sympathy would be resented by Indonesians as outside interference.

As would no doubt the heavy pressure applied by the Australian and US governments to convict Abu Bakar Bashir in connection with the Bali terrorist attacks on tourists.

When a group of activists burst into the court trying Corby, chanting demands for the death penalty, it was clear that political motivations were already out there. That was before the Australian media had shown much attention to the case and way before the Australian government made any effort to assist Corby.

My point about the police being the real judiciary, at least in the court which Corby is being tried in, is established by the statistics of previous drugs cases handled by the court. Not one of the 400 drugs cases handled by the court has resulted in a not guilty outcome. Not one.

That means that when police decide to prosecute a drugs case, as long as the police don't make some big mistake or get caught out lying, the accused person will be convicted.

So the judgement is in the hands of the police. That certainly means the police are acting as the judiciary. The court merely acts as an auditor of the judicial process enacted by the police.

So sorry jakartass, but the numbers never lie. My heart goes out to Corby because I wouldn't want to be convicted on such 'evidence' without all the 'evidence' being admitted and considered.

My heart also goes out to all the other people convicted on uncorroborated evidence and merely on possession of drugs in their luggage when that luggage has been in baggage handling areas under the control of others. Locking the bag is not enough either because the locks are often found removed or broken and this is to be expected when airlines must ensure there isn't a bomb in a bag.

I should also emphasise that not only Indonesia regards a prima facie possession of drugs as proof of guilt. The only way to ensure that the owner of a bag did not put contraband in the bag is to open the bag on departure and check the contents. This should be done as a matter of course, or else the airline who were in fact the last to have control of the bag should be held responsible for the contents.
Ray Salmon | "May 29, 2005, 4:55 pm" | #

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Thanks for your lengthy comments, Ray. I've linked to them at the new regional blog ~ Asia Pundit - http://www.asiapundit.com/2005/ 0....html#trackback

I'm not sure that the Indonesian hotheads demanding the death penalty were 'politically motivated'. They seem to have been the scum who espouse Muslim purity, yet are known to be in the pay of generals.

There are other, more sinister, hands at work. Witness the recent bombs in Central Sulawesi which are obviously an attempt to stir up inter-commuinal strife. And who would that benefit other than those in favour of a militaristic state?
Jakartass | Homepage | "May 29, 2005, 10:54 pm" | #

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...freedom lies..(in individualism) as above... We are very fortunate that way but as well freedom brings annoying little regulations ... fishing licences, cycle helmets, public liability, speed cameras, microchiping of pets.
Freedom and responsibility go together. We have a minority of school children from five years onwards quite unwilling to participate in class with little room for redress, quite unfamiliar with respect or social skills or parental support ( it is a minority).
This is our model of freedom to emulate,
of course, it is not the whole picture, we are fortunate, but what about asylum seeking families imprisioned for years for NO crime
along with our citizens mistaken for so called 'illegals' and imprisoned. As well, Aboriginal Australians make up a disproportionally large number of prisoners.
I believe M Thatcher once said 'there is no society'... ( only economics)
I have heard, rightly or wrongly, that Indonesians are given harsh sentences for any drug related crime. This was from a person who helped out another expatriot - young and female - serving a sentence. It was assumed this expatriot was targetted for a bribe but funds were low and they missed the chance, however, money was a factor in the length of sentence- about twelve months for possessing small amount cannabis.
compatriot | "May 30, 2005, 9:29 am" | #

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Hong Kong View by Phil

IFC View

Phil, aka Yul, way over the pond in Hong Kong recently posted an outstanding photo taken from the 79th floor of the IFC Building in Central, which looks over the Macau Ferry Building and the newish Four Seasons Hotel just a short drop below. Wow, but I wonder what old building they tore down to put up the FSH?

Much better than his usual stuff of cigarette ashtrays and facial surgery, but I still fondly remember his photo of his refrigerator and all the silly magnets. That one really rocked.

Photo Link

Dolphin Destruction in SE Asia

Dolphins Surfing in San Diego

Group sounds alarm over trapped dolphins
Tehran Times
June 11, 2005

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - From Southeast Asia to the Black Sea, fishing nets have become deathtraps for thousands of whales, dolphins and porpoises — species whose survival will be threatened unless fishing methods change, the World Wildlife Fund said Thursday.

The U.S.-based environmental group released a marine scientists' report that listed species threatened by accidental catch, and recommended low-cost steps to reduce their entanglement in fishing gear. The report identified dolphins in the Philippines, India and Thailand as urgent priorities.

Researchers estimate that fishing gear kills about 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises a year in the world's oceans. Threatened populations include Irrawaddy dolphins in Malampyaya Sound off the Philippines' Palawan island, about 220 miles south of Manila. The WWF report said only 77 remain.

Dolphins also face the threat of traders who sell them to aquariums, especially in Asia, the report said. Other threatened populations include Spinner and Fraser's dolphins in the Philippines' Sulu Sea. The WWF report said up to 3,000 Spinner dolphins may be caught each year in gillnets, which stretch from the sea floor to the surface and are hard for dolphins to see or detect with their sonar.

If the mammals are trapped underwater in nets and can't get to the surface to breathe, they drown.

Dolphins are also under threat in Indonesia, Myanmar, India's Chilka Lake and Thailand's Songkhla Lake, the WWF said. Fishing gear kills thousands of porpoises each year in the Black Sea, the report said. Atlantic humpback dolphins face the same fate off the coasts of Ghana and Togo in Africa, as do Franciscana dolphins in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, it said.

Read the Rest

Political Problems for Gloria Arroyo

Gloria Arroyo

Thousands Demand Ouster of Arroyo
AP
June 11, 2005

MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Thousands of protesters on Saturday demanded President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo step down during the biggest anti-government rally since allegations surfaced that she fixed last year's election and her family received gambling kickbacks.

The government has denied the allegations, saying they were part of a plot to unseat Arroyo. Police nationwide and soldiers in the capital Manila were on full alert against a power grab in a country with a history of coup attempts.

Claims of payoffs to Arroyo's son and a brother-in-law from illegal gambling operators and an alleged wiretapped conversation between Arroyo and an election official to fix the 2004 vote, come as she battles poverty, rising prices, a fiscal deficit, corruption and the lowest popularity rating since late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

At a reception on the eve of Philippine independence, Arroyo said ''purveyors of instability and intrigue'' were undermining her efforts to reform the economy. Arroyo said she was focused ''like a laser beam'' on reforms ''to turn this economy around, and no one will deter me from that mission.''

''We cannot resolve our differences by tossing out the democratic process just because we are not getting our way,'' she said. In a rare show of solidarity, a wide spectrum of anti-Arroyo groups, including opposition politicians and rival leftist groups, joined forces in Saturday's rally dubbed a ''National Day of Mourning.'' Police estimated that 5,000 people took part in the protest.

''The rally for me can be seen as a measure of how far or how widespread the disgust is for Arroyo and her isolation,'' said Rep. Teddy Casino of the left wing Bayan Muna party. Casino said his party wants Arroyo's ouster, but opposes a coup d'etat, a military junta or a ''palace coup.''

''This is the early stage of the struggle for the eventual regime change that is expected,'' he said. However, he said talk of ''an imminent downfall is not accurate.''

Earlier in the week, a key witness testifying in an ongoing Senate hearing on the illegal numbers game called jueteng claimed she personally handed payoffs to Arroyo's son and brother-in-law, who are both members of the House of Representatives.

The two men have denied the charges. Arroyo's son has filed a libel suit against the witness.

To show she was not protecting her family, Arroyo immediately ordered government investigators to look into the allegations and file charges if warranted, saying her kin are not above the law.

On Friday, the dismissed deputy head of the justice department's investigation agency claimed he was the source of an audio recording that purportedly has Arroyo talking to an election official about fixing last year's election to gain a 1 million margin against her closest rival, Fernando Poe Jr. Poe died in December following a stroke.

Read the Rest

Return of the Indonesian Gestapo?

Orang Attacks!

Indonesia revives notorious spy agency
Manila Times
June 11, 2005

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s plan to revive its domestic spy agency, which the former dictator Suharto used to watch critics and stifle dissent, drew fire Friday from human-rights groups.

The government said Thursday that the notorious Regional Intelligence Coordinating Agency would help track terrorist suspects by improving cooperation among the police, the army and the National Intelligence Agency, which deals mostly with foreign matters.

But rights groups fear the revived internal spy agency will be misused by security forces, which they say are rarely punished for rights abuses.

“It sounds scary,” said Agung Yudhawiranata of the rights group Elsam. “We worry that the Suharto era has returned and that the agency will use the pretext of fighting terrorism to violate individuals’ rights. It’s a step backward in our efforts to limit the powers of the police and the army.”

Rights activist Hendardi, who goes by one name, acknowledged that Indonesia’s ability to fight terrorism was weak. “But we don’t want any government to use this agency to detain people who have different political opinions,” he said.

Suharto used the notorious internal spy network—best known by its abbreviated Indonesian name, Bakorinda—to watch his opponents down to the village level. During his 32-year rule, security forces killed hundreds of thousands of his regime’s political opponents. Many dissidents were sent to penal colonies on faraway islands.

Bakorinda was shelved after massive street protests forced Suharto to step down in 1998. Authorities plan to revive the agency later this year.

Manila Times Link

Political Freedom in Indonesia

Bugils Cafe at Blok M Jakarta

Bali student jailed for insulting Susilo
The Jakarta Post
June 11, 2005

In what prodemocracy activists are describing as a blow to freedom of expression, a court here jailed a university student on Friday for insulting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

I Wayan "Gendo" Suardana, a law student at Udayana University in Denpasar, Bali, was sentenced to six months in prison, minus time already served. Wayan will only be behind bars for 22 days because he has been detained since Jan. 3.

The Denpasar District Court found the student guilty of insulting the President by setting fire to a picture of Susilo during a protest late last year against the government's plan to raise fuel prices. When the verdict was announced, about 70 friends and family of Wayan charged toward the judges' bench, forcing police officers to intervene to calm the courtroom.

The panel of judges and prosecutors were escorted out of the courtroom without officially wrapping up the proceedings. Wayan demanded the judges return and officially close the trial by giving him an opportunity to respond to the verdict.

Agus Samijaya, Wayan's lawyer, said his client's failure to be given the opportunity to respond to the verdict meant the trial was legally flawed. He demanded another hearing be held.

Read the Rest

American Slavery

Javanese Court Dancer

Saudi couple in U.S. charged with enslaving Indonesian maid
DENVER (AP)

Federal and state authorities have accused a Saudi Arabian couple of forcing an Indonesian woman to work in their home for four years while the husband allegedly repeatedly sexually assaulted her.

A federal grand jury indicted Homaidan Al-Turki, 36, and his wife, Sarah Khonaizan, 35, on Thursday on charges of forced labor, harboring an illegal immigrant and unlawfully concealing the woman's passport.

Al-Turki also faces state charges of rape, kidnapping, false imprisonment and extortion. His wife faces state charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment and extortion. The couple, who were in the country legally, could face up to life in prison if convicted. They were in custody Thursday.

The indictment alleges that the Indonesian woman, who was in her 20s, was required to cook, clean and provide child care for little or no pay. The woman was controlled by "creation of a climate of fear and intimidation through aggravated sexual abuse and other means, intended to cause (her) to believe that, if she did not continue to perform such labor and services, that she would suffer serious harm," the indictment said.

The indictment said the couple hid the woman's passport.

Khonaizan's lawyer, Jennifer Gedde, called the charges "simply allegations," but declined further comment. Al-Turki's lawyer, John Richilano, could not be reached for comment. The woman lived with the couple until November 2004, the indictment said. It was unclear how she left the home.

Jakarta Post Story

Boycott Disneyland Hong Kong

Death at Disneyland

Disney leaflet will explain horrors of Hong Kong shark's fin dishes
Thu Jun 9, 2005

HONG KONG (AFP) - Disney, under fire from green groups for planning to offer shark's fin soup at its Hong Kong resort, announced a novel plan to ease activists' fears -- it will hand out leaflets explaining the cruelty of shark fishing with every bowl of the controversial dish.

The leaflet scheme is the latest salvo in a global row with environmentalists over its decision to serve the delicacy, blamed for a sharp decline in shark numbers worldwide, at wedding banquets when the Hong Kong theme park opens in September.

Disney has resisted calls to drop the luxury item and instead seeks to educate customers against buying it. "If customers insist on shark's fin soup we will agree to serve it to them but with a leaflet carrying information on how shark fins are harvested," Disney spokeswoman Irene Chan told AFP.

"It will be written in a suitable manner for a wedding, but it will explain the environmental impact of shark fin fishing," Chan said. Cheng Luk-ki, a spokesman for local activist group Green Power, which had been asked by Disney to design the leaflet, said it would pull no punches.

"It will explain the importance of sharks to marine ecology and explain how they are cruelly killed," Cheng told AFP. "It will detail the environmental and health impacts of eating it."

Disney has become the target of a global email and web protest over its decision to sell shark's fin in its two Hong Kong hotels -- the entertainment giant's only resort that will feature the dish. Activists complain that shark's fins are harvested inhumanely by fishermen who brutally hack the fin from sharks and toss the bodies back into the sea to die -- a practice known as "finning".

The company defended its decision, saying not to offer the dish was unthinkable in Hong Kong where the food is a delicacy and where, because of its high value, its consumption is considered a sign of affluence. Disney said it would serve shark's fin in consideration of "local cultural sensitivities".

Chan said Disney had also vowed to buy fins only from suppliers whose fishermen did not "fin" and who did not cull endangered shark species. "We will buy fins only from suppliers who are responsible and reliable," said Chan. "And only those that fish according to international treaties."

She said the company had sought the advice of other green groups to find environmentally sound fin sources. An official at Hong Kong's office of conservation group WWF confirmed it was one of the organisations consulted by Disney.

"There has been a meeting and discussions are still in progress," said Margaret Chan, spokeswoman for WWF Hong Kong, without elaborating. "The talks have been taking place between the two sides here and in the United States."

Disney's proposals got a cool reception from other activists who said further action, including protests during the park's opening ceremony, were being considered. "We will have to see what happens, but basically there is no substitute for dropping shark's fin altogether," said Greenpeace spokesman Martin Baker.

"We will keep up efforts for a dialogue and we still have some time, but this issue has a lot of backing and you may find a coalition could form in the time being to protest against Disney," Baker added.

Sharks Killed for Disneyland Profits

The Destruction of Pagan

Burmese Boy with Tatoos and Cheroot

Burma rebuilding risks Pagan jewel
By Andrew Harding
BBC News, Burma

Pagan's temples are one of Asia's most important cultural sites. The sunsets are still spectacular - a golden glow brushing the curves of 2,000 ancient temples and pagodas clustered on the edge of the Irrawaddy River in central Burma.

But today some of the world's leading experts have accused Burma's military regime of waging "archaeological blitzkrieg" against the legendary Buddhist treasures of Pagan.

"They're ruining it," said Richard Engelhardt, regional advisor for the UN's cultural arm, Unesco. "It makes me feel hopeless and helpless and angry and disappointed," he said.

I went to survey the damage, posing as a tourist. Burma is one of the world's most repressive dictatorships and foreign journalists are not welcome.

"We are the richest archaeological site in Asia," said my guide proudly as we drove around the site in a horse-drawn carriage. But almost everywhere I saw signs of the "false" and "misguided" restoration work which Unesco and other experts have so bitterly condemned.

These included:

Hundreds of brand new pagodas built with brick and concrete on top of ancient ruins

A half-built "palace" being constructed from poured concrete at the heart of the site

The widespread use of bathroom tiles, concrete and other unauthentic materials

A 200ft (65m) observation tower and hotel complex under construction on the site

Read the Rest

Tourism in East Timor

Indonesia 100 Rupiah 1958

Fairly decent story in the New York Times about tourism in East Timor.