Coke in Michael's Pants

Michael Jackson

Too much. Michael has fled the U.S. for the safety of Bahrain, but his past will follow him to his last days. An amazing story today about the side of Jackson never revealed during the trial. And exactly what was he doing with cocaine in his pants? The mind reels.

Cocaine in Jacko's Pants
The Sun
By EMILY SMITH
US Editor

TRACES of cocaine were found on Michael Jackson’s underwear during a police raid, it was revealed yesterday. The discovery emerged as the troubled singer faced shock new claims that he is abusing and trafficking drugs. Cops are secretly investigating allegations by former aides that Jacko, 47, is hooked on anti-depressants and painkillers.

They say he pops up to 40 pills a day — and was seen falling flat on his face after injecting himself with a mystery drug. He is suspected of transporting drugs from California to Bahrain, where he currently lives, and obtaining them with fake prescriptions.

The probe is being led by Santa Barbara’s notorious District Attorney Tom Sneddon. He is still smarting after failing to convict Jacko on child sex charges in the summer. A Jackson aide said: “Sneddon still smells blood and is determined to nail Michael.” The star could face up to 20 years in jail if he is brought to trial and convicted. But aides fear the strain of a new court battle could kill him.

The investigation centres around a huge stash of prescription drugs seized when police probing the child sex claims raided Jacko’s Neverland ranch in 2003. The swoop also unearthed the cocaine traces on the singer’s underwear. Residues of the painkiller Demerol and sedative Promethazine were also said to have been on the garments.

It is not known how the coke got there or in what form it was found. The discovery was not revealed at the child sex trial because cops could not be certain it was Jacko who used the drug. They could not rule out the possibility the underwear had come into contact with maids or cleaning staff.

Jacko made repeated visits to hospital during the trial, suffering from excruciating back pain. He once turned up in his pyjamas after a hospital visit. He often appeared dazed and on heavy medication. Pals believe he is takes so many painkillers and anti-depressants that he is constantly intoxicated.

The Neverland stash allegedly included bottles of Vicodin, Oxycontin, Versed, Promethazime, Xanax and Valium. They were in Jacko’s bedroom but had been prescribed by doctors for aides including his assistant Frank Tyson. Police also seized notes from a doctor advising Jackson on how to use an opiate to wean himself off Demerol.

Cops suspected Jacko was using staff to fetch drugs in their own names or under bogus monikers. They decided not to pursue the drugs case in favour of concentrating on the child sex claims. But they are now reviewing evidence given by former Neverland security guard Chris Carter.

In papers just released by the Santa Maria court where Jacko was tried, Carter claimed Jacko took up to 40 anti-depressants a day. The transcript of a police interview with Carter, 25, reads: Carter said he would get Xanax prescriptions at pharmacies for Jackson under different fictitious names including Carter’s own name.

He added that Jackson was taking ten-plus Xanax pills a night.

Carter said he expressed his concerns with Dominic Cascio (a friend of Jackson) and Dominic told him Jackson was doing better because he was down from 30-40 Xanax pills a night. He said a doctor told him Jackson was addicted to Demerol, but said he was giving Jackson a placebo to wean him off.

He described a situation in Florida where Jackson and a security detail were in a hotel room alone and Jackson fell on his face. He said he later found out that Jackson was intoxicated and had hurt himself.

Carter — now in jail for robbery and kidnapping — also claimed Jackson smoked pot in a recording studio with Bee Gee Barry Gibb. Cops on Sneddon’s investigation have contacted doctors who treated Jacko and former Neverland staff. Californian pharmacies that may have dispensed the drugs will also come under the spotlight.

A Jackson aide said: “Sneddon thinks Michael could be getting drugs flown to Bahrain. The investigation is being kept secret. “But Sneddon is considering whether he can get Michael on charges of conspiracy to export a controlled substance and prescription drug abuse. He hopes to put together a strong case and file it in the next few months.”

Jacko will fiercely deny any drugs charges brought against him. A source close to his family said last night: “Michael would fight this in court. But none of us knows if he could cope with another investigation. “Sneddon is obsessed with bringing him down. This is not justice, it’s a witch-hunt.”

Sneddon refused to answer calls yesterday. A spokeswoman said: “He has no comment to make at this time.” Another source told of growing concern for Jacko because he has isolated himself from his family and loyal staff.

He lives in Bahrain because he fears being arrested if he returns to California.

The source said: “People just can’t get hold of him. The family are worried he is letting his business interests go in America because he is still taking too many prescription drugs.” A string of top aides have quit over their inability to communicate with the star. Even Jacko’s dad Joe has been unable to get hold of him.

The Sun Link

The Filipino Diaspora

Filipino Cigarrillos

Whenever I read something about the flight of Filipinos from their homeland to work abroad, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. And when I read this morning that some 33% of the population would leave the country to live elsewhere, and that 25% of the population has no confidence in the future of the Philippines, I cry for the state of one of my favorite nations.

What in the world has gone wrong? Why are people leaving their homeland in record numbers? You don't see this phenomena anywhere else in Southeast Asia, so why has mass migration become the vehicle of choice for a growing proportion of the country? Where is the blame? Most Filipinos I talk to will almost uniformly blame their lousy government for the sad state of the Philippines, but this seems just an easy out and certainly doesn't explain the malaise. Is the national character at fault? The church? I really don't have the answers, and the Filipinos themselves will need to pull themselves out of this malaise, but the continuing decline of the Philippines is a real heart breaker.

The Maid Industry
The Manila Times
By Alfredo G. Rosario
Dec 1, 2005

I will not be surprised if out of the eight million Filipinos working abroad about a million are maids. Ten years ago an international survey showed that there were 1.7 million foreign maids in Asia and the Middle East. Out of this figure, 275 were Filipino.

But the number of Filipino maids worldwide has since soared. We have over 100,000 domestic helpers in Hong Kong, 70,000 in Singapore and about 100,000 in Italy. We havenÂ’t reckoned with the number of Filipino maids in such favorite destination points as Canada, the United Kingdom and other European countries and Australia, which could be significant.

From January to June this year the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has registered a total maid deployment of 82,000 in three areas alone—Hong Kong, Singapore and Italy. Of an estimated 540,000 total deployment in other countries for the same period, it is safe to assume that one-tenth, or 54,000, are domestic helpers.

The rise of the Philippine maid industry is attributed to a number of factors, particularly the attractive wages offered by the rich countries, not to mention the lack of jobs and poor pay in their homeland.

A maid in Hong Kong receives over P24,000 monthly, which is a little less than the income of a senior government official in Manila. She is entitled to labor fringe benefits, on top of free food and accommodation. She is given a day-off every week and is covered by insurance.

In 1985 the number of Filipino maids in Singapore was only 20,000. The figure has since ballooned to about 70,000. Their salary ranges from P15,000 to P20,000, which is a little less than what maids in Hong Kong receive.

In the past Filipino maids were deployed in Singapore without going through the normal POEA processing. They availed themselves of the no-visa policy of member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in entering Singapore.

But today the government of Singapore has tightened its visa policy concerning foreign workers. Its labor department has also strengthened its labor rules and regulations for the protection of foreign workers from abuse and exploitation.

For a time, Canada became the dream workplace of Filipino maids because of its immigration policy of granting them permanent residence after two years of employment. Since one of the governmentÂ’s requisites is a working experience certified by their immediate employers, several maids in Hong Kong, Singapore and in Middle East countries applied in droves and were taken in.

The immigration policy was stopped in 1991. However, foreign maids are allowed to change their employment after two years to other jobs for which they are qualified. Domestic helpers who desire to work in Canada are required to have at least 70 college units to make sure they can switch to other jobs upon the expiration of their contracts.

The Manila Times Link

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One in three want to leave Philippines
The Nation
Nov 30 , 2005

Manila - One in three Filipinos want to move to another country and almost one quarter believe that the Philippines is hopeless, said a survey published Wednesday.

Asked whether or not they agreed with the statement, "If it were only possible, I would migrate to another country and live there," 33 per cent of respondents said "Yes".

This was a sharp increase from July when only 26 per cent said they would move abroad, according to the independent Manila-based Pulse Asia pollster which carried out the October 15-27 survey.

The survey also found that 23 per cent of the 1,200 people polled agreed with the statement that "this country is hopeless", more than double the 11 per cent that felt that way in July.

Seventy-four per cent of the October respondents said they expected life in the Philippines to get worse in the coming year, while 43 per cent said they would be poorer than last year this Christmas season,.

The survey comes amid a political confrontation between President Gloria Arroyo and the Filipino opposition which is seeking to oust her based on charges that she cheated to win the May 2004 elections.

The Nation Link

Bruce Lee Statues Unveiled in Bosnia and Hong Kong

Bruce Lee in Bosnia and Hong Kong

A pair of Bruce Lee images were recently unveiled, almost simultaneously, in Bosnia and Hong Kong, setting of a kind of beauty contest between the two widely divergent statues. While the Bosnia icon has an ethereal quality, I'd vote for the Hong Kong submission that shows the incredible ripness of the late, great star.

Statues of Bruce Lee unveiled
USA Today
Nov 28, 2005

HONG KONG (AP) — Statues of Bruce Lee were unveiled in Bosnia and his hometown of Hong Kong to mark the 65th birthday of the late screen icon credited with introducing kung fu to the world. A bronze likeness of a muscular Lee, torso bared, was set in a harborside perch against Hong Kong's skyline Sunday as Lee's trademark howl played on a stereo system.

Another Lee statue was inaugurated Saturday in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, a war-ravaged city where Lee has been held up as a symbol of unity. (Related story: Bosnia to 'beat' Hong Kong with Lee statue)

Lee soared to stardom in the early 1970s with his intense fighting style and by portraying characters that defended the Chinese and working class against oppressors.

He died of an edema, or swelling of the brain, at the age of 32 in 1973 in Hong Kong, with just four completed movies under his belt. His brother, Robert Lee, who attended Sunday's unveiling in Hong Kong, said his brother left a legacy of individual expression. "He always wanted to sort of tell people what a person can do to be able to express himself or herself (to) the fullest," Lee said.

USA Today Link

Banned Art in Singapore: Prisoner C856

A Better Place



Rope for Prisoner C856

It's bad enough that the local media in Singapore has almost completely ignored the upcoming execution this Friday at sunrise, but a student art show at a local state-sponsored art college has been subjected to censorship. The prisoner number (C856) has been removed from the chair, and no one at the university is willing to talk about the art project.

Artist's protest feels the noose
The Australian
Michael McKenna and Alan Shadrake
28 Nov 2005

IT was a rare public display of protest against the death penalty that even Singapore's arts community didn't want the world to see.

Titled "I am going to send you to a better place", the now infamous send-off from veteran hangman Darshan Singh, the disturbing artwork is the only act of open defiance in the city-state during the final days of condemned Australian drug-trafficker Van Tuong Nguyen.

Slovenian art student Matija Milkovic Biloslav had displayed under falling nooses a single standing stool carrying a card with Van's execution number, C856, a very deliberate reference to the Melbourne man, scheduled to be hanged at dawn this Friday.

But after The Australian unexpectantly attended last Friday night's opening of the exhibition at the Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts, the self-censorship that pervades the country of four million took hold.

Over the weekend, The Australian newspaper was threatened with legal action by Lasalle directors if it published a picture of the work and all requests for an interview with the artist were denied.

The card carrying Van's execution number was hastily removed. The college, which receives government funding, said the artwork was about suicide.

The reaction of the art college is typical of the sensitivity in Singapore to the very limited political and social debate allowed by the long-ruling People's Action Party.

Local coverage of Van's trial, conviction and sentence has been almost non-existent in the government-owned media, with daily reports only appearing in the past week and limited to the outcry in Australia or a defence of the looming execution.

The apparent controls now seem to be extended to Mr Singh, the 73-year-old grandfather who was set to carry out Van's execution after a 46-year gallows career in Singapore's Changi prison.

Mr Singh, who was first revealed as Van's hangman in The Australian last month, was reported at the weekend as saying he would not be hanging Van after all. It would have been his 869th execution. But a close friend of Mr Singh doubts if he is telling the truth.

"Now that he has been exposed as the hangman, the authorities want to deny that he will be the one who will hang Nguyen," said the friend, who did not wish to be named. "Singh is under pressure not to get involved in any more publicity. They know the whole world will be watching."

Two of Van's closest friends, Kelly Ng and Bronwyn Lew, have arrived in Singapore to visit him as he awaits his fate. "Being strong for him is what we need to do," Ms Lew said. "To smile, that is important."

Jacob George Link

Sondhi Limthongkul Background

Sondhi at Udon Thani Temple

Trying to sort through the ongoing saga of Sondhi versus Thaksin takes a bit of detective work, but I just found an old link at The Nation that relates the history of Sondhi's financial empires, which largely collapsed in the late 1990s, though the media baron was able to largely escape personal financial ruin. Essential reading for anyone curious about the man with a mission.

Speedy demise for Sondhi's empire
The Nation
Apr 12, 2002

The Nation looks at the collapse of the overseas empire of M Group in the final of a four-part series.

At his financial peak, Thai media magnate Sondhi Limthongkul had all the accoutrements of a successful Asian tycoon. Sitting atop his carefully diversified global conglomerate, Sondhi was often seen escorting Chinese screen goddess Gong Li.

His ambitious vision was to move into new markets and buy up the publications there. When he didn't like the publications on offer, he simply started his own. His empire, built on deals, promissory notes and predictions of exponential economic growth, also included a wide range of non-media businesses.

He led a project for the first satellite ever to be launched over Laos; he owned a hotel in China's Yunnan province, ran a cement factory in Vietnam, and set up a regional business conference company.

Building on his domestic media success, Sondhi started a Hong Kong-based regional business magazine, Asia Inc; bought up a California lifestyle magazine, Buzz; launched a Bangkok-based regional newspaper, Asia Times; and tied in with numerous specialised regional titles, such as the Singapore-based Asian Dentist.

Managed from his tastefully restored, colonial-style headquarters along the Chao Phraya River, Sondhi's businesses often seemed to have no link or logic beyond his ownership or control. Riding on Thailand's dramatic economic boom, everything Sondhi touched seemed to turn to gold. When people questioned how he could raise so much money so fast, he brushed off the queries by replying: "I am just a journalist who got lucky."

Looking now at Sondhi's Hong Kong-based international empire, his claim of relying on luck, which faltered ahead of Asia's regional financial crisis in 1997, appears only too true.

After registering his first Hong Kong company, Manager International Company, in 1990, Sondhi's empire picked up pace and scope. Within a few years he was registering up to four new companies a year and assigning them increasingly expansive names. M China International soon joined Asia Initiatives and Asia Network Publications. By 1995, Sondhi's international empire included a dozen companies registered in Hong Kong alone.

Like many Asian tycoons, Sondhi wove a complex web of companies that allowed him to exert maximum control as indirectly as possible. He accomplished this through a series of cross-shareholdings.

Sondhi himself usually kept few direct holdings in any of the companies, but ultimately was in control through his ownership of the holding companies. These holding companies included his favourite, M Group, and other holding companies registered in the British Virgin Islands.

His two-year attempt to run Asia Times, a regional daily newspaper, is a good example of this structure. Sondhi, like several other M Group executives, only owned a token amount of the newspaper's stock. The bulk of the company was owned by Manager International, which was, in turn, mostly owned by the M Group.

Such structures offer many benefits, including minimal taxation and maximum protection in case of financial difficulties. To their chagrin, creditors and former employees of Asia Times quickly discovered how easily this structure allowed Sondhi to distance himself from personal responsibility when the organisation which he had sworn was his personal dream collapsed.

By 1996, cracks began to appear in the restoration work of Sondhi's sprawling colonial-era headquarters and financial strains began to weigh on his empire. Employees in many Sondhi-linked companies faced delayed salary payments and suppliers often received little more than empty promises.

Using the complex structure of the international cross-holdings, Sondhi fed those owed money with the refrain: "The money is in the pipeline, it just has to work its way through the system over to you."

When the money finally ran out, Sondhi's international empire ended with a whimper, not a bang. The Lao satellite's base station along the Mekong river was unceremoniously abandoned; his Hong Kong-based flagship magazine, Asia Inc, was bought out by staff, and Asian Advertising and Marketing was purchased by a foreign partner.

Sondhi himself took a strong stance on debt owed to foreigners, urging fellow Thai debtors to stop repaying foreign debt.

Under Hong Kong's strict legal system, his companies began to wind up at a quick pace, with three companies facing liquidation in 2000 and 2001. This contrasts with Thailand, where company offices remained open for months after business operations had ceased.

Nonetheless, while creditors in many countries laid claim on Sondhi's money, some of his lesser-known overseas assets appeared untouched by the collapse of his empire. A former manager of Lijiang's Grand Hotel in Yunnan Province said Sondhi retained his stake in the property at least through 1999. Other Hong Kong-registered companies in which Sondhi is a director remain active, including Kingstrike Limited, M China International Limited and Four S Corporation Limited.

Now Sondhi's only international profile is the mysterious website of his former regional newspaper, Asia Times. The paper ceased publication long ago, but the publication's website is still regularly updated.

The Nation Link

Jesus Jokes

Dylan as Charlatan

Bruce, my old buddy from the Bay Area, has been living in Bali for several years along with a stint in Shanghai teaching English, and he sometimes send along political diatribes and a few jokes such as those below. He has a place just outside Ubud where he rents fabulous rooms at bargain rates, a nice alternative to the cookie-cutter hotels that have largely ruined downtown Ubud and Monkey Forest Road.

Sigh.

Scholars have long debated the exact ethnicity and nationality of Jesus. Recently, at a theological meeting in Rome, scholars had a heated debate on this subject. One by one, they offered their evidence.

*THREE PROOFS THAT JESUS WAS MEXICAN:*
1. His first name was Jesus
2. He was bilingual
3. He was always being harassed by the authorities

*JESUS WAS BLACK*
1. He called everybody "brother"
2. He liked Gospel
3. He couldn't get a fair trial

*JESUS WAS JEWISH*
1. He went into His Father's business
2. He lived at home until he was 33
3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin, and his Mother was sure he was God

*JESUS WAS ITALIAN*
1. He talked with his hands
2. He had wine with every meal
3. He used olive oil

*JESUS WAS A CALIFORNIAN*
1. He never cut his hair
2. He walked around barefoot
3. He started a new religion

*JESUS WAS IRISH*
1. He never got married
2. He was always telling stories
3. He loved green pastures

*JESUS WAS A WOMAN*
1. She had to feed a crowd at a moment's notice when there was no food
2. She kept trying to get the message across to a bunch of men
3. Even when She was dead, She had to get up because there was more work for Her to do

In the words of Nite Owl: I don't give a Hoot

Simon World Forum

Harbour View Hong Kong 1947

From here, I can almost see Chungking Mansions in Tsimshatsui. Not quite the quote from Titanic, but Simon at Simon World has started up an open discussion site for all folks concerned or even vaguely interested in China, Hong Kong, and points both east and south.

Simon World Talk Site

Help Support the Best Blog in Thailand

Sanctuary of Truth in Pattaya by Richard

My two favorite blogs from Thailand are 2 Bangkok by Ron Morris and Thai-Blogs by Richard and company. Ron covers the current political conditions, transportation projects, and historical photographs of old Siam better than anyone else. Richard covers Thai lifestyles and traditions in great fashion, always suitable for a family audience with outstanding contributions from other expats living across the wide spectrum of the country.

Thai-Blogs is now receiving over 5K hits per day and his bandwidth costs have risen, so he's invented a rather creative way to help raise funds to cover his costs. Richard teaches English south of Bangkok in Samut Prakan, so without saying so, he makes a modest income and the bandwidth is killing him and threatening to reduce his coverage, which includes contributions from his students and others working on their language skills.

I have complete confidence that Richard is honest and this is one fund-raising event I totally support. Do visit the link, click for more information, and sponsor one of his squares in his quest to keep Thailand's best website projects on line.

Some of you may know already, that these blogs are produced by the Paknam Web Network. It is a company here in Thailand that I set up with a group of my ex-students. The picture above shows our office and some of the students hard at work. We not only produce the thai-blogs.com web site, but also more than 30 others which include: thailandlife.com, learningthai.com, thailandguidebook.com, ethaimusic.com, thailandQA.com, thaichatbox.com and enjoythaifood.com. These web sites are among the most popular in Thailand as we get more than 50,000 visitors every day. The blogs themselves are now averaging about 5,000 visitors a day with a one-day record of 8,000 visitors the other day.

This popularity may all sound very good, but it is starting to prove to be very expensive for us. Although the blogs don’t have as many visitors as some of our other sites, it is actually our second most expensive web site to run. In the beginning, the web sites were supported with profits from our online book store. But now the server and other expenses are costing us thousands of dollars every year. We recently did a major upgrade which cost us a lot of money. However, it didn’t help for long. Some of you may have noticed periods of time when the blogs are opening very slowly. This is happening between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Thai time. This is peak time for our major web sites and the server is having a hard time coping with so many people connecting at the same time. We now have to do another upgrade.

Thai-Blogs Link

Medical Care in Bangkok

Flaming Moe's Bar

Stickman today goes over his experiences with various hospitals and health care centers in Bangkok, and comes up with his all-time recommendation for anyone needing medical assistance in town. I swear by Bangkok Christian Hospital on Silom near Patpong for inexpensive attention at rock-bottom prices, though Stickman's opinions are not to be discounted.

After several years in Thailand, I have had the need to visit a doctor or seek medical assistance a handful of times. Given that neighborhood clinics, the likes of Dr Wise here, hardly inspire confidence, I like most other farangs, head directly for one of the city's many private hospitals.

My first experience with the Thai medical system was with Phyathai 2 Hospital. Three times in my first year in Thailand I went along with an infection that needed some sort of treatment. No, not that sort of infection! Each time it was a throat or sinus infection and each time I met with a doctor who spoke passable, but not great English, who prescribed a heap of pills every time. I was never asked if I was allergic to anything, was never advised of any side effects and was never asked if I was on any other medication. Looking back at the medical care and service received, it was pretty basic.

The next couple of times I had reason to visit a hospital were for ear blockages. The first time was with Phyathai 2 where the service from an ear, nose and throat specialist was very good. For some reason I decided to try somewhere else and headed for Bangkok Christian Hospital. Again, the care was fairly good.

When I foolishly closed a taxi door with my hand still in the taxi, I decided on a trip to Bumrungrad which I had been told was the best hospital in all of Thailand. The doctor who looked at my black finger gave me a lecture about not getting to hospital quick enough and told me that other than painkillers, there was nothing he could do. I felt his attitude was more like that of a school headmaster who hadn't been laid for years, than that of a doctor. My initial impression of Bumrungrad, supposedly the Rolls Royce of Thai hospitals, was not good.

Stickman Link

Health Crisis in the Philippines

Philippines Postcard

Here in San Francisco, it's very likely that if you need medical attention, your nurse is a Filipina from Pagsanhan, Pangasinan, Tarlac, or elsewhere in the Philippines. The pay is excellent -- many nurses pull down over $60K per year -- and the ongoing shortage of nurses brings almost instant employment for any qualified nurse. It all seems ideal until you realize that other countries are having a tough time keeping their trained professional at home.

Warnings Raised About Exodus of Philippine Doctors and Nurses
New York Times
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
November 27, 2005

MANILA, Nov. 26 (Agence France-Presse) - The Philippines has become one of the world's biggest suppliers of health care workers, but the exodus of nurses and doctors in the past five years for higher-paying jobs overseas has left the country's own health system in a state of near collapse.

At a meeting of health care professionals called recently by the Philippine Medical Association, one conference paper said: "The crisis in medical human resources is now upon us. The delivery of health services is being compromised. We have to address the problem before the health system completely collapses."

A former health secretary, Jaime Galvez Tan, who has been studying the exodus of doctors over the past five years, said in an interview, "We are facing a serious problem, and we need to address it now before it is too late."

"Doctors are leaving for a variety of reasons: political instability, low pay, corruption, poor working conditions and the threat of malpractice," he said. "But above all, they don't see much hope for the future and the future of their children."

Mr. Tan's study estimated that about 100,000 nurses had left the Philippines to work abroad since 1994. About 50,000 left in the last five years, but nursing schools, which have mushroomed in recent years, have managed to produce only 33,370 nurses over the same period.

The study found Britain and the United States offered the best working conditions for Filipino nurses with visas for spouses and children and in some cases subsidized housing. But above all, the study found, salaries were a major factor, averaging $3,000 to $4,000 a month, compared with $180 to $220 a month in the Philippines.

New York Times Link

Good News on Tsunami Relief

Philadelphia Daily News

I'll admit I was initially skeptical of tsunami relief funds and afraid that a large proportion of those vast sums would disappear into a black hole of corruption and ineptitude. So I was very pleased to read this report at the New York Times about the flush accounts of various relief organizations and their close accountability to all the donors.

After Tsunami, a Rarity: Donated Dollars Remain
New York Times
By STEPHANIE STROM
November 27, 2005

As the anniversary of the tsunami that struck South Asia approaches, relief groups find themselves in the unusual situation of still having money in the bank.

Roughly half of the estimated $1.3 billion that Americans donated to help the victims of the disaster is still available, and the charities that received it have big plans to rebuild infrastructure, housing, schools, hospitals and lives.

"From our point of view, this is like dying and going to heaven," said Charles MacCormack, president of Save the Children. "It allows us to put together a coherent and systematic long-term plan, rather than living day to day and year to year as we normally do."

Save the Children has never before received enough money for disaster aid to sustain a five-year recovery plan, Mr. MacCormack said. "The only other time we had five years of funding in advance was when the Gates Foundation gave us a $50 million grant for programs to reduce newborn mortality," he said, referring to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Grass-roots philanthropy for the victims of the tsunami broke all fund-raising records for an international humanitarian crisis. The onslaught of money was so robust that it has made the philanthropic response to the earthquake in Pakistan - $73.4 million, according to data collected by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University - seem miserly when in fact it has been generous by historic standards.

The price of that generosity is scrutiny. Mr. MacCormack and leaders of other relief organizations are keenly aware that donors and the news media want an accounting, and they are working hard to explain how they have spent money so far.

New York Times Link

Ghosts in the Concrete

Manila Film Center

I've long had a difficult time finding decent blogs coming from the Philippines, but was delighted to discover a relatively new blog penned by Howie Severino who is both a journalist and TV presenter on GMA Pinoy TV. Do bookmark his blog and then read his recent posts about the Bicol Express train from Manila to Naga. Extremely well written posts and far superior to most other Filipino blogs.

The Manila Film Center mystery: A ghostly place or an urban legend?

I've been away exploring a haunted building. And I learned that it may not be spooked in the way we've all imagined. Nearly 25 years after the horrific tragedy that still defines it, the Manila Film Center hosted a different kind of quest -- a quest for facts.

Photo Caption: Imelda had wanted coconut trunk-like pillars on her Greek Parthenon-inspired film palace, but her nervous architects managed to convince her otherwise. The man sitting next to the third pillar from the right gives a sense of its size.
___________

The Manila Film Center, in a far corner of the Cultural Center complex on Roxas Blvd., is probably the country's most infamous structure. Some would say it is cursed, although a Korean-owned company is currently making a flamboyant effort to rehabilitate its image with a transvestite Las Vegas-like act. Now housing the "Amazing Philippine Theatre," the massive building is patronized nightly by dozens of Korean honeymooners who pose in front of the kitschy Egyptian Pharoah figure above the doorway before entering to enjoy the performance by the "country's prettiest gays." Most of the couples are completely unaware of its ghostly reputation, if one doesn't consider Filipino males with long hairless legs as apparitions.

But prettiest gays or not, ordinary superstition-loving Filipinos have avoided the building like SARS.

Even before it was finished in 1982, in time for the Manila International Film Festival, Imelda's film palace -- as others would call it -- suffered the first of its outrageous misfortunes. On November 17, 1981, during the pouring of cement, an upper floor collapsed, sending an untold number of workers hurtling into fresh cement or onto upright steel bars where they hung like barbeque (this was a witness's analogy, not mine) for hours until their bodies were retrieved.

The story all this time, or at least as I and countless others believed it, was that Imelda immediately ordered the bodies in the cement to be paved over so that work could resume and her looming deadline met. News about the tragedy was censored during the martial law era, so rumors and ghosts filled the vacuum.

Ghosts take over

Since then, as legend would have it, the Manila Film Center has become a haven for the supernatural, as spirits of the dead bodies encased in high-strength cement plead for recovery and a decent burial. So-called "spirit questors" have confirmed it, as well as various mediums (media?) and manghuhula.

Howie Severino Link

Mickey v. Thai Trannies

Transvestites do Tai Chi



Hong Kong Disneyland Trannies

This is just too funny. When will the taxpayers of Hong Kong demand a refund for the cost of supporting the Lantau Island Disneyland?

Katoey shows rival Mickey Mouse at Hong Kong Disneyland

Hong Kong (dpa) - It's hardly family entertainment but the Lady Boyz of Thailand are proving a rival to Mickey Mouse and Hong Kong's 3.5 billion U.S. dollar Disneyland theme park, it was revealed Sunday.

A cabaret show featuring a troupe of Thai transvestites and transsexuals is playing to packed audiences of up to 3,000 mainland tourists a day - the very market targetted by the new Disneyland.

All five daily shows at the 700-seat venue featuring the Golden Globe Cabaret are selling out with some offering standing room only, despite no local advertising.

Much of the audience is mainland Chinese tourists who are being offered the show in short-break packages to Hong Kong at a price of $160-$200 (850-1,060 baht) per ticket.

The success of the show was revealed by the Sunday Morning Post. Earlier this week the Sunday paper's sister paper claimed Disneyland was failing to pull in the crowds predicted and was on some days only one third full.

The English-language South China Morning Post conducted its own headcount with reporters counting visitors as they entered the park on two days.

It claimed only 12,972 visited on a Sunday and 11,399 on a Wednesday despite the park having a capacity of 30,000 a day.

The Hong Kong government said it expects 5.6 million visitors in the theme park's first year of operations - the equivalent of more than 15,000 people a day.

Disney has refused to disclose exact attendance figures except to say it has welcomed one million in the first 100 days - an average of 10,000 a day.

Apichar Sirichantakul, the executive director of Golden Dome (HK)International, the company behind the Lady Boyz show, told the Sunday Morning Post the show was proving such a success he was considering organising a transvestite beauty pageant.

Bangkok Post Link

Farang Affairs by Phil in Bangkok

Tajlandia by Carl and Phil

I should go back and read the Southern Thailand chapter of National Geographic Thailand to see if any of Phil's wicked sense of humor shown through, as it always does in his weekly newsletter known throughout Siam as Farang Affairs. Do subscribe!

Farang Affairs joins such groups as the Crime Photographers Association of Thailand, the Thailand Association of People Who Stand Around and Watch Things, the Association of Photographers Taking Pictures of People Pointing, the Lynch Mob Housewives Co-operative, and the Assembly of the Middle Class with Vehicle Loans in condemning police moves to ban press conferences at police stations and end the centuries-old practice of crime re-enactments.

Our freedom to write witty captions at the expense of the wretched and marginalized members of society without fear of legal action has been compromised by this new regulation.

We vow to fight this move, if we remember. But if we forget, then we'll just have to write different captions below the same photographs.

So it's not big deal really, come to think of it. Anyway, we've written the editorial now, so might as well leave it

Farang Affairs

Oz Tourist Jokes

Sydney Opera House via Google Earth

After all those previous serious and somewhat depressing posts (Michelle Leslie, Sidney Jones, Disneyland with a Death Penalty), I thought it was time to lighten up with, supposedly, some questions posed to Australian tourism offices and the appropriately sarcastic Aussie response.

These questions about Australia are allegedly from potential visitors. Apparently they were posted on an Australian Tourism Website and the answers are the actual responses by the website officials, who obviously have a sense of humour.

Q: Does it ever get windy in Australia? I have never seen it rain on TV, so how do the plants grow? (UK)

A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around watching them die.

Q: Will I be able to see kangaroos in the street? (USA)

A: Depends how much you've been drinking.

Q: I want to walk from Perth to Sydney - Can I follow the railroad tracks? (Sweden)

A: Sure, it's only three thousand miles, take lots of water.

Q: Is it safe to run around in the bushes in Australia? (Sweden)

A: So it's true what they say about Swedes.

Q: Are there any ATMs (cash machines) in Australia? Can you send me a list of them in Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville and Hervey Bay? (UK)

A: What did your last slave die of?

Q: Can you give me some info about hippo racing in Australia? (USA)

A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Aus-tra-lia is that big island in the middle of the Pacific which does not... oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Kings Cross. Come naked.

Q: Which direction is North in Australia? (USA)

A: Face south and then turn 90 degrees. Contact us when you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Q: Can I bring cutlery into Australia? (UK)

A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? (USA)

A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is...oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday night in Kings Cross, straight after the hippo races. Come naked.

Q: Can I wear high heels in Australia? (UK)

A: You are a British politician, right?

Q: Are there supermarkets in Sydney and is milk available all year round? (Germany)

A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of vegan hunter gatherers. Milk is illegal.

Q: Please send a list of all doctors in Australia who can dispense rattlesnake serum (USA)

A: Rattlesnakes live in A-meri-ca which is where YOU come from. All Australian snakes are perfectly harmless, can be safely handled and make good pets.

Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Australia, but I forget its name. It's a kind of bear and lives in trees. (UK)

A: It's called a Drop Bear. They are so called because they drop out of gum trees and eat the brains of anyone walking underneath.

The Travel Insider Link

Thanks Erik at Gadling!

Sidney Jones and the International Crisis Group

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

The Indonesian police and judicial system may be willing to release Michelle Leslie on lesser charges for perhaps a modest donation of some $600,000 (see post below), but they certainly aren't willing to let political analyst Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group back into their country, especially after the reports she has previously filed about former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Hendropriyono.

Indonesia has barred American human rights advocate and terrorism expert Sidney Jones from entering the country for a year, claiming she is "dangerous" and could "disturb public order".

It is the second time in as many years that Jones, the Southeast Asia project director of the International Crisis Group (ICG), has been banished from Indonesia.

The latest ban will be a severe embarrassment to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and perhaps also to the US government. Washington had only days ago announced it was resuming military funding and sales of lethal weapons to Indonesia, citing the country's democratic advances and cooperation in the war on terror.
Jones was first expelled in June 2004 by the administration of ex-president Megawati Sukarnoputri after then State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Hendropriyono accused her of subversion and selling information or slandering Indonesia to get money from abroad.

The feared Hendropriyono resigned after Yudhoyono soundly defeated Megawati in last year's historic direct presidential election, but he remains influential within the military and intelligence community.

Jones (52), who speaks Indonesian fluently, first came to the country in 1977 as program officer with the Ford Foundation. She also studied Islam and politics in Indonesia, spending 10 months living at an Islamic boarding school in East Java.

The ICG office in Jakarta opened in 2000 and was initially led by Australian academic Harold Crouch. After Jones took over, the ICG produced more than a dozen in-depth reports on regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah and on conflict areas such as Aceh, the Maluku islands, Sulawesi and Papua.

Some of the critical reports pointed out the shortcomings of Indonesia's military and intelligence agencies in dealing with terrorism and cited their involvement in rights abuses. One report in particular stands out: The Ngruki Network in Indonesia, which was published in August 2002 and is regarded as one of the most definitive pieces of research on Jemaah Islamiyah.

One section of the report mentions that Hendropriyono led the 1989 massacre of an estimated 100 civilians at a Muslim school in Lampung, southern Sumatra.

Elsewhere, Hendropriyono has been accused by some foreign journalists of playing a key role in funding pro-Indonesia militia groups that went on killing sprees in East Timor in 1999. Local human rights groups have also linked him to last year's murder of Indonesia's top human rights activist, Munir. Hendropriyono has vehemently denied any involvement in either case.

Paras Indonesia Link

Michelle Leslie: The $600,000 Question

Michelle Leslie

Indonesia may be anxious to prevent Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group from entering their country, but according to a recent report in The Age, the going price for leaving the country after a drug conviction is $600,000. Seems reasonable to me!

I'm not sure the accuracy of this early report, but it's a fascinating look into the inner workings of the Indonesian justice system. If it's true.

Be sure to read the entire four-page story.

Desperate Leslie Lied for her Freedom
The Age
By Mark Forbes, Denpasar
November 26, 2005

MICHELLE Leslie's desperation to avoid a 15-year jail term fuelled a stream of lies and deception, supplemented by a $600,000 campaign to buy her freedom.

An investigation by The Age calls into serious question the core of the defence Leslie mounted publicly and in the courts, revealing the extremes to which she had to go to win swift release from a Bali prison after being arrested with two ecstasy pills in August.

Leslie, her lawyers and advisers have said she did not take ecstasy, that she did not know what the pills found in her bag were, that a friend had slipped them in her bag, and that they were substitutes for Ritalin.

But through interviews with police, sources within Leslie's camp, and friends and associates of the model, The Age has established that these key pillars of Leslie's defence were concoctions devised as she and her advisers tried to navigate the Indonesian justice system.

And despite Leslie's fresh protests at a news conference yesterday that she is a Muslim, there is doubt about that aspect of her story. A friend who was with her on the night of her arrest says she was unaware Leslie had converted to Islam.

Even some of the claims spread surreptitiously by her defence team that the drugs belonged to the friends of powerful men with her when she was arrested, that the drugs were planted in her bag, and that her drug test result was faked appear to be false.

At a packed news conference yesterday, Leslie and her father, Albert, hit back at suggestions her religious guise was a sham.

"I am a Muslim and I do understand the significance of wearing the burqa," she said. "I should have thought more carefully about wearing it in that situation and I apologise for any offence I have caused. It was an extreme situation."

She refused to answer questions on the specifics of her arrest and subsequent trial. But with many of those involved now speaking out, the 24-year-old will come under renewed pressure to offer a more detailed public explanation.

Significantly, Leslie's story has been challenged by the woman who was with her when she was arrested and who was publicly blamed by the Leslie camp for the pills in her bag.

In her only interview, Singapore model Siti Nameera Azman said Leslie had planned to give the ecstasy pills to two friends but they decided at the last minute not to go to the dance party. The two friends later made false statements to police to support Leslie's claim that Ms Azman, named by Leslie as Mia, had slipped the pills into her handbag.

The Age Link

Promoting Islamic Terrorism in Indonesia

Terrorist Book Reader

Westerners horrified by the Islamic terrorism of Indonesia may not appreciate the fact that terrorist books and videos are widely available across the archipelago, and being viewed and studied by thousands of young students in the madrassas and public schools. Among the best sellers is a book by convicted terrorist Samudra, while the final confessions of the second wave of Bali bombers is now available on video.......and being promoted by the Indonesian government.

A sensible message today from, of all places, the People's Daily Online:

Indonesian cleric says terror books can inspire new terrorists
People's Daily Online
Nov 25, 2005

The leader of a respected Muslim group in Indonesia on Friday called for the withdrawal of books written by convicted terrorists for fear that those books could lead to the born of new terrorists.

"If the prosecutors' office cannot ban the publishing of those books, I called on the publishers to withdraw and refrain from making more copies. Don't do anything that supports terrorism," said Din Syamsuddin, chairman of the country's second largest Muslim group Muhammadiyah.

He said he has read a book written by Imam Samudra, a convicted terrorist who has been sent to death row for a key role in the October 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people.

The book can inspire Indonesian Muslims to wage a "holy war" without any particular reason, he said. "This book is intoxicating to people who don't understand Islam, " the cleric was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying.

Samudra's fellow militant Amrozy, also is awaiting execution, has written a book describing his beliefs. Syamsuddin, one of the leaders of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), urged the authority to execute the inmates without further delays.

Keeping them longer in jail will make them "the living legend" for new terrorists, he said. "They can write new books that spread hatred from their cells. Don't make further delay (of execution), don't let more people influenced by their misleading beliefs," he said.

Source: Xinhua

People's Daily Link

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Indcoup has more on the scandalous book.

Imam Samudra: I oppose terrorists
IndCoup
Nov 23, 2005

Although convicted Bali bomber Imam Samudra is in prison, he must be raking in the money at the moment.

His book, Aku Melawan Teroris (I oppose terrorists), has been doing a roaring trade since it was published last year. In fact, it’s just sold out its third print run.

But don’t be deceived by the book’s title. He’s not really against terrorists. And why’s that?

Well, because according to Imam Samudra, Muslims who fight and kill Westerners in the name of jihad cannot be considered as terrorists at all. No, they are honorable people carrying out God’s teachings on earth.

But although there have been calls to ban the book, it is certainly not unique. In fact, there are heaps of extremist Muslim books on sale in Indonesia, easily available in bookstores and at the local markets.

Even so, I was extremely surprised to come across this site which makes available extremist Muslim books online. And surprise surprise: Imam Samudra’s book is seemingly one of the books available - even if the site is currently denying access to the relevant page (I wonder why that is?).

The webpage is badly coded however, and this direct link still works although the ZIP download is no longer available. Worth checking out though just for the picture.

IndCoup Link

Planet Mole by Barrie

Yogya Batik by Carl Parkes

Reading over the latest hilarious post by Indcoup, I was reminded of another Indonesian based expat blogger, Barrie, who I believe is a buddy of Nick who runs the outstanding BaliBlog. Both guys use BootnAll as their website source, so you assume the sites work well and are friendly to visitors. Barrie is primarily a photographer who largely avoids the touristy images of the island, but rather concentrates on local folks and local cafes. Well worth checking out.

Planet Mole by Barrie

Sondhi v. Thaksin

Sondhi Limthongkul of Manager Daily

The ongoing war of words between Sondhi Limthongkul and Thakin Shinawatra is centerpiece of current Thai politics, with citizens across the country picking their sides. An alternative view of Sondhi is presented by the always thoughtful Tom V. who seems less enamored with the media firebrand than you might expect. Do read the entire post and the 30-odd follow-up comments.

A right royal hatchet job
23.11.05

Seeing Sondhi Limthongkul in his "We'll fight for the king" T-shirt brings back unpleasant memories.

Of course, it was only natural for the pompous founder of the Manager Group to kick and scream when his somewhat popular babble show was axed from the state-run (and absurdly-named) Modern 9 television. After all, he is now left with only Thailand's most popular news website, a well-known newspaper by the same name, the Asia Times, and a cable news channel -- not nearly enough to trigger sanctimonious cries against media cross-ownership.

But fight for the king? Aw, not again.

When EGAT unionists were parading His Majesty's portraits in their anti-privatization rally, they were obviously fighting for the King and not their own lavish pays and perks.

When Sathienpong Wannapok, protege of the original buddhist-nationalist Sulak Sivaraksa, argued for Buddhism's state religion status and faulted the constitution (No. 17, give and take) for not making that official, he, too, was fighting for the kings. (Note the plural: he cited an impressive of array royal pronouncements starting with King Ramkhamhaeng's.)

Khun Sondhi is the latest practitioner of that noble tradition.

Link

Tips on Teaching English in Thailand

Not Your Average English Teacher

Reading through the Letters column in today's Pattaya Mail, I came across a useful and positive message from a representative of one of the five TEFL schools in Pattaya, which includes some links for further information.

To the editor and H. Leslie;

As the teacher-trainer of one of Pattaya's TEFL/TESOL institutes I have to respond to the unfounded criticism of Mr. H. Leslie.

Except for the charity institutions in Thailand there is no revenue based on just goodwill and brown eyes. Every business has just one goal: making money! Some sell books, others sell cars or food. People have got businesses because there are other people who need their products or services. This is one of the basic rules of the game called: economy. This is, by the way, not just only in Thailand but all over the world.

One of the activities is running an institute which trains and educates people to become a TEFL/TESOL teacher. After completing a course at one of the 5 institutes in Pattaya, you'll probably receive your TEFL/TESOL certificate and gives you the opportunity to teach English as a foreign or second language, worldwide.

For most qualified TEFL/TESOL teachers there is no problem: with the TEFL/TESOL knowledge in their pocket, the right attitude and some undiscovered ambition the freshmen can be very success full.

For some qualified TEFL/TESOL teachers the problems start when they start trying to find a job. If you just miss the drive to deal with respectful, disciplined and eager students than you probably won't make it.

If teachers are stuck to a certain place and not very willing or able to move or travel some distance, than they won't find a job very easy. If people want to be a teacher for a few hours per week just for the work permit, future employers are not very interested in them.

In your article, Mr. H. Leslie, you refer to the different courses in Pattaya. In all the cases the graduates will end up with a TEFL/TESOL certificate accredited by the Ministry of Education. The teachers have all the same possibilities in finding jobs and getting successful IF they are also in the habit of the drive, positive attitude and some ambition!

As every other kind of business there is some diversity in products. Businesses are trying to be better than the competition. As far as my knowledge reaches, all of the courses are good courses, organized by qualified people with experience and the necessary qualifications.

If you enrol for one course you will get just the course, the books and maybe some help with visa and housing. Other courses offer paid practice (120 hours) and others offer even guaranteed jobs and work permits. Every course has its own specific marketing tool and it is up to you to decide what's is best for you: Value for money!

If you sign up for a TEFL/TESOL course which says nothing about guaranteed work permits and guaranteed jobs, than they course director will probably say: Bye, bye with a friendly hand shake.

Signing up for a course with paid practice teaching, guaranteed job and work permit will lead to a modest salary during the practicum, a paid job (if possible according to your wishes) and a guaranteed work permit.

About the practicum without a work permit: in every TEFL/TESOL course curriculum are 120 hours practicum included. Since the institutes and their courses are accredited by the Ministry of Education, the Labour Department accepts this as a part of the training and will allow the trainee to teach (monitored and guided). Of course the trainee has to prove that he or she is practicing!

About the necessary visa, license and work permit: in order to receive a teacher license, you need a TEFL/TESOL certificate, a university degree, a medical certificate, some photographs and a non-immigrant visa (of course accompanied by loads of copies of every page of the passport and all the above). For the work permit you need all the above and the necessary paperwork from the (future) employer (again accompanied by a lot of copies).

About jobs, Mr. Leslie: there are 1,000-s of jobs in Thailand. Yes, on www. ajarn.com, but also on www. englishclub.com, www.tefl. com and www.teflasia.com. Of course, most of the jobs are in and around Bangkok, but there are numerous jobs in the country side and even in the Chonburi province. Again, with the right attitude, drive and ambition it is absolutely no problem to find a job.

If you're stuck to Pattaya for whatever reason and not willing or able to travel, than your chances of finding a proper job are minimal. Too bad! But on the other hand: that's everywhere the same: If you are not mobile or flexible enough the chances of finding the job of your dreams are minimal; in Thailand, the U.S. of A., Great Britain, etc.

Mr. H. Leslie, I understand your frustration, but please: donÂ’t project your frustration on institutes where you haven't got experience with! Every institute keeps their promises and even more! Luckily for you Mr. H. Leslie, your 3 year old TEFL certificate gives you the opportunity to teach English as a Foreign Language all over the world.

Good luck!

J. Busgen
Teacher-trainer
TEFL

Pattaya Mail Link

Satire? From Singapore?

The Simpson Scream

Singapore is one serious nation-state that often needs an intravenous injection of humor and satire, but few Singaporean bloggers are willing to go that extra mile and satirize all the sacred symbols, along with a selection of foreign icons. Today, courtesy of a link at Tomorrow.sg, I discovered the delightfully twisted world of Tuapehkong -- The Truly Divine Portal. Hilarious, irreverent, willing to skewer anything and everything.

Damn, don't we all hate Singaporean bloggers.

Today, in TPK.com, we're staging on our own judgement day as we parade the top 5 dirtiest and most idiotic bloggers on our blogosphere.

#5 - HB from http://www.sixthseal.com

DAMN, nothing beats this guy from Kuching, not even magic shrooms and "all-the-drugs" you can name. A kind of a psychonaut, I like his blogs actually, but because i practically have no one else to pick on, sorry HB, you're in the top 5.

#4 - Mr Brown http://www.mrbrown.com

MR Brown is mr.dull. Apart from staining our FREE newspapers and our internet (and more recently podcast) with his VERY LAME AND VERY NOT FARKING FUNNY stories, MR Brown is pedophilic. Oh wait, is it zoophilic? Wait, necrophile? But anyway, please avoid this old man, his shit is worth the 60's.

#3 - Dawn Yeo http://xanga.com/clapbangkiss/

DAWN yeo, aka Michael Jackson Yeo's favorite movie is "Lost in Transition". This girl has much identity problems herself, at one moment claiming that she has Chinese/Dutch/Jap blood and the next moment in time "I've only Thai/Dutch/Chinese blood" and then a few days later "Actually, only a small percentage of them". Wow, isnt it true that all modern man come from Africa - the cradile of mankind? If that's the case, i can register myself as African too.

#2 - Xia xue http://xiaxue.blogspot.com

XIA xue has a loud mouth, and good photoshop skills. She once notoriously quoted on her website, "I'm so pretty, aren't you jealous of me" (or something to that extent). Here at TPK, we invite you to stare at this picture and reason out the truth for yourself.

#1 - Sarong Party Girl http://sarongpartygirl.blogspot.com

SHE is our all time favorite - the typical white ball busting, dumb, scantily dressed and ugly-looking lowlife hanging around clubs sleeping around with 50 year old white sailors. Her site teaches local girls how to "suck it up to white man" and continously flames "our repressive society". I really hope that someone can slap her in the face one day. Pity her parents.

#AllTimeWinner - http://www.tuapehkong.com

THIS idiot has lotsa freee time so he craps a lot. don't mind him.

Tuapehkong -- The Truly Divine Portal

Singapore and the Burmese Drug Cartel

Flickr Hands for Van

Along with the article published in the Australian Age, another regional newspaper has revived the curious story about the connections between the Singapore and Burmese governments. I find it most disturbing that Singapore is willing to execute drug mules moving through their country, but cannot resist the lure of financial gain through trade with one of the world's most notorious narcotics producers and exporters.

Singapore Accused of Hypocrisy on Drug Stance
The Age
By Connie Levett and Rachel Kleinman
November 23, 2005

SINGAPORE'S Government has been accused of hypocrisy in its pursuit of the death penalty against minor drug traffickers while retaining strong economic ties to Burma, a global heroin supplier.

Singapore is Burma's most important investor. Burma, under military control since 1988, is one of the world's biggest heroin sources. The drug accounts for more than half of the country's economy.

Singapore Democratic Party leader Chee Soon Juan said Singapore needed to focus on the Burmese drug lords not on drug "mules" if it was serious about keeping Singapore clean of drugs. "This Government keeps going on about having to take a tough stance on drugs and what a scourge illicit drugs are in our society. Fine, but go and get it at its source," Dr Chee said.

"What's the point of getting the mules? You know these drug lords are just going to find new people to get the drugs."

Dr Chee said Singapore's continuing policy of investing more than $US1 billion ($A1.35 billion) in government funds in Burma despite the regime's complicity in the opium trade was hypocritical. Burma is the biggest single provider of heroin to South-East Asia. "The Singapore Government has access to the Burmese military, it needs to ask them hard questions: what are you doing on the drug lords?" said Dr Chee, who opposes the death penalty.

Singapore has maintained a ruthless public position on drug traffickers and refused to reconsider the death sentence for Melbourne man Nguyen Tuong Van.

Bertil Linter, who has written extensively on Burma's drug trade, said Singapore was the first country to invest heavily in Burma when the regime reopened its borders to foreign investment in the 1990s.

"The main issue was the Traders Hotel, which was built by Asia World, a construction company owned by the Lo family — Lo Hsien Han and his son Steven Law, in conjunction with Singapore interests," Mr Linter said. Lo Hsien Han is widely recognised as one of the most powerful drug lords in Burma and was a frequent visitor to Singapore until recently. His son Steven Law, who has been barred from entering the US on suspicion of involvement in drug trafficking, has an office in Singapore.

The Singapore Government's joint venture with the drug lord came through the Myanmar Fund, set up to channel investment into Burma, which has since been shut down. Singapore's involvement was through its billion-dollar Government Investment Corporation.

Professor Desmond Ball, of the Australian National University's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, said many Burmese drugs lords used Singapore for banking.

"Some of Burma's closest economic relations are with Singapore," Professor Ball said "A lot of electronic transaction services in Burma are run through Singapore."

Singapore Technologies, a quasi-government agency, also supplied a wide range of services to Burma's ruling junta. "Internet monitoring, telephone monitoring is done with Singaporean equipment and assistance and the cyber warfare office in Rangoon is built and maintained by Singaporeans," he said.

Professor Garry Rodan, from Murdoch University's Asia Research Centre, said the relationship appeared to be one purely of economic gain. "Over the years (the drug issue) has not bothered Singaporean investors a great deal," he said.

The Age Link

Transsexuals in Thailand

Pattaya Transvestite Contest

Three articles about the transsexuals of Southeast Asia have recently appeared on the net, with a generic offering with little new interest, a posting from Malaysia about a transexual marriage not recognized by the government, and an in-depth article at Bangkok Recorder with more detail that you may ever need. That's the one to read.

Malaysian transsexual says she won't challenge government to recognize her marriage
November 23, 2005

Kuala Lumpur - A Malaysian transsexual woman said Tuesday she won't fight a decision by the government to declare her marriage to a man as illegal, because she wants "no trouble" over what is believed to be the first such union in this mostly Muslim country.

Jessie Chung, a Christian businesswoman who was born male and underwent sex change surgery in China in 2003, said she was "satisfied and very much in love" after marrying Joshua Beh in a ceremony conducted by independent church pastors in Malaysia's eastern Sarawak state Saturday.

"I respect the laws in this country," Chung said in a telephone interview. "I want to cause no trouble for the Malaysian government. My husband and I want a peaceful life. We will be content as long as no one tries to interfere with our marriage."

Home Minister Azmi Khalid said Monday their marriage was invalid, because it was considered a same-sex union. Chung's identification papers state she is still a man, since Malaysian transsexuals cannot legally update their gender status even after changing their sex.

The National Evangelical Christian Fellowship comprising 2,000 churches said it also won't recognize the marriage. Malaysian newspapers said it was the first marriage involving a transsexual in this Southeast Asian nation.

A U.S.-trained ethnic Chinese nutritionist in her 30s who runs a health therapy business, Chung, whose original name is Jeffrey, expressed hopes that the publicity might encourage further public awareness about the struggles of transsexuals.

Asian Sex Gazette Link

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Fake of Nature, Ladyboys in Bangkok
BangkokRecorder
16.09.2005

It seems everything can be bought these days with enough money and nothing sells better than sex, or a new sex that is…especially in Thailand. In Thailand’s ambitious goal to be the hub of everything, there is one field in which Bangkok undoubtedly stands out above the rest – faking it. Notwithstanding pirated CDs, DVDs and knock-off goods, the most extreme form of imitation this city is renowned for is its transexualism. Bangkok is the transgender Mecca for male-to-female sexual reassignment surgery (SRS).

While some of Thailand’s surgeons have been vilified for lacking in qualifications, there is no denying they have the most experience. Coupled with the country’ s lax laws on transgender surgery, hundreds of gender-unhappy tourists and locals flock to Bangkok’s plastic surgery clinics every month.

“Most of my clients are Thai and work in bars and other entertainment venues,” says Dr Thep, a surgeon from the the Pratunam Poly Clinic, a facility specializing in male-to-female SRS operations. The Pratunam Poly Clinic charges just $1600 USD for the procedure, compared to $25,000 in the West.

The actual operation is known as “penile inversion vaginoplasty” involving castration and inverting the skin from the penis and scrotum to create a neovagina. The depth of the new vaginal cavity depends on the size of the penis. “The most common complaint is that the cavity is not big enough,” reports Dr Thep. “In this case we can perform a colon vaginoplasty six months later using skin from the colon to extend the vagina.”

The entire operation takes two-and-a-half to three hours. Six days after the procedure, patients can be discharged from hospital. Two months later they can engage in sexual intercourse, functioning as a woman by almost every definition of the term.

The end result will not only enable patients to walk away with a new orifice, but with techniques developed over the last five years, surgeons can now construct a clitoris and maximize vaginal sensation. Dr Thep claims most patients can even reach orgasm. Transsexuals sporting a ‘neovagina’ are technically no longer faking it - they have become the real thing… even better than the real thing according to some.

Bangkok Recorder Link

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Thailand: land of dreams for hes wanting to be shes
Wed Nov 23,2005

BANGKOK (AFP) - His last patient was 62 years old, married with two kids. He showed up wearing his wife's underwear, having come from the United States to Thailand to make his life-long dream come true.

"I make my patients happy. That's my job," says Greechart Pornsinsirirak, a plastic surgeon at Thailand's most famous hospital for sex change operations. Long accepted here but still a relatively rare procedure abroad, Thailand has become the global destination of choice for people around the world haunted since birth by feelings they should be of the opposite sex.

Like popular tourist attractions, the entrance of Yanhee Hospital in Bangkok welcomes visitors in six different languages including Arabic, Chinese and French while young female staff on roller skates scurry among patients.

While sex change operations are far less common than breast implants or nose jobs, Greechart says the number of foreign patients seeking gender reassignment surgery in Thailand is no doubt rising.

"Unlike my Thai patients, many foreign patients are married and middle-aged. When they came to me, they said 'I can't hide it anymore,'" Greechart, 41, says, adding over 95 percent of sex change operations are from male to female.

Yahoo News Link

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Duo

The turkey's in the oven and the feast begins in four hours........

A Singaporean View on Executions

A Mother Prays for her Son

The following post from Mr. Darren is intended to be ironic, as law student Mr. Darren is firmly opposed to the death penalty. However, his sense of sarcasm went over the heads of some Singaporeans and Singaporean blogs which have mentioned the post. See this Tomorrow.sg post.

Open letter to drug traffickers

Dear Drug Trafficker,

We take pride in our harsh and transparent drug laws. We tell the whole world that if you get caught transporting drugs, you pay the price, you die. No room for negotiation.

No, we are not interested in hearing your excuses, motives, and reasons for choosing to transport drugs. No, we donÂ’t care that you were a young man of 22 with no previous criminal record when arrested, you confessed your guilt, and you are willing to cooperate with the police to identify your drug boss. So what if you are truly remorseful and you realize the severity of your crime; you can promise to change for the better but you donÂ’t deserve a second chance in life.

You beg for our forgiveness. Why donÂ’t we be merciful and forgive you for a grave mistake, a wrong choice in life? You ought to understand this: Transporting drugs is an unforgivable crime. You showed no concern for the people who will continue their addiction to drugs and the people who will be tempted to try drugs and become addicted. You wanted to profit from their misery. We hate drugs. We hate you for what you did. DonÂ’t you think you deserve to die?

Your death, like many others before you, will serve a greater purpose. The publicity (depending on your nationality) from your execution will send a message to the international drug syndicates: Singapore is no-nonsense when it comes to drugs, donÂ’t send your men here unless you want them to die. The black and white approach to the use of death penalty must be working to keep drugs out of Singapore. Logic says that if we take a harsh non-negotiable stand against drug trafficking, no ordinary person will dare to transport drugs here. What can be scarier than death itself? Everyone is afraid of dying. Everyone knows Singapore shows no mercy to drug traffickers. You will definitely die if you get caught transporting drugs. So why do you still choose to gamble with your life? DonÂ’t be stupid.

We have a responsibility to Singaporeans and the right to take all measures to protect ourselves from the scourge of drugs. Believe you me, Singaporeans are not cruel. We are sad when lives are lost, whether from drug overdoses or executions. Imposing a mandatory death penalty for drug traffickers is not an easy policy decision to make. Deciding to kill someone never is. We really have no choice but to kill you.

May you rest in peace.

Yours Sincerely,

A typical Singaporean

Mr. Darren Link

FriskoDude Blog Analyzed

Carl and Santa

I just did a quick analysis of this blog from some firm called Silktide, and the results are a mixed bag.

Summary:

This report tested the homepage of http://www.friskodude.blogspot.com (using SiteScore v1.7.2)

Marketing How well marketed, and popular the website is. 6.6
Design How well designed and built the website is. 7.8
Accessibility How accessible the website is, particularly to those with disabilities. 6.2
Experience How satisfying the website is likely to be. 9.3
Visitor rating Average user rating for this site's design (website needs more votes)
Overall Summary score for this website. 6.9

Visitor feedback:

This website does not currently have any visitor feedback. You should try this report again later to see if anyone has rated this website.

Good / bad points

Very few websites appear to link to this website, making it extremely hard to find

This website appears to be in violation of the British Disability Discrimination Act

This website is quick to respond

This website is exceptionally popular (approx #30 in the world)

Design makes proper use of modern technology (no table-based layout)

Detailed breakdown:

Size of pages Webpages are large and will display relatively slowly. This is particularly important for the homepage.

Amount of text All page were found to contain a very large amount of text. Users very rarely choose to read large, continous blocks of text, and these pages require time to download and scroll through for relevant content.

Recommendations: Break larger pages up into several smaller pages, and consider restructuring content to make navigating it easier.

No of links We found 325.0 links per page on your website, which is way too many. Too many links are likely to overwhelm and confuse casual users.

British legal requirements A page was found in violation of the the current W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Links to Only one other website was found linking to this website. (0 quality links, out of 1).

Recommendations: We suggest a minimum of 40 links to any given website, to ensure it is listed effectively by Google and other major search engines. A large number of web directories, news and affiliate websites can be encouraged to link to you for free. Over time any reasonably successful website should pick up additional links as a matter of course.

No. of images We found an average of 46.0 images per page, this is high and will make the website slower to display. However, there appears to be good variety in the images within this website (46.0 unique images per page).

Recommendations: Consider reducing the number of images per page. Often lots of small images can be combined into a lesser number of larger images, increasing the speed at which pages display.

Speed Your website responded in 2.03 seconds, and your homepage downloaded in 2.95 seconds. This is quite respectable and suggests your website is running on a fairly powerful web server.

Popularity ranking Your website is ranked 30 in the world. This is excellent and shows you have an exceptionally popular website.

Use of Interactive Elements Your website does not appear to include any advert keywords in your source files and therefore displays correctly to the user with a spam blocker enabled.

Features The following 4 features were specifically identified: Discussion forums, RSS feed, News, Advertising or Sponsorship. Generally, our analysis detected a very positive selection of text and features.

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Excellent

Popularity ranking Your website is ranked 30 in the world. This is excellent and shows you have an exceptionally popular website.

Use of Interactive Elements Your website does not appear to include any advert keywords in your source files and therefore displays correctly to the user with a spam blocker enabled.

Features The following 4 features were specifically identified: Discussion forums, RSS feed, News, Advertising or Sponsorship. Generally, our analysis detected a very positive selection of text and features.

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Good:

Speed Your website responded in 2.03 seconds, and your homepage downloaded in 2.95 seconds. This is quite respectable and suggests your website is running on a fairly powerful web server.

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Fair:

No of images We found an average of 46.0 images per page, this is high and will make the website slower to display.

However, there appears to be good variety in the images within this website (46.0 unique images per page).

Recommendations: Consider reducing the number of images per page. Often lots of small images can be combined into a lesser number of larger images, increasing the speed at which pages display.

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Poor:

Size of pages Webpages are large and will display relatively slowly. This is particularly important for the homepage.

Amount of text All page were found to contain a very large amount of text.

Users very rarely choose to read large, continous blocks of text, and these pages require time to download and scroll through for relevant content.

Recommendations: Break larger pages up into several smaller pages, and consider restructuring content to make navigating it easier.

No of links We found 325.0 links per page on your website, which is way too many. Too many links are likely to overwhelm and confuse casual users.

SilkTide: Test Your Own Blog or Website

The End of Thai Crime Photos?

Innocent or Guilty?


Cop Points at Suspected Internet Thief



Suspected Drug Users at Pattaya Disco

Tis a dark day in the Land of Siam when innocents can't be paraded in front of the press for public photography, then plastered on the front pages of such esteemed newspapers such as Siam Rath. Innocence? Guilt? Who cares?

Looks like my supply of weekly crime photos will now dry up, as Thai authorities have recently issued orders to stop publishing photos of suspected criminals. And no more great photo ops of some drugged out perp staring at bags of yaba in the Pattaya police station.

EDITORIAL: Innocent until proven guilty
The Nation
November 24, 2005

Simple but often-forgotten principle gets a lift from new ban on the parading of suspects before the media. Progress in reforming Thailand’s criminal justice system is usually made in small increments.

But the new regulation issued by the Royal Thai Police last week to ban the long-standing practice by law enforcement officials to parade criminal suspects and their victims in front of cameras represented a major step forward in the effort to better protect citizens’ rights and human dignity. The move was long overdue. Article 26 of the Constitution says that all state authorities, in exercising their powers, should pay regard to human dignity, rights and liberties in accordance with other provisions of the Constitution. Article 33 says the accused in a criminal case shall be presumed innocent. Before a person is convicted of having committed an offence, such a person shall not be treated as a convict.

Specifically, the new regulation prohibits police from bringing victims or suspects to a press conference or letting reporters or photographers take pictures of them inside or outside a police station. Police officers who fail to observe this new rule will face disciplinary action, according to national police chief Pol General Kowit Wattana.

The regulation also redefines the relationship between police officers and crime-beat reporters and cameramen, which in many cases is incompatible with their respective standards of professionalism. Publicity-seeking police officers or law enforcement officials have allowed journalists and cameramen access to take pictures of criminal suspects and their victims because they expect newspapers to publish pictures and television news programmes to air footage.

Images of law enforcement officials standing over cowering suspects and frightened victims that got into print or were broadcast on television were supposed to enhance their reputation and show their “achievements” as crime-busters. Crime-beat reporters and cameramen expect police officers to return favour by letting them in on lurid details on how crimes are committed, or by leaking confidential investigators’ findings so that crime news can be sensationalised.

The Nation Link

Global Voices Online Wins Award

Singapore Postcard

One of the best travel/adventure/sports blogs out there is the consistently excellent Gadling which posts an amazing 20-30 messages daily, largely through the efforts of Erik Olsen and his female cohorts. Today, upcoming traveler and Gadling contributor Kelly Amabile recognizes the wonderfully informative Global Voices Online.

Global Voices Online
Gadling
By Kelly Amabile
Nov 23, 2005

I’ve been monitoring Global Voices Online for a few months now, and am constantly impressed by the informative blogs they bring to my attention. It was announced yesterday that GVO won an award for Best English Language Journalistic Blog by Deutsche Welle so I thought now was a good time to tell you more about what they are doing, if you don’t yet know about them. Global Voices Online is a non-profit global citizens’ media project, sponsored by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at the Harvard Law School.

The blog acts as a guide to the most interesting conversations and ideas appearing around the world on other blogs or podcasts and posts links to these websites on a daily basis. Browse their Global Roundup Archive to get a sense of the type of information they gather — links to news and commentary on blogs in Senegal, Kenya, Estonia, Oman, Burma and countless other places.

It’s an excellent alternative news resource that world travelers can turn to for first hand accounts of politics, economics and culture in countries that often don’t receive adequate coverage by mainstream media.

Gadling Link

Global Voices Online Main Page

Global Voices Online East Asia

Global Voices Online Bloglines RSS Feed