Singapore Bans Gay TV

Singapore has laws against gays and lesbians, and their activities are monitored to ensure public safety and that no overtly gay behavior might be observed in the country. So far, so good. And to crack down on those sexual deviants, Singapore now goes after TV programs that flaunt the law and threaten to bring down the system. Singapore: The Country that Hates Gays.

A Singapore television station has been fined for airing a show that depicted a gay couple and their baby in a way that "promotes a gay lifestyle," the city-state's media regulator said Thursday. The Media Development Authority fined MediaCorp TV Channel 5 $11,000, it said in a statement on its Web site.

The station aired an episode of a home and decor series called "Find and Design" that featured a gay couple wanting to transform their game room into a new nursery for their adopted baby. The authority said the episode contained scenes of the gay couple with their baby and the presenter's congratulations and acknowledgment of them as a family unit "in a way which normalizes their gay lifestyle and unconventional family setup."

The episode was in breach of rules on free-to-air television programming, which disallows content that promotes, justifies or glamorizes gay lifestyles, the statement said.

Earlier this month, the authority fined a Singapore cable television operator, StarHub Cable Vision $7,200 for airing a commercial that showed two lesbians kissing. Under Singapore law, gay sex is deemed "an act of gross indecency," punishable by a maximum of two years in jail.

Boston.com

Shanghai Superman Window Washers

Isn't this a great photo? Apparently, the enlightened management at the Shanghai Sheraton thought it would be cool to dress up the window washers in Spiderman outfits. And why not? I'm sure everyone was having fun with this one, as reported by Shanghaiist.

The idea came up in a brainstorming session with housekeeping staff, possibly taking inspiration from the human Spiderman who climbed the Jinmao last year. So far Spidey is receiving a thumbs up from the boys in the suits and guests alike, so if you live in Hongqiao, it looks like your friendly neighbourhood Spiderman is here to stay!

Shanghaiist

Chris Coles, Bangkok Artist

Chris Coles is a Bangkok-based artist who filters the completely surrealistic scene of life in the city through Germanic expressionist eyes, inspired by the twisted visions of European artists of the early 20th century.

He gets it right. Bangkok is not normal, but if you're in the mood, the city that never sleeps seems like his wild imagination and the character sitting on the barstool next to you in Nana looks just like one of his portraits.

Chris recently got a great promotion in the aptly named Dali House.

Flickr Quiz

Both are my photos as posted on Flickr, and guess which one is the "most favorite?"

Calcutta Bookstore?
Ko Phi Phi?

Getting High with HaiBao

Great post from Shanghaiist:

Am I the only one in Shanghai who thinks the EXPO mascot HaiBao looks like Mr. Towelie from South Park? Every time I see a poster in Shanghai I think of Mr Towelie's trademark line "Anybody wanna get high?"

Shanghaiist

Texas Polygamist Surrealistic Video

Nothing to do with Southeast Asia, but here's a surrealistic little YouTube video of those wild and crazy Texas polygamist wives. Would any man in his right mind actually have sex with these homely creatures? I don't care if you're 50 and she's 15, this is just too much.

YouTube Clip of Texas Surrealistic Polygamist Wives

Budget Pensionnes in Manila

Malate Pensionne by Ivan Henares

Here's an excellent summary of a few budget options in Malate, Manila, as prepared and photographed by the always amazing Ivan Around Town. I've stayed at the one pictured above several times.

Since I reside in the Metro Manila area, I've never tried out the backpackers accommodation in Manila. But I do get queries about cheap accommodation. So I checked out the backpackers haven of Manila which is in Malate to find out where backpackers can stay. Here are some of them:

Ivan Around Town

Singapore: The Buck Naked Terrorist

Talking Cock Poster

No Pants Bears by Mr. Miyagi

Singapore's most famous escaped, suspected Islamic terrorist not only runs with a limp, he's also naked from the waist down. You'd think Singaporean officials would have mentioned this important detail before now. My best guess, he's over at Sentosa Island, sunbathing his butt.

Singapore said on Monday that a suspected Islamic militant managed to escape from a detention centre two months ago mainly because of an unlocked window in the toilet -- and fled without his trousers.

Wong Kan Seng, Singapore's deputy prime minister, told parliament that Mas Selamat bin Kastari flipped his trousers above the cubicle door before escaping through a window.

Reuters

Thailand: Lese Majeste as Political and Legal Weapon

Thailand has some of the world's toughest lese majeste rules in the world, and it's not a good idea to insult the royal family in any way as you travel around the country, even if you're a Westerner on vacation.

One of the curious but traditional forms of honoring king and country is to stand during the national anthem, which is played prior to the showing of every movie in the Kingdom. But is it required by law? Does it really indicate disrespect for the king?

An important test case will be coming up soon, and the defendants recently spoke with Prachatai about their rather serious case, and how they intend to fight the charges.

Chotisak: On September 20, last year, we went shopping and saw a movie [in Central World shopping complex]. We didn’t stand up for the Royal Anthem [which precedes every movie in Thai cinemas], as I had usually not stood up. A man whose seat was two seats away from us turned to us, saying ‘Stand up’ [in English], as he probably understood us to be foreigners, but we sat still. He waited until the anthem finished, and then he went to call the cinema staff to deal with us, while the movie was starting. However, the staff didn’t do anything, but, instead, tried to calm him down. We later knew his name was Navamintr.

Is this really a tradition? I remember reading an article, probably published on a website, that says previously the Royal Anthem used to be played after the movies finished, and no one bothered to stand, but just rushed out to go home. That was back in the reign of King Rama V, when the anthem was first introduced in theatres. The idea the anthem should be played before movies is even newer. So at what point are things considered tradition?

Talking about traditions vs. rights, one finds that there are many traditions which people do not follow, and no one seems to bother. If violators of tradition are to be punished, many more jails need to be built.

Traditions are man-made, not unlike laws. If they’re not appropriate, not right, anachronistic, or against people’s well being, they can be revoked.

For the legal case, it has to follow the rule of law. I’ve sought for help from the Lawyers’ Council, and they provided lawyers for me. And I’ve also consulted with my lawyer friends. My friend has received assistance from Muslim lawyers, as her line is different from mine.

And we insist that it’s our right not to stand. Not standing is not a crime, and it is not an act of insult. We’re going to launch a public campaign about this.

This law should be revoked, really, because so many people have been affected by it. Lèse majesté allegations have been very politicized. Sondhi Limthongkul has been accused of this by the pro-Thaksin camp, and Thaksin et al have also been accused of this. This offence carries a severe penalty, as much as 15 years in jail, but it has been exploited, and its interpretation has become broader and more arbitrary to the point that one can easily find faults with one’s enemies, and accuse them of lèse majesté, so one doesn’t have to take any responsibility.

But if this law is to be kept, I think the royal family or the Royal Household should be the plaintiff, not anybody suing anybody freely like this.

Prachatai

The Suspicious Accounting of Buddhist Charities

Art by Chris Coles

I've long wondered about that AIDs hospice near Lopburi, but have only read positive articles about the good works performed by monks and volunteers over the last 15 years. And so it was a shock to see this recent article that largely uncovers the reality of not only this charitable foundation, but also implicates to a larger degree the suspicious financial arrangements of Buddhist charities within Thailand.

Do read the entire article, but here are a few snippets:

Is the temple of Buddha’s footprints the temple of doom?

It’s a Buddhist temple that cares for dying Aids patients. It’s also a hugely successful money-making operation, attracting thousands of tourists with its displays of mummified corpses. So where does all that money go?

Ideally, the temple should have two doctors and three registered nurses, says Bassano. The last doctor to work here was a Belgian volunteer named Paul Yves Wery, who left in 2004. He wrote a parting account of his years at the temple, describing it as unsanitary, ill-equipped and mismanaged. Wery calls the staff “slaves” and the tourists “cannibals”; the abbot is an ambiguous figure who runs “what has become a death factory [like] a small family enterprise”. After Wery’s book was published, all foreign volunteers except Bassano were asked to leave.

Many HIV patients get Aids dementia, a degenerative brain disorder that can make them moody, incoherent or violent. Due to the lack of staff, unruly patients are sometimes kept in steel cages next to the shower area. When I visited, one cage was occupied by a patient who had been ripping up the ward’s mosquito nets. Some people are caged for their own protection. One dying woman screamed so much that she was beaten and gagged by other patients.

The lone adult supervisor is Nuanchan Hassanam, 43, a weary-looking woman with a “Love Forever” tattoo on her arm – an unwelcome reminder of the estranged husband who gave her five kids and HIV. Nuanchan says raising orphans is like “trying to keep crabs in a bucket”. They are short of staff and basic clothes. “The children need vests, underwear and shoes,” she explains. So why has £80,000 been spent on a football machine? “I don’t know,” she shrugs. “The abbot wants the children to exercise.”

Alongkot says the temple has tried and failed to recruit medical staff. “Thai doctors prefer to work at private hospitals. Even the government ones don’t have enough medical staff.” It still seems inexplicable that, in a prospering country of 65m, there is not a single Thai doctor for hire.

Yet the temple hardly seems in dire financial straits. Pradit Yingyong, the temple’s PR officer, says the abbot plans to build a sports centre (cost: the equivalent of £1.6m) and carve a meditation path through the hill above the temple (£8m).

“There’s lots of money coming in,” says Bassano. “But how it’s distributed, who benefits, who gets what – I have no idea.” Why, he asks, build the Aids Human Body Part Museum – a room in which hands, feet, hearts, kidneys and other organs are kept in perspiring jars of formaldehyde – when the temple has no ambulance? “And the neglect of the kids… Not just the kids, but the adult patients as well.”

It is hard to ask a celebrated monk about money without seeming to accuse him of dishonesty. But then this is one reason why the finances of Thai temples are traditionally so opaque and donations so easy to misappropriate. (“Half for the temple, half for the temple committee,” goes an old Thai song.) It costs 4m to 5m baht (£64,000 to £80,000) a month to run the temple, excluding the second project, says Alongkot, and the temple receives “the same” in donations. The finances are not made public. “It’s not our duty to make a public declaration,” he insists, “but we have a good [accounting] system.” Alongkot suggests I ask at the secretary’s office to learn how much is spent on the temple. I am then shuttled between four offices before being given a print-out with a totally different figure from the abbot’s. Pradit gives me another figure, a committee member yet another. Nobody can explain how the second project, which includes the orphanage, is funded, never mind the sports centre or meditation path.

Times Online

Bali: Cry, The Beloved Island

Hello everybody. I've finally got DSL in my place, so FriskoDude will now be returning to the stage.

In honor of Earth Day, my return post will feature an editorial by my friend Jack Daniels, who, among other things, publishes the highly informative email newsletter Bali Discovery. And boy, is he pissed:

Cry, the Beloved Island

Editorial: Bali Leaders Must Do Much More to Protect this Very Special island.

(4/19/2008) As Bali joins the rest of the world to mark "Earth Day" on Tuesday, April 22, 2008, it is timely to reflect on the quality of the environmental stewardship, or lack thereof, that reigns on the island of Bali.

www.balidiscovery.com routinely carries reports taken directly from the local press of hotels and villas being built illegally in restricted green zones; violations of set-back rules along rivers and seashores; blatant disregard of building height ordinances; overbuilding that seal off mandatory open space open-ground areas needed to permit the rain to replenish a diminishing water table; and even the demolishment of religious temples to make way for a new holiday resort.

These reports sadly remind that gone forever are the days when a strong Bali Governor compelled developers to build their resorts in Balinese-style architecture and even required staff to wear Bali-inspired uniforms. Those Bali-stlye hotels of yesteryear are becoming a rarity in "modern" Bali; lost behind an avalanche of Golden Arches, Seattle coffee shops and nondescript strip malls.

And, while reports of violations of the rules established to protect the Island's heritage appear in the local media on almost a daily basis, the actual instances in which developers are brought into line and made to rebuild or demolish structures to conform to local rules are as rare as a Bali Starling in downtown Denpasar.

Bali's tourism business has been pejoratively likened to a "soccer match conducted without benefit a referee." In Bali, zoning laws and environmental codes are held in deep contempt and rapaciously disobeyed by many. Disingenuous developers know that the key to unrestricted building is to break rules as quickly as possible; once caught, to smile sheepishly while being scolded by posturing officials; and to then wait for the inevitable official exemption to the rules, generally issued with the speed of an opening wallet.

Adding to the turmoil overtaking this once beautiful island are the many local lawyers and colluding notaries only too willing to create complex agreements that assist foreigners wishing to hold permanent claim to Balinese lands; contravening the absolute prohibitions on foreign land ownership that exists under Indonesian law.

Meanwhile, land prices rise and water table drops with no one seemingly overly concerned as to how the next generation of Balinese will be able to afford to live on their increasing crowded and waterless island.

Perhaps the ineffectiveness of local officials and the tragic consequence of such bad governance is no better demonstrated than at the once popular destination of the Kintamani volcano in Central Bali. Local businessmen who have erected illegal commercial building that now almost completely obscure the majestic volcanic-lake panorama have been "reprimanded" and then given a ludicrous "15 years" to remove their offending structures. Nearby, unregulated local vendor harass and, in some instances, even physically attack visitors who refuse to buy their birc-a-brac. Not unexpectedly, the word has spread with an increasingly fewer number of tourist visitors interested in visiting what once had the potential to be a world-class tourist attraction.

Sustainability Takes a Back Seat to Greed

Whether or not these visitors will ever return to Kintamani remains an open question. Perhaps in 15 years or so, after wiser men and women assume positions of power and decide to enforce the rules for the common good, can Kintamani begin the long-delayed job of reviving its endemic natural splendor.

Returning to our earlier soccer analogy, it seems there may be deeper and more profound insights into what ails Bali tourism no further away than the next televised Indonesian soccer match. The uninitiated witness to an Indonesian soccer may be shocked by the regularity with which players and spectators brutally attack referees, the reluctance of the abused officials to enforce the rules, and the resulting general state of havoc which prevails at football matches played across the archipelago. On a very real level, the state of play of Indonesian soccer sadly mirrors the current state of tourism development on the island of Bali. Rules do exist. But no one is prepared to enforce them.

In the firm belief that pictures have the power to speak a thousand words, we include some recent images of developments now underway on along the Bukit Peninsula in South Bali.

These pictures were taken at an area once known as "Dreamland," on a an island once called "Paradise."

Listen to the wind, you can sometimes hear the sound of the Island crying.

Earth Day – April 22, 2008.

Bali Discovery

Blog Hiatus

Yes, I have moved yet again from the Harcourt, to the St. Paul in North Beach, and now to the Civic Center Residence in downtown San Francisco. I don't have an internet connection in my room, so blogging will be very light until I get things set up with DSL, landline, and cable TV. Probably sometime later this week, or next.

Carl