What is suspicious?

When I ride the MRT here in Singapore, I am constantly watching that 'bomb threat awareness' video that is played on a loop. To sum it all up, if you havent been to Singapore and ridden the train, is that because there were bombings in Bali, London and various other major cities around the world that killed and wounded hundreds of people, Singaporeans should be on the watch because it could happen here. I guess when there were video tapes found years back of a bus stop where American soldiers/expats were known to frequent and a possible bomb planning was in the works, it just goes to show that Singapore is a hot bed for terrorist activity. This video tells people to watch for people carrying suspicious and heavy bags, people that act in a suspicious manner (in the video it is portrayed by a man in big dark sunglasses with a big dark hat wearing dark clothing carrying a big dark bag shifting from foot to foot and looking around nervously), and he leaves his bag under the seat and denies that it is his when pressed by a woman. I think I mentioned it before somewhere in my posts because there were a few things that I scratched my head about and had a laugh at.

There are also the posters and signs all over the MRT station for backpacks with the title "Suspicious? report it" or "If only it was this simple to spot" with a picture of a backpack with a big lit fuse round bomb like the mad bomber in The Pink Panther always ran around carrying. So with all these signs and warnings telling Singaporeans to be wary of suspicious items because the threat is out there, I feel somewhat safe.

However, obviously there is a problem with the definition of the word 'suspicious'. What is suspicious to you might not be suspicious to me. For instance, the other day my wife, her friend and I were out walking through a packed mall. As we were going up an escalator, I noticed a shopping bag sitting next to a garbage can at the base of the escalator and upon looking into it as I walked past it I noticed that there was a leather shoulder bag inside this bag. As the video would say "hmmmm, this is suspicious", or at least that is what I thought. I walked by to see how long the bag would stay there. I got to the top of the escalator and still the bag was being walked around by all the people but no one was apparently calling '999 or alert our staff' like directed in all the informational bombardments. I then asked my wife and her friend if they saw the suspicious looking bag to which they looked at me strangely and then started to look around them for possibly a big black bag (like in the video) with a man in black sunglasses and hat darting away from it mumbling "not mine..not mine", or possibly a big bag ticking with a skull and cross bones taped to the front. When I described the bag and pointed to it from the next floor up, the two just shrugged and went "guess someone is just throwing away their old bag and using the new bag that they bought" and walked away.

Granted, that could be the case. I mean, you buy your bag, transfer all your stuff to the new bag in a busy shopping mall and leave the old bag on the floor because it is too big to stuff into the small bin. Could it also be a case of 'no one would bomb a shopping mall, the hub of economy, terrorists only bomb transport stations to disrupt the transport line of manpower and supplies'? what and where does an item have to be before it can be considered suspicious?

As for why I didnt call it in or report it. I had to fall back on my excuse that if I can not complain about the gov't, point out flaws in economy and have an opinion about anything that goes on here, I guess I also dont have the right to point out these suspicious things since I obviously am overly sensitive and suspicious of these things.

Black and white international

Being a true blooded Canadian that I am all for equality in race, colour, creed and gender. What is good for the goose is always good for the gander and vice versa in all aspects of life. Women with 1 year maternity leave should mean that men get 1 year paternity leave as well; women's pay should be equal to men's pay if the job description is the same (equal pay for equal work); women should not have to wait for a man to ask her out but should be able to ask a man out or even propose to him without fear of social stigma; no one should be excluded from anything because of gender or race. I also believe in the equality in that criteria should not be reduced based on your gender. There shouldnt be a male/female entrance fitness test to be firefighters or police, but instead make one test that encompasses all people.



However, one thing that Canadians should understand is that our thoughts of equality in Canada is not shared by the world. Just because we have these politicians making laws to make sure that all are treated equally and no one gets their toes stepped on or feelings hurt that does not mean that the world has to obey or have our same ideals. We say 'no knives in school' but we grant sihks the right to carry a knife because it is their religious practice; we say 'no scarves or ties on the soccer field' but then it goes to court when girls are held off from playing because of the hijab; we have rules and laws saying that homosexuals can not be discriminated against in any aspect of law and should have rights and freedoms equal to all other citizens, and yet we hum and haw and flip a coin on the same sex marriage debate to the point that it is almost like the marijuana debate where I have to wake up every morning and ask a lawyer "so, is pot legal or illegal today? what about same sex marriage? is my homosexual friend still married to his partner or has their marriage been dissolved?"



That being said, I wish that the female ski jumpers would stop this fight. While I am all for fighting in Canada for your rights and freedoms, the thing that they are fighting is an international thing. You might as well try to get the Vatican to elect a gay pope, or Singapore to disband the death penalty than get the world to agree that gender equality should exist. The two points that are reported constantly are the same. The Canadian Olympic Committee is saying "In Canada, we have gender equality so there should be female ski jumping in the Olympics because it is in Canada and it is a discrimination issue" whereas the International Olympic Committee is saying that "the female ski jumping has not held the required events to meet the criteria to be considered an event". Now, the only way I can see this from being resolved is that the female ski jumping find out the criteria, meet the criteria to a T and then apply for the event. Just because it is being held in Canada does not make it open to Canadian laws and I say this because I really really would not want the hosting country's laws to rule the event of the international event. Can you imagine what would happen if the Olympics were held in a country that had a law saying that homosexuals were to be canned or executed and it was discovered that the entire male gymnastics participants were gay? or if atheltes were canned for having steroids in their system? the entire Olympic games would turn into one great big canning event.



So while I admire the fighting spirit of the female ski jumpers, I have to say to back off and accept that while Canada is an equality based society to the point of confusion and contradiction, the world is not as grey as Canada and sometimes the world is simply black and white.

Lost In Translation - Restaurant Menus

I remember getting an email from a friend that included a chinese menu with strange names like "Batter bits deep fried yummy" or item names like that and some comments people made were that it was racist and horribly degrading to the asian culture and no restaurant would dare do that sort of thing. Then I found this article (http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_196267.html) that apparently gives illusions that it does happen. Why? Simple lost in translation.

I gave it a read and thought it was most enlightening. If you are thinking of heading to China for the Olympics, you might be interested in giving this a little bit of a read to let you know what you are in for and can expect.


Lost in translation no more
Beijing to come up with standardised English translations for outlandish-sounding dishes, in run-up to the Olympics
By Tracy Quek, China Correspondent


BEIJING - FANCY some 'American Flag Cooks the Space Person' for lunch? Not in the mood? How does a helping of 'Explodes the Vegetable Meat to Steam' sound instead?
Reading the English translation of the Chinese menu off the Sanlitun Kitchen's outdoor advertising board, potential foreign patrons might be scared off by these outlandish-sounding dishes.

The eatery offering Hong Kong-style cuisine in Sanlitun Street, a popular expatriate haunt dotted with cafes and bars, is not the only one in Beijing lost in translation when it comes to names of dishes.

'American Flag Cooks the Space Person' actually refers to a braised ginseng dish while 'Explodes the Vegetable Meat to Steam' is steamed rice with preserved Szechuan pickle and meat patty. The eatery also offers a fried rice dish which is translated as 'The rich and powerful people fry'.

Chinese cuisine is famous the world over, but on the mainland, bad English translations of otherwise delectable and popular Chinese dishes can render them not only unappetising and confusing, but also downright macabre at times.

Soon, however, non-Chinese readers will know exactly what they are feasting on.

What's in a name?
THE names of Chinese dishes contain cultural and artistic elements. Some have historical, geographical and political backgrounds, others originate from Chinese fairy tales and folk tales.
Translators have divided the names of dishes into four categories: ingredients used, cooking method, taste, and name of a person or place.

Under the ingredients category, a dish's main ingredients make up its name, such as the Mushroom-Duck's Foot.

Dishes listed under cooking method would be described by the way they are cooked. For example: Fish Fillet Boiled In Hot Chilli Oil.

The third category goes with the taste or texture of the food. A good example is Crispy Chicken.

Dishes could also be named after either their creator or the place they originate from. One example is Mapo Tofu, which is a tofu dish invented by Mapo, the name of a Chinese woman.

The Beijing tourism bureau is due to release a set of standardised English translations for Chinese menus before the Spring Festival next month, which it hopes restaurants in the city will adopt for their bilingual menus ahead of the Olympic Games in August.

The final draft is expected to contain translations for more than 2,700 dishes and drinks. It was partially revised after opinions were sought from netizens and language experts last August, Xinhua news sgency reported yesterday.

The standardised list appears to be the first of its kind. A quick check with popular dining establishments in Beijing found that individual eateries engage translation companies to come up with bilingual menus, some with better results than others.

As part of a public relations campaign to spruce up its image before its international debut at the Olympics, Beijing is on a mission to sweep its restaurants, hotels, street signs and other public signboards clear of unintelligible English and mis-spellings.

China's capital city expects to host at least 500,000 foreigners who will attend the world's most prestigious sporting event, and officials are keen to impress.

As a result, Beijing residents have been bombarded with campaigns exhorting them to stop spitting, quit littering and to queue up, among other drives aimed at changing entrenched bad habits.

Taxi drivers listen to English lessons on tape while driving and have been banned from smoking in their cabs.

The city's 4,000 unrated hotels have also been told to translate their names, service hours, room rates, menus and notices for guests into accurate English.

When it comes to local food, of which Chinese people are fiercely proud, Beijing wants all embarrassing translations done away with.

'The names of Chinese dishes have long been part of our culture, and we hope we can share our culture with others through the Beijing Olympics in a tasteful and, more importantly, appropriate way,' Mr Feng Dongming, the head of the translation programme and vice-dean of the Tourism School at Beijing Union University, told Xinhua.

A team set up by the Beijing Municipal Foreign Affairs Office and the Beijing Tourism Bureau has been working on correcting the translation problem since March 2006, backed by a committee of 20 language experts and catering service managers.

Translators have divided the dish names into four categories: ingredients, cooking method, taste, and name of a person or a place.

Some netizens, however, have turned up their noses at the standardised list.

'Why should we waste time and effort coming up with English translations? Do you see restaurants in other Western countries that have Chinese menus for Chinese visitors?' asked one.

Two out of five restaurants contacted by The Straits Times said they would welcome the new translations. The rest said they would wait to see the list before deciding whether to adopt it.

Ms Zhang Xin, financial manager of a famous Beijing Peking duck restaurant, Liqun Roast Duck, said foreign customers have no problem with her restaurant's bilingual menu, but said smaller eateries will benefit.

'The standard English menu is good news because some small restaurants' English menus are a mess. The key is to help people understand what they're eating,' she said.

tracyq@sph.com.sg
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LINA MIAO

The Noose goes Stereotypical in really poor taste

There was a time when I would watch a North American show that had a chinese person in it and think to myself "my god, how horrible, degrading and disgusting to portray him like that" The reason being that whenever a chinese person was portrayed on TV they always had big huge teeth, thick coke bottle glasses and always spoke in extremely poor English with horrible pronunciation ("you wanta some flied lice? good good today..or...how abwout somea woast pwork? sweet and soooour........good good") I often felt bad and would voice my concern to friends about the stereotypes that we are putting on the film and say that I did not find the character to be interesting or amusing in the least and considered it down right annoying and in poor taste.

That, however, has changed since I saw the January 13th, 2008 episode of The Noose. They had a 'caucasian' on the show (Gurmit Singh http://www.gurmitsinghonline.com/) play a caucasian hawker centre cook that came over from a stint in China to cook 'western' food for the Singaporean people. His specialty? Dumplings. What did he do to make my attitude change? All they did was put a white wig on his head and have him jump around like an idiot with a thick Singaporean/Chinese accent and go "hi mom" and wave hysterically at the camera. This is not the first time I have watched poor taste in humor on this show and thought to myself "what is happening?"

Then it dawned on me. Singaporeans always seem to tell me that they have respect for other people. They wouldnt go to stereotypes because of the huge multinational mixture of races in their country. That is why there are high sedition laws because they hold a high respect for other nations and cultures. So, using that as a guildline, I guess by portraying the caucasian individual stereotypically like that, since I do have to admit that caucasians under the age of 10 (or at least the mental age of 10) that are on camera always jump around like brain dead idiots, it must be acceptable. Therefore, since portraying a caucasian to that extreme stereotype, then I guess it is perfectly fine to laugh at the stereotypical chinese individual in films and shows over in North America. So next time I see a chinese man in a show announcing that he has just arrived to North America to make his fortune I will laugh hysterically at his thick accent, and his comical blunders of 'flied lice' and 'weft wing and light wing powitics'.

MM Lee still fiery with political brass knuckles and looking for a street fight

I read in the Singaporean paper 'The New Paper' on January 12, 2008 an article about MM Lee speaking to a group about retirement. Apparently a poor 23 year old reporter asked about the restrictions on civil liberties and MM Lee fired back asking what liberties were restricted. Apparently in his idea, freedom of speech is not limited or constricted, since if you want to talk at Hong Lim Park all you need to do is get a licence (http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,153258,00.html?):

****
MM Lee said, to laughter from the audience, "You just put your name, that's all"

Speakers must register at the Kreta Ayer Neighbourhood Police Post before they speak.

He added that a free press is not the answer to all of a country's development problems.

"Don't take what the Western media say about us as true."
****

Personally, I think once you have to ask for permission to speak, your freedom of speech has been limited. One thing that I have thought you should run with on freedom of speech is that "My right to swing my arms stops at where your nose starts". For those that might not have been taught in school to read between the lines and find meaning behind the words. I have always taken this to mean that I can say what I like, when I like, and say whatever I like BUT I also have to take into consideration what words I am saying and take responsibility for my own words. What I say I have to be able to back up with evidence and proof. I can say "I think that...." and have a personal opinion but that personal opinion is open for debate and the people listening to it have to use their own discreation. I can say that I think that a certain lawyer is a theif, and people have to be able to make up their own minds.

Now, I ask any Singaporean out there. Please, here is the ultimate test of the freedom of speech that you apparently have since MM Lee says all you have to do is put your name down and you can speak. Go and put your name down or put in your application for a public protest with whomever you have to and the reason for the public protest is"

"Protesting the fact that you have to get a licence to hold a protest. You feel that any group of people (over 4 people) should be able to congregate at any part of Singapore and hold a protest as long as you are:

1) not disrupting traffic;
2) not hurting or blocking anyone access to certain areas (e.g. you cant be blocking them from entering Plaza Singapura because you are protesting Plaza Sing prices);
3) keeping the noise level down to a respectable level (E.G. Not firing off fireworks or loudspeakers so loud that people 5 streets over can hear you but still loud enough for those that are in the area can hear you), and;
4) not forcing people to stop and listen (E.G. you are just talking and if people want to stop and listen, they can..if they dont want to stop and listen, they can just move on."

I have wanted to apply and do this but I find that no one really likes to listen to an expat talk like this about Singapore. I have found that I can be with my friends who talk about how they hate the increase in pay for the ministers, how they are frustrated with the PAP grip on everything in Singapore and how the cost of living and HDB prices are rising faster and faster but the salaries are stagnant and there is no power to do anything for the workers....but as soon as I open my mouth and say that I agree it is a screwed up system I get told to 'shut up' because I am a 'visitor' to this great and wonderful nation and I should not say a damn thing but just be grateful that I am in the safest and greatest country in the world.

Think of this as a stepping stone to helping those causes that are repressed. If you apply to hold a rally for homosexuality, it will probably be denied because you have to ask permission. BUT if you manage to hold a protest to remove the stipulation that you have to ask permission, you can then hold you protest legally because protests are not illegal. Before running across the mine field (Singapore) to fight the enemy (PAP), you should clear the mine field (political field) of mines (unfair rules and regulations placed in for the PAP to remain in control) before you engage the enemy (political or social).

ski jumping women

Are Canadians getting as arrogant as our neighbours to the south? I know that we adopt American TV, music, films and culture...but do we have to adopt the arrogrance of 'our ideas in our country have to be respected across the world'? What am I refering to? the female ski jumpers and their quest to get recognized as an Olympic event.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080108/Ski_Jumpers_080108/20080108?hub=Canada

Canadian gov't wants to step in and say that they support the Canadian female ski jumpers wanting to be recognized. They have people screaming out discrimination and how it is against the law to discriminate against something based on genders. Looks like ski jumping has the grand father clause against the gender discrimination thing because any game introduced to the Olympics has to have both male and female sides, but ski jumping has been around since 1924.

Guess it all depends on just getting the numbers. The article says that the game has to be practiced in 25 countries on 3 continents to be considered an event. So, they get the numbers, they have a case. If it is a case of Canada has a huge show up (83 women) but only 15 other countres have female jumpers, then sit down and quite making a big fuss. I mean, I am all for equality and all, but equality means equality. If you dont have the numbers, being female or male means nothing.

Now I am reading that there is talk about boycotting the games to make their point. Oh please please please boycott. Historically the Olympics were only played by men with men watching the games since the games were designed for both country peace and harmony as well as preparing men for war and battle games. I mean, look at the original events..running, jumping, javelin (weapon), discus (another weapon item) and swimming...all designed for war. Ski jumping? bob sleigh? luge? Not exactly war based now are they? Unless you are strapping your soldiers in spandex, shoving a skate up their butts and shooting them down icy slopes and making them turn by doing kegal exercises, not war based. Females...boycott the Olympics and all you will be doing is returning the Olympics back to their original state before females came into the scene. No great loss to the moment and society.

I can't see the difference..can you?

Well, it has been going on for many episodes now. Singapore has taken a giant leap forward in coming to par with the rest of the world in political humour. First, The USA has their ground breaking political humour like The Stephen Colbert Report and Jon Stewart. Sharp tongued, free spirited individuals who, with a team of great writers, find the things that people in America are wondering about and put them to words. Great men that sparked (at least in my opinion) the idea to make the movie "Man Of The Year" with Robin Williams about a political humourist who runs for president and wins. Which amazingly enough, Stephen Colbert I heard put his name up and asked people if he should run for president. I think I heard it took nearly a day for enough people to throw their hats in to say he should, whereas it took nearly a week or two for some other individuals to get the support needed to throw names up for election.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA1eLPZIjLU

Then there is "This Hour Has 22 Minutes", which is a Canadian attempt at the political humour. Here a free bunch of individuals take stabs at headlines with their own twists, along with actually meeting politicians in the politican circle. Sometimes they arent that funny, but there are times that they are great. I mean, when you get Canadians going to America and asking the Americans to congratulate Canada on getting running water just last week and the Americans actually believe that Canada just got running water, that shows great TV. I remember one American actually congratulated the Prime Minister on getting his first 'double, double' (coffee with double milk and double sugar).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CptXVdqprE

Now, Singapore has thrown their hat into the mix. They have come up with a show called "The Noose", which I am wondering if it is a subtle stab at being the 'island of death' or having the highest execution rate by hanging per capita of any other country in the world. A news report style production taking current news stories and adding their idea of humour to it. Though one thing for certain is that while '22 Minutes' has the Prime Minister on with a regular occurance in Canada, and Stephen Colbert constantly pokes fun at the political system and all, you will never never NEVER see a part of the Noose actually meaning the political scene. Why? is it because Singaporeans are so in awe of the fabulous job that politicians do that they have nothing to complain or poke fun at which is why they happily give their politicians millions of dollars ($3.8 million to the Prime Minister alone) a year as a salary, plus little perks and incentives here and there? Is it because Singaporeans respect those people in power? Or could it possibly be that every person that has actually said anything slightly offensive about anyone of the PAP members in power the person who said the words find themselves in a court of law being sued for Slander and eventually have to pay the politician they talked about $500,000 in damages? Guess without proper evidence, it is up to the person to ask that question and answer it themselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ImnvzPzdVA

I dont know, can you see the difference in humour/acting ability? Granted, USA and Canada have multiple supplies of writers, humourists and actors to draw on while SIngapore has an incredibly small pool but still. I remember watching 22 minutes and Colbert and thinking "wow, those writers are truely great. I definitly do not have the talent to write for them". After watching the Noose, however, I am thinking "wow, I not only could write for this show, but I could probably do a whole lot better than this". Then I stop and remember "yeah, I cant work because the govt wont give me PR status til I get a job, but no one will hire me till I get PR status".

Oh, and here is a comparison of weather segments from '22 Minutes' and "The Noose". I know which one I laughed so hard on and which one I said "please find better writers and get a guy that can act".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpXSf_ud_hY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVB7Q2Ge0Ts

*sigh* I miss comedy....where has all the laughter gone from Singapore?

Catholics cant use the name Allah..have to call him "the god that can not be named"

Ok, now this is only fair I think:

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s2132032.htm
http://zfikri.wordpress.com/2008/01/04/cabinet-allah-for-muslims-only/
http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Asia/STIStory_192747.html
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-31238220080104

Apparently it has been ruled by a Malaysian court that a Roman Catholic newspaper can not use the name 'Allah'. My person favorite line came from Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zin in the zfikri.wordpress.com article when he said "...the use of the word “Allah” should not be subject of public debate such that it will give the impression there there[sic] is no religiious freedom in this country."

Let me see if I get this straight. They shouldnt debate the use of the word "Allah" because it would give the impression that there is no religious freedom in the country, but they are banning the catholic church from using the word Allah. Hmmmm, so you are free to be any religion that you want, you just cant talk about other religions? yeah, if it quacks like a duck.....

Though I think that it is only fair that Catholic shouldn't use the word "allah". After all, it isnt like the Muslim church uses the name Jesus or Jehovah. Instead he is known as 'false god' or 'the god of the evil infidels that needs to be slain'. Of course, catholics, or any other religion except muslim, are often known as 'evil infidels' or 'targets' or 'soulless evil doers'. Guess we just just go back to calling the muslim gods what they have been called in the past "false gods".

Personally, I dont really care what who is called and why. Muslim's have the god Allah, Catholics have Jesus and God, Buddhists have Buddhists and when the religions are all peeled back to the bare bones facts, if you take away the customs and traditions that have evolved over the years, they are all pretty much the same. Love thy fellow man and be good to each other....and kill anything that is different than you are.