Sunday, April 30, 2006

chicken rice with a side order of PAP


All we wanted was a nice Sunday family lunch. But we got a little more than that when we got to this Joo Chiat chicken rice stall (really yummy by the way...it's right next to the Esso/Mobil petrol station on the corner of East Coast Rd and Lorong Stangee, fyi).

The PAP team was doing their walk-about, garnering votes for the upcoming election.

They came to every table, shook our hands, gave us a flyer each, and said 'Remember to vote PAP'. That was it. No attempt to even engage us on their politics or anything. [Oh yeah, except for the fact that before handing me a flyer, the guy took one look at me and said that i looked like i was too young to vote, which i took as an insult, considering i am 27. He dutifully handed me a flyer after that.]

I wonder if all the politicians looking for votes go through this procedure in their walk-abouts. That would be too bad. You'd think these kinds of moments would be the best times to actually engage the electorate, talk to people about how they're feeling about the elections, what they think about the political party's platform, what they're happy with, what they're not happy with, etc. Especially since there are no other real opportunities during election time to do this. Election rallies are mostly a time for grand-standing, which is fine, i don't have a problem with that. A rally space lends itself more to masses of people listening to a few select speakers. It's not really an ideal space for public dialogue. And there are no public forums or election debate sessions, not even televised ones, where politicians can debate their platforms and where people can challenge politicians to state their position on specific issues.

This experience just felt like advertising. I couldn't get a closer shot, but in this picture on the right you'll be able to see that the walk-about-ers were accompanied by more folks dressed in the PAP's signature white clothing on a lorry with the easily-identifiable lightning bolt symbol. They chanted "PAP, PAP" with their fists raised as the lorry drove past. They were accompanied a little later by more PAP-ers on bicycles. All this man-on-the-street stuff is ofcourse quite deceiving - you need to put up quite a bit of money to be able to run in the elections in the first place, and we all know the gross disparity between Ministers' salaries and the salaries of the majority of the population.

In any case, chicken rice with a side order of PAP that you didn't ask for sure makes for interesting lunchtime conversation.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

first world?

The ‘Singapore as First World’ Election ‘Debate’

Let’s examine this term ‘First World’ for a minute or two. How do we actually define what is ‘First World’?

Wikipedia gives a pretty decent, brief political history of the term, and states that in its current usage, the term “has come to denote the 'developed' Industrialized-Capitalistic nations that in 2000 had a higher GDP per capita
than $15,000, as stated by the World Bank. This would include the United States, Canada, Japan, the countries of the European Union (in 2000), Taiwan, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea. Additionally, Singapore and Hong Kong may be described in these terms but they are exceptions as these have particular characteristics not representative of a country. The World Bank also denotes these as "High Income Economies".”

Now I’m not gonna waste too many brain cells thinking about how useful GDP is as a measure of peoples’ economic conditions. Most of the time it’s just this number that’s thrown around in popular discourse that’s supposed to be some kind of marker of success – the bigger the number, the better you should feel about your country, apparently. But I think it’s safe to say that while GDP is a commonly-used indicator of the (capitalist) economic wheel-turning of countries, it doesn’t really say anything about how that economic wealth is distributed (i.e. unequally and unjustly). It doesn’t tell us much about where that wealth has come from. Quite convenient, considering most of the countries in that list of ‘First World’ were (England, Spain, Portugal, Holland, etc) and are (US, Canada, Israel) (neo)colonizers and imperialists - extracting wealth from the labour of the majority in the colonized world and through theft of land and natural resources (case in point: Operation Iraqi Liberation), and not to mention displacing hundreds of thousands of indigenous peoples especially in settler colonies (for info on one current struggle, see the Six Nations Standoff Resource Page). And GDP also doesn’t tell us how profit/wealth is generated.

So by extension, that makes the term ‘First World’ become this vague and almost meaningless thing, doesn’t it? Except for the fact that the term is constructed in such a way as to identify any nation associated with it as superior and somehow doing the right things compared to everybody else. A sense of superiority is something that I’m sure the PAP identifies with quite easily, but I’m kinda disappointed that some Opposition candidates have also fallen into using the same language in response, instead of critiquing it. These kinds of things just seem like a distraction from the things that should really matter in this election - growing income disparities, healthcare, education, the death penalty, democratic participation, a truly just justice system, government accountability and transparency, violence against women, etcetera etcetera.

I hope that, with Nomination Day now out of the way, the level of political debate will improve.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Nectarpool

Click on image to enlarge

More info here and here

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

my Singapore Gaga review

I finally went to watch Singapore Gaga last Wednesday night, and it sucked, big time.

It was a bit of an adventure even getting there. First, I couldn’t book tickets cos I don’t have a credit card, so had to keep reminding sis to do it. By the time she got around to it, it turned out the movie was so popular that we had to wait another 2 weeks to watch it. On the evening we had tickets, I called sis to meet up, turns out she was having a crazy day at work, and so was very late meeting me. With 5 minutes left before the movie started, we walked all the way to the Esplanade before we realized we were walking in the wrong direction, practical ran our way past the Padang and finally stumbled into the Arts House (which, by the way, is a pretty swank-lookin’ nicely-renovated colonial heritage building). We’d already missed 20 minutes of the 55-minute film, but insisted on going in since we couldn’t get our money back anyway. Now, trying to find 2 empty seats at a sold-out show in the dark is not as easy as you’d imagine, so we just sat on the floor and hurt our backs, necks, legs and bums for what was left of the show.

So granted, I already wasn’t in the best of moods. Still, I don’t believe I would’ve enjoyed the show much more than I did had I not already been through all that.

The film synopsis boasts that Singapore Gaga is about “the quirkiness of the Singaporean aural landscape”. I’d say that’s a bit of a stretch. The film is really a rojak mish-mash of mini-narratives about street performers and other little-known musicians who play instruments like the harmonica and the toy piano, with a few radio announcers and the voice of the MRT thrown in. A lot of the sequences were long, drawn-out and so boring I felt like screaming at some points. Film-makers are supposed to throw our lives back at us in a new light, or give us a fresh perspective on it, or give us something interesting to think about. Besides the little funny bit about the recorder, this film did none of that. If I see the woman selling tissue paper in Simei or the singing and dancing man in the red clogs at Tanjong Pagar MRT everyday, simply sticking a camera in their faces and putting that on a screen is not gonna do anything for me.

And you know, it really pisses me off when things that are passed off as markers of ‘Singaporean’ culture are really markers of ‘Chinese Singaporean’ culture, as in the case of this film. Throwing in one tokenistic interview with an Indian, one 2-minute segment of Malay kids singing in Arabic, and fixing your camera’s gaze on a few ethnic minority faces here and there doesn’t count much for representation.

The bits about radio announcers who speak in Chinese dialects and the way the filmmaker dealt with the subject of the loss of Chinese dialects in Singapore were good, but too fleeting and perfunctory to make any kind of lasting impact.

Meanwhile, there’s a portion of the film that’s either a dawn or dusk shot along Serangoon Road, at a field where hundreds of male Bangladeshi migrant workers are hanging out, some being herded onto buses. It’s interesting whose voices are privileged in those shots. Part of the segment is filmed following a woman with a megaphone, belting out to the workers through the din of chatter to wait while she tells them which one her bus is. The rest of the segment is filmed through the window of a cab, the sounds from outside buffered by the whirrings of the inside of a vehicle and the sound of a radio announcer speaking in a Chinese dialect. The migrant workers remain voiceless, seen but never really heard, simply another “quirky” addition to the sights and sounds of the Singaporean landscape. In keeping with the nationalist theme of the film, this depiction only serves to reinforce the exclusion of migrant workers from the national narrative, invisibilize their exploitation for the benefit of citizens, and downplay their role in keeping the Singapore economy going.

I’d say the best thing about Singapore Gaga was its marketing campaign. Quite frankly, for a film without any big studio backing, the filmmaker did a pretty good job of getting the word out there through its website, eye-catching poster and other grassroots marketing techniques. Tickets were selling out so fast that more show times were added on for the last few weeks of the film’s run time. And I didn’t read a single bad review of this film anywhere. Which is not necessarily a good thing. I agree that it’s important to support local, independent artists and all, but support and blind cheer-leading are not the same thing. Needless to say, I’ll be a lot more wary of what Singaporean reviewers say about Singaporean films from now on.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

chavez comic

banksy

Bansky, via rabfish

A guide to cutting stencils
• Think from outside the box.
• Collapse the box and take a fucking sharp knife to it.

• Leave the house before you find something worth staying in for.
• It's easier to get forgiveness than permission.
• Spray the paint sparingly onto the stencil from a distance of 8 inches.
• Be aware that going on a major mission totally drunk out of your head will result in some truly spectacular artwork and at least one night in the cells.
• When explaining yourself to the Police its worth being as reasonable as possible. Graffiti writers are not real villains. I am always reminded of this by real villains who consider the idea of breaking in someplace, not stealing anything and then leaving behind a painting of your name in four foot high letters the most retarded thing they ever heard of.
• Remember crime against property is not real crime. People look at an oil painting and admire the use of brushstrokes to convey meaning. People look at a graffiti painting and admire the use of a drainpipe to gain access.
• The time of getting fame for your name on its own is over. Artwork that is only about wanting to be famous will never make you famous. Any fame is a by-product of making something that means something. You don't go to a restaurant and order a meal because you want to have a shit.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Indonesia won't scrap labour bill...for now

Indonesia's labour bill needs fixing - president
Sat Apr 8, 2006 3:33 PM IST

JAKARTA (Reuters) - The Indonesian government will reformulate plans to revise a labour bill that has pitted employers against unions, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Saturday after protests across the country in recent days.

Employers have complained that Indonesia's 2003 labour bill gave workers so many benefits and so much freedom to organise and strike that it dealt a blow to the country's economic competitiveness and its attractiveness to investors.

The government and current parliament, elected in 2004, have plans to amend the bill to give employers more flexibility, curb strikes and soften regulations on severance payment for dismissed workers.

"We will not push forward the draft to revise (the bill) to the parliament. We will fix and reformulate it," Yudhoyono told reporters in a news conference, adding any revision would come from a forum of employers and unions.

"In the coming days and weeks, we will have intensive discussions...to formulate what is best for our country," said Indonesia's first popularly elected president, adding independent groups and universities should also be involved in the debate.

Tens of thousands of Indonesians rallied across the world's fourth most populous country on Wednesday to protest against revising the employment laws.

On Friday, Yudhoyono met union leaders who argue the revisions ignore the plight of workers and have vowed to keep protesting to ensure the law goes unchanged.

The 2003 bill was a product of the country's first democratic parliament after the 1998 fall of autocratic President Suharto, who had kept unions on a tight leash, but the business community says the new law went too far the other way.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

60 signs you've been in Singapore too long

via talkingcock.com

Some highlights:

4. You think there's nothing wrong with putting chili sauce on everything you eat.

11. You would buy a $20 product you don't need if it's on sale for $10 just to save the money.

13. You think it's okay to have only one meaningful choice on a ballot.

21. Most or all of these acronyms make sense to you: NUS; NTU; ERP; SDU; PAP; MRT; LKY; GCT; PRC; TIBS; SBS; SMS; JB; JBJ; AMK; AYE; PIE; ECP; ISD; ISA; 5 C's; CPF; CHIJMES; SPG; CWO.

23. You think that nothing makes a girl or guy more attractive than to dress exactly like hundreds of thousands of other girls and guys who all dress exactly like girls and guys in malls.

24. You think that $100,000 is a reasonable price for a Toyota Corolla and $1,000,000 is a reasonable price for a bungalow, but $5 for a plate of fried noodles is a barbarous outrage.

25. You believe that not being able to get decent roti prata outside Singapore is enough to keep the best and the brightest people from leaving.

28. You think everything should be "topped up".

29. You have a naive belief that the war against ants will somehow be won.

30. You don't think any dish of Western food is complete without baked beans.

31. You see nothing unusual about an organization of trade unions spending more time owning and operating supermarkets, drugstores, amusement parks, nightclubs, and financial services outlets than planning the next strike.

33. You wear winter clothes indoors and summer clothes outdoors.

34. Durian and belachan no longer stink to you.

38. In a country where people use smart cards for public transit, you have no problem with construction workers riding in the open backs of pickup trucks.

53. You're sure that the best way to change social behaviour is through consistent and comprehensive government-sponsored campaigns that permeate as many aspects of daily life as possible. And when they don't work, you never speak of them again.

54. You think chicken floss, corn, mayonnaise, and tandoori spices are proper pizza toppings.

55. You agree that what the government thinks of your personal habits and lifestyle should determine whether you get a condo and how much you pay for it.

57. You think a bus is incomplete without a TV.

Complete list

Friday, April 07, 2006

take that, american idol

I started a post last night that was a bit of an American Idol rant. Okay, so all of it was an American idol rant. But I didn’t finish it cos I got distracted by mom’s display of shopping exploits from her recently-returned trip from India. (She bought me some pretty cool stuff too…yippee. It almost makes up for not having been able to go there myself.)

Suffice to say that I was pissed off that Mandisa was voted off, and I’ll probably never watch American Idol ever again. Guess America just can’t handle the idea of a big, beautiful, smart, sassy, self-assured Black woman who can sing better than most of the other contestants ‘making it’ in pop culture. Not a surprise, but still disappointing. I realize it’s a bit of a flaky thing to get upset about, but you gotta indulge yourself sometimes.

Meanwhile, I applied for my share of the ‘Progress Package’ last night (also known as the gentle-reminder-to-vote-for-the-‘right’-party-at-the-upcoming-General-Elections package). I mean seriously, does the government really think that folks who are on the fence about voting PAP at the GE are gonna be convinced by throwing some money at them? Cos frankly, I’m insulted. $600 is not enough to buy my vote. And I just thought it was kinda lame that they kept emphasizing that the Workfare Bonus is just a one-time handout and not a welfare policy. Welfare is such a dirty word to this government. They might as well just come out and say straight up, “Look, ya’ll can forget about us ever implementing any kind of policies that will structurally even out the wealth gap. We might hand you a few crumbs now and then, but don’t go getting any ideas about, (gasp), redistributing wealth towards the poor. Cause, ya know, they’re just not working hard enough.” As opposed to corporate CEOs and millionaire businessmen who sit in air-conditioned offices all day making big decisions and signing important papers. Oh, and playing golf. Playing a lot of golf. Boy that's hard work.

Then again, I’m reminded of the first 2 lines in one of my favourite Dead Prez songs (the secret track on the Let’s Get Free album):
You can’t fool all the people all of the time
But if you fool the right ones, then the rest will fall behind


Some might argue, however, that I have no reason to complain. I get 600 free dollars simply for being a Singaporean. Aah, membership sure has its privileges.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

thaksin quits

Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra bowed out of the political battle last night, declaring in a nationwide telecast that he would not form the next government. ''I will not to accept the prime ministership when the new parliament convenes in 30 days,'' he said.

Read the rest of the article in the Bangkok Post.

Another article in the International Herald Tribune.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

today in history

April 4 1967
Martin Luther King, Jr. states that the US was in Vietnam "to occupy it as an American colony" and calls the US government "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today".

April 4 1968
Martin Luther King, Jr. is assasinated.

April 4 1948
NATO is created.

April 4 1979
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is executed.

April 4 1928
Maya Angelou is born.

Sunday, April 02, 2006

film writer?!

You Should Be a Film Writer

You don't just create compelling stories, you see them as clearly as a movie in your mind.
You have a knack for details and dialogue. You can really make a character come to life.
Chances are, you enjoy creating all types of stories. The joy is in the storytelling.
And nothing would please you more than millions of people seeing your story on the big screen!
Thanks for the link, warrior-lady. I refuse to re-take the Simpsons Personality Test. The last time I did it (5 years ago), I came up as Ned Flanders. Go figure. Plus I know the Simpsons too well so I know exactly which character each trait in the questions refers to.

Meanwhile, apparently I should go into film-writing. I suppose I can at least be assured that no script I write could ever be as bad as the movie I watched last night – Ultraviolet. So watch out folks, in about 10 years, there's gonna be an explosion of anti-racist queer-positive feminist social justice cinema. Just you wait and see.