Do you have problems parallel parking? Backing into your own driveway? Do you drive a BMW or Lexus at speeds below the limit? Do people verbally abuse  you because of your driving?
If so, US-based Singaporean Gillian Tan recommends the A-Safe-Way Asian Womens’ Driving School:

Gillian also has dating tips and advice on avoiding sweaty palms.

(via Tomorrow.sg)

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, singappore, southeast asia

AsiaPundit hopes to respond to Michael Turton’s rebuttal to the assertion that Taiwan’s KMT is more market oriented than the DPP. However, AsiaPundit will concede immediately that the Heritage Institute’s economic freedom rankings do have significant flaws. It is useful for providing a basic snapshot of economic liberties in relation to what it claims to measure, but by ignoring more unique elements of each market it does provide a distorted view.

Simon has a takedown on Hong Kong’s ranking by the SCMP’s Jake van der Camp here. But Singapore’s ranking as the No.2 freest economy also needs some review.:

In Singapore, it is the government itself that stands in the way of the unfettered private enterprise that the Heritage Foundation’s criteria are supposed to favor. The major real estate, banking, transport, manufacturing and utility companies listed on the stock market are all government-controlled entities. They may be efficient, but is this an economy free of government intervention? The index also claims that "the market sets almost all wages." But actually "wages are based on annual recommendations made by the tripartite National Wages Council."

Tax rates and revenue as a percentage of gross domestic product are low in both cities. But governments control land supply and use it not just to raise money but to redistribute income in an off-the-books manner through publicly developed and managed housing provided with low-cost land, in which 83 percent of Singaporeans and 40 percent of Hong Kong citizens live. In Hong Kong, land prices for the rest are kept especially high, with the result that living space per inhabitant remains very low compared with countries with similar income levels. Land in Hong Kong is sometimes used for subsidizing favored industries and in Singapore tax subsidies - which by definition are discriminatory - are common.

Tax levels in Singapore look quite low. But how free of official imposts are its citizens when compulsory contributions to its Central Provident Fund take 33 percent of wages and are invested largely as the government sees fit, through nontransparent official vehicles such as the Government Investment Corporation? Compulsory savings help toward the accumulation of foreign-exchange reserves and a very high investment ratio. But the rate of return on those assets has been low.

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, hong kong, northeast asia, singappore, southeast asia

Via Singabloodypore, Martin See is making yet another film. the release date depends on how long the Singapore authorities jail him for the previous one.:

In the early hours of 2nd February 1963, security police in Singapore launched Operation Coldstore - the mass arrests and detention of more than a hundred leaders and activists of political parties, trade unions and student movements, for their alleged involvement in “leftist” or “communist” activities. One of those arrested was former newspaper editor Said Zahari, who had been appointed the leader of an opposition party just three hours earlier.

A staunch anti-colonialist, Zahari had assumed that the mass arrests, set against the backdrop of Singapore’s struggle for independence, was no more than yet another turn of event in a politically volatile era. Freedom for him and the others, it seemed, would be secured once Singapore gained full independence.

On 9th of August 1965, by way of its separation from Malaysia, Singapore finally gained full independence and sovereignty. And as the republic embarked on a determined quest for economic prosperity, it dawned on Zahari that his new-found Singaporean citizenship did not accord him freedom.

By the time he was released in 1979, he had spent a total of 17 years in detention without trial. He now holds the distinction of being the second longest-serving political detainee in Singapore after Chia Thye Poh.

The total box office numbers for the previous film, , haven’t been released - although the Singapore government stands to gross S$100,000 from fines collected from See, which is actually a fair chunk of change for a 26 minute independent film.

Technorati Tags: asia, censorship, east asia, media, singappore, southeast asia

Via the Committee to Protect Bloggers:

Spirit of America has launched the BlogSafer wiki, available at http://www.blogsafer.org. BlogSafer contains a series of guides on how to blog under difficult conditions in countries that discourage free speech.

LOS ANGELES, California - January 7, 2006 – Spirit of America’s BlogSafer wiki hosts a series of targeted guides to anonymous blogging, each of which outline steps a blogger in a repressive regime can take, and tools to use, to avoid identification and arrest. These range from common sense actions such as not providing identifying details on a blog to the technical, such as the use of proxy servers.

“A repressive regime trying to still free speech first goes after and shuts down independent print and broadcast media,” said Curt Hopkins, project director of Spirit of America’s Anonymous Blogging Campaign. “Once that is done, it turns its attentions to online news sites. As these outlets disappear, dissent migrates to blogs, which are increasing geometrically in number and are simple to set up and operate.”

In past several years at least 30 people have been arrested, many of whom have been tortured, for criticizing their governments. This trend is likely to increase in the coming year.

The five guides that are currently on the wiki serve bloggers in the following countries:

* Iran (in Persian)

* China (Chinese)

* Saudi Arabia (in Arabic—also useful for other Arabic-speaking regimes such as Bahrain, Egypt, Syria and Tunisia)

* Malaysia (in English—also applicable to neighboring Indonesia and Singapore)

* Zimbabwe (in English—applicable to English-speaking Africans as well as aid workers)

Technorati Tags: asia, blogs, censorship, china, east asia, malaysia, northeast asia, singappore, southeast asia

Further on press freedom in China:

After a couple of unexplained extensions of detention without charge, Straits Times reporter/Hong Kong resident Ching Cheong’s case has been handed to mainland prosecutors.

    Ching’s support group says mainland officials notified his wife, through the S-A-R government, that the case was transferred to the Beijing prosecutors’ office on December 30. The Straits Times reporter was accused of spying for Taiwan and has been held on the mainland since April, but has not been formally charged.

Technorati Tags: asia, censorship, china, east asia, media, northeast asia

As mentioned in the previous item, Reader’s Digest has tagged Singapore as the most laid back and tolerant country in East Asia. AsiaPundit is therefore glad that we have a tolerant Singaporean selected as Asia’s best blogger.

XiaXue can represent the region’s best face to the world. Plus, Singapore is known as a bridge between East and West and Wendy certainly represents that. She blends the elegant vanity of the high-consuming developed Asian states with the yobbishness and xenophobia of a Cronulla Beach thug.:

So yes: I don’t like our foreign workers, and like I said, I most certainly won’t like to dance with them in a club.

Ask any other Singaporean girl and I bet the answer will be a loud, loud unison.

Racist? I have not even BEGIN to complain about our dear foreign workers.

WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY ALL DOING IN ORCHARD ROAD ON CHRISTMAS EVE? I wasn’t stupid enough to go to Orchard this year, but I’ve been there enough times to know what goes on there. . .

These years, I don’t even go to crowded areas (excluding clubs) anymore because I know for sure the presence of these foreign workers.

Why are they allowed? They don’t contribute to our shopping centre’s sales… They terrorise our girls, spoiling everyone’s fun.

In time to come, people will all smarten up. Because of the presence of these molesters, girls will cease going to Orchard at all. When chicks don’t go, our Singaporean guys won’t go as well.

All you see in Orchard will be…

Man, that would be so fun. Imagine all the companies putting up parties and special performances… Only foreign workers will participate. Yay!

I say, either make sure these people don’t play play, or ban them entirely from Orchard road. They want to have fun, go have fun somewhere else. Sorry, if you can’t behave, that’s the way it is.

Unfortunately the above photo is of white Australians abusing a man of Arab descent, who is also quite likely Australian. I couldn’t find any photos of Singaporeans abusing foreign workers as Wendy would likely prefer. However Wendy can be pleased that the courts in Singapore don’t mind it so much when foreign workers are abused, so if she maintains her prejudice at a later date she can kill her maid without much fear of penalty.

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, racism, singapore, southeast asia

In a blow to its self-idealized kiasu culture, a Reader’s Digest survey has found that Singaporeans are the most laid back people in East Asia.:

The magazine surveyed 3,600 people across Asia, with respondents in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia and South Korea asked to Indonesia and South Korea asked to rate 20 annoyances such as bad drivers and queue jumpers on a scale ranging from “extremely irritating” to “not irritating at all”.

The survey results showed that Singaporeans get most irritated by, in descending order: Spitting in public, queue jumpers, bad drivers and poor personal hygiene. The survey also found that Singaporeans were the most tolerant and Thais the most irritable.

Several Singaporeans that Today spoke to found the results bewildering. Ms Jody Lim, a 29-year-old marketing assistant, said: “It’s a bit bizarre. I was always sure we were an island of complainers.”.

Associate Professor Tan Ern Ser, from the National University of Singapore’s Department of Sociology, suggested a possible explanation: “Internally, we tend to think of Singaporeans as easily annoyed. But in relative terms we may not be so bad. We tend to judge ourselves more harshly than we judge other people.”…

Another associate professor from the same department, Ms Paulin Straughan, suggested the response may be due to the possibility that Singaporeans face fewer irritations. She said: “We have campaigns educating the public on social graces, such as the Keep Singapore Clean campaign. It may well be that these campaigns have worked.”

For respondent Jonathan Siow, many questions simply did not apply to Singapore.

“Ask how irritated I get when I meet the lift-user who lets the lift door shut in my face even as I wave my arms like a drowning rat. This must have happened five times this month. Ask me how irritated I get when Chinese New Year songs start playing everywhere next month.”

For respondent Jonathan Siow, many questions simply did not apply to Singapore.

“The survey just asked the wrong questions. Public spitting doesn’t irritate me because I don’t see it,” the 24-year-old student said.

Image swiped from the website of state-sponsored Singapore Kindness Movement, sponsor of the 2004 Wedding Punctuality Campaign.

(via Double Yellow)

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, singapore, southeast asia

A Singapore woman faces a fine of S$250 (USD150) for alleged negligence leading to the death of her maid.:

Ngu Mei Mei who is charged with endangering human life - "killing" her domestic worker, faces three months in jail, a S$250 (US$150) or both. A domestic workers’ life is cheap in Singapore. Do we respect human life?

A Singapore woman has been charged with negligence for ordering her Indonesian maid out of a window from where she fell to her death, a court document and a press report said Friday, Dec 16 (2005).

Ngu Mei Mei, 37, is charged with ordering the maid, Yanti, to climb with laundry from a study room window to hang out the laundry, a court document said.

It said the roof "was not designed for such ordinary human access". The incident allegedly happened on December 20, 2003.

The Straits Times reported that Yanti fell to her death but the charge sheet says only that Ngu "did an act so negligently as to endanger human life."

She faces three months in jail, a S$250 (US$150) or both.

Measuring the value of a human life is a tricky business. Although most states and religions regard all men as equals, legal systems generally when considering compensation for wrongful death will look at such things as life expectancy; expected earnings, inflation and a range of other factors.

But beyond that, deterrence has to be considered. For a country as wealthy as Singapore a S$250 for for killing a maid is hardly a deterrent. That can typically just cover dinner and a night at the pub.

Singapore obviously does not care to deter this sort of behavior as much as it does other things. A first-time copyright piracy offense can, for instance, get you a fine of S$20,000 (USD11,900).

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, singapore, southeast asia

Jeff Ooi made an interesting and persuasive argument on how South Korea beats Singapore (interpreted here as LKY vs PCH), but there was still lots of room for debate.

Not so in AsiaPundit’s second round of battles between the founding fathers of modern Asia; Atanu Dey’s  essays on how Lee Kwan Yew beats Jawaharlal Nehru really leave little room for argument. Read Part 1, Part 2: and Part 3 (part 4 pending):

LKY transformed a third-world mosquito infested swamp into a rich developed city state within one generation. An autocrat to the core, he sequenced the changes and orchestrated the development of his city without apologizing for what he had to do. Singapore is one of the least corrupt economies of the world. He made Singaporeans clean up their act, both figuratively and literally. No other dictator has been able to achieve that sort of transformation. It is a random draw from which dictators are drawn. India drew a lousy hand and got saddled with dictators that were incompetent to the core. And staggering from one calamity to another, the country got rid of the dictators and with only a brief break, got a government that is headed by a foreign-born rather reluctantly naturalized citizen of India and supported by a bunch of treasonous communists.

There is sweet irony in LKY delivering the Nehru Memorial Lecture: a successful dictator lecturing the family members of a failed dictator who made a mess of the economy that was so full of promise. Just in case it is not entirely clear, Nehru was a dictator, never mind the fact that there may have been an election. The laws of the universe do not preclude the democratic election of dictators. Adolf Hitler was also elected, and he enjoyed the confidence of the majority just as much as Nehru enjoyed the confidence of the people of the newly minted republic of India. There was no opposition worth its name and Nehru did precisely what he willed.

Based on Nehru’s policy prescriptions, the Indian economy grew at a sorry 2 or 3 percent a year—the aptly named “Nehru rate of growth.” Per capita figures were even more dismal than that because the population grew rapidly. The Nehru dynasty continued to favor policies that kept India locked into the Nehru rate of growth until about 1991. Then economy grew at a more respectable rate but only compared to the Nehru rate of growth. In absolute terms, the “post-reform” growth rate was nothing to write home about. China had been growing for over a decade and at a much faster rate.

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, economy, india, singapore, south asia, southeast asia

In an interesting read, Jeff Ooi challenges the ‘myth’ of Singapore’s founding father Lee Kwan-yew, suggesting that South Korea has done far more with far less, and has overcome more difficulties.

• Both Singapore and South Korea were under colonial dominance before WWII, the former under British rule, the latter Japan’s.
• Both had dictorial regimes in the guise of democratic electoral processes, only that South Korea was courageous to take down the repressive regime backboned with the armed forces’ might.
• Both have close-to monoethnic demography, which off-loaded the countries the extra-luggage in formulating social-economic policies.
• In terms of GDP performance, South Korea has a composition by sector that makes it 40.4% industrial and 56.3% services-based. It’s an almost similar skew for Singapore: Industry: 32.6%; Services: 67.4%.
• South Korea has relatively a vast population, while Singapore is a tiny red dot. Proportionate ratio is at work when it comes to provisioning of all kinds.
• After WWII, South Korea’s economy and demographics were ravaged by the Korean War in the 50’s. Singapore continued as a British protectorate under the Straits Settlements after WWII, faced home-grown communist insurgency in the 50’s and mid 60’s, and well-shieled by Malaysia during Konfrontasi.
• On independence, Singapore inherited and perfected the jewels of the crown left behind by the British, the harbour infrastructure, the entrepot trades, the regional financial hub - milking its northern hinterland that the colonialist decreed by design. South Korea built itself from scratch after picking up from the ashed of the invaders’ loots.

Technorati Tags: asia, singapore, east asia, korea, northeast asia, southeast asia

An anonymous Singaporean blogger has started a blog where the leadership of the long-ruling People’s Action Party receives obsequious praise:

There are many other blogs, websites, anarchists, rubbish and websites that criticize and, maybe even ridicule Lee Hsien Loong (LHL) and how he became PM with the help of his father, Lee Kuan Yew. This blog will not be another biased slur on him. If you need these slanted and profane articles, this may not be the best article you need….

We do know that LHL was from Cambridge and graduated with First-Class Honours, but maybe some might suspect that he was riding on his father’s might. First and foremost, Cambridge does not take such favourism, even the son of a Prime Minister of a small, backwater former British Colony that broke free. An Associate Professor, Jayaram Muthuswamy, currently teaching in one of the local universities, once asked his friends in Cambridge, how smart was LHL? The answer he got from the senior professors there was that he results was so high up in the scale that the number two in the class was quite a distance from his score. Don’t quote me on that, but trust the reputation of Cambridge. From young, he bears the burden of being the Lee Kuan Yew’s son. The pressure to perform academically was second to none. He has to perfect his English, Malay, Mandarin, and even learn Russian. And there was no compromise in his education, he was demanded the best of him, the best he delivered.

AsiaPundit assumes anonymity has been chosen because the blogger doesn’t want the Straits Times to find out who is muscling-in on their turf.

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, singapore, southeast asia

The use of Chinese actresses as lead characters in the movie Geisha has caused a stir in both Japan and China, as well as in the blogosphere.

AsiaPundit doesn’t care!

To make a controversial comment, the physical differences between the peoples of the three main Northeast Asian nations are so minimal that it should make no difference to Hollywood casting directors for a English-language movie. For instance, AP isn’t the slightest bit perturbed to see Daniel Dae Kim cast as a .

AP has spent almost a decade in the region and can fairly easily tell when someone is from Korea, China or Japan. For that matter, its easy to guess whether an ethnic Chinese person is from Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Mainland or elsewhere. This, however, is more often because of behavior, style of dress, language and accent than it is by physical appearance.

AsiaPundit has had Canadian Chinese friends in Korea who needed to, repeatedly, convince Koreans that they did not speak the language and were not ethnically Korean. I know ethnic Koreans who must do the reverse in China. Further, at the recent anti-Japanese protest in Shanghai, AP met Japanese consular staff and reporters who were in the crowd passing themselves off as Chinese simply by altering their style of dress. Quite simply, Northeast Asians can’t tell the difference between each other either.

Now, before posting any nasty responses, please do this short quiz at AllLookSame.com.

AsiaPundit admits to scoring a dismal, but above average, eight out of 18.

Technorati Tags: asia, china, east asia, hong kong, japan, korea, northeast asia, singapore, southeast asia

AsiaPundit hasn’t commented on the Sydney riots, largely because Australia isn’t a part of Asia. But AP will comment now, if only to defend Irish values.:

Most criminals in Australia are from ethnic minority groups, mainly the Irish 25 per cent of the population. This is hardly surprising since these groups send their children to schools which actively encourage crime.

For example, at Irish Catholic schools in Australia they teach: ‘Which is better, for your family to die of starvation, or to steal a loaf of bread? Obviously, to steal a loaf of bread.’

In contrast, at government schools in Singapore, you teach that it is better for your family to die of starvation than to steal anything.

Irish-Australians are behind the push for the introduction of so-called ‘human rights’ into South-east Asia. Asians call these so-called rights ‘Western values’. In fact they are Irish values, and most Australians reject them. The ideas Asean leaders call ‘Asian values’ are supported by the vast majority of Australians.

Most Australians would like to have laws like you have in Singapore, but most of our politicians are Irish. The only area where mainstream Australians would disagree with Singapore policies is that we support trial by jury. Things like the Holocaust and the Gulag Archipelago don’t happen in countries where there is a right to trial by jury.

Our student association would like to see greater involvement between Australia and Asean countries. But Asean governments should make such involvement dependent on Australia phasing out Irish values. Clearly, the idea that Irish values are superior to Chinese values or Malay values or English values is wrong.

(via )

Technorati Tags: asia, asian values, singapore

Singapore stopped chasing the pink dollar, but Thailand has picked up the cause with zest. via a new AP favorite Magnoy’s Samsara, a Bangkok Post report on Thailand’s planned gay shopping district.:

Thailand’s first gay shopping zone will open next year as part of the one-billion-baht Tawana Center Park in Bangkok’s Lat Phrao district.

According to a report in the Bangkok Post today the "Gay Avenue" will comprise 2,400 square metres of retail space dedicated solely to shops owned by gays. The complex is reportedly owned by billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, who also owns the nearby Computer City complex.

Apart from Gay Avenue Zone, the project will offer products and services similar to what is available at Bangkok’s famous Chatuchak weekend market and the Suan Lum Night Baazar.

Mr Anusorn said the Gay Avenue would serve as the magnet to attract customers to the project because products created by gays tend to be chic and unique.

"I don’t think there will be any backlash on the project from the conservative sector of society because the products and services on offer will be furniture, fashion items, home decoration items, restaurants and coffeeshops. None of the shops will deal with sex," he said.

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, singapore, southeast asia, thailand

Rajan has come upon a preliminary draft of the proposed constitution for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean):

7. Freedom of movement of people and goods shall be guaranteed except

a) When there is a national monopoly or well-connected corporation like Proton and PT Tri Polyta that needs to be protected.

b) When there is a pointless, wasteful, inefficient national industry that needs to be protected

c) For Jews…err, Israelis, in Malaysia and Indonesia.

d) For Filipinos and Indonesians going to Malaysia and Singapore, where in Malaysia they shall be placed in humiliating, delapidated camps where their rights shall not be protected.

e) To Acheh, Papua or occasionally, parts of the Spice Islands in Indonesia, the mountains of Vietnam, most states of Myanmar and the entirety of Laos, God-forbid any reporter sees anything there.

Technorati Tags: asia, asean

An outrageous burst of cheating has hit the Best Asian Blog category at the Weblog Awards, leading to heavy deductions of votes from frontrunners XiaXue and mr brown.:

The total votes for Xiaxue have been reduced by 5048 votes for cheating committed from the following the 220.255 subnet. Nine individual IP addresses have been banned.

The total votes for Mr. Brown have been reduced by 9944 votes for cheating committed from the following the 218.186 subnet. Three individual IP addresses have been banned.

AsiaPundit has had several beers with mr brown and can assure readers that mr brown would not engage in mass cheating. As a father of three, plus an xbox junkie and blogger, there’s no way he could find the time to rig a contest. Plus, like AP, mr brown is so technically clueless that he is completely reliant on TypePad to run his blog. Essentially, mr brown does not have the smarts to pull such a stunt.

Seriously, just look at him:

I can’t speak as strongly on XiaXue’s behalf, having only met Wendy once, but she also seems pretty clueless. Even more so than mr brown, in fact. To anyone who has read her blog, it should be obvious that she can barely type.

Obviously this is all a plot by Mr Miyagi (AKA the silencer) to get the front runners disqualified. Unlike mr brown and XiaXue, Miyagi is very smart… plus, he’s evil (as evidenced by the fact that he still owes us beer).

Kevin at Wizbang has banned the IP addresses of the cheaters. Unfortunately, based on comments at mr brown, this may have shut out all users of Starhub cable broadband ISP Maxonline, one of the city state’s main providers. AP hopes that this is not the case or, if so, that it can be rectified quickly. If not, tens of thousands of Singaporeans will be effectively disenfranchised.

Of course, given that the People’s Action Party has effectively intimidated the opposition to such a degree that many ridings are uncontested in parliamentary elections, as well as the presidential ‘vote’, being disenfranchised is something that Singaporeans are pretty used to.

Still, it’s not very nice.

(Full disclosure: mr brown bought the beer the last time AP was at a S’poreblogger meetup (has it been mentioned that Miyagi still owes both AP and mr brown a round?).

Technorati Tags: asia, blogs, east asia, singapore, southeast asia, weblog awards

Sometimes a personal setback can be so massive that it leads to thoughts of suicide. That’s always a bad way out. Something that Jilin City deputy mayor Wang Wei should have kept in mind is the story of Nick Lesson.

Lesson has quite recovered from bankrupting one of the UK’s most-reknowned banks, a four-year long lock-up in Singapore, a divorce and cancer. He’s now doing quite decently for himself. He’s managing an Irish football club, getting speaking gigs on risk management and has published a book on dealing with stress.:

With the story of the rogue Chinese copper trader still unfolding, readers may be interested in this interview with former trader Nick Leeson whose incorrect bets on the Nikkei toppled Britain’s famous Barings bank, and landed him in a Singapore prison for over 4 years. While in prison, he was divorced by his wife and developed cancer (they kept him chained to his bed, while he got treatment). Now, he’s living in Ireland and working as the general manager of a football club, doing the occasional speaking gigs on (of course) risk management:

What was it like being at the centre of such a phenomenal manhunt while you were on the run in the Far East?

It was terrifying. The first I knew that the bank had gone under was at the Shangri-La Hotel in Borneo.

I saw the Asian Wall Street Journal and the headline “British bank collapses”. My first thought was: “Someone’s in trouble”. I genuinely didn’t think it was me because I thought Barings could recover

I began speed reading the story and my memory goes blank after that moment because I think I went into shock.

The key plan was to get home. I was very, very scared about being caught and going to prison in Asia. I had to go from Brunei to Bangkok to Abu Dhabi and then Frankfurt. By that time my picture was on every front page and every TV screen in every airport. I had my baseball cap pulled down and a scarf around my face. Only my eyes were showing, so I must have looked very suspicious. I was physically scared, my heart was pounding and I was sweating.

It was an unimaginable nightmare.

Technorati Tags: asia, cancer, china, east asia, economy, northeast asia, puppy, southeast asia

Jeff Ooi alerts us to a new essay from Asst Prof Warren B Chik of Singapore Management University, advising that it is a must read for bloggers in Southeast Asia.:

In the wake of two bloggers and one forum commenter having been punished in Singapore for what they wrote online, Asst Prof Warren B Chik of Singapore Management University wrote The Five Commandments for Bloggers:

1. Thou Shalt Not Defame or Spread Malicious Falsehood

2. Thou Shalt Not Negligently Miscommunicate

3. Thou Shalt Not Breach Thy Contract

- Contract for sale or services

- Employment

- Confidence and privacy

4. Thou Shall Not Steal

5. Thou Shalt Not Commit Crimes

It’s a must read for budding bloggers in this part of the world. Full text here, related pieces here and here.

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, malaysia, blogs, singapore, southeast asia

Sondra. La Idler of Idle Days, one of the founders of Tomorrow.sg and a friend has passed away. Mr Brown offers a better eulogy than I am able.:

Sondra, aka Idler of Idle Days passed away yesterday, from Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), a rare blood disorder. I was informed of this by her sister.

Our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones.

Daryl pointed out a particular post she wrote about moving to the UK with her new love, and her plans for 2006, and he is right. It is gut-wrenching to read in the light of this shocking news. But also precious to us, because it was a rare glimpse into her personal side, her hopes, her dreams:

“I will miss my family and friends. I will miss the food, possibly shopping and above all, Singlish. I will miss my cat, the familiar smells of Singapore, the familiar sight of the lunchtime crowd in the CBD…. so many things!”

And we will miss you, girl.

I had met Sondra a total of three times and had exchanged occasional e-mails since leaving Singapore, about mostly irreverent matters. She initially struck me as a reserved person, although that impression dissolved over time. I regret not knowing her better and am saddened that I never will.

(photo via E)

The recent posts in the Far Eastern blogosphere on the ‘Taiwanization’ of Mainland China sparked a lot of healthy argument. In what is sure to be a less controversial statement, AsiaPundit argues that the Mainland authorities are seeking a ‘Singaporization’ of China. Richard Willmsen notes with some distress that China’s image-building exercises aren’t particularly modern.:

Meanwhile on an international level the Miss World contest allows a carefully constructed Chinese message to be broadcast to an audience of two billion across the globe. Over the past 10 years the Chinese have worked hard to dispel once ubiquitous images of China, the bicycling factory state, and glamorous events like Miss World are a tonic. Not only that - the contest sends a strong message to the world about China’s changing values and internationalisation, that the days of the Red Guards are over. “This sort of programming helps build an international image that is unthreatening and somehow reassuring,” says Crane. “After all, beauty pageants were once considered as American as apple pie.”

Unfortunately, what these witless and seemingly profoundly vapid Communist Party dullards, whose apparent ambition is to transform China into somewhere as bland and unthreatening as a Disney theme park, are incapable of realising is that it also portrays China as a country which is utterly, utterly naff.

I suspect that the Shanghai government in particular wants to transform the city into something “as bland and unthreatening as a Disney theme park.” While I agree with Richard that this can be utterly naff, it’s easy to see where they are getting their inspiration.

Technorati Tags: asia, china, east asia, northeast asia, singapore

AsiaPundit supports the commercialization of university research. If an institute of higher learning can find a way to patent and monetize the results of a research project, the institute should be able to generate more funds for pure research. That would remove the need for government funding for studies on such things as why toast always lands butttered-side down.

A Singapore institute seems to have developed a device that could be quickly turned commercial. Unfortunately, as Imagethief notes, the researchers seem to be missing the most obvious application of delivering touch on the internet.:

Reuters: SINGAPORE–Singapore scientists looking for ways to transmit the sense of touch over the Internet have devised a vibration jacket for chickens and are thinking about electronic children’s pajamas for cyberspace hugs.

A wireless jacket for chickens or other pets can be controlled with a computer and gives the animal the feeling of being touched by its owner, researchers at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) told The Straits Times.

The next step would be to use the same concept to transmit hugs over the Internet, it said.

“These days, parents go on a lot of business trips, but with children, hugging and touching are very important,” the paper quoted NTU Associate Professor Adrian David Cheok as saying.

NTU is thinking of a pajama suit for children, which would use the Internet to adjust changes in pressure and temperature to simulate the feeling of being hugged. Parents wearing a similar suit could be “hugged” back by their children, the paper said.

Hugs?

Now, when you think of Internet + tactile technology, what comes to mind? Is it hugs for the little children? Or petting the cat while you are away? Or is www.handjob.com? Or, perhaps less conventionally, www.slapmesilly.com? Sounds like another great moment for e-commerce to me. And what’s with the chickens?

A common criticism of Asian educational systems it that it leaves people without the skills to “think outside the box.” That isn’t the case here. No, the concepts of ‘chicken petting’ and ‘hug pajamas’ are already so far removed from the obvious commercial applications that AsiaPundit suggests that Nanyang’s researchers quickly find a way to get back inside the box.

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, singapore rebel, southeast asia

Reports that Darshan Singh, who had been the hangman for 850 of Singapore’s executions, had been sacked after an interview with an Australian newspaper are being denied by the city state.

Singapore - Prison authorities denied sacking Singapore’s hangman after the 74-year-old executioner told Australia media he was ready to retire, but shed no light on who will place the noose around a condemned Australian drug trafficker’s neck on Friday.

‘Darshan Singh has not been ’sacked’ and continues to be a contract officer engaged by the Prisons Department,’ a spokesman confirmed on Tuesday. ‘There is no change to his status.’

Singh, a Sikh who converted to the Moslem faith, revealed his identity in an Australia newspaper interview last week and said he would like to retire but no one wanted his job.

On Sunday Singh said he had been informed of his sacking by the department and that someone else would be flown in to conduct the hanging of Vietnamese-born Melbourne man Nguyen Tuong Van, sentenced to death after he was caught with nearly 400 grams of heroin while in transit from Cambodia to Melboune three years ago.

The department had no response yet to Australia’s plea that Nguyen’s mother, Kim Nguyen, be allowed to hug her son before his death.

AsiaPundit opposes capital punishment, if only because justice systems are fallible. Still Harry Hutton makes a persuasive argument.:

They are hanging Nguyen Tuong Van in the morning. I am not myself in favour of hanging Australians. I’m in favour of beheading them, but hanging is oafish. The government of Singapore has come in for a lot of criticism for this unpleasant fetish of theirs; but as long as they are sure, beyond all reasonable doubt, that he is Australian… As David C says in the comments, which of us can honestly put his hand on his heart and say that we haven’t at some time wanted to hang an Aussie? I know I have.

Let he who is without motes in his eye cast the first beam.

I don’t know why the government of Australia doesn’t string up a couple of Singaporeans in retaliation. That’s what I would do. It’s idiotic, but sometimes idiocy is all we have left.

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, singapore rebel, southeast asia

Via Simon World, a look at the 191-vote strong Transport Constituency in Hong Kong shows that Singapore, Dubai and - naturally - Mainland China have more say in how Hong Kong’s government is selected than its average individual resident:

We found that of the 191 eligible Transport electors, 36 are taxi-related associations, 19 are minibus associations and 10 are driving instructor associations. These three lobbies alone amount to 65, or over one third, of the electorate. Bear that in mind next time you hear their legislator whinging about diesel duty being too high, when it is far lower than the duty on unleaded petrol which private motorists pay, and when LPG is exempt from duty and franchised buses are exempt from diesel duty anyway. And don’t forget the $1.4bn in taxpayer grants handed out to get the taxi and minibus owners to buy LPG vehicles in the first place. Yes, in Hong Kong, we don’t charge the transport trade for air pollution, we pay them to reduce it.

The names of some trade associations suggest overlapping membership through their geographic coverage. While some of the apparently overlapping trade associations may exist separately for historical reasons, others may have come into being, or stayed separate, simply to claim another vote for their sector. Similarly, companies under common ownership may continue to exist separately rather then undergo a full merger, and thereby avoid losing voting rights in the constituency.

Our research also identified tycoons with heavy voting interests, including 1 family with stakes in 11 electors. We also found 3 electors which are controlled by the HK Government, and several which are controlled by overseas Governments, including Dubai, Singapore and of course mainland China.

It’s worth reminding our readers that we only looked at one sector. If we had extended our coverage to sectors such as the Real Estate, Hotels, Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, Chinese General Chamber of Commerce and others, then we would have found many of the same tycoons controlling corporate electors in those sectors too.

Don’t worry too much though, a number of above-average residents do actually have more of a say in how Hong Kong is run that Singapore or Dubai. So it is possible for Hong Kongers to get a larger say in government, so long as they can become as rich and heavily invested in the territory as  Li Ka Shing or the Kwok brothers.

Technorati Tags: asia, china, east asia, hong kong, northeast asia, singapore rebel

More paranoia and self-censorship in the Lion City. A state-funded, but generally high-quality, art school has threatened to sue an Australian newspaper for printing a photo of an installation piece that was… political.

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.

Technorati Tags: asia, censorship, east asia, singapore rebel, southeast asia