Mahathir - the power maniac who would not fade away

An obsessive compulsive authoritarian who happens to be a hypocrite.

He is adept at manipulation of friends and foes to protect his personal / family / crony vested interests.

The best way to treat a crazy and overly sensitive racist is to ignore him.

Younger days of Aung San Suu Kyi - Sacrifices

Aung San Suu Kyi's Wedding


Beautiful bride with groom : Aung San Suu Kyi's younger days in England

With son and mother, happier times as a family

Sources : posted on websites by her family and friends

A heroine but poor lady. She has sacrificed so much of her life and family for the country.

Will all these years of silent protests and imprisonment by the military junta going to waste? The painful reality of human mortality beckons. Time is running out for Su Kyi. It will be win-win formula for Burma if a national reconciliation government could be forged.

Aung San Suu Kyi will be always be remembered not only by Burmese people but future generations who read history.

Foreign Ghosts not Devils - What about Chinese Ghosts?

An interesting article I came across which succinctly captures the essential elements of a cultural concept with excellent illustrations and humour.

Misunderstandings could have been avoided if people stop referring to ghost as devil. The literal translation of "gui3" is ghost. Since the last two centuries, Chinese have stuck with habit of calling "yang2 gui3zi" 洋鬼子 short form for ghost from western oceans. It is a similar to Cantonese version of "gweilo" 鬼老 (old ghost). It is a serious mistake to use ghost and devil interchangeably. Devil is "mo2" or "yao1" in Chinese, not "gui". Such errors are unforgivable, not just a loss in translation but reinforces prejudice and misgiving among nationalities.

Is "gui" racist? It all depends on the context, intentions and expression of the speaker. Ghosts are not confined to Caucasians, Japanese and Africans. There are many ghosts among Chinese too - people who are out of the normal range, such as gambling ghost "du gui", lazy ghost, misery ghost and greedy ghost. Elderly people sometimes shake their heads and comment disapprovingly of the ghostly behaviour of youngsters. There are times when ghosts of the human and non-human dimensions mingle.

http://www.chinese-culture.net/html/hungry_ghost_festival.html

Nevertheless, it was true that historically, self sufficient Chinese civilisation saw the Middle Kingdom as the centre of the universe and other tribes and races were deemed barbaric. During the Opium War and unequal treaties which ensued, the term "ghost" was used with some degree bitterness by Chinese who were patriotic and suffered from mistreatment. For generations, the habit could not be discarded. Like all stereotypes and especially historical ones, the term has lost its meaning and purpose. In the last half a century the term "lao3 wai4" 老外 was widely used in the USA and among some English speaking Chinese. It means a foreigner similar to 外国人. The word "lao" means old is an informal form of address, a reference to "that person" as in old pal. Among Chinese, it's often used with a surname like "lao Li" or "lao Wang". There are no racist connotations but some foreigners prefer to be called a Mr so-and-so, not a "lao". The preferred term nowadays is "wai4 guo2 peng2 you3" 外国朋友 (foreign country friend / friends from another country), quite a mouthful but can help to avoid misunderstandings of people who are easily offended. A more common and popular term among the baby boomers is "xi ren" 西人 or western person.

- Permission to republish extracts



This is an example of strange impressions formed many years ago

Nonoy Aquino Presidency - shedding the past for a better future?

Y E L L O W

The inauguration of "Noynoy" Benigno Aquino is testimony that scions continue to dominate the Philippines which boasts of an ostensible democratic system. The famous family names that we have known from umpteen years ago do not fade away, they simply grow stronger through realignments. This is no comfort for stability as regime changes in the past have been abrupt albeit fairly peaceful and bloodless.

It is somewhat paradoxical that despite having a liberal democracy transplanted by the American colonialists, the gap between the elite rich and majority of the poor population remains skewed. Cronyism perpetuates in the political and economic scene. Though accessible to basic education, the masses continue to live in conditions similar to third world countries.

It is on this platform of removing injustice that Noynoy won the ticket. Well wishes hope that Noynoy could deliver his promises to stamp out corruption.

Almost three decades after the overthrow of Ferdinand Marcos by a people power revolution led by Noynoy's mother Corazon, corruption and nepotism remain firmly entrenched. The Marcos family despite their previous unconscionable conduct and massive corruption which bled the Philippine coffers, remain popular in their home and outer provinces.

Corazon Aquino was too weak to confront and pursue the crooks and recover the ill gotten assets cached by Marcos' cronies, many of whom still wield positions of influence till today.

Noynoy with beautiful celebrity sister Kris

Filipinos are very expressive when it comes to demonstrating love for their leader

HISTORY

The reign of Fidel Ramos saw rapid economic growth but Filipinos as people of most western style democracies do not like disciplinarians and authoritarians as leaders.

Former actor Josephh Estrada's victory brought about a swing to the other extreme of frivolousness. Much progress made under the Ramos administration were dismantled in no time and nepotism was rife to the hilt. Once again, the Filipinos resorted to people power saw the need for another revolution to depose Estrada.

Despite her economic credentials, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo failed to uplift the economy. Filipinos continue to seek employment overseas or emigrate to greener pastures. Her government was plagued by allegations of corruption.

After nine years, the people have had enough. Noynoy presents a clean image that Filipinos are eager to give him a chance to perform. However, he will face the same obstacles that impeded previous presidents in their fight against corruption, including running into his family business associates, political allies and maternal relatives in the Cojuangco family. Filipinos being easy going and resilient, would be quite tolerant and realistic not to raise high expectations. Let us pray that conditions will improve and not backslide.

References : http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/world/asia/27aquino.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/world/asia/01phils.html?hp

Acknowledgement : Pictures from Noynoy Aquino website homepage