konichiwa ~

lookie look! little blinking gaim men weren't the only things waiting for me when i got home! thank you em ~ it was the perfect day brightener and it couldn't have come at a better time ^.^ it's now snuggly sitting on my bulletin board, whee ~
*biggest huggles* miss you em :(

mmmphf!

came back home from lectures to find my little gaim man blinking at me. *click click* went the mouse and up popped 4 urls. sinking feeling from first hearing about my friend's case started coming back. intuition proved itself right this time..

i debated whether i should be venting here or not for a while. by posting, i'm adding to the media circus this whole incident is turning out to be. i don't wanna do that. doesn't help that i don't like being one of the masses. i see a trend and i tend to avoid it. bandwagons tend to break down a lot and the ride is only as good as it lasts.

it's no longer about the intial event that sparked the mexican wave of commotion anymore. maybe i'm taking this wrong.. i'm not in my friend's situation so it'd be horribly presumptuous of me to say i know what he's going through. (here comes the but!) but as an outsider to this incident, one removed from the singapore blogosphere, i'm begininng to find the whole reaction much akin to a headless chicken race. the disclaimers, the <.strike> tags being used to maintain a post's original condition, the inaccuracy of the new reports of original event.. the telephone game comes to mind. sure, there are people putting a lot of effort to turn this into a learning experience, to analyze both sides of the story, to be a source of information to interested people but one can't help get the feeling that my friend is being used as a scapegoat to champion the cause and future of bloggers associated with singapore.

but to bite my tongue and not post....
well, this started out as my personal vent-space. to chronicle the itty bitty bits of everyday commoness for my sake. to not post would defeat the purpose of this blog and get me mad at the fact that i can't post what i want in my own blog... and that would get me wanting to vent about not being able to vent anyway. bah!

*shrug* i'm obviously not the only one concerned about my friend and what the future will bring, as blatantly documented by the numerous sites reflecting their own opinions on the matter. dishing out "leave him alone, let the hoo-haa die down" yet disregarding my own medicine to blog about the very matter anyway.. i'm a walking hypocrite. arghhhh :( what do you do...
i used to say that i'd be scared to be my patient, but i think i'd be scared if i was my own doctor.

*knock knock*

excuse me mister neighbor,
could i have a bit of your time
for i'd like to tell you,
you have a very horrible whine.

i can hear you through the common wall,
the one that shakes each night
from all that stomping you've been doing
with your gf when you fight.

excuse me mister neighbor,
i don't mean to be rude
when i bang against my bedroom wall,
i'm sorry i'm such a prude.

i can handle your banshee wailings,
i can handle your gf whining,
i can handle the door's constant slamming
but PUH-LEEZ, can you stop the stomping!

it's slowly driving me insane
like the lubdub of the tell-tale heart
except there's plenty of differences
my conscience is clear for a start.

both your tempers must be very short
or else there'd be less banging
let me clarify, i mean kitchen cupboards
just so nothing's left hanging o.0

i think by now, you should understand
what i'm trying to say
if you like being an elephant,
please save it for safari day

i hope you have the gift of empathy
so you'll know how it feels
to have your ceiling fixtures shudder
like when baby dumbo kneels.

if you are so unfortunate
to still not understand
i would gladly show you
by hiring a marching band.

i think by now that i'm truly rambling
so i better let you go.
i think i've taken too much of your time
but you'll still see me as friend, not foe.

pop goes the weas... toad

i'm still very disconcerted by what's happened to my blogger friend... everything's been whizzin' around my head, very much like the golden snitch of harry potter fame. it's even making the same noise. *bangs head*

seems like i'm not the only one with something to say about my friend's predicament. in light of this, i should draw up a disclaimer and auto-tag it as a signature to each post. or maybe i should rummage around online for things to make posts private... which may mean tackling wordpress. or maybe i should do both. gah! but why should i self-censor my posts in anticipation that someone won't like what they read? and i don't want to install wordpress! i hate conforming to the norm, to the masses. yes, i use hate. it's an incredibly strong word but the feeling gravitates towards that than to disdain, reluctance, loathe or dispise. it's a mishmash of all that. but then it brings up the irony of being unique. "you're unique, just like everyone else" is the cliched phrase that always comes to mind. it bugs me, only because it rings so true. bah, i'm rambling.. blame the snitch. shhhhhhhh!

on a lighter and completely random note, this is what my mailbox linked me to. the toads haven't been having it easy lately either..

how safe are you?

blogging... that's what you with with a blog, isn't it?

A weblog, web log or simply a blog, is a web application which contains periodic time-stamped posts on a common webpage.

- wikipedia

the full definition's at the wikipedia page, but basically.. no matter what the contents may contain.. a blog is a personal website from what i gathered by googling blogging definition. now, this personal website is an online diary of sorts and usually contains posts arranged in chronological order. subject content can range from personal thoughts and musings to " updated headlines and news articles of other sites that are of interest to the user" according to the dictionary.com definition.

an old friend of mine had to take shut down his blog because he couldn't maintain it anymore. it wasn't because of money either. someone threatened to sue him for defamation. he stated on his blog that this was his personal blog showcasing his own opinion, mind you. now this is what confuzzles me... a blog's a collection of thoughts and things that are of interest to the author. it's my personal rant-space. one would assume that readers are smart enough to distinguish fact from opinion and when in doubt, there are always other resources to turn to for clarification. obviously, one reader couldn't and took it too seriously. or maybe he just had too much time and money and doesn't know how to google.

why should someone need to shut down his private plot of cyberspace where he chronicles his everyday musings, activities and shares tidbits that might be of interest to his friends? since when did one sue someone else for stating their opinion?? that kinda reeks of immaturity really... to not be able to take in the good with the bad. if that's the case, why aren't more people suing rival fansites online for digging out the latest piece of embarrasing gossip for their favorite teenybopper? why aren't china and japan suing each other for defamation? gawd, even kids have it down pat better than that!

kid: eeeew, you've got cooooties!
kid2: do not!
kid: do too! jimmy's got the coooooties, jimmy's got the coooties ~
kid2: i'm telling!!

now THAT is defamation.

according to a link to the communications law center provided by the state library of nsw, defamation can be proven if 3 things are fulfilled.

• the material must have been published, which in this context means that it has been communicated to someone other than the aggrieved person.
• the person aggrieved by the publication must have been identified by that publication.
• the material published must be defamatory. In terms of a legal test material is defamatory if it does one of four things - expose a person to ridicule; lower their reputation in the eyes of members of the community; cause people to shun; or avoid them or injure their professional reputation.

now, with my friend's case.. i'm not sure what the offending piece of material was but making a haphazard guess, i'd say it had to do with a certain bond-breaking blogstorm recently. making the assumption that this was the issue in question (be it the actual issue or not is irrelevant. this is an assumption made for the sake of providing an example! gawd, need..to..cover...butt..)

anyway.. ok. let's pretend we're gonna sue my friend for defamation.
well, he's published his material in the form of his weblog.
he's also identified the person aggrieved by the publication. (Identification need not be by naming the person. It can arise from the inclusion of a number of characteristics that enable a person to be identified. Where a group of people have been collectively defamed, provided the group is limited in size, each member of that group may be a potential plaintiff. from the communications law center).
that leaves the last criteria to fulfill ~ defamation proper.

• his material did not expose a person to ridicule. he certainly did not post with that purpose in mind; he posted to share his feelings and possibly get some validation or maybe a dose of reality from friends to steer him back on track.
• his material did not lower their reputation in the eyes of members of the community. first of all, what community are u talking about... the general public or the student community? as far as the general public is concerned, i'd like to see the reader give me the statistics of what percent of the singapore population lowered their opinions of the Organization. as for the student community, i'd like to see the stats on whose opinions were affected. now, do these people constitute "the community"? if yes, you've just upset a lot of people by excluding them from their own segment of society.
• his material did not cause people to shun or avoid the reader and/or Organization. the broken policy was about furthering oneself by leaving the country. a lot of factors go into play and to base such a huge decision on a stranger's blog... put it this way. the people offered the chance have plenty of opinions and thinking capabilities of their own, whether skewed or otherwise. they don't need someone else's opinion in their blog to sway them.
• his material did not injure their professional reputation. this doesn't even stand... first of all, where's the professionalism to start with and secondly, what reputation? go ask anyone who's "served" with the Organization, be it as staff or client. give me a satisfied work force and client base as the status quo and i'll shut up.
  

reputation is a subjective thing and really, if you speak of reputations... who has heard of the reader and/or the Organization if one isn't from singapore? who knows where singapore is? go ask the average american kid. my friends knew i was moving to singapore at the end of eigth grade. it was the land of michael fay. "i don't want to see you on tv spraying mickey mouse on cars!" and "have fun in china! will miss you!" were some of the things i got in my yearbook that year. does that say anything about the general public outside of singapore knowing anything about the reputation of that particular reader who wants to sue my friend??

as a blogger, how safe do you feel about blogging now..
as a reader, do you feel empowered to slap lawsuits left right and center now..

even cds and stomachaches can't help much

dear mister burglar,

(well, you might have been a miss but we've decided no girl'll smash down a doorframe just because she can't dismantle the deadbolt with the screwdriver.)

what you did was very wrong. shame on you. santa won't be happy.

you broke into L's house, you smashed the glass in the door, you took her laptop and her brand new digicam her dad just got her. it was still gift wrapped for goodness sakes. that laptop's got all her med notes from first year til now. i hope you're happy. the police are after you and think you're a drug addict. you ransacked every cupboard in every room of her house. what were u expecting to uncover in the kitchen? it took L and her mom the whole day to clean up the mess you made.

you must be either really brave or just plain dumb to have broken in through the front door when there was a bigger pane of glass to break in the secluded back yard. to leave her tv, the stereo system and her discmans behind ~ you must be real cocky to take the most expensive things or just plain dumb. you also left her textbooks behind. the whole collection would've been worth more than her digicam that you took ~ you must've left your student years behind a long time ago to not know how much textbooks are worth.

if you have a heart, at least return L's notes. burn them on a cd if you want to keep the laptop. she's got exams in 8 weeks and has nothing now, thanks to you. you must be proud. to make a young girl barely 20 feel unsafe in her own home, uncertain of her academic future and emotionally unstable.

signed,
your conscience.

i don't know what to say... i'm just venting at how little one can do, at why it happened to L.. or why it had to happen at all in the first place. the police came and put their grubby hands all over everything so by the time the other team came to take fingerprints, there were no viable surfaces to take any from. the fact that L was supposed to be home that day but got held back by her tutor is a huge case of what if. what if she had been home? would they still have broken in? what if they still broke in while she was in the house? what would've happened then?

i find it disconcerting that everyone.. from the police to the carpenter installing the new door.. assumed that the burglars were most likey drug addicts who snitched the laptop and camera to pawn off for a few cones or something similar. if it's common knowledge, why hasn't been something been set up to help these people so that they don't turn to drugs? the only drugs and alcohol rehab specialist house shut down years ago due to lack of funding! the university spends millions on useless computer programs and roundabouts that are only one centimeter off the ground. the city's building snazzy new cafes and hotels to attract people into newcastle. yet, they're shutting down hospitals and rehab centers, shunting all these people who need the help to a weekly drug and alcohol clinic run by 5 staff who all have other roles at the mater wards.

what to do? what can be done? all that i can do is to help L get her life back to normalcy as she'd like it to be. *sigh* i gave her a cd of notes and stomachache to make her feel better for starters ^.^ the world can wait for it's turn to be fixed. besides, there are far more capable people around to do that.

someone needs a spanking and it's not me

breathe in and out.. deeep breaths amy, deeep breaths.
i told myself i wouldn't write about the protests going on in china and japan, but i don't listen to myself much it seems. was watching the abc news and it was the last straw. premature apologies for any ranting and incoherent speech. i don't have that naruwan button on my page for nothing. read at your own risk. and that of your blood pressure's. and yes, don't get me started on politics, especially issues concerning taiwan. this is when mean amy comes out to play..

politics have always been a touchy subject, especially when discussed among people who hold strong opinions about what they believe in and what they support.

to see the crowds protesting on mainland china tho.. i've got one question for each and every single protestor out there. if they all give me the same answer, or even similar answers and values, i'll shut up. i'd bet my big toe that the answer will be no. my question? do you know the reason for you physically being there and protesting?

the japanese have had a rough past in terms of foreign relations. they've been discriminated against in the states for "stealing the average american's jobs" in the past. they've been called various unflattering names. people make chinkie eyes at them (for being asian in general i guess). the taiwanese from my grandpa's generation hate them for making life hell during their occupation of taiwan years ago. you could say their occupation of taiwan was akin to hitler's reign in germany. we had the torture camps, the secret science labs with humans as the lab rats... yet, all this dark history is seldom talked about.

instead, the younger generations in japan are oblivious to it all because they weren't taught about their history in school. you see young japanese tourists crying at the war memorial in singapore as the tour guide explains the history and significance. it's a shock and it's not their fault that they don't know about it. if one doesn't leave the country, where do you expect them to learn from? the internet? ahhuh.. you can argue that point but it's a wobbly one considering how free-for-all the cyberworld is compared to the real world.

and the rest of the youngsters in the world, especially those in asia, namely those in China. how many of you adore jpop, swear by sanrio characters like hello kitty and pochacco, drool over the mini gadgets and gizmos concocted from japanese companies? yes, i'm talking to you too, the bubblegum pop girl at the Chinese busstop. yes you, the sign-wielding angry looking 20-something guy with the playstation at home. or what about you mister, the one who's dad is working for Sumitomo Bank as the general manager? GOODNESS people. you say you hate the japanese, you throw rotten eggs at their consulate, you chant slogans and war cries you hear other people chant... well if you're so vehemently against the japanese, get rid of that sony walkman. hell, go trash the factory that sony prolly has in china. practically everything's made there now. and while you're at it, go burn down the posters of SMAP and Noriko Sakai you have in your rooms, stomp on the cute tomy hidamari no tami nodding head dolls and tell me with a straight face you hate the japanese. that's what you're protesting about wasn't it? *cold stare*

Every source provides a different reason for the protests! rehearse your friggin protest agenda, geez. textbooks, a seat in the UN, oil, Taiwan...

• ABC
• the reporter: "Today we are here because the little Japanese distorted the history textbook."
• a Chinese protestor: "First we are against Japan's intention to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council. This is the first reason. Second, we are strongly against Japan occupying our Diaoyu Island, and we are calling for boycotts of Japanese goods."
• Bloomberg.com
• "Tensions between Japan and China have flared in recent weeks over claims that new textbooks don't accurately report atrocities committed by the Japanese when they occupied China before and during World War II, most notably the Nanjing massacre in 1937 where hundreds of thousands of civilians died."
• "China is also angered by a territorial dispute over potentially resource-rich areas in the East China Sea and by Japan's joining the U.S. in designating Taiwan as a ``security concern'' within their defense umbrella"
• BBC:
  
• "Among them is Japan's approval of schoolbooks, which critics say play down Japanese wartime atrocities. They are also protesting against Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. On Wednesday, Japan further angered China by issuing drilling rights for oil and gas in a disputed area of the East China Sea."
  
• NY Times:
• "Many protesters said they were angry about a new version of a history textbook that they said whitewashed the darkest chapters of Japan's imperial conquest of China in the 1930's and 40's."
• "Others said they had been motivated by a recent dispute between the countries over tiny islands in the East China Sea thought to be rich in oil and gas deposits. Still others cited reports that Japan was seeking a seat on the United Nations Security Council, which they said was intolerable unless Japan apologized more forthrightly for atrocities committed in China more than 60 years ago."

• "People are taking part in this march because they aren't allowed to protest anything else," [a 23-year-old barber in central Shanghai] said.

if there was such a thing as Mother Earth of sorts.. i'd be the first one filling her shoes and yelling "shut up kids, stop fighting and go to your rooms. you're all grounded til the next ice age."

It's hard enough to get a Taiwanese liking the way the Chinese run the country and this isn't helping with that whole "let's kiss and make up thing". aren't you Chinese tho? why do you keep talking about them in 3rd person? well, no, i'm not Chinese. i don't live in the PRC, and neither do the 23 million Taiwanese citizens out there. you can tell me that my ancestors came from China if you trace back far enough but really, if you're gonna argue that.. then I'll tell you that my ancestor was an ameoba, the very same one you indirectly sprouted from. I'm Taiwanese and point your little mouse to the FAPA before you come accusing me of being pig-headed.

China's attitude comes across as the fat kid on the playground who used to get taunted. He doesn't anymore because he invites all the other kids to his house for free cakes and cookies. Now the fat kid's feeling smug and is starting to bully the little kids. He's getting away with it because all the other kids' mothers think he's a sweet harmless chap.. until this time, when he decides that he hasn't gotten enough attention and has old scores to settle anyway so he throws a tantrum.
goodness, grow up, own up.

one of the initial reasons was a japanese textbook omission of japanese-committed atrocities during their stint in China. the massacre is indeed atrocious but then again, so was the Tiananmen massacre. why did it take international outrage before China was forced to issue an official statement of sadness? what about the internal massacres that happened in China during the various dynasties?

dear Chinese officials, are you teaching the young'uns out there that it's not ok for your neighbor to chide your kid for running across their driveway but that it's ok for you to beat your kid up just because you felt like it? sounds to me that you don't care about your kid at all. all you care about is the pride. he's my kid, i can do whatever the hell i want. true, that's your kid.. but it sure doesn't reflect very well on your personal character.

From Bloomberg: "China opposes Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the United Nation's Security Council and continues to criticize annual visits by Japanese prime ministers to a shrine honoring war criminals among the nation's honored heroes." At least they have the grace to pay their respects annually and the decency to swallow some pride and "atone" for what their ancestors and compatriots did. fat brat.

From the LA Times: "It didn't mention the protests, but said "frictions and problems of various kinds ... can only be settled in an orderly manner by abiding by the law and with a sober mind." So you say, Beijing. Surely, you must have had some part to play in allowing a public protest of that magnitude to happen for more than 5 minutes, judging from how you reacted to the Falun Gong gatherings previously? hypocrite.

Also from the LA Times and the BBC: "Shanghai's government blamed Japan for the violence, saying the demonstrations were prompted by "Japan's wrong attitudes and actions on a series of issues such as its history of aggression," the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing city government spokeswoman Jiao Yang." Japan's wrong attitude eh? What kind of attitude was that, Shanghai, when your government pointed missiles at Taiwan within 12 miles from Taiwanese borders as a "test"? pot calling the kettle black.

at least one japanese living in China has the grace to tell the ABC reporter: "Question: Is Japan purely to blame for this continuing animosity? YUMIKO HORI: That's a hard question to answer. I think primarily we [the Japanese] have the responsibility to acknowledge what has happened in the past, but I think there's other reasons why this kind of thing happens in China, not only because of Japan. I think they have their own problems here."

you know, contrary to what it may seem like, it's not the Chinese people (ie. general public) I don't like per se althougth a lot of them have grown up with the communistic propaganda ingrained. get rid of the old fogeys, the ones in the government i say. stop letting them "train" successors with the bribery, the brainwashing and let them use their own brains to figure out if they want to carry on the grand communistic designs. am i saying that China should be come a democracy or else they're archaic? no way. i'm not sure it's ready for democracy frankly. i'm not versed in politics at all and i'm sure there are some valid points to a communistic government or else it would've long since crumbled, but surely there must be a way of updating and upgrading to keep up with the times culturally as well as economically? no doubt the Chinese got the economic bit down pat with the new developments springing up like summer weeds in the past few years. what about working on that culture bit?

learn from those that show a bit more reason than you, beijing.. from the LA Times: "Thousands of people held peaceful protests Saturday in Hangzhou and Tianjin. In Beijing, hundreds of police blanketed Tiananmen Square in the heart of the capital to block a planned demonstration."
now go march yourself up to your room and do a bit of introspection. because mommy said so.

bitten by the doodle bug

sigh. supposed to be wrapping up the review tonight. instead, this was what i sacrificed my sleep for... *sigh* yes, that was me doodling the chook, not some poltergeist. (i love the website tho! neat concept and design!)

new personal deadline: sunday nite. must finish reviewing that guideline. grr!!
i think i also need to stop treating my blog as my personal post-it note program and grab a copy of that from D instead.

on a happy note tho..

• even tho i didn't get to meet up with I, i got to yak on the phone with her
• i got some opthalmology revision just by going thru the blasted guidelines
• managed to come up with a 1cm stack of derm notecards
• caught up with N sorta on msn.. until my comp went bonkers. he was gone when i rebooted bleahh
• vacuumed my place
• went thru about a quarter of a bottle of nutella in one nite. im talking about the big 750g bottles..*slurp*

off to sleep ~ need to get rid of panda syndrome.

Why I Miss the States - Reason #58

this is for you bert.. i figured it was too long to stick in as a comment on your site. sorry ozzie friends.. your aussienization attempts haven't been working too well hehe.

"Well, we have Coke, lemonade and lemon squash. What would you like?"

"OOoo! you have lemonade?! one lemonade please"

*looks puzzled at the fuss about lemonade but writes order down*

*Out comes 7-Up a few mins later*

"um 'cuse me, i asked for lemonade."

"This IS lemonade"

"no, that's 7-Up"

*puzzled look as she sets the drink down* We don't have 7-Up.

??? "um ok, i'll take whatever that is then"

took me about a month trying various ordering phrases to figure out that lemonade meant Sprite here. 7-Up doesn't exist in this country! lemon squash meant... real-lemonade-with-too-much-sugar-colored soda . as for real lemonade, it's non-existent here. even at juice bars *sigh* now, i just order coke. less fuss.