Monday, 23 March 2009

Terminator Technology

In the high tech industries, it is vey common to use the term “Proprietary rights”.
It basically means the party who made the items (hardware or software) has the right on them and nobody can use, duplicate or distribute them, unless of course YOU PAY.

There is also a clever innovation built into most of the industrial grade equipment. It is called – “software controlled feature”.

Take away all the big words and jargons, it simply means the manufacturer makes uniform lines of equipment and uses software to control the functions or capabilities available to the users.

For example, a power meter can be a basic power measurement device, or it can also be used to measure voltage, link up with computer, stores historical measurement data etc.

Of course every extra feature comes with a price tag, and usually in the form of “annual license fee”. All too familiar?

Take a real life example.
A telecom service provider starts its business. Assuming there is no under table and back door activities, that is. After a lengthy tender and negotiation process, the multinational bidder with the best solution and price gets the supply contract.

All is well. The management is happy for a while until they find out about the software cost.


To have better voice quality on all your calls, pay annual license fee PER EQUIPMENT to switch on this “enhanced speech” feature.

You need to expand the network capacity? Pay for annual license fees PER EVERY 1 THOUSAND new users on your network.

To include the latest standards? All you need is an annual license key PER EQUIPMENT that switches on the feature that is already built in the software.


By now, the management will probably realize the supplier is in fact holding their balls. All equipment has been installed and it will cost more to change to another supplier, who may as well playing the same trick.

But we have already paid for the equipment! You may argue.
You have paid for the equipment, not the right to use the FEATURES.

“We have spent millions of $ to research and develop these software features, so it is fair to charge for them” They would argue.


What about the annual fee? You may still want to ask.

Oh! that one. We have to protect against unauthorized use of our equipment and software. Even they are stolen, the extra features will de-activate after the annual license period expires.


Now, do you get the idea of how MNC can squeeze your balls and have entirely valid justifications for their actions?
“Well, that doesn’t concern me at all. I don’t deal with them.” Did I hear you say that?

With the concept explained and understood, let switch the scene to something which do concern you and me and in fact the other 3 billion people in this world – FOOD.

Say, you are a farmer and you bought this super high yield, disease resistant, fast mature rice seeds from a, again, multinational seed supplier.

After delivery, they gave a courtesy call to check on you and your crop.
In the conversation, the nice gentleman politely informed you that you had to use their proprietary chemical to switch on the advertised super duper characteristics.

A different chemical for each feature, that is.

So to get high yield, you need to purchase and spray product SuperyieldXÔ 3 times a year.
To get disease resistance, use ShieldITÔ, and so on.

By now, you would already be steaming with anger and would like to grab that bustard and shaft the shovel up his ass.

Wait, there is more. Even you use all those chemical and get good results, you can’t save the seeds for next year sowing. They are genetically engineered to be STERILE and won’t germinate.

Now, that’s what I call – being squeezed by the balls and still going back for more banging in the head.

Welcome to a new technological breakthrough in genetic engineering – Genetic Use Restriction Technology (GURT). Or affectionately nicknamed - TERMINATOR technology.

Surprising (or rather not surprisingly), this technology was jointly developed and patented by U.S. Department of Agriculture and Delta and Pine Land Company in the 1990s.


Terminator technology (GURT) changes the genetics of the seeds so that some desirable features are controlled (to switch on or off) by their proprietary chemicals. Such desirable features are: germination, disease resistance, frost tolerance etc.


In a nutshell, the farmers are screwed and have to buy seeds and chemical from the same Multinational Supplier every year.


Delta and Pine Land has since been acquired by Monsanto, the biggest feed supplier in the 21st century. Yes, Monsanto, the company who supplied Roundup and made billions off that.


The supporters of this great Terminator Technology (no prize for guessing who they are) claimed that:
- Protect intellectual property in countries (i.e. good for nothing 3rd world poor countries) where it is not enforced.
- Protect corporations from unscrupulous farmers. Control of seed germination helps prevent farmers from pirating their technology. (Pay per use, mate)
- Profitable returns to stimulate plant developing activities by biotech firms. (so we can have more $ to make more of these genetic wonders and sell them to you, all for you)
- Prevent escape of transgenes (genetically modified) into wild relatives and prevent any impact on biodiversity. (we care for the environment)
- Prevent volunteer sprouting (natural sprouting) in broad acre agriculture field that will reduce grain quality. (we care for you and the quality of your crop)

Notice all starts with big P, Protect, Profit, Prevent?

Now, do you still think they are evil, ball-less, lower-than-scum and money minded bustards?

I would never equal them with bottom dwelling, shit eating parasites.

No sir. They actually care for the environment and our well being.


Of course, profit is a prominant.


Hey, that’s the man’s job and he has a contractual performance that will dictate his year end bonus. These hard working poor executives have to support their family life styles, pay mortgage of their mansions, gold club memberships.

Some of them may even go to church every Sunday and give donation to help the poor.

Cynical jokes asides.

Terminator technology is an evil in real manifestation.

Firstly, it will create famines in many less rich countries as small farmers don’t have money to purchase seeds every year. No money for seeds, no harvest, no food for people, need import food, increases country’s debts, decreases purchase power, people poorer, more farmer can’t afford seeds and the negative feedback cycle goes on until large scale or nation wide famine breaks out.

Secondly, cross pollination of Terminator crops with their natural (non GM) cousins.

Who knows what disaster that can lead to? Sterile seeds in natural plants are likely results.

The worse if the terminator gene is recessive and only shows up after several generations.

By the time it is discovered in non GM crops, it might be too late for action. We effectively terminate our own food supplies. Human is indeed a funny species.


Thirdly, do you really trust these wonderful MNC that “vigorous tests” had been conducted for safe consumptions by human?

One variant of Terminator tech is called “Verminator” (by Astra Zeneca) because it takes genes from brown rats and uses them in plants. !!??

Do you really believe that the genes can be just switched on or off without complex interactions with other genes? Do we really want more pollutant into our already highly contaminated food chain?


Fourthly, why let them rip us off and we don’t benefit a single bit from it; while children in poor countries are suffering from hunger and serious malnutrition?

If you are still not convinced, let look at another example.


What would you do if you bought a mobile phone with a battery that can’t be re-charged? You have to order new proprietary battery every time the battery is flat.

Further more, you have to download and pay for special software to use SMS, Caller ID, camera, blue tooth etc every time you have new batteries.
I bet you would show them the middle finger and say FUCK OFF.


In summary, the world is really converging. Business concepts used in technology industries are also being applied in food supplies. Or is it just the inter-industrial recycling of scum-bag executives?

Ancient Ritual

This short story is inspired by the religious practice of Ainu tribes living in Hokaido, Japan. Though controversial, it is nevertheless still being practiced today, maybe in more secretive manner.
More information can be found, well, by searching “Ainu tribes” on
Google.
*************************************************************

Kitaro San pulled over his car on the side of the remote road, few meters away from the over-turned car. He ran over to the car and found a man trapped in the driver seat. To his surprise, the man was Fujita san, his new found friend. They met and drank sake together in the small pub in the hotel they stayed in down the hill. Fujita was badly injured but was still conscious.
Kitaro quickly dialed emergency service on his mobile phone and was glad that mobile coverage was good even in this very remote area of Hokaido.
While waiting for the ambulance, he stayed with Fujita and talked to him to keep him conscious. Fujita was drifting in and out and his speech was incoherent. Kitaro sensed that Fujita might not be able to make it.
He gave a relief sigh when he heard the approaching siren of the ambulance. Fujita held his hand and passed him a gold chain with a bear shape pendant.
“Please give this to the head of village Hoki. It is about 50 km from here. Follow the sign board to Shimodo town and turn left after the Yumen temple. The village is 20 km from the junction.”
“Hai. I shall do this for you, Fujita san”
“Give to the head of village. Don’t let anyone else know ….” Fujita voice was too weak to be heard.

Kitaro wore the chain over his neck and help the paramedics to get Fujita out from the car. The paramedics were vey efficient and the ambulance carrying Fujita was racing back down hill in less than 30 minutes.
Kitaro got back to his car and started toward the Hoki village following the instructions given by Fujita. He reached the village after dark after a few wrong turns and misses. The place was obviously not as easy to find as described by Fujita.
“Can’t blame him. The poor man was too weak.”
It was a peaceful and quiet farming village.
He went into a small bistro and had a good dinner. The food was exceptionally good and the service was excellent. He didn’t expect such quality at a remote village.
He was even more surprised when he asked for the bill.
“It’s on the house. Hope you have enjoyed it.” Said the owner.
“No. No. I can’t. Please I have to pay.” Kitaro replied and offered his money.
The owner took a step back, bowed and said, “No. No. Please. It’s our honour to serve you, Gami San.”
“You have made a mistake, I m not Gami San.”
“You are Gami San, the most honoured guest in our village” Said the owner while pointing to the bear shape pendant hanging from Kitaro’s neck.
Feeling tired from the long drive, Kitaro didn’t want to argue.
He asked the owner where he could find the village head, thanked him and walked out from the bistro. The owner and his wife saw him out and bowed again. “Domo Arigato Gozaimasu”
He stopped to ask for direction from a young lady and to his surprise, she bowed with respect and invited him to have tea inside her house. Tea and best sake were offered. Kitaro decided to just accept without any questions this time.
His pretty hostess, Yuko was friendly and accommodating. After a few rounds of sake, all Kitaro wished for was get comfortable and lie down. Yuko prepared hot water for him and even scrubbed his back for him. They went to bed together and Kitaro had some best time in his life.

The next morning, after the effect of sake had worn off; he had worked it all out. The villagers must have mistaken him for someone else, who they respected vey much, and the pendant was the identity.
He decided to give it a test.
He hanged the pendant on his neck and made sure it was visible, then he walked to man and said rudely, “Give me your car, I want to use it.”
The big guy turned around and had an angry look on his face. Being rude in this part of the country was almost like calling someone’s mother a prostitute in a Tokyo pub. Expecting a punch from the big guy, he was surprised again. The man looked at him and quickly made a bow and offered his car key.
“At your service, Gami San.”
Kitaro was delighted. He had landed a jackpot and decided he would keep the pendant for a bit longer to enjoy the benefits.
He drove back to Yuko’s place and asked for a hot bath. Lunch was served after his bath with the finest food and served by Yuko and another young girl. Kitaro was in nine clouds and felt like he came to paradise.
For the next week or so, whenever he went, he was greeted with respect and offered the finest food and service. Sometimes, parents would offer their young daughters to him as if he was the walking god.
“Time passes fast too fast when you are enjoying it” He thought to himself. In fact, it was too good to be truth and he felt that he was in a sweet dream that he would not want to wake up.
“Gami San, tomorrow is full moon night” Yuko said to him in a very polite way. She was still his favorite although he had many other young girls in the village.
He didn’t know what about full moon night but didn’t want to show his ignorance on this matter.
“Hai. I know. Serve me more sake please.”
Everyone in the village said the same thing to him.
“Tomorrow is full moon night. It has been our honour to serve you, Gami San.”
He sensed that there would be something going on tomorrow night.
“I will probably be better off split before tomorrow night. Before they find out I am a fake.” He decided.
*******************************************

Down hill in a small museum, a teacher was explaining to her group of student about the ancient bear tribe rituals.

“This tribe called themselves the Bear People who used to live up in the mountain region. They believed in a Bear God that protected and blessed them in their hunts.
Every year, they would capture a male bear cub and raised it in the village. Everyone would contribute and they would treat the bear cub with highest respect and provide to it the best food, as if it was the Bear God himself.
After one year, on a full moon night in Nigatsu month of Lunar calendar, they would tie the bear cub on a pole and perform the traditional ceremony of sending it back to heaven. After the ritual, they would slash its throat and collect the blood in a silver bowl, which they would mix it with sake and share among all the villagers. They believed the Bear God would bless them through its sacred blood.”

A young boy raised his hand and asked “That’s very cruel. Do they still practice it now?”

“I m sure nobody does this cruel act anymore. The government has put a ban on this as it’s against our country’s laws to torture and kill animals cruelly. It’s called animals right” The young teacher answered.
*****************************************

Back in the village, Kitaro opened his eyes slowly and his head was still spinning.
“It must have been the sake. I had one too many”
To his horror, he found himself tied up naked on a pole and surrounded by all the villagers. They were all dressed up in colorful costumes, chanting and bowing to him.
He wanted to yell but found his lips were glued together and he couldn’t make any sound. He looked up and saw the full moon in the clear night sky.

The village head came forward with a short samurai sword. Yuko was behind him, holding a silver bowl in her hands. The villagers stopped their chanting and gave a final bow to Kitaro.

This had always been a peaceful and quiet farming village. Everybody lived happily under the blessing of the Bear God.

Friday, 13 February 2009

legend of the Sundarban (2)

Continued from part (1)

Read part (1) before you read this

The Guardians

Two hours later, they came back with an old yogi who dressed in yellow robe. Adam knew that yogis were not respected like they used to in the predominantly Muslims Bangladesh. Nevertheless, they were not unusual in this part of the country where animism and traditional beliefs had their deep roots in the rural communities.

Mahmood whispered softly in the old man’s ear and pointed to the victims, who were already cleaned and wrapped in white cloth by their family members. Abdullah’s mother came to the yogi, closed her palm to show respect. She kneeled and touched the yogi’s feet.


“Please Gurujhi. You have to help us to destroy the devil.”
Muni’s widowed mother joined her and kneeled before the yogi.
Many other villagers turned towards the yogi and closed their palms too.

The old yogi touched the heads of the women kneeling before him, spoke softly to them and went to sit down under the shed of a big tree.
He closed his eyes and started to chant softly. After a while, the faint scent of sandal wood filled the village. There were movements in the bushes behind him. Anil and Adam instinctively raised their gun but was stopped by Mahmood who signaled them not to move.

A huge king cobra emerged from the bush. It was completely white and looked almost shinny in the morning sun. It raised its head tall and faced the yogi. Adam estimated it was at least 20 feet long and had enough venom to kill 10 adults. A second king cobra emerged from the bushes; it was a black one and smaller. It stopped next to the white cobra and it too raised its head.
The old yogi kept chanting softly as if he was communicating with the cobras that were swaying in front of him.

Very slowly, the two women approached them with a tray in their hands. On the tray, there were a bowl of buffalo milk and 2 eggs. They put the trays in front of the yogi and the cobras, kneeled and touched their heads on the ground. The cobras turned and approached the trays, heads raised all the time.
They drank the milk and gracefully went over to the victims’ body, which they circled them a few times. After that, they went back to the trays, swallowed the eggs and disappeared in the bushes.

The old yogi stood up and walked over to the women. He placed his hands on their shoulders, chanted some short mantras and left with Mahmood.
“He said the demon will be taken care of” Amesh told Adam and Anil later.

Anil stayed for 3 more days in the village but there weren’t any more incidents. Life was almost back to normal in the village.

The final battle

Two weeks later, a villager found a sensor camera on a river bank and handed it back to Adam.
“Thanks. I believe this is one of the cameras that I lost the other day”.

The videos were all 2-minute footages recorded after the motion sensor was triggered by movements.

He was speechless when he checked through the video footages on his laptop computer.

In one of the footages, a huge tiger was drinking by the river. Adam saw the broken tail and knew it must be the demon Asyoitan.
It suddenly paused and stepped away quickly from the river, as if it was stung by a wasp. Step by step, it retreated but never took its eyes away from the water. A few second later, the white king cobra emerged from the river. As the white cobra advanced aggressively, Asyoitan retreated to keep a safe distance from it. It lowered its body and snarled angrily at the advancing king cobra while moving in a circle.

“The cobra was trying to push it back into the jungle where it would disadvantage Asyoitan. Asyoitan knew it and wanted to remain in the clear so its movements were not hindered by trees and undergrowth.” Adam thought.

The next 2-minute footage showed Asyoitan was circling around the defensive white king cobra. It moved in swiftly and took a swipe at the cobra. The king cobra stroke immediately but Asyoitan leaped to the side and avoided the deadly fangs. With another swipe, it hit the white king cobra on the neck and sent it rolling on the ground. Defeated, the king cobra tried to escape into the bushes with Asyoitan pursuing cautiously from behind.

Suddenly, the black king cobra appeared from behind the root of a tree and stroke at Asyoitan’s hind leg with its large venomous fangs.
It was there all the time, waiting for the chance to strike.

Asyoitan roared angrily and turned to face the black cobra. Bite marks were clearly seen on its hind leg.
It lunged forward and was bitten again but his big paw held the black cobra down by its neck. It seemed all over.

Before it could sink its deadly fangs on the black cobra, the white cobra came from behind and bit it twice.
Asyoitan leaped away to avoid further assults. It turned to face the cobra and roared angrily, baring its white fangs.

The white king cobra was not backing down and raised its head high, ready to attack again. The black cobra was lying still on the ground.
Asyoitan learnt its lesson and kept a safe distance between itself and the white cobra.
The venom that could have killed an elephant seemed not affecting Asyoitan too much, although it was clearly limping and was moving slower.
Suddenly the white cobra opened its mouth and spat venom at Asyoitan. It hit it in the forehead and splashed over its eyes.
Asyoitan gave out a roar in pain, turned and vanished in the thick bushes.

The next footage was recorded 2 hours later triggered by a wild boar coming to the river bank. Neither the tiger nor the king cobras were seen in the video. Adam checked through all the remaining footages but didn’t find them again.
The battle between the demon tiger and two guardian king cobras lasted for less than 5 or 6 minutes. Nobody knew what the final ending was.
Did Asyoitan die from the venom?
Did the black cobra survive?
Adam didn’t know. All he knew was he had witnessed something that nobody had ever seen.
He left the swamp and joined Anil to become an English teacher in Chittagong and never went back again.

No more tiger attacks in that part of the sundarban were reported for many years.

Legend of the Sundarban (1)

Yes. Another short story about tiger of chinese myth but brought to live in sundarban region, Bangladesh. Also to highlight the harsh lives of the honey gatherers and fishermen living in that part of the country. completed on 12 Feb 2009 (Goulburn NSW). Took me more than 3 months to finally typed it out on a computer.


_____________________________________________________________

The Village

It's evening after sunset. The sky around the set sun turned to a splendid reddish orange above the distant mountainous terrain. Adam was sitting on the river bank watching the sunset and the equally splendid reflection on the flowing water. This was a rare occasion in the raining season. Twilight was approaching and soon darkness would cover the swamp. He had to go back to the village before it was completely dark; especially the warning had been given.

"Mr. Adam. Thank god you are back. We were starting to worry about you." Adam was greeted by Arshad when he was back at wooden hut he was boarding.
"Mahmood, our elder, has already warned us against going out of the village alone at night. Asyoitan is back. We should all stick close together at night."

"I m OK, Arshad. I know my way and it's not dark yet." said Adam. He was a bit annoyed being told off like a young boy. He had experience in living in the rain forest. He had lived in the deepest jungle of Sabah for 2 months while shooting the documentary on the elusive and rare Javan Rhinoceros for BBC. Not to mention the 3 months with the National Geographic team in Royal Chitwan National Park in Nepal.

"No. No. Asyoitan has lived too long and is too cunning to predict. If you had seen what I saw, you would understand why I m scare." Arshad's voice was a bit loud but the fear in it was obvious. The bad memory was still haunting him.

"Thanks. I will be careful next time." Adam wanted to end this conversation. He has a lot to do and needed to rest early.

"Very well. Mr Adam, good night. Please let me know if you need anything"

Meanwhile, the villagers had lighted a dozen or more fire surrounding the huts they lived in. The shadows cast by the flickering flames looked as if they were some black creatures moving silently in the dimly lighted village.
Children were all back in the huts while their parents were making dinner outside. Fear was obvious on everyone's face.

"How easy it is to control a group of uneducated people with fear and myths. All you need to do is to scare them and you'd have them like a flock of sheep." Adam thought.

He came to this remote village in the swampy country of Bangladesh to do a documentary of the honey gatherers, as well as to install sensor-triggered cameras to capture the wildlife in this part of sundarban. He had a working partner but he had gone back to Dhaka for malaria treatment. To make things worse, the delivery of sensor cameras didn't arrive as scheduled. He had to wait for 2 long weeks before they finally arrived 2 days ago. His frustration was compounded by the rain that came almost everyday. And now, he was confronted by the mythical Asyoitan.
"The sunset here is just beautiful. Can one asks for more?" he sighed. Being cynical helped to reduce the frustration.

From his hut, Adam saw Muni sitting by the fire and drawing picture on a paper pad quietly. Muni was a young boy of about 9 years old and was almost completely deaf and mute. He had bright eyes and Adam knew he was very smart too. The villagers nick-named him “buffalo boy” because he seemed to be able to communicate with the buffalos in the village. They simply came to him whenever he approached them and he seemed to know what they want or need, as if he could understand them.

Adam went over and sat next to Muni who gave him a warm smile. His bright eyes glittered as he showed Adam his work. Adam looked at the pictures of buffalos drawn on the paper pad he had given to Muni and put his thumb up. He said “very good”. He liked the boy very much since the first time they met two weeks ago.

Adam had made a plan to start installing the sensor-cameras the next day. The cameras had a motion sensor that if triggered by movement, would record a 2 minutes video and had enough storage for 10 hours of recording. He had to find some strategic locations where the wildlife would pass through, such as river bank.

He was thinking about the warning from Arshad about Asyoitan.

“When a tiger has killed and eaten human flesh, it acquires special power and becomes a demon. The victims are under its spell and become its slaves forever. They become the ‘hinapa’ – ghost slaves who can’t escape and have no chance of reborn. They will lure other human to the demon tiger as a service to their master, thus making the demon stronger. Asyoitan is the worst of all. According to the legend, it has lived more than 100 years and had claimed hundreds of human lives. There was a tiger attack in the neighbor village. They saw the tiger and an old man recognized the bullet wound marks on it. The rangers have been trying to kill it for many years but it escaped every time.”

“Do you think it will come here?”

“Nobody knows for sure. It is cunning and unpredictable. I hope it has gone back to the deep forest and leave us alone. But we have to be very careful, especially at night”

“The honey gatherers are now going out in big groups and come back to the village before sunset. Everyone will go inside and lock their door after dinner. You too have to take extra care, Mr. Adam.”

“It’s just a tiger. Human just needs myths to spice up their lives” Adam thought. He gave Muni a pat on the shoulder and went in to sleep.

ASYOITAN

The next day, Adam and his guide Amesh went into the swamp to install the sensor-cameras. Before they took off, Amesh handed Adam a mask with human face on it.
“Mr. Adam, wear this behind your head. Tiger usually likes to ambush from behind. If it sees the mask, hopefully, it will think you are facing it and won’t attack.” Explained Amesh.

It was a hot and humid day in the swamp. To locate, install, test and record was actually real hard work and they were soaked in their own sweat by late aftenoon. They stopped by a small river to rest and to have a cigarette break.

Suddenly, Adam stood up and dropped his cigarette.
“Did you hear it? There is a girl calling for help.”

Amesh face turned pale. He had heard it too.

“It’s from across the river. We have to go help her.” Adam said.
“No. No. Mr. Adam. This is the work of hinapa. Asyoitan must be not far from here. Let’s get back to the village now.”
“IT’S A GIRL. She is probably hurt and needs help. We can’t walk away.”
“Why is a girl doing alone in the forest? No girls will enter the forest. It’s the hinapa. Please leave now.”

“I will go and help her.” Adam said with a firm voice.

“Please don’t go. Mr. Adam. It’s a trap”

Adam was angry with what he saw as cowardice of Amesh. He put down his backpack containing the sensor camera and started to cross the river.

“Please don’t go. Please come back” Amesh pleaded.

When he saw that Adam had already crossed the river, he turned and ran back towards the village.
“I have to get help” he said to himself.

Adam was trying to go faster but the terrain and the thick bushes were slowing him down. As he went deeper into the forest, the girl’s voice seemed nearer. With his mind pre-occupied, he failed to notice that the forest was completely silent except for the voice of the girl’s calling for help.
Suddenly, something hard hit his head. He looked up and saw to his surprise, Muni was up in a tall tree. He smiled at Adam and gestured him to climb the tree.
The tree had no low branches but with the help of the hanging vines, Adam managed to reach where Muni was. He looked down and found himself at least 15m above ground and could see the forest below clearly.
“what are you doing here, boy?”
Muni signed to him to be quiet and pointed forward.
Adam saw a big wild boar searching for food in the bushes about 100m from where he was just now.
From his rough estimate, the boar weighted more than 100kg. With formidable curved tusks, it was certainly a dangerous wild thing.
Suddenly, the boar paused and lifted its head. It was alerted by something in the air. Seconds later, Adam smelt it too.
It was like a mixture of urine and rotting meat.
Adam knew at once what it was. The smell that you would get when you were near the big cats enclosure in a zoo.

“Tiger!” He said to himself.

The boar was moving in circle as it didn’t know which direction was safe. The odor was getting stronger and it filled the air in the forest.
Adam realized that the forest was completely silent. Even the birds and insects were not making any sound; except for the soft grunts of the boar.

Finally overcome by panic, it dashed into the thick bushes and disappeared. The bush was covered densely with tall undergrowth and the shadows casted by the setting sun had made it very difficult to see what was inside it.
Adam heard a sharp cry from an animal in pain and saw movements in the bush. The head of the boar emerged; covered in blood. One of its eyes had been ripped out and part of the face was gone. Before it was fully out of the bush, something caught it from behind and dragged it back into the bush.
Adam could only see movements in the bush and heard the last few helpless cries of the boar, which sent shivers down his spine.

Everything went back to silent again but the distinct odor was growing stronger and stronger.

To his horror, Adam started to feel weak as if the odor had become a thick fluid that filled up his lungs and he could barely breathe.
He knew what or who was waiting for him down in the bush.

There were soft voices all around him, male and female.
“Come down here, my friend.”
“Let go and come with us.”
“Jump now and you will be free forever.”

Adam was shaking in cold sweat and had to hold on tightly on the branch with all his strength in order not to fall.
“Hold on. Hold on. Don’t fall.” He said to himself. His legs felt weak and he would have fallen had he not put his arms around a big branch.
He saw lights spinning around him and felt so weak that he wanted to close his eyes.
His last bit of consciousness knew that he would lose his balance and fall if he closed his eyes. With all his mental strength, he forced himself to focus on the branch right in front of him. It was like someone fighting to wake up from a bad dream.
He had heard tales of monkeys falling from the tree when a tiger roared below it. Now he understood why.

It could be a few minutes or maybe one hour. Adam had lost the sense of time. He couldn’t feel his legs. All he could do was to hold on to the branch as hard as he could.
Gradually, sounds of birds and insects were again heard.
Adam gave a sigh of relieve. The voices were not heard anymore.
He turned around. Muni was also gone.

“Mr. Adam. Mr. Adam. Where are you?”
He heard Amesh’s voice. He had come back with another 5 villagers. They had spears and axes with them.

“Thanks for coming back for me. It was Asyoitan”
“You were smart to safe yourself up in the tree.”
“It was Muni who helped me …”
“Stop joking. Mr. Adam. It’s not nice to joke about the deceased.” One of the villagers said sadly.
“What do you mean?”
“Muni was found seriously injured this morning. Mauled by a tiger. He would had been dragged away and eaten had it not for the buffalos. We think they drove the tiger away. We heard their bellows and found Muni lying on the ground surrounded by buffalos. Tiger prints were all over the ground. Muni died one hour later. His widow mother was devastated.”
“I swear to God. He was up in the tree with me just now”
“You were under the spell of the hinapa. Muni came to help you my friend. “ Amesh said slowly.
Back in the village, while the women were comforting Muni’s widow mother, the men gathered to discuss.

The Hunter and the hunted

“Why didn’t Muni become a hinapa?” Adam asked Amesh.
“I think it was because he died in his mother’s arm. A mother’s love is much powerful than any spell of a demon. His soul is safe”
Adam nodded and walked away quietly.

“Thank you for saving me. I shall revenge your death, Muni. I shall end it. Asyoitan will be hunted down and killed. I promise you.” Adam made a vow after he laid down Muni’s drawing pad next to the boy motionless body. He made his proposal to the villagers and they agreed.

Three days later, Adam was in Chittagong, the biggest port city in Bangladesh. He came to see his friend Anil. Anil worked as a school teacher but he used to be a hunter.
He had shot a monkey and found a baby clinging on the dead mother. It was wailing and holding on so tightly that they couldn’t separate them with the strength of two grown men. Anil dropped his gun on the spot and made a vow never to shoot any innocent creature again.

Adam told Anil about Asyoitan and the villagers.

“I had heard similar stories. These creatures are vey elusive and cunning. It’s almost impossible and dangerous to track them down and have a clear shot. They may hunt us down instead. Furthermore, one or two bullets won’t finish them off.”
“What do you suggest? Hold it down and point the gun at its head?”
“Exactly. That’s what we need to do. We shall use traps to clam it.”
“You mean using baits?”
“No. It’s too smart to be tricked by food. We shall use something even demon can’t resist.”
“What?”
“Sex”

Back in the village, Anil asked help from the villagers to set up the traps. He had brought with him a few big iron clawed clams used by bear hunters.
“We have the ultimate lure for Asyoitan. These bottles contain fresh urine of a big male tiger and a tigress in heat. I got them from a friend who works in a tiger sanctuary park. No male tiger can resist the scent of a female in heat. A challenge from another male in his territory will anger him and distort his awareness.”
“Very smart, Anil” said Adam.
“Now all we need to do is to setup a few traps and wait. It’s insane to go into the jungle at night with a man eater lurking in the dark. He can definitely smell the scent. We will only go to check the traps in day time.”
“Yea. Once it’s held by the clams. You can get close and BANG BANG BANG on its head.”

Two days later, they went back to check the traps. Anil handed Adam one of his guns and showed him how to use it.
“I hope you don’t have to use it. Having a face-to-face encounter with a tiger is NOT what you saw in movies. Tigers are NOT game.” He said seriously
Adam nodded. He knew after the narrow escape from Asyoitan.

One by one they checked the traps that they had set up but none was touched. With the scent of tigers around the traps, no other wild animals would even get close to them.
Just as they were approaching the last one, Anil paused and whispered softly to Adam “Stop. Something’s here. Wait here while I check it out”. He pointed to a big tree.
Adam tensed up and gripped the gun firmly. A faint odor was in the air. A smell that Adam would never, ever forget.
Anil walked cautiously towards the traps, gun raised and finger on the trigger.
After a while which seemed like a long time to Adam, Anil motioned him to come forward and pointed to ground.
“Oh My God. He broke the chain!”
There were blood stains on the forest floor and the iron chain was still fastened on a big tree trunk, only the end that was attached to the clawed clam was broken and the clam was missing.
“The clam got it but the chain could hold it. A demon, indeed. The claws must be tearing through its flesh. Imagine the pain.”
Anil signaled him to be quiet and checked the prints on the ground. He motioned Adam to come along as he followed the foot print.
Adam’s heart was pounding hard.
“Is he insane? Following an injured beast?”
They walked for about twenty minutes and Anil spotted something shinny between the roots of a huge strangler fig tree.
It was the missing clawed clam with a large piece of flesh still firmly gripped between the iron claws. Flies were swamping over it.
“The trap got its tail and severed it so much that when it was again caught between the roots, Asyoitan pulled so hard that it just torn off its body. Dang. We almost got it and it got away.”
“Let’s get back to the village. It’s getting dark soon” Adam was not comfortable facing an injured tiger in the dark, even with Anil and his gun around him. He knew the speed and power of Asyoitan.

When the villagers saw the severed tiger tail, they were worried.
“We have angered the demon. He will come back for revenge.” Mahmood the elder shook his head and said.

“We shall build fire around the village and put a few on guard tonight. The rest of us should stay inside and lock our doors and windows”

“I shall do it.” Anil raised his hand and said.

Adam couldn’t sleep. He imagined Asyoitan would bust through the flimsy wooden door and pound on him. The distinct odor, the powerful paws, the huge jaws, the deadly fangs and the broken tail of Asyoitan filled his head. But the night past without any incident.

At dawn, he opened the door and found Anil sitting on a log, gun in his hand, cat napping.
Anil opened his eye and said tiredly, “It didn’t come last night.”

Just then, they heard a scream.

A man was lying inside his hut. Neck broken and dis-bowelled. His belly was ripped open exposing the internal organs. The things in his hut were almost undisturbed.
“It’s Abdullah. The demon came through the back window. Swift and silent like a ghost” said Mahmood.
There was another scream. Arshad’s wife was the second victim. Her body was found outside their hut with her neck snapped and throat slashed. Arshad was crying.

“Why did she get out in the dark?”
“It’s the hinapa. They lured her out.”

Anil’s head hanged low. He felt defeated. Asyoitan came, killed someone and slipped away while he was on guard and he didn’t even know.

Nobody had seen it but three innocent lives were taken.

The commotion woke up everyone in the village. They gathered around the victims’ hut but nobody spoke. Adam could see the fear and sorrow in their eyes.
Amesh whispered something to Mahmood. He thought for a while then nodded. Both of them left quietly.


(TO BE CONTINUED)

Saturday, 29 November 2008

A virtual affair

Internet speed has achieved great improvements over the past few years.
10 years ago, the dial-up modem was still very common and you would be very lucky to get 30kbps out of it.
Now, people refuse to use if it's below 1Mbps (1000 kbps)
At this speed, internet has speeded up virtually everything from commecial activities (such as banking, on-line trades, e-ticket etc), researches, interpol crime investigations and of course our everyday lives.
Now you IM o YM or MSN your friends who are sitting next to you, to get his
/her faster response. LOL
At this pace, does it also speed up break-ups in relationships?
Lets go for a spin....
*********************************************************************
Alan was literally yelling at Jane as soon as she stepped through the door.
“How do you explain these?” he waved a small stack of printout and then slammed them on the table.
“What’s the matter?” asked Jane.
“They’re all your love letters” hissed Alan.
Jane flipped through and said “I think they are the emails Marcus sent to me long time ago, when we were still together. Where did you find them?” Jane said in a matter of fact manner.
“I found them in my email 2 days ago. You expect me to believe they were old letters? You went overseas for 1 month and all these just re-surfaced?”
“I m telling you its true what I said” replied Jane calmly, in an almost humorous tone. She couldn’t believe all these. Of all the things, being accused of cheating was the last thing she would expect.
“You slut! Prove it you telling the truth. Why are you doing this to me? Almost the whole office is spreading the rumor now. I lost my face. Are you happy now? Bitch!”
“How do I prove something that didn’t happen?” Jane was clearly agitated now.
“Is that how you trust me? Vey well.” She turned and walked out of Alan house.
********************************************************************
2 hours later, Alan was at his best buddy John’s place, pouring all out on him.

“Imagine this, she went overseas for just 1 month and that bitch was already cheating on me with his useless ex” he blasted angrily.
“Which ex?” John asked.
“Marcus. That scum bag sales guy”
“Marcus? I heard he had moved back to UK 2 years ago. One of my friends knows him and actually met him in London just 2 days ago. Jane went to New York on business, right? Are you sure you not making any mistake?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he flew to New York. Maybe they had phone sex or web cam sex.”
“Pretty difficult given the time zone difference” John said jokingly.

“What did Jane say when you asked her?” John asked again.
“Of course she denied it. She seemed too calm. She must have already expected my questions. Proof of guilt” Alan said angrily.
“Ok. Ok. Stay cool and run the whole event through me again.”
“Simple. Jane went to New York 1 month ago. 2 days ago, I received those hot and erotic letters in my email. Rumors also started to spread in the office about Jane’s cheating on me. When she came back, I confronted her and she denied it flatly and left without a fight. That’s not her usual behavior. She would yell and fight if she thought she was right. That’s just plain guilt all written on her face. They are probably laughing on the phone now.”

“Hmm. Who sent those emails to you?”
“I don’t know him, or her. I had never seen that email address before this. It was UK-Cofi@yahoo.com.uk
“And you know what, when I asked Jane to prove she was innocent, she just walked out on me” Alan was evidently still vey angry.
“C’mon Alan. You’ve done the same to her. My friends saw you picking up girls from Paradise Bar and took them to hotel.”
“WHAT! How could you say such thing? I have never done any ONS!” Alan’s face turned red and replied angrily.
“Can you prove it? That you’re innocent”
Alan stopped talking for a while dropped his head and raised again.
“You have to have the witness, tell me the date and time, and which hotel did they see me going to? If they were so sure, ask them what shirt was I wearing?” Alan’s mind was working fast. His accountant analytical instinct was kicking in high gear.
“By the way, even on a court, the burden of proof is on the accusers. The accused doesn’t have to prove his or her innocence. It is the accusers that have to provide the evident.” Alan added.

He turned to look at John and found a smirk on his face.
Annoyed. He asked “what the hell are you smiling at?”
“You have just answered your own question. Do you have enough proof to accuse Jane?”
Alan was quiet. His mind was in high gear trying to defend his action.

“Alan. Everybody has his or her past. If you can’t handle it, my advice is - don’t dig it up. We can’t change what’s in the past, right?”
“For example. Everyone including Jane thinks that the ‘AL’ tattoo on you arm is for your name ‘Alan Lu’. But it’s actually ‘Alan & Levine’. Am I right?”
“John. Please don’t bring up name of those who has gone away.” Alan answered softly.
“I m sorry, Alan. After all these years, you still prefer not to use the word ‘death’. You see, everyone has some soft spots in their hearts and we must respect it.”
More silence from Alan. With his palms on his face, he has apparently cooled down a bit after his logical part of the mind started to work.

“Do you mind if I take a browse?” John pointed to the stack of printout of emails that Alan has brought along with him. Alan nodded.
“Hmm. Did you notice they are all written by Marcus? None of these were from Jane. Not even a single reply. Seems like one way traffic to me”
Alan lifted his head and a glimpse of light flicked in his eyes.
“By the way, don’t you feel suspicious to receive email from a complete stranger at the perfect timing? Who is this UK-Cofi anyway? Is he a hacker or something? Where did he get all the emails from? Jane’s computer or Marcus’s?”
“I don’t know.” Alan replied. He tried to say more but his voice was drown by a passing ambulance.
John looked out the window and saw the ambulance raced pass. The word “AMBULANCE” was reflected on the window of the shops. John jumped and snapped his fingers.
“Of course. The name is an anagram. Read it reverse and it is…”
“I-F-O-C-K-U. Damned it. It is ‘I fock u’” Alan read it out slowly and jumped after he realized what the name meant.
“This person must hate you very much to do such thing”
“He sent the email to my yahoo account, not my office email. Oh yes, that way we won’t be able to trace where it was sent from. If it was sent to my office email, we can access the records on my server and trace the internet route the email had flowed through. This is a well thought-through action. Who do you think he might be?”
“Alan. You might never find out. What’s more important now is what are you going to do about Jane?”
“I don’t know.”
“I m not trying to patronize you. I think you have been focusing on the negatives and forgotten about all the positives. Does Jane not love you? Did she not support you in your studies when you were preparing for your CPA exams? Did you guys not have happy times together? Did she not tolerate your occasional outburst of temper, or your short of patience?”
“Well, John. I did my part too in accommodating her shortcomings.”
“Nobody is perfect, I guess. You better decide soon. Alan” John gave him a firm pat on the shoulder.
*************************************************
The next day Alan received a short email from Jane.
“Alan,
After what happened yesterday, I think its better for us to take some time off to cool off and re-think about our relationship. The element of trust is seriously missing and no relationship can survive without it.
We all have our past, good or bad, memorable or try hard to forget, we can’t do a thing to change them. As adults, if we can’t accept each other past and look beyond it, there will be no future.
If you can’t trust me and see through all the obvious in this case, I have no confidence it will not happen again. I wasn’t upset of you calling me bad names, but your expression and how hysteria you were have chilled me to the bone. Such distrust and anger are usually reserved for enemies, not loved ones.
Alan, once a mirror is cracked, it can never be mended. So is a person’s feeling and heart.
You take care.
Love
J






Tuesday, 28 October 2008

English is funny

Ever wonder why did the English make up so many words refering to almost the same things?
Get the idea?
compare English with another widely used language - Mandarin.
In Madarin, logical combinations are used to describe the above names for animals.
1. there is a generic name for an animal. e.g. cattle = "NIU", Horse = "MA" etc
2. genders are expressed as combinations of words. i.e. Male = "GONG", Female = "Mu", Baby = "Xiao" (literally mean "small" or "young"), Meat ="Rou".
Thus, Bull = "Gong Niu", cow = "mu niu", calf = "Xiao niu", Beef = "Niu Rou"
Stallion = "Gong Ma", Mare = "mu ma"....
see the logic?
This can go on for all animals without the need to make up new names for every gender/meat.
For example: just to describe gender (male & female only) for the above 6 animals, English requires 18 different words. (see above table)
Madarin, on the other hand, requires only 8 words.
To describe gender, baby and meat for the above 6 animals, English requires 30 different words.
However, Madarin requires 10 words only.
**************************************************
Furthermore, there are inconsistencies in English in this regards.
for example:
English doesn't have different words for beef cattle and dairy cattle.
It uses the Mandarin approach, i.e. logical combination.
cattle for meat production = "Beef" + "cattle"
cattle for milk production = "Dairy" + "cattle"
Now, isn't English funny?
and we wondered why the obvious misunderstanding between English speaking Nations and the rest of the world.





Monday, 6 October 2008

Song of the friends

In the cold spring night, they laid down and were getting ready to rest. The wind was still chilly in late september here in the southern hemisphere.

“thats it, my friends. it ends here tonight.” Kay said after a long period of silence. Nobody seemed in the mood of conversation.

“Yeah. its goodbye time. a few more hours to go” said Mo in his usual soft and well mannered voice.
He was always the most gentle among the ten friends, even he was the biggest one.

Jie gave Flowy a head butt in his usual rough boy style. “I won't be missing any of you. I just want to get out of here and be somewhere else much better. This place sucks”

“ I will definitely miss all of you. We are good friends, are we not?” Nacho joined in. He was the youngest and the smallest among them. He was also the subject of Jie's bullying act, most of the time.

“where do you guys want to go after this?” Bonnie asked.

“I want to live in the tropical. I hate the cold. I wish I could go there after this” said Bun.

“Yea. I don't want to come back here and be who I'm again. I want to go further and really enjoy life” Said Kay.

The usually quiet Zul joined in the conversation. “I wanna go to the pampas in Agentina. Heard the girls are amazing with big brown eyes. I like the grass land and blue sky.”

“what about Stub?” asked Bonnie.

“I wanna be a priest and learn religion. This was always what I wanted to do but never took the time. Now I end up here. When all this is over, I will go back and really study the bible” replied Stub with his head down.

Suddenly they heard small Rupert sobbing.
“I don't wanna go. I wanna stay and enjoy whatever time is left. I don't want any change”

"its time. We have to go and we don't have control over this. Lets hope we can go to where we want to go after this.” said Mo in his usual slow and comforting voice.

“Yea. Suck it up. Don't be cry baby. I will go from here and be a cowboy up in the tropical north. Yahoo. I will be sooo rough and tough. Make sure we don't meet because I will have no mercy.” Said Jie loudly.

“Don't act tough. We all know you are scare too”.
Everybody was quiet and the silence was unbearable.

“Let's sing our song for the last time before we depart and go our different ways” Finally Bonnie broke the silence.

So they sang loudly with all they might as to release all the sorrow and fear of the unclear future ahead of them.

Jack took a last drag on his cigarette, felt the smoke passing through his lungs and the familiar sensation of the nicotine.
Larry turned to him and asked, “what the heck with those cattle back there? They have never made so much noise before.”

“Who cares.” replied Jack with a shrug. “they are just stupid beasts with no feelings. In few hours time, they will all be chopped”

“I always have the feeling that they know and understand what's going on around them.” Larry said in a soft voice as if he was talking to himself.

In the yard, the ten friends sang on in the cold spring night.

This is dedicated to the 10 steers who left us on 24th Sept 2008 morning. They had taught us so much. May all of you get to where you wanted to go and don't come back again. So long Special-K, Moe, Bonito, Mbanjie, Rupert, Stubbie, Bundy, Zulu, Flower and Nacho Pop.

Sunday, 21 September 2008

林子祥的歌


其中幾首林子祥的好歌,我的年代。

最愛是誰

http://mymedia.yam.com/m/1702392

在世間尋覓愛侶 尋獲了但求共聚
然而共處半生都過去 我偏偏又後悔

別了她原為了妳 留住愛亦留住罪
誰料伴你的心今已碎 卻有她在夢裡

為何離別了 卻願再相隨 
為何能共對 又平淡似水
問如何下去 為何猜不對
何謂愛 其實最愛只有誰 

任每天如霧過去 沉默裡任寒風吹
誰人是我一生中最愛 答案可是絕對

為何離別了 卻願再相隨 
為何能共對 又平淡似水
問如何下去 為何猜不對

何謂愛 其實最愛只有誰 
何謂愛 誰讓我找到愛的證據




每一個晚上

http://witch5653.pixnet.net/blog/post/19265671

我突然無言靜了下來細心把你望
只想再看一次令我暖暖的眼光
在漫長漫長路上你我未相遇那天
今天的目光天天我會想千趟


已淡忘從前與你度過多少風與浪
往日種種歡笑時刻溫暖我心房
在漫長路途無論你我未來在哪方
一天的風在飛 一天我不忘掉你

每一個晚上我將會遠望
無涯星海點點星光
求萬里星際引點你路
叮囑風聲代呼喚你千趟

懷念綿綿無盡你與我幾時分兩岸
此心也永跟你飄向遠遠的那方
寂寞時候如果你要熱誠的目光
只需要輕輕把我想一想


每一個晚上我將會遠望
無涯星海點點星光
求萬里星際引點你路

叮囑風聲代呼喚你千趟

追憶
http://mymedia.yam.com/m/1823793

童年在那泥路裏伸頸看 一對耍把戲藝人 
搖動木偶令到他打筋斗 使我開心拍著手 
然而待戲班離去之後 我問 
為何木偶不留低一絲足印 為何為何曾共我一起的 
像時日總未逗留  

從前在那炎夏裏的暑假 跟我爸爸笑著行 
沿途談談來日我的打算 首次跟他喝啖酒 
然而自他離去之後 我問 
為何夏變得如冬一般灰暗 為何為何曾共我一起的 
像時日總未逗留  

從前共你 朦朧夜裹 躺於星塵背後 
難明白你 為何別去 留下空空的一個地球  

徘徊悠悠長路裏 今天我知道始終要獨行 
閒來回頭回望去 追憶去 邊笑邊哭喝啖酒 
然而就算哭 仍暗私下慶幸 
時日在我心留低許多足印 
從前從前曾共我一起的 現仍在心內逗留

Sunday, 17 August 2008

Win or Lose

Read a story about lawyers from an old magazine.
***********************************************

There was a retired lawyers who had an young apprentice. He taught the young man everything in laws and how to win a case in court. Before he completed his training with his master, the young apprentice agreed to pay all his training fees after his first court case in court.

However, this young fella was smart, he worked on cases that didn't require appearance in court. He has never won any court case in court himself and hence no need to pay his master anything.

The old master felt short changed and came out with an idea.

He sued the young man and the judge ordered both party to appear in court to settle the dispute.

Thus, a dilemma for the young man:

- If he loses the court case, he would have to pay.

- If he wins, it would be his first case won in court and hence fulfilling the agreement. He also needs to pay.


Its a die if you do it, die if you don't situation.


So, what is your take in this?

Monday, 14 July 2008

Jack and the bean stalk

Among all the fables, fairy tales and children stories, Jack and the bean stalk is probably the most counter educational.

Almost all children from my generation know about Jack and his magical bean stalk. It troubled me the first time my primary school teacher told us the story in class. Of course being a extremely shy and timid good pupil, I wouldn't dare to ask the question that was left unanswered until I was old enough to ignore it.

For those who don't know the story, it is really a simple.

Jack was a boy who lived with his mother. Although not mentioned in the story, I assumed in a remote area far from others for the later part of the story to work out. They were very poor and all they had got was an old cow named Buttercup.
One fine day, mother asked Jack to take Buttercup to the market and sell her to get some money for their food.
Jack happily went and ended up con'ed by an old man (why always old men?) who exchange the cow for 5 beans, which he claimed was magical and would give Jack everything that he wanted.
Dumb Jack went home and of course got yelled at (probably beaten up) by mom. If he was my son, I would have strangled him.
Mom threw the beans out in the yard and they went to bed without food. Sob sob.
The next day, they found the beans had grown into a thick, tall bean stalk that shot all the way up in the clouds.
Jack climbed up the bean stalk and arrived at a huge house belonged to a giant. (some versions say "ugly giant" to make IT more evil)
In the house, Jack met an old lady who hid him away from the giant. (some versions say she was the giant mother. Well, fairy tale)
Jack found some treasures inside the "ugly giant" house and thank you very much ran away with all of them. Of course the giant went after him and as in all fairy tales, Jack out ran the giant and went back to earth safely to realize that the giant was climbing down the bean stalk right behind him.
Smart Jack grabbed an axe and chopped down the bean stalk just in time and the "ugly giant"fell and died.
I still remembered the sound effect my teacher made when she was telling the story. "sheeee¡­ Poong" with her arm sweeping down to show us how the bean stalk would have fallen.
The treasure Jack got were a golden egg laying goose and a magic harp that could play by itself (an iPod probably).
Hence, jack and mom live rich and entertained ever after.


So, what is the moral of this story?
1. Its ok to steal if you are the main character of the story
2. If the other guy is a giant (especially ugly ones), witches etc, they deserve it.
3. Its ok to kill mercilessly for the main character to live happily ever after.

Lets check other famous fairy tales if they carry the same moral. We have to look at the original stories, not the adapted version for Hollywood.

1. Snow white ¨C the evil step mother queen was killed by the 7 dwarfs after she attempted murder on Snow White. Fair game.

2. Cinderella - No killing involved although her mother had to chop off the toes of her sisters to try to fit the glass shoe. She didn't even revenge on her evil mother and sisters

3. Little Mermaid - she had to kill the prince she loved to transform back to a mermaid. This is a sad love story and she didn't have a choice and it would likely haunt her for the rest of her sad life.

4. Thumbelina- the thumb size beauty with a kind heart. A warm story without any killing.



5. Hansel and Gretel -children of a useless father who were imprisoned by a witch who wanted to eat them. They cleverly tricked and killed the witch and escaped. Again, it is a fair game.








6. Sleeping beauty - brave prince broke the spell and saved the princess who might be older than his grand mother. No killing involved.

7. Frog prince - ugly frog turned into handsome prince after a kiss from the little princess who hated him. No killing.

8. Beauty and the beast - long story but no innocent people were killed.

9. Rumple Stilt skin - lapricon who made deal with a girl who later became a queen with his help. She won eventually but it was a deal and no foul play from either party.

10. Pinocchio - The wooden puppet who liked to lie. It was a happy ending and nobody was killed.












Now, do you see the difference?
If you had told this story to your young innocent children (not too many of them nowadays), how would you have answered their questions?
- is Jack stealing?
- why did he kill the giant?
- is it right to steal and kill and live happily ever after?

Friday, 4 July 2008

Wasn't it Good





A song by Tina Arena.
Wicked laugh, wasn’t it good?




Wasn't it good

Wouldn't you know it I've lost my courage.
Isn't it funny, me lost my words.
Not that it really matters, cause I know you know.
And you would have told me yourself if you could.

Remember the first time, we met each other.
you were in your world and i was in mine.
Breaking down the barrier, we broke all rules.
But wasn't it good, wasn't it fine?

While I took for granted, you took your time.
Longing for love oh how we tried.
It's all over now that's understood, but wasn't it good.

So long together, two would be lovers.
Caring for the flowers that just wouldn't grow.
And in all of our tomorrow, we'll have yesterday
And wasn't it good, wasn't it fine.

While I took for granted, you took your time.
Longing for love oh how we tried.
It's all over now that's understood, but wasn't it good
.

昨日- 今天

年少时轻狂,曾说:
清泉入俗流﹐知心何處尋﹐
一啸驚天地, 举杯谈风云.


也曾为情执著:
人如風箏情如線﹐晴空萬里繫柔絲﹐
滄海桑田心如昔﹐溺水三千一瓢足


茫茫人海知心緣﹐處處芳草一般景﹐
千回百轉人生路﹐經霜耐雪傲寒心


也曾甜蜜的爱过:
柔柔清晨柔柔風﹐柔柔花兒柔柔蕊﹐
柔柔月光柔柔夜﹐柔柔人兒柔柔心


当然也曾伤心过,已为刻骨銘心:
人生失意無南北﹐萬水千山繪風霜﹐
如此星辰如此夜﹐為誰歸去為誰來。

走遍很多不同国家,终于体会了见山还是山.
蘆山煙雨浙江潮﹐未到千般恨不休﹐
即至到來無一事﹐蘆山煙雨浙江潮


人老了就有不一样的境界.
昨日是:
清泉入俗流﹐知心何處尋﹐
一啸驚天地, 举杯谈风云.

今天是:
清流本是水,知音何须尋
今朝空名利﹐天涯處處家。

Sunday, 22 June 2008

until that day comes .....

Since I published the Little Mermaid story, some friends have asked if I m really a gay right advocate, or even "are you actually gay?"
Well, technically the whole human population has certain degree of homo and hetero sexuality at the same time. Its all about the magnitude of them. Majority of the population has very high degree of heterosexuality and makes homosexuality a minority. Hence comes the discriminations and divine condemnations from HE who lives in heaven. they are different sides of the same coin, although the hetero side comes up much more often than the homo side if tyhe coin is flipped.
Anyway, to cut it short, I belong to the majority group of the population, i.e. I prefer female than male. but thats not what I want to write.
when women's right was still a hot debate eons ago, someone famous (I only quote the famous and well known, who listens to ordinary Joes and Janes anyway) had said "Women's right IS human right" and of course he received applaud, thats for being famous.
Today, I would like to say "homosexuality right is human right, minority right is human right, disabled right is human right, mentally challenged right is human right"
in fact we can expand the list to cover any group of human beings who are systematically being discriminated due to their difference from the "majority & normal" human beings, which they can't change.
If human race can go beyond this, the list can be expanded to cover "Animal rights" and "all living being rights".
"Human right" would become a outdated term which could be replaced by "Living right"
If that day comes, we can all throw away the religion scriptures and live peacefully on earth and the universe.
But until that day comes......
Now we can all go back to our corners, pray as usual and get our guns and bombs and tanks ready. killing people who pray to a different invisible figure is not crime and you might get red carpet welcome at the pearly gate, if you arrive at all.
Good day.

Wednesday, 18 June 2008

How Singapore got its name

This is a real history that nobody wants to recognise.
the old name of Singapore was Temasek (Tamasek). The actual spelling is not known as it wasn't spelt with Romanised characters.

But a about 2 -3 hundred years ago, it was changed to "Singapura". for the better educated ones, "Singapore" is the "englished" name during colonial time. "Singapura" is the original name.
Not everything spelt in English is the original, just as "Thailand" is NOT pronounced as "Thai-land". Its pronounced as "Tai-land". and IRAQ is not pronounced as "Ai-Rak", Mr Bush.
Anyway, how did this name came about?

forget about what the history book tells you about a prince from Sumatera who saw a lion on Temasek and hence changed its name to "Singha-pura" which means "lion city" in Sanskrit.
Too many errors in this story.

1. there was never any lions in that part of the south east asia.
2. Prince from Sumatera spoke Sanskrit?
3. there was already natives living on Temasek (thats why it had a name), so s visitor could just declare a new name?

The real story is like this: drum-drum drum
Temasek was a very busy trading port back then. There were a lot of Indian muslims from southen India who sailed there to trade with the native Melayu.

They were close friends.

One fine night, as usual they chilled out at the local pub aka the road side shed, drinking todi (liquor from coconut juice). after a few drinks, they made a bet to see who had a bigger dick.

and well, the Indians won the bet but the Melayu felt insulted.

so they gave the Indians a good beating.

the next day, after sobbering up, they realised that the Indian didn't stop at their port anymore. They all rather stopped at Melaka, a new port further north.

So, every morning, the local Melayu would wave and shouted "OOOi kawan! Singgah lah sini"
The Indians on their ships would give they middle fingers and shouted back "Poorah! Poorah!" (Get lost)

thats how Singapura got its new name and it is used till today.

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

Little Mermaid

To all the discriminated, oppressed and victimised people; and the sorrow, pain and misery endured.


Sharon watched as her dad dashed out of their apartment in real hurry after he received a call on his mobile. after the call, he pulled Sharon's mother to a side and talked to her softly. Sharon could sense the tension and the mixed emotion on her mother. Her dad's face was blank and without expression. Sharon knew something big had happened because in her 17 years of life, she had only seen that face once on her usually easy going father. That was 3 years ago when grandpa was fighting his losing battle with brain cancer. She remembered the blank, emotionaless face of his dad beside grandpa's bed. If he had feelings, he hid it well when it was over whelming.

"what is going on, mom?" Sharon asked her mother after her dad has gone.
"A friend of your dad is in hospital and he went to visit." Her mother answered.
"Who?" Sharon knew dad had many friends.
"Auntie Amie is in ICU."
Sharon was startled by the answer.

Sharon first met Auntie Amie when she was 10 years old. Her dad took her to a movie and ice cream treat after she scored a good results in her school exams. She could still remember the movie was "Little Mermaid".
when they were having ice-cream and chips, a thin lady with short hair came to their table and dad introduced her as Auntie Amie. Sharon had been shy to strangers and she was paying more attention to her sundae than the lady. At school, Sharon was a timid girl and had few friends. She would like to join and play with other girls but she was too shy to ask.
Auntie Amie stroke Sharon's hair and asked her softly "did you like the movie, Sharon?"
"Yes. I like it. I like cartoon stories" Sharon replied with her head down looking at her sundae.
"Yes. Cartoons are good. always happy ending."
"Do you know the original Little Mermaid has a very sad ending?" Auntie turned to Sharon's dad and asked.
Dad nodded.
"She had to kill the prince she loved and used his blood to break the spell and to transform back to mermaid. you can't change to who you are not. even in fairy tale"

Auntie Amie had also come to their house a few times and Sharon later found out she was in the same secondary school as her dad and mom. Dad told Sharon that Auntie Amie was a very close friend when they were in school but he never told her about their stories in school.
"I was in a different class and was not closed with them in school." Mom told Sharon.

Sharon noticed mom always kept her distance from Auntie Amie although she seemed to welcome her visits.

Auntie Amie was a intelligent person with good nature and she was very kind to Sharon. She noticed how shy Sharon was and had encouraged her to come out and interact with other people. She would ask Sharon to do small chores for her such as go to the shop, make orders when they were at KFC or McDonalds, order pizza over the phone. Sometimes, she would buy gifts for Sharon as encouragements. Little things like hair pins, ribbons, socks with little flowers on them. Sharon knew she didn't earn much from her teaching and appreciated the gifts.

Auntie Amie was a family friend all these years but Sharon knew little about her background. Sharon had never seen her family and heard her mentioning about them. Auntie Amie lived alone in a rented house and taught piano and art classes at her home as living. Besides dad, she had almost no other friends.

When Sharon grew older and went through her puberty, she started to notice and was more observant to people around her. Autie Amie was not an attractive woman, she noticed. she had a square face, rough complexion and too flat.
"She is tall, thin and flat" she commented one day during dinner.
Dad looked at Sharon and said sternly
"Sharon, never ever laugh at other people on what they can't change. They suffer enough of the misfortune"
Sharon had seldom seen dad so serious.


Dad came home after midnight that day with a very worn look on his face.
"Amie passed away. It was too late. nothing the doctors could do"
he told Sharon.
Mom was crying.

Sharon couldn't sleep well that night and the little mermaid came to her. There was no cheerful colors as in the cartoon. Everything was grey. Little mermaid was stranded on a beach and surrounded by people. She had to endure the pain of transformation into a woman, the scales on her tail were coming off and were dropping one by one. red blood in contrast with the grey background. everyone around her was laughing. some of them splashed sea water onto her fresh wound and she was panting and struggling to get away from the assult.
Sharon woke up with a headache and the dream was still afresh in her head. wriggling of pink flesh partly covered with loosed scales that were falling off and the begging eyes. she could almost hear the soft sound of the detaching scales like tearing off a glued paper from the skin.

mom came into her room.
"Your dad went to take care of Amie's funeral. Nobody else cares"
"The family has abandoned Amie long time ago. a poor soul" Mom said with voice full of sympathy.
"They grew up and played together when they were kids. they were best friends and went to the same secondary school. Amin was very smart and was the top of class."
"then the change came in Form 3 when they were 15 years old. The teachers noticed it and informed the parents. The took Amin back home and I never heard from them anymore until we moved to this city and they met again. I was so surprised and couldn't adjust myself"

"mom. Who is Amin?"
"That's what we used to call Auntie Amie".
Sharon was confused but mom didn't explain further.

After the funeral, Dad and Sharon went to Auntie Amie's rented house to pack her belongings.
Sharon was going through the drawers when she found some old photos and an old ID card. It has a name "Raja Zaminudin Bin Raja Abdullah" on it. The black and white photo showed a young man with a boyish look.
"Thats was Amie's name. Amin was related to the royal family." Dad put a hand on Sharon's shoulder and said.
"when the parents found out he was behaving like a girl, they forced him to change. that didn't work. they sent him to the religion department for treatment. he was humilated and raped. He ran away and sent a letter to me asking for help. the school teacher got the letter and they caught him again. this time they sent him to mental hospital for medical treatments. He was tied to the bed and given electric shock on the head for a few months. He was a mere zombie when i visited him at the hospital. I went to her mother to beg her to help Amin and eventually she managed to bribe the doctors to release him.
He never went home after that and we lost contact until we met again few years back."

"I felt really bad for letting him down when he needed me most. what he had been through was hell.
Sharon, I was so happy for Amin as he finally walked out of the shadow and lived bravely"
"Few weeks ago, his father found out where he was and sent his men to get him. They thought he was a disgrace to the royal family and wanted him locked up forever. He got away but fearing the worst, he took his own life. He told me he would never go back and endure hell again."
"Dad, did Auntie Amie say anything before she passed away?" Sharon asked with glassy eyes.

"I held his hand and begged him to be strong.
I said to him, 'Min. u have to be healthy again. U can leave this country and be free'
he smiled and said 'I m free now'. closed his eyes and they never open again"