hard to understand

What happens next when the likes of Amy Winehouse is awarded and rewarded by society despite their drug use and addiction. Just what message does it give our children? Illegal drug use is never glamorous and will never be - considering the problems attached to it. A family is not the same again when drugs take over the life of even a single member. The United Nations should speak out with substance, now that it has realized the extent to which society condones double standards when dealing with who uses drugs.

kindness of heart

There's not a day that I don't see something mangled and bloody on the roads of Brunei. It could have been a puppy looking for a sanctuary; or a kitten traversing the highways, lost and vulnerable. I don't blame the drivers for these accidents. But, I do lay the culpability on the owners for not keeping their pets safe. The kindness of hearts should be bestowed not only to people but to all the animals of the world especially to those that have lost their homes.

Happy New Year (again)!

Much of the blood running through my veins (and arteries) I believe is Chinese 'coz I am descended from horse riding warriors of the Gobi Desert. So, for the third time in the Gregorian year and without much ado, I wished people a Happy New Year. As my mom would say, "it is always the thought that counts".

Somebody lined up these oranges as if contemplating which one to eat first.

an era that was

In the few hours after Suharto's passing there was an explosion of comments, praises, criticisms, and apologies on the late strongman. In my late teens, I would not have cared for what Suharto was doing or not doing, but because he was definitely one of the most debated and the topic of long exams in my freshman's "Politics and Governments of Southeast Asia", it was imperative that we studied him. It was a course that was a requirement for graduation even though you were an Art student and would not damn care about some turmoil in a neighboring country. I remember the hours of researching for his speeches and any material that would give us an idea of the realities of Indonesian politics in those days. Those days we did not have the internet; we only had the dusty nooks at the Archives section of the library we considered as sacred as the places of worship that I and classmates went to. In our young minds, we reckoned that Suharto like Marcos or any friend of the USA for that matter were evil despots.

Today, in my ripe age of 'discernment' I find myself slow to criticise the man who to many was the 'Father of Development'. In those days, the realities were different. There was the 'Cold War' and the password for longevity was 'deterrence' and only 'deterrence'. This era has passed and we in SEA have a totally different set of problems post 'Cold War'. And with this passing, we should pray for a peaceful Indonesia and for the rest of SEA.

mia farrow in darfur

Mia of "Rosemary's Baby" is not afraid of ruffling feathers says CNN. We hope for her to succeed in her attempt to save the children of Darfur. In a way, the conscientization of Hollywood is a plus, with all the publicity that it gets when the likes of Jolie and Clooney get out from their comfortable homes to venture into the troubled lands. Then, we get to see the lonely faces of all those children on our TV screens and examine our sometimes too apathetic lives. I shudder at the absolute unhappiness of those children and hate the world's helplessness.