al Jazeera news online has in the past few years provided a fresh perspective of news and current affairs that have been different from those of western media, especially the American version. Recently it recruited a top media personality, David Frost, as part of it expanding plans and programme.
Al-Jazeera's reporting of the war in Iraq, including the publishing of captured or killed US soldiers, have greatly angered Washington. The station has also broadcast messages by Osama bin Laden and the beheadings of Western hostages by insurgents in Iraq, as well as Iraqi civilians killed by the US military.
There have been a US military ‘accidental’ attacks on its Kabul office. Now, revelations coming from London showed that that attack might not have been ‘accidental’ afterall.
The British Daily Mirror has come across a Downing Street Top Secret memo stating that US President George Bush had planned to launch a military strike on al-Jazeera station in Dona, Qatar, but was talked out of it by Britain’s PM Tony Blair.
The memo was a transcript of a Bush-Blair talks during Blair's visit to Washington in April last year. Blair feared such a strike, in the business district of Doha with all its collateral damage would definitely invite severe revenge attacks. Besides, Qatar is a key western ally in the Persian Gulf. The language in the memo showed that Bush was deadly serious, but so was Blair in persuading Bush not to launch the attacks.
Downing Street has refused to comment on the leaked memo.
The Daily Mirror said such a strike would have been "the most spectacular foreign policy disaster since the Iraq war itself".
The USA – paragon of press freedom!
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Michelle Leslie & "Mysterious" Mia
It seems the initial press report that Michelle Leslie and Siti Namira, otherwise known as Mia, Woman of Mystery, met in Singapore and ‘reconciled' was incorrect. There was no 'reconciliation' – technically, that is.
The ‘reconciliation’ word was employed by the media in their understanding of what they had learnt from Leslie’s statements, that poor poor poor Leslie was sabotaged by Mia or Siti Namira, who played dirty and placed the ecstasy tablets in Leslie's cute sweet handbag during a party on the night of the arrest. Oh, how nasty could Mia be?
Surely, given the nastiness, the media would imagine, rightly so, that any get-together between them must be a form of 'reconciliation '– between the saboteur and the sabotaged.
Personally, I thought Leslie’s “dunno” about the ecstasy pills sounded unbelievable because of one fact that stood out like the proverbial you-know-what. Psychiatrist Dr Denny Thong who had examined her, provided evidence to the court that she, Michelle Leslie, had confessed to using ecstasy. So, can Leslie claimed "dunno"?
Anyway, now her lawyer Sean Mulcahy, in confirming that yesterday Leslie met fellow model Siti Namira, otherwise known as Mia, said:
"There was no reconciliation needed because they were already friends."
There you have it – not only did we learn that Mia wasn't as "mysterious" and unknown as the courts were told, we have to conclude there wasn’t any sabotaging because there wasn’t any grudge.
Hmmm, what does that tell us about Michelle Leslie's story?
Related:
Michelle Leslie's "Mysterious" Woman Identified!
The ‘reconciliation’ word was employed by the media in their understanding of what they had learnt from Leslie’s statements, that poor poor poor Leslie was sabotaged by Mia or Siti Namira, who played dirty and placed the ecstasy tablets in Leslie's cute sweet handbag during a party on the night of the arrest. Oh, how nasty could Mia be?
Surely, given the nastiness, the media would imagine, rightly so, that any get-together between them must be a form of 'reconciliation '– between the saboteur and the sabotaged.
Personally, I thought Leslie’s “dunno” about the ecstasy pills sounded unbelievable because of one fact that stood out like the proverbial you-know-what. Psychiatrist Dr Denny Thong who had examined her, provided evidence to the court that she, Michelle Leslie, had confessed to using ecstasy. So, can Leslie claimed "dunno"?
Anyway, now her lawyer Sean Mulcahy, in confirming that yesterday Leslie met fellow model Siti Namira, otherwise known as Mia, said:
"There was no reconciliation needed because they were already friends."
There you have it – not only did we learn that Mia wasn't as "mysterious" and unknown as the courts were told, we have to conclude there wasn’t any sabotaging because there wasn’t any grudge.
Hmmm, what does that tell us about Michelle Leslie's story?
Related:
Michelle Leslie's "Mysterious" Woman Identified!
Azahari's men selling phone vouchers to survive
Indonesia's police chief said that since Dr Azahari was killed and Noordin Top on the run, their terrorist group has been struggling for funds to survive. Intelligence reports indicate that the fugitive group has been selling mobile phone vouchers to survive. They make about RM2000 per day.
He said that previously the group had received funding from Saudi Arabia but police had cut off this avenue. He didn’t mention anything about Malaysian funding, though in my previous posting on this issue, I did mention a foreign diplomat being involved as the channeller or courier.
Related:
Dr Azahari's activities funded by Malaysians
He said that previously the group had received funding from Saudi Arabia but police had cut off this avenue. He didn’t mention anything about Malaysian funding, though in my previous posting on this issue, I did mention a foreign diplomat being involved as the channeller or courier.
Related:
Dr Azahari's activities funded by Malaysians
Michelle Leslie's "Mysterious" Woman Identified!
Remember Michelle Leslie’s “mysterious” lady friend Mia, the woman who gave her the ecstasy pills on the night of Leslie’s arrest but disappeared into thin air?
Well, if you don’t, according to Leslie, Mia had been the culprit who obtained the drugs for her. Mia brought the ecstasy pills for Leslie, informing the poor innocent model that it was the medication Ritalin which Leslie claimed she was addicted to.
But things went awry for Leslie when a psychiatrist Denny Thong, who is a member of the Bali Narcotic Board, was enlisted by Leslie’s team to testify on her behalf. They wanted the good doctor to tell the court that she was a Ritalin addict and thus as an addict, under Indon laws, should merit only a very short sentence. But the following was what the psychiatrist told the court.
Dr Thong said Leslie used ecstasy, but was not addicted to it or Ritalin. He had medically interviewed Leslie in Bali last month at her lawyers' request. The doctor confirmed that Leslie was not sick nor could be classified as an addict. In fact he stated that Leslie herself had admitted to him she had used ecstasy, but was not addicted to it. Additionally, the doctor clarified that while one may use Ritalin, which is a lawful medication, one doesn’t get addicted to that medication.
Of course throughout her trial, the “mysterious” Mia, being a mystery, naturally could not be found, and wasn’t it truly fortuitous for Leslie that despite this hearsay, the addiction and Ritalin bullshit, the judges of Bali court still believed her?
OK, all’s well that ended well, as it did for Michelle Leslie. She’s now free, and suddenly, miracles of miracles, the “mysterious” Mia has now emerged (or descended) from the divine heights of Bali’s sacred mountain, or more correctly, on the plains of Singapore.
And Mia has a real name too. She is Siti Namira. Oh, but wait, there’s more!!!
Siti Namira is not all that “mysterious” afterall, for she is Leslie's fellow model. Poor Leslie, her trauma in Bali made her terribly forgetful, both about Narima's name and their professional acquaintance. But how sweet, Leslie and Namira has 'reconciled', whatever that means. In fact, Namira has now ‘fessed up to the whole sordid affair.
Appeared out of the blue, has a name, oh-they were fellow models, reconciled, confessed - good lord, what's happening? And mate, there’s more – all skullduggery and whatnot – threats of murder directed at poor Leslie in prison, etc etc etc.
To help clear Michelle Leslie's name of course. It’s part of her social “rehabilitation”. Yessirree, Leslie is not a former Indon convict but an innocent victim. Alhamdullilah!
Incidentally, I wonder whether Leslie could legally clear her name in Australia, because if she can, wouldn’t it be marvellous that she can then keep the money the media has been dying to pay for her news breaking story. Insha Allah!
Well, if you don’t, according to Leslie, Mia had been the culprit who obtained the drugs for her. Mia brought the ecstasy pills for Leslie, informing the poor innocent model that it was the medication Ritalin which Leslie claimed she was addicted to.
But things went awry for Leslie when a psychiatrist Denny Thong, who is a member of the Bali Narcotic Board, was enlisted by Leslie’s team to testify on her behalf. They wanted the good doctor to tell the court that she was a Ritalin addict and thus as an addict, under Indon laws, should merit only a very short sentence. But the following was what the psychiatrist told the court.
Dr Thong said Leslie used ecstasy, but was not addicted to it or Ritalin. He had medically interviewed Leslie in Bali last month at her lawyers' request. The doctor confirmed that Leslie was not sick nor could be classified as an addict. In fact he stated that Leslie herself had admitted to him she had used ecstasy, but was not addicted to it. Additionally, the doctor clarified that while one may use Ritalin, which is a lawful medication, one doesn’t get addicted to that medication.
Of course throughout her trial, the “mysterious” Mia, being a mystery, naturally could not be found, and wasn’t it truly fortuitous for Leslie that despite this hearsay, the addiction and Ritalin bullshit, the judges of Bali court still believed her?
OK, all’s well that ended well, as it did for Michelle Leslie. She’s now free, and suddenly, miracles of miracles, the “mysterious” Mia has now emerged (or descended) from the divine heights of Bali’s sacred mountain, or more correctly, on the plains of Singapore.
And Mia has a real name too. She is Siti Namira. Oh, but wait, there’s more!!!
Siti Namira is not all that “mysterious” afterall, for she is Leslie's fellow model. Poor Leslie, her trauma in Bali made her terribly forgetful, both about Narima's name and their professional acquaintance. But how sweet, Leslie and Namira has 'reconciled', whatever that means. In fact, Namira has now ‘fessed up to the whole sordid affair.
Appeared out of the blue, has a name, oh-they were fellow models, reconciled, confessed - good lord, what's happening? And mate, there’s more – all skullduggery and whatnot – threats of murder directed at poor Leslie in prison, etc etc etc.
To help clear Michelle Leslie's name of course. It’s part of her social “rehabilitation”. Yessirree, Leslie is not a former Indon convict but an innocent victim. Alhamdullilah!
Incidentally, I wonder whether Leslie could legally clear her name in Australia, because if she can, wouldn’t it be marvellous that she can then keep the money the media has been dying to pay for her news breaking story. Insha Allah!
Michelle Leslie - to Islam & back
The transformation of Michelle Leslie has come full circle, from lingerie and underwear model, sometimes donning only body paint, to a staunt Muslim wearing the burqa after she was arrested, and back to her old pre-arrest self.
Ameer Ali, a community leader of Aussie Muslims has this to say:
"I have no message for her and the message for Muslim community, just ignore the issue, don't react to these things, this is one person, she want to be a Muslim now she is renouncing it ... so what? We don't lose anything by that."
"The community does not become strong by Leslie becoming a Muslim or weak by she not becoming a Muslim, so it's a non-issue for us and I don't know why the fuss about the whole thing."
Leslie faces questioning from the media on her arrival in Australia about her Islamic conversion. Virtually everyone has been sceptical about her so-called covert conversion.
Ameer Ali, a community leader of Aussie Muslims has this to say:
"I have no message for her and the message for Muslim community, just ignore the issue, don't react to these things, this is one person, she want to be a Muslim now she is renouncing it ... so what? We don't lose anything by that."
"The community does not become strong by Leslie becoming a Muslim or weak by she not becoming a Muslim, so it's a non-issue for us and I don't know why the fuss about the whole thing."
Leslie faces questioning from the media on her arrival in Australia about her Islamic conversion. Virtually everyone has been sceptical about her so-called covert conversion.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Nguyen's Execution is Inevitable
Sad as it may be, there is no doubt in my mind that at dawn on 02 December 2005, Nguyen will be executed by hanging. His family, including his twin brother for whom Nguyen claimed needed the earnings from the trafficking assignment to settle debts, have flown to Singapore to be with him in his final days, but not at the final moment.
The farewell message of the Singapore Hangman will be the last words he will hear before he, as promised by the hangman, 'goes to a better place than this one.'
Aussie PM John Howard has put in his personal appeal to Singapore PM Lee. Howard grumbled a bit about Lee's failure to inform him that the execution date had been decided when the personal appeal was made. But I think that's that.
Howard has demonstrated his 'concerns' for Nguyen's draconian fate, but will not sour relationship with an important ally and trading partner over a drug trafficker. In fact, in Nguyen's case, Howard has already gone beyond what he would do under similar circumstances for another Aussie.
Even the raging froth demonstrated by Aussie public for Shapelle Corby's case when she was arrested by Indonesian police didn't persuade Howard to appeal to the Indonesian President, well, at least he didn't publicly. What Howard did in that case was to make available an 'open cheque' for Corby's defence.
Two Popes had appealed to Singapore for clemency to be shown in Nguyen's fate. The UN has voiced its concerns. Aussie Foreign Minister Downer promises to keep trying but he doesn't hold up any hope, given Singapore's refusal to concede to any compassionate leeway.
Though the Australian Opposition, Labour and the Democrats have suggested protests and boycotts, I don't believe those are realistic proposals. Howard is the PM and unlikely to resort to such acrimonious confrontations.
There is a last resort proposal to take the issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), but such an application requires the agreement of both parties, meaning the Singapore government must accept the move. Aussie Foreign minister said it's unlikely Singapore would accede to any arbitration by the ICJ. I reckon so, especially in a case where Singapore is determined to prove it can't be shaken by appeals or pleas for compassion.
The Aussie public is certainly appalled by the heinous punishment of so young a man, and for what social benefit to Singapore society? But they are hardly likely to sway the Sinagpore government into clemency for Nguyen. I am afraid that in real life, the compassionate 'cavalry' won't arrive just in time. Unlike movies or TV shows, there won't be a last minute phone call from the Singapore President to stop the hangman from pulling the lever.
10 days remain for Nguyen till dawn on the 02nd of December. Time pass very swiftly.
The farewell message of the Singapore Hangman will be the last words he will hear before he, as promised by the hangman, 'goes to a better place than this one.'
Aussie PM John Howard has put in his personal appeal to Singapore PM Lee. Howard grumbled a bit about Lee's failure to inform him that the execution date had been decided when the personal appeal was made. But I think that's that.
Howard has demonstrated his 'concerns' for Nguyen's draconian fate, but will not sour relationship with an important ally and trading partner over a drug trafficker. In fact, in Nguyen's case, Howard has already gone beyond what he would do under similar circumstances for another Aussie.
Even the raging froth demonstrated by Aussie public for Shapelle Corby's case when she was arrested by Indonesian police didn't persuade Howard to appeal to the Indonesian President, well, at least he didn't publicly. What Howard did in that case was to make available an 'open cheque' for Corby's defence.
Two Popes had appealed to Singapore for clemency to be shown in Nguyen's fate. The UN has voiced its concerns. Aussie Foreign Minister Downer promises to keep trying but he doesn't hold up any hope, given Singapore's refusal to concede to any compassionate leeway.
Though the Australian Opposition, Labour and the Democrats have suggested protests and boycotts, I don't believe those are realistic proposals. Howard is the PM and unlikely to resort to such acrimonious confrontations.
There is a last resort proposal to take the issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), but such an application requires the agreement of both parties, meaning the Singapore government must accept the move. Aussie Foreign minister said it's unlikely Singapore would accede to any arbitration by the ICJ. I reckon so, especially in a case where Singapore is determined to prove it can't be shaken by appeals or pleas for compassion.
The Aussie public is certainly appalled by the heinous punishment of so young a man, and for what social benefit to Singapore society? But they are hardly likely to sway the Sinagpore government into clemency for Nguyen. I am afraid that in real life, the compassionate 'cavalry' won't arrive just in time. Unlike movies or TV shows, there won't be a last minute phone call from the Singapore President to stop the hangman from pulling the lever.
10 days remain for Nguyen till dawn on the 02nd of December. Time pass very swiftly.
Iraq Imploding
At the recent Iraqi reconciliation conference in Cairo, the Iraqi Shia and Kurdish groups staged a walkout when the Iraqi Christian spokesman accused them of being US stooges, saying the entire Iraqi political process was illegitimate and orchestrated by Washington.
But they returned when the accuser apologised.
I am not entirely surprised that there would be the walkout. In fact the miracle has been the attendance of the Shiites and Kurds. The Conference was called for by the Arab League, almost all of whom are Sunni Arabs, obviously not partial towards a Shia or non-Arab group.
Sunni Saudi Arabia has been apprehensive with the way things are developing, or in fact has already been established. The Saudis don’t fancy a powerful Shiite neighbour, with increasing Iranian influence spreading towards their Kingdom. If there is anyone the Wahhabis hate more than the Israelis or Americans, as if that is possible, yes, it’s a Shiite. And that’s the terrible truth.
Saudi Arabia has already grumbled to the USA about the inter-religious and inter-ethnic turmoil in Iraq. It worries that their Sunni compatriots will be completely marginalised form power in Iraq, leaving the Saudi Kingdom totally exposed to encroahing Shiite and Iranian influence and activities. In years past the USA has used that Mother of Them All, Saddam Hussein and his secular but Sunni dominated party to provide the buffer for oil-resource rich Saudi Arabia. Thanks to Bush junior, that Sunni buffer has been dismantled.
Politics make strange bedfellows where we see the Iraqi Christians and Sunnis sharing common concerns and thus are allies. Both had enjoyed influence and positions under Saddam Hussein, but now fears marginalisation under the Shiites and Kurds. And their cause of fear is well founded, as the Iraqi Shiite majority and Kurds, especially the latter, are already eyeing Chritian land in the north.
I doubt that much can or will be achieved at the conference. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, has already voiced his firm opposition to the inclusion of the former Saddam loyalists. Therein lies the divisive seed of acrimony, hatred and violence.
If there isn’t any reconciliation, I suspect the Sunni Arab community will probably foster and support the Sunni insurgency. I wouldn’t be surprised if Saudi Arabia will fund the whole lot. While there may be several religious/ethnic elements warring in Iraq, the principal conflict will be one of Sunni Arabs versus Shiite Arabs. And I wouldn't be surprised too when Iran chips in to support and train the Shiites.
As for the Kurds, the Turks will move in to confront them. If it's the Turks, will the US and Israel interfere?
But they returned when the accuser apologised.
I am not entirely surprised that there would be the walkout. In fact the miracle has been the attendance of the Shiites and Kurds. The Conference was called for by the Arab League, almost all of whom are Sunni Arabs, obviously not partial towards a Shia or non-Arab group.
Sunni Saudi Arabia has been apprehensive with the way things are developing, or in fact has already been established. The Saudis don’t fancy a powerful Shiite neighbour, with increasing Iranian influence spreading towards their Kingdom. If there is anyone the Wahhabis hate more than the Israelis or Americans, as if that is possible, yes, it’s a Shiite. And that’s the terrible truth.
Saudi Arabia has already grumbled to the USA about the inter-religious and inter-ethnic turmoil in Iraq. It worries that their Sunni compatriots will be completely marginalised form power in Iraq, leaving the Saudi Kingdom totally exposed to encroahing Shiite and Iranian influence and activities. In years past the USA has used that Mother of Them All, Saddam Hussein and his secular but Sunni dominated party to provide the buffer for oil-resource rich Saudi Arabia. Thanks to Bush junior, that Sunni buffer has been dismantled.
Politics make strange bedfellows where we see the Iraqi Christians and Sunnis sharing common concerns and thus are allies. Both had enjoyed influence and positions under Saddam Hussein, but now fears marginalisation under the Shiites and Kurds. And their cause of fear is well founded, as the Iraqi Shiite majority and Kurds, especially the latter, are already eyeing Chritian land in the north.
I doubt that much can or will be achieved at the conference. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, has already voiced his firm opposition to the inclusion of the former Saddam loyalists. Therein lies the divisive seed of acrimony, hatred and violence.
If there isn’t any reconciliation, I suspect the Sunni Arab community will probably foster and support the Sunni insurgency. I wouldn’t be surprised if Saudi Arabia will fund the whole lot. While there may be several religious/ethnic elements warring in Iraq, the principal conflict will be one of Sunni Arabs versus Shiite Arabs. And I wouldn't be surprised too when Iran chips in to support and train the Shiites.
As for the Kurds, the Turks will move in to confront them. If it's the Turks, will the US and Israel interfere?
Malaysia Forced to Dance the Tinikling
Deputy PM Najib is in damage control. He declares that Malaysia is NOT a breeding ground for Islamist terrorists.
Obviously embarrassed by the Jemaah Islamiyah duo of Noordin Top and the late Dr Azahari, and allegations of Malaysians funding those bomb terrorists, and with the added headache of the current unrest in southern Thailand where Thai Muslim secessionists are known to be harbouring in Kelantan, and sometimes operating from that Malaysian state, he sets about assuring neighbours and the global audience that the Malaysian government is not another Pakistan – OK, he didn’t use that word ‘Pakistan’, but you know what I mean.
The fact is the Malaysian federal government was and has been presented with tricky embarrassing issues by some State governments who saw or even see cross-border issues in a different light.
Years ago, it was common knowledge that a former Chief Minister of Sabah was funding Moro separatists in southern Philippines. The bloke fancied himself as a potential Caliph or Sultan of a confederation comprising Sabah and Mindanao groups of islands. The federal government was bloody wary of his ambition. While the Philippines government showed its pissed-off feelings, at times very vocally, Kuala Lumpur would, as Malaysians term it, “act dunno”.
Over on the Peninsula, the Thai separatist group PULO and its subsequent splinter groups had enjoyed and probably are still enjoying safe havens in Kelantan. As I mentioned, that doesn’t mean Kuala Lumpur was or is in the thick of it.
But it gets trickier when the opposition State governments corner Kuala Lumpur into defensive "parallel-talk" (I use this term rather than "double-talk"). The ruling party UMNO obviously doesn’t want to appear to the Malay-Muslim constituencies that it has been unsympathetic to Islamic brethrens across the borders. So the parallel-talk would seek, on one strand, to provide the required sympathetic noises for the benefit of the domestic audience while the second official strand would be to assure neighbouring nations that all have been above board.
But political parallel-talking is like dancing the Tinikling, the national folk dance of the Philippines - one wrong step and it's ouch! - soon both sides won’t believe a damn thing.
Related:
(1) Dr Azahari's activities funded by Malaysians
(2) PAS does not believe Dr Azahari was a terrorist
(3) Thai-Malaysian War of Words
(4) Is Malaysia a Good Neigbour?
(5) Thai Muslim Separatists on Charges
(6 )Thai Muslim Insurgents Slaughtered Buddhist Monk
(7) Thai PM told Hishammudin to Piss Off
Obviously embarrassed by the Jemaah Islamiyah duo of Noordin Top and the late Dr Azahari, and allegations of Malaysians funding those bomb terrorists, and with the added headache of the current unrest in southern Thailand where Thai Muslim secessionists are known to be harbouring in Kelantan, and sometimes operating from that Malaysian state, he sets about assuring neighbours and the global audience that the Malaysian government is not another Pakistan – OK, he didn’t use that word ‘Pakistan’, but you know what I mean.
The fact is the Malaysian federal government was and has been presented with tricky embarrassing issues by some State governments who saw or even see cross-border issues in a different light.
Years ago, it was common knowledge that a former Chief Minister of Sabah was funding Moro separatists in southern Philippines. The bloke fancied himself as a potential Caliph or Sultan of a confederation comprising Sabah and Mindanao groups of islands. The federal government was bloody wary of his ambition. While the Philippines government showed its pissed-off feelings, at times very vocally, Kuala Lumpur would, as Malaysians term it, “act dunno”.
Over on the Peninsula, the Thai separatist group PULO and its subsequent splinter groups had enjoyed and probably are still enjoying safe havens in Kelantan. As I mentioned, that doesn’t mean Kuala Lumpur was or is in the thick of it.
But it gets trickier when the opposition State governments corner Kuala Lumpur into defensive "parallel-talk" (I use this term rather than "double-talk"). The ruling party UMNO obviously doesn’t want to appear to the Malay-Muslim constituencies that it has been unsympathetic to Islamic brethrens across the borders. So the parallel-talk would seek, on one strand, to provide the required sympathetic noises for the benefit of the domestic audience while the second official strand would be to assure neighbouring nations that all have been above board.
But political parallel-talking is like dancing the Tinikling, the national folk dance of the Philippines - one wrong step and it's ouch! - soon both sides won’t believe a damn thing.
Related:
(1) Dr Azahari's activities funded by Malaysians
(2) PAS does not believe Dr Azahari was a terrorist
(3) Thai-Malaysian War of Words
(4) Is Malaysia a Good Neigbour?
(5) Thai Muslim Separatists on Charges
(6 )Thai Muslim Insurgents Slaughtered Buddhist Monk
(7) Thai PM told Hishammudin to Piss Off
Australia to Take Singapore to ICJ?
The Australian outrage is so great over the impending execution of Nguyen Van Tuong that the Australian Government is succumbing to pressure totake Singapore to the International Court of Justice to stop the hanging.
Aussie AG Philip Ruddock has set his legal advisors to look into the legal aspects. It seems that PM John Howard, who has been reluctant to pursue the case too vigorously because of close relationships with Singapore, has now taken a renewed interest in the case – probably due to intense public pressure.
Howard has even advised Singapore that Aussies are not going to allow the execution of Nguyen passed unnoticed. This statement is an extent of the Aussie outrage.
The prospects of Nguyen are not necessarily good even with such a step because Singapore may ignore the jurisdiction of the international court over the death penalty. But others argued that since Singapore has taken action before the international court over regional territorial disputes, it would be difficult of rthe island nation to ignore the the court's jurisdiction in this matter.
Aussie AG Philip Ruddock has set his legal advisors to look into the legal aspects. It seems that PM John Howard, who has been reluctant to pursue the case too vigorously because of close relationships with Singapore, has now taken a renewed interest in the case – probably due to intense public pressure.
Howard has even advised Singapore that Aussies are not going to allow the execution of Nguyen passed unnoticed. This statement is an extent of the Aussie outrage.
The prospects of Nguyen are not necessarily good even with such a step because Singapore may ignore the jurisdiction of the international court over the death penalty. But others argued that since Singapore has taken action before the international court over regional territorial disputes, it would be difficult of rthe island nation to ignore the the court's jurisdiction in this matter.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
China Gives 'Face' to Bush
In a move to placate the US complaint about China’s trade surplus, expected to be US$200 billion this year, Beijing has ordered 70 Boeing 737 jets worth US$4 billions to coincide with President Bush’s visit to China. That will give Bush mucho ‘face’ and lessen the pressure for China to monkey around with its currency issue.
China has also taken an option for another 80 Boeing jetliner, which undoubtedly will set champagne popping in Seattle.
A couple of years ago, I read a Boeing Company’s forecast which predicts China buying over the next 20 years some 2,400 jetliners. What a scrumptious picture!
That’s why American business are at odds with the Christian Right (and pro-Taiwan lobbies) over US relationship with China. The former wants a cordial relationship based on trade while the latter wants to sermonise to China about religious freedom and an independent Taiwan. The President has a hard time trying to please both sides.
And of course China will tweak and tune affairs to its favour by judicious and enticing purchases of American goods.
China has also taken an option for another 80 Boeing jetliner, which undoubtedly will set champagne popping in Seattle.
A couple of years ago, I read a Boeing Company’s forecast which predicts China buying over the next 20 years some 2,400 jetliners. What a scrumptious picture!
That’s why American business are at odds with the Christian Right (and pro-Taiwan lobbies) over US relationship with China. The former wants a cordial relationship based on trade while the latter wants to sermonise to China about religious freedom and an independent Taiwan. The President has a hard time trying to please both sides.
And of course China will tweak and tune affairs to its favour by judicious and enticing purchases of American goods.
Malaysian Wounded in Thai Bomb Blast
A Malaysian tourist has been wounded in southern Thailand as a result of 2 bomb blasts. 11 others have been wounded too.
The first blast occurred at a Narathiwat restaurant 1930 hours or 7:30 pm Malaysian time, while the 2nd bomb went off five minutes later around the same restaurant.
3 Thai policemen were also wounded. Police informed that one Thai man is in a critical condition. Since the bombings began January last year, more than 1000 people have been killed in Thailand's three southern provinces.
The first blast occurred at a Narathiwat restaurant 1930 hours or 7:30 pm Malaysian time, while the 2nd bomb went off five minutes later around the same restaurant.
3 Thai policemen were also wounded. Police informed that one Thai man is in a critical condition. Since the bombings began January last year, more than 1000 people have been killed in Thailand's three southern provinces.
Michelle Leslie & the Sweet Aroma of Notoriety
AAP photo from Sydney Morning Herald 20 Nov 2005Aussie lingerie and underwear model, Muslim convert, Michelle Leslie will arrive in Australia today after a brief reunion with her family in Singapore. Her No 1 priority after the harrowing experience is to marry her millionaire boyfriend, Scott Sutton, heir to a car dealership - lucky bloke!
There were talks of her lawyers negotiating TV rights on her story, but as I mentioned, Australia has a law that forbids profiting from crime. So serial killers, husbands or wives’ murderers, terrorists, bank robbers or those convicted of drug offences may not earn money from media interviews, stories, books, whatever, including endorsement of kitchen knives (it went into the bitch like laser cutting butter), agricultural fertiliser (guaranteed to blow up your hibicious size), or the burqa (your portable privacy in a non-private world).
Because she had received a guilty verdict, the plans to auction her story to Aussie TV have to be abandoned, but no worries, she still has her old job in the fashion business, and unbelievably (or should it be?), the Australian fashion industry has flocked to Leslie’s modelling agency, Chic, promising lots of work and support. Notoriety certainly has the sweet aroma of appeal.
Sorry, Kate Moss, eat your heart out – you aren’t Aussie.
Hypocrisy of Singapore in Nguyen's Execution
Singapore's leading opposition figure, Dr Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore Democratic Party, in a television interview with renown journalist/presenter Helen Vatsikopaulos on ABC’s programme Asia-Pacific Focus, gave the low-down on the Singapore’s hypocrisy in the Nguyen Van Tuong’s affair.
We need to be aware that Dr Chee is of course the Singapore opposition leader, therefore his views won’t be entirely favourable to the Singapore PM and his cabinet. But that doesn’t mean we can’t listen and assess how substantial have been his opinions and comments. Afterall, we won’t get unbiased news from the Singapore ruling PAP either.
Firstly, Dr Chee asserted what I have had alluded to before in my postings on the Nguyen Van Tuong’s case. Singapore is stubbornly holding fast to a doctrine that no longer applies for a 1st World nation, especially today. Dr Chee said the cold-blooded insistence on executing Nguyen is based on Singapore’s policy of showing the world that it could and would ‘act tough’. That’s all.
That was why Sydney Cardinal George Pell described the draconian sentence as *disproportionate*, a humongous overkill. It certainly is *disproportionate* – even the US state of Texas, notorious for its many state executions, don’t send people to the gallows for possession or trafficking in drugs.
The ‘act tough’ attitude might have served a 'newly born' Singapore in the past, to promote national resilience, assertion of national sovereignty and a picture to outsiders that they ‘don’t f**k around with Singapore’.
That was how Singapore, some years back, insensitively thumbed its nose at its ASEAN Muslim neighbours when it deliberately hosted an official visit from the President of Israel, while Catholic Philippines backed away and cancelled the visit by the same Israeli persona non grata.
Michael Hill, writing in the Asian Studies Institute, had this to say:
My underlining and bold-ing
OK, that had been the ideological framework of a rising Singapore nation in the ‘60’s, which served them well. Today, Singapore is officially established as a 1st World nation. Unfortunately Singapore chooses to still retain that same old archaic ‘caveman’ formula when in reality that doctrine has outlived its usefulness and may be counterproductive to its 1st World international image. In fact there are now international questions as to its 1st World credentials if it fails in the morality and humanity departments.
Be that as it may – it’s still Singapore’s right and sovereign decision.
But Dr Chee said that Sinagpore's ‘tough’ act collapses like a house of hypocritical cards when we compare Singapore’s stubborn intention to execute a nobody like Nguyen, while it has a booming trade with Burma, one of the world's biggest producers of opium. Isn’t that just sickening?
What can Singapore say to this double standards of the worst kind - killing a man for drug trafficking, while dealing with and profiting from the association with a larger drug trafficker?
Dr Chee also mentioned that ‘mules’ like Nguyen have sometimes been used as sacrificial diversionary bait. The drug syndicate would provide the mules with small quantities of drugs, report their itinerary to the authorities to have that mule arrested, and while the anti-drug force was focused on the mule, larger quantities of drugs would be slipped through elsewhere undetected.
This trafficking tactic has really blown out of the water some people’s arguments that capital punishment is a deterrent against drug trafficking. All it does mean is that those who are caught would be executed but god knows how many more have slipped through? And according to Dr Chee, those caught and executed could well be those sacrificial mules.
But the most damning revelation is Singapore's hypocritical dealings with the repressive and criminal Burmese regime.
We need to be aware that Dr Chee is of course the Singapore opposition leader, therefore his views won’t be entirely favourable to the Singapore PM and his cabinet. But that doesn’t mean we can’t listen and assess how substantial have been his opinions and comments. Afterall, we won’t get unbiased news from the Singapore ruling PAP either.
Firstly, Dr Chee asserted what I have had alluded to before in my postings on the Nguyen Van Tuong’s case. Singapore is stubbornly holding fast to a doctrine that no longer applies for a 1st World nation, especially today. Dr Chee said the cold-blooded insistence on executing Nguyen is based on Singapore’s policy of showing the world that it could and would ‘act tough’. That’s all.
That was why Sydney Cardinal George Pell described the draconian sentence as *disproportionate*, a humongous overkill. It certainly is *disproportionate* – even the US state of Texas, notorious for its many state executions, don’t send people to the gallows for possession or trafficking in drugs.
The ‘act tough’ attitude might have served a 'newly born' Singapore in the past, to promote national resilience, assertion of national sovereignty and a picture to outsiders that they ‘don’t f**k around with Singapore’.
That was how Singapore, some years back, insensitively thumbed its nose at its ASEAN Muslim neighbours when it deliberately hosted an official visit from the President of Israel, while Catholic Philippines backed away and cancelled the visit by the same Israeli persona non grata.
Michael Hill, writing in the Asian Studies Institute, had this to say:
The Singapore government's response, articulated by Malay members of the PAP, was to view with grave concern interference by foreign (Malaysian) politicians in Singapore's internal affairs. Both the assiduous encouragement of the reporting of foreign comment, as in the visit of the Israeli resident, and the outraged dismissal of it, as in the SAF controversy and in various alleged incursions of the United States into Singapore's internal politics, have the function of securing the legitimacy of the state; on the one hand by highlighting the external threat and on the other by emphasising the government's ability to act independently.
At all events, this latter aspect was re-emphasised in a further statement by Lee Hsien Loong in which he recounted the history of ethnic distribution in the Singapore Armed Forces, argued that despite intensive efforts at nation-building Singapore society still was not fully integrated, as evidenced by reaction to the Israeli President's visit, and concluded: "This is a Singapore problem. We will solve it ourselves. Only Singaporeans can determine our own future and destiny".
My underlining and bold-ing
OK, that had been the ideological framework of a rising Singapore nation in the ‘60’s, which served them well. Today, Singapore is officially established as a 1st World nation. Unfortunately Singapore chooses to still retain that same old archaic ‘caveman’ formula when in reality that doctrine has outlived its usefulness and may be counterproductive to its 1st World international image. In fact there are now international questions as to its 1st World credentials if it fails in the morality and humanity departments.
Be that as it may – it’s still Singapore’s right and sovereign decision.
But Dr Chee said that Sinagpore's ‘tough’ act collapses like a house of hypocritical cards when we compare Singapore’s stubborn intention to execute a nobody like Nguyen, while it has a booming trade with Burma, one of the world's biggest producers of opium. Isn’t that just sickening?
What can Singapore say to this double standards of the worst kind - killing a man for drug trafficking, while dealing with and profiting from the association with a larger drug trafficker?
Dr Chee also mentioned that ‘mules’ like Nguyen have sometimes been used as sacrificial diversionary bait. The drug syndicate would provide the mules with small quantities of drugs, report their itinerary to the authorities to have that mule arrested, and while the anti-drug force was focused on the mule, larger quantities of drugs would be slipped through elsewhere undetected.
This trafficking tactic has really blown out of the water some people’s arguments that capital punishment is a deterrent against drug trafficking. All it does mean is that those who are caught would be executed but god knows how many more have slipped through? And according to Dr Chee, those caught and executed could well be those sacrificial mules.
But the most damning revelation is Singapore's hypocritical dealings with the repressive and criminal Burmese regime.
Virginity in Tamilnadu Vital to Tamil-hood
Journalist Swati Das of the Times of India advised readers not to speak the truth in Chennai – Madras for pro Brit people.
What does he mean? Well, the story started with what Indian movie star Khushboo had said. She is now in deep shitttttttt.
She was detained but just allowed bail with an admonition from the judge for her to shutup. Even movies starring her have been banned or had her part clipped off.
Khushboo had said casually that men should no longer expect their brides to be virgins (what's that?). Then she gave good advice to youngsters to use protection when indulging in premarital sex, because of the danger of contacting AIDS.
This was what Das said of her remarks:
Suddenly Khushboo found that there were 25 defamation cases against her for suggesting to men not to expect their brides to be virgins. Das lamented that as ‘cultural ayatollahs’, courts and police hounded Khushboo, there were very few people in Tamil Nadu who was ready to defend her and her freedom of speech.
However another actress, Suhasini did, apologising to Khushboo on behalf of the Tamil people, but subsequently found she was subjected to the same harrassment by Tamilnadu's cultural ayatollahs'. The pressure was so punishing that she was forced to withdraw her support for Kushboo and instead apologise to Chennai's film industry.
Das pointed out that the Congress Party lacks balls as well (actually he put it in a less colourful manner). He noted that Jayanti Natarajan, a party leader, merely said that people have a right to express their views but Khushboo shouldn’t have hurt a section of people [this having-it-two-ways reminds me of PAS stand with regards to the slaying of Dr Azahari].
Das condemned the Indian media (apart from The Times of India) for remaining largely mute during the controversy instead of providing balanced information.
Das said two political parties, Patali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and Dalit Panthers of India (DPI) have equated chastity (meaning virgin brides and no premarital sex) to Tamil-hood. Hence these Tamil Talibans went for the jugulars of liberal-minded people like Khushboo and Suhasini.
Yes, it happened in India, the world's largest democracy.
What does he mean? Well, the story started with what Indian movie star Khushboo had said. She is now in deep shitttttttt.
She was detained but just allowed bail with an admonition from the judge for her to shutup. Even movies starring her have been banned or had her part clipped off.
Khushboo had said casually that men should no longer expect their brides to be virgins (what's that?). Then she gave good advice to youngsters to use protection when indulging in premarital sex, because of the danger of contacting AIDS.
This was what Das said of her remarks:
“Anywhere else, Khushboo would have been called an anti-AIDS spokesperson and perhaps even feted, but not Tamil Nadu with its insular politics and blinkered politicians.”
“It was almost as if the state was being guided by some Taliban-type morality inspectors. Police have in recent weeks closed a star hotel after local papers published pictures of a private party where couples were seen kissing, and hauled up other couples just walking in parks."
"Over a year ago, a few women poets were lambasted by their male colleagues for writing about women's sexuality. One said these women should be slapped!”
Suddenly Khushboo found that there were 25 defamation cases against her for suggesting to men not to expect their brides to be virgins. Das lamented that as ‘cultural ayatollahs’, courts and police hounded Khushboo, there were very few people in Tamil Nadu who was ready to defend her and her freedom of speech.
However another actress, Suhasini did, apologising to Khushboo on behalf of the Tamil people, but subsequently found she was subjected to the same harrassment by Tamilnadu's cultural ayatollahs'. The pressure was so punishing that she was forced to withdraw her support for Kushboo and instead apologise to Chennai's film industry.
Das pointed out that the Congress Party lacks balls as well (actually he put it in a less colourful manner). He noted that Jayanti Natarajan, a party leader, merely said that people have a right to express their views but Khushboo shouldn’t have hurt a section of people [this having-it-two-ways reminds me of PAS stand with regards to the slaying of Dr Azahari].
Das condemned the Indian media (apart from The Times of India) for remaining largely mute during the controversy instead of providing balanced information.
Das said two political parties, Patali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and Dalit Panthers of India (DPI) have equated chastity (meaning virgin brides and no premarital sex) to Tamil-hood. Hence these Tamil Talibans went for the jugulars of liberal-minded people like Khushboo and Suhasini.
Yes, it happened in India, the world's largest democracy.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Michelle Leslie Left Bali
Michelle Leslie has flown out of Bali at around 10:00 pm Malaysian time, on her way to Singapore. I doubt she’ll drop in on Nguyen Van Tuong. She will be fairly busy with her lawyers negotiating the best deal for an exclusive Aussie TV interview, though by Aussie law, her 3-month conviction by the Bali courts has automatically made it illegal for her to receive any profits from her Bali experience, whether by the TV interview, film, book or talkshows, etc.
Magic Transformation of a Balinese Goddess
In Barung, the Balinese dance drama, the hero Sadewa killed the evil witch Rangda. However, Rangda's servant, Kalika, obviously a powerful magician herself, could transform herself into a wild boar, bird, and even the slain Rangda herself in her fight against Sadewa.
Yesirree, in Balinese Hindu beliefs, magic transformation was frequently used to avoid adversity.
Flash forward to the future - 2005!
as expected Michelle Leslie,
Aussie model for underwear and lingerie,
sometimes only in body paint,
arrested for possession of 2 ecstasy pills in Bali,
an 18 months covert Muslim convert (revealed only after her arrest),
dressed piously in middle eastern burqa,
apologised to Indonesia and people,
claimed “mysterious” woman gave her pills,
claimed Indon minister’s sons with her on night of arrest,
smiled confidently in court before sentence read out,
her lawyers denied she has already been informed of the verdict,
sentenced to 3 months for illegal possession instead of the 15 years
initially announced, and
also on the mitigating grounds that the pills were brought for her,
by a “mysterious” woman who wouldn’t be found, but which story the Bali court unbelievably believe,
(Schapelle Corby, eat your heart out – they didn’t believe you story but they believe Michelle Leslie’s),
judges said some sweet encouraging words about her -
polite, remorseful blah blah blah,
will be deported tonight,
released from prison,
no longer dressed in burqa,
but in skin-tight jeans, a tight tank-top (wow),
thongs, designer sunglasses with heavy makeup,
two questions,
will she still be a Muslim when she arrives in Australia?
will her burqa transform to body paint?
Yesirree, in Balinese Hindu beliefs, magic transformation was frequently used to avoid adversity.
Flash forward to the future - 2005!
as expected Michelle Leslie,
Aussie model for underwear and lingerie,
sometimes only in body paint,
arrested for possession of 2 ecstasy pills in Bali,
an 18 months covert Muslim convert (revealed only after her arrest),
dressed piously in middle eastern burqa,
apologised to Indonesia and people,
claimed “mysterious” woman gave her pills,
claimed Indon minister’s sons with her on night of arrest,
smiled confidently in court before sentence read out,
her lawyers denied she has already been informed of the verdict,
sentenced to 3 months for illegal possession instead of the 15 years
initially announced, and
also on the mitigating grounds that the pills were brought for her,
by a “mysterious” woman who wouldn’t be found, but which story the Bali court unbelievably believe,
(Schapelle Corby, eat your heart out – they didn’t believe you story but they believe Michelle Leslie’s),
judges said some sweet encouraging words about her -
polite, remorseful blah blah blah,
will be deported tonight,
released from prison,
no longer dressed in burqa,
but in skin-tight jeans, a tight tank-top (wow),
thongs, designer sunglasses with heavy makeup,
two questions,
will she still be a Muslim when she arrives in Australia?
will her burqa transform to body paint?
Messages from Osama bin Laden (2)
Carrying on from Messages from Osama bin Laden (1), as published by Verso we get more of Osama’s words, but this time with some double talking.
This bloke who has been condemned worldwide for killing 3000 innocent civilians in September 2001 had the brazen nerve to say that killing the innocent is wrong. He must be living deep in a cave in Pakistan’s border region, for hasn’t he heard of what had happened in Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan and Indonesia, all Islamic or Muslim-dominated nations?
However, he affirmed that there is a global conflict underway between the umma, or Muslim community, and unbelievers. I would like to correct him, by declaring that there is a religious slaughter among the umma, for we see Islamist militants killing other Muslims, in fact more than they have killed non-believers.
Now here’s the cheeky bit, or should we say, utter arrogance. Osama will accept the surrender of the United States of America but only if the American nation fulfils the following 10 points:
(1) convert to Islam - I wonder what Ayatollah Pat Robertson will say?
(2) ditch its constitution
(3) abolish banks (what about ATMs?)
(4) jail homosexuals - careful there, as Pat Robertson may agree
(5) ban alcoholic drinks (KTemoc objects)
(6) ban gambling
(7) bar women from appearing in the press (stuff like photos or in ads) (KTemoc objects)
(8) bar women from serving passengers, visitors and strangers (KTemoc objects)
(9) stop US oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery that has spread among their people
and the best one,
(10) sign the Kyoto climate change treaty (KTemoc supports)
;-)
This bloke who has been condemned worldwide for killing 3000 innocent civilians in September 2001 had the brazen nerve to say that killing the innocent is wrong. He must be living deep in a cave in Pakistan’s border region, for hasn’t he heard of what had happened in Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan and Indonesia, all Islamic or Muslim-dominated nations?
However, he affirmed that there is a global conflict underway between the umma, or Muslim community, and unbelievers. I would like to correct him, by declaring that there is a religious slaughter among the umma, for we see Islamist militants killing other Muslims, in fact more than they have killed non-believers.
Now here’s the cheeky bit, or should we say, utter arrogance. Osama will accept the surrender of the United States of America but only if the American nation fulfils the following 10 points:
(1) convert to Islam - I wonder what Ayatollah Pat Robertson will say?
(2) ditch its constitution
(3) abolish banks (what about ATMs?)
(4) jail homosexuals - careful there, as Pat Robertson may agree
(5) ban alcoholic drinks (KTemoc objects)
(6) ban gambling
(7) bar women from appearing in the press (stuff like photos or in ads) (KTemoc objects)
(8) bar women from serving passengers, visitors and strangers (KTemoc objects)
(9) stop US oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery that has spread among their people
and the best one,
(10) sign the Kyoto climate change treaty (KTemoc supports)
;-)
Accepting the Chinese ‘kick in the arse’
The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, has been notorious for his crude and bigoted comments, which have been a constant source of embarrassment both to Buckingham Palace and the British government.
For example, while visiting China some twenty years ago, he told a group of Scottish students in the city of Xian that Beijing was ghastly and added his bigoted remarks about the danger of the students returning to Scotland with slitty eyes if they stayed in China too long.
It seems his son, Prince Charles, has inherited his love for making such comments, though the younger prince has been more circumspect by only making them in his private journals on his official travels. Unfortunately he circulated his journals to a hundred friends, relatives and contacts. Invariably one fell into the hands of Associated Press. The prince is now suing the news agency for publishing extracts from his journal.
On the handover of Hong Kong back to its rightful owner in 1997, where he represented Britain, he titled the journal The Handover of Hong Kong - or The Great Chinese Takeaway.
Obviously the second part of the title indicated his chagrin with Britain, a has-been world-power, losing back to the Chinese what it had robbed from China in the first place
In the journal he described Chinese diplomats as ’appalling old waxworks', the ceremony as an ‘awful Soviet-style’ performance and ‘ridiculous rigmarole’, and dismissed a speech by then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin as propaganda.
I am sure we can understand why he was upset about what he described as ‘The Great Chinese Takeaway’.
Britain was once a mighty world power with the most powerful navy on the planet Earth. It went to China, kicked some Chinese arses, consficated Hong Kong and dominated the region for eons.
In 1997, the roles were reversed. Despite the ostentatiously friendly handing over-taking over ceremony, as the official representative of an emasculated power and probably the twilight element of a once powerful dynasty, he must have hated being assigned the degrading role of accepting the Chinese ‘kick in the arse’ out of Hong Kong.
For example, while visiting China some twenty years ago, he told a group of Scottish students in the city of Xian that Beijing was ghastly and added his bigoted remarks about the danger of the students returning to Scotland with slitty eyes if they stayed in China too long.
It seems his son, Prince Charles, has inherited his love for making such comments, though the younger prince has been more circumspect by only making them in his private journals on his official travels. Unfortunately he circulated his journals to a hundred friends, relatives and contacts. Invariably one fell into the hands of Associated Press. The prince is now suing the news agency for publishing extracts from his journal.
On the handover of Hong Kong back to its rightful owner in 1997, where he represented Britain, he titled the journal The Handover of Hong Kong - or The Great Chinese Takeaway.
Obviously the second part of the title indicated his chagrin with Britain, a has-been world-power, losing back to the Chinese what it had robbed from China in the first place
In the journal he described Chinese diplomats as ’appalling old waxworks', the ceremony as an ‘awful Soviet-style’ performance and ‘ridiculous rigmarole’, and dismissed a speech by then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin as propaganda.
I am sure we can understand why he was upset about what he described as ‘The Great Chinese Takeaway’.
Britain was once a mighty world power with the most powerful navy on the planet Earth. It went to China, kicked some Chinese arses, consficated Hong Kong and dominated the region for eons.
In 1997, the roles were reversed. Despite the ostentatiously friendly handing over-taking over ceremony, as the official representative of an emasculated power and probably the twilight element of a once powerful dynasty, he must have hated being assigned the degrading role of accepting the Chinese ‘kick in the arse’ out of Hong Kong.
Nguyen's Execution - Singapore in the Dock
The horror of Nguyen Van Tuong’s pending execution has struck home in Australia truly well and good. Public anger has erupted against Singapore’s cruelty in proceeding with his execution, scheduled for the dawn of 02 December 2005.
That has been why PM John Howard made a last minute appeal to his Singapore counterpart despite an earlier refusal to do so. That’s why Howard continues to grumble in public on why he hasn’t been satisfied with Singapore’s failure to inform him of the execution date, already determined prior to his appeal to PM Lee. Howard is the consummate politician who knows he must ‘fall into line’ with Aussie public feelings, and be seen to be doing so.
Was Nguyen guilty of drug trafficking? Yes. Then what’s the issue?
Sydney Catholic Archbishop, and the principal Catholic primate of Australia, Cardinal Goerge Pell summarised it best. He said of the execution:
"I deplore the decision of the Singapore Government to proceed with this execution. Illegal drugs are a scourge, but the punishment in Van's case is completely disproportionate to the crime he has committed."
*Disproportionate!*
The punishment is totally *disproportionate*, and reflects the Singapore government's stubbornness in holding fast to a national doctrine against drug trafficking that has proven to be ineffectual. Singapore has already executed hundreds of drug traffickers, of small and large quantities of the illegal substance, yet those traffickers have not stop coming. Yes, they should be arrested but the solution lies not in hanging them.
In fact, if punishment is intended to be punitive, wouldn’t it be more effective by confining the criminal behind bars for long periods to let them reflect on (or ‘stew’ over) the seriousness of the crime?
If the intention of the draconian sentence is to deter other potential drug criminals, as it should be, then wouldn’t it be more terrifying to let those intending to commit the same crime know that years and years of confinement await them, without parole or reduction of the pronounced sentence, that they may never see the outisde of their prison walls for the next 30 or 50 years again?
While some argue the death sentence is a mighty terrifying deterrent, others have argued that criminals, most from desperate backgrounds with little to lose other than their lives, are prepared to take the risk and die if necessary.
Their common desperate attitude seems to be “It will just end my miserable life here anyway”, echoing the Singapore Hangman’s farewell message of “I am going to send you to a better place than this”.
Decades of languishing in restricted confinement, growing old behind in a prisoner’s cell, never ever returning to society again – surely, that’s more terrifying than swift death for would-be drug traffickers.
Economically, politically and administratively, Singapore has worked its way admirably into the ranks of the 1st World nations in just 40 years, yet it is now failing that ranking by its abysmal moral standards with regards to the value of a human life.
Related:
2 Weeks of Life Left for Nguyen Van Tuong
That has been why PM John Howard made a last minute appeal to his Singapore counterpart despite an earlier refusal to do so. That’s why Howard continues to grumble in public on why he hasn’t been satisfied with Singapore’s failure to inform him of the execution date, already determined prior to his appeal to PM Lee. Howard is the consummate politician who knows he must ‘fall into line’ with Aussie public feelings, and be seen to be doing so.
Was Nguyen guilty of drug trafficking? Yes. Then what’s the issue?
Sydney Catholic Archbishop, and the principal Catholic primate of Australia, Cardinal Goerge Pell summarised it best. He said of the execution:
"I deplore the decision of the Singapore Government to proceed with this execution. Illegal drugs are a scourge, but the punishment in Van's case is completely disproportionate to the crime he has committed."
*Disproportionate!*
The punishment is totally *disproportionate*, and reflects the Singapore government's stubbornness in holding fast to a national doctrine against drug trafficking that has proven to be ineffectual. Singapore has already executed hundreds of drug traffickers, of small and large quantities of the illegal substance, yet those traffickers have not stop coming. Yes, they should be arrested but the solution lies not in hanging them.
In fact, if punishment is intended to be punitive, wouldn’t it be more effective by confining the criminal behind bars for long periods to let them reflect on (or ‘stew’ over) the seriousness of the crime?
If the intention of the draconian sentence is to deter other potential drug criminals, as it should be, then wouldn’t it be more terrifying to let those intending to commit the same crime know that years and years of confinement await them, without parole or reduction of the pronounced sentence, that they may never see the outisde of their prison walls for the next 30 or 50 years again?
While some argue the death sentence is a mighty terrifying deterrent, others have argued that criminals, most from desperate backgrounds with little to lose other than their lives, are prepared to take the risk and die if necessary.
Their common desperate attitude seems to be “It will just end my miserable life here anyway”, echoing the Singapore Hangman’s farewell message of “I am going to send you to a better place than this”.
Decades of languishing in restricted confinement, growing old behind in a prisoner’s cell, never ever returning to society again – surely, that’s more terrifying than swift death for would-be drug traffickers.
Economically, politically and administratively, Singapore has worked its way admirably into the ranks of the 1st World nations in just 40 years, yet it is now failing that ranking by its abysmal moral standards with regards to the value of a human life.
Related:
2 Weeks of Life Left for Nguyen Van Tuong
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