iProtest: with Steve Jobs gone, will the worm in the Apple begin to turn?

Even as the world mourns the passing of Steve Jobs - a visionary inventor and also the true-blue American entrepreneur who gave us the Apple computer, the MacBook, the iPod, iPhone, and iPad - there are others, like Debby Chan, who are less concerned with saving to buy the latest iPad, and more concerned about the sorry plight of thousands of Chinese factory workers who manufacture these iconic brand products under less than ideal conditions.

[Source: Al Jazeera's Activate series]

One last dig at Steve Jobs....

Steve Jobs & Bill Gates in Conversation

[Forwarded by Shanghai Fish]

Steve Jobs
(24 Feb 1955 - 5 Oct 2011)

Walt Mossberg: The Steve Jobs I Knew

That Steve Jobs was a genius, a giant influence on multiple industries and billions of lives, has been written many times since he retired as Apple's chief executive in August. He was a historical figure on the scale of a Thomas Edison or Henry Ford, and set the mold for many other corporate leaders in many other industries.

He did what a CEO should. He hired and inspired great people; managed for the long term, not the quarter or the short-term stock price; made big bets and took big risks. He insisted on the highest product quality and on building things to delight and empower actual users, not intermediaries like corporate IT directors. As he liked to say, he lived at the intersection of technology and liberal arts.

And he could sell. Man, he could sell.

[Read more here.]

STEVE JOBS: HOW TO LIVE BEFORE YOU DIE

courtesy of Jonathan Mak Long

42 years after Apollo 11 moon landing... mystery shadow explained!

On 20 July 1969, NASA's Apollo 11 mission landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon. It was Armstrong who uttered the famous words: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." 

Nobody noticed in the initial excitement of what was purportedly the first manned lunar expedition that a few photos revealed a mysterious shadow near Buzz Aldrin.

For decades there have been heated discussions within the scientific community as to what might have cast that strange shadow on the lunar surface. There have even been suggestions that the Apollo 11 mission was actually just a public relations exercise to conceal the fact that humans had already been on the moon long before July 1969. Indeed, in 1977 a sci-fi thriller called Capricorn One was released with a fake Mars landing as its central theme. Conspiracy buffs say the movie was inspired by insider talk that NASA was trying to cover up secret lunar operations dating back to the 1950s, including underground bases on the dark side of the moon.

Finally, after 42 years, we now know what object actually cast that mystery shadow on the moon... and who Buzz Aldrin was waving at...

"Hey there, young fella, what's your name... 

and what have you got, besides bananas?"

"My name is Mooniandy, sir, I come from Kerala.  

Would you like your bananas split, fried or blended with vanilla ice cream?"

Eat your heart out, Muhyiddin.

[Photos courtesy of Shanghai Fish]

With friends like "Pink-Lipped Pussy-Licker"... who needs Anwar?

This is the fourth time since 26 July 2006 thieves have stolen sections of phone cable, thereby depriving me of internet access for days on end. And so I have been unable to respond speedily to comments left on my last blogpost. One in particular from "NSTman" I found so imbecilic and pedestrian, I either had to delete it so it won't leave my blog stinking of unwashed feet... or respond to it with as much compassion as I can possibly muster (I have to admit, folks, that ever since that pathetic Potatohead Gestapoman posing as a "home minister" - I don't even wish to see his vile name in print - decided to transfer RPK to Kamunting, I have been growing increasingly intolerant of Umno's very existence. This is one party that deserves to be clinically eliminated like an incurable case of halitosis; and the way they have been deliberately provoking Hindraf supporters is nothing short of political pornography).

Before I began to deconstruct NSTman's spam-like comment, I figured I should check his credentials, if any. So I looked up his Blogger profile... and discovered he's actually a professional cunnilinguist masquerading as a journalist.

Some of my best friends are cunnilinguists - and I must say I'm partial to the occasional serving of young, succulent pussy myself - but I'm rather selective when it comes to "sexual acts against the natural order." I prefer my shrimps dried in the sun, pounded with chili, and fried in oil - not right up my nostrils. I've also discovered that eating strange pussy is a great deal more stimulating than dining on close family members. When it comes right down to cunnilingus, familiarity often breeds apathy. But I'm digressing here.

When I visted NSTman's blog, this is what I found...


That's right, folks, it was a fake blog. Not a single entry to be found. And he lists his email address as chowhai@gmail.com (for the uninitiated, that means "smelly cunt" in Cantonese). So, that's it... the remarkable profile of a BN cybertrooper!


Oh, but wait a minute... NSTman operates a second blog called... Pussy Licker! And his first and only post, dated 21 October 2008, is headed: "I yam what I yam... a pussy licker." How's that for ingenuity and blistering wit?

Let's go straight to the anti-Anwar comment NSTman left on my last blogpost, shall we? I shall resist the temptation to tweak NSTman's wobbly grammar and syntax. His comment appears in green italics...

Malaysians in general and the Western media in particular would make a hero out of Anwar Ibrahim even if he is defiant of the law.

Defiant of what law? Umno's?

Is Anwar above the law or does he thinks he is above the law? Is he to be treated differently from other ordinary Malaysians? What makes he thinks he has immunity from being issued with an order to present himself at the police station for questioning? Are they not just excuses to provoke the police to arrest him so we Malaysians can make a hero out of him.

For a moment there I thought you were talking about Najib. He's defler who behaves like he's above the law and refuses to subject himself to being called up as a witness in the Altantuya murder trial. I bet if Rosmah, Najib, and Musa Safri (their ADC) are subpoenaed as key witnesses their presence will greatly enliven the proceedings in court. In any case, Anwar has bent over backwards to cooperate with the police - even though the entire world (except diehard fans of Mahathir) views the grotesque sodomy accusations as a flat-footed and pea-brained plot to sabotage his promising political career.

He is no Nehru, Ghandi or Mendela. If he had been selfless and as noble as those three gentlemen I would have great respect and sympathy for him, but he is not. His thirst for power has passed the threshold of decency, it's pure greed and self-glorification.

Nehru and Gandhi are dead heroes - and dead heroes don't have armpit odors, nor do they suffer from scrotal itch. If you were part of the British colonial government of India, you might have had entirely different perceptions of both these defiant freedom-fighters. Indeed, you might even have accused them of "unnatural sex acts" and attempted to arrest them under the ISA. As for Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison, I doubt he had much choice in the matter. Anwar was in Sungai Buloh for 6 years - short 21 years to qualify him as "selfless and noble" by South African standards. What I'm saying is: we tend to overlook and dismiss the authentic heroes in our midst and glorify those long dead or operating a safe distance away.

Many Malaysians still can't see through this man and where he is taking this country to. His dramatic and dreadful display of playing the victim to rile up his supporters into a frenzy has been his trade mark since his ABIM days. He has no respect for the democratic process, he glorifies demonstrations, intimidation and coercion as the right process to demolish an elected government.

NSTman, in a real democracy, governments come and go. In Malaysia we've had to put up with BN since 1957. Being an impassioned and inspired orator means you know how to stir up the crowd and imprint your vision on the collective imagination. Just because BN has never produced an equally charismatic leader doesn't make Anwar Ibrahim a freak. He's simply very good at his job and extremely determined to fulfil his destiny as a non-Umno PM. And I'll tell you something, Mr NSTman:

Whenever I hear Anwar or any of the Pakatan Rakyat leaders speak, I invariably feel energized and optimistic. But when any of the Umno flers opens his mouth, I feel the unmistakable pull of gravity - these Umno idiots are a bunch of myopic, robotic, self-serving wet blankets and they drive decent folk to utter despair with their abysmal stupidity compounded by intolerable arrogance.

The government may be corrupted, useless and led by a lame-duck prime minister but, what's the hell, the people had made their choice.

What brainless crap are you spewing, bro? For decades BN was such an overpowering political force most folks had long given up on ever reducing its two-thirds majority. What happened on March 8th, 2008, exceeded all expectations - even the political pundits were stunned by the massive scale of the voters' anger at BN - and their willingness to take a chance with what had for too long been an enfeebled Opposition. True, BN managed to retain control of the federal government, but only because the entire election was rigged in its favor to begin with. They simply did not expect such a huge vote swing. The barricades BN erected were in anticipation of a 12-foot wave - what actually hit them was more like a 60-foot killer that swept away their entire bag of dirty tricks. If not for the Sabah and Sarawak voters, BN would now be the Opposition.

We have rightly or wrongly, put our fate in a government we chose and change if we had to, must be through the democratic process, unless Anwar Ibrahim sees it fit to start a rebellion against the government, which he is trying hard to do by arousing the sentiments of his supporters, to create civil disorder, which may and can lead to general chaos or even rioting.

The only ones who might be tempted to "create civil disorder" are the sore losers in Umno. What has Khir Toyo been plotting with Utusan Malaysia? Who's been hurling badly-made Molotov cocktails - DAP rowdies? Most thinking Malaysians have been against BN from way back when. The last time Umno was cut down to size, May 13 was sparked off to precipitate an artificial state of emergency: the election results were declared null and void, martial law was imposed, Tunku was nudged out, and Razak and his fellow conspirators in Umno took over as the National Operations Council. Still trying to fool us, are you?

Just go to any of the popular blogs in this country and see for yourself the kind of comments his supporters and blogs that support him make. He has become a cult figure to them. Any negative comment on Anwar would turn them into wild animals ready to jump on you and tear you to pieces. These are people who speaks about democracy and clean government but can only behaved in most uncivilised manner. It wouldn't be my wild imagination how scary it would be to put thousands of his diehard supporters on the streets.

Anwar can't help being seen by many as our only real hope for reform. Have you ever heard Najib, Muhyiddin, Mukhriz, Khir Toyo, or Tengku Razaleigh yelling "REFORMASI!"?

Does Anwar cares whatever going to happen to this peaceful nation. I think he wouldn't give a damn as long as he can gain power, by hook or by crook.

Turn that question around: does Umno give a flying fuck about the rakyat? They're only interested in doing what they've been doing since Mahathir took over - stuff their own pockets and build grandiose monuments to their inflated egos. Yeah, and wouldn't Umno love the idea of staying in power another 50 years - by foul means if necessary?

Anwar's deleterious way will be his downfall again.

I have to say this straight to your face, NSTman. You're such a big fat zero the only way you can feel important is to play lapdog to some old-style Grand Panjandrum like Mahathir or his political proxy, Najib. The only blog you list on your blogroll happens to be Rockys Bru - a fellow Mahathirite turned Najibian. Looking at your profile pic (left), I'm beginning to wonder if you might be defler who calls himself "Big Dog" and who hero-worships former IGP Rahim Noor?


Hey, NSTman aka Pussy Licker, you want a great big dollop of pussy? Why don't you invite yourself over to dinner at Rosmah's? I'm sure Pink Lips wouldn't mind. He likes to watch. What's more, you both share the same initials... Pussy Licker, Pink Lips, hee hee hee!


[First published 24 October 2008]

Where Demon Kings Reign ~ postscript to Burma Revisited

A typical back alley in downtown Yangon, near the Bogyoke Aung San market, taken from my friend's kitchen window. Rubbish had been piling up uncleared for weeks, but two days after I arrived we noticed workers hard at work, hoeing away the hideous mess. My guess is that some municipal bureaucrat "forgot" to settle the invoice of a private contractor - until barraged by complaints from local residents.

Power outages are a regular occurrence in Yangon. It happened almost every day I was there - sometimes for only an hour, other times for three or four. Each time that happened, the water pump would stall and had to be manually restarted. Obviously, Myanmar 's middle class is still too new and voiceless to demand higher standards of utilities and services. I bet the ruling elite in Naypyidaw don't experience frequent power outages or lousy plumbing. On the other hand, without cellphone services and with their bosses breathing down their necks, I doubt the families of high-ranking civil servants get to experience much of anything - except when they manage to get out of Myanmar.

Young Burmese at Yangon International Airport, waiting for their AirAsia flight to Kuala Lumpur,
where jobs await at food outlets, gas stations and construction sites. 
Many end up in detention centers run by Malaysian Immigration - a fate worse than hell.

General Than Shwe reviews the troops during a grand ceremony in Naypyidaw
(photo: Khin Maung Win/AFP/Getty)

City Hall in Myanmar's spanking new administrative capital, Naypyidaw, 
located in the mountains 250 miles north of Yangon 
(photo by David Longstreath/Associated Press)

Isn't it remarkable how alike the Burmese military junta's "vision" is to Mahathir Mohamad's Wawasan 2020? In 2005 General Than Shwe decided to build a colossal new city from the ground up - not unlike Putrajaya (Victorious Principality) - exclusively to house the families of the military junta and high-ranking civil servants. The new administrative capital was named Naypyidaw (Abode of Kings). It's not some place you would wish to visit - unless, of course, you have an environmentally ruinous mega-project to pitch to the Myanmar government.

Sign on KTM Komuter warning against indecent behavior, petrol bombs, and dogs.
Does that mean the entire UMNO/BN cabinet is banned from using this service?

Snapshots of 21st Century Burma ~ by Antares

After days of rain, some sunshine to dry the wash

Teatime in Yangon

I first visited Burma in 1984 with my 13-year-old daughter in tow. Those days tourists were only issued a 7-day visa but we ended up staying 8 days because our Burma Airways flight to Kathmandu was delayed 24 hours and the airline put us up an extra night in the Strand Hotel, a colonial relic with musty charm.

Burma in the 1980s was pretty much a timewarp reality – everywhere you looked you would find buses and jeeps from World War Two still plying the mostly untarred roads outside the urban areas. Coca-Cola was mercifully unavailable – except, perhaps, at the swankiest establishments.

No PlayStation... glass marbles on the sidewalk

Gleaming in the afternoon sun

No more World War Two buses...

Food and transport were cheap – if you knew the ropes. The official exchange rate for US dollars was about 7 times below the blackmarket rates – and every tourist arrived with a carton of State Express 555 cigarettes and a liter bottle of Johnny Walker Red Label whisky. There was such a demand for imported tobacco and alcohol, a streetwise backpacker could just about pay for a week’s stay if he knew where to get the best deals.

A thriving local movie industry... but Korean imports are a big hit with young Myanmar

Kid at the entrance of Shwedagon

Indeed, Burma was a prison economy (cigarettes and whisky serve as legal tender in every jailhouse anywhere in the world) – and most Burmese were prisoners of their own inept government, unless they were from the elite families. For one thing, their relative poverty made travel outside Burma an impossible dream for most working class folks.

Notwithstanding their anal-retentive bureaucracy, the Burmese struck me as the friendliest, most likeable, and most sincere folk I’ve met anywhere in Asia (the Balinese come a pretty close second). Indeed, my daughter was so charmed by the young Burmese who flocked around her (believing she was a teenaged movie star from Hong Kong) she subsequently became a species of patron saint to Burmese refugees in Malaysia.

My second visit to Burma (now officially known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar) was in August 2011. This time it was an even shorter stay, even though tourists are now issued 28-day visas, so I didn’t venture beyond a few streets in Rangoon (now Yangon). The trip was inspired by my young friend Arakah from Singapore, who was offered a 3-month contract to teach dance and drama in an international school. I figured it would be nice to drop in on her - and at the same time catch a quick glimpse of what Rangoon had become in 27 years.

Lots of vintage Mazdas; and right-hand-
drive cars on left-hand-drive roads

The new Yangon international airport looks like any modern air terminal and I noticed well-lit highways where none existed. Lots more neon signs everywhere, even highrise buildings sprouting across the Yangon skyline, almost eclipsing the illuminated golden dome of the landmark Shwedagon pagoda.

I was told that a few years ago the Myanmar ruling junta decided to double the salaries of all civil servants. The idea was to encourage the expansion of a new middle class – but the cost of living has also spiraled upwards, so I don’t know if life has improved at all for those on the lower rungs of the economic order. I got a lousy deal changing ringgits to kyats – they prefer Singapore dollars, and who can blame them?

The Korean influence has become visible – and young Burmese appear to copy their fashions from popular Korean movies. I’m sure China exerts a fair amount of economic influence, too, though I didn’t bump into any Chinese tourists. In fact, I recently read a report about 3,900 kilometers (more than 2,400 miles) of pipeline the Chinese are building to pump natural gas all the way to Yunnan. An estimated 30,000 people will be displaced by the pipeline. Saruman rules in Myanmar too.

Burmese kebab on the go

Administrative hub of Yangon

Yangon in 2011 is no longer a cheap place to eat – despite the proliferation of street vendors hawking local delights like cold noodles and deep-fried pastries. A simple thosai meal today costs the equivalent of USD2 – and if you go for western fast foods, double that.

Roadside dining: routine for the locals, an adventure for tourists

Walking past the Modern English Center...

I was informed that owning and operating a cellphone was a luxury in Myanmar. Nevertheless I saw cellphones and accessories on sale everywhere. Computer shops and internet cafes abound, too, but the Myanmar government uses Chinese firewall technology to block access to various sites – especially Blogger, just because some Burmese activist created a ruckus back in 1992 with an anti-establishment blog.

Tuning in on the world

Thinking cap

Facebook, however, is accessible and fairly popular amongst the younger generation. English is less often understood in the streets of Yangon in 2011 than in 1984 – except among the elderly and the offspring of the prosperous elite. Those old enough to remember the days when Burma was under British colonial rule would be now in their 60s at least (Burma became independent in 1948 when the British left India).

And those with political connections would want to ensure that their children have access to a wider range of experience – thus the importance of mastering an international language. Everybody else under the military junta was encouraged to grow up culturally more insular, more nationalistic – and therefore easier to control.

Pretty much the same pattern you will find in any former colony – whether in Indonesia, Ghana, or Malaya - except in Singapore where available land is so limited the citizens have little option but to fully embrace cultural cosmopolitanism and, for better or worse, globalization.

Was she a widow?

Burmese love to read... but business isn't too brisk for this sidewalk outlet

Yangon River

On the waterfront...

Wandering along the Yangon riverfront we got into a conversation with Raj, who said he was born a year before Burmese independence and worked most of his life as a linotypesetter for an English-language daily. Now he was earning US$80 a month as a driver for a restaurant owner. Like almost everyone I had a chance to chat with, Raj was yearning for better times: the return of Aung San Suu Kyi to political power and full civilian government was what the majority were dreaming of and silently praying for. While I was in Myanmar there were rumors of Aung San Suu Kyi holding secret talks with a faction of the military junta about ways and means to effect a peaceful transition.

Under the military junta the ordinary citizen felt powerless and completely at the mercy of petty bureaucrats – little Napoleons who abused their authority with impunity. The cab driver who delivered me to the airport on my way home was visibly nervous when dropping me off because some policeman or security guard was barking orders at everybody and totally throwing his weight around. In a country like Myanmar under the military junta, natural-born bullies can don a uniform and have a good time intimidating the meek.

The restaurant downstairs served really good tea and chop suey

Moh Moh San helps out
in her parents' restaurant

It’s fascinating that such gentle, gracious people can be transformed into big bullies as soon as they are issued a uniform and some official rank. The contrast between the romantic and warlike aspects of the Burmese psyche reminded me of what I noticed about the Cambodians.

As in Cambodia, Burma’s history began to be documented only in the 9th or 10th century CE. Prior to that it’s pretty much conjecture, although the Mon people are believed to have migrated to the Irrawaddy Delta during the Holocene period (about 12,000 years ago). We read about ambitious warlords unifying the country, subjugating the bewildering variety of remote tribes in the highlands, and threatening to invade Siam, a rival ancient kingdom.

Collapsible stall

I didn’t have the opportunity to venture beyond Yangon this time around – but I did spend a few days in Pagan back in 1984. It was then a dusty frontier town surrounded by a vast and desolate expanse of desert from which sprouted thousands of exquisite chandis and stupas dating back at least a thousand years.

Clearly, some demon king - having defeated all his earthly enemies and recently converted to the Buddha’s teachings - had wanted to prove his religious fervor and stake his claim on Nirvana by cutting down entire tracts of lush forest to build a monument to his spiritual ambitions.

Never mind if in the process he only succeeded in ruining the ecosystem and impoverishing his entire kingdom.

Shwedagon pagoda at dusk...

Shelter from the drizzle...

Ornate roof trimmings at Shwedagon

Such a simplistic and materialistic approach to expressing one’s religious zeal is aptly symbolized by the glittering splendor of the Shwedagon pagoda whose prominent dome is lustrous with a mind-boggling quantity of gold plates – not to mention the “5,448 diamonds and 2,317 rubies” that adorn its crown. The original 27-foot structure was built in 588 BCE, making Shwedagon the oldest pagoda not only in Burma but in the entire world. It was rebuilt and extended between the 6th and the 10th centuries – and again between the 14th and 18th centuries when it attained its present height of 368 feet (including its spire).

View of Shwedagon pagoda... 5,000 kyats admission for foreigners

Barefoot pilgrimage

Unearthly splendor amidst the squalor

Gold donated by generations of Burmese

A few hundred yards from the Shwedagon, on the fringes of a half-abandoned recreational park, I stumbled upon some of the most squalid homes I have ever encountered in my life. I believe more than half of Myanmar’s 58.8 million population have lived at this level of poverty since time immemorial.

And yet, the visitor to Yangon cannot walk more than 10 minutes without encountering some magnificent edifice of worship – be it a pagoda, a temple, a church, or a mosque.

It appears that whatever the average Myanmarese may lack in worldly wealth, they more than make up for it in terms of faith.