The monarchy's march to oblivion

27 October 2005

The Guardian newspaper's analysis of Prince William's banal decision to march into Sandhurst following a tried, tested and pointless trail. Just when the monacrchy might have thought that it was time to modernise they go and bury there last best hope in the past.

What a waste of a lifetime

Prince William could have done something useful. Instead, he's joining the army

He could have been almost anything he wanted for at least two or three productive decades. He could have had a career, made a name in his own right as uncle Linley has done, used the education bought for him at high price and the intelligence that came to him naturally. But instead he did the boring, banal thing. He chose what his younger brother - the one with the overworked elbow and dodgy A-level in art - had done only a few months ago. He opted for Sandhurst and a man's half-life in an army uniform.

Hong Kong Porn goes Nazi

26 October 2005

It was a few years ago that the South China Morning Post in a bout of remarkable ignorance ran an ad placed by ATV, an English language TV network in Hong Kong, which used a picture of Adolf Hitler to promote a "final solution" for marketing campaigns. Just awful.

But in Hong Kong there is great insensitivity to the atrocities committed by Hitler. It is hugely hypocritical. We are all expected to be sensitive to the Chinese view of Japanese atrocities in China and Asia. But when it comes to making money out of Hitler and Nazism there is no such discretion.

This time Akasi magazine has gone further. Akasi is a Hong Kong quarterly publication for the Chinese fan of the Japanese female form. It is the latest convert in Hong Kong’s love affair with Nazi Germany.

Imagine the uproar there would be if the girl was shown in front of the rising sun symbol or wearing japanese military costume. The Chinese may have a great fascination with Japanese pornography but wartime Japanese symbols are out of the question.

The magazine carries the Nazi theme throughout. The girl is on the front and back covers, with an Iron Cross and little else on the cover and seig-heiling on a swastika backdrop for the back cover. Better still she is even photoshopped onto a toy tamiya tank !

To continue the Nazi theme the magazine even has a centrespread article about Guderian’s life and works. Guderian is often credited as an architect of the Blitzkrieg and a vocal proponent of the destruction of Warsaw. He rose to become Hitler’s army chief of staff before conveniently falling out with him a few days before the war ended.

The trouble is that the magazine has failed to generate the notoriety that they were likely looking for ! There are no outraged articles or letters in the media. Just amused bewilderment.

Maybe in the end it is all just a bit too dopey. And as an aside the girl is cute enough to be a significant distraction from the ridiulous nazi kitsch.

Personally I find the swastika highly offensive. But then it did not seem to worry the third in line to the English throne (although he is of Germanic blood). Just what were the publishers thinking ? If they were thinking at all !

Thai murder mystery in Hong Kong

26 October 2005

Hong Kong's finest have not exactly distinguished themselves in the investigation of the disappearance and now apparent murder in Hong Kong of Thai citizen, Charitar Kamolnoranath.

Her body was found on Monday dumped on a ventilation unit at the downtown Wanchai tax office in Revenue Tower. This is almost two weeks after she disappeared after going shopping.

Khun Charitar was last seen boarding a bus at the Metropole Hotel in Kowloon on Oct 12 to go shopping in Mongkok, two days after arriving in Hong Kong. She was on a holiday with her Australian boyfriend. The boyfriend reported her missing later the same day when she failed to contact him or return to the hotel where she had left her luggage and other belongings.

It was not until October 17 that Hong Kong police began treating her disappearance as a missing person case. Five days after she was reported to have disappeared. What were they thinking.

Police subsequently found that there was a failed attempt on Oct 14 to use her ATM card to withdraw HK$20,000.

Her body was found lying face-up and her hands were bound with nylon rope. Her body may have been moved there from elsewhere.

Generally Hong Kong always seems to be a remarkably safe place to visit. It is hard to imagine anywhere in Hong Kong where in daylight a person could be abducted without witnesses. Either Khun Charitar was extremely unfortunate or there is more to this story than has so far been revealed.

A room with a view

25 October 2005

Some people get to stay in wonderful harbour view rooms in Hong Kong. Others get to stay in Mongkok. The real Hong Kong. Neon streets, crowded all hours and people living on top of eachother. This was the view from my hotel room !And at this busiest time of the year even that view cost US$200 a night!

Always take travel insurance

24 October 2005

Travel insurance is important; but with one tour group it may just not be necessary: the "God chosen travel service." This brings a whole new meaning to flying on a wing and a prayer !

One week in Bangkok

24 October 2005

I was thinking that it has been a quiet week or so in Bangkok. But actually there is a lot happening. It is just that some of it is rather bizarre. Amazing Thailand.

Highlight of the week was the government announcement to build a new city around eventually to be opened new Bangkok airport. This new city and economic zone is planned to rival Singapore and Hong Kong. But the trouble is there is no plan. Just talk. The new province to be known as Nakhon Suvarnabhumi is certain to be a model of superb urban planning (err - like so much of Thailand) and will inevitably be the hub of lots of things.

One small issue; Singapore and Hong Kong have efficient management and corruption in those places is almost non-existent.

But then Transparency International said Thailand’s corruption ranking has improved, from 64th last year to 59th this year out of a total of 159 countries which probably means that other countries cleaned up their act rather more enthusiastically.

But the surveys were not all good news. As Thailand’s ranking fell sharply in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index, to 107th place from 59th last year, according to the Paris-based watchdog group Reporters Without Borders.  How do you fall 48 places? Shocking. So shocking that it hardly got a mention in the Thai press. Maybe it has something to do with a series of defamation lawsuits against critics of the government.

To make sure that the news is always good private pollsters have been told that they will have to report their topics and methodology before being allowed to conduct one. That should stop them ever trying to poll anyone about anything. A little Thai red tape should deter any interest.

Perhaps the strangest story was that anyone with personal debt not exceeding Bt200,000 would see it cut in half and it can then be repaid without interest. So if you have worked hard to repay your own debt then you will be left shaking your head and wondering why! After encouraging massive consumer spending your government will then bail you out.

Then there is the dispute between the city of Bangkok and the government over the BTS skytrain extension from Taksin Station to the Taksin intersection in Thon Buri. Along the route you can see a year old 2.2-kilometre stretch of abandoned pillars. The government wants the extension built by private money; the city wants to use city funds. The public in Thonburi really do not care; they just want it finished and operating but I guess there are no longer polls available to confirm that.

Memoirs of a "Chinese" Geisha - opens December 9

20 October 2005

Zhang Zhiyi, Michelle Yeoh and Gong Li. The three lead actresses. One minor technical issue. None of them are Japanese.

Saddam and Gomorrah

20 October 2005

So Saddam Hussein is now on trial; two years after his capture. His Baghdad trial while presided over by Iraqis is still beingheld in US occupied Iraq.

Few Iraqis doubt Saddam's responsibility for many deaths. He and six co-defendants are accused of killing 143 people after an unsuccessful assassination attempt on him in 1982. But history also records that he invaded Iran in 1980 and Kuwait in 1990, gassed Kurds at Halabja and suppressed a Shia uprising. Saddam's victims died in torture chambers and are buried in unmarked mass graves.

All this effort could have been saved if Saddam had died during his capture. But he will relish his day in court. He will protest his innocence. The sovereign defense of doing what he did for the good of the country. The wider Arab world should see and hear him and his henchmen being tried. It is right that he be called to account for terrible crimes committed both against his own people and others. It is largely irrelevant whether the US-led war that overthrew him was itself legal.

Above all else the trial has to stand up to international scrutiny. Justice, as ever, must be seen to be done. It will be a long process.

I do have grave reservations about the intended use of the death penalty (by hanging) if he is found guilty. Most of the civilised world (not large parts of America) has done away with the death penalty. For many his death might be vengeance; but for many it will be a martyrdom. Better to let him stagnate for life imprisonment.

Mickey Mouse in Hong Kong

16 October 2005

Hong Kong is in a new property and consumer fuelled boom. But who is taking all the credit - Mickey ! At the end of Donald Tsang's abbreviated term as Governor (oops Chief Executive) of Hong Kong here is one candidate who has already brought the good times to Hong Kong !!

My Chinese all-over-body massage

13 October 2005

A RMB15 (US$2) bargain from the Beijing book store (they sell a diverse range of items!) in Wangfujing. This is the device that you need when you are alone in your hotel room.

Its English instructions are helpful:

"Using the mini-Massager, to massage muscles at your palates, neck, scalp and all-over body. Prmoting the blood circulation in order to relax your neversness, release your tiredness, take good care of your skin, maintain your good looking and so on.

To operate: To turn unit on rotate bottom or massager to the right. To turn off rotate bottom to center position."

So I am off to rotate my bottom and see what happens. Goodnight.

Too early for Christmas

6 October 2005

The Islamic response that is needed to Bali

3 October 2005

There is little doubt that Saturday's bombings in Bali were the work of Jemaah Islamiyah.

The same group was responsible for the last attack in Bali almost three years ago which claimed over 200 lives. If has also carried out other attacks in Indonesia.

JI wants to carve out an Islamic state stretching across Southeast Asia; its aim is to destabilize the region and bring Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and the southern Philippines under a fundamentalist Islamic umbrella. Indiscriminate killing is the method achieving their goal

It is as though fundamental Islam is the fundamentalists response to globalisation.  Islamists make brutal rulers to a western and moderate world. Ask Nigerian Christians who are fleeing the states where Islamic law has been imposed, or Saudi Arabian women forbidden such basic freedoms as driving a car or voting, or the mother of Theo Van Gogh, who the other day listened in an Amsterdam court to her son's murderer explaining to her that he couldn't feel for her because she was "a non-believer. No other serious world religion has a substantial membership that considers all those outside their sect as infidels worthy of death.

The crux of the extremists' oratory and their Taliban-style spin is an attempt to sell the message that somehow Islam is a religion that sees everything in terms of a struggle - not against one's self, but against a perceived threat. Their war against the West is sustained by rage at cultural imperialism and global injustice. The bombers may be few in number, but the sentiment they exploit is the widespread throughout the Islamic world.

The only real hope is for Islam to be rescued from its fascists by its own believers else there will be more atrocities; bombings that mirror those in Madrid, in London and in Bali. Frankly it is not good enough for well-meaning liberals (including me) to bleat on about the peace-loving nature of Islam. If ordinary muslims are against such carnage they do not appear to be doing much about it. They need to stand up and be heard; they need to stop the sources of financing for the extremists.

In the meantime, terrorism, like globalisation, has become almost frighteningly inevitable

Mini Bar - Major Scam

3 October 2005

Hotel mini bars are such a dreadful scam; it is just a fridge stocked with drinks and useless food. How does that justify 500% or 600% price mark ups?

A quick price comparison from this weekend's Singapore visit:

At these prices the answer is to head for the nearest 7-11 and stock up your hotel fridge with food and drinks that you may actually consume. The daggered looks from reception as you walk past carrying your attractive 7-11 bag are worth the effort.

Presumably the only person who uses the hotel mini bar is the business exec who does not need to deduct personal costs form expense claims and the truly desperate.