Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. I am happy that many people from near and far remembered sending me SMS, e-mail, postcards, and calling me. Even Singapore Airlines remembered me as a (former) good customer and sent me a box of chocolates. Thanks to all! Had a quiet evening with the Colombians. I cooked wonderful pasta (if I may say so) and when MA and WI texted if I wanted to come out I declined as we had already downed a few bottles of wine. Today lots of shopping as tomorrow I will have a BBQ party with some 30 guests. The weather forecast is quite bad so I am just hoping it won't rain when we have the BBQ. I never like to organize my parties but well, if you want to get invited to other people's parties I guess you have to do your part as well.

Priests

Just as to prove my point from my previous post (but not really) I just read this story:

A man posing as a priest conned at least two people out of a lot of money in Amsterdam this week after urging them to donate to a good cause. In the Amsterdam Pijp neighbourhood a victim lost several thousand euros to the conman. Last week another victim lost several hundred euros after falling for the same trick when approached at the Museumplein, police said on Friday. The Amsterdam police are actively seeking the man, who dresses neatly, speaks English and poses as a priest.

The conman approaches random people he sees leaving shops. He tells them he is collecting money to donate to charity on behalf of his deceased brother. He then asks the victims if they might withdraw some money from the ATM to contribute as well.The man then shows the victims a handkerchief with a pile of bank notes in it and asks them to put their money in with the rest. He then handles the bundle briefly and hands it to the victims with the request that they give it to charity. The "priest" asks that they wait an hour before opening the handkerchief because he wants to first pray and tell his deceased brother that his money is in good hands. When the victims open the handkerchief it turns out to be full of newspaper shreds and the money is gone.

How stupid can some people be?

Major Bosshardt - a good woman died

I am not a big fan of organized religions. I respect individuals who believe in one or more Gods, or worship any deity (or a kangaroo or a goat for that matter). On the contrary, I don't like churches and people that have institutionalized religions. I believe the majority of priests and pastors are cheats, sexually frustrated men and/or corrupt thieves. However, sometimes you find an exception: Major Bosshardt was one of them. Alida Bosshardt, a Christian acclaimed for her decades of work among the prostitutes and drug addicts of Amsterdam, died Monday, the Salvation Army said. She was 94. A spokeswoman for the Salvation Army said she died of "old age." "She had heart troubles and kidney problems, but this was really just old age: her body was deteriorating at the end," said spokeswoman Hella van der Schoot.

Bosshardt joined the Salvation Army in 1934 and was instructed to work with women in Amsterdam's Red Light District shortly after the end of World War II. A "Goodwill" centre she established in the area eventually became a hub where volunteers cared for not only prostitutes and their children, but offered shelter to the homeless and a wide range of social services to drug addicts and other troubled people attracted to the area. Bosshardt was universally known as "Major" Bosshardt in the Netherlands, though she actually advanced to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Salvation Army's ranks.

Among her many awards were a knighthood in the Netherlands' Order of Oranje Naussau in 2004. The Royal House said Monday that Queen Beatrix was "moved" by the death. While Beatrix was the country's crown princess in 1965 she spent an evening in disguise, following Bosshardt on her rounds. Bosshardt was given a "righteous among nations" award by Israel's Yad Vashem for helping Jewish children during the war, often riding them on her bicycle to homes where they would go into hiding. "I'm in God's service to serve people," Bosshardt said once when receiving an award. "All honour goes to him, not me." Her closest surviving family are distant nieces and nephews. Her funeral is scheduled for June 30. May she rest in peace.

Map of visited countries

Still a lot to go!

The value of free speech - they just don't get it

Singaporeans 'not engaging' in political dialogue on Web

The virtual world may offer opportunities for open political discussion but most Singaporeans are not participating. This is according to the preliminary findings of a yet-to-be-completed study, conducted by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), on the behaviour of Singapore voters at last year's General Election.

"There are some blogs that are politically engaged but, if you look at the content and the total number of blogs, they are not that many for a country that is so wired up and so high up in terms of computerisation," said IPS deputy director Arun Mahizhnan, during a discussion at the 16th Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (Amic) annual conference yesterday.

"With regard to the contents of the blogs, only a few can be characterised as serious political engagement," Mr Mahizhnan said, citing Mr Alex Au of Yawning Bread and Mr Lee Kin Mun, also known as mr brown. "But there are not many others like these two."

When it comes to managing new media, Mr Mahizhnan believes authorities face a dilemma. He told TODAY: "On the one hand, it (the Government) wants to promote information communications technologies (ICT) in Singapore, but on the other hand, it is also concerned about ICT abuses. So, it tries to put certain controls, but unfortunately, the Internet is not easily controlled by any one government or one organisation."

But will new media have any impact on regulations governing the mainstream press in Singapore?

Another panellist, Associate Professor Tey Tsung Hun who teaches at the National University of Singapore's law faculty, takes a cautious stand. He said: "It is unlikely that we will see any changes in the legislative framework governing the print media in the next two to three years. There is no reason to change the law unless there is evidence that it is not conducive to the Government's aspiration to develop Singapore as a media hub."

They just don't get it. Unfortunately the Internet is not easily controlled???? There is no reason to change the law????

Weird EU law

I had lunch today with KE who told me an interesting story about weird EU law. We have two friends in Amsterdam who fell in love with a Malaysian guy and both of them are now in the process of applying for a long-term visa for their friend. RO is Dutch, and JN is New Zealander, but his grandfather came from Ireland so he also has an Irish passport. RO's Malaysian friend has to study the Dutch language before he can come here. But JN's Malaysian friend doesn't need to do this as he is the "spouse of an EU citizen" and has the right to be here. So this crazy country makes it difficult for it's own citizens to "import" foreign spouses, but can not do the same for spouses of nationals of other EU countries.
Anyway, lunch at Hoi Tin was quite good. I like Amsterdam's small Chinatown.

Hunk

Some of us will know fridae.com, a gay dating site which is popular in Asia. This last week I have received a few "hearts" from this hunk. Naturally, I checked his profile and read: "I LIKE: succsessful,intelegent, brave, and serious people,also honest,kind heart, respect and understanding. I DON,T LIKE: UNSESRIOUS, PLAYERS,and LIARS.and People who Just think of SEX." Maybe I should write to him that if he doesn't want to attract "People who Just think of SEX" he should change his picture? Hehe

Brokeback Mountain, Lapland Owl and Singaporeans

It was a good weekend. I watched Brokeback Mountain for the second time (it was on TV) and it was as good or even better as the first time. It struck me there are some similarities between my life and Jack's and Ennis' life: Jack needs to drive 14 hours from Texas to Wyoming to see Ennis, which is about the same travel time it takes me to be able to hug my loved one. On Sunday, I took the Colombians to Avifauna, a bird park in Alphen aan den Rijn, a town about 45 minutes drive from Amsterdam. There are lots of colourful Asian, African and Latin American birds, but I like the Lapland Owl most. So distinguished. In the evening I was invited to WI's birthday party. WI and his partner GO run a bed and breakfast and they always invite their guests when they have a party. So late in the evening WI introduced me to two Singaporean guests who are staying at their place, IA, a 28 year old gay guy and his 32 year old fag hag sister SY. They are travelling with their parents around Europe. (the parents were already in bed) We all chatted for a few hours which was very nice. We exchanged contact details and today IA texted if I was game for a drink at April. I texted MA who invited another tourist currently in Amsterdam, NU from Bangkok, and we all had a swell time. I must not make it a habit to go out too often on a weekday.

The ugliest dog

The ugliest dog competition was held in California yesterday and the winner was Elwood, a two-year old breed of a Chinese crested and a chihuahua. (photo on top). Compared to the 2005 winner, Sam (photo below), Elwood is actually not too bad looking.

Thank you Singapore

I received an e-mail from my former company's Singapore branch this morning that the Internal Revenue Service has decided to refund some taxes to me. It is not a huge sum of money, but still enough for a flat screen TV or a return ticket to Singapore + hotel for a week to say "thank you" to the IRS. So what shall I do with the money?

Gay humour

A gay man walks into a drugstore and asks the pharmacist whether he sells extra-large condoms. The pharmacist replies, "Yes we do. We stock the 'Magnum' brand by Trojan. Would you like to buy some?" He responds, "No sir. But would you mind if I waited around here until someone does?"

A gay man, finally deciding he could no longer hide his sexuality from his parents, went over to their house and found his mother in the kitchen cooking dinner. He sat down at the kitchen table, let out a big sigh, and said, "Mom, I have something to tell you: I'm gay." His mother made no reply. The guy was about to repeat himself when she turned away from the pot she was stirring and said calmly, "You're gay, doesn't that mean you put other men's penises in your mouth?" The guy said nervously, "Uh, yeah, Mom, that's right." His mother whirled around, whacked him over the head with her spoon and said, "Don"t you ever complain about my cooking again!"

A chicken and an egg are lying in bed. The chicken is smoking a cigarette with a satisfied smile on its face. The egg is frowning and looking a bit pissed off.
The egg mutters to no one in particular, "Well, I guess we finally answered THAT question!"

List of Possible Slogans Promoting National Condom Week
•Cover your stump before you hump.
•Before you attack her, wrap your whacker.
•Don't be silly, protect your willy.
•Don't be a loner, cover your boner.
•You can't go wrong, if you shield your dong.
•If you think he's spunky, cover your monkey.
•If you slip between his thighs, condomize.
•It will be sweeter if you wrap your peter.
•He won't get sick, if you wrap your dick.
•If you go into heat, package your meat.
•While your undressing venus, dress up your penis.
•Never ever deck her, with an unwrapped pecker.
•The right selection, is to protect your erection.
•Wrap it in foil, before checking his oil.
•If you really love her, wear a cover.
•Sex is cleaner with a packaged wiener.
•If you can't shield your rocket, leave it in your pocket.
•If you're gonna love, wear the glove.

EU law forces farmers to buy toys for their pigs

In 2005 almost 62% of the Dutch voted against the new European Constitution in a national referendum. (I didn't vote as I was in Singapore at the time) Sometimes I can understand why so many people are against "Europe": the enormous bureaucracy, fabulous perks for parliamentarians who never show up, and too many silly laws. An example of the latter was in the news today. EU law has been implemented making it obligatory from July 1st for farmers to have toys for the pigs they keep. Yes, animal researchers have found that the pigs are "bored" while waiting to be fed and eventually slaughtered, so something needed to be done. Let's give them some nice toys so they have some fun before being eaten! Wageningen University is now studying the reaction of some test animals to different sets of toys. On the one hand, this of course is all quite ridiculous, on the other hand, it can also be seen as a sign of great civilization that we (or our leaders) actually care about animal welfare. After all, we are the only country in the world with a "Party for Animals" represented in parliament.

Midsummer Night

It is 19 June so almost midsummer night. This is the time of the year that daylight starts at 4am and it gets dark only around 11pm. So when I left work after 6 on this beautiful sunny day I decided to see if any of my friends are in April. After all, it is only a 2 minute walk from my office to the gay bars. Surprise, surprise, everyone was there, so after 1) 8 to 10 beers (I didn't count) 2) 2 joints shared by 3 guys and 3) a meal at Thai restaurant Bangkok, I cycled home slowly but steadily enjoying the balmy weather and the fresh summer air. It was a very good evening.

Matchmaking

I had dinner with DAZ last night and also went with him to the Asian Dance Party. All we did was talk, talk and talk (to each other, mostly me listening to DAZ). I think DAZ needs a partner / boyfriend, so let me try to help him with some matchmaking. DAZ is a gay man in his early 40's, Chinese, lives in Central Netherlands, speaks perfect Dutch and reasonable English, nice looking, round face, good body, good job, nice apartment, is co-parenting a cute young son with two lesbian mothers, likes swimming, traveling, culture, and is good in bed (my experience is from 10 years ago). He likes Caucasian and Asian men, 30-50 years, tall, not fat, not too slim, just your average guy. So if you are interested just post a reply here and I'll take care that DAZ gets the message.
They had a very cute blond muscular Dutch stripper at the Asian Dance Party. Normally, they have these East European guys who look totally not interested in what they are doing and seem very arrogant. But yesterday's boy 1) was gay; 2) brought his equally cute boyfriend along (Mediterranean type); 3) interacted with the public in a funny way ("you have to help me to get it hard"); and 4) started his show in a kinky rubber outfit. In the end, he got it hard and proudly displayed his 11 inches. Lots of screams in the audience.

Singapore 14th most expensive city, Amsterdam 25th

According to expatriate consulting firm Mercer, Singapore is the world's 14th most expensive city to live in. In the same list, Amsterdam takes the 25th position. Housing has become very expensive in Singapore as a result of all the Indonesian, Malaysian and other money-launderers and criminals buying luxurious real estate in the Lion City. (my analysis, not Mercer's hehe) Alcohol and cigarettes are also extremely expensive in Singapore. Food in supermarkets costs about the same in Singapore as in Amsterdam; food in local restaurants is much cheaper in Singapore, food in international restaurants about the same in both cities. Cars more expensive in Singapore, and taxis much cheaper there which doesn't seem to make sense. Oh, and a good nice joint costs 4 euro in Amsterdam; in Singapore I'd pay with my life.

Home alone

The Colombian family all left this morning at 5am for Paris, so I am home alone for 4 days! The house was very full this last week, so it will be good to have all the space to myself. I came home from April, Soho and Exit just as they were waking up. I had dinner with MR and RB who told me all about their holiday in Iceland, sounds like a country I want to add to my travel list. For the first time this year I had asparagus with ham and eggs, yummie. Will update you all on my diet later hehe.

Mr. Gay Netherlands 2007

19 year old Stefan Onland has been elected Mr. Gay Netherlands 2007. Stefan will represent the Netherlands at the Mr. Gay Europe elections which will be held in Budapest in August. Stefan is an all-round boy: he plays the saxophone well, and is an enthusiastic jogger, gymmer and swimmer. I already wrote earlier that I found the candidates too young and too slim, but Stefan is definitely the prettiest of them. Congratulations!

Gatwick Airport advertising

Can Amsterdam Schiphol have something gay and kinky?

Restaurant Szmulewicz, Amsterdam

I had dinner last night with MI at one of his favourite restaurants Szmulewicz at Rembrandtplein in Amsterdam. We had been trying to get in there before but so far it had always been full, but yesterday we were lucky to find a table. The name Szmulewicz is fake Polish/Russian and a pun on the Dutch verb "smullen" which means eating very well. We both had vegetarian dishes and I must say it was indeed very nice. MI had lost weight (again) and I told him he is getting too slim. He used to be quite chubby so it was good he lost some weight but he is going too far now. Before dinner we had a quick drink at April and I introduced MI to KE and JN. As I expected, they are not really each other's cup of tea, always fun to introduce one friend to another and realize they instantly dislike each other.
In other news, for the first time since I started work at my new company I got home totally wet - it has been raining hard all day. Oh, and OS is totally fed up with his nephew who is a spoilt little brat, I can finally understand sgboy and his nephews. Five and a half weeks to go.

Make love, not war

I wish this news is not a joke and they would have developed the "bomb" and infected all armies with it.... A gay man's dream!

Edward Hammond, of Berkeley's Sunshine Project, has used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a copy of the proposal from the Air Force's Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio. The documents show the Air Force lab asked for US$7.5 million for a six-year project. An Air Force lab reportedly sent a proposal to the Pentagon which suggested weaponising "strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also caused homosexual behaviour."

"The Ohio Air Force lab proposed that a bomb be developed that contained a chemical that would cause enemy soldiers to become gay, and to have their units break down because all their soldiers became irresistibly attractive to one another," Hammond said after reviewing the documents.

"The notion was that a chemical that would probably be pleasant in the human body in low quantities could be identified, and by virtue of either breathing or having their skin exposed to this chemical, the notion was that soldiers would become gay," explained Hammond.

Martian comes to Amsterdam and is amazed by bicycles

A Martian came to Amsterdam and was most amazed by the bicyles he saw. Oops, he is not from Mars but from San Francisco. Ah, now it makes sense: if it is not done like in the good old USA, it can't be right! Right?
http://www.ski-epic.com/amsterdam_bicycles/

Halal organs

A special organ donor campaign targeting Muslims is aimed at informing the Muslims community about organ donation. The National Institute for the Promotion of Health Care and Disease Prevention ((NIGZ) started the campaign last week, it announced on Tuesday.
The campaign resulted from discussion at the 2006 symposium entitled "Islam and organ donation in the Netherlands," organised by the Contact Organisation for Muslims and the Government (CMO). Religious leaders and leading Muslim scholars drew up a declaration at the symposium. The essence of this statement is that Islam poses no obstacles to organ donation as long as a number of requirements are met.
Requirements? Halal cutting out of the organs?

I was drinking chocolate milk at that age.......

More than 80 children were admitted to hospital in the Netherlands with alcohol poisoning during the first six months of this year. There has been a dramatic rise in the number of children that drink far too much. Most of the children included in these figures are around the age of 13 and have drunk hard alcohol or litres of beer. A researcher keeps track of these incidents among children up to the age of 16. "I can't keep track if I include 17-year-olds." Last weekend a 12-year-old in the town of Middelharnis was found comatose after drinking too much alcohol. The boy had been drinking with two 13-year-old friends before they planned to go out. The alcohol had been purchased by a 16-year-old friend.

The Handyman

All gays need 1) a female best friend and 2) a handyman male friend. It is amazing what a good handyman can do. AF has been here only two days and he has been running around the house fixing things. I noticed that he missed a few spots which I am going to point out to him later. Hehe

One fine day

I had one fine day at work today: I was very busy and time just flew. Many phone calls, e-mails, problems to solve and people thanking me for stuff I did. Those are the days I like (at work): when you don't have time to think and contemplate but just do stuff all day. It was an sms at the end of the day that made me think again.
I am serious with my diet now and it is good that the family is here because 1) it is easier to clear the plates with 5 hungry people and 2) I feel guilty eating cookies and chocolates with the children around. After dinner we watched One fine day, a 1996 movie with Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney. Quite entertaining and not bad at all, and I had forgotten that George was actually cute in his younger days. Spent some time on an e-mail just now, sometimes it is not easy to find the right words to express feelings.

Do birds have heart attacks?

Yesterday while on my way to my regular Saturday afternoon coffee with SU, suddenly from a corner of my eye I spotted a bird that was falling from the sky with high speed. For a moment I was afraid it was going to hit me, but fortunately it landed in a nearby stream. At first I thought the bird was fishing, but on closer inspection the animal was floating on the water and was dead as a stone. Which raises the question: do some birds die of sudden heart failure? I always thought animals felt they were getting weaker, and would either become prey for other animals or sit quietly in some hidden spot until it was their time to go.
In the evening I went to April and wow! everyone was there. It has been a while that so many friends and acquaintances were all there. Good to catch up with some of them and I was also introduced to some new people some of whom seem to be nice guys. I was happy when cycling home around 4am but missing someone very much at the same time - you know who you are.
Today OS' brother AF and his daughter PR (15) and son AFjr (8) arrived from Colombia. The trip is a Quinceanera birthday gift for PR. In Latin culture, the 15th birthday for a girl is her entrance into adulthood and a big celebration must be done. I could tell that PR is ready for adulthood when I walked into the living room (the rest of us were in the garden enjoying the nice evening) and PR had found a soft-porn channel on TV. The family will be here until July 19th. At least it gives me a chance to improve my Spanish as they only speak that language.
Watched part of the first set of the Roland Garros final Nadal - Federer while waiting for the guests at Schiphol Airport, and most of the 3rd and 4th set at home. Nadal was superior and I was glad he won. Firstly, he is much cuter than Federer, and secondly he is from Spain and Federer from Switzerland. I mean: who would support someone from a country of xenofobic money-launderers? Hehe

Dangerous Canadians

In the news today: police in Amsterdam have confirmed that two Canadian soldiers have been in custody since May 26 for attacking a gay man. On his way home from Exit in the early hours of Saturday May 26 the 28 year old gay man met the two Canadians and had a friendly chat with them. The soldiers inquired after his sexual orientation. When they were told that the victim was gay, they went ballistic and starting hitting the guy causing serious injuries to his head.
The last thing I expected: the danger in the streets of Amsterdam comes from Canadians.....

Travel

I am not traveling half as much as last years when I lived in Singapore and I don't really miss it. I have no international travel planned for June and July and am wondering should I book something? I have 25,000 miles on Cathay Pacific that will expire end of June, and which I can use on Malev and Iberia for a return ticket within Europe, so the big question is: should I go to Budapest or Barcelona?

It is weekend!

Enough is enough. I told my bosses I am going to save them some money by not working tomorrow. The weather is fantastic, the back terrace flowers are in full bloom (picture) and the roses are beautiful. (picture) I am going to spend lots of time sitting on my terrace reading my book tomorrow.

Circuit

Every first Wednesday of the month is gay movie night at Pathe De Munt cinema and yesterday they showed American movie Circuit. Very little information is available on the Internet about this movie and rightfully so. A forgetable story: "After moving from a small town in Illinois to West Hollywood, California, John experiences a downward spiral into the sex and drug-fueled world of the gay circuit party scene." Lots of hot bodies but all of them so fake and not attractive at all. It is not that I don't have such a body that I have never been a circuit boy, it is because I don't like those bodies. Hehe.
Before the movie I had drinks and dinner with MA, JE, OS and JY. JY is just back from his home country the Philippines after spending two months there. He had lots of stories about the local guys he met (many of them) and at one point MA asked: "do they like you because you live in a rich country?" I found the question a bit rude as JY is cute, hard muscular body and 28 years young, but JY answered seriously and said yes, he thinks a lot of the guys were interested in meeting him because he has money. It is a sad world that money is so important but maybe when you have some that's easy to say. We had dinner in Restaurant P.King. The place used to be a typical Chinese restaurant called Peking and the family who owned it recently sold it to a Dutch guy who modernized the place, changed the menu to pan-Asian and the waiters to Dutchies and re-named it P.King. A nice place and we will be back. The movie was not in the usual Munt theatre but in Tuschinski, Amsterdam's oldest and most traditional cinema. (picture)

Reverse lifes

I found a blog of a Singaporean man who lives in The Hague, where he moved around the time that I moved to Singapore. Interesting to read about his experiences here. You can check it out at http://agent-x.blogspot.com/

Tennis: the good and the bad

The final 8 of Roland Garros are known and fortunately Rafael Nadal is still in after beating Lleyton Hewitt. In other tennis news, RE and I are planning to play regularly and I asked GO to be our personal trainer. GO is the boyfriend of WI and one of the cutest guys I know; so he would be an excellent stereotypical tennis trainer!
Unfortunately, GO has serious knee injuries (from playing too much tennis!) so he is currently not available. Anyway, I can't play as I am about to lose a toe nail. The last time I played tennis with AN in Singapore my toe bumped in my tennis shoe, it went black very soon and now it looks all ugly and it is painful. I think the nail will fall off soon. Maybe I should go to the doctor tomorrow to have it checked before it gets infected and my leg has to be amputated.

Dutch government needs to study Singapore example!

Senior government officials in the Netherlands earn about a third of the salary earned by a director with a comparable position in the business sector. There is also a considerable gap between ministers' wages and that of senior management in business. Research bureau the Hay Group concluded this on Monday in its annual European study into top salaries in the public sector over the past year. The researchers warned of a threatening shortage of qualified people at the government. The Hay Group is particularly concerned about how the government will manage to hold on to top officials.

Weed weekend

So what did I do this weekend? On Saturday I had lunch with KE. After lunch we went to his place to smoke and drink some. I guess I smoked one too many as in the evening I was so tired and all I could do was watch TV. The weather was wonderful all weekend and today I did a long bike ride along the river Gein to Abcoude. (pictures) Very relaxing. After coming home I had enough energy left to join the gang at April for drinks. Home at 11.15 and forgot to eat properly so had a Whopper with cheese. Low calory hehe.

Naked people

Photographer Spencer Tunick is in Amsterdam and is making his usual shots of naked people. The men were put in a parking garage in Marnixstraat, and the women were made to cycle in their Eve's costume.

Ehsan Jami

This is Ehsan Jami, an immigrant of Irani origin living near The Hague. Recently, he got a lot of publicity because he is one of the co-founders of a "Committee for Ex-Muslims". He is a very brave guy; as you may know many Muslims do not approve of Muslims abandoning their faith and death threats against Ehsan have already been issued by conservative Imams and other terrorists. What made me very angry is that his political party, Labour PvdA, for which he is a member of the Municipal Council of Leidschendam-Voorburg, is not supporting him 100%. The party is afraid to lose support from Muslims living here, so they have asked him to respect the opinions of more conservative Muslims. In this country, everybody should be totally free to choose and abandon any religion, church or faith. People who do not agree with these freedoms do not belong here. We all should support Ehsan Jami.

Time article about Singapore

A very positive article in Time magazine ("Singapore's New Look") about Singapore at
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/
0,9171,1624897-1,00.html

I believe the journalist forgets one important issue: freedom. No country can be innovative, cosmopolitan and "fun to live in" if there is no freedom of speech, gathering, press and demonstrations. Educated and intelligent Singaporeans who have the chance to emigrate will continue to do so if they can't express themselves freely. Sure, the casinos will attract a lot of foreign investment and tourists. (and money-launderers!) So I am quite sure this will give a boost to the Singapore economy. However, longer term what the country needs is freedom. It is extremely important. Let's just hope that future governments of Singapore will work for the benefit of its citizens and not just for their own fat pay cheques.

Bloody Asians

We all know that the Chinese are buying all the iron ore, charcoal and bauxite in the world, but look at the news today:
"The price of milk is rising extremely fast because of great demand in Asia for powdered milk. Friesland Foods, the Netherlands' largest dairy cooperative, increased the advance price of milk offered to farmers by EUR 1.28 per 100 kilos of milk on Friday. The relatively rapid increase will boost dairy prices in the Dutch supermarkets. "The price of powdered milk has doubled over the past year," says a spokesperson for Friesland Foods."
Bloody Asians. Even my daily milk is getting more expensive.

The Big Donor Show - a hoax

I just watched The Big Donor Show and as I expected it was a huge publicity stunt. They played it out (as if it was real) until the last moment, and they did it well. Watching the show even I thought "well, it may be real after all". As a publicity stunt it was a huge success; I am sure half of the country watched and apparently there were representatives from 80 (eighty!) foreign media reporting about the show. Well done, BNN! Are you a donor yet?