John Martyn

I was told by Chris Will, a scottish engineer and a friend of mine that John Martyn died recently. We were having a drink last evening.

"John who?"

"Stanley, you know Martyn, the famous singer guitarist who did Solid Air in the seventies"

Chris started to air strum a guitar and sang some lines. Well, like me, Chris has never been known to sing well.

"Again, John who?"


Wikipedia has these to say.

John Martyn OBE, born Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), was a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a forty-year career he released twenty studio albums and worked with artists such as Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, and Phil Collins. He has been described as "an electrifying guitarist and singer whose music blurred the boundaries between folk, jazz, rock and blues".

In 1973, Martyn released one of the defining British albums of the 1970s, Solid Air, the title song a tribute to the singer-songwriter Nick Drake, a close friend and label-mate, who in 1974 died suddenly from an overdose of antidepressants.

On 4 February 2008, Martyn received the lifetime achievement award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk awards. The award was presented by Phil Collins. The BBC website says of Martyn, "his heartfelt performances have either suggested or fully demonstrated an idiosyncratic genius." Eric Clapton was quoted as saying that Martyn was, "so far ahead of everything, it's almost inconceivable." Martyn performed "Over the Hill" and "May You Never" at the ceremony, with John Paul Jones accompanying on mandolin.

Martyn's death was announced on his website on 29 January 2009.


I looked for Solid Air in youtube and witness an impressive performance. For some reasons, embedding was not allowed. Here is the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg_Utj4Aljc

You've been taking your time and you've been living on solid air
You've been walking the line and you've been living on solid air
Don't know what's going 'round inside
And I can tell you that it's hard to hide when you're living on solid air

You've been painting the blues and you've been looking through solid air
You've been seeing it through and you've been looking through solid air
Don't know what's going 'round in your mind
And I can tell you don't like what you find when you're moving through solid air

I know you, I love you
And I can be your friend, I can follow you anywhere
Even through solid air

You've been stoning it cold, you've been living on solid air
You've been finding it cold, you've been living on solid air
I don't know what's going on inside
I can tell you that it's hard to hide when you're living on solid air

You've been getting too deep, you've been living on solid air
You've been missing your sleep and you've been moving through solid air
I don't know what's going on in your mind
But I know you don't like what you find when you're moving through solid air

You've been walking your line, you've been walking on solid air
You've been taking your time but you've been walking on solid air
Don't know what's going on inside
But I can tell you that it's hard to hide when you're living on solid air

Thinking of you

I posted up a youtube video of Katy Perry doing her first major hit "I Kissed a Girl" on 18th September 2008, saying that the version you hear over the radio has the words 'a girl' censored. For a revisitation, go here.

Well, Katy Perry has been doing well since, being in the limelight lately and has released more hits. One of them being Thinking of You. She also hosted the November 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards. You saw her in some kinky outfits.














Here below, we have Jeradyne doing an acoustic cover of that song. I think Jeradyne has improved somewhat in her singing. Save for the first minute or so, she sounded more confident than her previous efforts. It would be good if she can up her guitar playing skills as well.

What do you think?


It will also be good if Jeradyne can do some collaborations with her brother Jeremy Cheong, also a music hobbyist.

Pudu Yong Tow Foo

If you do not know this place, it is not so easy to find. You need me to take you there.

This is another one of those places that was around when I was 15 years old. NOT when you were 15 years old. When I was 15 years old.














I think the name of this shop has no meaning to anybody. Either you know the place or you do not know the place. People refer to this place as the Pudu Yong Tow Foo.














I do not know this guy. Just that he was in front of my camera phone when I wanted to have a picture of the spread.














In case you are not educated, they have pictures for you to point.

Here, what they do is, they half cooked the food before hand. After when you made your selection, they will throw the stuff into the oil to fry again to give you the freshly fried stuff, piping hot. Some of the mamaks also do this on your fried fish/chickens.

For you guys who prowl the pubs looking for action futilely in the evenings before going home to dinner, maybe you can teach your wives to do the same thing. Pre half cook the food and then cook them again for a short time when you get home. Like this, it is always like you get freshly cooked food in a jiffy when you get home after another day of being fleeced by the pub girls.

Many people seemed to think that this is the best YTF place. Of course Richard Yeow will disagree. Only Richard Yeow knows all the most terror places, emphatically explaining to you in gusto, always nodding his head furiously.

This place, the fish paste is salted fish free and pork free. I like the taste here. However, I prefer the paste to have a hint of salted fish in them.

I have spotted CanonMalayisan Andrew Lee here before. Andrew is currently the country manager for JOS Distribution.

Stand up to the Mullahs - Vir Sanghvi

Earlier this month, I introduced Johann Hari in two of my posts. I find what he writes stimulating and thought provoking. Please feel free to disagree.

I have absolutely no issues with any person of any religion. I just wish that they have no issues with me. I consider Jullie Chin, Low Min Chee and Annuar Mohd. good friends of mine. They are respectively a good Christian, a knowledgeable Buddhist and a practising Muslim.

You may be interested to know that my daughter told me a couple of years back that her school teacher discovering that Jeradyne did not fill up the space on religion in a form as she was not ready to commit, said that Jeradyne did not deserve to be a Malaysian.

How incredibly stupid can some people be. What stopped me from confronting this school teacher was that I think she is incredibly ignorant as well. No doubt.

The following article was written by Vir Sanghvi in response to responses to an article by Johann Hari and published yesterday in the Hindustan Times.


If you have missed the controversy that led to the arrest of the editor of The Statesman in Calcutta for offending religious sentiments — which you might have, because the national media downplayed the issue — then here’s what it is about.

The Statesman reproduced an article by Johann Hari, the young liberal British commentator, from The Independent. Hari’s politics are clear: he stands up for secularism (for which he has won awards), tolerance (he has defended Islam against such critics as Mark Steyn) and environmental concerns.

The column in question was about attempts by the governments of some Islamic states to alter the UN’s commitment to free speech. These governments argue that free speech must be restricted on grounds of offence to religion and that discussions of certain issues relating to the rights of women must be curtailed because they could be anti-Islamic.

Hari makes the obvious objections to all of this and then says that religion can often be oppressive. So, why should people be stopped from speaking out against it? He quotes examples of regressive practices from all religions and says that just because these occur in accounts of the lives of gods, messiahs or prophets, that does not make them above criticism.

Who could possibly object to that?

Well, a small section of politically-motivated Islamic fanatics in Calcutta, that’s who.

As the people who rioted did not seem like typical Statesman readers (they were not genteel Bengalis, aged 60 and above), it is a fair assumption that some cynical leader of an extreme faction of the Muslim community told his followers about the ‘grave insult to Islam” and sent them off to riot.

The CPI(M) government then arrested The Statesman’s editor and publisher. But the arrest — though clearly unjustified — seems to have been largely symbolic. They were quickly released and the mobs, satisfied that “action had been taken”, melted away.

Several points need to be made about the incident.

First: The article itself. There is not one line in Hari’s piece that I would disagree with. If religions deserve respect, then so does atheism. Followers of religions have every right to their views and practices. But so do atheists have the right to criticise religion. Nothing in this world is above criticism.

Two: The rioters said they were offended by a passage in the article where Hari referred to the Prophet’s marriage to a much younger woman and his directive to burn Jewish villages. (In all fairness, he was as critical of other religions and of the Israeli assault on the West Bank.)

The rioters say that nobody can criticise any aspect of the Prophet’s life.

Why?

There’s no shortage of books and articles criticising Jesus, suggesting that he might have been secretly married (as in The DaVinci Code), arguing that the resurrection was a hoax or that Mary was never a virgin.

Similarly, would mainstream Hindus be offended if somebody wrote that Hindu mythology features practices that we would find abhorrent today: one wife for five husbands as in the Mahabharat, the compulsive philandering of Krishna or the appalling mistreatment of Sita (the agni pariksha etc)?

Some Hindu extremists may protest but I doubt if they would get very far with their objections. The community, as a whole, would shrug its shoulders and many Hindus will agree with the critics.

And yet, it is an article of faith with Muslims — even moderate ones — that the Prophet’s life is beyond reproach.

Does this make any sense?

Three: It is now clear that the liberal society has been suckered into relaxing its standards for free speech by militant Islamists.

Let’s take the most obvious example. Every liberal I know is outraged by the attacks on MF Husain. Why shouldn’t he paint nude Saraswatis? That’s his right. If people are offended by the paintings, they shouldn’t see them.

So far, so good. But now imagine that Husain had painted an extremely reverential portrait of the Prophet. (Never mind cartoons, nude pictures etc.)

There would have been riots. And even secular liberals would not have supported him.
We would have said: Islam prohibits any visual representation of the Prophet so Husain has committed a great crime.

But so what if Muslims cannot visually represent their Prophet? Why should non-Muslims be bound by their religious edicts? Why should non-believing Muslims be forced by liberal society to obey the restrictions of their religion?

Believers should follow what the Holy Book and the mullahs say. But why should the rest of us? Why should we abandon our right to free expression?

Nobody I know has ever explained why the double standards are justified.

Four: The reason we are suckered into accepting these double standards is because Muslim politicians play good cop-bad cop.

Look, they say, we are all for freedom of speech. But if you say anything that the fanatics object to, then they will take to the streets, burn property and hurt innocent people. We will do our best to pacify our community, but you must remove any provocation that will cause the hardliners to revolt.

Turn this around. How would Muslims have reacted if Hindu moderates had said to them: Look, we think this whole Ram Janmbhoomi thing is nonsense. But the BJP will gain support on this platform. So why don’t you agree to move the Babri Masjid? It’s not even a functioning mosque. That way, we remove the provocation and rid the hardliners of their issue and ensure communal harmony.

Well, Hindu moderates did say this. And we know how moderate Muslim politicians reacted.

Five: The real reason we give in to Islamic fanatics is the desire for a peaceful life or, to put it another way, cowardice.

Every one of their objections is always framed in terms of violence. Ban The Satanic Verses or we will kill Salman Rushdie. Apologise for the Danish cartoons or we will offer a reward for the head of the cartoonist. Arrest the editor of the Statesman or we will shut Calcutta down by rioting in the streets.

Faced with these threats, we abandon our principles and say things like, “Come on, is a single article worth the death of so many people?” or “Let’s just ban the book, otherwise these guys will keep rioting.”

The fanatics know this. They have identified the cowardice at the heart of our liberalism. So every demand is a) pitched in terms of protecting the religious sentiments of the Muslim community or b) facing murder, mayhem and more.

Almost every single time, we cave in.

Either we say that Islam is a peaceful religion.

Or we get death threats.

And finally: Isn’t it time to finally stand up to these thugs and blackmailers? It is up to the Muslim community to rein in its fanatics and some moderates are indeed trying to do this.
But as far as secular society is concerned, our position should be clear. We believe in free speech as guaranteed by our Constitution, not as defined by the mullahs.

Anything less would be a betrayal of the liberal, secular values we hold dear.

The Oscars - Watched some

I mentioned I couldn't catch the presentation live in the morning as I had an appointment with somebody who obviously didn't watch the Oscars live too. I guess he would have told somebody the same thing as I. Gee, I guess if both of us had come to an understanding earlier, then we could have even watched the show together and then commenced on our original reason to meet after.

So, I planned to watch the delayed version. As luck would have it, somebody wanted to have a drink with me during Happy Hours. By the way, drinking during early evenings aren't always Happy Hours for me. Most times, I have to pay, at least for what I consume.

I arrived back home at a little after 10pm. Quickly took a cincai bath and sat myself in front of the Plasma. I missed out on the first one over hour.

The results are no longer news by now as you can see them plastered everywhere. However, if you still want to see another summary, visit Jeeneze's post here.

Being at times opinionated and forthright, here are some random observations.

I have never seen Hugh Jackman danced and sang before. He did okay. But I guess I won't miss it if it never happen again. Beyonce was something else.

The ladies aren't as good looking this year versus the last years. Did you look at Kate Winslet, Angelina Jolie, Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry etc.? Maybe the dresses this year covered more and you were forced to look at the faces.

Kate Winslet looked older. She did look like the character in The Reader where she played a older woman who seduced a 15 year old. She got the Oscar on this one as the number one actress. She said as a little girl, she used to hold a shampoo bottle in her hand in the bathroom in anticipation of winning an Oscar. I can't remember when I was a kid; what was it that I held in my hand in my bathroom in anticipation of what.

Most of the guys were suave and handsome in their USD2000.00 suits.

In the acceptance speeches, there were a lot of thanking spouses and children and reminding the kids that all things are possible. Nobody seemed to thank God though this time round.

There were no utterances of things political in nature that I hear. I think Sean Penn said something about liberty or human rights or personal freedom or something of that sort.

Robert Downy Jr. did not win the Best Supporting Actor and lost it to Heath Ledger. Somebody told me that dead people usually get more support and respect as they no longer pose any competition nor can they hurt you in any way. It is perfectly safe to praise them and bestow upon them every respect, of course most times deservedly. Ever heard a bad eulogy?

Uncyclopedia; "Jeeneze, Peter; Let's have Lunch"

On February 21, I presented a challenge on my post I Buy Lunch.

Jeeneze was the first one to come in with the correct answer on February 22 at 12.05am. Then Peter Chow came in, again with the correct answer with more details on exactly where at the correct site the article was found, on the same day at 11.48am. Looked like Jeeneze slept late.

Yes, of course the source was from http://www.uncyclopedia.wikia.com/

So what the hell is this 'encyclopedia sounding' site.

From Wikipedia










Uncyclopedia, "the content-free encyclopedia", is a satirically themed wiki. Founded in 2005, it is formatted as a humorous parody of Wikipedia and aims ultimately to parody all encyclopedic subjects. Originally an English-language wiki, the project currently spans over 50 languages. The English version has over 23,000 pages of content.

Various different forms of humour style are used as a vehicle for parody from sophisticated satire to the apparently random. Like Wikipedia, Uncyclopedia has guidelines regarding what is and is not acceptable content and these guidelines have become progressively more strict as the site has expanded over time. The site has gained negative attention due to its articles on places and people.

Its logo is a hollowed potato, named Sophia after the Gnostic deity, that serves as a spoof of Wikipedia's globe logo.

Uncyclopedia was launched on January 5, 2005 by Jonathan Huang, known online as "Chronarion", and a pseudonymous partner called Stillwaters.

The idea for Uncyclopedia came from the English Wikipedia's now-defunct "Bad jokes and other deleted nonsense" page, where Wikipedia's editors would sideline nonsense which they perceived as humorous but unsuitable for inclusion in the main encyclopedia. Jonathan Huang and co-creator "Stillwaters" decided to make a wiki with this type of content, and created Uncyclopedia on January 5, 2005. Uncyclopedia's growing popularity resulted in it being voted Wikia's Featured Wikicity for November 2005, despite it not actually being a Wikicity.

The site has caused controversy due to its articles on towns and places and its similarity with Wikipedia, which led to a warning being issued by the Malaysian Internal Security Ministry.

Uncyclopedia's stated goal is to "provide the world's misinformation in the least redeeming and most searingly sarcastic and humorous way possible, through satire". Its articles contain information which is spoofed, fabricated or parodied to such an extent that very little factual accuracy remains.

Uncyclopedia has two main rules: "Be funny and not just stupid," and "Don't be a dick."


Should you need more information, check out with Wikipedia (where else) or go directly to the site.

I would think NegaraKuKu by our Muar boy NameWee would be inclusive.

Meanwhile I look forward to having lunch with both Jeeneze and Peter Chow.

NegaraKuKu, revisit?

I think this is a modified version done after his numerous interrogations by the Malaysian authorities on his return from Taiwan.

The 2009 Oscars

The 81st Annual Academy Awards, to be held at Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, will be aired live on Star Movies (Astro Chanel 413) on Monday at 9am, with a repeat at 8pm.

This year’s ceremony will be hosted by actor Hugh Jackman.

The 8pm repeat will include an exclusive, on-the-ground Red Carpet Special hosted by Channel [V]’s Dominic Lau.

So guys, do not forget to feign an illness, take medical leave and watch the event live tomorrow morning. For first timers, the most common but effective excuse for not turning up for work is diarrhea due to food poisoning. Doctors usually take your word for it, prescribe you some stuff and promptly award you a medical certificate without hassles. (Doctor Muthu used to be so kind. He'll give you whatever you want with much concern thrown in.)

Unfortunately, I have an important appointment in the morning and will have to give the live a miss. Okay, so will have to settle for the repeat in the evening.

The only nominated Best Picture movie that I saw was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This one has 13 nominations! As I mentioned earlier, the concept of this movie is crap. You just imagine maybe 2 years ago, I tell you. "Hey, I think maybe Hollywood should make a movie about a man born 80 years old and age backwards to become a baby again. We can throw in a love story between this man and a woman when they start having wild sex in their 30's or so. Don't worry about the scientists and or the Government getting into the act. Let's just pretend this secret can be kept and get everybody in a denial mode. We should also invite famous actors for this project, like maybe Brad Pitt? like maybe Cate Blancett?. What do you think?"

However, I agreed with everybody that this movie was very well made in every way. Just that, I thought the story concept was such a poor excuse for a movie.

I watch Dark Knight too. Somehow, I can't remember too much about this movie. Heath Ledger may win the Best Supporting Actor. However, I hope Robert Downey Jr., in Tropic Thunder wins in this category.

Kate Winslet sucked in The Holiday movie. But the trailers and clips of the movie The Reader that I watched lately showed her being very impressive. She was nominated for Best Actress in this movie and The Reader was nominated for Best Picture.

I Buy Lunch

First, may I remind readers that a sense of humor is a pre-requisite.

Here below I copied and pasted an article I found on the web today. I shall buy lunch in Seremban Favourite Restaurant or Koon Kee or Chan Sow Lin Rd 5 or similar for the first person who can identify the source.

This site has been up since January 2005.

Winning elections in Malaysia

In Bolehland, winning elections is a no-brainer. Anyone can become a prominent YB(Yang Bodoh/Yang Babi) these days - even a university reject (don't believe me, ask Najis Tong Rosak).

To gain Malay votes, you just have to promise them first-class citizen treatment. As for the Chinese promise them lots of money, business opportunities and good fortune. Then for the Indians promise you won't demolish Hindu temples anymore.

For the Orang Asli...err...who cares. Their votes are too small to make a difference, but if you insist then just promise the usual stuff - more transport and infrastructure into their jungles, more hospitals, etc. However you should NOT promise them first class citizen treatment - or the Malays will jail you under ISA for treason.

Of course, as in all elections around the world, you can forget about fulfilling your promise once you won, so that later you can promise the same thing again!!Can meh? Of course we can. Malaysia Boleh Mah!

GigaPan

I was introduced to this GigaPan Systems by Jullie Chin, a CanonMalaysian, via email.
















David Bergman made the following Gigapan image from the north press platform during President Obama's inaugural address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on January 20, 2009. It's made up of 220 images and the final image size is 59,783 X 24,658 pixels or 1,474 megapixels.

This is indeed awesome. You can zoom right in and see the pimples on their faces. You need a little patience on the loading time though.

http://gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=15374

Chan Sow Lin Jalan 5

On a Saturday June 28, 2008, I went to have lunch at the famous Chan Sow Lin Jalan 3 FishHead Restaurant. That was when I received first hand information from the boss himself that, that day will be the last day of operation at that premises. "We will be moving to Jalan 5," he said.

This was the picture of him telling me.















I duly wrote a post to inform readers and this will link you there.

http://canonmalaysians.blogspot.com/2008/06/chan-sow-lin-fishhead-moving.html

Recently I went there to the new place for the first time. Same handsome boss. This is the huge non-air conditioned outside covered area.















This is the inside air-conditioned area.

.

.

.

This place is quite easy to find. Just drive straight in along Chan Sow Lin Jalan 5 until you think you have the wrong road. Then drive in some more further and after crossing a bridge over a huge drain, you will see this place on your right.

No change in the food quality and no change in the prices. Great food at great prices.

All you guys who eat on non company expenses will like this place. Guys on company expenses, just take me with you to whatever places.

Yah, this place now opens on Sundays as well.

I went pass the old place and can still see the 37 year old tree standing. Wonderful sight!

Elizabeth Wong

Like many people, I have no idea who Elizabeth Wong was until the day before yesterday.

I have seen a couple of unflattering pictures of her. I would not show you here as that would not be right.

I think she didn't do anything wrong and should not be discriminated upon. The pictures I saw showed her semi-nude. There may be some other nude ones. She may not be party to the photo-session willingly or she may not have agreed for them to be made public. The ones I saw are not in the same category of those on Chua Soi Lek.

It certainly is sad to see her career cut short because of this senseless expose.

Well, here are some decent pictures.

Canon Annual Dinner 2009

This year, the Canon Annual Dinner was held on Valentine's Day.

I did not get to go as I wasn't invited. I know their big excuse was that I am no longer in Canon Marketing (M) Sdn Bhd. I say "So, what has that got to do with It."

From some of the photos that I saw, it was a really colorful event. From the faces that I saw, it must have been a real fun event. From the faces that I saw, there were very few people that I know personally. Frances Yip yah, Christina Lee yah, Mike Cheong yah, Cheng Siew Ho yah, Shareen Thum yah, Jackie Leow yah, Danny Cheam yah, Dorai yah, Alicia Hooi yah, ..

Here are some pictures that I stole.

(sigh), I wish I was young again.

The Mom Song

Happy Valentine to all Mothers with Teenage Daughters. (a day late, right?) I know you would sing along, watching the following video if you know how.

This came by mail to a group loop of which I am part of, from Derek Goh.



The William Tell Overture Finale was most well known in the Lone Ranger Television shows.



Just ignore the next 2 videos if you listen for a minute and you do not like it. However, should you sit through them, it is very likely that you will enjoy them.






The accompanying credits say, William Tell overture by Gioachino Rossini performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker with Claudio Abbado, conductor

Some light stuff on a Saturday Morning

Before you continue, let me caution you, that a spoken command of the Cantonese language is necessary.

So, this girl spoke to her younger brother and he in turn spoke to his college mate and she spoke to me.

Unlike the Tortoise and Hare story, this one has three parts.

Char Siew Pau and Man Tou went to watch a sad movie. Char Siew Pau cried and Man Tou didn't. Why?

Char Siew Pau and Lin Yoong Pau went to see a Comedy. Lin Yoong Pau laugh and the other didn't. Why?

Mr and Mrs Char Siew Pau took their kid across the road and a truck ran over the kid, smashed into and broke open the kid. Mr Char Siew Pau slapped the wife. Why?



Answers after this video clip. (like a commercial break mah)





1. Man Tou has no 'feelings'.


2 Char Siew Pau and Lin Yoong Pau have different 'feelings'.


3 The fillings in the kid was not 'char siew'.



The younger brother of the first girl of whom this piece came from, is called Park Leng, a student of Brickfields Asia College.

Defending Freedom of Speech for Everyone

My post on the 2nd of this month introduced Johann Hari and his article I came across on Stand up for the right to criticize religion. I found what he wrote interesting and I trust you may feel the same OR you may be totally outraged. If it is the latter, then blasphemy would be the appropriate word.

This morning I read this follow-up article on his blog. "Despite the Riots and Threats, I Stand By What I Wrote".

Instead of just providing you with a hyperlink and run the risk of you ignoring it, I chose to reproduce here the full text.

Interesting indeed.



Last week, I wrote an article defending free speech for everyone – and in response there have been riots, death threats, and the arrest of an editor who published the article.

Here’s how it happened. My column reported on a startling development at the United Nations. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights has always had the job of investigating governments who forcibly take the fundamental human right to free speech from their citizens with violence. But in the past year, a coalition of religious fundamentalist states have successfully fought to change her job description. Now, she has to report on “abuses of free expression” including “defamation of religions and prophets.” Instead of defending free speech, she must now oppose it.

I argued this was a symbol of how religious fundamentalists – of all stripes – have been progressively stripping away the right to freely discuss their faiths. They claim religious ideas are unique and cannot be discussed freely; instead, they must be “respected” – by which they mean unchallenged. So now, whenever anyone on the UN Human Rights Council tries to discuss the stoning of “adulterous” women, the hanging of gay people, or the marrying off of ten year old girls to grandfathers, they are silenced by the chair on the grounds these are “religious” issues, and it is “offensive” to talk about them. This trend is not confined to the UN. It has spread deep into democratic countries. Whenever I have reported on immoral acts by religious fanatics – Catholic, Jewish, Hindu or Muslim – I am accused of “prejudice”, and I am not alone. But my only “prejudice” is in favor of individuals being able to choose to live their lives, their way, without intimidation. That means choosing religion, or rejecting it, as they wish, after hearing an honest, open argument.

A religious idea is just an idea somebody had a long time ago, and claimed to have received from God. It does not have a different status to other ideas; it is not surrounded by an electric fence none of us can pass. That’s why I wrote: “All people deserve respect, but not all ideas do. I don't respect the idea that a man was born of a virgin, walked on water and rose from the dead. I don't respect the idea that we should follow a "Prophet" who at the age of 53 had sex with a nine-year old girl, and ordered the murder of whole villages of Jews because they wouldn't follow him. I don't respect the idea that the West Bank was handed to Jews by God and the Palestinians should be bombed or bullied into surrendering it. I don't respect the idea that we may have lived before as goats, and could live again as woodlice…. When you demand "respect", you are demanding we lie to you. I have too much real respect for you as a human being to engage in that charade.”

An Indian newspaper called The Statesman – one of the oldest and most venerable dailies in the country – thought this accorded with the rich Indian tradition of secularism, and reprinted the article. That night, four thousand Islamic fundamentalists began to riot outside their offices, calling for me, the editor, and the publisher to be arrested – or worse. They brought Central Calcutta to a standstill. A typical supporter of the riots, Abdus Subhan, said he was “prepared to lay down his life, if necessary, to protect the honour of the Prophet” and I should be sent “to hell if he chooses not to respect any religion or religious symbol… He has no liberty to vilify or blaspheme any religion or its icons on grounds of freedom of speech.” Then, two days ago, the editor and publisher were indeed arrested. They have been charged – in the world’s largest democracy, with a constitution supposedly guaranteeing a right to free speech – with “deliberately acting with malicious intent to outrage religious feelings”. I am told I too will be arrested if I go to Calcutta.

What should an honest defender of free speech say in this position? Every word I wrote was true. I believe the right to openly discuss religion, and follow the facts wherever they lead us, is one of the most precious on earth – especially in a democracy of a billion people rivven with streaks of fanaticism from a minority of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. So I cannot and will not apologize. I did not write a sectarian attack on any particular religion of the kind that could lead to a rerun of India’s hellish anti-Muslim or anti-Sikh pogroms, but rather a principled critique of all religions who try to forcibly silence their critics. The right to free speech I am defending protects Muslims as much as everyone else. I passionately support their right to say anything they want – as long as I too have the right to respond. It’s worth going through the arguments put forward by the rioting fundamentalists, because they will keep recurring in the twenty-first century as secularism is assaulted again and again. They said I had upset “the harmony” of India, and it could only be restored by my arrest. But this is a lop-sided vision of “harmony”. It would mean that religious fundamentalists are free to say whatever they want – and the rest of us have to shut up and agree. The protestors said I deliberately set out to “offend” them, and I am supposed to say that, no, no offence was intended. But the honest truth is more complicated. Offending fundamentalists isn’t my goal – but if it is an inevitable side-effect of defending human rights, so be it. If fanatics who believe Muslim women should be imprisoned in their homes and gay people should be killed are insulted by my arguments, I don’t resile from it. Nothing worth saying is inoffensive to everyone. You do not have a right to be ring-fenced from offence. Every day, I am offended – not least by ancient religious texts filled with hate-speech. But I am glad, because I know that the price of taking offence is that I can give it too, if that is where the facts lead me. But again, the protesters propose a lop-sided world. They do not propose to stop voicing their own heinously offensive views about women’s rights or homosexuality, but we have to shut up and take it – or we are the ones being “insulting.”

It’s also worth going through the arguments of the Western defenders of these protesters, because they too aren’t going away. Already I have had e-mails and bloggers saying I was “asking for it” by writing a “needlessly provocative” article. When there is a disagreement and one side uses violence, it is a reassuring rhetorical stance to claim both sides are in the wrong, and you take a happy position somewhere in the middle. But is this true? I wrote an article defending human rights, and stating simple facts. Fanatics want to arrest or kill me for it. Is there equivalence here? The argument that I was “asking for it” seems a little like saying a woman wearing a short skirt is “asking” to be raped. Or, as Salman Rushdie wrote when he received far, far worse threats simply for writing a novel (and a masterpiece at that): “When Osip Mandelstam wrote his poem against Stalin, did he ‘know what he was doing’ and so deserve his death? When the students filled Tiananmen Square to ask for freedom, were they not also, and knowingly, asking for the murderous repression that resulted? When Terry Waite was taken hostage, hadn’t he been ‘asking for it’?” When fanatics threaten violence against people who simply use words, you should not blame the victim.

These events are also a reminder of why it is so important to try to let the oxygen of rationality into religious debates – and introduce doubt. Voltaire – one of the great anti-clericalists – said: “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” If you can be made to believe the absurd notion that an invisible deity dictated The Eternal Unchanging Truth to a specific person at a specific time in history and anyone who questions this is Evil, then you can easily be made to demand the death of journalists and free women and homosexuals who question that Truth. But if they have a moment of doubt – if there is a single nagging question at the back of their minds – then they are more likely to hesitate. That’s why these ideas must be challenged at their core, using words and reason. But the fundamentalists are determined not to allow those rational ideas to be heard – because at some level they know they will persuade for many people, especially children and teenagers in the slow process of being indoctrinated. If, after all the discussion and all the facts about how contradictory and periodically vile their ‘holy’ texts are, religious people still choose fanatical faith, I passionately defend their right to articulate it. Free speech is for the stupid and the wicked and the wrong – whether it is fanatics or the racist Geert Wilders – just as much as for the rational and the right. All I say is that they do not have the right to force it on other people or silence the other side. In this respect, Wilders resembles the Islamists he professes to despise: he wants to ban the Koran. Fine. Let him make his argument. He discredits himself by speaking such ugly nonsense. The solution to the problems of free speech – that sometimes people will say terrible things – are always and irreducibly more free speech. If you don’t like what a person says, argue back. Make a better case. Persuade people. The best way to discredit a bad argument is to let people hear it. I recently interviewed the pseudo-historian David Irving, and simply quoting his crazy arguments did far more harm to him than any Austrian jail sentence for Holocaust Denial.

Please do not imagine that if you defend these rioters, you are defending ordinary Muslims. If we allow fanatics to silence all questioning voices, the primary victims today will be Muslim women, Muslim gay people, and the many good and honourable Muslim men who support them. Imagine what Europe would look like now if everybody who offered dissenting thoughts about Christianity in the seventeenth century and since was intimidated into silence by the mobs and tyrants who wanted to preserve the most literalist and fanatical readings of the Bible. Imagine how women and gay people would live.You can see this if you compare my experience to that of journalists living under religious-Islamist regimes. Because generations of people sought to create a secular space, when I went to the police, they offered total protection. When they go to the police, they are handed over to the fanatics – or charged for their “crimes.” They are people like Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, the young Afghan journalism student who was sentenced to death for downloading a report on women’s rights. They are people like the staff of Zanan, one of Iran’s leading reform-minded women’s magazines, who have been told they will be jailed if they carry on publishing. They are people like the 27-year old Muslim blogger Abdel Rahman who has been seized, jailed and tortured in Egypt for arguing for a reformed Islam that does not enforce shariah law.

It would be a betrayal of them – and the tens of thousands of journalists like them – to apologize for what I wrote. Yes, if we speak out now, there will be turbulence and threats, and some people may get hurt. But if we fall silent – if we leave the basic human values of free speech, feminism and gay rights undefended in the face of violent religious mobs – then many, many more people will be hurt in the long term. Today, we have to use our right to criticise religion – or lose it.

I Can Still See Her Standing There

Alright!

Finally we have somebody kind enough to upload onto youtube the Paul McCartney 51st Grammy Night "I Saw Her Standing There" live with Dave Grohl.

The quality of the clip is not excellent though.

The elegant hottie who introduced Sir Paul McCartney is Kate Beckinsale. Don't you think she is 'smoking'?


Ladies and Gentlemen, 36 years old English Actress Kate Beckinsale!

She is known for her roles in the films Pearl Harbor (2001), Underworld (2003), Van Helsing (2004), The Aviator (2004), Underworld: Evolution (2006) and Click (2006)

Chinese premier's speech at University of Cambridge

I received a mail from Jack Lim, Canon former Managing Director on subject speech.

Jack said. "A speech worth reading. With the bold steps taken to overcome the present economic crisis, by the time the global economy recovers, China would leapfrog more than half the developed countries in advancement."

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You may too remembered that this was the same occasion when a shoe was thrown and missed him by about a meter.

I have here the appropriate link in case you want to read what Premier Wen Jiabao said on the 2nd February 2009 at the University of Cambridge, London.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/03/content_10753336.htm

I Saw Her Standing There

I watched the 51st Grammy Awards yesterday and all the performances by various artistes were beyond reproach. The only exception being that I did not like the version done by Neil Diamond on Sweet Caroline. However, I was particularly drawn to Paul McCartney doing "I Saw Her Standing There" with Dave Grohl playing the drums.

You may recognise Dave Grohl currently with the Foo Fighters and previously with the late legendary Kurt Corbain in the group Nirvana.

It is too early to find an upload of that performance on youtube. However, I find this concert by him in Kiev, last year June to be really good.



Incidentally, Paul McCartney played in front of 350,000 then and the songs performed by him include:

'Drive My Car' 'Jet' 'All My Loving' 'Only Mama Knows' 'Flaming Pie' 'Got To Get You Into My Life' 'Let Me Roll It' 'C Moon' 'My Love' 'Let 'Em In' 'The Long And Winding Road' 'Dance Tonight' 'Blackbird' 'Calico Skies' 'I'll Follow The Sun' 'Mrs Vanderbilt' 'Eleanor Rigby' 'Something' 'Good Day Sunshine' 'Penny Lane' 'Band On The Run' 'Birthday' 'Back In The USSR' 'I Got A Feeling' 'Live And Let Die' 'Let It Be''Hey Jude''A Day In The Life/Give Peace A Chance' 'Lady Madonna' 'Get Back''I Saw Her Standing There' 'Yesterday' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'

I think all mentioned songs performed then are available on youtube if you care to look.

You would probably not be interested. But Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, has a population of 2.7 million people. And can you imagine 350,000 of these turning up to watch Paul McCartney! (granted, there were out of towners and other foreigners.)



Meanwhile, back to the 51st Grammy Awards:

Jason Mraz should have won the Song of the Year yesterday, according to a relative of mine. Go listen to "I'm Yours" again and you may agree.












My favorite person there was LeAnn Rimes. I did not like her outfit though. This lady won her first Grammy at the age of 13. The youngest winner ever. Remember her song "Can't Fight the Moonlight"?

I was surprised to see Robert Plant garnering 5 Grammies together with Alison Krauss. Robert, as you know was the rocker singer with Led Zeppelin. I thought he has ridden off into the sunset whilst his partner Jimmy Page was still being a bit active. Beijing Olympics? King Kong soundtrack?

It was Janice

My post yesterday saw a picture of 2 pretty girls from Techtra Office Automation.














One was Yuki. I mentioned I couldn't remember the name of the other girl.

It was pointed out to me that she is Janice, this information is courtesy of Marco through his comment on that post. Thank you Marco.

By the way, Marco has a couple of blogs which you may want to check out.

http://trace-ability.blogspot.com/ this site is on Large Format Printing Technologies

http://selfhelp4u.blogspot.com/ this one is a self help site with Articles on personal growth, self improvement, self-help and personal power

And yes Peter Chow, you are right. The one in the brown shirt in two of the photos yesterday was indeed Mr Khong from 3E.

CII is now Consumer System Products

Two days after Canon BIS bought dinner, it was CIIs turn.

What was written on the backdrop said Consumer System Products (not CII). I can only guess the name of this Division has changed. Possibly the return of Simon Wong, the prodigal son, to take charge of the Camera business necessitated a split of divisions between the Camera and Printer areas.

Of course, it would all be easier if we have the Camera Division, the Printer Division, the Copier/Fax Division, the Service Division, Personnel Division, Accounts Division et al. They will all be easily understood, and appropriately descriptive, but no. These simplistic names won't be cool. And being not cool won't do, right?

I was told to be in Ti Chen Restaurant Saujana at 12.00pm. However lunch started at 1.00 with many late arrivals. I thought the late arrivals were not being considerate at all.














Edmund Liew was again the Master of Ceremony. He did so competently, colorfully and with humor. We listened to CEO/President Liew Sip Chon before we started eating.

He told us that the familiar Tortoise and Hare story has 4 parts and not just the version we have been hearing all our lives.

In Part 1, the overconfident Hare went to sleep during the race and lost it to the Tortoise. Hence, being Slow and Steady is our first moral of the story.

The disappointed Hare challenged the Tortoise again and won this time running from beginning to end. Hence the moral this time says that we should be Fast and Consistent in our execution.

The resilient Tortoise asked for the race again and this time chose a different route that needed to cross a pond. The tortoise won this time because the Hare couldn't swim. Hence the moral, we can change the condition/enviroment sometimes to give us a competitive edge.

Part 4 was when they race for the fourth time. This time, the Hare carried the Tortoise on his back on the land run and the Tortoise returned the favor when crossing the pond. I gather by now, you can conclude on your own, the moral of this part. Yes, here it means that we all should not be overweight, lest possible synergy between parties may not be able to be executed for optimum results.

So now, what were they saying that there is no such thing as a Free Lunch!

Here with Canon CSP, you get a free lunch and a "Profitable Business by Thinking Outside the Box" program worth RM1850.00 free being conducted by the CEO/President Liew Sip Chon himself. You Can with Canon.














CanonMalaysian Soo Wen sat beside me. She was with Canon Alor Setar before leaving to join Kangar Office Automation. Now, seeking bright lights, big cities, she is here in Kuala Lumpur with Raymond Kuan in RS Majujaya promoting copiers. Unlike most others, she insisted that I took this picture of her close up instead of at a distance of at least 4 feet.














These 2 pretty ladies were Yuki and (dielo, can't remember the other one's name) from Tehtra Office Automation in Puchong Jaya. A company by CanonMalaysian Kenneth Choo who couldn't attend this time round.














Since Alvin Yeoh's wife couldn't make it, he sat down besides pretty girl Stephanie from Canon.

Entrepreneur Rick Low and Veteran Christie Low were there to grace the occasion as well.

Once again, please feel free to criticize on the blur photos as I am still using the slow shutter speed Samsung camera phone and most shots by me were candid and the victims being alive, were moving constantly.

I Agree

I agree with all those people who say that Pakatan Rakyat should stop bitching about their loss in the state of Perak.

There could have been some valid reasons why there is no anti-hopping laws in this country or in so many other countries including England and the United States as well. I have not found out those reasons yet.

Nonetheless if somebody voted you in when you represent a party as well, then how can the people not feel cheated when you jump ship? For whatever reasons.

To be fair, these 3 mothers did not say they are joining Barisan Nasional. They became Independents. (Is it true that everybody has got a new Camry except assemblyman Hee?)

Still, I agree with all those people who say that Pakatan Rakyat should stop bitching about their loss in the state of Perak.

This time around, Anwar Ibrahim started the game. What if exactly the same situation happens in another state in reverse. If that should happen, then I would have said that Barisan Nasional should stop bitching about their loss.

Incidentally, I was of the opinion that prior to the GE2008, people who joined the opposition parties do it for what the parties stand for and has nothing to do with possible monetary gains. The opposition was not supposed to win. Was I wrong?

Damn!

Canon BIS Division bought CNY Dinner

It happened Tuesday passed at Oriental Pavilion Jaya 33.

Canon BIS Division looks after the health of the copier and fax business in this nation. Headed by Richard Yeow and lieutenants Ooi Chik Hoe, Shareen Thum and Pang, plus others.

On the same table as I were Kwan Bee Geok, Jeremy Cheong, Project Queen Yvonne, Alvin Yeoh, Cheryl and Candy from Bits and Bytes, Shirley and Raymond Kuan and the most affable Wang from Copynet.

Of course Liew Sip Chon was there.

Spoke with Rick Low, Amelia, Alan 1, Alan 2, Tan Chin Han and Christie Low.

The colorful Rick related to me how he wanted to sue the restaurant when one of the waiters poured some beer down his trousers. He mentioned that on a previous occasion, one of his friends threaten to send a bill of RM500 for a dry clean job when it happened to that fellow. However this time. "Never mind lah, since this time Liew Sip Chon was partly at fault, let's not play the fool."

Wikipedia came to my mind when I listened to Raymond Kuan talk. This guy gives us all so much information. We all now know that he bought his house for RM650,000 and did a RM700,000 renovation before he moved in. He said he and Donny Ling are of the same age at 49. He too said his wife Shirley is 48 years old. He will soon be having a 52 inch Samsung LCD television in his master bedroom. He is currently grooming his son to take over the business. One of his staff Soo Wen will be coming over to my place as well as others to train my people how to do the copier business. Soo Wen will also be representing him in the Canon CII luncheon in Ti Chen Restaurant 2 days later.

Actually there were more. However my brain registered a temporary shutdown due to the information overload.

Once again, the food was excellent and the company of the people fantastic.