TSS#2 - Popular Practice 2

I'm sick and tired of hearing people say,

"Dont go there to work, there are many racists there.", or
"Don't study overseas, there are many racists there."

So it's better to work in our small sweet country huh, because err..

There's no racists in Singapore?

Then why promote racial harmony?
And why punish people for making seditious comments?

Hmm?

WSP#3 - Death Sentence Upheld

This is not your idea of a newspaper article. This is my idea of a joke. It is largely inaccurate, hopelessly infactual, and contains gross misinformation. Something you would not want to take seriously. Proceed at your own peril!



Took Leng How's appeal dismissed, death term upheld for Huang Na's murder
source: Rita Zahara, CNA
edited by: dlauposer

SINGAPORE: Took Leng How, the vegetable packer who was sentenced to death for the murder of eight-year old Huang Na, has had his appeal rejected.

The appeal was not dismissed on the grounds that he was guilty, but rather, for making an appeal in the first place.

Chief Justice Yong Pung How maintained that this decision should "teach young punks how they can get into trouble by challenging the decisions of people in authority."

He also added that he changed his name to Yong Pung How to prove his point, that is "young punks, how?"

This probably also explains why he has been often seen saying to juvenile offenders in court, "Young punk, how?"

Though the death sentence was upheld, it was not a unanimous decision.

Two of the three judges agreed with the decision of trial judge Lai Kew Chai that the accused was not suffering from an abnormality of mind at the time of the offence.

The third judge, however, thought otherwise.

"We have to wayang a bit here and there. You know, if all three judges dismiss Took's case unanimously, then people might think that we are collaborating to punish him for appealing. Actually that's true, but we cannot make it so obvious what!", he explained.

With Singapore experimenting alternative methods to kill someone sentenced to death, Took may well be the first criminal in Singapore to experience death by lethal injection.

Hangman See Liao Buey, who has been working with Changi Prison his entire life explains the reason for change, saying: "Hanging, 95% kill rate. Lethal injection, 99% kill rate. When hanging, sometimes the rope maybe not so strong, doesn't kill the person immediately. But with lethal injection, when the poison gets into your bloodstream, you die die die die die. In Singapore, we are always looking for efficiency. Fast service. When you wanna kill someone, you also have got to be efficient. Fast service, you know, that kind of thing."

Copyright Laws - A Dilemma

Copyright laws have evolved much over the centuries.

In the past, there was the freedom to copy. Someone could copy another's works as long as he/she had the time. Over the years, however, copyright laws have become increasingly restrictive. Only last year, the Copyright Law was amended, and now copyright offenders in Singapore can face up to a US$12,000 fine and/or a jail term of six months for copyright infringements.

My media law lecturer believes we're going in the wrong direction with these laws. Why?

Traditionally, the law has only been protecting the copying of expressions, and not ideas. Expressions are tangible products; ideas are not. With the new copyright laws, the law is clamping down on BOTH the copying of expressions and ideas. This is going against one of the basic, fundamental roles of the law.

We know all about the various media organizations which are anti-piracy. But anti-piracy also means that one can't work on remixing a song, for example, without seeking the approval of the respective record labels. Even when approval is sought, it is likely they will reject the idea unless they are compensated accordingly, since they want to create remixes of their own and sell them to their profit. Thus, creative individuals who want to remix existing songs cannot do so because they do not have the financial means by which to do so.

Anti-piracy also means if you were a fan of a movie or anime series which was not available for viewing or sale in your country, you would not be able to download it off the Internet just so you could enjoy it because anti-piracy laws are in place. And anti-piracy also means a copyrighted song / album / movie cannot be downloaded or shared, and will not enter the public domain (free for the public to view/share) until about 95 years after it is launched. But seriously, who would even bother watching / listening to something 95 years old?

Currently, many media conglomerates who produce these media products and perpetuators of copyright laws argue that restrictions should be in place:
(i) so the creator has an incentive to create
(ii) so the public domain will be vibrant

During our tutorial, we were asked to answer a simple question - What would be our incentive to create, or rather, what would the motivation for us creating something be. Most of us cited recognition, taking pride in being able to call the invention ours, and freesom of expression as the motivating factors. NOBODY cited money as the motivating factor. The same can be said of many artistes out there - the motivation for their creating something is NOT money. It is because they love doing what they do. Yet many media companies which they are contracted to claim money is the incentive to create. As we have just proven, that may not be true.

Secondly, how can the public domain be vibrant if an aspiring DJ cannot remix an existing song because it is considered illegal to do so? Do copyright laws really help create a vibrant public domain, or do they actually stifle creativity?

Food for thought indeed.

Movies.. And More Movies

It's Friday the 13th!! LoL! So I'll talk about movies today.

Went to watch "Elizabeth Town" with Jason, Jocelyn and Sherlyn on Tuesday. And it has got to be the most boring movie I've ever watched in my life. Slowly paced... Romance... Few jokes... No action... Yawnzzzzzzzz... I would have lost count of the number of times I would have fallen asleep if I had not slept so much the night before.

I think I've had enough of romantic teen comedies. Not that it was really a comedy to start with so few jokes, anyway. Not going to ever spend $9.50 on such a boring genre of movies again. Really. I've always had a bad impression of such movies but it was a boring day, there was nothing else to do, and my friends asked me out for a movie. So there you go.

This is the third movie I've watched within a month, and the others were "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "King Kong". And I thought they were much better movies compared to "Elizabeth Town". Maybe the genre suited me, that's all.

"King Kong" was good. But the ending was kinda sad. I would have preferred the girl to spend the rest of her days with King Kong on Skull Island. The scene where King Kong managed to fight off and kill four dinosaurs single-handedly was simply excellent. Such power, such strength. Even at the end, I was happy to see the giant beast rip the wings off the planes which were trying to hunt him down.

I think everyone who got killed trying to hunt him down DESERVED it. :P

Song Of The Month (Jan)

The second song is a fresh track and has not been played by radio stations yet. But it's a really nice song which I happened to stumble upon and I would like to recommend it this month.

1. FORT MINOR - BELIEVE ME

I guess that this is where we've come to
If you don't want to
Then you don't have to believe me
But I won't be there when you go down
Just so you know now
You're on your own now believe me

I don't want to be the one to blame
You like fun and games
Keep playing em
I'm just sayin
Think back then
We was like one and the same
On the right track
But I was on the wrong train
Just like that
Now you've got a face to pain
And the devil's got a fresh new place to play
In your brain like a maze you can never escape the rain
Every damn day is the same shade of grey

Hey I used have a little bit of a plan
Used to have a concept of where I stand
But that concept slipped right out of my hands
Now I don't really even know who I am
Yo, what do I have to say
Maybe I should do what I have to do to break free
What ever happens to you, we'll see
But it's not gonna happen to me

I guess that this is where we've come to
If you don't want to
Then you don't have to believe me
But I won't be there when you go down
Just so you know now
You're on your own now believe me

Back then, I thought you were just like me
Somebody who could see all the pain I see
But you proved to me unintentionally
That you would self-destruct eventually
Now I'm thinking like the mistake I made doesn't hurt
But it's not gonna work
Cause it's really much worse than I thought
I wished you were something that you were not
And now this guilt is really all that I got

You turned your back
And walked away in shame
All you got is a memory of pain
Nothing makes sense so you stare at the ground
I hear your voice in my head when no one's around
What do I have to say
Maybe I should do what I have to do to break free
What ever happens to you, we'll see
But it's not gonna happen to me

I guess that this is where we've come to
If you don't want to
Then you don't have to believe me
But I won't be there when you go down
Just so you know now
You're on your own now believe me

I guess that this is where we've come to
If you don't want to
Then you don't have to believe me
But I won't be there when you go down
Just so you know now
You're on your own now believe me

Do what i have to do
You're on your own now believe me
What ever happens to you
You're on your own now believe me
What do I have to say
You're on your own now believe me
It's not gonna happen to me
You're on your own now believe me





2. WESTLIFE - THAT'S WHERE YOU FIND LOVE

In your eyes I found the greatest price
You and I could not be closer
And in your arms
Is everything I want
Now I know my search is over and
I don't know where you take me
But it's exactly where I wanna be

It's where the stars line up
It's where the ocean starts
It's in a place I've never been that feels like home
It's in the air right now
It's when you give your all, and give a little more
I've never been so sure
That's where you find love

People pass and listen to us laugh
Wishing that they had the same thing
And our friends they ask
How we made it last
I just smile and say the same thing
I'm not sure how we got here
Baby I'm just glad that we got here

It's where the stars line up
It's where the ocean starts
It's in a place I've never been that feels like home
It's in the air right now
It's when you give your all, and give a little more
I've never been so sure
That's where you find love
That's where you find love

It's where the stars line up
It's where the ocean starts
It's in the place and everything that feels like home
It's in the air right now
It's when you give your all, and give a little more
I've never been this sure
That's where you find love
Find love
That's where you find love

I'm Glad I'm Different

Just why should I be considered weird just because I'm different from the rest?

I know most people score well for their sciences and maths and do badly for their languages. I'm different - All along I have done well in my languages but I suck when it comes to maths. Don't ask me why - I just suck. But so what? Can't I be different?

Wouldn't it be boring if everyone was the same? Why, are you jealous that I'm better in my languages than you are? Do you really think one could be good in maths if they were poor in their languages - they wouldn't even be able to explain the theories and concepts clearly. Languages are the foundation for ALL subjects.

I've said this and I'll say it again. I love English. It's a beautiful language. Would I not succeed in life because I'm poor in maths? I don't think so. Far from it. At least I will survive in any English speaking country while you will stammer and stutter when attempting to communicate with people speaking fine English. Which is why I said attempt, because try as you might you just can't do it.

So never mind if I'm poor in Maths. I work on my strengths, not my weaknesses.

Don't like it? Too bad then.