Creativity and Copyrights

June & me were browsing youtube & we crapped the shit out of ourselves watching many videos. It so happens we came upon this particular video from japan. Its actually a very funny prank to watch, but it kind of left me a after taste & some feelings that made me wanna speak up. Please watch it to find out, and you would most probably understand how I felt.

Now you would probably know what I meant. Didn't we just had a TV commercial in much similarity? It comes to explain that sometimes the creativity of us Singaporeans sadly, don't really stand out that much. Other then being famous for being a "fine" city, or being ridiculously "kiasu", we now also have the label of shameless copycats.

If we really seen that much, we would most probably be able to pin point a lot of things that weren't supposed to be originally from us. (Exceptions & kudos to the M1 commercial of the Indian Curry House which sells butter chicken & spicy *something*, and receives a call from a mysterious customer from Singapore. Its typically full of our Singaporean "kiasu" flavor.) Many commercials & shows were a typical direct photocopy from another source. A great example will be "Deal or no Deal", as most of us all know is a replica from one of Jacky Wu's variety show, "齐天大胜". Why is that such that Mediacorp brands it as our very own game show in this case?

Other examples will be Singapore Idol, Project Superstar or SuperBand or all those recent so-called competitions whereby viewers spends tonnes of money making votes via making calls or smses. All these were never consider a competition anyway as no professionalism were ever considered into it were making the winners or losers. In a nutshell, its more of a profit generating source for the producers rather then entertainment. And the contestants, are nothing more but marketing tools. What's worse, the ideas were leeched from others and not their own. When they aren't able to bypass the copyrights, they would just instead purchase a franchise or license to modify the name of the programme & then once again, make it our very own. Is this our own creativity, or has our habits of copying this and that being a bit too contagious?

At least American idols etc produce stars who shine internationally. They have the funds to package the stars and make them outstanding, cutting album after album, song after song. But of course, the winners themselves who emerge victorious in the first place, are really talents. What about those in Singapore? Enjoy the following, I can list them out;

One has been packaged to look like a gay. One never won but try to copy from a legendary Japanese star and claims those as his own works, but ends up making a shitty album where he picks up a rice dumpling from the floor. (This guy really has balls to insult the great Hyde from Japan.) Some aren't that awful, but their music always sound so familiar but in another language. Not entirely to blame them, but what the hell were their music coordinators doing? They don't have the talent to compose their own song but only copy international songs & just translate them into our own mother tongue? That's not what they meant by "Music is the Universal Religion".

We also have a some poor lads who won local competitions only to win the honor of singing the theme songs of some local produced dramas which in the first place sucked also. Their names never made it our of the boundaries of our country. As compared to international stars, they really just don't have anything to even talk about. Remember that I commented tha the contestants were just mere marketing tools? It also seems that they were over promised about cutting albums, being a star etc. Its like everything they need to hit stardom. They had just became fools to even believe in the first place that joining it would bring them any benefit. Their prime time will be during the competitions. Haven't you realized once after the competitions over, you don't really hear from them anymore. Its plain because they no longer can generate any profit for the company anymore and the company itself will NOT unnecessarily fund these people anymore for any reasons. Think well about it.

Ironically, whenever these competitions are held, there almost never seem to have any REAL talents to show up, only those wannabes & amateurs who show up and crap the shit out of us. Most of these people are just media-whores who suffer from this symptom to seek attention desperately, or are just dying to get famous overnight. Commonly, their so called talent will disappoint us at the end of the day.

Is that what we call talent? Or is our level of standard really that incomparable to the rest? Sometimes, Singaporeans just can't stick to what they really do best.

Back on track. From commercials, TV shows, work, artistes, music, so many things. So is it the chicken or the egg first? Don't think we have have much of a debate here. Its clearly that from where we stand, we are definitely not the first. Ultimately, whether they are talents or not anyway, they copy factor has always been there. The show is copied. Its fine if the programme is not original, but don't broadcast on national TV to deceive the local viewers saying, "Its our very own blah blah show." What is this? Claiming other people, ideas & hard work as their own and not even giving credit to others. Its okay the talents sing other artistes song's of course, but not to take someone else's songs and pose it off as their own. Total shame on you guys.


How could we have so wickedly ripped other people's work and claim it as their own? I can't keep emphasizing on that. Bloody hell, least you should give credits to where you got that from. Perhaps you might think that this totally sounds like an act of selfishness, but you can't brand it totally so. Firstly, the word "copyright" and the meaning exists for a reason; To ward against the truly selfish people who steal others things and make it theirs. Finally, from my point of view, If I'm the one with something original, and someone takes credit with my idea, that someone's just an asshole. I'm selfish? No. Morale of the story, that someone didn't ask. If that someone had asked politely, do you think I wouldn't share?

Maid In Singapore

Well, don't you wish you had a maid like her? She's almost like saying, "But Sir, I'm very tired, Can I have the day off? Please?"

The topic today revolves around domestic helpers working & living in Singapore; An interesting story I came upon, whether a off day is their luxury or entitlement or just what they deserve after working almost 7 days a week. And more complexities that arise from these issues.

NEWLY arrived, a maid asked her employer if she could get a rest day. Her employer was incredulous. "If I wanted to give my maid a day off, I would have hired one from another country," said the employer, who had signed her up on the assumption that maids of some nationalities were more pliant than others.

Faced with an employment contract that requires them to either give their maids a rest day, or compensate them accordingly for working, some Singaporean employers have sought ways to get around the terms or extract the most from their workers. And this begs the question of how much has truly changed for the 170,000 foreign domestic workers in our midst - two years after the industry association put together a standard contract requiring employers to give maids at least one day off a month.

A Today straw poll of 50 employers found that only 62 per cent gave their maids a rest day. With some industry watchers criticizing the rest-day clause as being too flexible, should legislation be put in place to mandate the issue?

There are several simple reasons why many Singaporean employers are reluctant to give their maids a day off. You see, if the maid runs away, the government will fine the employer $5,000. If the maid commits a crime such as shoplifting, the government will fine the employer $5,000. If the maid is caught having sex with someone, the government will fine the employer $5,000. If the maid gets pregnant, the government will also fine the employer $5,000. Oh, and you have to send your maid for a pregnancy test every six months).

If you didn't know any of the above, then either you do not employ a maid, or you didn't read the small print of the Manpower Ministry's work permit conditions. Many employers are afraid that if their maid has a day off and gets into trouble, the employer will not only have to solve the trouble, but also have to fork out $5,000 as a free gift to the government. (Not that the government will then help you solve the trouble. It's just a fine, plain & simple). Intuitively, this smacks of gross unfairness. The employer gets punished not for something he did, but for something that somebody else (the maid) did. Furthermore, once the maid leaves the employer's residence, the employer has no way of monitoring where the maid goes and what she does there.

To encourage employers to give their maids a day off, the government needs to change these ridiculous rules.

I agree that employers should be fined and punished, if they fail to perform their responsibilities as employers - for example, paying the maid's salary on time; providing adequate food and accommodation; and ensuring a safe, secure working environment. But employers should not be held responsible, for things that a maid may do, of her own free will. When the maid goes out on her rest day, the employer simply has no viable way to ensure that she will not do anything that breaches her work permit conditions. (Which, by the way, are quite extensive and onerous.)

We may draw a curious parallel with Mas Selamat's escape, and PM Lee's determined, if muddled, defence of Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng in Parliament. Mas Selamat ran away. But PM Lee said that Wong Kan Seng was not at fault and should not be punished in any way. The reason being that Wong Kan Seng personally did not do anything which allowed Mas Selamat to escape.

Strangely, if your maid runs away, it IS your fault and you SHOULD be punished. Even if you did not personally do anything to let her run away (apart from giving her a day off). Similarly, if your maid becomes pregnant, it IS your fault and you SHOULD be punished. Even if you did not personally do anything to make her pregnant.

Oh well. What can I say? Maids are not terrorists. But then you are not Wong Kan Seng. So the rules remain stacked against you. Wong Kan Seng gets off lightly, but you won't. Even if his lapse has far greater, and graver, implications than yours.

Your runaway maid wouldn't blow up Changi Airport, would she?

Foreign Talents or Foreign Thrash?

Pretty dodgey topic. But sometimes our so called fine city has been seriously over-infiltrated by foreigners. Not that they are taking holidays, but those who earn a living here. It's nice wages here as compared to the peanut shells they earn back in their rural regions; I actually have totally nothing against that. In fact, thanks to them as they were the ones who built the new shopping centers, offices, all those construction stuff. But what happens after they knock off is what bothers me. Their rowdy tones, their intolerable pungent BO. That's still not that bad. Its their inconsiderate behavior that got me a little pissed off today.

Not that I want to discriminate intentionally, I actually never meant to. Both June & me has some nice foreign friends, and they would be the better examples or impressions left to us. However, some of them display some bad attitude or inconsiderate behavior.

Coincidentally today, I went to catch a movie with my dear June; Harold & Kumar - Escape from Guantanamo Bay. Its a movie with lots of racist jokes, but god damn funny. One villain from the movie is one such racist, & very over-rated. I was kind of telling myself I can't be that bad. I really am not. But there comes my day's main spoiler.

After the movie, we decided to head home. But thinking on the time of the day 7pm plus, the trains will be packed like hell, so we agreed to take a supposedly joyride on a bus home. It was however, not quite we have imagined. It was far more packed than the train normally would. Pardon me, here comes my racism; It was packed with Bangladeshi & Chinese (I mean Chinese nationals from Cheena... China... or some would call them PRC's) workers. Kind of a turn off.

I was stuck at near the door way by one particular PRC man. Not the typical kind, but those from native china villages, if you know what I mean. He has very dark skin, a bit reddish probably due to exposure to lots of sunlight & reeks of alcohol. There the grumpy but polite bus driver is yelling at us to move in so the other passengers can get on, but that PRC man just wouldn't budge. Past 3 stops after I got on & stuck, I became pissed & told the PRC man to excuse me to pass. He ddin't even god damn budge. From his flaccid posture, he just tucked in his stupid tummy in by barely an inch, and expects that I can pass through. Feeling a bit dumb talking to an even dumber man, I mumbled, "You think I can get past like that?" I definitely, do not want to brush past him violently, absorbing his sweat, dirt, & disgusting odour. Even if I don't mind, its not going to be nice for my girlfriend to brush past him like that. Maybe I think too much, but I suspect he stood there intentionally to get fresh with the women on bus.

The overloading bus came to the next stop, & the driver once again prompted us to squeeze further in the bus. There the PRC man stands there like a chunk of rock. I can almost visualize him leaning there & whistling, pretending not to know anything. Now I lost my patience & gestured very clearly for him to move his f**king arse. He then replied in a terrible manner, as if its my fault to be too fat that I can't pass through, "You want to move you move la", in his native chinese, as if he's totally not in my way. Little did he know his ignorant words, blazed me aflame.

"Do you think I don't want to get through? You are totally blocking my way." I retorted him aloud, making sure the surrounding people hears his shame. Bitchy as I can be sometimes, I really brushed past him violently, intentionally crushing him a bit as I'm adjacent to his protruding tummy. Once I cleared him out, I turned around & extended my hand to June, to ferry her over, past the route I opened out.

As if one isn't enough, another one of these buggers parked himself happily in the middle of the staircase, restricting access to the upper deck. How in the world are we supposed to acrobatically attempt to bypass that birdbrain perched in the middle of the narrow passage of a moving bus?

Don't they understand that this is Singapore? You can't overpack a vehicle here. You can't just cling to the door or rooftop, or hang halfway out from a window like in your country? Even if they can, please attempt to do so at your risk, do not put us in danger by expecting us to do so. We are just working humans, not trained monkeys.

Aside from my frustration at these kind of parasites, I was actually meant to do a short little review on the wonderful comedy I caught with June today. They dampened my after-mood anyway. Just make sure you catch the movie, Harold & Kumar - Escape from Guantanamo Bay. Lots of senseless laughter and enjoyment. But take note its an M18 movie, it does contain images of naked boobs & brazilian-waxed pussies. But please, its only meant for humor, not erotic arousal. its only crude, not pornographic. No female sexual genitals were shown. If you are still interested, catch it soon, think its going off the theatres soon & trust me, its not likely or easy to find this movie on DVD.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Public Displays of Affection

From a peck on the cheek to 'feeding the pony*', We explore the ins and outs of getting intimate in front of other people.

Foreword:
Whenever I see couples making up in a corner, it hits me hard; Are they really desperate or can't afford to go up Hotel 81 for a quickie? When they start to get touchy, not that any of the compelled audiences with a right mind seriously gets turned on. Faces simply turn green with disgust & nausea. Oh com'on...go get a room.

For:
So you're in love. You're crazy for this person, passionately so. You can't keep your eyes off each other, so why keep your hands off limits? It's only human nature after all, and there's no happier sight than young lovers walking arm in arm, or snogging like it's going out of fashion. There's something almost life-affirming about it, and beats witnessing an argument or a physical fight.

Just because you're not getting any action, why should everyone else have to behave like nuns in your presence? It's a way of feeling loved, adored, protected, and a partner who isn't afraid to express his/her feelings is guaranteed to make a greater impact than one who won't go near you for fear of 'what others might think'.

Against:
There should be a crawler lane for couples who can't keep their hands off each other in public. From the streets to the supermarket aisles, there's nothing more irritating than being stuck behind some sauntering couple who seem to be searching for lost change down the back of each others' pants. It's irritating and smug. Holding hands? No problem. A peck on the cheek? Bring it on! But do we have to put up with any more than that?

Is it really necessary to turn the bus into a mobile lap dancing club, especially if we're forced to watch but banned from interacting? If a single person decided to love him or herself up in public there'd be an outcry, most probably among couples, and rightly so. Legislating against this sort of lewd behaviour won't stop PDAs, just respect for your fellow human beings.

PDA primer
---Do it because you're attracted to each other, not to attract attention. There's nothing worse than feeling that your other half considers you to be some kind of trophy.
---Steamy PDAs are all well and good if it turns you both on, but be considerate towards others (and mindful of the law). Losing your inhibitions at the back of the cinema might be your ultimate sex dare, but all that gasping and moaning is going to turn both heads and tempers.
---A PDA can leave friends feeling squeezed out, especially if they're alone with you two lovebirds, so think before you leap on each other, or invite them to join in, er . . . .(maybe not).

*Feeding the pony: Take one hand, invariably in a public place, slip palm inside girlfriend's pants, and use imagination.

Foreword: The Rebirth & the Resurrection

Greetings mortals, (just like myself).


If we have met for the first time, I extend a warm welcome to you. For those who are already aware of my existence, hello again, I'm back.

Foreword
If you have ever been to my other 2 blogs, you would have been familiar with my style of writing. I classify them as journals. However, I may not be able to write like what I used to do anymore. Reason being is that I have seen past my former quondam; I no longer dread with my present life. Perhaps I have most probably found happiness & learned how to live like that. I also wouldn't be copying & pasting my previous journals. Or... maybe a few flag-ship entries. Well, either way, or whether you would like to or not, I have decided to "close" my old sites & establish my future journals on this site. You may visit my old site here for some recollections.

http://abysstrancer.multiply.com/journal

Credits
Firstly, I would to thank June for being my webmaster. This blog wouldn't have been possible without her help, as I'm a idiot when it comes to HTML. She also found my past journals meaningful in some sense & logically helpful. Though she also found it hard to read due the tremendous lengths of my entries, she enticed me to carry on the literature. Thanks my dear.

"I know I have lots of ideas on how to construct this site, but it's not easy to find those bloody codes. I'm trying to learn to but unfortunately, I'll never surpass you. I look forward to the day you learn to create Java codes & make our sites top-notch. Hehe..."

Also many thanks for the encouragement from Zanthe, the first "fan" of my journals. She never failed to read my posts & probably leave a comment or 2.

"Being a happy man now, I don't think I'll ever fall to problems regarding emotions. Growing old everyday, made me stronger to see the whole world. I may not have the inspiration to literate those contents anymore. I do not know whether this may be a good thing or a bad thing. I'll still write, hope that you will still like it & support me. I'll promise to make you the honorary president of my official fan club. Hahaha... just kidding, there won't be any fan club, I'm not Bradd Pitt, nor a super cute, pretty gal, nor a thrashy attention-seeking bimbo bitch to attract the awareness & favoritism."


Finally, thanks to the other supporters whom I may not be able to remember all the names.