"I believe in a country where hard work and merit, not privilege or background, determines success."
Tony Blair 2005

Sunday, November 21, 2004

Movie Magic : The Incredibles


Heard great reviews about this animated feature from Pixar. Looking at the way it is going, we may not need actors in the near future. The realism and sound effects were awesome. The storyline was predictable but the script maintained an air of humour and at times evoking great emotions. It is definitely a fun movie to watch and rate it a high 8 out of 10.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Changing Sex

The recent call by Suhakam to allow transsexuals to change their gender status in their identity cards, is bound to raise a few eyebrows especially those in the religious fraternity. Transsexualism is still frowned upon in a nation that is continuously being scrutinised by more pious forces. It is seen as a sexual deviation and at times a perversion. If anal intercourse is immoral and illegal, as recently demonstrated, so should these sex change operations. It is afterall an act against the course of nature. On top of that, an individual that has undergone a sex change operation is still essentially a man physiologically. There is little justification to alter his gender status. Likewise, if one is born black, then he would not be able to alter his ethnic background despite expensive cosmetic surgery to look otherwise. There is little justification in Suhakam's calls.

However, transsexuals are normal human beings and ought to be treated fairly. Social barriers should be scaled through education of the general public. These are individuals that need to be understood. It was not of their choice to be attracted to one of same sex or behave more effeminately, contrary to popular belief. Therefore, the fight here should be for the acceptance by the public and to ensure that their basic human rights are not encroached upon. It is an uphill battle in a country that proclaims itself to be Islamic. Even if the current political administration recognises this, they are forced to further isolate these individuals as impure, to avoid being chastised by apparently a more pious opposition.

There is no one else to turn to but themselves. There is little hope for these individuals. They are likely to remain in the periphery of human society, the pariah group, where human dignity and mutual respect will remain a foreign language.

Proton's Curse



The pictures of such massive destruction is becoming all too familiar. Scenes like cars folding onto itself, cars ripped apart and so forth are abundant. Such consistent structural failures which often involves Proton or Peroduo cars only suggests a major engineering or design flaw of such vehicles. Then again, I think Proton and its major shareholders have been well aware of such weaknesses long ago. We have heard about Proton being labelled as "tin can" cars which may not be too far-fetched. Perhaps it is the monetary benefits that matter rather than the safety of its customers. If Proton had the correct business ethic, it would have deemed it necessary to recall all its vehicles which may be carrying an important possibly fatal flaw in view of such high fatalities involving its vehicles.

However, why should we care? We are spoilt for choice with other brands to choose from. From luxury classes to more economical varieties. Prices have been more competitive and will continue to be so in the future. The strategy of foreign car manufacturers of putting customer's safety as a priority is paying dividends. Proton's and Perodua's inexperience in car manufacturing and marketing is evident and probably signals its rather premature and rushed entry into the business more than a decade ago.

Proton is doomed unless it reverses its current course and steers towards one of accountability. It should be held accountable for the cars it manufactures. Avoidable structural and technical failures should be corrected. Quality rather than quantity should be attained. Only then can it regain the trust of potential customers. It would be a gigantic task for Proton but one that needs to be completed in order to perserve its existence in the business. Anything short would be a slow, painful death for the company. Period.
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