Storm In Subic Bay

Imagine you’re the leader of an impoverished country. Jobs are scarce and there are problems everywhere that need to be solved, all at once. You’re in desperate need of funds. What do you do?

The Philippine government (not just this one, but many previous ones as well) chose to open up the country to foreign investment. They’ve encouraged huge multinational companies to set up shop in their country, and to employ Filipinos. According to the people we spoke to, this is the Filipino economic policy in a nutshell.

“Come, to the streets” – A message to friends across the Causeway

Tomorrow, Malaysians will take to the streets to walk for freedom. “I haven’t seen social media platforms so fired up since Bersih 2.0!” says my friend Cindi.

This time, they’ll be protesting the Peaceful Assembly Bill. The Bill, which is expected to be pushed through in Parliament tomorrow, is seen as more restrictive than current Malaysian laws for public assemblies and protests. As Cindi writes,

Among the provisions introduced includes organisers of assemblies having to give the police 30 days’ notice, in which whether the assembly can go on is subject to their approval, disallowing teenagers under 15 years-old to participate in any form of assembly besides religious and cultural events, and those under 21 years-old from organizing and participating in assemblies. Of course, the most damning provision was that street protests in any form will be disabled under this new Bill, if it was passed in the Parliament (you can read the full Bill here or the simplified FAQ here).
- ‘Not at peace with the Peaceful Assembly Bill’, SEA Youth Say So

Seksualiti Merdeka – Who’s hurting who?

I’ve recently been following the ban of Seksualiti Merdeka, an annual LGBTIQ festival held in Malaysia since 2008. It’s been fascinating, not the least for the stunning display of hysteria and paranoia. And I thought Singapore was bad.

The Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said that it would “affect the stability of the nation”. Former Prime Minister Dr Tun Mahathir Mohamad said that Malaysia doesn’t need “this sexuality thing”, what would happen if people decided to start going butt naked on the streets? A Malay education group has even started demanding that Datuk Ambiga Sreenavasan’s Malaysian citizenship should be revoked* because of her support for the festival. They said that she should not longer be called a human, because she has gone against “human norms”.

WOW. Really?

What sort of solution is the Malaysian Solution?

NOTE: I am neither Malaysian nor Australian, but was shocked by even just the idea of the Malaysian Solution. If you feel like I have misunderstood Malaysian or Australian contexts, please do not hesitate to add your thoughts in the comments!

For those of you who don’t already know about the Malaysian Solution, it’s a plan between the Malaysian and Australian governments (under Najib Razak and Julia Gillard respectively) to have a sort of refugee swap deal. Under this “solution”, Australia will send 800 boatpeople to Malaysia in exchange for 4000 registered refugees from Malaysia. It’s a way for Australia to offload the large numbers of unprocessed asylum seekers that arrive on its shores, and for Malaysia to get rid of refugees. In terms of the numbers game, it seems like an okay idea.

Except that Malaysia hasn’t ratified the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which means that the rights of refugees aren’t guaranteed in Malaysia. It is not just possible, but also likely, that unregistered refugees will be treated as illegal immigrants, for whom the punishments can range from fines and prison time all the way up to mandatory caning. In fact, my friend Soon Chen has just written a piece for SEA Youth Say So on this very issue (related to yet another swap deal that Malaysia is trying to pursue with Burma). In the light of this fact, isn’t Australia just sending boatpeople to Malaysia to get ill-treated?

Tough Love

This morning my mother said, “Academics were so much easier in the States that I was practically getting As against my will.”

It seems like a very strange statement to make, but I had the same experience in New Zealand. And, looking at the numerous Twitter and Facebook updates of my friends’ successes in different universities in different countries, I’m guessing that my mum and I weren’t the only ones who went through this.

Asian kids are well known for their successes in the academic field, and Asian parents for their high demands and strictness. Just yesterday I watched an episode of Glee where Mike Chang’s father termed an A- as “an Asian F”. Also, check out the Tumblr High Expectations Asian Father – tiger parenting has become a big, fat Asian stereotype.