Adventures of the Cenkudu Chumps

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:00:00 +0000

HL: Rickshaws For Water
SF: Six men. Two Rickshaws. One Goal.
By @Sumana_Raja and @allanjits

In January of 2009, we took part in the Rickshaw Rally India. It is a cool charity “race.” Basically, participants race about 3000km in an auto-rickshaw. The 2009 race started in Pondicherry and ended in Shillong. However, there are no prizes for finishing first, just the satisfaction of raising money for charity. We have to admit, at the first instance, it was a decision based on frivolity. We just wanted to go out there and have some fun travelling around India in a manner that we would never usually do. Being member of the Jaded Travellers Collective, we don’t even like the path less trodden, we like to tread new paths.

But then, raising money for charity started to consume us. We chose to donate to the charity Frank Water, and decided on raising a sum of $50,000, enough to build three water plants in India. We came up with a marketing strategy for big corporate sponsors – basically a business plan which included revenue generation channels for several big companies. This sort of marketing plan usually costs about $100,000. We generated a lot of interest in the early part of 2008 and secured some donations. However, by the time August 2009 rolled around, no corporate company was thinking of anything charitable that hadn’t been tried and tested. With talk of sub-prime loans changing to talk of a global financial crisis, all our corporate sponsors withdrew their offers.

Undeterred, we went guerrilla style. Using a social media platform, we started engaging friends first and then moved beyond to a larger network. We did some silly challenges to spur interest – for example one of us bet our FaceBook group (which had about 600 people) that I could drink a bottle of fish sauce. We filmed the event, people placed bets – which would all go to charity. The person lost, and got sick, but we managed to raise $50 for charity. Another one of us ate a tub of mayonnaise for charity. The videos helped to engage our FaceBook group, and no doubt helped to spread the message about what we were doing. None of the donations came directly to us. Instead, we used the web site justgiving.com, to keep our effort completely guerrilla, viral and online.

We even took a leaf out of the Girl Guides Cookie scheme and started baking lemon and blueberry tarts for charity. We delivered the tarts, and left the onus of donating money to the person – all we did was handout a name card that listed our micro-site on justgiving.com. In the end, we raised more than $50,000 (of which almost 90% was donated online), and the press value that we generated amounted to more than $250,000, which would have been a handsome return if any of the companies took our marketing plan.

Now we are taking it a step further. We are bringing the race to Southeast Asia, and producing a “socially-conscious” version of the Amazing Race. Instead of doing physical challenges as a race, teams will have to do something social, depending on the route we choose and the local NGO contacts we have. They will have to plant trees or help build a well, for example. We are close to securing funding from Singapore, and are working with The Adventurists, who are the organizers. We want to develop this concept of “travel philanthropy.”

Check out our FaceBook page: Search for Rickshaws4water
Go to http://www.justgiving.com/rickshaws4waterg
Go to http://www.theadventurists.com/

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 02:49:00 +0000

Our PM has seized on this economic crisis to once again impress on us why the only way forward is with a one-party state.

"We cannot sail through this storm on autopilot. The government has to lead, watch the changing environment, implement the policies which are needed, mobilise Singaporeans and mount a national response to get us through," Mr Lee added.

He added that the two-party political model cannot work in Singapore.

"Change must take place, not between parties but with the PAP changing itself to stay in step with the times and ahead of events.
As long as the PAP provides clean and good government, and the lives of Singaproeans improve, the country is much better off with one dominant party," Mr Lee said.

- BT, Nov 17 '08

The great leader might well be right. The thing is, since we've never had a two-party state, how can we compare?

Update:
We're impressed that Straits Times published a well-written rebuttal to the PM in its Forum page. Worth a read.

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 02:47:00 +0000

Singapore: Materially rich, spiritually poor

Good commentary by Catherine Lim, one of Singapore's most famous authors.

Do read it.

"Are we achieving all this material prosperity at the cost of something? Soul, spirit, heart, senses, whatever you want to call it?"

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:53:00 +0000

No political drama, but no money politics either

Watching the high drama unfolding in the US presidential elections, we sometimes lament the lack of such action in Singapore.

The excitement and fulfillment of 'the democratic process'--having candidates with opposing viewpoints fervently debating issues that affect our everyday lives; being able to speak your own mind; being able to read competing newspapers with different takes; and, perhaps most importantly, of actually having a choice--is missing in Singapore. We do not enjoy such things.

However, there is one thing about American politics that we don't like: the whole campaign financing model, and how rich lobbies and corporations and individuals can have undue influence due to their deep pockets. In short, money politics. Many countries are bedevilled by this. Thankfully, as far as we know, Singapore is not.

Our dear prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, articulated this briliantly in a recent interview :
(the whole interview is worth reading)

"Political advertisements cost a lot of money, including production, buying airtime on TV or print advertisements.

Singapore politics will turn bad if political campaigning costs a lot of money.

From a narrow perspective, if political parties have to produce advertisements, the PAP will have an edge because we have the resources to do so.

However, from a broader, national perspective, it is not a good thing. This is because many people will be willing to donate money to parties that need money, but political donations are never unconditional.

You win the election and after you come into power, the donors will politely 'seek payment for debts'. What do you do for such debts of gratitude?

In developing countries, this often turns into a problem of corruption. In the United States, it is not called money politics, but campaign financing.

(John) McCain has adopted a clear stand on reforms on this problem, but he still has to campaign. He has no choice as the system is such that he has to raise funds for political advertisements.

I do not hope for Singapore to go this way."

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 01:17:00 +0000

Straits Times should do better

Here are two articles that appeared on the same day, on the same topic, one in the Financial Times, and one in The Straits Times. Judge for yourself.

FT: Temasek adds to Merrill stake

ST: Temasek bought additional $819m Merrill shares in Feb

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:21:00 +0000

National complacency?

At the end of last week, Singapore's minister mentor, Lee Kuan Yew, disagreed that the Singapore government should be blamed for the Mas Selamat Kastari debacle.
("Guards were negligent, says MM", ST, April 5 2008)

Instead, he framed the issue in terms of national complacency: after years of safety and stability, national complacency has set it. We all believe that nothing can go wrong, and so when something does, we're shocked by it. The security officers were complacent, all Singaporeans were complacent.

On the whole, we agree with this complacency thing. We know some Singaporeans who leave their gates open and cars unlocked, believing nothing bad will ever befall them. Years of comfort have indeed bred complacency.

"He [MM Lee] said Singaporeans are being complacent when they believe that the government will take care of all security measures."

But curiously, the article did not suggest that the government itself had been complacent.

So, in effect, following the escape of a potentially dangerous would-be terrorist from a Singapore prison, it sounds as though the government has absolved itself of blame--aside from Mas' security guard--and is instead recasting the entire issue in terms of the complacency of ordinary Singaporeans.

Not many are impressed. The most volatile--and clearly irrational--response we received is from a taxi driver, who said, "Who cares if Mas Selamat has escaped? Good for him! If I see him on the street, you know what I will do? I will offer him help. I will take him where he wants to go. After all, he has never been charged with anything!!! He is not guilty of anything!!! Good for him for escaping from the government"

(Mas Selamat was being held under Singapore's Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without charge. He has never been charged with any crime.)

Of course, even if true, the government can't possibly say that it was complacent--the strength and stability of Singapore's one-party rule is based on continued deliverance of peace and prosperity.

Government rules with an iron-fist. In exchange, it delivers safety and money. This is the manna we have all been brought up on. To think there might be more to life is, quite frankly, a shock to our system.

Aside:
Are we doing too much?
Having visited Malaysia last week, and experienced the elaborate security measures on the way out of Singapore, we wonder: Are we doing too much? Are we trying a little too hard to prove to the world that we are doing something?

Why does every person leaving Singapore have to be fingerprinted? Even our waif-like, long-haired, Chinese female friend? There is no way she could be Mas Selamat in disguise...or is there?

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 03:54:00 +0000

A couple of articles we published on the Malaysian elections:

The audacity of a vote, Today newspaper, March 15-16

An election in Malaysia, Economist.com, March 6

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:32:00 +0000

Rocket Man

After 10 gruelling days on the road in Malaysia, we were pleased as punch when we found some lovely kampung durians on sale at the highway stop at Pagoh, Johor, en route back home to Singapore. It's not even supposed to be durian season!!!!

An old Chinese man was standing just outside the perimeter of the rest stop, behind the Petronas station, with a basket of durians, yelling at us to go taste some.

While eating, we started chatting about life.

"Why are you selling durians behind the fence? Why don't you go sell inside the rest stop like the other fruit sellers?"
"You think it's so easy? The local authorities won't give me a license!"
"Why not?"
He pinched the leathery hide on his right forearm. "Warna kulit saya." (because of the colour of my skin).

Apparently all the licenses go to Malays.

"Are you and your motorbike here everyday?"
"Most days".

The divide is startling. Malay fruit sellers were sitting cosy inside the rest stop, while the Chinese durian uncle had to stand outside the perimeter, yelping at unsuspecting motorists.

"So, who did you vote for then?"
He gave us an incredulous stare, disappointed that we even had to ask.
"ZOOM!" He shouted, his left hand shooting up to the sky, his glazed eyes staring up to the heavens.
(the rocket is the symbol of the Democratic Action Party, one of the main opposition parties)

"Oh..well they lost in Johor this time"
"Yes," he snapped defiantly, "but they'll win soon, they'll win soon. The times are changing."

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:52:00 +0000

Well done, Straits Times

We travelled around Malaysia for ten days, traversing 10 states, chatting with fishermen, lawyers, prata men, female UMNO youth, kampung aunties, and political candidates. All sorts of people.

Our limited time notwithstanding, I think we returned to Singapore last Sunday with a fairly good feel for the pulse of the nation.

So I have been pleasantly surprised over the past few days, following the analysis of the election results in The Straits Times.

It's been spot on. From its big picture analysis to its little anecdotes to its grasp of the bread-and-butter issues that afflict poor Malaysians yet escaped the ruling party--all spot on.

So, well done Straits Times. Credit where it's due.

Having said that, I mentioned this to an old uncle who has seen much political action in Malaysia and Singapore, and he brushed it off, "Yes, sure, they write well about every other country. Just not Singapore."

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:39:00 +0000

Wake-up call

“I am voting DAP [an opposition party] for the parliamentary seat, and Barisan Nasional [the ruling coalition] for the state seat,” the Chinese taxi driver in Kuala Lumpur told us, “ We just want to scare them, keep them on their toes.”

Unlike Singaporeans, many Malaysians are politically active, but they are similar to their neighbours in that they are not always open about their affiliations. But now in the field, we’ve found a degree of candidness that has been surprising. Mention the word “Undi” (vote) and you’ll get a stream of comment, emotion and, often enough, invective.

Tommy Thomas, a lawyer in KL, said, “Whether you like the demonstrators or not, one positive outcome of all these protests we’ve seen, by Hindraf [Hindu Rights Action Force] and Bersih [a coalition of human rights groups pushing for electoral reform] is that the fear is gone. The fear is gone. Malaysians are willing to speak up, they will not tolerate any more nonsense.”

If our coffeeshop conversations are anything to go by, there certainly seems to be a groundswell of discontent amongst the minority Chinese and Indian communities here. Long-standing grievances about the country’s institutionalised affirmative action policies that give preference to the Muslim Malay majority—the so-called Bumiputeras (sons of the soil)—have been brought to the fore.

What’s more, many segments of Malaysian society appear dissatisfied with the ruling coalition after years of perceived corruption and mismanagement. There is a feeling that while the bumiputera policies have enriched government officials and cronies, ordinary Malays—in particular the lower-income group, main purported beneficiaries of the programme—have not enjoyed enough growth.

This is not to say that Malaysia has not grown economically. Indeed, GDP per capita, measured at purchasing-power parity, has zoomed from US$2225 in 1980 to US$13110, and has been growing at around 6% every year. Nevertheless, many Malaysians feel that the country has been performing well below potential. “If there was no corruption, no wastage, we would have been much richer. And much fairer—there would have been a lot more seeping down of the country’s riches,” Mr Thomas told us.

As if these grumblings were not enough, the ruling coalition has also been hit by a series of scandals over the past few months. For instance, there is an ongoing investigation into the death of a Mongolian model who was spectacularly blown up with C4 explosives in the Malaysian jungle, and her supposed links with deputy PM Najib Razak. Another ongoing investigation into alleged cronyism in judicial appointments has also rocked the Malaysian judiciary and the numerous businesspeople and government officials who are implicated. Early this year, the Malaysian health minister resigned after the release of steamy sex footage that revealed an extra-marital affair.

Just as the former health minister was thrust to fame on the internet, the increased penetration of technology has also added a new dimension to these elections, allowing the opposition to communicate with Malaysians, in spite of the government’s stranglehold on major media channels. For instance, news of upcoming ceramahs (public speeches) is disseminated via the Internet and SMS. There is some evidence that BN is using text messages to confuse those who want to attend opposition ceramahs. Other types of messages, like jokes or rumours, spread like wildfire over SMS.

Late last night, over drinks at the stately Royal Ipoh Club, a friend received an SMS informing him of a YouTube video showing ex-PM Mahathir’s admitting that he was wrong to imprison ex-deputy PM (and current opposition politician) Anwar Ibrahim. It is still unclear how genuine he was, and hence the implications of the “admission”, which may well have been just typical Mahatir sarcasm.

While BN has been beset by problems, the opposition parties are more united than they ever have been. A lot of that is due to the efforts of Mr Anwar, who has been furiously building bridges between unlikely bedfellows. The three main opposition parties are the DAP, the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR, the Justice Party) and the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), an Islamic party that had, until quite recently, pushed for the setting up of a Syariah Islamic state in Malaysia.

So, with all this unhappiness in the air, will Malaysians vote in a new government? Unlikely. While the recent protests may have increased political awareness among the Chinese and Indian voters, they have probably strengthened the resolve of many Malays to vote the BN in so the affirmative action policy can continue. As Mohd Zamin Kamaruzaman, an engineer in Ipoh, told us, “The Malays in this country will still vote for BN because it will best represent our interests. Of course, I would prefer a two-party system where we had a genuine choice. However, BN is the best we have now.”

The Chinese in the country—about 24% of the voters—have traditionally split their votes between the ruling coalition and the opposition, and are likely to do so again. “The Chinese care more about political and economic stability. They don’t worry about dignity, they don’t worry about pride,” explained Roland, a car dealer in Ipoh of mixed Chinese and Indian ethnicity. “They aren’t likely to shift to the opposition in a big way.”

The big change then will come in the Indian vote, in particular the 80% of Indians who are lower-income Tamils. Indians have traditionally supported the ruling coalition en masse. That is set to change. In many of their eyes, the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), the Indian party in the ruling BN coalition, and its leader, Samy Vellu, have let them down.

“We are fed up with them,” an Indian taxi driver in KL told us, “they promised us so many things but they have never delivered. We supported them for so long, but all they did was make themselves rich. They never fought for our rights. I am going to ‘vote rocket’ this time.” (the symbol of the DAP is a rocket). According to the Merdeka Centre, an NGO in Malaysia, Indian support for PM Abdullah Badawi dropped from 79% in October last year to just 38% by the middle of December.

However, Indians only make up about 8% of the electorate. How much difference might they make? According to Denison Jayasooriya, a political analyst who specialises in Indian affairs, Indian voters could make a difference in 62 of the 222 parliamentary seats being contested. Even if the opposition won all those, it could not deny BN its 2/3 majority in parliament, which it needs in order to make changes to the constitution.

In any case, the election result is not in doubt. The ruling coalition will win, and will likely maintain its 2/3 majority in parliament. In 2004, BN won 63.8% of the popular vote, and 90.4% of the seats (198 of 219) up for grabs. What will happen this time? Many we speak to think there is a real chance that BN might lose its 2/3 majority. We don't.

However, its share of the popular vote is set to fall, possibly to below 55%. As Natasha, a middle-income Malay entrepreneur in KL told me, “Not a single person I know is voting for BN. This election is meant to shock them. It is a wake-up call. Never again will things be so easy.”

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 03:36:00 +0000

OTBM Media Watch Day 9

Our Malaysian General Election watch continues. One interesting thing - spawned by government control of mass media, is the use of text messaging and the internet. Powerful as they are in providing a message, it is likely that they have a broad impact. Most youth that we have encountered cannot be bothered about the election.

March 4th

New Straits Times
BN – 17 (Positive=5,Negative=3, Neutral=9)
Opp – 14 (Positive=4,Negative=5, Neutral=5)
Both – 9
Total: 40

The Star
BN – 15 (Positive=7,Negative=0, Neutral=8)
Opp –6 (Positive=0,Negative=4, Neutral=2)
Both – 3
Total: 24

Sun Daily
BN – 2 (Positive=0,Negative=1, Neutral=1)
Opp –1 (Positive=0,Negative=1, Neutral=0)
Both – 0
Total: 3

Malaysia Kini
BN – 5 (Positive=0,Negative=2, Neutral=3)
Opp – 7 (Positive=2,Negative=1, Neutral=4)
Both – 0
Total: 12

Utusan Malaysia
BN – 12 (Positive=6,Negative=0, Neutral=6)
Opp – 8 (Positive=0, Negative=7, Neutral=1)
Both – 1
Total: 21

The Edge Daily
BN – 1 (Positive=0,Negative=0, Neutral=1)
Opp – 2 (Positive=2,Negative=0, Neutral=0)
Both – 1
Total: 4

Berita Harian
BN –9 (Positive=2,Negative=1, Neutral=6)
Opp – 9 (Positive=1,Negative=4, Neutral=4)
Both – 1
Total: 19

Breakdown By Parties

BN: 61 (49%)
Opp: 47 (38%)
Both: 15 (12%)

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:31:00 +0000

Who let the terrorist out?

The customs officials on the Johor Baru side must be smiling ear to ear. For the first time in years, they don't have to do a thorough check on the cars coming in. Why? Policemen on the Singapore side are doing their job for them, methodically searching every car, trying to catch the escaped terrorist Mas Selamat.

After "Toilet Break", as the Singapore satirical website Talkingcock.com termed the escape, we have heard many a joke about it. Talkingcock.com put up their own picture of the different possible disguises that the terrorist could have adorned, including one of him wearing a blonde wig.

But the escape of a hobbling prisoner has a "Usual Suspects" insidious feel to it. In that movie, the protagonist is an evil convict named Keyser Soze, who is a legend in the underworld. Kevin Spacey's character is actually Keyser, but he hides this by pretending to be an incompetent thief who walks with a limp, fooling all those around him.

The ease of the break (Mas Selamat said he had to use the toilet and climbed out the window) and the slim chance of ever escaping from detention (when is the last time you heard about anybody escaping from detention in Singapore?) has spawned several conspiracy theories:

1) One of the more popular ones is that the Singapore government negotiated a prisoner exchange with JI

2) Or that Singapore has passed Mas Selamat onto, say, the US, which is now happily torturing him in some place like Syria

3) Another is the theory that the prisoner is already dead, having been accidentally killed in interrogation…with the "escape" just planned so that they would have an excuse for the death.

4) A fourth is that the authorities let him get away just so that he would unwittingly lead them back to a bigger fish in the JI network

OTBM thought about all these for a while. Our opinion? Well, it is just impossible that there is any conspiracy involved. If there was some conspiracy involved, the government-owned media channels would never have carried any story. It would have been all hush-hush, and Mas Selamat Kastari would have passed quickly into the forgotten annals of time. The very fact that the story was splashed all over our media means he must really have escaped. Why?

1) First, the external credibility hit—our government lauds Singapore as a safe investment destination, and this just goes against that. Why would they fake a story now and damage foreign-investor confidence in the country?

What’s more, this might have the effect of emboldening terrorists who once thought Singapore's record on safety and police force infallible. If they can make such a simple mistake, would they be prone to others? Is Singapore's police force just resting on its image? Have they been tested recently?

2) Second, the internal credibility hit—the Singaporean public is upset about this, and already bloggers are making the link between our sky-high ministerial salaries and their inability to guarantee our internal security.

3) Third, Singapore would never deal with terrorists or any terrorist organization, throwing out the whole prisoner-exchange thesis. We didn't think that our police force would be sophisticated enough to do it even if they rationalised that the cost in terms of setting a dangerous precedent was worth paying.

And that is that really. Mas Selamat escaped due to a simple, silly mistake. It would be laughable had he been a parking offender, but he is a danger to the public, not only in Singapore but in Southeast Asia, so it is no laughing matter. The question is, who should pay the price? In many other countries, whoever was in charge would probably have been on the way out by now, but that is not the Singapore way.

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 04:54:00 +0000

OTBM Media Watch Day 9

March 3rd

It is quite obvious to us now, that we are missing out on a lot of papers, and that a publication's online presence is a good representation of its slant, but not neccessarily a good representation of its reach or impact. We were lucky enough to meet a brilliant editor who is going to move to The Malay Mail soon, and judging from what people were saying about him alone, it is still possible for one journalist to have a wide impact through his commentaries and analysis.

Booyah. However, the quote of the day definately came from a former plantation manager who is riding high on the wave of biofuels and oil palms. The quote: "Why do you want the cow when you can get the milk for free?" This was a comment that he made about marriage. Go figure.

New Straits Times
BN – 4 (Positive=2,Negative=0, Neutral=2)
Opp – 5 (Positive=0,Negative=3, Neutral=2)
Both – 1
Total: 10

The Star
BN – 21 (Positive=11,Negative=0, Neutral=10)
Opp –14 (Positive=1,Negative=6, Neutral=7)
Both – 7
Total: 42

Sun Daily
BN – 2 (Positive=1,Negative=0, Neutral=1)
Opp –1 (Positive=0,Negative=0, Neutral=1)
Both – 0
Total: 3

Malaysia Kini
BN – 7 (Positive=1,Negative=0, Neutral=6)
Opp – 7 (Positive=2,Negative=0, Neutral=6)
Both – 2
Total: 16

Utusan Malaysia
BN – 13 (Positive=5,Negative=0, Neutral=8)
Opp – 9 (Positive=0, Negative=4, Neutral=5)
Both – 0
Total: 22

The Edge Daily
BN – 5 (Positive=0,Negative=0, Neutral=5)
Opp – 0 (Positive=0,Negative=0, Neutral=0)
Both – 2
Total: 7

Berita Harian
BN –15 (Positive=6,Negative=0, Neutral=9)
Opp – 1 (Positive=0,Negative=1, Neutral=0)
Both – 4
Total: 20

Breakdown By Parties
BN: 67 (56%)
Opp: 37 (30%)
Both: 16 (13%)

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 04:48:00 +0000

OTBM Media Watch Day 8

March 2nd

New Straits Times
BN – 21 (Positive=6,Negative=2, Neutral=13)
Opp – 14 (Positive=3,Negative=3, Neutral=8)
Both – 7
Total: 42

The Star
BN – 14 (Positive=6,Negative=0, Neutral=8)
Opp –7 (Positive=1,Negative=1, Neutral=5)
Both – 2
Total: 23

Sun Daily
BN – 3 (Positive=1,Negative=0, Neutral=2)
Opp –2 (Positive=0,Negative=0, Neutral=2)
Both – 0
Total: 5

Malaysia Kini
BN – 8 (Positive=2,Negative=3, Neutral=3)
Opp – 2 (Positive=0,Negative=0, Neutral=2)
Both – 0
Total: 10

Utusan Malaysia
BN – 10 (Positive=4,Negative=1, Neutral=5)
Opp – 5 (Positive=2, Negative=2, Neutral=1)
Both – 0
Total: 15

The Edge Daily
BN – 0 (Positive=0,Negative=0, Neutral=0)
Opp – 0 (Positive=0,Negative=0, Neutral=0)
Both – 0
Total: 0

Berita Harian
BN –10 (Positive=6,Negative=1, Neutral=3)
Opp – 4 (Positive=1,Negative=0, Neutral=3)
Both – 1
Total: 15

Breakdown By Parties

BN: 66 (60%)
Opp: 34 (30%)
Both: 10 (9%)

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 04:37:00 +0000

OTBM Media Watch Day 6

Right, so now we are actually going around Malaysia collecting information and interviewing people. It might have been interesting to actually go through print version of the papers and compare the count to the online version, because from a rough perusal it seems widely different. In a perfect world, we would have a beer and the count would magically appear. Sigh.

March 1st

New Straits Times
BN – 13(Positive=3,Negative=1, Neutral=9)
Opp – 3 (Positive=0,Negative=0, Neutral=3)
Both – 5
Total: 21

The Star
BN – 18(Positive=10,Negative=0, Neutral=8)
Opp –3 (Positive=0,Negative=0, Neutral=3)
Both – 3
Total: 29

Sun Daily
BN – 2 (Positive=1,Negative=0, Neutral=1)
Opp –2 (Positive=2,Negative=0, Neutral=0)
Both – 1
Total: 5

Malaysia Kini
BN – 5 (Positive=2,Negative=2, Neutral=1)
Opp – 3 (Positive=1,Negative=2, Neutral=0)
Both – 3Total: 11

Utusan Malaysia
BN – 12 (Positive=4,Negative=0, Neutral=8)
Opp – 6 (Positive=1, Negative=3, Neutral=2)
Both – 3
Total: 21

The Edge Daily
BN – 0 (Positive=0,Negative=0, Neutral=0)
Opp – 0 (Positive=0,Negative=0, Neutral=0)
Both – 0
Total: 0

Berita Harian
BN –10 (Positive=3,Negative=1, Neutral=6)
Opp – 8 (Positive=1,Negative=2, Neutral=5)
Both – 1
Total: 19

Breakdown By Parties
BN: 60 (56%)
Opp: 29 (27%)
Both: 18 (17%)

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 03:00:00 +0000

OTBM Media Watch Day 5

Ramping it up just a little, but, we have broken down the articles into positive, neutral and negative for each of the parties (incumbent and opposition). Check it.

February 29th

New Straits Times
BN – 21 (Positive=7,Negative=3, Neutral=11)
Opp – 16 (Positive=3,Negative=7, Neutral=6)
Both – 6
Total: 43

The Star
BN – 7 (Positive=0,Negative=0, Neutral=7)
Opp –2 (Positive=0,Negative=1, Neutral=1)
Both – 2
Total: 11

Sun Daily
BN – 2 (Positive=1,Negative=0, Neutral=1)
Opp –1 (Positive=0,Negative=0, Neutral=1)
Both – 1
Total: 4

Malaysia Kini
BN – 5 (Positive=2,Negative=2, Neutral=1)
Opp – 3 (Positive=1,Negative=2, Neutral=0)
Both – 3
Total: 11

Utusan Malaysia
BN – 11 (Positive=5,Negative=0, Neutral=6)
Opp – 10 (Positive=4, Negative=3, Neutral=3)
Both – 3
Total: 24

The Edge Daily
BN – 3 (Positive=1,Negative=0, Neutral=2)
Opp – 0 (Positive=0,Negative=0, Neutral=0)
Both – 1
Total: 4

Berita Harian
BN –9 (Positive=2,Negative=0, Neutral=7)
Opp – 5 (Positive=0,Negative=5, Neutral=0)
Both – 2
Total: 16

Breakdown By Parties

BN: 58(51%)
Opp: 37 (32%)
Both: 18(16%)

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 02:51:00 +0000

OTBM Media Watch Day 4

From today onwards, we shall add the Berita Harian into our count. Things are shaping up interestingly enough.

February 28th

New Straits Times
BN – 15
Opp – 0
Both – 6
Total: 21

The Star
BN – 14
Opp –9
Both – 2
Total: 25

Sun Daily
BN – 2
Opp –0
Both – 2
Total: 4

Malaysia Kini
BN – 6
Opp – 4
Both – 0
Total: 10

Utusan Malaysia
BN – 12
Opp – 13
Both – 1
Total: 26

The Edge Daily
BN – 1
Opp – 1
Both – 0
Total: 2

Berita Harian
BN – 17
Opp – 8
Both – 5
Total: 2

Breakdown By Parties
BN: 67(57%)
Opp: 35 (30%)
Both: 16 (13%)

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:34:00 +0000

OTBM Media Watch Day 3
Our findings so far are somewhat surprising...in that there has been a lot more coverage on the opposition than we thought there would be. So we are going to try something different tomorrow, and see what we come up with.

February 27th

New Straits Times
BN – 19
Opp – 23
Both – 6
Total: 48

The Star
BN – 16
Opp –8
Both – 2
Total: 26

Sun Daily
BN – 2
Opp –1
Both – 2
Total: 5

Malaysia Kini
BN – 4
Opp – 4
Both – 1
Total: 9

Utusan Malaysia
BN – 4
Opp – 1
Both – 0
Total: 5

The Edge Daily
BN – 1
Opp – 1
Both – 0
Total: 2

Breakdown By Parties
BN: 46 (48%)
Opp: 38 (40%)
Both: 11 (12%)

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:49:00 +0000

OTBM Media Watch Day 2

We encountered our first little glitch today. Since we cannot buy any of the Malaysian newspapers in Singapore, we rely on the websites to update their online versions, and some newspapers are a bit slack doing that. But no matter, since we count the percentage of articles instead of the absolute number. And also because the ones that didnt update tended to be smaller papers with fewer articles.

Anyways...here you go!

February 26th

New Straits Times
BN – 19
Opp – 15
Both – 13
Total: 47

The Star
BN – 17
Opp –13
Both – 0
Total: 30

Sun Daily
not updated

Malaysia Kini
BN – 1
Opp – 4
Both – 4
Total: 9

Utusan Malaysia
BN – 4
Opp – 1
Both – 0
Total: 5

The Edge Daily
not updated

Breakdown By Parties
BN: 41 (45%)
Opp: 33 (36%)
Both: 17 (18%)

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 03:36:00 +0000

OTBM Media Watch

As promised, here is our media counter. We have put it into three categories, based on the papers we could read online. We count articles that feature BN exclusively, articles that feature the opposition exclusively and articles that feature both. Of course, it is an imperfect measure, since

Have a look and see how this develops.

25 February 2008

New Straits Times
BN – 35
Opp – 28
Both – 39
Total: 102

The Star
BN – 32
Opp – 8
Both – 25
Total: 65

Sun Daily
BN – 1
Opp – 0
Both – 4
Total: 5

Malaysia Kini
BN – 3
Opp – 3
Both – 0
Total: 6

Utusan Malaysia
BN – 3
Opp – 1
Both – 0
Total: 4

The Edge Daily
BN- 1
Opp – 0
Both – 4
Total: 4

Breakdown By Parties
BN: 75 (40%)
Opp: 40 (20%)
Both: 72 (38%)

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 01:37:00 +0000

All Rivers Run To The Mainstream

The Asia Sentinel published an interesting though somewhat obvious article about the media in Malaysia, following the Berjaya Group buyout of one of the more independent newspapers . It could be interpreted as an act of sedition to criticise the government in a newspaper, although it is unlikely to get even there, since all it really takes is for the government to refuse the annual license renewal on a publication.

OTBM thinks there are several good uses to this. The main one is that it is a check on any racial "profiteering" (in the electoral sense) that may cause unwanted conflagrations. But the result of more mainstream news should be the proliferation of websites/blogs - or any other alternative source of news.

However, even those have been warned by both the Youth Minister and the Information Minister. What does this choke entail? We dont know for sure.

But we are going to start an election count. Since we cannot get Malaysian newspapers in Singapore, we shall have to rely on the net, and so our count may not be that accurate, but we are going to count the number of articles that feature the opposition and the number of articles that feature the incumbents everday, starting from the first day of campaigning.

Watch for it.

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 08:39:00 +0000

Life inside a Durian: A Treatise on Thumb Thumping, Head Bobbing and Anti-Rock Culture

The defining moment: Rollins Band comes to Singapore somewhere in the mid-1990s. Surprisingly, the venue for this concert is the Singapore Labour Foundation building along Thomson Road.

The result? A hard rocking, loud concert, complete with body slamming, crowd surfing and a mosh pit. Someone privy to this occasion said that it was, and here a quote is necessary, “Fun.”

The fallout: Shortly after, Singapore bans mosh pitting and its allies. Comrades, keep your steel toed shoes at home.

Set the dials on your DeLorean to the future, step on the accelerator and leave Doc with his Syrian uranium suppliers. The concert landscape in Singapore has changed. We have music festivals, big artists coming to our small town (but not to settle down) and even a small but thriving local ‘scene.’

Just for good measure, you could throw in a few new nightclubs and entertainment spots that play CDs, MP3s and the odd vinyl of soulless music in the midst of over-priced alcohol. Minimally additive, they still tally to this amorphous, loosely defined: SCENE, Local (Exhibit 1(a), Submitted by Defence, Music Scene vs The Unbelievers, 2008).

Beautifully constructed, attracting players and musicians worldwide with its pungent aroma of perfect pitch reverberance, the Esplanade (does it end like escalade or avant garde – this discussion frequently proceeds the talk about its shapely oddities) is the architectural and ideological spear thrusting the move into SCENE, Local (Exhibit 1(b)).

In fact, efforts to get Bond, James Bond to hightail out of a sticky situation and down the sides of the Esplanade where soon to die Bond Girl in skimpy yet surprisingly maneuverable outfit waits in the next installment of the series should be supported. Opening scene, one would think.

Don’t get it wrong, the Esplanade, and all the wonderful people that work for it have brought us acts that we could not even imagine a few years ago. Femi Kuti came to the Mosaic Music Festival in 2007. He doesn’t even perform frequently anymore.

Stop. You Unbeliever, (part of Party for Defence, Music Scene vs The Unbelievers, 2007), Femi will not perform for loads of money either, it was not as simple as that. He is an artist that needs to be convinced that there is some point in performing. Being a political dissident and/or son thereof, that does not smack world tour. He’s got Nigerian politics to contend with. That speaks volumes for Mosaic and the Esplanade.

But let’s examine the Rollins Band effect.

Yo La Tengo performed at the Esplanade (does it end like evade or fascade – this discussion never gets tiresome) at the Mosaic Music Festival. Context: Yo La Tengo, despite its Spanish name, has no linguistic inclinations. They are an American indie rock band. They are definitely not Vomit Pop (See “Oops!...I Did It Again [Japan Bonus Track], Britney Spears).

Described simultaneously as visionary, spiritual and spontaneous – they are essentially the critics band. Good music, without much financial reward. The antithesis of Vomit Pop. They do have some qualities that befit a great musical act.

To put it into context, the great musical act that is Yo La Tengo took about ten years to reap the same financial reward as ‘Hit Me Baby, One More Time’ (see “Britney Spears Greatest Hits: My Perogative, Sony/BMG), but such is the usual price of musical talent.

The members of Yo La Tengo are each, music producers forbid, musicians. They play merry go round on their various instruments, each take their turn at percussion, bass, piano and various other sound producing machines to produce performance vignettes that will blow the pop mind whilst displaying nimble musical dexterity.

They even take turns singing, and they do so without doing the juvenile patterned song and dance of say Take That (Live in Aruba, 1999). The husband, wife (not divorced yet) and best mate team have always ventured into adventurous, imaginative landscapes, performing hauntingly scarce tunes and psychedelic instrumental excursions.

In other words, they are a perfect band for Mosaic. As good as they were, they did still perform at the Esplanade (the phonetic discussion has since moved on). And what is the effect of this imposing theatre?

Head Bobbing and Thumb Thumping (Exhibit 1(c), Submitted by Prosecution, Music Scene vs The Unbelievers, 2007). The theoretical reasons vary from the Rollins effect (mosh pit and allies ban), the corporate tickets, the seating arrangements, the ushers – but in essence, there is a collective undeclared sense of Shhh! Quiet Please at the Esplanade (its like lard, ask a speech sounds afficionado) that should be studied for the Save Our Umpires Throats campaign at Grand Slam tennis events.

At the Yo La Tengo concert this was apparent. Despite a rocking rousing wow pedal opener, no rears found gravitational abandonment of their seats. Posteriors nested, the effect of an onslaught of Hard Rocking Good Times that ensued would, in the language of a Darfur dealing diplomat, be described as “peculiar and odd, yet not yet to the level that would be described as unadulterated madness. They may be termed as acts of head bobbing, but not head bobbing in a broad sense.” Note that this quote is entirely hypothetical, yet somewhat probable in the conflict resolution circles.

Head Bobbing and Thumb Thumping are the bastard child cousins of pure physical musical expression. They might work well in an elevator situation, where one random cranium lets loose to a familiar tune, or in a strip joint situation, where head bobbing might be done by the strip joint culture erotic escapist who wants instead to award the DJ instead of the other bobbers, but it parks not itself in the same league as say the balanced ballet pirouette or the moonwalk.

One would even place the ‘Running Man’ (see Bobby Brown World Tour, Singapore, 1989) on a higher artistic plane than head bobbing, although head bobbing has the advantage and flexibility of ubiquity.

Head Bobbing has several physical constraints. It moves not as much as the musical chord or the lyrical jowl. One is even inhibited by the three dimensional plane. Up and Down. Left and Right. Combine. Repeat. These are head bobbing’s basic moves.

However, even the professional bobber of heads is constrained. There is chin on hand bobbing which connotes stylistic Rodin consideration. Culturally influenced head bobbing includes the Indian influenced version – forward and back – but this technique does not lend itself to rock music. Beyond that, even the best head bobbers struggle to find new frontiers.

The bad news is that individual head bobbing is really the pinnacle of that particular art form. Collective head bobbing is cultish at best and manic at worst. Perhaps this is a peculiarity of head bobbing, but rhythmically, heads find it hard to achieve consensus (see hypothetical ‘Darfur Dealing Diplomats, above). And just you try to bob your head for the duration of a concert without letting the more dance inclined body parts take lead.

And so what was experienced at Yo La Tengo @ Mosaic was collective head bobbing at its worst. Out of sync, random bobs of a collectively rooted to their seats audience.

This is precisely the kind of communal act that should spark an anti-seat rock revolution. A hark back to the pre-Rollins Band effect. For all it would take is the curiously simple venture into standing. Clapping, shoulder movement, foot thumping and dancing may follow, even side to side movement, but the first step in the revolution is to remove buttock from seat.

And before you tell haunting tales of personal safety liability and the archetypal Usher as Enforcer, revolutions need volume. Individuals who want to rebel against the head bobbing effect of the Esplanade will remain weak and be easy targets for ushers who are simply doing their jobs as long as they remain isolated. Every concert hall in the world has a ruling that states seating is necessary for your personal safety but standing is de facto nonetheless.

One problem is that this is not necessarily a revolution of the masses, it is more one of those trickle down bourgeoisie led revolutions. It has to begin at the front row. Yet front row tickets are the most expensive, offer the best views and the best perks. Nobody except the band can rise to block your view.

Its not exactly ‘Hasta la Victoria Siempre’ stuff, but do take a stand. Banish the Rollins Band effect. Otherwise, just watch a play.

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 12:00:00 +0000

Sound Familiar?

There was election in May and the election was preceded by episodes of violence in KL. The sporadically violent episodes have a racial tinge to them. Campaigning is not along racial lines, but there are some politicians who have displayed overtly racial messages and symbols. Elections were held on May 10th. Both the procession and the election went off peacefully.

They say that their guard was relaxed. But the elections were troubling, creating critical areas of uncertainty. The ruling party, massively successful in the previous election, now lost on several fronts, although it maintained sufficient seats to rule. An elated an apparently surprised opposition, holds victory parades in the capital…and violence breaks out.

Could that be a sound byte from May 2008, assuming elections have been held? We found it a bit too close for comfort. But actually, we just pulled it from the Journal of Asian Studies, but rewrote it so that the tenses were changed and the dates were removed. Ok, so that was a bit of an underhanded trick…we agree.

But it was meant to point out this – the coming election should be one of the most exciting in decades. Racially, there is probably less actual tension than perceived. In fact, the fact that Malaysia went through the Asian Financial Crisis with no racial tension or violence whatsoever is testament to the underlying racial harmony.

Yup, its OTBM’s spider sense again. Here’s the start of our Election Watch.

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 11:34:00 +0000

“Cost of Living”

We implore you to find the word inflation anywhere in a local article anywhere in the Singapore papers. Maybe the Chinese newspapers are reporting it, but OTBM certainly cannot find it anywhere in the Straits Times or the Business Times. Instead, the lexicon that seems to be in use in inflation’s place is “higher cost of living.”

Has the cost of living gone up? According to the IHT, inflation has been steadily increasing in Singapore since 2005, although there was a slight dip in 2006 (that’s according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore). A strong economy provides some natural inflationary pressure, and according to the MAS again, the year and year increase in 2007 was around 3.6%. That is just a bit above what you want it to be, and is not too much cause for alarm, even if it was a 16 year high. Check the latest figures on inflation and see whether the record has been broken. We think it has been smashed.

Why do the main broadsheets insist on calling it the “higher cost of living?” Is it because the think we have some magical control over our economy and that using the word inflation would cause some sort of irrational outcome? Like people queuing to buy oil or withdraw their money? Nobody knows.

Many people have been documenting the rising cost of living in Singapore. Daniel Chin, who writes a blog on land transport in Singapore, says that bus fares are increasing, and that Singapore might even have created a first by being the only place in the world where bus fares are more expensive that train fares.

Everybody knows about the recent taxi fare hikes and the accompanying “mass boycott” of taxis. OTBM spoke to a taxi driver but a week ago who said that it was the first time in 15 years during his evening shift that he left the CBD without picking up a passenger.

The bundle of taxi fare increases means that it is impossible to determine what the average increase is, but people put it anywhere between 10-35%. ERP gantries are taking on the characteristics of the highway bougainvilleas – they are popping up over the place. All in, the point is that transport fares have increased significantly. And rightly so, pushed by increased fuel costs and rising demand.

We are years ahead of other cities by introducing the ERP, in fact, we are big supporters of it, since it is the most progressive form of road taxation. We say ERP-ise the whole island and abolish road tax.

More importantly, household items are on the rise as well.

So inflation is on the rise, so what? Well, OTBM are just a couple of untrained economists, but our spider-sense is tingling. And it is telling us that inflation will rise even further. Let the inflation watch begin.

noreply@blogger.com (Cenkudu Chump Collective) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 13:32:00 +0000

Should foreign firms be wary of investing in Malaysia now?

Today's Straits Times reported that "Two investors from Taiwan have held back their plans to invest in Selangor following street demonstrations recently". Are they justified?

Perhaps. But not because the protesters are likely to create too much trouble. It seems unlikely that this current wave of Malaysian protests will dampen foreign enthusiasm too much. After all, the police have already started rounding up protesters, justly or not. 'Order' should return soon.

Rather, the investors should be worried because inter-ethnic tensions are rife in Malaysia. Underneath the veneer of respect and cooperation, deep distrust, jealousy, and a sense of unfairness underlies all interracial relations in Malaysia.

Companies should never underestimate the effects that discrimination and resentment can have on workplace dynamics in Malaysia. Throughout our journeys in Malaysia, we have met dissatisfied Indians, unhappy at their second-class citizen status. With these Hindraf-led protests, they now have a public spectacle and cause to latch onto. Foreign investors, be wary.

On a separate note, it is quite ironic how companies from democratic countries where unions, strikes and protests are common, often have no stomach for similar chaos in far-off investment locations. Many Western executives crave the political stability that authoritarianism brings, whether in Malaysia, Singapore or Vietnam.

Perhaps as companies fragment their supply chain across many countries, they prefer authoritarianism and state control in those countries where their low-value, labour-intensive work is done--say, assembling an iPod in China. And rather have an open, free-wheeling, democracy where their innovative, high-value, knowledge work is done--like the Apple campus in Silicon Valley.

It's interesting to think about the influence and power that big companies have on the rate of democratisation and liberalisation in countries, simply by virtue of their investment decisions.

Did the decision by the Taiwanese companies to pull back cause the Malaysian government to adopt a harder stance towards the protesters? Probably. Did the decision slow the pace of democratisation in Malaysia? Probably.

Is all that good or bad for development in Malaysia? Ah, there's the interesting question...