Eugene S.E. Teow's Space

From the Red Shirt, Zipper, White Socks and Rhinestone gloves, Michael Jackson – The King of Rock & Roll, is an influential & iconic figure to not only people in the United States alone, but to the entire world. He is a historic figure, breaking the culture barrier, way long before James Brown, Oprah Winfrey & Barrack Obama. He basically influenced everyone that comes after him; among them are Justin Timberlake, Jay Z and P.Diddy, as well as Street Magician, David Blaine.

He was one indeed of the greatest entertainers in the world that ever lived, and he really understood what music is and shook the industry so ever hard, till nobody could even come close to what he has done till this moment – Not even his father-in-law, the Legendary King of Rock & Roll, Elvis Presley.

To be truthful, I knew this was going to happen – that he was not a man who would grow old, but I didn't expect today to be the day that he left us, as well as the music industry. Today, I share the grief, together with his family, as well as his fans all around the world in this unforgettable man and his undisputed talent that has shaken the US Billboard Charts. Even though he has left us, I am certain that his songs would last forever, even for the next few generations, just like how the great Elvis and James Brown left us amazed by songs like “Burnin’ Love” and “I Feel Good”.

I concur with the saying from Pop Artist Justin Timberlake when he mentioned that “We Have Lost a Genius”.

Imagine this…

Hundreds of women are taking part in a different kind of 'beauty contest' to be held all over China. No, it is not to select the most pretty girl to be crowned Miss China 2009. It is to select unpretty girls.

To begin with, girls of the usual beauty contest age (19 to 22 years) will be disqualified. Part time models? Air hostesses? They are most unwelcome! As for maximum age, there is none. But there is a minimum age though, and anyone not above 30 years old would be shown the exit door.

None of the girls is dressed in swimsuits or elegantly flowing evening gowns. In fact, all of them are plainly dressed in 'sam-fu' or kitchen type clothes, and no one puts on any make-up. Since some of the contestants do look quite pretty without make-up, they are forced to draw wrinkles or scars on their faces to hide their natural beauty. Most of them simply tie up their hair in a bun, and those few ones who shave themselves bald or took on crew-cuts are favourites to win.

Teeth. Any girl with good looking teeth will almost be eliminated in the first round. To counter this, most contestants either do not smile and do not even open their mouths when parading before the judges. Some paste small black pieces of papers over one or two of their teeth to give the impression that the teeth are missing.

So what is happening here? Have the girls in China gone bonkers? No, they are vying for a maid job in Malaysia, and only 'not too pretty' ones need apply.

Imagine this. You go to Genting for the weekend and to your surprise, there is no crowd. Carparks are plenty. There is no queue for the rides, and the croupiers in the casinos are yawning (and it's not even 10 pm yet).

The following Wednesday evening, you make an eleventh hour decision to go to the Sneek Preview of the movie “17 Again” at 1 Utama, PJ, but to your surprise, there is no long snaking queue of cars at the toll booths as well as the highway.

After the movie, you go for a buffet dinner at Sheraton Imperial, Subang, expecting to be turned away because you did not make any reservations. However, you are given a red carpet welcome like you were Tom Cruise himself because the restaurant is only half full.

You go to KLIA and board a flight to Alor Star, Kedah, and instead of the usual long lines of people at the MAS and AirAsia counters encounter when it comes to checking in,, the counters are empty. Even the boarding gate was empty – boarding the flight is as if you bought the plane all to yourself, no queue, no hassle; and the crew members on board even have time to give you a smile when you board the plane;.

What happened? Well, we're supposed to be going through three 'scares' right now: the A(H1N1) flu scare, the Meningitis scare in Malacca, and the Leptospirosis scare in Juru, Penang.

That's really not too bad, considering there are also the Somalia pirates scare on the part of ships sailing by the Gulf of Aden, the Sri Lanka Tamil Tigers scare (of whether their chief is still alive or not), and for some, the Perak Assembly scare (that is, whether it's eventually going to be 'Zam Zam ali Kazam' or 'Zar Zar ali Kazar.' But I divert.

As a result of the these scares, people are avoiding crowded places including restaurants. They are avoiding air travels (because all you need is one sneezing dude and everyone else (including the pilots and crew) gets quarantined.

In order to attract customers:

Genting gives away RM 20 bonus chips for each guest at the casino, in addition to special hotel stay discounts,
Char Kuay Teow stalls give away complimentary mushrooms for dine-ins & ‘ta-pao’,
Computer sellers give away a complimentary RM 200 Jusco voucher for each purchase of HP Business Notebooks,
Travel agents offer two pieces Lux soap in addition to traveling bags for each tour purchased,

And best of all…

Malaysia Airlines offers buy-two-free-one discounts while Air Asia (coming in November and December) offers no baggage charge & FREE FOOD on board.
Wuhoo….

First, a certain bridge in China collapsed.

Then nearer home, the Jaya Supermarket collapsed.

Last week later, the roof of a one-year old stadium in Trengganu collapsed. Gosh.

These days, there's an on-going debate about whether Chin Peng - former quarterback and Top Gun of the communist terrorists - should be allowed back or not.

Tun Dr 'Horse' added his tuppence worth recently and said he shouldn't be allowed back. Wonder whether he (I mean Chin Peng, not Dr M) knows how to swim, cos if he does, he could go to Singapore (where he is not banned from entering) and then swim across the Straits into Johor, following the footsteps of Mas Selamat. When Selamat performed his James Bond-type escape from a Singapore lock-up, the Malaysians knew he had gone to Johor and put up huge banners with the words "Selamat Datang Ke Johor" but the Singapore police didn't get it.

The Deputy General Manager did it again; he made a thoughtless comment about domestic violence being a 'private affair' and implied that the authorities would not interfere. This was in the context of a young lass who reported that she was being given a hard time by her husband, the ugly prince who turned into a toad. Does he (I mean the Deputy General Manager, not the prince who turned into a toad) mean that if our neighbor is being beaten up by her husband (or the husband gets beaten up by the wife), we should close one eye and not do anything?

Wasn't it only last month that the police rescued a boy from being abused by his mother? What happens if the husband chains up the wife in the toilet of an unused shoplot?

The eighth of March spelt the doom of an era of acquiescence to symbolic the democracy. The people (Rakyat) want real change. The floodgates of democracy have been pushed so open that an entire nation dissatisfied with the pace of reform and impatient with the lethargy of incumbency has been rejuvenated.

Alexis de Tocqueville appropriately described the phenomenon: “It is almost never when a state of things is the most detestable that it is smashed, but when, beginning to improve, it permits men to breathe, to reflect, to communicate their thoughts with each other, and to gauge by what they already have the extent of their rights and their grievances. The weight, although less heavy, seems then all the most unbeatable.”

In other words, an oppressive situation becomes the intolerable the moment its captives sense liberation from their confines. The implications for this are profound, and timely. In the context of a global recession brought on by the financial crisis afflicting the major economic powers, Malaysia will emerge strong only with visionary leadership and smart policies unhindered by the parochial interests of corrupt political parties and their attached strings of patronage.

At the same time, the rediscovery by Malaysians of their constitutional rights is manifested in the form of protest and demonstration against abuses of power such as repressive legislation allowing for detention without trial and a muzzled mainstream media. The efforts to restore civil society will pave the way towards a more prosperous future.

Another result has been less public tolerance for corruption. With an economy teetering on the brink and a government calling for belt-tightening measures from its electors, the abhorrence of leakages and of ministers living beyond their means takes on even greater meaning. The government’s current effort to reform its anti-corruption agency is therefore being scrutinized for departures from what is broadly conceived as ideal in the fight against graft.

Party efforts to restore independence and integrity to the judiciary are being sieved for impurities that would resolve the singular bane of the body politic over the last two decades. Here, too, the questions of our resilience to the global economic crisis is called into question, as the absence of a credible judicial system has been the key factor in the precipitous decline in foreign investor confidence that has slowly-crippled Malaysia’s economy.

Ultimately, a clean break from the past will be necessary to address these challenges with sufficient resolve. Some would say such a change is still imminent. Months after the volcanic eruption of voters’ sentiment, the BN government is stumbling and yon like cargoes come loose in the hold of a freighter. As the BN writhes, the opposition Pakatan Rakyat is steering by a compass pointed at rescuing the country from the shipwreck of BN Rule.

The BN government claims that the fundamentals of the Malaysian economy are sound and therefore exempt from the backwash of global crisis. Assertions are not proof. After years of deficit financing, our economy is vulnerable as never before. Though oil prices have declined, inflation has not abated from all-time highs. Declining commodity prices shrivel the incomes of ordinary Malaysians already burdened by increased prices. The BN trots out the familiar mantras of reassurance. The people, however, are not that easily deceived. They are rooting for the PR-led states to transmute insurgency into national restoration.

The five states under PKR control are responsible of 60% of Malaysia’s GPD. Disadvantage by a parsimonious attitude by the federal government towards them, these states are poised to implement the new economic agenda for the nation aimed at fighting poverty regardless of race, banishing corruption, encouraging investment not just in designated zones called corridors but all over, with an eye on distributive justice and energizing the state bureaucracy for effective delivery of services and municipal amenities.