The Role Of Children?

Malaysian children are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

You see, when they voluntarily decide to cycle around the country on a mission to deliver a memorandum to parliament for better civil rights, they get arrested and intimidated.

And then, when they're busy minding their own business trying to get some semblance of an education, their education minister tries to mobilise all five million school children AND their teachers to start some sort of a "peace demonstration" in protest of Israel's role over in the Gaza strip.

Apparently public demonstrations are only okay when the ruling coalition suggests it.

At least Spanish children seem to have it better. My colleague sent me this video of his daughter.

I watched it and thought it was the epitome of kids just having a good time.



Every year, the Spanish organise a parade called 'Three Wise Men' or Cabalgata de Reyes focusing on children and the receiving of gifts by the Three Wise Men.

It's just after Christmas, after all, so they're not far behind time. :)

Europe's biggest parade for children. Just for children.

Faulty Wing Flaps

So the Spanair crash was caused by faulty landing flaps and not by engine failure, as speculated earlier.

The flaps, which are found on the underside of a plane's wings, are used to reduce stall speed during take-off and landing.

And when those flaps didn't work, the MD-82 couldn't pick up as much speed as was needed to launch itself off and consequently, stalled and crashed.

Worse, an electrical failure also meant the pilots were unaware of the problem.

The flaps on the wing’s trailing edge and slats on the leading edge are essential for lift on take-off, and usually high on the pilots' priority list.

The cockpit voice recorder, recovered from the crash, showed that the crew had confirmed “Flaps OK, Slats OK” during their reading of the check list. The flaps were NOT okay.

That oversight wiped out the majority of passengers on the flight. In fact, it's Spain's worst crash in 25 years.

The aircraft's black boxes, or known in the industry as flight data recorders, are currently being analysed by a specialist laboratory in the United Kingdom.

Spanair Crash In Madrid

This is a nasty one. You can barely find intact parts - only debris. This plane crash killed 153.

Summer is almost ending and it's at the height of the vacation season. I know, because most of my colleagues in Madrid are away from their desks in the office.

It feels frighteningly close to home because I have been to the Barajas Airport in Madrid, though I've never flown Spanair.

The black box (known in aviation circles as the 'flight data recorder') was retrieved from the debris. We'll probably know what happened soon enough.

Initial reports suggested that a fire had broken out in one of the engines during or shortly after take-off from Terminal Four, and the plane ended up in a field.

The plane had earlier begun taxiing to the runway, before turning back because of a technical problem, which had caused an hour's delay in the take-off.

The pilot had reported a fault with a temperature gauge, but it was thought to have been fixed. It is possible that there was indeed a big problem, just not with the gauge.

The aircraft in question was an American-made McDonnell-Douglas MD-82 so apparently the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is sending an investigation team to Madrid.

Let's see if they can somehow blame the crash on Malaysian engineers.

What Exactly Offends You?

Someone has pulled the carpet under my feet when it comes to political correctness. Because I swear to God, I have no idea what is acceptable and what isn't, these days.

The Spanish Olympic basketball teams have apologised for the picture. And the Chinese aren’t terribly offended, by the looks of it. But everyone else and their pet turtles are.

Perhaps I should begin by asking, "Since when did slitty eyes become a bad thing??" I have dated many Chinese men in my 29 years of roaming the planet we fondly call Earth, and I think it looks very good on them, in case you hadn't noticed yourself.

You know ol' Stevie of You-Tiup? He has slitty eyes and he's very cute. I should know - I've gone out with him before AND sat in his famed 1990 Honda CRX with a 1.6l DOHC ZC engine before it got sold off. (Eat your hearts out, girls).

How could natural physical features ever be a bad thing?

I once went to Kenny Rogers for lunch with three of my Malaysian-Chinese colleagues. If you've never been there, I should explain that their meal-set provides for one muffin, the flavour of which is your choice.

Yours truly picked chocolate, while the other three picked banana and vanilla flavours, I think. When the muffins arrived together, I found it amusing.

"Look," I pointed out, "we've chosen our flavours according to our skin tones!"

I was severely chastised for that. "You shouldn't say that about your own skin colour," my colleague rebuked me.

I don't understand why. I'm Malaysian-Indian. I'm dark.

Compared to a Scandinavian, I'm charcoal. Compared to the Spaniards, I'm somewhat tanned. Compared to the average Malaysian-Indian, I'm sort of light-skinned. Compared to an African, I'm paleface.

So-freaking-what? I love my skin colour. Don't presume that I don't like it. Don't presume that being light or dark-skinned is a bad thing. It isn't, no more than having slitty eyes.

And why can't people refrain from speaking on behalf of other people? Most of the outrage came from people who know neither the Chinese nor the Spanish.

I've lived in Madrid for a bit. I think they're probably the most friendly people in the European continent, though I admit, I haven't been to every single country in Europe. Yet. :)

But seriously. I've been on the Metro, sat in their buses, gone into their stores, driven on their roads, filled up fuel at their stations - and not been discriminated against, even once.

The fuel station story is an interesting one. I figured theirs would be self-service like Malaysian ones, but I didn't know what the procedure might be like. So I asked my colleague, Emilio, what the word for 'full tank' was.

"Lleno," he told me. It just means 'full'. I also discovered they didn't have swipe counters at the kiosk like we do here, and I didn't want to leave my credit card with the guy manning the store inside.

"Would he be worried about serving a foreigner?" I asked Emilio.

Emilio looked bemused. He obviously hadn't considered that situation. "Just tell him you're a foreigner and leave your pasaporte as exchange, if he asks," Emilio finally suggested doubtfully.

I wasn't too comfortable with that idea, but I had no choice.

At the petrol station, I stated my request to the store clerk. He smiled, nodded and waved me on. I didn't have to leave my credit card, a cash deposit or even my passport.

He just trusted me - a foreigner - completely. Heck, I could have driven off without paying. There's no one in Malaysia who would trust me so explicitly and yet, I'm a citizen of this goddamn country.

This woman has lived in Spain for two years and she agrees with me that whatever they may be, the Spaniards aren't racist.

My friend Tim, has a very apt saying, which could be used to describe the Spanish Olympic basketball team.

'Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity'.

Brand Equity - Unethical Advertising

This deplorable advert for brand equity was brought to my attention through an email from a friend.

The irony of it is the tagline, 'Intelligent Brand Warfare'.

Some of you may be aware that I was in Spain for over a month on business. During my aimless weekend wanderings, I chanced upon numerous bullfighting rings. The most famous of them being the Plaza del Toro in Sevilla.

No, I did not watch any shows. I would never dream of exchanging my hard-earned cash for an hour of gruesome torture to an innocent animal, under the guise of "entertainment".

I concede that bullfighting is part of Spanish culture. A vile, deplorable part of it, but don't get me started.

Besides, there are so many other incredible nuggets of Spain which I thoroughly enjoyed, like Flamenco dancing, their quaint little pubs, their Sangria wine, the Kanya beer (to be drunk chilled), Real Madrid (and I'm not even a football fan), their music, and oh, their ever-so-gorgeous hunks.

But I digress. :)

There's nothing intelligent about fighting or sparring with an unnecessarily provoked beast, that is caged and alone with a "fighter" who has plenty of back-up and distractions if things head south.

To add salt to injury, the bull has to be slain before the matador (or bullfighter) is declared victorious! Such a despicably brutal sport, if you can call it that!!

It especially wounds me, being an animal-lover. I have been a vegetarian for about 2 years now, because I really do not see the point in killing an animal just to satisfy the appetite.

I know this may offend some of you out there, but my opinion remains.

And this advertisement, in trying to portray what they regard as 'brand warfare' (I'll really have to leave out the word 'intelligent', if you don't mind), has found the advertisers failing miserably, considering their area of speciality lies in media (and presumably public) perception.

I urge Mr. James Selva, the CEO of Perception Media Sdn Bhd to seriously consider removing this advertisement from the line of advertising banners displayed.

It shows flagrant disregard for responsible and ethical advertising standards.

Paco Peña

Paco Peña has the most amazing fingers.

You'd know if you listened to him play flamenco music on the guitar.

The Spanish are incredibly passionate and sensual.

And it exudes from their language, their dance, their music - heck, even their food.

I miss España.

Travel Curb On Women

I swear we still need to make some pressing changes in the government as there is a surplus of village idiots still taking up residence within the ministries.

Take this prime fool Rais Yatim, for instance, who has suggested requiring letters from women travelling on their own:

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Malaysian women travelling abroad on their own may need letters from their parents or employers in a bid to stop them becoming "mules" for international drug syndicates, reports said Sunday.

The proposal comes as 119 Malaysians, 90 per cent of whom are women, have been imprisoned worldwide on drug-related charges with the majority believed to have been duped into transporting drugs, the New Sunday Times reported.

Duped? Somehow I don't think so. You've gotta be a special kind of stupid not to suspect that favour you're doing has a scent of 'illegality' to it.

And when in doubt, refuse.

"I have submitted this proposal to the Cabinet and both the Foreign and Home Ministries feel this is necessary," foreign minister Rais Yatim told the paper.

"Many of these women (who travel alone) leave the country on the pretext of work or attending courses and seminars," he added.

"With this declaration, we will know for sure where and for what she is travelling overseas."

Oh yeah! And while you're at it, strap a chastity belt on her for good measure..

Malaysians have become prime targets for syndicates wanting to smuggle drugs into the European Union, the paper said, because they do not require visas for short stays of up to 90 days or to transit in those countries.

It said the offences were also committed in various other nations including China, Singapore, India, Spain and Portugal.

Let me tell you something.


I just came back from Spain after a long business trip. I don't appreciate having to carry a letter from my employer stating why exactly I have packed my bags and am clutching on to an air-ticket.

Most of us Malaysian women are smart enough to handle ourselves properly when abroad and not get into trouble.

Unfortunately, we have our dumb sisters who don't use all their grey matter. But I don't see why we should be punished for their actions.

Besides, like many women's groups have already protested, letters like that can be easily forged.