2011-08-25, 05:28 | Link #16081 | |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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Up till today I still haven't got a proper answer, the reply I got then was a blast; my mum screamed her head off at me for "disrespect for elders" and making her lose face in front of the many other Chinese worshippers in my neighbourhood.
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2011-08-25, 07:43 | Link #16082 | |
Me, An Intellectual
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: UK
Age: 33
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2011-08-25, 08:44 | Link #16083 | ||
Knight Errant
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Age: 35
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My own opinion is that we can't build a wall around our countries and block out the troubles of the world... In the end it all forces us to look at the world in a more internationalist manner. We're no more inherently deserving of prosperity then people of other countries, and we pay for that inequality by having that inequality brought downwards by the action of immigrants. Of course, there's no easy solution to all this. |
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2011-08-25, 13:04 | Link #16084 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
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Aye, at this point in globalization the world is a sandbox and when someone pees in one corner it messes with the rest of the sandbox, like it or not.
The corporations have gone "transnational". Basically, the city-states now have the obligation of protecting the workers from their excesses and exploitation.... which is why the corporations try to "buy off" that representation.
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2011-08-25, 14:06 | Link #16085 | |
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
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Case in point: Out of a resident population of 3.7 million in 2010, some 22.8% of people who live and work permanently in Singapore were born in Malaysia (source: Department of Statistics Singapore). My mother, a naturalised citizen, was from Malacca. I have relatives in Malaysia. I have colleagues from Malaysia. A couple of my best female friends are Malaysians. As far as we're concerned, we're much more wary of recent immigrants than we are of each other. Heck, our accents and slang (and favourite foods) are so similar that, most of the time, we can't even tell each other apart. Sure, we seldom pass up a chance to poke fun at each other, but that's more a sign of affection than enmity, in my opinion. The rivalries between our two countries stem from a variety of historical accidents, exacerbated by local politics no doubt. But, for the most part, close family and social ties continue to bind our peoples beyond politics (except when it comes to football, but that's another story). By and large, if you ignore the politicians, our quarrels are no more venomous than those between, say, Scotland and England, or Canada and the United States. There aren't that many "barriers" per se. Malaysians love Singapore investors in Selangor, Malacca and Johor states, and they love the Singapore tourist dollar even more along the splendid beaches of the peninsular east coast. And though they aren't as cheap to hire as they once were, plenty of Malaysians continue to draw much better wages in Singapore than they would in Malaysia (especially if they are Chinese). |
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2011-08-25, 14:46 | Link #16086 | ||
Banned
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2011-08-25, 15:17 | Link #16087 | |
廉頗
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Massachusetts
Age: 34
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Luckily though, we're in a point in history where we aren't necessarily bound to the fate of the system around us. Knowledge is power. Of course, struggles abound nonetheless, but I feel better off than a peasant in declining Rome. |
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2011-08-25, 15:49 | Link #16088 | |
I disagree with you all.
Join Date: Dec 2005
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2011-08-25, 20:28 | Link #16089 |
YOU EEDIOT!!!
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: I'm right behind you
Age: 41
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http://start.toshiba.com/news/read.p...org%3E&ps=1011
Well, we've been wondering whether Americans and other Westerners would be as relatively calm and orderly during a major disaster as the Japanese were after their tsunami. This may provide the answer. I have relatives in North Carolina and Connecticut. Fortunately, they're pretty sharp; I don't think they'll mess around if any official orders are given. |
2011-08-25, 20:34 | Link #16090 | |||
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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The problem isn't with them coming over in search of prosperity, but rather that their government isn't opening up options to them. And how many jobs can Singapore offer in total? With the high CoL, earning less than 1500 per month makes suicide a better option. Corporations don't care about Singaporeans first or what, they just want cheaper and cheaper labour. And how can a local subsist PLUS support his family when real wage continues to spiral downwards? Quote:
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As for the "one small event causes all to crash down" - it is the herd mentality. Can't do much about a bunch of monkeys anyway.
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2011-08-25, 22:23 | Link #16091 |
books-eater youkai
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Betweem wisdom and insanity
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Warren Buffett to invest $5 billion in Bank of America
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...77N4J420110826 What do he know than we don't ?
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2011-08-25, 23:00 | Link #16092 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Age: 38
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He knows that looking at the long term is more beneficial than the short term. It may be doing poorly now, but it's a big bank with strong brand recognition. Keeping it alive to get stronger, while simultaneously protecting those who would be screwed if something happened to it, gives bigger profits in the long run.
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2011-08-26, 05:05 | Link #16093 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2007
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2011-08-26, 05:34 | Link #16094 |
books-eater youkai
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Betweem wisdom and insanity
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Rebels send in special forces to hunt for Gaddafi
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...77A2Y920110826 What do they call special force?
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2011-08-26, 06:48 | Link #16096 | |
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
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(1) Malaysia is first and foremost the homeland of ethnic Malays (in itself a sensitive topic, because "Malay" can refer many different groups of people in South-east Asia, while Malaysian Malays have a separate identity of their own). Within Malaysia itself, Malays are defined, by Constitution, as someone born to a Malaysian citizen who 1) professes to be a Muslim, 2) habitually speaks the Malay language and 3) adheres to Malay customs (whatever that means). In other words, by law, a Malaysian Malay must be a Muslim who is, among other things, obliged to obey Syriah law. Now, this could create problems in a multiracial, multicultural country, as the Chinese (mostly Buddhist, Taoist or Christian) and Indians (who are mostly Hindu) are obviously not going to submit to Muslim laws with regard to civil and family matters. Hence, Malaysia has a two-court system: one for Malays (that is, Muslims) and another for non-Malays. I am not completely sure, but I believe this applies only to civil law. The criminal-justice system, I believe, applies equally to both Muslims and non-Muslims. With regard to marriage, anyone — male or female — who marries a Muslim must convert to Islam. That is part of Syriah law. Refusal to comply makes one an apostate, which means you can be tried and punished by Syriah law. As far as I understand, outside of Islam, no restrictions apply to marriages between Buddhists, Taoists, Christians and Hindus. (2) As the BBC article noted, Malays in Malaysia have historically been economically disadvantaged, forming as they do the bulk of the country's rural community. This has led politicians there to formulate affirmative-action policies to give Malays a leg up. Back in the 1950s and 60s, at the height of the nationalist/independence movement, this was seen as a necessity, because of the perceived economic disparity between rural Malays and urban Chinese (who tended to be wealthier and better educated). Unfortunately, over the years, these "bumiputera" (literally, "sons of the soil") policies got warped by corruption and cronyism. Even among the Malays, there is noticeable resentment, in that some politically well-connected Malays were clearly benefiting from pork-barrel politics more than the rest of their ethnic community. (3) I'm afraid I don't know much about the background behind the two mega states of Sarawak and Sabah in East Malaysia (which occupy the northern edge of Indonesia's Borneo island). They became part of the then-Malayan federation because of the Malaysia Agreement between Malaya and Britain, presumably because Sarawak and Sabah were British colonies at the time. As was usually the case in other parts of their crumbling empire, the way the British handled decolonisation in Malaya/Malaysia proved frustrating at best, and infuriating at worst. In this case, it triggered the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation between 1962 and 1966. Obviously, Indonesia wasn't very pleased to see a part of its backyard ceded to a foreign government. As I recall, the tensions spilled over even into Singapore, which suffered bomb attacks at the time. The tussle ended only after Suharto took over as Indonesia's President from the ardent nationalist Sukarno. Since then, Sarawak and Sabah have been electoral strongholds for Malaysia's ruling Barisan Nasional coalition. I don't know why. A lot of local politics is involved that I haven't studied. (4) Ultimately, what does all this mean for ordinary Malaysians today? I can't speak for them — there are more than enough Malaysians in AnimeSuki who can give their views if they so wish. I can speak only as an outsider looking in. Racial and religious polarisation in Malaysia has become very worrying in recent years. The different ethnic and religious groups in Peninsular Malaysia have been coexisting more or less peacefully for years, though individuals are more than aware of the lines that cannot be crossed. In a sense, it's like a country of gated communities, with each ethnic/religious group agreeing to avoid doing and saying things to antagonise each other. Unfortunately, politics has become very heated over the past decade since former leader Mahathir Mohamad stepped down. The loss of the northern state of Kelantan to the deeply conservative Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party forced Malay politicians in the ruling coalition to burnish their Muslim credentials in the attempt to win back votes. This has in turn triggered a rising wave of tensions between Malays and non-Malays, contributing to alarming problems like attacks on churches and street protests with Muslims trampling on the severed head of a cow (considered sacred to Hindus). Overall, though? These were largely isolated events. Malaysia as a whole remains a peaceful country, albeit somewhat troubled just under the surface. As I've said, for the most part, most of the problems are the result of brinkmanship between sabre-rattling politicians. Ignore the politics, and things are by and large fine. Malaysia is far — very, very far — from being another Somalia or Rwanda in the making. |
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2011-08-26, 09:58 | Link #16097 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2007
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@TinyRedLeaf:
Thank you very much! It is a great read. As for the Marriage within the religion, I read some poster (a Chinese Muslim) remarked that it is a loosely enforced custom/tradition, but I have no idea that's a religious law. I know some religious people in the US prefer to marry Christens, but making it part of the religious law is an entire different matter. About affirmative action, while the idea is certainly a noble one, but it is very often exploited. In China for example, the minorities get some additional score for the notoriously competitive national college entrance exam, and lots of "fake minorities" are uncovered in recent years. In other words, a few parents who bribe officials to change their children's ethnicity from "han" to other minorities to get a unfair advantage. I heard from a friend that there is a similar policy in Taiwan and similarly exploited. Nowadays in taiwan those who apply for this privilege have to go through some native language test. One other thing about certain proportion of population is granted special rights is that they are very hard to be wane off it. The privileged groups fights very hard against giving up even bits of it. With prolonged inequality of job opportunities, education level, etc., there is danger that an informal caste system is formed within the society, which is very hard to be undone and very detrimental to a modern society. Of course this is not the reality in Malaysia, since the BBC article mentioned that on average, the Malay people are still poorer, but in China, the separation of town folks from the rural people using the "hukou" system gets me worried. Quote:
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2011-08-26, 11:59 | Link #16098 | |
Aria Company
Join Date: Nov 2003
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http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americ...ack/index.html
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2011-08-26, 12:02 | Link #16099 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2007
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Astronomers discover planet made of diamond
Will it be valuable enough to start a new space race? hmm, you can calculate the mass by the gravitational force, and you can tell it is made of carbon by some spectrum analysis most likely. How do you tell the size of the thing to calculate the density? |
2011-08-26, 12:33 | Link #16100 | |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
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There's literally no way it would be worth enough to justify the funding of an interstellar mission much less a competition of more than one. The value of a diamond is almost completely imaginary - set by price-fixing and tight cartel controls. It has some industrial value but its cheaper to make them ourselves in high pressure equipment than to leap across light years, dig and return. I also imagine at some point we'll extract all the available gold and it will be more needed for industrial use than baubles. And then we'll either have to play alchemist and make it, or mine the local planets for it.... long way down the road even for that (assuming the "Global Tech Civilization" doesn't collapse before then).
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