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  • Alfian Sa’at: Why I Don’t Attend Pink Dot

    Alfian Sa’at: Why I Don’t Attend Pink Dot

    Growing older, I find that my introverted nature is becoming more pronounced. One of the reasons why I decided not to go for Pink Dot this year is because I’m beginning to get more terrified of crowds. There’s always a moment when I’m surrounded by too many people when I start feeling dizzy and nauseous.

    And then there’s the issue of my nervousness around dogs. I know Pink Dot is an opportunity for some people to bring their pets along, pets which are as dear to them as family. But dogs–when there’s more than one, or two–have always put me on edge. This is not a problem of the dog-owners roaming the park but my problem alone. (And this is the learned mantra of any minority.)

    This isn’t supposed to be an indictment of Pink Dot’s agenda of inclusivity. I think every year the organisers attempt to provide an atmosphere as hospitable to as many as possible–sign language interpretation, differently-abled access, seating for seniors. But any embrace will come up short at some point because an arm span is finite.

    The space at Pink Dot is also inhospitable for others–those who fear crowds, or fear dogs, those without a pink or blue IC. It makes me think about the limits of inclusivity, the dangers of fantasising about utopian spaces, or spaces that aspire to speak for the entire community.

    In that anxiety to pack in bodies at the event, so as to create an optics of the local-indigenous, is bodily participation privileged over other forms of support? Be there or be square, be there or betray?

    While I support what Pink Dot stands for (and many of its organisers and ambassadors and volunteers are wonderful, tireless people whose activist work extends beyond Pink Dot), I can’t stand to form that dot. Neither can I stand any kind of guilt tripping over one’s absence there, as if fidelity to the cause must translate into piety towards Pink Dot.

    Ultimately I think of Pink Dot, no matter its organisational capacity, as part of something larger–and not as some large reservoir where other tributaries (no matter how many booths, how many representatives) are supposed to converge.

     

    Source: Alfian Sa’at

  • [Malaysia] Sepandai-Pandai Tupai Melompat, Akhirnya Jatuh Ke Tanah Jua – Sebuah Kilang Mercun Haram Di Malaysia Terbakar

    [Malaysia] Sepandai-Pandai Tupai Melompat, Akhirnya Jatuh Ke Tanah Jua – Sebuah Kilang Mercun Haram Di Malaysia Terbakar

    Stor sebuah kilang yang dipercayai menyimpan mercun terbakar sehingga percikan bunga api dan bunyi letupan dapat dilihat dan kedengaran di kawasan Perindustrian Saleng, Senai, kelmarin (2 Jul). Ketua Balai Bomba dan Penyelamat Bandar Baru Kulai Penolong Ketua Bomba Solleh Nasir berkata pihaknya menerima panggilan sekitar jam 5.19 petang semalam dan usaha memadam kebakaran masih lagi dijalankan.

    Kawasan yang terbakar berukuran 100×40 kaki persegi (371.6 meter persegi) dipercayai digunakan sebagai stor menyimpan mercun. Tiga buah jentera pemadam api serta 17 orang anggota dikerahkan ke lokasi kejadian bagi mengawal keadaan. Sementara itu, pihak polis akan melakukan siasatan berhubung kebakaran berkenaan mengikut Seksyen 10 Akta Bahan Letupan 1957 kerana menyimpan dan menguruskan bahan-bahan letupan tanpa izin.

    Ketua Polis Daerah Kulai Supt Razak Md Said berkata pihaknya juga akan menyiasat mengikut laporan kebakaran. Menurut Encik Razak lagi, pihak polis juga akan menunggu maklumat lanjut daripada Pejabat Tanah dan Galian (PTG) untuk mengetahui status tanah lokasi kilang itu sama ada berstatus pertanian atau perindustrian dan menunggu maklumat lanjut daripada Majlis Perbandaran Kulai (MPKu) bagi mengenal pasti status bangunan kilang terbabit. Katanya, kawasan sekitar lokasi kejadian itu juga telah ditutup bagi memudahkan kerja-kerja siasatan lanjut dijalankan.

    Source: Bernama

  • This Abang Is Mangkuk With This Unprofessional $118 Bowl Haircut He Didn’t Ask For

    This Abang Is Mangkuk With This Unprofessional $118 Bowl Haircut He Didn’t Ask For

    Guys does this look like a $118 haircut+rebond+wash (package) to you?

    i ask for rebonding,cut and wash. Asked for high slope at the back and get mangkok (bowl in malay).

    And ur hairdresser still can smile after what he did to my hair i even tell him this is already wrong.

    Even with that, not even a sorry for the mistake. Dont bother going there for a hair cut.

    Money not well spend. with Sante De Beaute sante

     

    Source: El Syibli

  • Singapore Athletes’ Brutally Honest Reactions To $600 Annual Grant

    Singapore Athletes’ Brutally Honest Reactions To $600 Annual Grant

    Exactly a week ago, The Online Citizen ran a story after a Facebook post by Jose Raymond about government agency Sport Singapore’s current funding policy for national athletes.

    In the Facebook post and subsequent story, it was revealed how Singapore national athletes were receiving a meagre $600 a year, or an average of $50 a month in training assistance grants from the government.

    The grants are disbursed to the athletes twice a year, or $300 each time.

    The post by Mr Raymond, who is a Vice-Chairman of the Chiam See Tong Sports Foundation and Vice-President (Partnerships) of the Singapore Swimming Association, has since been shared more than 120 times as at 30 June, including both former and current athletes.

    Said national sprinter Calvin Kang, one of those representing Singapore at the upcoming SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur: “The harsh reality of sports in Singapore.”

    National squash player Vivian Rhamanan, a gold medalist at the last SEA Games in Singapore in the jumbo doubles, said: “I’m one of the fortunate athletes to get funding by Singapore Sports Institute. Currently carded as L4, n get $600 annually from this system.”

    Added former national sprinter Izwan Firdaus, a silver medalist from the 2009 SEA Games in Laos: “I have to beg my parents for a new training shoe each time my shoe broke.”

     

    Sharing how athletes were told that they should run for their passion and not for the passion, Izwan said that he could not live with the way the athletes were being funded and decided to choose to focus on his rice bowl instead.

    Former national swimmer and Olympian May Ooi, who is now a mixed martial arts fighter chimed in and added that “appropriate allocation of resources for deserving athletes should be a priority.”

    Responses by other athletes as follows:

    Government agency Sport Singapore has not responded to the story by TOC, or the Facebook post by Mr Raymond as yet.

    When contacted, Mr Raymond said: “The frank and unedited responses by the athletes is loud and clear. It makes for painful reading but it is a harsh reality. The athletes must always be at the heart of whatever we do in sports administration.”

     

    Source: www.theonlinecitizen.com

  • Man Angry With Estranged Wife Bantai Children, Sentenced To 4-Months Jail

    Man Angry With Estranged Wife Bantai Children, Sentenced To 4-Months Jail

    A father hit his young children with a fabric belt and even held an ignited lighter near them.

    The 33-year-old father of five did it because he had insisted his children were not telling him the truth about his estranged wife’s whereabouts.

    The man, who cannot be named to protect the identities of the children, had lost contact with his wife after she left the flat in Boon Lay some time before January last year.

    Yesterday, the unemployed man was sentenced to four months’ jail for two counts of ill-treating his 10- year-old son and nine-year-old daughter.

    He was also jailed for a day and fined $1,000 for a separate offence of stealing $41 worth of cigarettes from a minimart in Boon Lay.

    Four other charges – ill-treating his 10 year-old son, causing hurt to the boy’s stepmother and two counts of dishonest misappropriation of property – were considered in sentencing.

    Deputy Public Prosecutor Sarah Ong said the abuse happened on Jan 29 last year. The accused was home with four of his children when he asked the victims if they had any information about his estranged wife. Both said they did not.

    He became angry, accused them of lying and grabbed a folded fabric belt to hit his son.

    The boy was struck on the shoulder and was in pain, but his father continued to hit him as he tried to dodge the blows. In all, the boy was struck about 10 times all over his body. The man then turned to his daughter and hit her about five times with the same belt.

    Later, the accused approached his son with an ignited lighter and held it near the boy’s left arm. It was close enough for the boy to feel the heat.

    The man did this while quizzing his son about his wife’s whereabouts, and also did the same thing to his daughter.

    When his daughter cried and said she was not lying, he kept the lighter and walked away.

    Multiple bruises were found on both children, with red marks on the boy’s arms and chest.

    The accused also stole cigarettes on April 17 last year at 4.13am.

    His jail term will start after the expiry of his current sentence of three years and six months for taking drugs.

    The accused could have been fined up to $4,000 and/or jailed for up to four years on each charge of ill-treating a child which caused the child unnecessary physical pain.

    The maximum penalty for theft in dwelling is seven years’ jail and a $30,000 fine.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com