Tuesday, November 25, 2008

My 25th Birthday!!!!!:-)

Wish me Happy B'Day Guys n Gals...Hahahahaha...gosh...time flies doesn't it?! Another year has passed since my 24th n I'm not getting any younger!!!:)

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Barack Obama, The Next U.S. President: Hope & Change We Can Believe

YES WE CAN!!

I am so glad that Barack Obama has won the Presidential Elections in the U.S. Quite frankly, i felt he was gonna win anyways=) I mean seriously, what with an 70 plus opponent with a dim-wit half baked vp in tow (i'm referring to Sarah Palin here, the lady from Alaska anyone?) it wasn't like the competition was much in the 1st place.



I feel he is an intelligent, eloquent, well-read, worldly, and genuinely down-to-earth guy whom young people and the average person down the street can relate to. I also really liked the way he managed his campaign and how he handled the campaign finances,etc. I felt that he ran a great positive-oriented campaign as compared to the other candidates whom resorted to low-level fear-mongering tactics such as viciously attacking their opponents and funding rumors such as a particular candidate being a 'Muslim' or a particular candidate being 'unpatriotic'.


I personally liked the way Barack Obama carried himself and the campaign and was always positive in its messages and more focused on what he was going to do if elected President as opposed to constantly attacking his opponents and creating scare messages such as those seen by particularly Hillary Clinton and her campaign. I was initially quite supportive of Hillary's candidacy but then she got nasty and used the same-old scare tactics that have been used in the past with her 3am ad and other ads scaring voters into thinking that the world was a dangerous place and that electing Barack Obama would make America a less safe place as opposed to electing her.

I mean I hated the way that Hillary used the fact that she was a woman to her advantage unfairly and she kept insinuating that the only reason she was behind in the popular votes as well as delegates awarded was because she was a woman. Even in her concession speech she spoke about having broken and shattered some glass ceiling almost as if her not having won the nomination as the Democrat Presidential Nominee was because she was a woman. I mean hello? Does she not know that her opponent, Barack Obama, is a mixed race (Black) man? And black people have historically been discriminated and oppressed in America and that they once were even slaves in America? I would have bought the 'patriarchal' arguement if Hillary's opponent was some rich white guy from the mid-west or something but not when it is another person from a historically disadvantaged group. I mean Obama was even raised in a single parent household which is even more incredible that some would say that he only got where he is because he is who he is....a black man from a single parent household? oh come on...pleeeeaseeeee....

And I also disliked Hillary when she lied about the 'Bosnia' incident and coming under sniper fire and also her insinuating that obama could be assassinated and thats why she was still in the running during the democratic presidential nomination race even though she was clearly behind on all counts....and I am saying this being a staunch feminist and pro-women in every conceivable way (heck! I've even been attacked and annoyed many guys whom say i'm waaay too biased against menfolk...when it comes to the gender conversation...)

I think Obama was clearly the one whom was more qualified than Hillary (even her management of her finances left much to be desired...she ran up a huge campaign debt, not to mention what it'd be like if they left America's finances in her hands...i mean if u can't even manage a Presidential Campaign properly, how could you manage the country's affairs and financial affairs without running into debt??)


As for John McCain and Sarah Palin, I mean need I say more? They were such weak opponents to Obama that I'm abit surprised that the GOP would have chosen them as the Republican ticket for President. I mean McCain is way too old being over 70 years old now and Palin is such a ditz and totally unqualified to become VP much less the President, should McCain die or suffer a stroke in the next 4 yrs should he be elected as President...I'm sure everyone has seen Palin's disastrous media interviews on youtube by now? I had so much fun seeing it and thinking how unbelievable it is that she should have been picked as the VP nominee for the Republicans...i mean did they not see how unqualified she was for the position? If they've properly vetted her, then i'd be seriously thinking about reviewing the vetting system for the Republican party and McCain's judgement.


Even the comparison of McCain's, Hillary Clinton's, and Barack Obama's spouses shows to me which is more suitable (at least I'd personally prefer to see as First Lady or Man) to be the First Lady/Husband of the President.
My reasons : Cindy McCain is your oh-so-typical blonde wife with botox injected face that i'm just sick and tired of seeing another typical First Lady like that...i've heard her speak and its not very different from past First Ladies (=boring) and she doesn't seem to be very intelligent ( not to say she's dumb, just that her competitor Michelle Obama is so much more intelligent and more capable) . As for Bill Clinton, well, he is your typical guy who had an affair with some secretary or intern, or you know, whatever, the lady whom is subordinate to the man in the workplace but always around him?...how typical...I frankly don't want a lying cheating husband (he lied to both Hillary and the public about his affair with Lewinsky initially) to be the next First Husband of America.
Now..Michelle Obama, she's an intelligent and bright woman whom can stand on her two feet and has an independent mind of her own. She is an ivy league graduate and has worked for large law corporations and still has some important job at some big hospital in Chicago if i'm not mistaken...furthermore, she speaks so powerfully just like her husband that much of my support for Obama actually can be traced to his impressionable wife....i still remember one speech from Michelle Obama early on in the campaign when obama was the underdog and it deeply touched me and resonated with something within me...(link here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqCYFpUAJ2Q) I personally liked the campaign theme which was central in Obama's Presidential Campaign which was: 'Hope' and 'Change'.


I personally feel that all human beings, all people, deep within themselves, still believe nevertheless in the dual concepts of 'Hope' and 'Change' (especially hope) and that hope is possible and change is possible. I feel that whatever it is, Obama's campaign message had struck a chord in people's minds and hearts (including mine) that hope was possible and that change would inevitably come, however dark and hopeless the situation may be.

I also liked Obama's 'A More Perfect Union' Speech in which he confronted the controversy and white elephant in the room issue of race relations in America (more specifically the Blacks and Whites issue in America) (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWe7wTVbLUU )

I really liked his frankness and candidness in addressing this sensitive topic with such grace and eloquence.


Another thing i like about Obama is the fact that he comes from such a multi-cultural background and has such life experiences and wordly knowledge of the world that none of the other candidates have. I mean just looking at Obama's family shows the multi-cultural nature of his background. He himself is mixed race, a bringing together of white and black, with a Kenyan father and a mother from Kansas. I like the fact that he has embraced the black side of himself by visiting his ancestral motherland of Kenya in his younger days, never looking down on that aspect of his heritage. I also liked the fact that his half-sister is of mixed Indonesian-White parentage and that he has lived in a Muslim South East Asian country before in his childhood years. It gets even better, his brother in law is pure ethnic Chinese background (Canadian i think?) and he has spent his most important formative years and adolescent years in Hawaii, a state well known for its Asian connection, having the largest Asian population by percentage compared to all other states in America. For an East Asian/a South-East Asian ethnic Chinese, Obama's connection to Asia thru his half-sister (half-Indonesian), his brother in law (Canadian-Chinese) and his own childhood experiences in Indonesia, is clearly a plus point for me in his favour.


If Americans had elected either Hillary Clinton, or John McCain, it would have been a white fest at the Presidential Election night with your typical all-white family (ok almost...i think McCain has a non-white adoptive daughter...not sure) whereas i really liked the scene at election night with Biden and Obama's family coming on and you could see black people and white people and Asian people, all hand in hand...what a historic-making scene that was...

As for all the accusations heaped against Obama during the campaign, I think they were all pure nonsense and plain silly at best. I mean the 'elitist' comment and 'ayers' accusation was simply silly considering how Obama came from a single parent family and had financial difficulties in his early years (and considering the stash of wealth which the McCains and Clintons own) and the age of Obama during Ayers time as a terrorist....

Anyway, here's to Obama and Biden winning the US Presidential Election and here's to the renewed faith in America, Americans values of democracy and justice, and the American Dream that a single-mom raised black man from Hawaii without the finances and political connections which his old-politics opponents have, can rise to become the next American President.

The election of Obama as President of America has shown the world that America is not as racist as the world perceives it to be, that democracy and justice still works, and that it raises the question of the racism of other countries (whom regularly criticise America for being a nation of racist) and whether they would have elected a minority race as President of their country and, if not, what that reflects about racism in their own country??

Much more importantly, the election of Barack Obama against all odds (and there were many) proves to the world and America that anything is possible, that anyone has the opportunity to achieve and that there can be faith in the possibility of change, in the possibility of hope, and more importantly, in the Audacity of Hope.

SMH Good Food Month Oct-Nov 2008 at Hyde Park...雪梨早报美食月'08...シドニーモーニングヘラルドーの美食月'08..


I went to the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Month last month which is like this month-long food fest held in Sydney annually...its like really really nice and held in Hyde Park North with lanterns and a liveband, etc...i chanced upon it last year and was waiting for it to happen again this year..it was really nice with live art performances and even some Chinese lion dance performance as i went to the Asian Night Noodle Market (which is supposed to emulate the nightmarkets (or as we malaysians call it: the 'pasar malam' found in Asia) ). It was held over four nights and was simply wonderful...then i went again to the Sydney Food and Wine Festival 2008 in early November which was like the 'finale' event of the Good Food Month and so that was good..but i didn't realise that it was held to raise funds for AIDS Charity Foundation and boy oh boy, there were like sooooo many gay boys and men on that day! I arrived expecting it to be like any normal average event of the GFM but it turned out to be quite a 'gay event' (if u know what i mean) i reckon half the men there were gay just going by my now more attuned 'gay-dar' (and so many were so obvious..either really queeny or had such great bodies in these skin tight tops) I asked my friend what he thought (he's gay btw) and i forgot what he said but i clearly was abit surprised..hahaha..anyways the food was so overprized and you had to buy coupons for food n drinks...not really worth it, thought it was a nice day to be out at the park with a joyous and relaxed and not to mention, very gay crowd...haha..
Pics at my online personal photo album:)~~~on the right hand side of this blog..

Monday, November 03, 2008

A Day in the Park...在赫德公园的一日.....ハイドーパークの一日













I spent a day in the park (by park, i mean Hyde Park, Sydney's main CBD park akin to NYC's Central Park right in the centre of Sydney) and took some photos of the annual Sydney Life Exhibition which is held there once a year where they invite photographers, professional or amateur to submit photos of Sydney life (any aspect) and chosen works will then be blown up and displayed in the surrounds of Hyde Park North Avenue.

I submitted two photos as well this yr after coming across it last yr and deciding that i would join this year, needless to say, i wasn't chosen, :( hahaha...which was to be expected given my total lack of any photography skills or experience to speak of!!

Anyways, i'll let the photos do the talking for me..it was a nice and wonderful way to spend a weekend afternoon after doing my groceries and walking home..:)

PS: More pix on my online personal photo album on the right-hand side

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Sydney Open '08...


I attended the Sydney Open '08, held once every two years where buildings around Sydney of significant historical, cultural, social, architectural, or any other margin of significance throws open their doors and welcomes visitors and residents of Sydney to visit them and get to know more about the city of Sydney. These buildings would normally not be accessible to the public or would only be open partially to the public, but during Sydney Open, the places which are not usually accessible eg. bank vault area, would be open for visitation upon by the public. I was very lucky that i knew about this event as i subscribe to the City of Sydney Events email newsletter (so its useful after all!! not just junk as i initially thought it'd be!!) and found out about it there...anyways around 50 or so buildings were open and participating and i only managed to go to 9 or 10 of them cos its a once off 9am-5pm event and u just couldn't possibly cover all of the venues. Very insightful and well-worth the time...i didn't even know Sydney had so many architectural wonders within the city...i definitely liked St Mary's Cathedral alot, it felt so holy-like and peaceful there, not to mention the amazing interior/exterior architecture which felt like some place in Europe and not Sydney!! I'm serious!!! Anyways, more photos at my online photo place on the right...enjoy!!