two questions
1. Is that really her? I seem to remember that she has curly hair.
2. If it’s her, why she so dumb go and pose in a shoot like that?
Idiot.
1. Is that really her? I seem to remember that she has curly hair.
2. If it’s her, why she so dumb go and pose in a shoot like that?
Idiot.
With the increasing popularity of blogs, they are a great platform to present your voice on issues to a greater audience. Beats running naked on the street reciting a whole paragraph of what-nots. But with the focus on blogs and the cheaper and wider availability of the Internet, things changed. Three years ago you can still blog about your neigbours’ stupid smelly fat cat desecrating your garden or how his stupid fat daughter walks like a clumsy pumpkin lump or how they are so ugly that their momma left them for good. Try it today and somehow in the near future you may just be sued for libel.
Either you grow up or you don’t. If you don’t then don’t blame other people for voicing their opinions also. It’s the fucking INTERNET.
Free speech? Free speech my ass. Can I just quote T-Boy’s words on this? Hmm I think I will.
That ‘Fundamental Right’And then there’s the ‘fundamental inalieable right to Free Speech’. While many people focus on the right to say whatever you like without fear of censorship, I say ‘bullshit’.
Freedom of Speech means freedom of living to the consequences of what you say. While you can say what you like online, you’re never, never free from consequence.
The government may not be able to do a thing to you4, but that doesn’t mean that what you say can’t get you fired, or get you verbally slapped around like a two-buck whore online, or cause your friends or lovers to leave you.
Welcome To The Land of Shut The Fuck Up
And so you do and must censor yourself. You think to yourself, “Can I say this? Is this right?” before posting your vitriol across the public wire. Of course you must. Being free to speak doesn’t mean you are free from being told, in very firm words, to be quiet.
As a matter of fact, as a Citizen of the Internet, you are allowed to speak whatever you like. Freedom to speak doesn’t mean that you must be listened or that your words deserve immortality. You are free to speak. What happens next is not up to you.
And frankly, like religious bigotry and outright stupidity, racism is hardly a defensible thing. You want to get in trouble, get in trouble by yourself. I’m not defending you, not because I do not care about free speech, but I have better time defending the right to the free speech of others who are more deserving.
That was from his post So You’re Getting Fucking Persecuted about the two S’porean bloggers who kena charged and jailed. The content of his post still applies.
Read and learn.
About Peter Tan, the ‘malicious’ disabled person:
You know, Peter is not the ogre Miss XX and Turosomething from LocalBrand made him out to be. Yes he is my friend and that is why I can tell you that contrary to XX’s post, he does not go out of his way to seek sympathy bla bla bla yadda yadda yadda. Peter has done the community much good by blogging about life as a disabled, raising SOCIAL AWARENESS which may be lacking prior to this due to the non-existent platforms. So now we understand why the accessible toilets are not meant for the able-bodied with no afflictions other than stupidity. Now we understand better why a lot of buildings are death traps for those not able to just run should there be a fire or incidents like the 2004 tsunami trembles that affected Penang. Those are not pleas for sympathy unless you are saying that disabled do not have rights just like anyone else?
And one more thing regarding accessible toilets: I understand that not many people like to use the ’search’ function or even know that the history of his blog, so I am now giving you a link to one of his older entries regarding accessible toilets:
And Yvonne Foong just wrote a blog entry on accessible toilets and how it feels when it is not really that accessible:
Why handicap toilets are important.
We don’t really have control on the various buildings’ toilet design and build. In many other countries, public toilets are a tad bigger than those in Malaysia so some able-bodied folks can still use them for various reasons. However in Malaysia, a lot of our public toilets are cramped, some without taps even. If a pregnant lady needs to use the accessible toilets because of those two reasons then yes go ahead. If a rude older woman or a 21 year old popular ranty blogger wants to use accessible toilets because they are more spacious with mirrors and think it’s their God-given right to use them, well in the words of XX herself,
FUCK YOU.
And because I’m his friend, he discusses some things with me, one of the things being Turodrique from LocalBrand’s phone conversation. I’m damn pissed because all Miss X and Mr T seems to be able to grasp is that Peter is trying to harm XX’s income and by doing that Peter would have something to gain, financially or otherwise. And since Peter is not going to be bothered if he gets misunderstood or misquoted by the sole sentence of “BECAUSE IT WORKS”, I’m going to tell you this:
THERE IS MORE THAN ONE SENTENCE.
If Mr. T recorded the conversations he had with Peter over the phone, please, feel free to broadcast them in their full entities. Why don’t you publish the e-mail that Peter sent also? I’m sure everybody would love to know.
Look, if you are going to devote an entire post whining about the ‘underhandedness’ of some people, why not take the entire context? Things must be taken in whole instead of picking ONE SENTENCE and use that as the sole basis to debate. Err how about the sentence where he said something like, because companies should be aware of the people who represent them?
So they have been made aware, now what? BECAUSE IT ALWAYS WORKS not because to get her sponsors to pull out, but to make the points clearer. How the sponsors deal with that issue is entirely up to them. Either they stick with XX or they don’t. In the case of Voxy (and now Kimage) they chose not to associate with her anymore, that’s their prerogative. I’m sure there are plenty of other brands and companies who would not mind their banners on her blog just to ride her waves of popularity that seep into the minds of youth (not just from Singapore, mind you) despite her blogging tone and blog content. They all can do that, good luck to them, I sure as hell am not going to believe in their products or services and I’m going to tell all my friends about my stand on it.
You know, that’s why universities have courses on marketing and branding. Consumer power, I tell ya. You should really be more aware of your choices in life.
And say you go into a restaurant and the waiter mistreats you. Do you engage the waiter or do you go to the manager?
And again because people cannot seem to find links as easily as they should, here’s one of my earlier post for you on why I oppose to this sad shit.
You can actually see it happening already, with her young blinded supporters thinking it’s all right to use accessible toilets because they are there and the chances of a disabled using it the same time as them are slim to none. Talk about morality lines indeed.
Actually it’s a bit boring to write something this long because all she and her blinded followers could only see everything as:
“I FUCKING HATE XIAXUE!”
So if you are one of those people who cry damn foul that Peter Tan is a loserlah, fuck Peter Tan lah, fuck Kimberlycun she’s fat and lumpy, fuck ShaolinTiger he’s a white man in Asia overstaying his welcome lah, all XX detractors are just jealous lah, I tell you what:
WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD.
Now if you’d excuse me, I have other things to blog about.
Hmm…
First of all I think that the best things in life should be free. I am putting in my vote for Hoegaarden.
Then I have this bloody annoying persisting headache that even a couple Uphamol and sleep can’t fix. It’s making me feel like a caged tigress just anticipating that first big bloody mouthful, too bad I don’t know what/who/which prey else I’d have done something about it.
And there’s the theatrical notion that if you don’t like something, you don’t do/drink/eat/watch/read it. If it is an argument of me not liking San Miguel based purely on principle, heck I don’t blame you if you think twice about my past, present and future assessments and overall principles. The fact is that I have tried San Miguel, I find the taste far from my liking and there lies my personal preference of not wanting more of San Miguel in any future to come, biased or not.
But things are never so simple, are they? So here we go:
1. If you don’t like it, don’t read it.
2. If it offends you, don’t read it.
3. If you dislike it so much, why bother going back?
And so on and so forth. While the only lame justification I could attempt to produce for #3 is that at the best of times we are all suckers for self-punishment, #1 and #2 do need a bit more coverage. Oh those are easy defense, available at the tip of the tongue and so convenient to shift the focus to the perpetrators who despite not agreeing along the same lines or do not worship every damn footprint left centuries ago, might actually have something worthwhile to say.
But no, cannot. You don’t like it, you leave. You hate what you are reading, you leave. Never mind that it is a public domain, famous for being notorious somewhat, and *gasp* it is a BLOG on the INTERNET.
And I haven’t even touched on the various spokesperson stints, let alone the readership demographic.
So on this subject, I plea for those who do have opinions on the matter be allowed to carry on without having to go through the ‘great’ comebacks of leaving or not reading if you do not like it.
Besides, that is partly how these sort of things function, isn’t it? Someone says something, someone else reads it, loves it hates it, writes/bitches/comments/discuss/moan/whine about it about it… I mean, who am I to disrupt the flow of critical analysis or the lack thereof? I am, after all, just Suanie.
As for excess emotions that could be put to better use, well why don’t we all just buy an air ticket to Amsterdam and gloriously abuse the decriminalised laws that be? Problems solved, the world is one AND our brothers and sisters in Jamaica could generate more income geared towards a better life. You know, instead of yadda yadda-ing on our blogs about this that and everything else. Oh the filth we do spew.
But I greatly digress, so let’s go back to what really matters. Or as R puts it, mutiny.
.::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::.
My problem, you see is not the character. Nor it is an attack on her moral values (Suanie, please refrain from adding anything after ‘values’ thank you). By her own admission, she helps people to cross the road and so on and so forth, not that it is of any interest to me because I am neither her friend nor foe and do not delight in what she does or does not outside her blog life.
What gnaws at me as a citizen of the net world is the message in that style delivered by an ambassador of sorts. It does not keep me awake at night, unfortunately it does not make me very happy in daylight either.
Yes yes I know that kids today are not stupid. Nevertheless a huge percentage is still impressionable. There’s blind loyalty and there’s blind loyalty. Blindly shooting here, but there’s someone who will grow up thinking that it is all right to use handicapped toilets because handicaps want to be treated as everyone else, the toilet is there all empty and lonely, what are the chances anyway that a handicap will want to use the toilet the same time as me, plus it’s not MY fault that you are in that wheelchair and I am not. Enforced by a hugely popular ambassador of sorts saying that handicaps have no right to be unreasonable when toilets built for their convenience are abused, well ladies and gentlemen, introducing a prime model of today’s metropolitan society.
Well, THAT is my problem.
An average of 16,000+ unique hits a day with plenty young minds wanting to be the next her who do worship the ground she walks on, THAT is my problem.
Oh there’s the judge least ye be judged. But you know, the last time I had repeating 12 to 16 year old site visitors was eons ago when I had a web shrine to Michael Jackson complete with bio, photos, discography and lyrics. Beat it, I was young and in love.
I don’t think I could be arsed to refute point-by-point, a lot of people are already doing it not least Peter Tan who has so kindly written a blog entry on why toilets for the disabled persons should only be used for the disabled persons. You know, to educate those who think they are entitled to using the handicap toilets based on stupidity.
Because if I really have to dwell on sentences like,
“As far as I am concerned, you have a physical disability - and that is where you have a disadvantage. Your bladder is working fine isn’t it? So you wait, just like normal people do, when there is a queue for the toilet. The rest of us queue up to use a toilet - I don’t see why the disabled should be any different.”
… and in the podcast the lines of “treated as a normal person” and “privilege not an entitlement” within this whole toilet context, sorry lah my blood pressure may just shoot through the roof and you all would never hear from this self-employed watchdog wannabe again, which of course IMHO would be a darn pity.
It is not really about protecting the underdogs. I have the never ending WWE drama for that.
It’s about public awareness.
Being civic-minded.
Empathy for the right reasons.
Understanding why.
Being more responsible.
Doing your part.
Educating others.
A better society.
A caring society.
And it can all start from not using the single toilet for the disabled when you have 6 other toilets to choose from, not even if you have to wait for your turn.
Now we’re talking.
Again it’s not about the character so the emo defense of her not being a bad person seems redundant. Her friends are right in that sometimes her style causes ‘misunderstandings’ and is open for attacks, but her message couldn’t be clearer with the podcast. Then there’s the misguided comprehension that an apology is in order due to the popularity of the blog and not anything else. Errr… okay… whatever turns you on lah.
Having said all that, I know how difficult it is to change one’s atoms with consciousness especially if the conversion in the law of conservation is slow to apply. In short, I don’t foresee her changing her train of thoughts just to suit anyone else, a trait of course which I appreciate especially when it comes to personal blogs. But I hope someone out there will realise that one can outgrow the other, even if the latter is an ambassador of sorts, yet the outgrowing is for the better and benefits a wider society.
This is the Internet after all. Hope springs eternal.
(Damn, I sound like a self-righteous bitch who got the last cookie, don’t I? I’m eating it as we speak.)
.::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::.
If you want something else to think about, think about this conversation I had with Roland. I didn’t realise where he was going until much later, kept harping at the small ends, then I understood his point. Conversation slightly edited for clarity.
Roland: Why are disabled toilets only for the disabled?suanie: why not?
Roland: because they can be used by everybody. In my opinion what they should do, that is just build toilets that are accessible by everybody, able-bodied and disabled. For example my mum has an invalid parking card. It is no use because ppl park in the disabled spot anyway. If you say something about it, they get upset
suanie: who get upset?
Roland: the people who are not allowed to park in the disabled parking spot and do so. But parking spots are everywhere. Toilets on the other hand, disabled people need to look hard for a toilet. Even abled people do nowadays in the city. So any toilet that is around should be there for everybody
suanie: you are talking this with a hint of sarcasm, aren’t you?
Roland: no sarcasm. Not sure about KL but here, it is damn hard to find a toilet. Then when you do find one, you can walk in like that. But disabled people have a bigger problem. They need a blatter the size of a whale. I absolutely vouch for more toilets.
suanie: and then having to wait for a toilet, then taking your chance at the disabled toilet based on the slim chance that no disabled would want to use it anytime soon?
Roland: when there are more toilets around, the chance is slimmer. If a disabled have to wait, the wait won’t be that long, will it? Unless someone is taking a huge dump. Usually there are a row of toilets for the abled.
suanie: here we usually have one toilet for the disabled, and the rest for the abled.
Roland: that disabled toilet is more idle than it is being used. They can wait for a toilet just like us. What if there is a row of disabled people waiting?
suanie: no they can’t. because chances are still that going out to a popular shopping mall for example, the ratio of abled to disabled people is still overweighed. if a disabled person has a faster chance of using the toilet rather than having to wait for an able bodied person inside, I still take that. This is in generality. When you go case by case, like the disabled having to wait 3 seconds for the abled to come out of the toilet after using it then that becomes a different look at it.
Roland: I guess what it all boils down to is, that we need more disabled friendly toilets. Having more disabled friendly toilets or lets call them multi-purpose toilets, then they have more options to go elsewhere or rather not having to look so hard to even find one
suanie: then it becomes a municipal situation
Roland: it should be a municipal situation because the costs outweigh the profits for commercial exploitation. space is very valuable in shopping malls. just to have someone do its shit, they don’t want to pay for it. they want revenue. you can’t charge disabled people more than abled people. that would be discrimination
suanie: i get your point
I think that in theory it is an ideal solution. To implement it fully would need the entire population be terrifyingly shaken into understanding and learning how to properly use a public toilet. Have you seen the state of some of our public toilets? No? Next time I’ll take pictures.
Updated: I think this fella said it much better than I did. Salute, salute, ohm.
The Pink Poodle said:
Woah, woah! HOLD ON DUDE. You mean only handicapped people can use handicapped toilets?…
How come people have this notion that only the disabled can use facilities for the disabled?
…
So tell me … our government spent millions of taxpayers’ money to build so many facilities for the physically disabled, and only they are allowed to use it?
Oh, excuse me for going down the slope instead of the stairs, will you? I shouldn’t have. MRT lifts - don’t use it, cannot use it. Use the escalator instead.
WTF is this?
Sure, if I SEE that you are physically disabled, and you need to use the handicapped toilet, then yes, obviously I will let you use it and go use a normal toilet.
…
As far as I am concerned, you have a physical disability - and that is where you have a disadvantage. Your bladder is working fine isn’t it? So you wait, just like normal people do, when there is a queue for the toilet. The rest of us queue up to use a toilet - I don’t see why the disabled should be any different.
Don’t even go near the issue of handicapped parking lots. That is different, because waiting for a parking lot is not a matter of 2 minutes.
Pissed with unreasonable people. What pisses me off more is when the society at large condones bad behavior when it comes from supposedly piteous people. So what, handicapped have the rights to be unreasonable meh? If I ever break my leg (choy!) I think I shall use my crutch to anyhow whack anyone who comes near my MRT lift.
Ranked by Technorati at 43 as of Oct 17th 2005 with 6,951 links from 3,399 sites and people still argue that because it’s her blog, she can write whatever she wants and she has no responsibility towards society and the younger generation.
Yeah whatever, send me to Pluto too while you are at it.
Thought to self, stop self-punishing by avoiding goddamn awful material.