Seems to me like this couple of weeks will be remembered for making sedition charges all the rage. First, blogger-activist Raja Petra was remanded and charged with sedition for calling for justice for the brutal murder of Mongolian beauty Altantunya. The exhortations in his blog would, at most, amount to libel, but the prosecution saw it fit to invoke the archaic, misunderstood and draconian law against sedition. Next, Member of Parliament Karpal Singh (‘outspoken and brash’ only to those who disagree with his views) had a police report lodged against him, also invoking the ‘offence’ of sedition, for questioning whether the appointment of the state religious leader is the prerogative of the state executive or the Sultan. Wonderful. Suddenly everything’s seditious.
Well Done, Gentlemen of the Ruling Coalition! You have just convinced us afresh of how small-minded, unintelligent, weak, easily threatened and prone to paranoia you all are. Thank you for continually giving us reminders to vote Opposition again in the next General Elections.
On another note: World Environment Day will soon be upon us again and the local dailies are doing their bit by running special feature stories on the environment. One of the journos from The Star had contacted Dylan, a former MNS branch committee member, who had in turn given her my contact details. The journo wanted to interview me in the capacity of Green Living coordinator, and so I agreed. I had expected the interview to be about the top priorities for environmentally conscious consumers, and not about my efforts as an individual, but in the end, she did end up asking me many superfluous questions about my personal actions. I don’t think readers want to read about what a lawyer does with her light fixtures and vegetable peels. I would think readers would want to know what activities have the highest impact on the environment and learn about the feasible and affordable alternatives to these damaging goods and practices.
Funnily enough, we devoted an entire half-hour of the interview to the topic of composting. And only a few hours ago, I had issued a very long and elaborate reply to a query on kitchen composting on the MNS Yahoogroup. Suddenly everyone’s asking me about composting. What, do I look like an expert in rotten things to you?
The interview was over in 1 ½ hours and I can only pray The Star would have better sense than to misquote its interviewees and put us in a bad light like the New Straits Times did last year for its environment pullout.
Thursday, 15th May 2008, was Pixie’s second birthday. My little boy turns two! I brought out the party tableware that evening and gave all 16 cats a treat in his honour. Each kitty received a bowl of tuna mash, topped off with a swirl of Hi-Vite and a piece of Pitter-Patter cat candy. Well, the cats enjoyed their treats so much that we had to cope with fish breath for the next 12 hours.
Halle’s babies polished off their portion and ate a good part of their mama’s share as well. Somehow they managed to get food all over themselves in the process. Now how did that happen? Is it possible that they licked their paws immediately after eating and anointed their foreheads and backs with the food? Keisha’s babies are not quite a month old but they know gourmet food when they smell it, and wobbled and crawled all the way to their mama’s food bowl to have a taste. I love all my kitties much more than I can express in words.
The Malaysian Naïve Art Showcase is on at the Central Market Annexe Gallery, so I went over to browse during my lunch hour on Friday, 16th May. You can view some of the images here: Malaysian Naïve Art Showcase
There must be something about two-dimensional drawings, technicolour trees and disproportionately huge birds, fish and butterflies, because the gallery was quite packed when I arrived. Everybody seems to love art that is charmingly simple on its surface but has hidden meaning and depth. The last such naïve art exhibition I visited was probably in 2002 or 2003, at City Square.
Anyway, there’s a fair bit of excitement in the parental neck of the woods. The parents have decided to adopt the puppy (first named Bear, then renamed Buster by Jessica) rather than leave him at the SPCA at the mercy of germs and infections and callous visitors. Well, it’s now Friday and Jessica will probably be bringing the puppy to me tonight, so it’s time for me to go back to the ‘Quarters, clean the place up and make room for the puppy.
Covert Operations, Over!
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