Source.
Maybe its just me, maybe I've been here for far too long, but all the girls start looking the same after a while.
Korean, Japanese, Chinese, they look all the same to me.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
女の子
Source.
Maybe its just me, maybe I've been here for far too long, but all the girls start looking the same after a while.
Korean, Japanese, Chinese, they look all the same to me.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Use #185634 for Netbooks: detaining illegal sex tourists
Was watching delayed broadcasts of TV3's Bulletin Utama, when there was (as usual) a story on immigration officers raiding a place harboring illegal immigrants.
What caught my eye through, was the fact that a Asus EEE PC was used, presumably by immigration staff.
It seems to be a Eee in some sturdy looking briefcase with a scanner, and presumably a link to Immigration HQ.
Another shot of the Eee in the briefcase.
I thought it was quite an interesting use for netbooks. It was only on screen for about 2 seconds, but it looks like the stock Eee 701C, white in color. It is an interesting choice. Small, light, cheap and reasonably durable (I have seen Eee 901's being knocked around a fair bit). They're awesome.
As expected, it is always Vietnamese, Filipino's and Mainland Chinese.
What caught my eye through, was the fact that a Asus EEE PC was used, presumably by immigration staff.
It seems to be a Eee in some sturdy looking briefcase with a scanner, and presumably a link to Immigration HQ.
Another shot of the Eee in the briefcase.
I thought it was quite an interesting use for netbooks. It was only on screen for about 2 seconds, but it looks like the stock Eee 701C, white in color. It is an interesting choice. Small, light, cheap and reasonably durable (I have seen Eee 901's being knocked around a fair bit). They're awesome.
As expected, it is always Vietnamese, Filipino's and Mainland Chinese.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Malaysia is a English speaking country
Not too long ago, Malaysia's first astronaut was featured in Australia's ABC.
It was interesting, partially to hear a Australian of Geek descent (Helen Vatsikopoulos) pronounce "Angkasawan". Certainly the cinematopography and the music mixing is top notch for a current affairs feature. But also one thing Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor said that struck me.
About 7 minutes and 14 seconds into the video, addressing an hall full of students (can anyone identify where it is? A montage before it shows him being driven along a single lane road surrounded by oil palm plantations), he says "You have to master your English in order to compete with the rest of the world. If you want to succeed in life, if you want to challenge the Americans, the western[ers], you must be fluent in English."
"Boleh, mak cik?"
I can only wish the policy makers and politicians of Malaysia took that to heart.
I am all for keeping English as the medium for Science and Maths in Malaysia's education. And this is coming from someone who spent his primary school days in a Chung Hua school, his secondary days in a Malay medium, and his tertiary education in English.
Many defenses have been raised in regards to this issue. All I have heard and read are flimsy at best, utter rubbish at worst.
1) "We can't cope with English"
So cried the 8000 people who marched on the streets of KL one lazy Saturday afternoon.
Frankly, that is a sad indictment of how low standards have dropped in Malaysia. But let's assume that it is a fair and valid point. How did my teachers, and their many other counterparts, deal with the switch to BM as the medium of instruction?
Certainly they coped better than this generation of "western" wimps, who take to the streets because they can't do something. Easily a majority of my teachers, especially my Biology, Chemistry and Additional Maths teachers were educated under the old English system and had their teacher training (if any) in English before the switch to BM in the 1980's for Sarawak.
I have had the privilege of making some friendships with them, and asked them their experience. Was it hard switching to BM? Yes it was. Did the switch leave them at a disadvantage? Certainly. So was taking to the streets claiming the switch was a betrayal to how well English has served us a natural instinct?
Er, no.
I'm not advocating sacking teachers who can't teach in English however, as some parties are calling for. The shortage of teachers and schools (ever wondered why we have 2 sessions while the rest of the civilised world can get by with one?) is bad as it is without another drain on the system. But when one waves their hands in the air and claim teaching in English is too hard for them, one has to wonder, are they even qualified to teach, to start off with?
2) "But the Japanese/Koreans/Russians/French/Germans can use their own language"
Probably the most used excuse the Malay nationalists use to justify their blind usage of BM as the medium of instruction.
I'll use Japan as my point, as I am most familiar with it in the list of countries above. In case someone blinked, Japan is an extremely homogeneous nation. 90% of the population identify's themselves as ethnic Japanese, and I bet that 5% of the remainder are Okinawans. It is very possible to never know any other language other than Japanese and get along quite well in Japan.
In Malaysia, even the official numbers put the population makeup as 60% bumiputera, 30% ethnic Chinese and 10% ethnic Indians. Hardly homogeneity by any definition.
The fact of the matter is, Malaysia is a English speaking nation, as much as the politicians, Chinese educationalists and HINDRAF would like to claim. All banks have their websites and their documentation in English, even if the quality leaves a bit to be desired. One thing I am proud as a Malaysian is we can use English editions of Microsoft Windows, something segments of Mainland Chinese and Korean's can't do when they come to Australia to study. The BM version of Windows is just weird, and I don't see too many people using BM version's of Windows Live Messenger, partially there isn't one.
Even Toshihide Maskawa, the Nobel laureate who has a fear of English, at least knows enough English to understand Spontaneous symmetry breaking, if not fear it, even if he can't speak it. Few Malaysian academics I have seen have made any mark with just BM.
And even law, which is still largely English in Malaysia, has not been spared. I once met with a visiting law professor from UiTM discussing about Malaysia's land title problems, and while her command of English wasn't too bad, half the time she did not understand the questions posed to her by QUT academic staff. Yes, it may have been UiTM students who came up with the current logo used by Malaysian Airlines, but it is an open secret that the bulk 85,000 "unemployed graduates" come from UiTM. And while a sample size of n=1 is hardly indicative, looking at their academic staff, I can't say I'm surprised.
I would guess the same is true from South Korea: ie homogeneous and monolingual. And even then, they can generally understand written English, even if they can't speak or write it well.
What about the Russians then? They were first in space, had the best chess champion and have produced many brilliant mathematicians. True, and I do not dispute that.
But if the Russian language was that awesome, why are so many Russian medical schools offering medical programs to desperate Malaysians-who-did-not-make-the-academic-cut-but-mum/dad-wants-them-to-be-a-Doctor? Following the logic of these Malaysians who say "Other people can do it with their own language", surely if they could send the first man, woman, animal, dog to space and machine to the moon, with the Russian language, what's so hard about appendicitis in Russian?
3) "But its our own culture!"
If your culture is of one of constant quarrellings, denying things like incest, alcoholism and rape happens while doing them yourself behind closed doors, and having lesbian school girls record their romps and circulate the 3gp files, fine. But you aren't going to get very far.
So don't ask why can't we become a developed nation.
And if you love your Mandarin so much to demand it be used as the medium of instruction, go back to China, or emigrate Taiwan at least. My great-great-grandparents came to what is now Malaysia for a damn good reason. It China was so great and Mandarin so beautiful they would have stayed in China, instead of risking the southern seas, which there was a real chance they would have never made it.
Looking at the rate of Chinese immigration to what is now Malaysia in the late 19th/early 20th century, I would think there was a big factor to have so many people leave in such a short period of time. Certainly the Irish potato famine was a motivating factor to have a Irish diaspora so big that there are more people of Irish heritage outside Ireland than the population of Ireland.
I can't even say that for the worldwide Chinese diaspora. (Of the estimated 1.5 billion ethnic Chinese in this world, "only" 50 million, or 3.3%, are outside of China/中港台 area.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malaysia is an English speaking nation. We have already destroyed one generation by switching to BM, and they have come home to roost, amongst others, in the form of graduates with poor command of English. I would even say that my uncles and the fathers of some friends have better command of English than me at times.
A switch back to BM would destroy 2 generations with one stone: those who started with English, and those who were taught to teach in English.
It was interesting, partially to hear a Australian of Geek descent (Helen Vatsikopoulos) pronounce "Angkasawan". Certainly the cinematopography and the music mixing is top notch for a current affairs feature. But also one thing Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor said that struck me.
About 7 minutes and 14 seconds into the video, addressing an hall full of students (can anyone identify where it is? A montage before it shows him being driven along a single lane road surrounded by oil palm plantations), he says "You have to master your English in order to compete with the rest of the world. If you want to succeed in life, if you want to challenge the Americans, the western[ers], you must be fluent in English."
"Boleh, mak cik?"
I can only wish the policy makers and politicians of Malaysia took that to heart.
I am all for keeping English as the medium for Science and Maths in Malaysia's education. And this is coming from someone who spent his primary school days in a Chung Hua school, his secondary days in a Malay medium, and his tertiary education in English.
Many defenses have been raised in regards to this issue. All I have heard and read are flimsy at best, utter rubbish at worst.
1) "We can't cope with English"
So cried the 8000 people who marched on the streets of KL one lazy Saturday afternoon.
Frankly, that is a sad indictment of how low standards have dropped in Malaysia. But let's assume that it is a fair and valid point. How did my teachers, and their many other counterparts, deal with the switch to BM as the medium of instruction?
Certainly they coped better than this generation of "western" wimps, who take to the streets because they can't do something. Easily a majority of my teachers, especially my Biology, Chemistry and Additional Maths teachers were educated under the old English system and had their teacher training (if any) in English before the switch to BM in the 1980's for Sarawak.
I have had the privilege of making some friendships with them, and asked them their experience. Was it hard switching to BM? Yes it was. Did the switch leave them at a disadvantage? Certainly. So was taking to the streets claiming the switch was a betrayal to how well English has served us a natural instinct?
Er, no.
I'm not advocating sacking teachers who can't teach in English however, as some parties are calling for. The shortage of teachers and schools (ever wondered why we have 2 sessions while the rest of the civilised world can get by with one?) is bad as it is without another drain on the system. But when one waves their hands in the air and claim teaching in English is too hard for them, one has to wonder, are they even qualified to teach, to start off with?
2) "But the Japanese/Koreans/Russians/French/Germans can use their own language"
Probably the most used excuse the Malay nationalists use to justify their blind usage of BM as the medium of instruction.
I'll use Japan as my point, as I am most familiar with it in the list of countries above. In case someone blinked, Japan is an extremely homogeneous nation. 90% of the population identify's themselves as ethnic Japanese, and I bet that 5% of the remainder are Okinawans. It is very possible to never know any other language other than Japanese and get along quite well in Japan.
In Malaysia, even the official numbers put the population makeup as 60% bumiputera, 30% ethnic Chinese and 10% ethnic Indians. Hardly homogeneity by any definition.
The fact of the matter is, Malaysia is a English speaking nation, as much as the politicians, Chinese educationalists and HINDRAF would like to claim. All banks have their websites and their documentation in English, even if the quality leaves a bit to be desired. One thing I am proud as a Malaysian is we can use English editions of Microsoft Windows, something segments of Mainland Chinese and Korean's can't do when they come to Australia to study. The BM version of Windows is just weird, and I don't see too many people using BM version's of Windows Live Messenger, partially there isn't one.
Even Toshihide Maskawa, the Nobel laureate who has a fear of English, at least knows enough English to understand Spontaneous symmetry breaking, if not fear it, even if he can't speak it. Few Malaysian academics I have seen have made any mark with just BM.
And even law, which is still largely English in Malaysia, has not been spared. I once met with a visiting law professor from UiTM discussing about Malaysia's land title problems, and while her command of English wasn't too bad, half the time she did not understand the questions posed to her by QUT academic staff. Yes, it may have been UiTM students who came up with the current logo used by Malaysian Airlines, but it is an open secret that the bulk 85,000 "unemployed graduates" come from UiTM. And while a sample size of n=1 is hardly indicative, looking at their academic staff, I can't say I'm surprised.
I would guess the same is true from South Korea: ie homogeneous and monolingual. And even then, they can generally understand written English, even if they can't speak or write it well.
What about the Russians then? They were first in space, had the best chess champion and have produced many brilliant mathematicians. True, and I do not dispute that.
But if the Russian language was that awesome, why are so many Russian medical schools offering medical programs to desperate Malaysians-who-did-not-make-the-academic-cut-but-mum/dad-wants-them-to-be-a-Doctor? Following the logic of these Malaysians who say "Other people can do it with their own language", surely if they could send the first man, woman, animal, dog to space and machine to the moon, with the Russian language, what's so hard about appendicitis in Russian?
3) "But its our own culture!"
If your culture is of one of constant quarrellings, denying things like incest, alcoholism and rape happens while doing them yourself behind closed doors, and having lesbian school girls record their romps and circulate the 3gp files, fine. But you aren't going to get very far.
So don't ask why can't we become a developed nation.
And if you love your Mandarin so much to demand it be used as the medium of instruction, go back to China, or emigrate Taiwan at least. My great-great-grandparents came to what is now Malaysia for a damn good reason. It China was so great and Mandarin so beautiful they would have stayed in China, instead of risking the southern seas, which there was a real chance they would have never made it.
Looking at the rate of Chinese immigration to what is now Malaysia in the late 19th/early 20th century, I would think there was a big factor to have so many people leave in such a short period of time. Certainly the Irish potato famine was a motivating factor to have a Irish diaspora so big that there are more people of Irish heritage outside Ireland than the population of Ireland.
I can't even say that for the worldwide Chinese diaspora. (Of the estimated 1.5 billion ethnic Chinese in this world, "only" 50 million, or 3.3%, are outside of China/中港台 area.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malaysia is an English speaking nation. We have already destroyed one generation by switching to BM, and they have come home to roost, amongst others, in the form of graduates with poor command of English. I would even say that my uncles and the fathers of some friends have better command of English than me at times.
A switch back to BM would destroy 2 generations with one stone: those who started with English, and those who were taught to teach in English.
Monday, March 09, 2009
The issue with marrying 2D characters: a (Common) law perspective
Was talking with a law acquaintance on the implications of marrying 2D characters. You know it raised some eyebrows when even the mainstream media picked it up and my non-anime friends know about it. Which says a bit about the proposal considering that the Akiba liberation rally 2 years ago hardly got a mention in the Japanese press, never mind the international media.
Below would be most of the points in the discussion. As Japan uses a Civil Law system, and Australia/Malaysia/UK uses a Common Law system, I can only see it from the perspective of Common Law, hence most of what is discussed would most likely not be applicable in Japan. It is also not in any way, legal advice. Take this as entertainment value more than anything else.
Legal Personality
Legal Personality is the basic foundation in any legal system. It defines who/what exists in the eyes of the law. In Australia, only humans and corporations have legal personality. You can't sue your dog, nor can you marry your pencil. You can sue a business through, so I suppose one could bring a case against the national broadcaster for conspiracy.
The US, thanks to the First Amendment, the scope of Legal Personality is wider, which explains why you read of old ladies leaving their entire wealth to their cat. You can't do that in Australia, and if you do no court will uphold it, as in the eyes of the law, the cat does not exist. (Poor kitty)
However, you can leave your entire wealth to your best friend with the condition that it be used to maintain your cat, and subject to formalities, it would be held in law.
This just means that 2D characters do not have legal personality, and in the eyes of the law do not exist to start off with. So even if you could stalk Suzumiya Haruhi (I think they're called doujins), it does not cause fear or apprehension, and thus the courts would treat it like if you were trying to stalk a cup. (ie. mad). On the flip side, you can't claim emotional dependency and seek damages for Suzumiya Haruhi ruining your life.
You could try starting legal action against Nagaru Tanigawa/KyoAni for ruining you as they have legal personality, but probably only in Japan. Technically, they have no presence in New Zealand/Australia/Malaysia. It is the basis how fugitives flee a country to avoid legal action against them.
Marriage
While I would think that Sakagami Tomoyo falls under the definition of "woman", unfortunately she can't give consent, which makes any marriage void. Also, I don't think any religious authority defined under the act will solemnise it anyway. So there goes any dream of our kids being smart, athletic and beautiful.
Consummation of Marriage
In the UK, one of the formalities of a marriage to be legal is the Consummation of Marriage. It's a weird idiosyncrasies where a marriage is taken to be a contract, and a marriage is not considered a binding contract until and unless it has been consummated. So lack of Consummation is actually valid grounds for nulling the marriage in many jurisdictions. Note nulling, not divorce: nulling means you were never married in the eyes of the law.
Dakimakura's, Candy Girls and dollfie's aside, I think it is a bit difficult consummating your marriage to a 2D character.
Polygamy
In many jurisdictions, polygamy is illegal. In Australia, your 2nd, 3rd, 4th wife would not be recognised as your legal wife. Hence when you die only waifu no 1 will gain access to your Superannuation compensation. Even under Syariah law you can only have 4 wives.
The whole "we want to marry 2D characters" started with ronrey lifeless males wanting to marry Asahina Mikuru. To quote Kirimi of Ouran fame: Reverse Harem! Certainly on a more personal level I know 3 people who would like to marry Ichinose Kotomi, not to mention how many more others. The question is, who gets to be "first", and (say) if a Singaporean in Singapore's jurisdiction called dibs on Kotomi first, can a Malaysian under Malaysian jurisdiction marry Kotomi if he was the first to do so in Malaysia? Would that be polygamy?
Don't ask me how on earth is that Mikuru.
And for those who think of going to Japan, if they ever legalise 2D marriages, to marry your 2D wife then return to your home country, sorry. It may be a valid marriage in Japan, but I doubt a Malaysian/Australian court would recognise it.
Also, I think it would be very awkward in Asia, when your parents come up to you and ask when are they going to have grandkids.
Impersonation
Firstly, I'm not sure how I would react to some doujin's easily found at Comiket if I was married to Fujibayashi Kyou. Even by my standards they can be quite sickening (and don't get me started on Shugo Chara doujins!), and one could argue it is a gross violation of decency.
Secondly, as much as I hate a loli with bad personality and English, can I sue Kipi for her impersonation of Shana? How can Mizuhara Arisa get away with impersonating Misha? How does Saya get away with being Sheryl Nome? And what happens when I go to Supanova/Animania Brisbane and see Tifa Lockheart?
Considering that pretty much every convention has a Naruto/Bleach character, it is going to be a bit difficult protecting your 2D wife from impersonation, which for the record is 5 years imprisonment: s 185 of QLD Criminal Code. (Also note s182(2):"It is immaterial whether the other person is alive, dead or fictitious.")
(Don't get me wrong: I have a lot of respect for cosplayers, both male and female. Especially when they cosplay Bible Black characters. And if she looks familiar, its because I captured her doing Louise, of Zero no Tsukaima fame)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't do Law kids. It ruins you for marriage.
I suppose this is the downside of me doing a double degree: I see things from a wide view. As much as I wish I had a cute frail twintailed girl whose name is written with three hiragana in my arms as I sleep, deep down I know that it is impossible. Both from a Common sense and legal point of view.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
CLANNAD ~After Story~ 17
I have found a new yardstick for Moe.
If anyone is interested, it used to be Kanon.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Lost in translation
I had a bit of a laugh seeing this:
微笑 Pasta. Ep 2.
I've got a new (temporary) hobby of watching English subtitled Chinese drama's. I suppose it is interesting being on the other side of the fence: Ie knowing the language (Mandarin) and seeing how people translate it(English).
What 陈晓诗 was saying was "跳进黄河也洗不清". Literary translated means "jump into the Yellow River also not clean", which probably explains how easy it is to make fun of Chinese translations.
While not wrong, in the context I would have suggested "I'm in a lot of trouble", or as the American's would say, "Deep Shit". But I have more dignity than that: I grew up with British English, and I still go crazy everytime Mircosoft Word defaults to English (U.S.) for the dictionary.
But translations are always a iffy thing. I can testify to that, as someone who seems to attract narrow-minded Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese who have Australian citizenship like a magnet.
I once had a girl who kept saying "I feel sorry for you" every time someone (including me) helped her. It's not like I was risking my life or doing something extreme. Eventually I realised she was trying to say "我觉得不好意思". The best I could think off was "You shouldn't have".
The problem with "我觉得不好意思" (or as the Hokkien's go, "pai seh") is that there is no proper translation for it. It all depends on the context it is used. Baidu translates it as "feel shy", which while not wrong, would be awkward at least when trying to thank someone.
Then there was this other time where I was talking to this guy, and he kept rambling on about a "bread car". It certainly wasn't edible, and after a bit of asking I discovered that he was referring to a "面包车", which is a van. Or a MPV at least.
Also another time another guy kept going around saying things like "You have been very hard". And this was in the context of a group work (we ended up with a Taiwanese in our group. Ugh.), so the others were a bit lost. Were we such bad groupmates, or did something happen in the toilets?
Eventually, I figured he was trying to say "辛苦你了", which I had to translate to "Good work". At least we weren't as bad as we feared.
Finally there is the classic "那个" by northern Mainland Chinese. Somehow, when it comes out of their mouth, it ends up as "nei ger", which sounds like "Nigger".
Believe me, it was awkward, sandwiched between an Indian who thought she was calling him a Nigger, and she completely oblivious to the faux pas she was making.
微笑 Pasta. Ep 2.
I've got a new (temporary) hobby of watching English subtitled Chinese drama's. I suppose it is interesting being on the other side of the fence: Ie knowing the language (Mandarin) and seeing how people translate it(English).
What 陈晓诗 was saying was "跳进黄河也洗不清". Literary translated means "jump into the Yellow River also not clean", which probably explains how easy it is to make fun of Chinese translations.
While not wrong, in the context I would have suggested "I'm in a lot of trouble", or as the American's would say, "Deep Shit". But I have more dignity than that: I grew up with British English, and I still go crazy everytime Mircosoft Word defaults to English (U.S.) for the dictionary.
But translations are always a iffy thing. I can testify to that, as someone who seems to attract narrow-minded Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese who have Australian citizenship like a magnet.
I once had a girl who kept saying "I feel sorry for you" every time someone (including me) helped her. It's not like I was risking my life or doing something extreme. Eventually I realised she was trying to say "我觉得不好意思". The best I could think off was "You shouldn't have".
The problem with "我觉得不好意思" (or as the Hokkien's go, "pai seh") is that there is no proper translation for it. It all depends on the context it is used. Baidu translates it as "feel shy", which while not wrong, would be awkward at least when trying to thank someone.
Then there was this other time where I was talking to this guy, and he kept rambling on about a "bread car". It certainly wasn't edible, and after a bit of asking I discovered that he was referring to a "面包车", which is a van. Or a MPV at least.
Also another time another guy kept going around saying things like "You have been very hard". And this was in the context of a group work (we ended up with a Taiwanese in our group. Ugh.), so the others were a bit lost. Were we such bad groupmates, or did something happen in the toilets?
Eventually, I figured he was trying to say "辛苦你了", which I had to translate to "Good work". At least we weren't as bad as we feared.
Finally there is the classic "那个" by northern Mainland Chinese. Somehow, when it comes out of their mouth, it ends up as "nei ger", which sounds like "Nigger".
Believe me, it was awkward, sandwiched between an Indian who thought she was calling him a Nigger, and she completely oblivious to the faux pas she was making.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
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