Hello Melbourne

I am currently writing from Melbourne using a good friend's laptop, after spending a few days in Adelaide. For those of you who have been ardent followers of my writings, you would notice that I had already wrote something about this city sometime last year during my first visit. It was a short visit though, pretty much those words I had written were based on first impressions. This time I will be here for a longer period, and I hope to enjoy my stay to the max. Perhaps a drawback is that the weather has not been too kind here; it is supposed to be summer, but so far not a second I could go outdoor without having to don my jumper for fear of being eaten by the coldness of the atmopshere.

On another note, I have started reading two new books in the space of two days since arriving here in Melbourne. They are Say it Like Obama: The Power of Speaking with Purpose and Vision by Shel Leanne and Dr. Mahathir's Selected Letters to World Leaders. Both are impressive in their own ways, definitely the kind I was looking forward to having not read any good book since The Road to Mecca a few months back. I do not plan to bring both books back to Sydney with me since they are owned by my friend-cum-host, so the idea is to finish both of them before I get back this Thursday. We will see if I can do that.

Friend Mibo has started his own blogging journey, and that should make the headline of the week! Well, actually he has been writing for quite a long time, but only recently he decided to move to Blogspot. His witty style and French influence are definitely worth checking out.

The Nut Graph

If you have got nothing better to do, go check out The Nut Graph.

I have not got the chance to really look into it, but from the few articles that I got a glimpse on I would say that they wrote some pretty good stuffs. The lack of comments for their articles led me to make an assumption that their brand name has not quite reached a wide set of audience yet, which in a way is a good thing since that will ensure that only writings of top quality are published in the hope to attract publicity. I just hope that this will remain so in the long haul and they will not grow to become just another public space to voice out childish sentiments, or a political website that leans heavily on partisanship like so many of their companions. I, for one, will be watching.

Watching History

Congratulations, man. The people have come a long way, thanks to you. You give them hope, you make them believe.

Now it is time for you to walk the talk. I am looking forward to your leadership in the White House.

Sarapan Pagi

Sarapan pagi, menu cucur ikan bilis Adabi dan teh tarik segera. Teh tarik ini datangnya dari Jelapang, Ipoh, tapi aku kurang pasti jenamanya. Ya lah, dulu kedai mamak di depan mata, jenama segera sebegini bukan pilihan pertama.

Lepas ini iklan Adabi disiarkan di kaca TV, atau kau memandu melepasi Jelapang, jangan pandang sebelah mata. Masing-masing kini sudah membina tapak di pasaran antarabangsa. Mungkin it’s just a matter of time sebelum Thomas Friedman memilih jenama Adabi pula untuk dibincangkan dalam buku seterusnya, The World is Flat II? Mungkin jika mereka di Jelapang mengambil langkah lebih awal, perbincangan utama dalam The World is Flat bukan berkisarkan Infosys di Bangalore tetapi Teh Tarik Jelapang di Australia? Kau jangan memperlekehkan mak cik yang jual pisang goreng di tepi jalan itu, mana tahu satu hari nanti pisang gorengnya pula dibawa merentas lautan ke pasaran luar? Tak semena-mena dia jadi kaya-raya, kau yang selama ini menjadi pelanggan setia duduk ternganga. Pasang impian setinggi langit, sekurang-kurangnya bila berjalan nampak ke mana arahnya. Berjalan ke depan, bukan ke belakang.

Dunia semakin mengecil (atau flat, mengikut istilah Friedman), kehidupan pula bertambah mudah. Tak bermakna kita boleh ambil mudah, kerja keras perlu terus.

Terima kasih Adabi dan teh tarik segera atas pengajaranmu. Cucur ikan bilis sudah habis. Esok mungkin beli yang baru.

The Economist & Barack Obama

The Economist this week issues an article that pretty much sums up key things you need to know about Barack Obama and John McCain as both men are making last-ditch efforts heading up to the US Presidential Election. Only, the article appears to be directly endorsing Barack Obama as the man who “deserves the presidency”. Wait a second, that does not sound quite right for a newsmagazine that aims “to take part in a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress”, does it? Now, I may not be an expert in passing any judgment but if there is one thing I can be sure about, it is that The Economist as a reputable agent of democracy does not have any capacity to state clearly its preference of a person over the other, much less when the matter being discussed concerns the fate of a country. I can still understand if this is an op-ed article - you have every right to voice out your personal opinion even though a newsmagazine of this scale is not quite the ideal place for that - but the thing is this is not. I am talking about a main article, with the endorsement made clear in the opening sentence and the name of the newsmagazine referred to as the author.

Before I go any further, let me make myself clear that I have nothing against Obama. In fact, I personally feel that he will make a more reliable president as opposed to McCain, whose choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate still fills me with bafflement (this is a personal blog, you cannot say that I am not allowed to do this).

Let me go back to The Economist. Now, I did not quite have the time to read through all the comments of the article that total up to more than a thousand, but from the quick look I did manage to find one that pretty much says it all. This comment, by someone named Mercy Vetsel, starts with his disappointment over the sloppy, bias article being laid clear, before it explores the dark sides of both candidates that The Economist failed to capture. The last point of his comment caught my attention:

“So at this critical juncture, with one party controlling the Congress and a perfect storm of ugly populist policies darkening the horizon, what does The Economist, the 165 year bastion of freedom do?

You follow the crowd and throw the in with the man who represents everything that you oppose. All of the lessons of economics which you express with increasingly tepid enthusiasm in the pages of your magazine are quickly discarded for the crowd favourite and a giant smile that promises “I am whatever it is you are looking for”. I suppose freedom is a great thing unless it makes you unpopular.”

Pretty much he concludes that The Economist succumbs to public preference to Obama, which it should not be doing.

Some other comments also point out several glaring factual errors in the article, something that I do not have the knowledge to comment about. However, I did notice that quite a number of respondents were pretty much caught up with emotions and you can see that key issues have a lot to do with your own principle and perspective which make you neither wrong nor right. For these reasons, I would not say that their stand would necessarily disprove the notion brought by the article. Still, it is best if The Economist can stick to facts and avoid riling up the crowds, or offer valid arguments while fending off the temptation to jump into anyone’s side.