Gender divides rather than unites in politics

So, the first female candidate to have made it so far and close to running (and assuming) American Presidency finally conceded defeat and threw in her support for a black horse in the race.

One year ago, Hiliary Clinton was literally a shoo-in for the Democrat choice for the White House. But a year later, she failed to live up to the promise and handed the candidacy to a(n almost unknown) first term senator politician.

The guy who is on the way to becoming the first (Black) President, if he were to be a little less careful with his words in the race against straight-talking John McCain.

So what went wrong with the power lady?

Much has been talked about how her charming hubby was more a liability than an asset in the race. Also, how she made the wrong choice to go for the bigger states than chasing the caucuses like Obama.

And her blips during campaigning (like her claims to coming under sniper fire during a 1996 visit to Bosnia).

As a member of the fairer sex, however, the singular question that I think really begs an answer is really this: Is America ready for a female president?

If the results of the primaries are anything to go by, the answer will be negative.

Further by virtue of the fact that a Black (male) has triumphed over a White (female) candidate, the next question that really begs answering is whether America is more ready for a President from an ethnic minority group than a female president.

But perhaps before we can jump to any conclusion, there is a third question that begs answering. That is, how far does American women identify themselves with Hiliary?

This is perhaps the very weakness of any political campaign (that is intentionally or unintentionally) underpinned by an overture on gender representation.

The idea of a lady president may be an appealing selling point to women voters. But this will only work if the candidate in question is able to find a voice that connects women across social and racial boundaries.

Unfortunately, Hiliary wasn’t able to get that universal endorsement from women voters. She was a polarising figure, attracting staunch support and dissidence at the same time.

Many were disappointed with how she handled Bill’s infidelity. Yet, there are also others who sympathsized with her and complimented her forbearance.

Her cold, businesslike demeanour won endorsement from some women but turned others off.

For female voters (see http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3129/why_women_hate_hillary/) have looked to an alternative representation of American politics with more feminine traits like a softer touch, more compassionate rather than rational stance towards international issues like the Iraq War.

But Hiliary failed to represent what these women are looking for. Neither did she win the men over with her political machoism.

What all these show, really, is that gender may be more a liability than an asset in the political battleground. Women continue to be judged (by both the same and opposite gender) on the basis of their gender in a field that is not traditionally feminine.

And there’s hardly any middle ground on those issues like how one should deal with marital infidelity. That will continue to divide the feminist movement throughout the history.

Youth, the face of popular culture

Two years ago, I’ve asked a Japanese classmate why most protagonists in popular anime series are teenagers. The famous Japanese anime artist Hayao Miyazaki for one, has a penchant for youthful characters. The heros and heroines in his animated films are either children or teenagers, trying to save the world often from ill-intentioned grown-ups.

I was trying to resolve a nudging doubt that seems to have evolved into a hypothesis over the last two years. The young represent not only our future, but also the promise of change. They may be idealistic, but the idealism also fuels the courage to challenge the establishment.

In Miyazaki’s world, the world of establishment is flawed by self-interests – greed often provides the motivation for ill-doing.

Although this may not be a pretty picture, the popularity of his creations arguably speaks aloud of how the virtual appears to transpose well into the real.

We are now seeing how the world is paying for the greed of human civilisation. Deep down in our grown up minds, we lament the wrong decisions and lost time in our lives. Most of us probably harbour a secret yearning to want to turn back the clock and re-write the history.

With no time machine on hand, we can only look to the young, counting on them to change the world. But we fret and worry about the untested and unknown.

The mass media turn out to be the best instrument to manifest these hopes without the fears of repercussions in the real life.

The only question that begs an answer now is how far will these mediated representations appease our fears of change. Are we sufficiently prepared to accept a brave young new world that is no longer based on the fundamentals of our current one?

War works for no man

“The wars of the world don’t come from outer space. People create them, people who have a war within themselves. I want to create music that eases that war within.” – Kitaro

One more reason why I love the man and his music.

More often than not, the major wars in the 20th to 21st century are orchestrated by a few men, whose self agenda soon overtook that of the large majority.

But wars are mostly triggered off by the territorial nature of humankind. The survival instinct – to put it more kindly – to protect one’s turf and self-interests.

The argument works both ways for the attacker and the defender. The misplaced and the poor will have more motivation to attack others in order to strengthen their positions. The defender – being threatened with a loss of territory – will arguably have a more legitimate reason to fight the battle, and – in the event when they earn a victory – penalise the attacker.

Either way, it is a poison that would blind man’s conscience. To the extent which the majority is easily manipulated to support the agenda of the elite few. History will have a way of getting at these ruling elites, but before then, the damage would have been done.

War does not resolve differences. It only magnifies the problems. Victory of one party does not guarantee immunity to repercussions in the future. But self-interests at play continue the dictate the politics and economics of the post-modern world. And the majority will have to suffer but for the few who would raise war – and continue fighting a war – often in the name of nationhood and religion.

If only music is the universal cure to the poison in all men’s hearts.

Can man create [and destroy] life?

Scientists at J. Craig Venter Institute in Maryland in the United States have created a gene map for synthetic life, in a move that could re-define birth of life and the fundamentals of human civilisation.

The research is aimed at designing synthetic life form that could be used in medicine and for industrial purposes like the production of biofuels.

Before they embark on the venture to create what could be considered as a real-life Frankenstein, the god-fearing researchers are planning to seek guidance from religious and ethical experts.

Fact is if man indeed is able to or attempting to create life, is man not playing god or at least attempting to do so? Needless to say, such a ‘blasphemous’ act will be or have already been met by resistance from others who have held on to the established fundamentals of our current human civilisation.

But this is far from the first time humans have attempted to manipulate life, nor would it be the last. Stem cell research is the most recent human attempt to replicate lifeforms with the goal of extending rather than creating new [human] lives. However, the twist in the latest project undertaken at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Maryland is that the life of the synthetic lifeform could be sustained indefinitely depending on its use value for instance in helping biofuel production.

The premise of the new research on the synthetic lifeform then throws up a new challenge to human civilisation. How far can we humans tolerate the existence of Frankenstein lifeforms living and breeding among us, though the purpose of their beings is indeed to serve our ends throughout their lifetime?

New wise mother, good wife

Past – Wise mother, sweet wife, stay-at-home mom. Passive and obedient women were thought to be perfect wives.

Present – A wife who earns a lot of money, makes smart money investments, and looks gorgeous. She must be good at housekeeping, raising and educating children.

So the Korean series “Modern Housewives” also known as “New wise mother, good wife” begins running on national TV with a definition of an ideal wife and mother from the eyes of a jaded sole breadwinner and newsmaker.

The husband to a full-time housewife (part-time supermarket cashier) is now a disgruntled white collar, struggling to cope with the demands of a sandwiched middle class. The wife, for her lack of sophistication and economic independence, is a liability rather than an asset, her role as a homemaker is taken for granted, her daily struggles to cope with the required tasks are considered as signs of incompetency and her contributions never appreciated.

A situation that is typically facing most single income Asian families. What was once a slogan taken by the first wave Japanese feminists to empower the women with political will, ‘wise mother, good wife’ or ‘good mother, wise wife’ had been reinterpreted to serve the needs of chauvnistic societies. The good woman is one who will sacrifice herself for her family welfare, regardless of whether she is a full-time homemaker or co-breadwinner.

And so, modernity in Asia has ironically enslaved rather than free the modern women. Marriage remains a chauvnistic shackle for the modern woman, it would seem. But the modern housewives in ‘New wise mother, good wife’ would beg to differ. Divorce is not the only way out, nor is economic independence the only means to gain respect. The key is to free oneself from the ideology of a ‘wise mother, good wife’. The modern woman has to embrace her own individuality first, before her husband or her family.

She is not afraid to give and forgive, but her emotional generosity should not compromise her standing in the family or society.

‘New wise mother, good wife’ offers a fresh take on the dilemma facing the modern woman, man and family. Not only does it seek to break away from traditions that confines individuality, it also re-affirms the spirit of humanity.

Music speaks louder than words

Thursday nite, my sensory organs went overdrive getting tingled by Kitaro’s out of this world music. For the first time in my life, I felt lifted by the true prowess of music – a world where words aren’t necessary and a mutual understanding could be reached by just performing or listening with your heart. And where lights and images are secondary to sounds while our sense of hearing takes control of our emotions. We feel rather than think through the abstract rather than the defined. For Kitaro is not a man who sticks to labels. This is a self-taught musician lauded for marrying the east with the west in leading a new wave of music that has come to be known as New Age. But yet, while others will thrive on the fame of being the leader of the pack, the free spirit in Kitaro refuses to conform to a label. Just as he refused to bend to orders from the Singapore’s authorities to forgo his long tresses for entry into the country 20 years ago, Kitaro is rejecting the label of New Age.

“The New Age category still exists in the Grammy Awards, but my philosophy is, I don’t care about trends, I have my own style.”

In a world where words could no longer buy understanding let alone say trust, Kitaro is saying let’s awaken the conscience, which doesn’t need a mould or definition, but is simply hidden in a forgotten corner of the human soul. Let us start listening to our hearts and not our minds.

I’m a Kitaro convert now.

More on Kitaro

Kitaro’s music journey http://www.domo.com/artist/kitaro-bio.html

Muji (no label) man

Possibly his most loved piece, Matsuri

Thank you … for life is a gift

‘Thank you’ marks the return of Jang Hyeok after a stint with the South Korean army. Jang impresses once again with his acting chops as the angst-filled, talented surgeon in this story set against the quiet countryside of a fictional Pureundo Island (Jeungdo of Shinan-gun, Jeollanam-do).

Jang was nursing the pain from the recent loss of his girlfriend to a fruitless battle against a fast-spreading cancer. He found relief miraculously through a single mother, a child diagnosed as HIV positive and a senile grandfather, a family of three living life graciously rather than wallowing in their misfortunes.

It is precisely this spirit of treating life as a gift, even under unfavourable circumstances that liberates Jang from past pain and tribunes. And it is also this gracious spirit that has won the hearts of South Korean audience.

‘Thank you’ started screening in South Korea as a relatively low-profile production in comparison to ‘Devil’ and ‘A Witch In Love’. What the series doesn’t possess in packaging, it more than makes up with a strong storyline, which tugs at the heartstrings and wins the audience. Credit goes to screen-play writer, Lee Kyung Hee and the excellent cast. Jang Hyeok is backed by other outstanding performances from his fellow cast including the affable Seo Shin Ae, who steals hearts with her portrayal of a bright, brave and innocent eight-year-old HIV positive patient.

As with ‘The Way Home’, ‘Thank you’ is yet another quality South Korean production that combines an excellent screen play with a strong cast.

I’m yet again awed by the talent of young South Korean actors/actresses.

Find out more about ‘Thank you’ on MBC and get a copy here.

Applauding a friend who dares to dream … and believe

Many changes during my two years away from home. But this friend appears to have held on to his dream, of carving a space in cyberland for music lovers to come together and share their creations online.

Applauding SK for his courage and perseverance, which have in turn, provided others who dare to venture out, a place to live their dreams. We need more sites like Be An Idol, not just another S-Pop contest.

Beggar thee neighbour – classic self-interests at play

Biofuel, the renewable child of energy and agriculture, starts with the promise of creating new income streams for the empowerment of rural poor.

But alas, the policy makers conveniently forget to educate their constituencies on the opportunity costs for land use. You have this limited land and it could only go to either raising of crops for food or crops for fuel.

Thus sparks a chain reaction of rising food costs – fairly or unfairly blamed on the biofuel sector.

The Chinese response is a classic example of self-interests at play.

The price of pork – a popular source of meat protein – almost doubled over the last year. Certainly cause of concern in a country with a growingly affluent population demanding more meat in their diets.

So what are the Chinese doing? Stop corn or grain-based ethanol production. Sounds like a good idea. But wait, read the fine line:

The government also said it would encourage corn processors to set up corn production bases in other countries, to “take advantage of global land resources.”

Save the land in China for food production and source for lands elsewhere to produce the needed corn for biofuel. Beggar thee neighbour – Chinese need to eat but not everyone else in the world. Classic self-interests in search of refuge under a globalisation tagline.

Can we be made equal?

Race, sex/gender, age, appearance, nationality, wealth, intelligence.

Every man/woman is marked by traits, some in-borne, others acquired, but nonetheless traits that would define his/her standing in society, justified or unjustified.

Some of which are inherited by virtue of birth, not of personal choice or merit. But they have come to define us. We do not choose to be borne men or women. Neither do we have a choice on our parents or our siblings or the nation we are borne into, all factors which would come to shape the world’s perception of our being or our perceptions of the world.

Yet humans have attempted along the way to temper with their fates.

Education, (im)migration, plastic surgery, sex-change operation.

Social, scientific or plain blasphemous – human civilisation has picked up ways to take control of our own destinies.

Education is the key to wealth creation – ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for the day, teach him how to fish and you would feed him for a lifetime’.

If we are not happy with where we are – there is the option to uproot and leave in search for our next promising lands.

And if age, looks or gender get us down in our life options, we could look to plastic surgery or sex-change operations.

Humans have picked up the ropes, but not all these approaches work out flawlessly or at without any costs. For the idea that we are all citizens of the world remains an unattainable ideal. Despite what we would like to believe – that the world is everyone’s oyster – some will have a greater share than others. Not by virtue of who you will become, but by virtue of where you start from. And we remain slaves most part through our lives to our own self-interests. No one single human – save for the greatest ones in history perhaps – will forgo his or her own interests or the interests of his or her own tribe entirely for the greater good of everyone else.

And so we continue to judge and be judged by skin colour, race and nationalities.

And so we try harder to change the visible traits with which others judge us. Some choose to go under the knife of a plastic surgeon to correct the ‘flaws’ – to lighten up the skin tone so one could pass as a person of another race or even gender. Looks matter even more in modernised and capitalised societies where the first impressions count in passing the entrance exams to some jobs.

But are these indeed the answers to one’s prayers to be the every man and woman one wishes to be?

Sadly no. Despite the human efforts at transcending the boundaries – to play god for our own good – people remain judged by what they are borne with and not what they have become. People who go under the knives to improve their looks are considered plastics, those who change their gender are perceived as freaks.

Humans want to play god, but we don’t seem to be able to unload the burden of humanity.

So we question and challenge the rights of those who try to do so. But it doesn’t stop us from trying to test the boundary. Now we aren’t quite happy to stop at changing the physical attributes – we want to improve our genetic make-up, defy life and death.

Yet we remain trapped by our double standards. Dolly, the clone, will remain the Frankenstein, and never the sheep. Because Dolly is the first to re-write history and traditions long-held to be true and the guiding principles of morality. She could not be perfect as the first, and will always remain the sinner as the first.

Such is the dilemma of the human race – the want to be what one wants to be in the future held back by the want of being acceptable by the standards of the past.

No, we can’t be all equal, because there’s no equality in history.

*NB: Text should not be read as an unequivocal endorsement of plastic surgery, sex-change operation, stem cell research or cloning. Author remains a god-fearing human being who prefers to adhere to rather than challenge traditions. But this does not impede the author from applauding those who have the courage to try to do so.