The Bangsar Boy: Body mutilation = love
Jul 5, 2008 The Bangsar Boy
Okay, so maybe the equation is not as simple as that. But body mutilation (and other forms of non-conventional appearance in a person) is the basis of my article in this week’s The Bangsar Boy, in The Star (StarMetro).
It is titled: Acceptance of subcultures reflect a mature society.
I write about my love for Camden Town, in all it’s punk/goth/alternative/etcetcetc glory, and how I think this is reflective of a society that embraces diversity.
Camden is a small town in England, but because of it’s strong history involving the punk and goth subcultures, appears like what many people might consider unconventional.
However, at last week’s Urbanscapes - while the people weren’t as out-there and daring - it was just nice to see such a diverse crowd of people coming together in the name of art.
And hence goes my article. Please check it out.
I think my only regret with the article really is that I chose to use the term “body mutilation”. I know that it does make piercings, tattoos etc sound negative, but that was never my intention. I didn’t know how else to refer to it, although someone has told me since that “body modification” is probably a better term. Semantics, maybe, but I think the only difference really is the negative perception places on the term “mutilation”.
Anyway, there was no intention to offend, and I hope no one takes it personally.
Oh, and I talk about my once pierced ears too. :)
In 2006, I had bumped into Barry (right) by accident in London and so we made a trip Camden together.
Here he is with my best friend Adam, who currently lives in London.
9.48pm Malaysian Times (+8GMT)
Tags: Adam Ivey, Barry, Body Modification, Body Mutilation, Camden, Camden Town, goth, London, punk, Tattoos, The Bangsar Boy, The Star, Urbanscapes
What is a statutory declaration?
Jul 4, 2008 News Breaks
Ever since Malaysia Today’s Raja Petra Kamaruddin made one implicating DPM Najib Tun Razak’s wife Rosmah to the Altantuya case (which the latter two denies), the term “statutory declaration” has become a buzzword.
Of course, the most current one (at the time of writing this post, that is) is when private investigator P. Balasubramaniam retracted the statutory declaration he made alleging that Najib had a relationship with Altantuya Shaariibuu. He did it just a couple of hours ago, at a press conference, according to my boss and Malaysiakini. The Star Online has since been updated.
In today’s The Star too, the two nominees to the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council accused of being involved in criminal activities will be asked to sign statutory declarations to prove their clear records.
What I want to know is, what exactly is a statutory declaration? The only time I’ve ever heard about it was when I asked my dad if I could change my name as a kid (Niki is not in my IC, sorry MyKad, by the way although my parents gave the name to me as a child) and he said I would have to go to court and make a statutory declaration.
I was at an age where I couldn’t even spell “COURT” let alone “STATUTORY DECLARATION”.
So after all this, I decided this morning to surf the Net a little bit to find out more, but it’s a bit difficult. I found lots from Australia and Britain (and I’m assuming it’s kind of similar since we have this whole Commonwealth thing going on) but not much in Malaysia. The only thing I did find was The Statutory Declarations Act 1960 on the Malaysian AG’s Chambers website although it was only as recent as 2006, so I don’t know if there has been any Amendments since. And as such, please don’t take this as the be all, end all, on stat decs (as I shall refer to them from now on). You might want to get a lawyer, who might know *cough* a little *cough* more than I do. :D
The Australian Attorney-General’s website defines it as:
A statutory declaration is a written statement declared to be true in the presence of an authorised witness.
In Malaysia (according to earlier mentioned Statutory Declaration Act 1960, a stat dec can be made in either English or Bahasa Malaysia. Any false declaration, which I assume the PI will be charged with later, is punishable under the Penal Code Code under the sections:
199. False statement made in any declaration which is by law receivable as evidence
200. Using as true any such declarations known to be false
Truth be told, I don’t know what the heck those sentences mean. But there will be punishment lah. In Australia, according to the info sheet provided by the AG’s Chambers, the penalty for making a false statutory declaration is 4 years in prison.
You know what, I still don’t know what the hell a statutory declaration is, when you can use it, and why one would use it. Maybe my mum should have allowed me to study law, after all.
1.16pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)
Tags: Altantuya Shaariibuu, Ampang Jaya Municipal Council, attorney-general, australia, Malaysia, Najib Tun Razak, P. Balasubramaniam, penal code, Private Investigator, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, Sodomy, statutory declaration
Stupid Americans
Jul 2, 2008 Rantings
With due respect to many of my beloved American friends, and the respected citizens of the country.
It’s like 1997-98 all over again. And no, I don’t mean Anwar Ibrahim and the whole sodomy thing. I’m actually referring to spokesman for the US State Department Tom Casey who was quoted in a AFP report “warning” Malaysia against a “politically-motivated” probe against the former Deputy Prime Minister.
The article states:
“The main point for us is that the rule of law needs to stand above politics,” said Tom Casey, spokesman for the US State Department.
“And we would certainly oppose any use of law enforcement or judicial procedures for anything other than legitimate purposes of the law,” he said.
Noting that Anwar had previously faced similar charges and that his conviction was ultimately overturned, Casey said, “So, we would hope that there’s not a pattern here.
“But, certainly, we would be concerned that anything that is done be done in a way that is appropriate, that is a legitimate investigation of charges that might exist under Malaysian law, and would not be anything that was a politically motivated investigation or prosecution,” he said.
Now, this is reminiscent of former US Vice President Al Gore’s comments back in 1998, when while sharing the stage with then-Prime Minister Tun Mahathir (well, he was a Datuk Seri then), essentially called for Reformasi.
Dickhead. And now Tom Casey too.
Look, I’ve said before, I don’t know if this is a conspiracy against Anwar, or if the bloke enjoys his jolly with men but surely, the law has to be allowed to take its course without interference from the outside. And with the 2008 sodomy allegations, only a police report has been lodged, for goodness sake. Anwar hasn’t even been arrested or charged yet!
At least in 1998 (me and Ivy were just talking yesterday about how it all seems so fresh in our minds, but we can’t remember exactly the specifics), there were other charges involved including corruption etc etc etc which “made” Anwar a “threat” to national security - hence the ISA was invoked.
I’m not sure exactly what Tom Casey has heard, or been informed, but surely this American superiority complex have to go. Stick to saving the world in movies, will ya? Leave us alone!
Idiot.
Anyway, that was one of the many The Star News Alerts that came my way yesterday - you would read about everything in the papers today, I suppose - the alerts were never ending (here’s a summary of some of them).
I thought it was a rather interesting day politically (and also a slight indication of what a farcical country we live in).
Rightfully, in my humble opinion, however, was PM Pak Lah’s instructing our Foreign Ministry to send a letter of protest to the US embassy of Tom Casey’s statement.
What is suspect, also in my humble opinion (yes, I’m very humble these days), is Pak Lah “assuring” Anwar of his security. This follows earlier assurances by Deputy PM Najib Tun Razak and Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar. For one, Anwar has not even lodge a police report about any threats he received (although there were so many reports lodged that I’m getting confused). Secondly, if the BN Gov’t is not involved in these claims, and the police are suppose to work independently without political motivation, what can these assurances guarantee anyway?
And speaking of not lodging reports, DPM Najib’s wife Rosmah, who was recently implicated in the Altantuya Shaariibuu (Mongolian model) murder case, has said that she will not address the claims in Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin’s statutory declaration that Rosmah was present when the body of the Mongolian model was disposed of. The report also stated that when asked if she would sue RPK for the false declaration (she maintains her innocence), she said no and that she has bigger things to worry about.
I mean, it’s her prerogative lah, but if it was me and I was being labeled a murderer, I’d think it would be one of the biggest things to worry about, no?
Speaking of things to worry about - I think our MPs have too much time on their hands. A couple of days ago, Parliament Speaker Pandikar Amin had asked Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo to leave the House and suspended him for two days for not adhering to the Speaker’s instructions.
Yesterday, I received an alert saying that Gobind would still be showing up in Parliament as he felt he did nothing wrong. Then there was another one that said that he had apologised to Pandikar Amin … only to get one more SMS saying, no, he denies apologising.
Good gracious. I know that this is all politics and all MPs are politicians but come on! For one, I take Gobind to task for getting kicked out anyway - you know the speaker has the power to suspend you, and you know (because Karpal Singh is your father and he has been suspended before) that the Speakers have no qualms suspending MPs.
And all this about apologising (Gobind claims to only have said, ” Sorry to trouble you but when can I come back to Dewan Rakyat), or not apologising, you’ve already been suspended, just sit it out. And why did Pandikar have to inform anyone that Gobind apologised anyway? Was he going to lift the suspension based on the apology?
I seriously can’t keep up with them. Now, I know why the Drama Minggu Ini series was so popular when it was airing on TV.
9.22am Malaysian Times (+8 GMT)
Tags: Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Anwar Ibrahim, Gobind Deo Sighn, Karpal Singh, Malaysia, Parliament, Rosmah, Sodomy
