Abbott to lead Liberals to a landslide defeat?

I spent the whole day at work laughing with glee at the prospect of further in-fighting within the Liberals due to Tony Abbott's win in the partyroom today. I'd imagine that ALP MPs must also be trying hard not to beam brightly in parliament considering that they have effectively just won a second term in Government.

Abbott is a religious zealot, a climate-change skeptic, and a conservative anachronism left over from the Howard era. His Catholicism is so intense he finds it hard to treat his own female colleagues with decency as befit another human being. I wonder what crossed the mind of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition when she was called a "loyal girl". Yes indeed.

Some of the new Liberal policies are denying the existence of climate change and bringing back WorkChoices under a different name. Yes, because the Australian public really won't recognise the laws if you sugar-coat it enough. /sarcasm

The outcome of the vote is also brilliant. 42-41, (almost) neatly split down the middle. The sign of a bitterly divided, fractious caucus. It certainly would make for good entertainment next year when the elections roll around.

Liberal Party Blues

Every single newspaper homepage is covered with this story today - the Liberals are having a meltdown over the ETS (and Kevin Rudd is giggling with glee like a little girl), and there will be a leadership challenge on Monday.

I had a certain appreciation of Malcolm Turnbull. The guy is so progressive on social issues he makes Kevin Rudd look more conservative than John Howard, although that's pretty damn close to the truth anyway. His economic policies are classically right-wing but hey, nobody's perfect.

How a classic liberal like Turnbull ever managed to grab the reins of the conservative Liberal party is beyond me, but the fact is that he was always going to polarize the party over social issues anyway. It just so happened that the ETS came first, and was just as divisive an issue.

What interests me is whether or not the Liberal party will remain united going forward. The factions within the party appear to be much more disparate on social policy than the corresponding factions within the ALP. It makes me wonder if the party should break up to form an true liberal wing similar to the ACT party in New Zealand.

Of course, come election time I'd love to see the centre-right collapse, but in the long run I know that it is imperative for a range of views to be represented in Parliament, and whilst the Australian political scene is more diverse than some others around the world (eg. US) there is certainly room for improvement.

Literally

This is one of my pet peeves. I was watching some police chase reality show on Channel 7 the other night, and the commentator made this remark about a drunk driver "the teenage driver of the vehicle is literally... legless".

Of course that caught my attention, because, seeing as I know how to speak English, I was expecting to see an amputee perhaps, with prosthetic legs? I don't know. Obviously, Channel 7 was, as usual, misusing the English language. The driver was just any other teenage chick with legs and I was left sorely disappointed.

Anyway, before anyone complains that the internet or sms messages are making our children illiterate, I recommend that they look at what they're letting their kids watch on TV.

Best Wishes to Rove

I actually missed the announcement on the show (and in some sort of weird twist ended up reading about this on NZ Herald's website), but Rove has wrapped up his show forever.

This, of course, is very very sad news. The three certainties in life were supposed to be death, taxes, and Rove Live on TV on Sunday nights. He's a great entertainer and I hope he will return to the public spotlight someday.

Perceptions of Reality

This is something I realised many years back, and has guided me ever since. Everyone sees the world differently - and I'm not talking about opinions. I mean that two people seeing the same event happening will interpret it differently even if they are trying to be as objective as possible.

There is no science behind this claim, just what I have experienced. A dollar given by a rich man to a poor man can be charity or pity, in kindness or with contempt. Context plays a part, but certainly each individual has their own interpretation.

I strongly believe that perceptions are guided by prior experiences, and so, some people cannot be swayed from their version of the truth. I am more than happy to attack the various religions for their flaws, but I find it difficult to criticise a religious person for their belief, because to a certain extent, their past does not allow them to see an alternative.

Consider this. A child who was raised in a religious cult, with no access to television or the internet, surrounded by abuse and neglect, would probably consider that kind of lifestyle to be normal. Without providing an alternative, there is only one possibility in their minds, and that is the life given to them by the cult. Sure, this is an extreme case, but most religions serve the same purpose but on a lesser scale.

If your parents, your friends, and your teachers taught you that God provides for everything, so you should do what God says; if you've been taught this all your life, it can't be easy to visualise an alternate life without religion. Part of our humanity is that we are sometimes creatures of habit, and something as vital as our belief system become habitualised quickly.

So no, I don't necessarily fault people for going to Church every Sunday. I will always be intolerant of those who have the oppportunity to change their lives but choose not to, and I will always stand against organised religion. But I won't judge people without considering their perceptions and their upbringing.

Marriage Equality Law in Maine stopped by referendum

It was always going to be close, but nonetheless the result is disappointing for a vote that took place in a region of the US that has been very progressive with respect to marriage equality legislation.

NY Times
TIME Magazine

Religious Freedom

The debate over a national charter of rights in Australia often involves the opponents declaring that such a charter would endanger the religious freedom that all Australians enjoy. The arguments all sound very convincing - secular views will be imposed upon those of us who wish to practice religion, thereby narrowing the scope of rights we are entitled to.

There is a fair bit of spin in this argument. "Freedom" can an emotive word, in the sense that it often generates positive feelings; but when these people talk about "religious freedom" they are not talking about anything positive. This latter definition represents the freedom to oppress minorities, discriminate based on gender and sexuality, and to deny essential services to those in need on the basis of superior morality.

The real implication of the opposing argument is that such oppression and discrimination currently exists within religious and religious-affiliated institutions. A bill of rights should not impose restrictions on ideas and on faith, but it should impose restrictions when the rights of citizens are threatened by others. Yes, it will interfere with the machinations of the churches or mosques or temples, but the problem lies in the religion, not a bill or charter of rights.

My biggest concern with this debate is that the religious majority of Australia will be swayed by the misleading statements brought forth by the religious leaders. Those who believe have a propensity to ignore the truth at the best of times.

I certainly hope that a national bill of rights be developed, because despite our claim to have strong social values of equality and fairness, there is currently no framework that reinforces these values in the eyes of the law.

Human Rights Act campaign website
News link: Bill of rights desirable but not urgent: voters
News link: Rights charter runs into religious opposition

The Nature of Good and Evil

It amuses me whenever I hear people described in such terms as good or evil. To me, it's such a childish notion, instilled into us by fairy tales and cartoons and reinforced by Sunday school. Parents tell their children to "be good" when they really mean "do as I say". My theory is that while we are young, absolute concepts such as good or strong or hot are much easily able to be absorbed by our brains than relative concepts, so we latch on to such fallible ideals.

It did strike me as odd, when during a conversation I had with a Christian friend of mine a month back, that some people still believe in absolute good and evil. Not just believe, but vehemently defend these ideals as set up by the Church. Normally I try to understand others' viewpoints but in this particular scenario I was stuck.

It has since occurred to me that it's been a very, very long time since I've thought of anything - human or otherwise - in those terms. As I've grown up I've learned that conflict is often between one person's beliefs and someone else who doesn't share that belief, not between some unseen forces taking place in a religious wonderland.

I'm not saying that everyone is always right, but the truth is that trying to categorize human interaction into abstractions is not satisfactory. Many people do not comprehend that there are other views of the world, as others have had their lives shaped by events and circumstances which differ from their own. Without this understanding there will continue to be conflict.

Bachelor of Commerce

I work in a university so I think about this question a lot:

What is the point of tertiary education?

Once upon a time people would go to universities for higher education, in pursuit of a deeper understanding of the subject in question.

These days it seems that people just want degrees to get a job. And I think it's a real shame. The level of student enrolments in Accounting courses across Australia is mind-bogglingly high, but where Arts and Science programmes teach students to appreciate depth of knowledge, Commerce teaches them to appreciate big profits. Maybe that's a bit harsh, but essentially Commerce courses teach occupational skills.

Incidentally, even research preferences on profitable projects rather than those with good social benefits.

It's true that all things need to evolve, including universities. But it's a sombre reflection of our society when our leading educational institutions are nothing more than training facilities for white-collar workers.

I hope that at some point in the future, quality education will once again become the primary focus of universities. In the meantime, I guess I will just have to tolerate the idea that somehow a Bachelor of Commerce is comparable to a Bachelor of Arts or Science.

I Believe

I just wanted to write a short post to remember Stephen Gately, one of the singers from the 90's Irish boyband Boyzone, who died last week.

I had never thought about him this way until now, but when he came out to the public in 1999, it had a massive effect on me and my self-confidence. I think in a way it strengthened my resolve to see a celebrity embrace his sexuality so openly.

His brief solo career included the release of I Believe, one of my favourite pop tunes from 2000.

Rod Laver Arena

As usual I'm terrible at taking pictures. I always think about taking it and then think to myself, "why would I want to take a pic of THAT?"

So in the end, I ended up with like three pictures, all of which was taken over the first few days of the trip. Here they are:


Tournament venue! Well, not quite, the actual venue is the function centre next to the arena, but close enough ;)


This is a rather awkward pic of me (but not of my face lol). It's actually kinda artistic though, so I'm posting it.


Hurray our hotel has a kitchen! Pity there were no saucepans and cooking utensils...

National Equality March in the USA

Today is the National Equality March through Washington D.C., in a demonstration of solidarity for equal protections to be established in civil law across all fifty states of America. We in Australia cannot attend this rally, but please give it some thought nonetheless. It's worth paying attention to its outcomes as Australian politics are inevitably influenced by those of our more powerful ally.

So whether you're part of the equality movement or not, spare a thought today for those of us who are yet to have access to equal treatment under the law.

Edit: Another policy from the US to get worked up about is its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" anachronism. An interesting (if anecdotal) article about it here.

Cooking Diary: Wonton Noodle Soup

As mentioned in the miscellaneous post earlier this week, here are some pics from the wonton noodle soup:

Wrapping wontons.

Finished wrapping!

A mix of pork wontons and prawn wontons.

I've made these a fair few times, and they've been quite favourably received by everyone, but this time I was surprised by how delicious the pork wontons were. Here's the filling that I used:

200g pork mince
1 tbsp spring onion, finely sliced
1 tsp ginger, crushed

2 tbsp shaoxing wine
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp five-spice powder

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, then cover and marinate for at least half an hour before wrapping in wonton skins.

Cooking Diary: Sweet and Sour Prawns

I cooked this dish two weeks ago, but haven't managed to find the time to post it up.

I've been trying a number of different combinations of ingredients to make the sweet and sour sauce. I don't particularly like sour food, and so this following recipe is my favourite as it produces a sauce that's sweet, mellow, but still tangy:

1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup white sugar

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1 tbsp ginger, thinly sliced

2 tbsp shaoxing wine
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 yellow capsicum, diced
1 medium onion, diced

1/2 cup pineapple chunks in syrup
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp water

1) Place vinegar and sugar into a saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves and the mixture starts to simmer. Add garlic and ginger and simmer for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, dissolve cornflour in water and set aside.

2) Turn up the heat to medium. Add wine, soy sauce, tomato paste, capsicum and onion and cook until onions start turning transparent but before they soften.

3) Stir in pineapple chunks with syrup, and cornflour mixture. Cook until the sauce thickens then remove from heat.

The sauce is now ready to be served with the choice of meat. Usually the meat is deep-fried, but I find it's often fine to have it pan-fried instead.

I'll note that there are many, many different versions of sweet and sour sauce on the internet, and this is just another one to add to the list. It's definitely worth trying though if you're like me and prefer something sweeter and with more depth.

Cooking Diary: Big Breakfast!

This is as unhealthy as it gets folks! Vege sausages, eggs and pineapples fried in oil. Mmmmm. What a great way to start the morning before flying to Melbourne!

I've scheduled a few posts to come up over the weekend so at least there'll be a few updates whilst I'm playing.

miscellaneous post - Labour Day long weekend

It's been a hectic few days; lots of cooking, eating, gaming, and even some deep philosophical discussion thrown in for good measure.

We had a friend stay over during the weekend, so I decided to cook up some old favourites such as steamed fish, sweet and sour pork, garlic prawns, sichuan chicken, and mushroom and tofu soup for a friday feast. Stir-fried some fresh scallops on Saturday which came out quite nicely - but forgot to take a photo! Then to finish off, we made wontons on Monday. (post to come)

In between, we spent Sunday eating out. Mamak is a restaurant in the Sydney CBD which serves Malaysian cuisine. It was nice, although I didn't realise that Malaysian cuisine involved so much frying. The roti canai was probably the highlight of the meal, as it was simple, delicious, and cheap too!

At night we dined at AJ's, which is one of my favourite Indian restaurants - if a little pricey - and then followed that up with the movie "Up" in 3D. The movie is nice, but since it's a kiddie movie through and through, there isn't really much more to analyse or say about it. However I do feel like I have to point out that wearing 3D glasses over normal glasses is rather awkward.

One thing I really like about the aforementioned friend is that every so often we would have these d&m's about various things, and this visit was no exception. I'll leave the details for another post though. (post to come)

Upcoming is a ten-day trip to Melbourne, including this next weekend playing Magic, and so I also managed to spend a fair amount of time thinking about the game - although I mostly failed to actually get to any of the mini-tournaments. There's not much to write about except to comment that the sealed-deck type of tournament is now susceptible to very high variance, such that I feel vulnerable about my chances of making the cut to the second day this weekend, much less defend the Australasian Grand Prix title itself.

So, big tournament aside, I hope that the following week will be quite relaxing. Melbourne is a great city to visit and enjoy. The downside is that access to internet will be limited, and so the blog will be a bit quiet. I do have a lot on my mind though so I'll still try and keep posting while away. It's times like these I wish I had a laptop!

Cooking Diary: Red Bean Soup

This is probably one of my favourite desserts to cook, and I've cooked it many times in the past few months. Possibly not as easy as it should be, because I find it's very likely to either boil over, or dry up and burn if you're not careful.


In any case the finished product is fantastic, a heavy sweet soup with just enough texture to finish off a meal!

Back on TV

When I get into something, I often really get into it, and such is the way with me and some specific TV shows.

So for the last couple of nights, I've been spending a few hours in front of the television to tune in to some old (and new) favourites:

* NCIS is back on our airwaves for the 7th season, hurray! The first episode was kinda weak but for continuity purposes I suppose it was good enough. I actually like this show better when the team is out solving random cases, instead of following the long-term plot.

* NCIS:LA is new and the first ep aired last night. I was a little bit disappointed in that there wasn't enough investigating and a bit too much action in its place. Chris O'Donnell is easy on the eyes but really, both leads seem to play into the cliched crime scene investigator mould whereas the original series had more quirky leads. The supporting characters appear to be quirky enough though, so I do have hope for this show.

* Celebrity Masterchef. I was greatly into the original, but sadly I'm not sure that I'm really going to get into this one. This celebrity spin-off from the first season appears to be more of an elimination game, which is disappointing because I found that the charm of the show came from seeing people do what they're doing (cook) under a variety of different circumstances, not all of which were competitive. Oh well, I guess it'll do for now until the second season comes back on.

* Glee is a fairly new show that appears to be built on a pretty novel concept - a musical show in a sitcom! It claims to be more than you'd expect from a musical series, but I'm not sure what exactly I'm expecting from such a thing since I can't recall any other. What I'm not expecting is depth of plot but if that's what you're looking for, then TV is probably not the best place to look anyway.

A couple of other shows are due to return to our airwaves soon too; I'm particularly looking forward to the witty scripting of Desperate Housewives, and the neat interactions of characters in Brothers and Sisters.

Cooking Diary: Garlic Prawns

I cooked this today, for a quick meal! Here's my version of the recipe:

150g prawns, peeled and deveined
50g beans
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp shaoxing wine
1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp water
1 tsp cornflour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar

(1) Heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and fry until it starts to brown. In the meantime, combine the water, cornflour, salt, and sugar.

(2) Turn up the heat and add prawns and beans. Cook for 2 mins or until prawns are just cooked through.

(3) Add the wine, soy sauce, and cornflour mixture, and stir-fry until sauce thickens.

Done!

The fundamental flaw in the first amendment

Hmmm... so much for not blogging before Monday.

Anyway, my blood boiled when I read this article tonight.

The Americans sure are proud of their Constitution, and most especially the first amendment to the Constitution, the one that protects the freedom of religion, of the press, of assembly, to petition, and of course, freedom of speech. There is much to appreciate, as surely much of these rights are fundamental human rights.

However, according to the article, the law also protects the freedom to discriminate, harrass, and incite hatred. Does this sound like the foundation to an advanced, civilized nation?

This has always been a flaw in classical liberalism / individualism, where the freedoms of one individual impinge on the freedoms of another. No, this form of liberalism is nearing the end of its useful life and I hope that soon the world's most influential nation will adopt to a more socially responsible form of liberalism.

Sue Bradford's resignation

Big news indeed. There's been a press release on this, and various blogposts with different opinions, and I'm not sure what there is to add except a personal perspective on the whole issue.

I'm personally very sad to see her go. A very effective politician, a very effective activist working within parliament to generate change from within. Certainly one of the best MPs in the last ten years.

I'm sad, but not disappointed. She's given ten years of service to New Zealand, which, even as a backbencher, is a fair chunk of time. Losing the leadership was, in her own words, "personally disappointing", and that is understandable. I don't think you can begrudge someone their right to resign given that she felt that she had lost the support of her own party's members. (The Greens democratically elect their co-leaders.)

On the other hand, this may not be a loss for the Green Party. Bradford polarised the nation over S59 - and public opinion was mostly against her, as demonstrated by the referendum. A comment on the Greens blog said that she "lives in the wrong century". I agree, she's a century ahead of our time, and in a few decades we will probably wonder why we as a nation fought so hard to defend our right to assault our children. But right here, right now, she's a political hindrance to a party that is trying to extend their influence beyond their traditional grassroot activist voter base.

The woman who beat her to the co-leadership is no slouch either. She's green left through and through, but Norman and Turei are so politically adept that they just might reach through to the centrist but environmentally-concerned vote. They are also more than capable of touching base with the younger professional vote, and indeed I envision that the Greens will become a mainstay of Left politics in the future, especially whilst Labour with Goff sinks into irrelevance.

In summary; it's a big loss to New Zealand, but a politically smart move for the Greens.

I'm still here!

But internet has been capped and I've been playing a bit of an old game, Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne. I'm not very good at it but it's fun enough.

Forgot to take photos of the cool red dust storm on Wednesday. :(

This weekend will be Magic: The Gathering prerelease which I'll go to, and then back to posting on Monday!

Gay Parade in Belgrade

A news item to watch tomorrow:

Whilst Sydney's Mardi Gras Parade is a popular annual event on the calendar for gay and straight Sydneysiders alike, Serbia are having their first gay parade in eight years in Belgrade tomorrow.

There are many in the Orthodox Christian nation who oppose the parade, including the Church and the Mayer of Belgrade, but neither condone the expected violence that is almost certain to descend upon the event.

This is surely homophobia at its worst, but that's not the whole story; the nationalists are also using it to pursue a different agenda. They see this parade as a positive step towards joining the European Union, and so disrupting it would be a significant setback for the pro-Western politicians.

Many eyes will be on the outcome of this parade. It will be a true test of a nation that has only recently embraced democracy and has recently been fractured by the declaration of independence by both Kosovo and Montenegro.

Edit:

I'd only just written this post up and it appears that the event has been cancelled within the last hour. How disappointing that freedom of expression clearly does not exist in a country that calls itself democratic.

Cooking Diary: Split Pea and Coconut Cream Pudding

I've been looking around the internet for some recipes for Chinese desserts. Unfortunately it seems that desserts aren't traditionally a course on the Chinese menu, and most of my memories of Chinese desserts come from my Hong Kong background. The concept of dessert was likely imported by foreigners, since Hong Kong has always been an important international trading port.

Anyway, I've been following a food blog, Christine's Recipes, which have some wonderful and easy Chinese dessert recipes, including this one:



Mmmmm yummy!

Greedy Company Knowingly Killed People

This particular news item from today disgusts me in so many ways.

It appears that a maritime waste dump off the coast of the Cote d'Ivoire was known to be highly toxic and dangerous, but for the sake of a quick buck, the company was still willing to dispose of it in the waters off a populated coast.

This is capitalism and greed at their worst. Since when does healthy competition include wilfully endangering the lives of innocent people? The company involved with the operation, of course, claim that they "intended no harm". Yeah right.

When will we bloody capitalist "civilized" Western nations learn to respect the lives of all people, and think about something other than our own pockets?

Cooking Diary: Simple Chinese Cooking

As usually happens on Tuesdays, a couple of my mates came round after work and I cooked dinner for us. I was missing a lot of sleep from the night before, so decided to go for something simple. Apparently simple is sometimes best, as they thought it was the best Tuesday meal so far!



The dish at the top left is steamed fish finished with soy sauce, spring onion, and ginger.
Bottom left is crispy fried egg topped with oyster sauce, spring onion, and chilli.
On the right is steamed tofu with garlic, sichuan pepper, and chilli oil.

link: Dumb Racist Americans!

Check this out!

http://lookatthisfuckingteabagger.tumblr.com/

The uneducated bigoted filth of America crawls out from the dirt and shows itself for the world to see!

Highlights:

"Abort Obamacare"
- Because universal healthcare is such a bad idea!

"'Cap' Congress and 'trade' Obama back to Kenya!"
- Somewhat witty but at the end of the day it's just more racist crap.

"Arrest our communist, racist, fascist, lying president now!"
- Hmmm please explain what a communist fascist is? And last I checked it was you white Americans being racist...

"Where's your birth certificate?"
- When you can't think of anything good to say, say something racist!

Cooking Diary: Simple Mushroom Curry

Today I had one of those days where I didn't feel like cooking anything too complicated, so I went for something simple:



Here's my recipe:

2 tbsp olive oil
2 finely chopped onions
3 crushed garlic cloves
1 tsp salt

about 15 medium-sized button mushrooms, quartered
1 cup vegetable stock
3 tbsp tomato paste

ground spices-
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp chilli (or to taste)

1) Heat oil on medium heat, add onions and garlic, then cook until onions are soft but not brown.

2) Add salt and coriander seeds and cook until the mixture thickens.

3) Add mushrooms and the remaining spices except chilli, and fry until spices are fragrant.

4) Stir in stock, tomato paste, and chilli, and cook until mushrooms soften and liquid has reduced and thickened.

Easy!

On Governments and Apologies

Every now and then a Government will come out and apologise for significant historic events, not least of which was Rudd's apology to the stolen generations right after his election in 2007. That event, in particular, was of national significance and was an emotional event for all Australians.

This week another such apology by another Government, albeit on a far lesser scale than the aforementioned, caught my eye.

Being a mathematician I am familiar with the name Alan Turing. His work in cryptanalysis was crucial to Allied efforts in breaking the German Enigma codes, and he also worked with some of the earliest computer, with concepts named after him such as the Turing test and Turing machines.

What I was unaware of was that he was also gay, and a few years after the War was one of many homosexual men who were treated abominably by the British. In this day and age it is inconceivable that a Western country could be publicly permitted to commit such atrocities.

And thus Gordon Brown apologised on behalf of his country's government for the treatment of this wartime hero. A small gesture, a token gesture, but nonetheless one that I can appreciate.

Cooking Diary: More Chinese food

I went shopping today for more new ingredients to try out - and found a "shrimp paste". Time to experiment!

I added it to a dish with silken tofu, dried mushrooms, dried tofu, ginger, spring onions, and.... oyster sauce. Sounds like a recipe for disaster? Well it turned out quite tasty but I'm not sure that I'd use the same combination again.

In the meantime, here's a better pic of my version of Sichuan chicken. I know, it's not the traditional way of cooking it, but it sure is tasty (even I ate a lot of it!)

Food for thought: Must we be paid to work?

A friend of mine made an interesting comment today:

"Ideally everyone would work to their capacity, and everyone would get appropriate/fair remuneration, but there’s really no point in championing one without the other."

This rather innocent statement hit me as an indication of how strongly capitalism has been drilled into our minds.

I'd like to ask: Is it truly necessary to be paid in order to do work? Is it not sufficient to work for the good of society?

I wonder if we had grown up in a different time, a different place, perhaps society would provide for everyone, and that in turn, everyone would work to provide the labour in order for society to function.

Cooking Diary: Sichuan Chicken and Lemon Fish

The food was surprisingly good, :D
but these photos are out of focus :(

Journey Through Faith: Religious and Social Beings

I came across an interesting article tonight:

Humans are hardwired to believe in God.

The point about religion as a social construct has been prevalent amongst my thoughts recently. I mean, organised religion is still so strong even in this age of scientific progress, which would suggest that there is more to it than simply believing that some mysterious being created the world in six days. It would make sense that there is some point in religion other than to hope for a better afterlife.

My opinion - and it is just opinion - is that religion provides a moral fabric which a group of people can use to build a society upon. It doesn't have to be logically sound, nor does it even have to be a positive set of rules; it just has to be present such that people can act in the same way. Perhaps it really is an evolutionary feature, whereby acting in groups simply provides a better survival strategy than flying solo.

Whilst I am an atheist, I remain superstitious in many ways, usually as a means to explain the inexplicable. It's strangely comforting and empowering, the positive side to belief and faith. Perhaps this is evolutionary bias towards religious participation coming into play. I don't know, but it's something I intend to think about.

I'll return to this topic at some point.

Cooking Diary: Sweet Potato Dessert Soup

I decided to try something weird and wonderful today, a dessert soup with a sweet potato base. "Dessert soup" in Chinese uses the words "sugar" and "water", and that is precisely what I used - sweet potato, ginger, sugar (brown and sliced, Chinese-style), and water. Easy!

It's quite filling though, I would share it around if possible.

Cooking Diary: Steamed Prawns, Fried Eggs with Chilli

Had a couple of mates over for dinner last night. I made three dishes, the first is a chilled tofu with a Chinese-style vinaigrette, the second is fried eggs with oyster sauce and chilli, and finally we have steamed prawns with ginger and spring onions.

Cooking Diary: Vegetarian Dishes

My first go at this. The idea was to make three vegetarian dishes with different flavours and textures. It ended up ok, but the flavour balance could be better...

Cooking Diary: Sweet and Sour Fish

I tried making my own version of the sweet and sour a few weeks ago, which didn't turn out well. This time I followed a recipe and changed it (as I like to) and it came out really yummy!

When the impossible becomes possible...

Two things happened tonight.

(1) I unlocked my door with my house key, took off my shoes, walked up to my room, and my key was gone. I've just spent a good fifteen minutes looking for it and no luck yet....

[Spoiler below]

(2) I watched ice sink. In the sea. With so much momentum that it crushed metal whilst sinking.

Now I'm generally pretty good at suspending disbelief when watching films. You want me to believe that in a few years we'll have this amazing technology that'll allow us to do all this amazing stuff, fine. But sinking ice went a bit too far.

Having said that, G.I. Joe was a pretty damn good action flick. It has all the good hallmarks of a great action movie: gunfire, explosions, missiles, fighter jets, martial arts, futuristic technology, a car chase, stolen warheads, great ideas that just mysteriously find their way into people's heads at the perfect time, an ugly evil mad scientist, a foxy villainess, and a ridiculously hot male lead.

Ok so it was clichéd, with an unoriginal plot and nonexistent subplots, cheesy script-writing that made me flinch (including the mandatory love story brutally inserted where it didn't belong), and the aforementioned sinking ice kinda killed the last twenty minutes of the movie for me whilst I was inwardly rofl-ing. But hey, I'm almost 26 now and I've seen my fair share of action movies in my time; and there's only so many ways you can make gunfire and explosions entertaining. I can forgive an action film for giving up some artistic qualities for more bangs and booms.

Let's be honest here, we go to see action flicks for the visual effects, and this movie certainly has enough of those to make it worthwhile seeing on the big screen. My recommendation? See it if you're in the mood for mindless destruction.

Edit: I see people argue that there was metal in the ice which made it sink. All fine and well, except that the ice exploded into a thousand pieces not all of which had metal in it. They all readily sank to the bottom.

Ideally multicultural

Multiculturalism. Embracing different cultures, a melting-pot of peoples from varied backgrounds living together in harmony, sharing traditions and identities. It's great, isn't it?

Well I'm not so sure.

In my perfect world, we would all be respectful of our fellow humans, irrespective of whatever social groupings they may belong to; irrespective of their ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, spirituality. The underlying belief would be social liberalism and upon that foundation we are free to be whoever we wish to be. Multiculturalism is inherent and ubiquitous in this ideal society, and because it is so commonplace, it would not exist as the political concept it currently is.

The very fact that our government feels the need to promote multiculturalism highlights a weakness in the fabric of our society. It seems to me that this word was invented because we are afraid that, should without it, we would find ourselves assimilating with popular culture. That we would degenerate into monoculturalism, the monoculturalism which breeds intolerance and grows into discrimination.

And let's be honest, there's a basis to this belief. The story from New Zealand that I posted last week highlights the reluctance of society to accept new cultures or practices.

Even I baulked at the thought of cooking and eating dog, and here I am sitting at my computer pretending that I'm open-minded!

Truth is, our perceptions are shaped by the dominant culture with which we spend our childhood and formative years. It is then that we learn what is "socially acceptable" or otherwise, and often we carry these restrictive etiquettes with us as we grow older.

I believe that as a society, we will never break free of these moulds if we continue to educate our children to follow the same social norms. Surely the better alternative should be to teach them to embrace and respect alternative cultures? Perhaps then they would be able to teach that to their children, and multiculturalism as a policy would no longer be necessary.

Cooking Diary: Prawn Wontons and Steamed Fish Fillets

Wow... my blog's turned into just a cooking diary! Will promise to return to posting more relevant stuff soon!

Cooking Diary: Seafood Paella

Here's my second attempt at a paella.



It wasn't too bad actually!

Cooking Diary: Tong Yuen

I'm gonna start taking some pictures of my food! Today I tried making tong yuen (glutinous rice balls in sweet soup) - it was alright but making them into nice round balls that don't burst is actually quite tough. Could definitely be improved! Nevertheless, here's a pic :)

New toy!

I went to Japan earlier this year, but I only came back with one picture:That's because I didn't have one of these......but now I do! So no more having to take pictures using this!

link: This Is Oz

Just discovered this website, This Is Oz. While the concept isn't new, it's still a joy to see all these people who take a stance against homophobia.

Interesting to see the submissions from politicians, especially so many from the Australian Labor Party. If only they could convince their own party that equality is the way rather than homophobia.

link: cultural protectionism

A bit tired to write up a long post today, so I'll be lazy and link to an interesting post on another blog.

This post from Kiwipolitico caught my eye:

Resentful reactionary ethnocentric cultural protectionism

Whilst not the point of the post, it does make me think about the role that assimilation plays in our society as a counter to multiculturalism, and whether cultural tradition equates to cultural protectionism.

Smacking Referendum

"Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?"

Wow, is this a terribly ambiguous question or what? No, you think it's straightforward? Well I guess I'd better give a bit of background info for non-Kiwi readers.

New Zealand's Crimes Act 1961 Section 59 previously allowed a legal defence of "reasonable force" for parents prosecuted for assaulting their children. Intended to protect parents' rights to use reasonable force to discipline their children, this law was ultimately interpreted by a NZ jury to allow violent parents to beat their children with metal pipes and other large objects.

In 2005 a member's bill was introduced (by Sue Bradford, a NZ Greens MP) which was to amend Section 59 to disallow this legal defence. This bill was passed on 16 May 2007 at its third reading, but not without great controversy as "family-friendly" groups such as Family First NZ were concerned that they would no longer be able to harshly beat their children in order to discipline them without threat of prosecution.

And so we have this referendum. And as I stated at the start, how ridiculously ambiguous is this. I respect that sometimes - not all the time - it is useful to give a child a light smack, like when there's a little arm reaching for the frying pan and it'll save a lot of tears. Sure, a light smack in order to prevent greater pain for the child should not be a legal offence.

But wait we're not talking about a "light smack" here. The word in question is simply - "smack". Not to mention "good parental correction" is open to interpretation also.

No, this isn't a fair question. My initial reaction (and I'm sure most people's) would be to vote "No", because that's the way it's intended to come across. In reality, we're looking at a current law which has removed the ability for parents to get away with physical abuse of their children.

I mailed my "Yes" vote in today - hopefully it gets to NZ in time.

Edit: Here are links to both sides to the argument - both make some excellent points (and some not-so-good points).

"Yes" vote - "No" vote

Journey Through Faith: Catholicism

I have a very traditional Catholic name.

When I was very young, every Sunday I would go to church with my family. We were often late, and as the church was a little too small for the local congregation, we would usually have to sit at the back on some makeshift chairs. The hymns were joyous and I remember them as the highlight of the services, though as I grew older I realised that they were only highlights because the rest of the service was so dull. It wasn't the pastor's fault - he was a kind gentleman who spoke the truth as he was taught it. Tradition demanded that he must each week remind his devout followers that rational thought does not lead to salvation.

In 1994 Pope John Paul II reaffirmed that Catholic women are not equal to Catholic men, and will never be ordained to the priesthood.

Earlier this year Pope Benedict XVI demonstrated the Catholic church's ignorance when he claimed that condoms increased the problem of AIDS.

I didn't learn much from the Catholic church. It's a shame considering it was my primary school's church, and those years were of great importance to me. It was where I first learned to speak English, and how English was to be used in good faith.

I didn't learn much from the Catholic church. In truth this is a blessing.

One memory of primary school remains with me. I was admiring a construction that I had built out of sticks for a class project. The teacher asked if I was proud of my work. Pride was an unfamiliar concept to me, but yes, it was a deadly sin. So I said "no". I remember my teacher being quite amused at my "modesty". Great education yeah?

I didn't learn much from the Catholic church. I'm probably being unfair now as it's not entirely accurate. These days I find myself with a strict moral code. They aren't Catholic morals (luckily), but I do believe that those years of being told that we are all sinners and need to seek salvation somehow taught me to have strength in my faith and hold true to my beliefs.

At the very least, my friends, that is hopefully a plus.

a slow start

Most of the blogs I read tend to be like open forums, where many people with varied backgrounds and opinions can read and discuss the latest news items.

I don't have the same stuff to offer. I'm not a journalist, an IT enthusiast, a political science student or an activist. I'm somewhat pessimistic. I don't look at the latest toy and think, "hmm that's so cool, I should paste that on my blog", but rather "hmm that looks terribly flimsy and inefficient".

No, all I have are my experiences to share, and to shed some light and darkness on various topics. And so to start, I intend to write a few posts to introduce myself, and make some posts about how I got to be who I am today.

Short link to blog

I'm not sure if this is more for me or for visitors, but here's the short link to the blog anyway:

http://bit.ly/ISuem

(useful for twitter)

Avenue Q and Stereotypes

Last week my good friend Dave from work asked if I wanted to go see Avenue Q with him. Me, having no idea what it was, said yes simply because I thought it would break up the monotony of my weekends.

So anyway, here I was today, without knowing exactly what to expect - I didn't even know where the theatre was - and bam! Wow the show was absolutely amazing; I'm very glad I went. The premise was exciting and novel, using a mix of performers and puppets on-stage. Well-written scripting, great set and band, puppets that brought back memories of childhood, and the performances were solid.

Mitchell Butel who plays Princeton/Rod has a resoundingly brilliant singing voice, and an uncanny ability to switch modes at will, giving his two puppets distinct voices and characters, sometimes in the same scene. Christina O'Neill also gets props for pairing her beautiful voice with an amusing attempt to sing in an asian-ised accent.

There is even much food for thought for those who enjoy thinking too deeply into things, like me. Right now though, I do want to address one issue: the use of stereotypes in the show.

In our modern-day politically correct society, "stereotype" has become a somewhat negative word. It is often associated with racism, sexism, homophobia, and so on. Most of the time I would have no problems with that association, as much of the time the stereotypes do reinforce negative representations of minorities, allowing vicious prejudices to fester and grow.

Having said that, Avenue Q isn't politically correct, and it's wonderfully so. The show uses a bunch of stereotypes, and gets away with it because it doesn't try to hide them. At first I found it a bit confronting, but as a plot device it was brilliant, as it sets up character profiles without actually doing the setting up work.

I'm not saying that it's ok to stereotype if you make it really funny. In fact if I sit here and theorise about the whole musical I'd say that, taken the wrong way, it could worsen social injustices. But I know I can read past that and enjoy Avenue Q for the great entertainment that it is, and I hope that other people who see it will be able to understand that for themselves too.

New Blog

I'm new to this whole blogging thing. Not to blogs, there are many that I read and subscribe to, but writing them is a whole new experience.

Why a blog? To be honest I'm not sure that I'll be a very good blogger. I've never kept a diary, or used a calendar, and I don't even have a camera. Instead I keep all my thoughts and memories in my mind.

But that's a pretty selfish way of living. As humans we live in societies, we need to interact and share our lives and experiences with others. And we should share ideas in the same way. This is what makes us human, it's what makes our lives fulfilling.

And thus I'm here to share these thoughts of mine. Mind you, I don't expect people to actually want to read this stuff, but at least it'll be here if they do!