MEDIAIMMEDIACY: ASIA ONLINE

BIGO bigo.com.sg
...Before I Get Old... An out-of-the-ordinary pop music / culture magazine with a strong and relevant political message "- practically everything
    a young person (or someone who is young-at-heart) would want to know." They also promote and publish local Singapore bands. Recent feature, the 15 year history of Singapore punk band Opposition Party, headed by Francis Frightful. Column by X'ho (see below) and a good material on reformasi, including VCDs. Good links too!

Nike now lets you personalise your shoes by submitting a word or phrase which they will stitch onto your shoes, under the swoosh. So Jonah Peretti filled out the form and sent them US$50 to stitch "sweatshop" onto his shoes.... fun and games with Nike.

From: "Jonah H. Peretti"
To: "Personalize, NIKE iD"

Dear NIKE iD,
Thank you for your quick response to my inquiry about my custom ZOOM XC USA running shoes. Although I commend you for your prompt customer service, I disagree with the claim that my personal iD was inappropriate slang. After consulting Webster's Dictionary, I discovered that "sweatshop" is in fact part of standard English, and not slang. The word means: "a shop or factory in which workers are employed for long hours at low wages and under unhealthy conditions" and its origin dates from 1892. So my personal iD does meet the criteria detailed in your first email.

Your web site advertises that the NIKE iD program is "about freedom to choose and freedom to express who you are." I share Nike's love of freedom and personal expression. The site also says that "If you want it done right...build it yourself." I was thrilled to be able to build my own shoes, and my personal iD was offered as a small token of appreciation for the sweatshop workers poised to help me realize my vision. I hope that you will value my freedom of expression and reconsider your decision to reject my order.

Thank you,
Jonah Peretti

'Skew Me, You Rebel Meh? (Or Are You Asking For It?), the first book by X'Ho, marks a new direction in X'Ho's chameleon career as a radio DJ, pop critic and musician. The book is a collection of his essays in BigO dating back to 1994 till the present. In it are all his classic trenchant essays fueled by a passionate sense of outrage at hypocrisy and double standards.

 

 

[For a related perspective on the Singapore scene, see All Good No Bad (a title borrowed from X'Ho) by Thomas Frank, from CONTEXT]
 

Gritty is the word to describe the footage on the LEDAKAN REFORMASI 2 VCD, which focuses on the 100,000 Gathering in Shah Alam in Malaysia on Nov 5, and grim was how the people at the gathering felt. What was supposed to be the culmination of Reformasi Month, the gathering took place along the highway instead of at an open field in Shah Alam. The 41-min programme starts with the crowd already gathered around the Keadilan leaders who are about to make their speeches. All the Keadilan leaders spoke, each fiery but keeping things short - probably because they did not know when the authorities would act. It is interesting to note that Wan Azizah's delivery is more forceful as, say, compared to the speeches she made during the last General Election. The authorities moved in just when the Keadilan leaders appeared to have made their speeches. A strategically parked car along the highway prevented the truck carrying the water cannon from moving closer to where the leaders were but someone seemed to have underestimated the reach of the water cannon. The water cannon firing away is an awesome sight and, with a helicopter flying overhead and smoke bombs going away on the ground, the scene does recall something from Apocalypse Now... Note: The cover of the Ledakan Reformasi 2 VCD, which is selling for RM10, carries the message: "Unit Dokumentasi Video. Jabatan Penerangan PAS Pusat. Untuk Ahli Sahaja." (Video Documentation Unit. Department of Information, PAS Centre. For members only.

 

We couldn't figure why a company supposedly linked to UMNO had been in a legal tangle with a Taiwanese CD plant until we read this:

"Since November 2000, FreeAnwar.Com News had been carrying regular news reports of anti-Anwar Ibrahim VCDs being flooded all over Kuala Lumpur. The modus operandi is, in the middle of the night groups of people would invade residential areas around Kuala Lumpur and place complimentary copies of these VCDs in all the letterboxes of all the houses and apartments in the neighbourhood. Copies would also be 'abandoned' in public places like coffee shops and bus stops."
If you're planning a VCD campaign, you'll sure need a lot of blanks.

During the nine-day Singapore River Buskers' Festival, from 18-26 November, audiences can expect to see about 800 performances from 25 acts from Canada, the USA, Australia, UK, Singapore and Asia, at performance along the river. Although only in its fourth year, the festival is already acknowledged as the second largest festival in Asia, next to Japan, having attracted 300,000 people with over 80 international acts.

    The popular image of a busker too lazy to get a real job, harassing people on the street with inferior or crude 'acts' to solicit money to support their degenerate lifestyle still exists. In fact, Singapore used to ban all forms of busking until very recently; and only then with the proviso that all money contributed to the 'hat' (the receptacle of choice) from passersby go directly to charity. Thus, busking is still not a legitimate way to earn a living here.
    This perception is not confined to these parts of the world. As late as the end of the 1970s, buskers everywhere were arrested and charged with begging and obstruction and even today, buskers on the London Underground rail system are hurried away by watchful inspectors.
    Internationally though, attitudes are changing rapidly. This has been brought about by the 'democratisation' of art as a result of political and economic changes since the two world wars, and the enormous transformation of the performing arts due to film, television, video and the Web.
 
 

Know a good site that we've missed so far? Please send us the URL and we'll credit you as the contributor!

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