A week hardly passes without an update on the supermodel Amber Chia. Supermodel? Pah! I guess a super title nowadays is a dime a dozen. Void of all body fluids, she looks more like a super cashier with an eating disorder. But with the political landscape now clouded by the impending gassing of a long-time super leader, an unwanted update on an overrated model brings a whiff of fresh air. Life's full of delightful odds and ends. Let's celebrate them. This week's picks:
1. It's inevitable that MIC saw UMNO's hand all over the plot to GAS its super president. Desperate times call for desperate measures. My humble theory is that MIC accused UMNO simply because it couldn't pin the blame on MCA which, to all intents and purposes, had already been gassed for good. That MIC so brazenly accused UMNO of complicity is unprecedented, and only further underlines UMNO's descent from super boys to whipping boys.
2. After weeks of Bondesque hypes and teasers, Imam Muda finally kicked off with some style. It's a religious reality flick but the set, suit and songkok are bold, sharp and contemporary. Anything but conservative. The all-male cast of ten aspirants were picked after a round of auditions, ostensibly based on religious skills and competencies. But I've a nagging suspicion that, just like other talent contests, flair and hair were very much part of the criteria. Kudos to Astro for such a fresh and provoking offering. Do we have to wonder forever why it takes a fiercely profit-driven network with a non-Muslim ownership to produce a watchable religious program?
3. Now let's brace ourselves for crunch time. Everything from teh tarik to toll tickets will cost more if the government lives up to its promise to scrap subsidies and save the country about RM100 billion in the next five years and avoid bankruptcy in 2019. Scare strategies and scary scenario, all too familiar. My view is that subsidy economics has been oversimplified. Deliberate or oversight, who knows. The heavy, quantitative treatment of the cost side without even a casual inquiry about the upside renders the whole argument one-sided. Europe and the US have been dishing out farm subsidies for ages. I'm not advocating subsidies. But as literate and tax-friendly citizens, we all deserve a balanced and enlightened analysis.
1. It's inevitable that MIC saw UMNO's hand all over the plot to GAS its super president. Desperate times call for desperate measures. My humble theory is that MIC accused UMNO simply because it couldn't pin the blame on MCA which, to all intents and purposes, had already been gassed for good. That MIC so brazenly accused UMNO of complicity is unprecedented, and only further underlines UMNO's descent from super boys to whipping boys.
2. After weeks of Bondesque hypes and teasers, Imam Muda finally kicked off with some style. It's a religious reality flick but the set, suit and songkok are bold, sharp and contemporary. Anything but conservative. The all-male cast of ten aspirants were picked after a round of auditions, ostensibly based on religious skills and competencies. But I've a nagging suspicion that, just like other talent contests, flair and hair were very much part of the criteria. Kudos to Astro for such a fresh and provoking offering. Do we have to wonder forever why it takes a fiercely profit-driven network with a non-Muslim ownership to produce a watchable religious program?
3. Now let's brace ourselves for crunch time. Everything from teh tarik to toll tickets will cost more if the government lives up to its promise to scrap subsidies and save the country about RM100 billion in the next five years and avoid bankruptcy in 2019. Scare strategies and scary scenario, all too familiar. My view is that subsidy economics has been oversimplified. Deliberate or oversight, who knows. The heavy, quantitative treatment of the cost side without even a casual inquiry about the upside renders the whole argument one-sided. Europe and the US have been dishing out farm subsidies for ages. I'm not advocating subsidies. But as literate and tax-friendly citizens, we all deserve a balanced and enlightened analysis.
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