Comics this week

Brightest Day #24- The buildup to this final issue had been great. The action and story of this bi-weekly series has been up and up for the past few issues and that is why I was so disappointed by this final issue. The big problem for this issue was that writers Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi were more interested in setting up future storylines than wrapping thing up. Deadman, Firestorm, Hawkman, Aquaman; all their stories were unfinished. Yes I know Aquaman has a new regular series coming up but after 24 issues, I would like some closure for these characters; not the setting up of stories for their own series. There was no need for that as their regular series will swim or sink on their own. A disappointing finale after a promising final run-in.

X-23 #9- The first part of the X-23/Daken crossover was disappointing. However after that blip, things are looking up. Part 3 of the crossover has X-23 captured by Malcolm Concord and escaping after some help from Daken. As usual, this series works best when X-23 tears up people and then becomes conflicted by her actions. It might get old sometime in the future but right now, it works.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #9- “War of the Green Lanterns” has thus far been the comic event of the year. Outside a blip in part 3, the event has been wonderful. Now we are back in Emerald Warriors and once again, there is another blip. In this issue, Hal, Kyle, John, and Guy flee from Mogo while trying to come up with a plan to free the Green Lantern Corps from Krona. The thing is that well…nothing happened! The status quo was maintained and even the spilt between the 4 Earth GLs was kind of expected. After the kinetic action of the past few issues, digging a tunnel under Oa is a letdown. This was not a bad issue, it just didn’t got to the heights of the issues before.

All Or Nothing

Nomination Day is over and 82 out of 87 Parliamentary seats will be contested on Election Day, the 7th May. The one thing everyone can gather from Nomination Day is this; the opposition parties in Singapore are going for broke.

The big surprise yesterday was Worker’s Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang’s decision to leave the safe opposition seat of Hougang to contest in the Aljunied GRC. This follows Chiam See Tong’s decision to leave Potong Pasir to lead a Singapore People’s Party (SPP) team to contest the Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC. This means that the 2 main opposition leaders in Singapore are both leaving their strongholds to contest in more dangerous wards.

However as they say; the greater the danger, the greater the reward. Both Mr. Low and Mr. Chiam seem to be taking a calculated risk, believing that the ground is ripe for an opposition GRC victory. They are not the only ones. Reform Party’s Secretary General Mr. Kenneth Jeyaretnam is also contesting in a GRC. In fact if you look at the candidates, almost all the heavyweights in the opposition camp are contesting in GRCs.

People say this will be a watershed election for Singapore and one way or another they will be right. If the opposition’s calculation is right, we will see many more opposition MPs after Election Day. However if they are wrong, we could see a wipeout of the opposition this election.

It will be a watershed election indeed.

PAP Strategy

Singapore National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan calling Worker’s Party chief Low Thia Khiang "mischievous". Singapore’s Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) Dr Vivian Balakrishnan getting in a spat with Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) candidate Dr Vincent Wijeysingha over a video in which Dr Wijeysingha was outed as a gay. Singapore’s Labour chief Lim Swee Say and Singapore Trade Minister Lim Hng Khiang criticising former civil servant and current SDP candidate Tan Jee Say over his suggestion of a minimum wage policy.

All this and it is just Nomination Day!

Now I realized that the People Action Party (PAP) is under pressure this election and the need for them to attack the opposition candidates. Fair enough but I see a problem with the PAP current election strategy. We need to see more of their plans of the future.

Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew asking/telling Singaporeans to “look at the fundamentals” and “not to rock the boat” is nice and fine but that is also asking Singaporeans to look at our past. There are a lot of Singaporeans who will be voting for the first plan this General Election so I think it’s important for the PAP to show their plans on the future.

Yes, I know about the PAP manifesto but everything in the manifesto is basically “more of the same”. There’s nothing there that they have not announced before. Some of the plans there are a few years old even! Sorry but that is just not as exciting as Tan Jee Say’s 46 page paper to redo the Singapore economy or the WP’s new ideas for Singapore housing. Now will the opposition’s plans work? Maybe, maybe not; but their plans are new, exciting and get people talking.

Compare to that, “not to rock the boat” just doesn’t cut it. The PAP need to come up with something that let Singaporeans believes they have a bold new plan for Singapore. Something that gets Singaporeans go, “That’s new; that’s exciting; that’s something we can get behind.” Currently, they don’t have that and that’s a problem.

Open Season

Singapore’s Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) Vivian Balakrishnan’s attack on the Singapore Democratic Party’s (SDP) candidate Dr Vincent Wijeysingha’s sexual orientation has become the talk of the town. Now all’s fair in love and war, so I have no problem with Dr. Balakrishnan outing Mr. Wijeysingha as gay, but now that the People Action Party (PAP) has taken this road, then they better not field any gay/lesbian/bisexual candidates tomorrow.

Yes, I know the SDP and its chief Mr. Chee Soon Juan are currently taking the high road on this issue but tomorrow is Nomination Day and I’m willing to bet that the opposition are just waiting to see if the PAP is going to field any gay or lesbian candidates tomorrow. Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has hinted before that there is a current Member of Parliament (MP) who is a lesbian. Considering that both the opposition MPs are men, this means that the lesbian MP is from the PAP.

Yes I read about Dr Balakrishnan trying to say that the issue is not Mr. Wijeysingha's sexual orientation but sorry I (and most Singaporeans) don't buy that. His denial is a little strange considering that Dr Balakrishnan was quoted by The Strait Times newspaper as saying;

“I am not sure what (the Singapore Democratic Party’s) strategy is. I would like to know whether they have confirmed that they are contesting, I would like to know their line-up. I can’t help feeling that part of the reason for their reticence is they have elements of their agenda they are not prepared to disclose and subject to scrutiny. Eventually, they will have to come out of the closet.”
– Vivian Balakrishnan, Straits Times, 20 Apr 2011

You say something liked “to come out of the closet” and then say this is not an attack on Mr. Wijeysingha's sexual orientation? Sorry but even if it is true, it is way too late for that. The cat is out of the bag, the gates have open and till Election Day, it will be open season on every gay/lesbian/bisexual candidate in the election. So if the PAP does field a gay or lesbian tomorrow, the attacks from the opposition will come! And if the opposition don’t, then the opposition are idiots!

Every Vote Counts

The Singapore General Election is due on the 7th May and I like to say that every vote count. Although the People’s Action Party (PAP) is going to romp home with victory, that doesn’t mean that Singaporeans do not need to vote. Anyone who thinks otherwise can just look at a recent election in Las Vegas.

In America, a primary election for the City Council in North Las Vegas ended in a tie. This begin Las Vegas, the tie was broken by…cutting cards! A new deck was opened, the joker was taken out, and then every card in the deck was placed on the table. The 2 candidates Linda Meisenheimer and Tanya Flanagan each drew a card to break the tie.

Yes, that’s right. An election ended in a tie and the way to break the tie came down to a matter of luck. So to all Singaporeans out there; every vote counts. So please take your vote seriously and go to vote on Election Day. Thanks

P.S; if you are wondering, Linda Meisenheimer won the election when she drew a king to Ms. Tanya Flanagan’s five.

iPhone/iPad Tracking

Okay, so this is the story so far. Two researchers said they found a file on the iPhone and the iPad that stores a list of users' locations. Basically this file allows Apple to track and locate users of the iPhone and iPad; whether they want it or not!

Thus far, Apple hasn't commented on this issue so no one knows why this file does exist and why it does track every movement of the users. Now there had been plenty of outrage directed at Apple over this issue mainly due to privacy concerns.

I find myself going; uh...is this something new? I don't understand why some people are treating this iPhone tracking issue so seriously. I have seen countless police shows on TV where the police or some government agency track suspects through their handphones. How is this iPhone/iPad issue so different?

I mean sure it's annoying but if people (police/government/companies) want to track you, they can track you. It's always been that simple.

Comics this week

DC Universe Online: Legends #6- I had said before that DC Universe Online: Legends has been really good thus far. Thus far being the operative term as #6 did not match the previous issues. In this issue, Lex Luthor, Atom, and Black Canary finally got their hands on the Sinestro Corps rings, and launched their attack on Brainiac. Unfortunately, Brainiac has rings of his own and several heroes became casualties in the war. In the present, we were shown how Lex Luthor became struck in his armor. All were important parts of the plot which should be jaw-dropping for readers. Unfortunately, they are not! The problem was the pacing. Things felt too rushed for me. When Superman saved Aquaman, this important moment lasted all of 3 panels! Despite the solid work so far, I fear writer Tony Bedard is trying to squeeze too much into one issue.

Green Lantern #65- After the misstep in Emerald Warriors #8, I am glad to say that the “War of the Green Lantern” back on track. The four Earth Green Lanterns finally joined up and Hal Jordan came up with a crazy but possible plan to fight Krona. Each of them picked a ring of another color which gave them new powers and new uniforms to boot. The only problem I have with this issue was the amount of time Hal and Guy Gardener spent looking for the "Green House." It just seems like a waste of pages when you compare it to the top-notch action in the latter part of the issue. Luckily Doug Mahnke's artwork was again nothing short of masterful. If he and writer Geoff John can keep up the quality, “War of the Green Lantern” will be the comic event of the year.

Green Lantern Corps #59- First DCUOL, then Green Lantern Corps; writer Tony Bedard is becoming a superstar this year. Part 5 of the “War of the Green Lantern” has Hal, Guy, Kyle, and John saving Ganthet with their new power rings. As you expect, Ganthet was less than happy with the actions of the 4 GLs. Green Lanterns do NOT use other power rings! Of course Hal tried to reason with the Guardian saying that the rings gave them new weapons against Krona but it will not be enough as Krona had bought in the big guns. Mogo, the planet Green Lantern, is coming into the war! Much like Doug Mahnke, Tyler Kirkham's art was great. His work on the initial attack by Mogo on Ganthet was superb. You could feel the power of the epic strike leaping from the page as it struck Ganthet. Wow!