Comics this week

FF #9- After last issue, things seem to be building up to a massive battle between the Reeds, the FF, and the Inhumans. Unfortunately, the build-up was better than the execution as the battle this issue was horribly one-side. The Inhumans basically took out the Reeds without trouble and FF was a non-issue in the battle. It was anti-climatic as hell. Writer Jonathan Hickman seem more interested in introducing new plot-lines than showing off a good battle. Usually I have no problem with that but when the most interesting new plot on show was a conversation between 2 kids (Bentley & Val are going to be 2 great villains when they grow up), this means the rest of the new plots aren’t that interesting. However Hickman has shown on previous occasions he can pull a rabbit out of the hat so I can still be hopeful. I just hope my hope is not misplaced.

Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time #13- In my review of the last issue of WoT, I state that writer Chuck Dixon has been faithfully adapting the novels by Robert Jordan. I had been happy with his work so far but sometime we can have too much of a good thing and we reached that point this issue. #13 is just too faithful to the book to make a issue. The narrative may be necessary to help readers focused on the battle as it is written in the book but it also pull the reader out of the battle. It’s hard to feel the excitement of the battle when you are reading a narrative overview of the battle. Not a bad issue, just not a very exciting one.

The Winner!

How to be a winner? Act like Charlie Sheen!

Charlie Sheen, former star of the over-rated TV show Two and a Half Men went through a very public dispute with show creator Chuck Lorre and was fired from the show. I’m not going to go into the reason(s) as we all saw it, we all heard of it, and we all read it.

However Charlie is going to have the last laugh because he filed a lawsuit against Lorre and Warner Bros. and he is going to get a big settlement for it. Big as in $25 million BIG!

Wow! Talk about a golden handshake and that’s just the initial sum. Charlie is going to get even more once the show syndication run throughout the world. And all he need to do is to keep his mouth shut about the show!

Okay the last part might be a little hard for him but reading this, you can’t help but say this; Charlie Sheen: THE WINNER!

Find A Common Goal First

As the saying goes, you must walk before you can run. I think this is something former presidential candidate Tan Jee Say need to understand before he embark on his plan of forming a coalition of opposition parties.

The basic idea is sound and others like Chiam See Tong had tried it before but simply put; I think his plan is doom to failure.

The reason for my thinking is very simple; the various opposition parties in Singapore have nothing in common. For there to be a working coalition, there must be several political parties working together for a common goal. Currently the only thing the opposition has in common is that they have a common enemy in the ruling party, the People’s Action Party (PAP).

Outside that, they have nothing in common and having a common enemy is just not enough for the coalition to last. They need to have a common political goal or at least a policy that they can all agree on and build off. Until they find this common policy goal, the coalition plan will not work.

Cooking Is Sexist

One of the things about young Singapore women is that they do not cook. It’s pretty obvious. Out of 10 young Singaporean women out there, you would be lucky to find 1 do can actually cook (putting chicken nuggets in the microwave and cooking instant noodles or rice do not count).

Some foreigners I know find this very strange as in their countries, most women do cook. I now understand why Singapore women do not cook. In Singapore, cooking is sexist! Yes that’s right; cooking is sexist so if a woman cook, she is promoting sexism.

That’s the feeling I get when I read that Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) intend to give its first tongue-in-cheek sexism award to "honour" Mr. Desmond Choo as the person who has done the greatest disservice to gender equality this year. His offence?

In his election speech (Choo is a candidate from the People's Action Party in the recent General Elections), he said that a resident told him that choosing an MP is like choosing a wife and if your wife is unable to cook, there's no point. Choo was criticised for being sexist though he said the statement was taken out of context.

Personally I don’t really care if it was taken out of context because well…I don’t really see what’s wrong with it? The resident told Choo one must choose a wife who is able to cook things for you. Is that so bad? Is wanting a wife who can cook a sexist remark?

According to Aware, it obviously is. For so people who wonder why young Singaporean women don’t cook, this is the reason. Cooking is a sexist activity so no women should cook!

A Rant About Education

Now we all know that Singapore is the land of the kaisu Singaporean. Singaporeans are “scared to lose” so they will do anything possible to avoid losing. Top of the pile of kaisu Singaporeans are kaisu Singapore parents. You know the type; the parents who will enroll their kids in every tuition class, music class, art class etc they can find.

Now you can argue these parents just want the best for their kids but there is a thing as taking things too far and I think I just read about it. Parents are taking classes, especially maths classes, so that they can help their kids in their studies! Some even “asked” their kid’s schools to provide them with classes so that they can “help” their kids with their homework. I’m amazed there are schools who say yes!

The reason is that these parents aren’t studying for knowledge, to improve themselves, because of their interest etc; they are studying for one reason only, to help their kids with their homework. I find that incredulous, and I don’t mean the fact that the schools are helping the student to cheat on their homework?

There is just something fundamentally wrong with our education system if schools have to provide lessons to parents so that the parents can help their kids with their homework! Now I’m not stupid enough to argue something like the “joy of studying” or “education is more than exams” (this is Singapore), but parents asking classes for the sole sake of “helping” their kids with homework? Tell me there is nothing wrong with that?

Comics this week

Green Lantern #1- DC marketing department worked their magic as Green Lantern is now back to #1. Of course since nothing storywise or artwise changed, the #1 here is nothing but a number seeking to get readers to spend their hard-earned money. Okay, rant over! Green Lantern #1 pick up directly where War of The Green Lanterns left off with Sinestro holding a green power ring and Hal Jordan out of the Corps. No one, not Sinestro, Hal or the Guardians of Oa are happy with the situation but they all try to deal with it the best they can. Touches of comedy throughout the issue, something rarely seen in a GL book, make this a light touch compared to the war, Blackest Night etc. In many ways, this issue is a welcome change of pace by writer Geoff Johns and artist Doug Mahnke from the all-out action of the previous few arcs. Glad to see even with a new #1, Green Lantern is still one of the better ongoing series out there.

Demon Knights #1- A series focused on a magic-based group full of B-list, C-list, no-list characters in the distant past of the DCU? That sound like a disaster in the making but writer Paul Cornell and artist Diogenes Neves made it work by…well, having fun with the concept. Set in the Dark Ages, Cornell quickly introduced the main characters which would be Vandal Savage, Etrigan and Madame Xanadu and from that point on, characters are thrown at the readers at a kinetic pace with action and intrigue thrown in for good measure. After reading the issue, I remember a similar series I read before. That series is Secret Six, another series filled with B-list, C-list, no-list characters. That series was great and hopefully Demon Knights will be the Secret Six of the new DCU.

X-Men: Schism #4- This is it? This is the dispute that brings a spilt to the X-Men? Sorry but I just don’t buy it. Wolverine has always been the guy within the X-Men most willing to do what need to be done to get things done but he is the one who got a problem with sending Hope and gang to fight for the survival of the mutant species? Sorry but I just don’t buy it. Also I feel writer Jason Aaron jumped the shark this issue. Cyclops and Wolverine engaged in a fight while a gigantic Sentinel is slowly edging to the shores of Utopia looking to wipe everyone out? Sorry but I just don’t buy it!

Ban On Camera Phones

One of the long-standing rules of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is that you cannot bring in a camera into an army camp. The ban on cameras also means that soldiers cannot bring in camera phones into the camp.

As any National Serviceman or reservists knows; this ban on camera phones is routinely ignored. People bring in camera phones all the time. During my reservist, I know of a guy who brings in a blackberry even. Frankly, there is just no effective way for the SAF to enforce the ban as handphones are so small nowadays.

So in the face of this, the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) has now announced that it is “exploring ways” to allow soldiers to use the camera-equipped smartphones. It looks like the ban on camera phones are going the way of the dodo and my feelings on this are mixed.

I can understand why the SAF is reviewing the rules but if they are going to allow camera phones, then they should also allow cameras in as well. The reason why camera phones are not allowed in base is due to the cameras inside the phones so if cameras phones are allowed; why not cameras?

It makes no sense right? If Mindef reverse the ban on cameras phones, then they should reverse the ban on cameras as well. If they don’t intend to reverse the ban on cameras, then they not reverse the ban on camera phones! It’s that simple.