Dangerous Ruling From LTA

Why not? That’s my question when I heard that the LTA (Land Transport Authority) do not allow taxis to have cameras installed inside them.

I know a taxi-driver who had been robbed sometime earlier this year. After the incident, the taxi-driver was understandably worried as he drives at night and decided to install a camera in his taxi. He paid for it out of his own pocket and his taxi company has no problem with it.

LTA however do.

Why? It seems some passengers are “uncomfortable” about the camera being inside the taxi so they complain to the LTA. Being the cover-your-own-ass agency that they are, the LTA is now ordering the taxi-driver to take out the camera. Why?

Recently, we had newspaper reports of taxi-drivers being robbed, being attacked, or simple being taken for a ride (passengers running off without paying). Yet when a taxi-driver decides to be pro-active and install a simple camera inside his taxi, it is not allowed?

I don’t understand why? Would LTA take care of the taxi-driver’s medical bills if he landed in hospital after an attack from a passenger? Would LTA offer compensation to the driver if he got robbed again? No chance of that happening, but when the taxi-driver try to protect himself, he can’t do so?

What nonsense is that? What’s the big deal about a camera anyway? Every MRT station in Singapore has cameras. To my knowledge, most bus interchanges in Singapore has cameras also. Cameras in public transport vehicles are hardly a new phenomenon, so why can’t a taxi-driver put one in his taxi?

This is a stupid ruling by the LTA. Taxi-drivers are trying to protect themselves after the spate of bad news and are willing to pay out of their own pockets to do so. If LTA is not willing to pay for the cameras to protect taxi-drivers, fine but to prevent protection?

That’s not just stupid, it's dangerous!

Naruto Is Ending!

One of the main reason manga has such a following throughout the world is the fact that there are actually permanent character developments. Things just don't get reset via an event and manga series...ends!

Yes, news out of Japan has that Naruto will end next month.

Now I know Naruto's prime was a few years ago but the manga is still one of the best selling manga out there, so I'm surprised that Shueisha (the publisher) is allowing the creator/writer/artist Masashi Kishimoto to end the series. Yes, I know Kishimoto said in 2012 that the series would end in a year and a half but with all the Naruto is still bringing in, did anyone really believed that?

Obviously we should have. Naruto will end on Nov 10.  

Get Rid Of The Man

As fears of a police crackdown grows in Hong Kong and the protesters sit down for talks with the Hong Kong government, I have to ask a simple question; Why is Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying so important?

I have to ask this because the man seem to be the central figure in the protest. One of the main demands of the pro-democracy protesters is the resignation of Mr. Leung. However that is something Beijing is refusing to grant. Why?

I mean it's obvious the man have little credibility left and even if he survive, he will find it almost impossible to govern Hong Kong. It is also obvious he is nothing but a yes-man for Beijing! Thus far under his leadership, his team has done nothing but rubberstamp everything given to them by Beijing. In short, the guy is not important!

So why don't China just get rid of him, appease the protesters, and put another yes-man in charge? I mean the guy is just a figurehead, so why not get rid of him and put in another (more useful) figurehead?

The reason seem to be face and pride and that is just stupid. Beijing need to look at the grand picture and the long-term. Hong Kong is not Tibet or Xinjiang, this is a problem that could be easily solved. Sure, some demands of the protesters like universal suffrage are not easy matters to solve but others like the resignation of a useless figurehead are. I mean is Leung Chun-ying really that important to them?

No! So get rid of him, that will defuse the situation and they can start getting protesters off the streets. If they don't and start cracking down, that will just galvanise the protesters and it may become a self-fulfilling prophecy. With Tibet and Xinjiang on their plate, that's the last thing Beijing need right now.

Comics this week

Justice League #34- After the momentous mistake that was Future’s End, we now get back to the regular Justice League and see how much fun writer Geoff Johns has with the new team lineup. One thing about JL is that the team was always tight. No matter how much tension there was between the team members, you always know that when it comes down to it, they will always have each other’s back. That’s not so much the case with Lex, Cold and Power Ring now on the team and the new status quo is fun. And it’s not just Lex Luthor; even Batman and Superman are now playing the intrigue game as they schemed to take down Lex, their own teammate! More of this and we can all forget about Future’s End. 

Moon Knight #8- When it was announced that writer Warren Ellis and artist Delcan Shalvey would leave the series after 6 issues, a lot of people had good reason to wonder how Marvel would continue the hot streak that was Moon Knight. The answer comes in writer Brian Wood and artist Greg Smallwood! Their first together in #7 continued the good work that Ellis and Shalvey did but in this issue, they hit it out of the park! The entire issue is told in a series of geometric shots pulled from cellphones, TV screens, drone cameras etc, and it works! Greg Smallwood need a pay rise for the brilliance that he displayed in this issue and how well his art mesh with Wood’s story of Moon Knight infiltrating Freedom Tower in the middle of a hostage crisis. Sheer brilliance!

He’s An Eurasian!

Singapore swimming star Joseph Schooling wins gold in the 100-metre butterfly for Singapore at the current Asian Games and what’s his reward from Singaporeans? He is questioned on his background and whether he is a “true” Singaporean.

Okay, having a name like “Schooling” doesn’t help and I fully understand the distaste most Singaporeans have over foreign-born athletes competing for Singapore, but when Singaporeans start questioning whether a third-generation Singaporean is a foreigner; that’s just crazy talk.

Joseph Schooling was born in Singapore. His father, Colin Schooling, 66, was born in Singapore. His mother, May, is a Malaysian Chinese. So you know what that makes Joseph Schooling?

He’s an Eurasian! 

The Strange Sport

I consider myself a sports fan but I will admit this; I don't get American Football. To me, it's a bloody strange sport that stops a lot and when it starts, there's little to almost no action. I just don't get it. 

I also don't get the officiating. 

In America (where else), a player who scored a touchdown was penalized for kneeling in Muslim prayer after scoring. Really? I seem American player kneeling in Christian prayer all the time with no problems but kneeling in Muslim prayer...that's a problem? 

Now I get this is America and the country is in many wars with Muslims forces throughout the world but you need to at least pretend to be tolerant of Muslims in prayer. Especially when you are very tolerant of Christian in prayer.  

But then what the hell do I know? This is American Football. 

So What?

Blizzard's fans are in mourning as the World of Warcraft (WOW) developer announced that they are cancelling Titan MMO. For those of you who do not know, for the past 7 years, Blizzard has been making Titan which is supposed to be the successor to WOW.

Those plans are now in the shredder as the would-be MMO is now vaporware. I take on this; what else is new?

Come on people, games in development gets canned all the time. I mean just look at the number of Kickstarter games that fail. That’s not even counting games in development by respectable companies. Remember Overlord 3? Or Starcraft Ghost? Or the most infamous of them all, Duke Nukem Forever?

So let’s put this in perspective, the “bye-bye” Blizzard said to Titan is nothing new.