It’s been a quiet week. Though, not exactly short of incidences to chew on.
1. Brother Kim Calls for Unification!
Oh wow. Big Kim is truly an unpredictable one, isn’t he?
Last year, he was spraying missiles and nuking mountains. Days ago, these were brushed aside in favour of sports camaraderie. He’s now even calling for unification, seemingly the peaceful type, through cooperation, travel and contact.
Concrete proof of his insanity? Or …
You know, the first thing I thought of when reading the news article was how powerful a united Korea would be. The South has economic power, backed by a world desperate for their cellphones. Kim’s North has nukes, and missiles that supposedly could dump these nukes all over the world.
Together, they cook one of the most awesome cuisines in the world. Kimchi commodities might one day overtake company stock in trade volume.
On top of which, they have … such beautiful people! And the (expensively sellable) technology to make anyone else beautiful. Even people like me!
!!!!
Jokes aside, perhaps this is Kim Jong-un’s real intention. As in, a unified Korea of sorts.
I don’t mean the two countries becoming one; that’s too much of a political risk for Kim to even consider. What I mean is instead, some sort of permanent partnership? Achievement of this partnership would immediately transform Korea into a major power of the Asia Pacific arena, if not the world. In older political terms, Korea rises to being a great power. After which they would no longer be the battleground for the other regional powerhouses of China, Russia, Japan, and further away, the USA. They would finally be their own man.
Their own emperor.
It’s good thing. But such unification would only come after much conflict and possibly, bloodshed. Considering the latter, maybe it’s not something that should be hoped for at all.
2. The Elle Darby/White Moose Café Incident
I’ve left several comments about this fracas on social media. But I still feel compelled to say something about it on my own blog.
For the record, let me (boldly) state that I’m “on Elle Darby’s side.” Nope, it’s not because I’m drooling over her looks. Nor do I harbour any illusion about someday becoming an “influencer.” Darby’s proposal to White Moose was amateurish, put it that way. In various ways, it was presumptuous too. But offensive? Obnoxious?
*Snort*
During the earliest years of my graphic design agency, I was regularly called for sales meetings, only to be told after I turned up that I should be doing FREE WORK. You know, for publicity, for portfolio growing, because “we will remember you in the future when we grow international.”
In 2003, a HR company manager actually sent two staff to my office, then yelled at me over the phone for not agreeing to design her name cards for FREE. The best part of this incident was that the manager refused to let her staff leave even after I got blunt. She simply could not accept that my company, as a business entity, required PAYMENT for WORK.
When such things happen, what should a business owner do? Lower yourself to that level and get loud? Give a sermon on the ethics of business?
Of course not. You trash whatever correspondence you received, you walk out of the meeting, and you move on. There are tons of more important things to do, yes? For the White Moose dude to write such an email, then follow up with some absurd ban, that’s just beyond childish.
Moreover, I feel the dude is now milking the incident for publicity. Everything he did beyond the first letter feels to be a stunt. IMO, this makes him way more obnoxious than the people he condemned, especially with his latest get-back. The way I see it, he’s the one who should be paying a hefty bill for publicity, not the other way around. For his information, video views are worth money nowadays. Potentially, lots of money too. (Isn’t he billing for that himself?) What a terribly ridiculous line he included in his latest gimmick.
3. The Chinese Language
I have no idea why. Perhaps it because I only just finished editing all the pictures from my Hong Kong trip. Or maybe it’s because Chinese New Year is around the corner.
On Wednesday evening, I was suddenly seized by this incredible urge to “be Chinese.” Or “get Chinese” … whatever. To go into specifics, this entails binge (re)reading Wuxia novels and playing all those Taiwanese games on my shelves. Games I’ve bought over the last few years but have never even installed.
… 66 %, 67 %. … One’s being installed as I’m typing this.
About the Chinese language. This is one of the (really) rare things I would agree with, and thank, the Singaporean government for.
While having to survive the Singaporean bilingual curriculum compromised my English to an extent, it did open up a huge world to me. I’m not talking about maudlin stuffs like learning about my heritage, knowing my ancestors, etc. Or even more pragmatic matters like doing business in China. (Although, I did work with PRC clients)
I’m referring to the ability to enjoy a wholly different realm of entertainment other than the English one. There’s just so many unique things about Chinese literature, visual entertainment, and games, which English counterparts will never be able to replicate.
Much of this joy is rather je ne sais quoi in nature too, so I wouldn’t try to explain further. I’d just summarise by saying, knowledge of the Chinese language provides for a lot of additional colours in life. It’s also one of the reasons why I’m seldom bored when at home.
…
I’m such a waste of education, am I not?
