Damn it, Goku is Asian!

YouTube sensation KevJumba hit it right with his latest video on the Hollywood version of all-time Asian anime favorite Dragon Ball:

He could not have said it better.

And mind you, this is not the first time Hollywood made an Asian hero white. In the original book called Starship Troopers, the hero, John Rico, is Filipino. But in the Hollywood movie adaptation, he became an Argentine white man.  

Thai military’s double standards.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajiva has declared a state of emergency in Bangkok in an effort to quell the violent protest actions by the red shirted supporters of ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra. The emergency declaration empowers the police and the military to disperse a gathering of five people, make warrant-less arrests and even censor the media. Abhisit’s deputy, Channel News Asia reported yesterday, appealed on the army to impose this emergency declaration.

The army heeded his appeal. A while ago, troops fired rubber bullets and threw tear gases on the protesters, who vowed to continue their protests until the government calls for an election. The confrontation is poised to turn bloody in the next hours, and many countries, including Japan and the Philippines, have issued travel advisories urging their citizens to avoid Thailand.

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A banana kingdom, thanks to PAD.

I have long feared that the political instability in Thailand would one day spill over and affect the rest of the ASEAN. And it happened yesterday.

The East Asia summit– and along with it the signing of an agreement allowing the members of the ASEAN to receive about $10 billion in infrastructural loan from China– was aborted after angry demonstrators trooped to the hotel where the leaders of the region were staying.

A while ago, the embattled prime minister of Thailand, Abhisit Vehjajiva, addressed his deeply divided nation, vowing to restore order following one of the biggest embarrassments his country had in recent years. He began by arresting one of the leaders of the protesters, a singer-activist named Arismun Pongreungrong. But the protests are continuing and it is doubtful that the government in Bangkok can contain it, unless it uses violence or heeds the demands of the protesters.

The demonstrators belong to the United Front For Democracy, Against Dictatorship (UDD), which are more commonly known in Thailand as the red shirts. They are supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister who was ousted in a coup in 2006. They demand that the present government step down and call for another elections.

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Some smart moves from Seguis.

I don’t know much about the current chair of the re-constructed Philippine government negotiating panel in the Mindanao “peace process,” Amb. Rafael Seguis. But his latest actions seem to be right on track.

On VeraFiles.com, veteran journalist-blogger Ellen Tordessillias reported last week that Seguis has, during his courtesy call on the Malaysian foreign minister, requested the removal of Othman Abd Razak as facilitator on the grounds that he was biased to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

According to Tordessillias’ “highly-placed” sources, it was Othman who advised the MILF to demand 95-5 percent sharing of the resources of the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) during the negotiations that resulted to the drafting of an unconstitutional Memorandum of Agreement that, had it not been stopped by the Philippine Supreme Court, could have created a de-facto state for the MILF within the Philippine state.

In the MOA, the government and the MILF settled for a 75-25 sharing agreement, which was still unfair. I have said on this blog that such an agreement would mean that the MILF could utilize a lion share of the area’s resources to fund its armed secessionist campaign.

Also, Seguis requested that the Philippine government be allowed to shoulder the accommodation expenses of the Philippine panel in Kuala Lumpur so that Manila could have a say on logistical matters like the Filipino panel’s lodging. There have been allegations that the rooms the Philippine panel occupied were bugged by the Malaysians, enabling the MILF to learn of the government’s strategy.

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KIM JONG-IL LAUNCHES HIS ROCKET…

… and the biggest gainer seems to be Taro Aso.  

[Updated, April 6] 

For the nth time, global attention is on North Korea as it defiantly carried out just a while ago a rocket launch seen by many in the region as provocative.

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