What Barack Obama represents

Barack Obama will be inaugurated as the 44th US President tomorrow. This will mark a historic event not only in the United States but also the world. He will be the first African-American President of the United States and will probably be the first democratically-elected leader from a minority group. Why is his Presidency such an important event to the rest of the world?

Obama was born to a mixed-marriage family. His father was Kenyan and his mother an American white. Unlike past presidents, his family background is a humble one, one that is not much different from that of the majority Ordinary folks - no silver spoon, no ivory tower, no hereditary titles. Yet, through education and hard work, he had worked himself progressively up the social ladder till, what would probably be the zenith, the Presidency itself. And all this despite having to reconcile with the fact that he was Black, a minority, with perceived glass ceilings and prejudices. This is made even more remarkable given that the Civil Rights Movement was still very much alive barely forty years ago and the Voting Acts Right was only enacted in 1965 to allow the Blacks equal rights in the democratic process.

He had ran his Presidential campaign on a platform of 'Change' and succeeded. And this he did as an American, without the distinction of skin colour as other minority candidates usually ran their own election campaigns. What is remarkable is that his main rival was Hillary Clinton, who is still wildly popular with the White voters. Despite the odds, Obama won the Democratic nominations. Of course, Sen Hillary Clinton should also be praised for her gracious acceptance of 'defeat', something the rest of the world can learn.

While 'Change' is the theme of Obama's campaign, I think his main legacy will be 'Hope'. He has given hope to the minority population around the world, that being a minority should not be seen as a disadvantage. He did has his dark moments when he had difficulty reconciling his mixed-blood lineage but he had overcome them and be stronger.

Because he had come from an middle-class family, he had no special privileged as most past Presidents had. So, he had to work hard to climb the social ladder. And all this is made possible through education. He had shown that education can flatten the social landscape, making it possible even for the under-privilege to fight on even ground.

However, the most important that Obama portrayed is daring to dream and never give up. He had shown that if one dares to dream with a never say die attitude, great things can be achieved. He failed in his bid for a seat in the House of Representatives in 2000, yet he did not give up. He tried again in 2004 and succeeded. Any lesser person would have given up; the odds were stacked too high. Yet he persevered. How many in the minority group dare to dream of becoming the President of the United States? He did and he succeeded.

Why is Obama's success important in our part of the world? Hope is the answer. He has shown that being a minority is no obstacle. He has shown that with education, climbing the social ladder becomes easier. He has shown that one must dare to dream and never give up. The hurdles are there, but it is not impossible to overcome them.

So to Barack Obama, I say thank you.

Wearing shorts sluttish, dress code hinders creativity?

I read with much interest regarding an article in MyPaper dated 14 Jan 2009, reproduced above regarding the dress code and how it goes against the spirit of encouraging "creativity and critical thinking". Strangely after reading the article I was a tad supportive of her exertion. Freedom to choose what to wear, not being restrictive in clothing because one will "wear more solemn" clothing for the next forty years appeals to me. You see I also love to wear non-formal clothings. I go nearly everywhere in slippers - Orchard Road, market, shopping mall, beach, etc. It gives me the convenience and the freedom and saves time! Hence I can understand the writer's sentiment. Why restrict when the future is already restrictive with all the formal wear and neck tie. Furthermore, as a guy, I definitely will not mind girls wearing shorts and spaghatti - feast for the eyes!

But with a deeper understanding of what the university tried to do with its dress code, my feeling for such micro-wear (haven't reach nano-wear stage yet, sigh), and my sentiment change. No I do not agree that wearing tank-top equal prostitution. No doubt most if not all prostitute wear micro-wear; but to equal prostitution with micro-wear I think is unfair. Micro-wear can be elegant if it is worn at the appropriate occasions eg wedding dinner, annual D&D, or even a shopping trip down Orchard Road. But then again it depends on what accessories are used with such micro-wear.

My agreement with Joy Fang ends here. Freedom seems to be the catchword these days. Freedom of speech, freedom of choice, blah, blah, blah. But people forget that with freedom comes responsibility. Responsibility towards yourself, the people around you and in this context responsibility towards your lecturers. What do I mean by responsibility towards the lecturer? It simply means showing respect to your lecture and the University. And this is done by dressing appropriately for the occasion. Lectures and (especially) tutorials are formal occasions and hence deserve a certain dress code aka formal clothing. By not wearing formal clothing, this give the impression that there is no respect for the lecturer and what the lecturer stands for. I am sure Joy Fang will agree with me that micro-wear can hardly be anywhere near formal.

It is strange that in these days and age, with people getting more educated, commonsense seems to be lacking. Previously, people generally know how to dress when they go for lectures, outings etc. But nowadays, there seemed to be no distinction between formal and informal wear. Now we have all-occasion wear - the same T-shirt or shorts can be used to go to market, shopping, movie, university, hospital, banks, etc. Some people just forget about the plain commonsense to wear appropriately. Hence this leave the university with little choice but to give a gentle reminder (which is such a commonsense thing, that is absolutely unnecessary).

The university is a place of moulding the young. If not wearing appropriately is not frowned upon, how is the younger generations to know that there is such a thing as appropriateness and courtesy. Already the current generations are deprived of such guidance because of changing social circumstances where 2-pay cheques, domestic helper and paper chase is the norm; all unfortunately did not prepare one for life's challenges. If the university do not remind the students about the dress code, then how are they to distinguish between formal and informal wear? To those who say that it is such commonsense that formal dress code is needed in the office, I will point out that once upon a time, going to lectures meant wearing shirt (not Ts), longpants and shoes for guys and blouse and skirt or pants with shoes for the girls. It was also commonsense then but somehow commonsense disappeared.

So you see, what the university is doing is not to restrict "creativity and critical thinking" to quote the author (although I still cannot figure out what critical thinking has anything to do with wearing micro-wear) but just to give a (gentle?) reminder on apropriate dress code.

In case you are wondering, I do not wear slippers or shots when I attend lectures or attend functions in my children's schools.

Happy New Year!

It has been six months since I last posted. During the six months there had been many upheavals in the world - sub-prime crisis, major earthquake in China, the melamine-tainted milk scandal in China and the war between Palestinians and Israelis (again).

Southeast Asia has its own fair share of setbacks. In Myanmar there was the massive destruction by Cyclone Nargis. In Thailand, the upheaval, protests and downfall of "democratically-elected" Mr Samak Sundaravej and later the appointed Mr Somchai Wongsawat, both pro-Thaksin supporters and the on-going tit-for-tat protest by pro-Thaksin supporters against the newly-appointed anti-Thaksin coalition PM Abhisit Vejjajiva.

At home would be the escape of terrorist Mat Selamat from detention and the murder of Miss Lo Hwei Yen by terrorist who stormed the Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai on November 26 and the current economic slowdown, pay cuts and lay-offs.

The year 2008 would be very bleaked indeed if not for the successful Beijing Olympics with the phenomenal Michael Phelps and his record breaking 8 gold medals in swimming. And who can forget the inspiration and equally historic election victory by Mr Barrack Obama in the US presidential elections.

With the start of the new year, hopefully thing would be better. In Singapore context, the most important will be the improvement in the job markets and economic performance. So on this first day of year 2009, I wish everyone a good, prosperous and happy new year!