"LORD, SAVE ME"

THE HOLY TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY

MICHAEL JACKSON 1958 -2009

Michael Jackson didnt just appear on the scene, he exploded in the universe like a glowing super nova!

The early innocence, his brothers and those brilliant pop classics Rocking Robin, I'll Be There, Gotta Be There spoke for an entire generation. Never Can Say Goodbye has yet to lose its lustre after 30 years!

The photo on the right is from his early years with the Jackson 5. He was at his peak then. His voice was sweet, powerful, very emotive and smacked the daylights out of the competition. An incredible talent!

His angst and broken voice opened the door to a fantasy world. He gave us Thriller - the gloves, dark glasses, red jackets, white gloves, tassels on the shoulder pad,

And the moonwalk!

It was suddenly cool to be black kid in the whole universe! Didnt matter if you were an Indian teenager from Sembawang or a kid from the ghetto. Michael was our hero. His props became ours - the red jackets, the sunglasses, white socks etc.

He was an Obama to a hip generation of dark skinned people who'd normally not be given a second look. Thank you Michael Jackson.

His religious beliefs were cloudy - was he a Jehovah Witness or a Muslim? we'll never know. May the Lord have mercy on him.

You Who Wronged

by Czeslaw Milosz

You who wronged a simple man
Bursting into laughter at the crime,
And kept a pack of fools around you
To mix good and evil, to blur the line,
Though everyone bowed down before you,
Saying virtue and wisdom lit your way,
Striking gold medals in your honor,
Glad to have survived another day,
Do not feel safe.

The poet remembers.
You can kill one, but another is born.
The words are written down, the deed, the date.
And you’d have done better with a winter dawn,
A rope, and a branch bowed beneath your weight.

PRAY FOR IRAN!

The people of Iran need our support and intercession. Pray for an end to injustice, tyranny and a return to human decency and true law and order.

KRIS WAS BETTER THAN ADAM…YEAH!!

Kris is the American Idol.

He was the better singer, especially when the song matched his voice. There were times however in the competition when he sounded pretty light weight. It was great however to see him crowned as the American Idol. His shy and retiring manner helped him connect with folks and maybepeople identified with his humble, down to earth folksy style.

Why the judges gushed in adulation over nearly all of Adam Lambert’s performances remain a mystery. Even Simon got carried away…describing one of his performances as immaculate! He was good but not immaculate.

Some of Adam’s performances were out of this world. His rendition of Smokey Robinson’s Tracks of My Tears was awesome. But flattery from the judges stroked his ego and clouded his judgment. Every song had to be a stellar, crowd pleasing performance; angst and desire to impress replaced the need to simply sing a song effectively. And the screaming just got in the way at times.

Was it a surprise therefore when he was at the bottom three in some of the previous episodes?

All of this should not detract us from recognizing Adam’s talent. The guy has an incredible voice range and charisma. He needs a good producer and a clever manager who can get him to focus on the basics and cut all the American Idol hype. Reduce the screaming, remove some of the poseur attitude and get back to the art of singing a song.

Congratulations Kris Allen! You deserved to win.

DARTH VADER: HERO OF STAR WARS!

C'mon... without Darth Vader the Star Wars mythology, as the Americans would say, aint worth a plug nickel!

George Lucas's 3 prequels The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith fell way short of expectations because Anakim Skywalker became Darth Vader only in the final hour of the 3rd movie!

We had to endure watching Anakim Skywalker as a kid and a teenager for 2 1/2 movies. What was the point? Anakim's a bore compared to Vader. Lucas should have turned Anakim to the dark side in the Phantom Menace and then showed Vader gradually slipping into his own personal hell in the next two movies. Now, that would have made the prequels a rip roaring success.

The Empire Strikes Back was the best Star Wars movie; the action was fast moving; it laid the groundwork for developing Vader into a tragic hero a la Shakespeare. Revenge of the Jedi, picked up the storyline and showcased Vader's final redemption from the dark side.

Forget Anakim. Bring on Vader!

SINGAPORE MASS MEDIA…FEROCIOUS SHARKS?

MEDIA AND AWARE
Very rarely have the Singapore mainstream media gone after a story with such unbridled passion...like ferocious sharks thrashing about in a feeding frenzy!Yup, I referring to the controversy surrounding AWARE.

Unless you were on a holiday in Mars, you'd probably have read or heard about the AWARE saga. For the uninitiated AWARE is a civil organization dedicated to the well being of women.

A few ladies, led by Josie Lau, took over the leadership of AWARE at the group’s annual AGM. The new team were trying to steer the organization back to its original purpose of only dealing with women’s issues. AWARE’s growing links with the gay lobby in Singapore were viewed as a distraction to the group's purposes. A training manual, sponsored by AWARE, on sexuality which was used to prepare trainers for sex education in schools was found to encourage homosexual behavior.

THE MEDIA POLARIZES
The ousted old of guard of the organization hit back hard. They managed to convene an EGM and recaptured the reins of power at the meeting. What was surprising however were the endless stream of stories and columns in the press which further polarized the supporters of old guard from the new team. Much was made of the new team's church affiliation and christian background.

The Singapore mass media are a tame lot. They’re into nation building (euphemism for communicating government views) and normally avoid stories which portray Singapore as a conflict ridden society divided over issues. Appearance of a well run country is a central motif in newspaper reporting. If there was an academy award for self censorship, Singapore mainstream media would blow the competition away.

And so the sight of the media inciting rivalry between the two opposing groups was surprising to say the least. Singapore media have learned a thing or two from their Western or Latin American colleagues.

ARE WE IN BOLIVIA?

Was I in Singapore? For a moment I thought I was in Bolivia. The Bolivian media, not unlike the media in freewheeling liberal democracies, are experts in the area of playing up opposing viewpoints in a social conflict for the sake of sensationalising issues. And many of us know that sensationalism sells newspapers and strong sales bring in advertising revenue.

Some of the reporting was balanced…but by and large the media-driven stereotype of Josie's team as narrow minded Christian Talibans sunk them.

Josie's team should have been given a chance, a year at least, to work at their plans and prove themselves to the AWARE members. A challenge to dismount her team could have been initiated at the following AGM. Unfortunately an EGM was convened by the older leadership to reverse the decisions of the AGM.

Hopefully the mainstream media would have learned a thing or two from this episode and refrain from exhibiting their bias toward the gay lobby.