Day: October 24, 2007

Everything Else

The Dark is Rising

yannisms

I just saw the trailer for the movie of a well-loved book and it’s left me feeling deflated.

Somehow, the magical, mythical quality of Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising sequence is lost amid the loud bangs and technical wizardry. Will Stanton is supposed to be a quiet, unassuming young man who is wiser than his years suggest. And yet in the trailer, he comes across as a little brat who is nursing a huge crush on his schoolmate, something that is definitely conceived by the wildly imaginative scriptwriters.

The series has stayed with me throughout the years since I first picked it up when I was 11. I’ve read and re-read the books at least once a year since then and I have a suspicious feeling that much of the beautiful serenity has been transformed into huge, crazy effects.

It’s probably going to be a disappointing show. But on the upside, tickets to Stardust have been booked for Friday evening and I cannot wait!

Everything Else

Repeal Section 377A

yannisms

The debate has been raging for a while now, thanks to NMP Siew Kum Hong’s call to repeal Section 377A.

I have gay friends and I love my gay friends. Their sexual preferences don’t bother me and it should not bother anyone else, not least the state. They are still human beings with lives to lead and dreams to fulfil. Just because they love someone from their own gender doesn’t make them freaks or a threat to society. And what they do in their bedrooms is none of my business – I don’t care and it doesn’t harm anyone.

So it astonishes me when people actually actively discriminate against homosexuality. The act of repealing is not going to turn this society into disarray. We are still going to function like the collected, cold economy that we are. The act of repealing is merely a symbolic act – it’s not going to have any effect on our lives except for the fact that we are now one step closer to giving our fellow Singaporeans their equal rights. It’s about recognising them for who they are and not penalising them just because they don’t fall into the norms that we grew up believing.

The law does not govern morality, so the law should not stay. If we are against racial and gender discrimination, then we should stand up against sexual discrimination too.

“I am concerned that if we don’t keep 377A, all the gays & lesbians out there will take it as a sign that they can become aggressive & harass/bother us (straight adults). As it is, they are already so bold.”

This knowledge that Singapore is a hypocrite (“based on justice and equality”, anyone?) disgusts me.