Friday, November 05, 2004
Living In A Fishbowl

You know the end of the year is coming when everyone is talking about planning leave to either go overseas or to complement the various public holidays that's coming our way.As we all already know by now (or its just civil servnats who note this kind of things,what with the amount of free time we have on our hands) that the Deepavali and Hari Raya Puasa holidays can form a super long weekend if one takes leave on next Friday?Ok,I think this isn't "power" enough to impress non-civil servants on the amount of planning WE civil servants do.

Next year's Hari Raya Haji falls on a Friday (21st Jan),so if you take 24th Jan leave,you get a super long weekend.And how about this?Chinese New Year falls on the 9th and 10th Feb,which is a Wednesday and Thursday respectively.You won't want to go back to work on a 初三 right?What more,it is a FRIDAY!Don't tell me that I didn't warn you fellows well in advance.Plan your leave now now now and enjoy a long five day holiday.Now look at me in the eye and tell me you ain't glad for civil servants like me with such strategic foresight.WE ARE GOOD.

How do you know when Rogue is not around?Banshee goes around to talk crap because he's not in Rogue's office talking crap to her.When the cat is out,the rats come out to play.Right now,he's in Jubilee's cubicle sprouting his words of wisdom with Nightcrawler(wow,that's a rare sight),Shadowcat and Storm.Both Jean Grey and I have our headphones on.I don't know about her,I am just preventing noise pollution from damaging my ears.I really do have one thought which greatly intrigues me.If and when Storm does quit like she said she would (his best buddy),who would Banshee have left to talk to?I have no doubt Jubilee would get 70% of the attention.Hahah...sorry,if I sounded sightly gleeful.Good luck,partner!

Football fans will be well aware of the Adrian Mutu drug scandal that has rocked English football for the past month.And this is the inspiration for this particular post.For the uninitiated,Mutu is Romania's national football team captain who WAS plying his trade for England's Chelsea FC.He had a huge row with the club's coach Jose Mourinho who then ordered a drug test on the fellow.The interesting point is that Mourinho already had some inside information that Mutu was abusing substances.So well,the test result came out positive.Mutu was taking cocaine.The media got wind of the whole thing and all of a sudden,it was frontpage news.Mutu was suspended and subsequently sacked by his club.The English FA today banned him for 7 months and is proposing that the world football governing body,FIFA,enforce it into a worldwide ban.

Mutu had,at first,insisted he never took drugs.Then he retracted his statement and admitted he did take drugs before doing another u-turn and saying he didn't.Well,he has decided to admit to his mistake and apologise now.The funny thing here is that Mutu is supposedly a highly intelligent fellow studying for a law degree.Ok,he had a troubled marriage and is a ladies' man but he's no bimbo.So his constantly changing "Now I did,now I didn't" statements surprised me.But that's not the main point of this post.

I was surprised by the comments of certain plaudits in Singapore when they said since he wasn't taking performance enhancing drugs,he didn't deserve a ban.I don't think that's right.Why?Because he is a public figure and no matter how harsh it sounds,he has to be made an example of.Because like it or not,he's already an example to a lot of kids who idolise him.He has responsibilities to fulfill to the masses who look up to him.Just because he didn't take performance enhancement drugs does not make his transgressions any lighter.

Another example of a celebrity making a bad example is Taiwanese crap band 5566's Jason Hsu who punched a paparazzi photog and held him on the ground to coerce him to give film that he had taken of Hsu and a female friend.Hsu's manger refused to apologise although Hsu was finally forced to apologised (amid tears) to the photog.But the other members of that crap band,of course,continued to protect and defend him...even though it's obvious he was in the wrong and had used violence to get his own way.Sure,he may not like being photographed but anyone using violence to achieve his own end is in the wrong.The status of celebrity only makes it more glaring.

Now,it's always being said that public figures celebrities have private lifes too and should be left alone.Fair enough.But they have to realise that once they decided to enter their professions(showbiz,football,whatever),it invariably thrusts their lifes into the public limelight.They cannot escape it,especailly in public arenas.They become public figures and idols and they have a responsibility to live responsibly and act/behave responsibly in public places.They entered this line seeking fame and celebrity.While they get to enjoy the benefits and fruits of their fame,they must also cope with the negative aspects of their celebrity.Make no mistake about that.

What Hsu and Mutu have done is that they failed spectacularly to understand this point and maybe they should be made examples of.How do we tell kids who idolise Mutu that drug use is wrong...whether its for performance enhancement or "recreation" or "sexual performance improvement" ( as was Mutu's alibi for using cocaine)?How do we tell kids who idolise 5566 that thuggery is wrong and uncivilised when their idols are engaging in it themselves?They have a responsibility.Live with it.Or quit.

I watched a Taiwanese talkshow which discussed the topic of celebrity stalking.What actually surprised me when I watched the programme was that when asked if celebrities should be more mindful of their behaviour when they go out and set a good example,10 of the 12 celebrity guests said yes.Why?Because they understood they were public figures and their lifes are under the microscope of scrutiny.Anything they do will be magnified a hundred times that of an average Joe.So they realise they have to lead an exemplary life when out in public places.I applaud such understanding of their roles in society.That's called maturity.Unlike Hsu who thinks nothing of using force.

I do understand that leading a private life in the public eye, living in a fishbowl,is extremely difficult.I do not doubt that.But no one ever said it was easy anyway.If you can't live with it,don't put yourself in the firing line.