Karma for Thaksin

Well, well. The beleaguered Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, is threatening to declare a state of national emergency in his country, too, because of the continuing rallies and protests, calling for him to step down. What is he, a copycat? Maybe he has been watching what has been happening in the Philippines lately. He also reportedly warned that if he does declare a state of emergency, he will have the power to arrest people without warrants and detain them for up to 30 days.

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As they say, imitation is the best form of flattery. President Arroyo should be flattered that her methods are being aped by another Asian leader. In case Shinawatra does make such declaration, we can brag to the world again that our strategies are setting the pace. Remember how many countries had adopted our People Power technique, and also won their freedom? As for Shinawatra, I cannot forget him for being the one who made those malicious insinuations about our Southeast Asian Games players cheating to get the championship. But he got karma for that, a few days after the games ended, his country's top players and coaches themselves were found out and fined for game-fixing. I'm sure lots of Filipinos do not sympathize with him.

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A Crying Lady in the Senate? It was shocking to some, amusing to others, to see Senator Jamby Madrigal weeping copiously during a tiff with Senator Juan Ponce Enrile. It was a great mistake on the part of Jamby to take on JPE, a veteran of the court and of congress. I don't want to call him callous, but it was obvious he was never affected by the lachrymose reaction of the senadora. I noted, too, that Senator Miriam Santiago was among those who went to comfort Senator Madrigal. Indeed, Jamby can learn a thing or two from Miriam about dealing with those irreverent males in Congress.

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The SuperFerry 9 that had to be towed to Bacolod after some mechanical problems on the way arrived in the city to let off passengers bound here. The other passengers were transferred to other vessels belonging to the company so they could reach their actual destinations in Iligan and Ozamis. Perhaps the owners of the vessels should hire a Feng Shui expert to tell them what is wrong with their boats? Just last week, SuperFerry 12 caught fire somewhere near Bantayan Island. Fortunately, none of the passengers were injured, and all disembarked safely. I hear that investigators are still trying to determine what caused the fire and are considering arson, terrorists, or faulty wiring. Was it only last year when an explosion occurred in another of its boats, also in the Visayas?

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It sounds outlandish, but wire reports immediately after movie director Ang Lee won the best director award at the Oscars presentation, said the Chinese people were exultant and very proud of his achievement. One newspaper was quoted as saying the Ang Lee was "the pride of the Chinese people all over the world". At that moment, they remembered only the honor to their race, because they ignored the fact that Ang Lee was born in Taiwan, to which his allegiance probably belongs.

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But it was not all praise and rejoicing over Ang Lee's triumph. They were also upset over the loss of his movie "Brokeback Mountain" to "Crash". Still, one of the Chinese dailies admitted that the subject rather bothered them, although it added, "The gay community was especially upset". Well, they say that it also affected the gay community in the Philippines and, most likely, all over the world. Anyway, Ang Lee was able to deliver his message, wasn't he?

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At the height of all the troubles he is encountering with rallyists and protestors, Thai PM Shinawatra must envy the president of South Korea who is so untroubled that he even has time to take care of his appearance. SK president Roh Moo-hyun reportedly underwent cosmetic surgery recently to improve his eyelids. When that became known, several other males in the country also started having their own features improved, and now cosmetic surgery has become a booming industry in the country. And not only that, the sale of cosmetics and beauty aids - for men - has also risen since. Unfortunately for Thaksin, what his people want to change is not only his appearance, they want to change him.*

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