I just finished watching Paradise Now for the second time. This time was with my Dad, who described it as "a good film" after the credits starting showing. It's classified as an M18 show under the Singaporean Board of Censors because of the sensitive theme it holds in our society.
Basically, the film illustrates the last 48 hours of two Palestinian men who live in the West Bank. They are set on an operation to detonate a bomb in Tel Aviv, sacrificing their lives a result.
Many times in society we are prompted to deem these people as cold, unfeeling, inhuman individuals who don't actually have hearts, and are just tools of destruction. Politicians look at things in black and white. They see that everyone is phased under two umbrellas- "right" and "wrong". There is no in-between.
But what is black and white anyway? Black is but a mixture of every other color there is. And white is the absence of any of those color.
Nobody is white. Nobody is perfect. But nobody is black either. The truth is, everybody is in-between. There are so many colors, how can everybody only be two? A week after the terrorist attacks against London, Madrid, and so many other places in the world comes a huge story on these people. We look at them and dismiss them: they are not worth the attention. But does anybody consider the fact that NOBODY makes a decision to kill a bunch of people in just a snap? There is always a road.
Why did these two young man choose to give up their whole lives for a mere operation? You'd be shallow to just brush it off; think they're naive. How on earth will you expect people to react when you torment, tyrannize, intimidate them? They are human too, and vengeance breeds in the flesh of every human.
After watched the film for the first time, I remember thinking. This is odd, Said was the one who backed out first. Khaled was the adamant one. But in the end, it was Said who detonated the bomb. The second time, I probed myself with that question. Then I realized: religion, philosophy and external thinking are not the only contributing factors to a person making such a decision.
Some of us have inner demons, and maybe because there was this avenue to manifest his demon that way, Said took the plunge.
Basically, the film illustrates the last 48 hours of two Palestinian men who live in the West Bank. They are set on an operation to detonate a bomb in Tel Aviv, sacrificing their lives a result.
Many times in society we are prompted to deem these people as cold, unfeeling, inhuman individuals who don't actually have hearts, and are just tools of destruction. Politicians look at things in black and white. They see that everyone is phased under two umbrellas- "right" and "wrong". There is no in-between.
But what is black and white anyway? Black is but a mixture of every other color there is. And white is the absence of any of those color.
Nobody is white. Nobody is perfect. But nobody is black either. The truth is, everybody is in-between. There are so many colors, how can everybody only be two? A week after the terrorist attacks against London, Madrid, and so many other places in the world comes a huge story on these people. We look at them and dismiss them: they are not worth the attention. But does anybody consider the fact that NOBODY makes a decision to kill a bunch of people in just a snap? There is always a road.
Why did these two young man choose to give up their whole lives for a mere operation? You'd be shallow to just brush it off; think they're naive. How on earth will you expect people to react when you torment, tyrannize, intimidate them? They are human too, and vengeance breeds in the flesh of every human.
After watched the film for the first time, I remember thinking. This is odd, Said was the one who backed out first. Khaled was the adamant one. But in the end, it was Said who detonated the bomb. The second time, I probed myself with that question. Then I realized: religion, philosophy and external thinking are not the only contributing factors to a person making such a decision.
Some of us have inner demons, and maybe because there was this avenue to manifest his demon that way, Said took the plunge.
"The politicians want to see it as black and white, good and evil, and art wants to see it as a human thing."
-Hany Abu-Assad
Director Paradise Now
These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world... and then we fucked up the endgame.
-Charlie Wilson
Charlie Wilson was the man who raised one billion American Dollars (in the 1980s) to fund the Muhajadeen to fight the Russians out of Afghanistan. Through this, the mighty Soviet Empire collapsed and the Cold War ended.
After the success of his actions, he lobbied for just one more million to build a school in Pakistan- the country that housed one fifth of Afghanistan's population- refugees who fled from Soviet terror. He did not get that million.
Throughout the process of watching this movie, one of the things that rang loudly in my mind was: Didn't every related Wikipedia entry, online source, book reference and publication tell me that the origins of Al-Qaeda were from the holy warriors who fought jihad against the Russians? And if that was the case, aren't they the people that trained under America's funding?
This isn't an irony. Irony is not justifiable as a word to describe the atrocities we have witness the past few years. It isn't irony. It just shows us how much a million- compared to one billion- can go.
A Wired.com writer wrote (alliteration!) a pretty interesting piece about securing your wireless network. Read it here. He has an open wireless network and should be on Danial's happy list.
My mac is now running Leopard! Thanks Apple for making an operating system which rocks more then a million times more then yucky Vista.
My mac is now running Leopard! Thanks Apple for making an operating system which rocks more then a million times more then yucky Vista.
In the 21st Century most people are optimistic. Not sure if that's a good thing or not.
I have so much in my heart to say. If 2008 was 1st, 2nd, 3rd January, then 2008 would be a thoroughly weird year. There's just so much adjustment I don't really feel the consistency in life anymore. For some reason 2007 seems so much nearer and touchable. More real, more potential, more dreams.
2008 is just like a vortex. I go in and ponder, think. But nothing gets through. It's an empty space. I haven't felt the stuff that should flow.
I walked to VS after dinner at the hostel today. Apparently I'm not suppose to go into the school in slippers and home clothes and all that but nobody cares. Literally, nobody. Cuz nobody was in the canteen, PB Room, MC Room or PSB Room. The whole place was empty.
So I took the chance to walk around, like just straddle around the school y'know. And then I realized the amazing journey I have been walking in Victoria School. Camps, buying milo every morning, classes, CCA, cheers, SLI, lower sec years, Sec 3 Years and probably about a million things that mean so much to me. It's really quite sad, that I've come to such a stage, reminiscing so much.
Reminiscing brings you to a very different place. It isn't good, it isn't bad. It just shows you where you are. Like your current status on MSN, just that this one's real, not one that you make up.
And then Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day came to mind.
Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time
It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.
So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial
For what it's worth it was worth all the while
For what it's worth it was worth all the while. Yeah, I don't care what happens, but it's going to be a good 2008.
2008 is just like a vortex. I go in and ponder, think. But nothing gets through. It's an empty space. I haven't felt the stuff that should flow.
I walked to VS after dinner at the hostel today. Apparently I'm not suppose to go into the school in slippers and home clothes and all that but nobody cares. Literally, nobody. Cuz nobody was in the canteen, PB Room, MC Room or PSB Room. The whole place was empty.
So I took the chance to walk around, like just straddle around the school y'know. And then I realized the amazing journey I have been walking in Victoria School. Camps, buying milo every morning, classes, CCA, cheers, SLI, lower sec years, Sec 3 Years and probably about a million things that mean so much to me. It's really quite sad, that I've come to such a stage, reminiscing so much.
Reminiscing brings you to a very different place. It isn't good, it isn't bad. It just shows you where you are. Like your current status on MSN, just that this one's real, not one that you make up.
And then Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day came to mind.
Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time
It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.
So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial
For what it's worth it was worth all the while
For what it's worth it was worth all the while. Yeah, I don't care what happens, but it's going to be a good 2008.
