Ovi magazine; Tuesday June 14th, 2022 – World Blood Donor Day

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Tusday June 14th, 2022 – World Blood Donor Day

World Blood Donor Day (WBDD) is held on June 14 each year. The event was organised for the first time in 2005, by a joint initiative of the World Health Organization, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products, and to thank blood donors for their voluntary, life-saving gifts of blood.

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#Singapore as a quasi-one-party state by Murray Hunter

Singapore’s People’s Action Party (PAP) is one of the longest political parties holding power, winning every election since 1959. CNA, part of the state media, inferred that Singapore was a one party state with its headline  “A ‘one-and-a-half party’ political system possible in Singapore, says political analyst”, after the 2020 election.

Singapore has the characteristics of a one-party state. Yet, paradoxically, even though Singapore has a functioning Westminster parliamentary system, which Freedom House criticises for being unfair, if 66,251 voters had changed their intentions, there would have been a hung parliament after the 2020 general election.

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Preface to sail #poem by Bohdan Yuri

“kiss me, gentle mist on fog’s grey skin.
spray your perfume, salty sweet,
that I may lose my bitter tinge.”

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Fika bonding! #35 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

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Ovi magazine; Wednesday May 25th, 2022 – WHY? Gun control NOW!

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Wednesday May 25th, 2022 – WHY? Gun control NOW!

Nineteen young children and two adults have died in a shooting at a primary school in south Texas. The gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School – which teaches children aged seven to 10 – in the city of Uvalde before he was killed by law enforcement, officials said. The 18-year-old suspect had a handgun, an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and high-capacity magazines, investigators say. The teenager is suspected of shooting his grandmother before the rampage.

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“Do you want us to bring your children in?”. Signing false confessions. by Zulfikar Shariff

I came awake with the Gurkha officers around me. Chang was in the opposite chair. He told the officers to send me back to the cell.

“No, I’m ok. I’m ok” I told him. “We carry on.”

I was desperate. I had to get the interrogation period over as quickly as possible. Let’s get it done. Whatever they wanted me to say. Get it done, so I can get out of detention and to my children. I needed to tell them to leave Singapore.

That was all I thought about. Get my children and my family out of Singapore where the ISD could not get them.

“Send him back to cell” I heard Chang say again. “Next time don’t interrogate him after dinner.”

“I’m ok. Let’s carry on.” My body was weak.

Continue reading HERE!

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Saskatchewan Sky #poem by Michael Lee Johnson

“Saskatchewan
sky,
just a preview of love,
chip off
an edge of
prairie”

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Ralph Waldo Emerson: A bridge to the Spirit of the World by Rene Wadlow

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) whose birth anniversary we mark on 25 May, stressed the need for thinking and writing in an American style, separate from that of England which dominated American culture at that time – an early voice for “America First”. He called for a poetry “of insight and not of tradition”.  Yet at the same time, he knew that the “Oversoul” – the ‘Thee’ for which Walt Whitman sang, transcended all frontiers.

Emerson was a leader of what is often called “American Transcendentalism ” – a vision of a cosmic force whose immanent nature courses its way  upward through all creation toward its source.  The Transcendentalists held that the sacred, which transcends the world but manifests itself in this world, thereby sanctifying it and making it real.  God’s immanent presence in the creation is an ongoing process of progressive spiritual evolution. Walt Whitman that Emerson recognized as a intellectual and spiritual kin, gives these ideas a more poetic form. Evolutionary theory and democratic thought led Whitman to a new understanding of the divine-human relationship.

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Screws & Chips #032 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

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Ovi magazine; Friday May 20th, 2022 – World Bee Day

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Friday May 20th, 2022 – World Bee Day

World Bee Day is celebrated on May 20. On this day Anton Janša, the pioneer of beekeeping, was born in 1734. The purpose of the international day is to acknowledge the role of bees and other pollinators for the ecosystem.

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Rogues and Spyware: Pegasus Strikes in Spain by Dr. Binoy Kampmark

Weapons, lacking sentience and moral orientation, are there to be used by all. Once out, these creations can never be rebottled. Effective spyware, that most malicious of surveillance tools, is one such creation, available to entities and governments of all stripes. The targets are standard: dissidents, journalists, legislators, activists, even the odd jurist.

Pegasus spyware, the fiendishly effective creation of Israel’s unscrupulous NSO Group, has become something of a regular in the news cycles on cyber security. Created in 2010, it was the brainchild of three engineers who had cut their teeth working for the cyber outfit Unit 8200 of the Israeli Defence Forces: Niv Carmi, Shalev Hulio and Omri Lavie.

NSO found itself at the vanguard of an Israeli charm offensive, regularly hosting officials from Mossad at its headquarters in Herzliya in the company of delegations from African and Arab countries. Cyber capabilities would be one way of getting into their good books.

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Yuna:wikko’o #poem & #painting by Virginia Maria Romero

“Wolf song,
a primal chorus that I dance to
as the fullness of my heart empties
into dreams that come with the sun’s last breath
before buried beneath purple mountains.”

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“Your three oldest children, who do you love the most?”. ISD threatened my children – by Zulfikar Shariff

The next morning, I was woken up by food delivered for the pre-dawn Ramadhan breakfast.

I kept waking up the whole night. Sleeping on the floor in a tiny cell was not easy. I felt as if my whole world was that cell. There was nothing else outside.

Near the bottom of the metal door was a small door that could only be opened from the outside. I crawled to the opening and took the food. After I finished eating, the sentry knocked on the door and told me to stop eating. That would be a few minutes before the dawn prayer time.

After I prayed, I went back to sleep.

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Fika bonding! #033 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

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Ovi magazine; Tuesday May 17th, 2022 – International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Tuesday May 17th, 2022 – International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia

International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia is observed on May 17 and aims to coordinate international events that raise awareness of LGBT rights violations and stimulate interest in LGBT rights work worldwide. By 2016 the commemorations had taken place in over 130 countries. The founders of the International Day Against Homophobia, as it was originally known, established the IDAHO Committee to coordinate grass-roots actions in different countries, to promote the day and to lobby for official recognition on May 17. That date was chosen to commemorate the decision to remove homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1990.

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“My name is Gilbert.” First night in ISD detention by Zulfikar Shariff

I was taken in a car. I heard that ISD’s Detention Centre was in Whitley, and I expected to be taken there. But with the hood on, I had no idea where I was.

As I tried to rest my back on the seat, the handcuffs cut into my wrists. I moved my hand to get some space within the cuffs.

“Brother, double lock it” I heard Tim speaking from the front seat.

I heard Roslan’s voice beside me. “It is already locked” I told him.

During the car ride, I tried to console myself. This was a new experience.

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Limitations #poem by Jan Sand

“One cannot taste with an eye
Nor hear with a nose.
The symphonic qualities
Cannot be exposed
To one who’s never heard
Any sound at all.”

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The scramble for president by Kola King

Events of the past few weeks lend credence to the belief that politics has been reduced to a racket for the simple reason that the All Progressives Party, APC has totally monetized the race for president raising the stakes by fixing the presidential nomination forms at a princely sum of 100 million naira. Despite the prohibitive price for the presidential forms every Tom, Dick, and Harry has been flooding the party secretariat signing 100 million naira cheques for the presidential forms, without batting an eyelid as if money was being plucked from a tree. The general impression is that the political process is being turned into a bazaar or casino with gamblers staking their cards in a bid to make a deal after which things will be turned over to buccaneers, pirates, and sundry crooks, so to speak, who have amassed wealth by both fair and foul means.

For a government that came into power with the cardinal aim of fighting corruption, ordinarily, it should be worried that part of these funds may be proceeds of corruption and even possibly money from drug-related businesses as the nation has been awash with reports of several multi-billion naira drug deals being busted by National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, which culminated in the arrest of a celebrated cop Abba Kyari, a Deputy Commissioner of Police.

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Ephemera #055 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

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Ovi magazine; Tuesday May 10th, 2022 – Bird Day

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Tuesday May 10th, 2022 – Bird Day

International Migratory Bird Day is a conservation initiative that brings awareness on conserving migratory birds and their habitats throughout the Western Hemisphere. This program is dedicated to international conservation efforts and environmental education in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Originated by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, it is now coordinated by Environment for the Americas.

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“Admit you were an ISIS supporter!”. Interrogation at Onraet Road by Zulfikar Shariff – Part III

From the Tuas checkpoint, I was taken by car to another location. The lead officer sat in the back with me.

I learned later that his name was Deputy Superintendent (DSP) Tim Ker Kien Ping. The other Chinese officer was Acting Inspector Ong Ngiap Shaine. The Malay officer was Roslan, rank unknown although his rank was lower than Ong’s.

They never introduced themselves. I learned Tim and Ong’s names from the police statements I was forced to sign. Roslan’s name was accidentally given by the psychologist.

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No matter where I go #poem by Bohdan Yuri

“No matter where I go
I will never fall down
and not get up again,
until the day I die,
no matter where I go,
I will try again,
and again,”

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Worming #035 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

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Ovi magazine; Thursday May 5th, 2022 – International Day of the Midwife

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Thursday May 5th, 2022 – International Day of the Midwife

International Day of the Midwife was first celebrated May 7, 1991, and has since been observed in over 50 nations around the world. The idea of having a day to recognize and honor midwives came out of the 1987 International Confederation of Midwives conference in the Netherlands. In 2014 it was celebrated in Iran and New Zealand among other places.

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“Do you want to say Goodbye to your family?” My first meeting with ISD. by Zulfikar Shariff

On 26th of June 2016, Shireen, our 6 children and I landed in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), Malaysia. We planned to spend a few days in Malaysia before heading to Singapore to meet with my mother. We would then head back to Negri Sembilan (Shireen’s home state) for the first day of Eid.

Notwithstanding the threat of arrest, it was supposed to be our best Eid ever. Apart from visiting my in-laws in Negri Sembilan, Malaysia, we planned to visit the island resorts of Tioman and Langkawi. The kids wanted to visit Thailand too, just for a day (so that they could say they have been to Thailand).

We spent the months leading up to the trip organising our activities. The last Eid that Shireen and I celebrated prior to leaving for Melbourne in 2002 was in Singapore with my side of the family. In 2016, we agreed to visit Singapore a few days before Eid, leave for Shireen parents’ house on the eve, celebrate Eid in Negri Sembilan for a couple of days before heading back to Singapore.

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The Muskrat #poem by Jan Sand

““Here!” my older son had said,
And thumped the plastic bag on the bed.
Inside I saw the brown-red thing.
Small – rabbit sized.”

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Tang & Ram #034 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

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Ovi magazine; Friday November 19th, 2021

 

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Friday November 19th, 2021

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How fair is Singapore’s judicial system? by Zulfikar Shariff

The late Subhas Anandhan, one of Singapore’s foremost criminal lawyers famously said that while he would defend murderers and terrorists, he would not take political cases.

He was a married man with a family and could not take the risk of the government’s reaction.

For anyone who speaks or acts against the PAP, the cost can be extreme. And a lot of the PAP’s abuse of process can be traced to its control and abuse of the judicial system.

From being sued to bankruptcy to detention without trial, the PAP’s use of the judiciary is well known.

This does not mean that the PAP direct judges in every political case. Instead, as Ross Worthington noted, the PAP leadership appoint judges that they know would toe the line, especially when they sit on political cases.

But there have been the odd cases where judges do not play ball with the PAP’s expectations.

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“Washington Heights” #poem #haiku by Saloni Kaul

“Stormy river heights!
I revel in fulfilment.
Mind made up, I cross.”

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Survival of the State of Israel? by Joseph Gatt

Recently, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made what I thought was a surprising statement by saying that Israel had been destroyed twice before in the past, alluding to the destruction of the First and Second Temple, and that surviving the 80th anniversary of the creation of Israel should not be taken for granted.

A bit of a historical reminder. Judea was a kingdom where a good chunk of the population were shepherds. So lots of sheep (because that’s pretty much what you can do in the desert) and the sheep were herded and sold to neighboring kingdoms (Egypt, Babylonia, Persia, Arabia, Axium, Greece, Rome and so on).

Now remember sheep is not just meat. It’s also wool and leather and those were luxuries back in the day. Then Judea had lots of wine, and lots of salt but that’s pretty much all we produced and exported. No wheat, no grain, little or no produce.

So Judeans depended heavily on exports, and when neighboring countries struggled to find the gold and silver to purchase our sheep and wine and salt, the Judeans had a rough time.

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Always something; the family edition 21#20 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

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