Gripevine

At about 5pm on Wednesday October 17, as I was running through a list of stories submitted by reporters that day, one particular headline caught my eye - Abused 4-year-old-girl flees from home. There are many cases where very young children are abused, but rarely does a child that young actually leave! I read the raw copy submitted by the reporter and found that there was an accompanying photo to go with the story too, as police were hunting for the girl's parents. The story would definitely make an interesting read, and a quick search revealed that other news websites had not published the story yet, plus 5pm to 7pm is the peak period when the website experiences heavy traffic. In short this was a story that would definitely garner a lot of reads. However I decided not to put up the story just yet. In journalism sensitivity is key Anybody who works in journalism, and even those who don't, must surely know that when reporting on cases of violence and abuse agains...

Pakistani girl-wonder Malala Yousafzai and Congolese rape trauma surgeon Denis Mukwege have emerged as strong contenders for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize to be announced today. Both are championing the cause of women. Malala wants girls to be able to get an education and better their lot, while Mukwege has treated thousands of women raped by militias and soldiers in Congo. His Panzi Hospital has been a refuge for rape victims for many years now. Vocal activists and critics of systems that don't recognise the rights of women, Malala and Mukwege both escaped death by a hair's breath but never quit in championing their respective causes. Escaping death On Oct 9, 2012, Malala was shot by gunmen for her activism against a Taliban campaign to close schools in Pakistan's Swat Valley. Since her recovery she has travelled widely, giving powerful speeches advocating the right for every girl to have an education. Recently she has expressed a wish to return to ...

 Friday the 13th marked a milestone for India, not because they won a cricket championship, not because a new leader came into power or a new law was passed in Parliament. It was because four men were sentenced to hang for a brutal gang rape in December 2012 that repulsed not just India, but the world. So what is the milestone that has been achieved here.....? First was the way the men and women of India reacted to the crime, they thronged the streets of New Delhi and brought the capital to a halt as they demanded for justice. The President, Prime Minister and the top police personnel must have heaved a sigh of relief after the funeral of the 23-year-old student whom the people called "Brave heart" and "India's daughter" was concluded without incident in the early hours of Dec 30, 2012. The funeral itself was conducted under heavy security presence, in attendance were cabinet ministers and prominent politicians. When she lost her brave battle to liv...

I am not highlighting this story in my blog because of my empathy towards my canine friends. Naturally this story stood out when I first read it in August, because of the kindness shown to helpless animals. I wanted to write about it then, but I got busy.  It's been a month now, but stories like this one never goes stale, plus the struggles of the hero in question is ongoing. He's a 50-year-old cop in Beijing who rescues dogs confisticated in a crackdown on oversized and unregistered dogs. How does he rescue them? He steals them. Yes, he goes back to the police station late at night when there are less people around, removes the dogs from the cages and sneaks them out. He keeps several dogs at home in defiance of regulations allowing only one dog per-household, several more at an office guardhouse and actively goes online to find new homes for the rescued dogs. Why does he go to all the trouble at the risk of losing his job and facing the full force of the...

 In the first study of its kind, more than 10,000 men in Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka were interviewed on the prevalence of rape. The study by South Africa's Medical Research Coucil revealed the following: Almost one in four men surveyed in Asia said they committed rape at least once. One in 10 men said they had raped a woman who wasn’t their partner. Just under half of the perpetrators said they had raped more than one woman. The most common reason men gave for the violence was sexual entitlement, followed by entertainment and the wish to punish the woman. Men with a history of physical violence against a partner, or who had paid for sex or had had a large number of sexual partners were more likely to rape someone they didn’t know.    The study which aims to create a safer future for the next generation of women and girls was published by the Lancet Global Health Journal. Read more of this grou...

 It was a Sunday May 19, I was actually going to light the prayer lamp at 7pm, but since I had only eaten a light lunch, I decided to get some dinner at the Chinese restaurant near my apartment.  The square in which the restaurant is located, is familiar territory to me as I usually go there for my meals. That evening as I entered the square, I heard a cat meowing very loudly, I looked around, but there was no cat to be found.  As I approached the restaurant, the meows got louder, it was then that I saw a little orange kitten sitting a few feet away from the restaurant, meowing at the top of his lungs. From the distance where I stood, he seemed fine, I assumed that he was probably looking for his mother who must be in the vicinity. At this point, one of the restaurant workers came out and was about to kick the little fellow, but the kitten swiftly hopped down the stairs near the back of the restaurant. I went to the stairs and peered over the railing,...

The buzz in the global media industry this week is that Newsweek has been sold again. This time to International Business Times (IBT Media), a company that describes itself as a 100% digital media group. Print to digital While its closest competitor Time Magazine has successfully managed both its print and online presence, Newsweek has not fared as well. It's last print edition was published in December 2012. As one who avidly follows industry news on the migration of established print titles to the digital domain, this is interesting news indeed. How will IBT Media re-brand Newsweek to cater to a digital audience amidst stiff competition online? How will it jostle with other established names that have already carved a comfortable niche for themselves online? IBT Media and its latest acquisition will be the focal point of attention for industry watchers in the weeks and months to come. Meanwhile here's the story that got the ball rolling. Newsweek, Sold in 20...

 On Sunday, the news spread like fire throughout the social media world and naturally made the front page of all major dailies on Monday morning - A 19-year-old official with the Federal Territory handball players team had been allegedly raped by three players at the Sukma Games Village in Universiti Putra Malaysia last week. The issues that arose from this incident was - lax security at the games village, the fact that alcohol was smuggled in and that which has got everyone frothing at the mouth - the image of sports and the Sukma games has been tarnished. These are all legitimate issues of course. But the bigger issue here is that what happened at the  games village could have happened anywhere, because rape is a crime of opportunity, when the opportunity arises, the predators will strike. Of course the organisers have to look at beefing up security and supervision at future games to ensure that something like this never happens again. But the issue here is th...

The suspect who allegedly hacked a soldier to death on a London street last week, apologised to women who had witnessed the attack and then added " but in our lands our women have to see the same." That statement struck me as rather ironic. I mean what era is this? Several minutes later I came across an AFP report of a brave women who had actually engaged the man who was holding a bloody meat cleaver in his hand.  Naturally this made his earlier statement appear even more ironic. Of all the people at the scene, it was Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, a former scout leader who stepped forward without fear of injury to herself. She has children, all the more reason to stay safe. But she stepped forward selflessly.  Today I came across this article that echoes my thoughts perfectly The Independent The bravery of women shames men by Janet Street-Porter This has been a week when a few brave women stood up and the rest of us watched in awe. The horrific events...

Tunku Abdul Rahman: "Bapa Kemerdekaan" Tun Abdul Razak: "Bapa Pembangunan" Tun Hussein Onn: "Bapa Perpaduan" or as some say "Bapa Maintain/ Bapa Neutral". Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad: "Bapa Pemodenan". Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi: "Bapa Batik" I don't know if anyone of you have given any thought to what "Bapa" Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak would be at the end of his premiership. Definitely not "Bapa Altantuya" yes.....? "Bapa 1Malaysia" perhaps? Well that might have been so, if he did not literally rip his shirt open Superman style on the night of May 5 and reveal to the nation what a racist he truly is. He coined the term 'Chinese tsunami' and blamed it on Barisan Nasional's poor showing at the polls. Najib might conveniently forget this at some point in the future. But the enlightened electorate never will. In fact future generations to come will know of this to...