Friday, December 02, 2005

His Boots Are Made for Walking...

...And that's just what he did!

PM Lee of Singapore became Chancellor Merkel’s first official visitor yesterday.

Both sides prepared, Germany brought out the honor guard and, in theory, protocol on both sides discussed how the meeting would unfold.

But when Lee arrived, Merkel greeted him, they walked toward the honor guard to inspect the troops/have a photo op and Lee just kept right on walking… OOPS! He wasn’t stopped until he reached the end of the red carpet where a protocol person was standing!

The pictures on the front page of the Tagesspiegel this morning were priceless! The ones below are similar. I think the second picture says it all… Lee was obviously focused on the Doner kebab he was planning on having after his meeting, Angie is trying not to giggle and the band plays on.

I wonder who got canned/caned for this one! (Remember Michael Fay in the 90’s—OUCH!)



11 Comments:

At 3:01 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Erin,
Your comments couldn't be more appropriate! But we don't have to go back to the 90s to witness Singapore's cruel and unusual punishment: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4491170.stm
-Jennie

 
At 6:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a terribly terribly sad story about this young boy. and his mom wasn't even allowed to hug him? how dare a mother not be allowed to embrace her child before he is killed by the state? Even if you agree with the death penalty, in certain cases, it should never ever ever ever be a default punishment for certain crimes. So very, very sad. A country as technologically advanced as Singapore is in the dark ages when it comes to human rights. Anuradha

 
At 11:25 PM, Blogger Calvin aka Yamada Shun 山田駿 said...

I think too many people have blown the issue of Nguyen's death sentence out of proportion.

For the information for Mr or Miss Anonymous, Nguyen was allowed to hug his mom before the sentence. As a moral human being, one should know that drug trafficking is a serious crime.

For irresponsible people such as PUTFILE.COM that has only act to impose inconvenience on the lives of the common people of Singapore, its totally irrational. By the way, almost half of the Aussies support his sentencing.

Imagine the amount of drugs trafficked into Australia, who will burden the problems!

 
At 12:50 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I couldn't disagree with you more Calvin. Even more immoral than trafficking drugs is a state not allowing a defendant to present mitigating factors. When dealing with issues of life and death, the defendant must be given the opportunity to explain what factors may have contributed to his commission of the crime and the judge must balance those against the interests of the State. Death should never ever be a per se punishment regardless of how heinous the crime is. Anuradha

 
At 8:30 PM, Blogger Calvin aka Yamada Shun 山田駿 said...

You dont live in Singapore, u wasn't born in Singapore 'n u know nothing about Singapore.

Drop by for a visit sometime and u'll know what's really like here, it ain't all that bad...yes certain things i do agree needs changes but sure things are evolving. I do agree with u that i do not agree with everything my government says so, but to go to extent like what PUTFILE.COM has done is definitely unreasonable.

But this country ain't the only one that has state punishments. Death by Lethal injection, hanging etc is scary and perhaps horrible, but this ain't the only country that have such punishments, Uncle Sam is no where better with its Abu Grarib Episode, no 1 state is perfect.

Even so, the world should not punish the people for what is the laws say. I strongly disapprove what's PUTFILE.COM is doing. It does nothing to help.

 
At 8:35 PM, Blogger Calvin aka Yamada Shun 山田駿 said...

It was a fair case, he had his attorneys, it was held in the Supreme Court and many common law cases were used, and there is a limitation as to how many grams of drug that will constitute to a death sentence.

 
At 8:46 PM, Blogger Calvin aka Yamada Shun 山田駿 said...

You hold a 3rd person perspective, that's understandable, but please get your sources right before you critic

 
At 7:46 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Calvin,

You're not exactly sitting awaiting execution either, so it appears that you are viewing the case from the same "third person perspective" as I am. Second, the US may not have the best record when it comes to our penal system; however, we do not use death as a per se punishment, nor do we deny defendants the right to offer mitigating factors as evidence in the sentencing phase. It appears that that is really the only point of debate here. Perhaps, you, Calvin need to get your facts straight. Anuradha

 
At 8:05 PM, Blogger Calvin aka Yamada Shun 山田駿 said...

Uncle Sam does not have the best human rights records either. In fact, i think it'll make one of the worse list when it comes to that.

As i already mentioned, he did had a fair trial, and your idea of my '3rd party' perspective is definitely wrong. He had his attorney and mitigating factors were presented.

The truth is too many people formed misconceptions easily without finding out further. What reports on the Media is not always true.

Who to says who's right or wrong?
http://www.newsalerts.com/news/article/us-carries-out-1-000th-execution-since-landmark-ruling.html:top19:364430

That's all i would say. You had offered ur views and i had offered mine. Thanks for the exchange.

 
At 6:29 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Calvin, you seem to know a lot about what happened at the trial. Would you care to share the trial transcript with me please? Thanks, Anuradha

 
At 9:07 AM, Blogger Calvin aka Yamada Shun 山田駿 said...

Enough of debate with you. Do read the articles on my blog if it helps before you judge something.

http://alchemistglobetrekker.blogspot.com/

 

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