The Roaring Dragon

The world have heard it plenty of times and only recently the fiery dragon once again roared in a deafening sound, sending a message to all nations that the once tamed dragon is dead serious to confront of what it says agitators of its political independence and self determination. China a.k.a. the dragon was incensed after the Norwegian Nobel Committee collectively had chosen Liu Xiaobo, one of the peace activists critical of China’s one party system as 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner.
The “roaring dragon’s” bellicosity reverberated across the globe, prompting nations with diplomatic ties to China, including the Philippines, to snub the Nobel awarding ceremony in the land of King Theodoric the Osthrogoth in Oslo, Norway. Other nations, headed by Uncle Sam’s US of A, ignored the rhetoric of the “roaring dragon” which irked the latter more and called them “clowns” for making too much ado about Xiaobo and the Nobel Peace award.
As a result, the Nobel Peace award ceremony caused a divided stand among allies making it easy for China to win support from among the close allies of the US, which includes the Philippines, to snub the yearly Nobel “ritual.” The non participation of the Philippines were said to be a diplomatic concession to soften China in giving reprieve to Filipinos sentenced to death for drug trafficking.
There are more than one hundred Filipinos jailed in China and a number of them were already handed the death sentence for violating Chinas’ strict law on illegal drugs. Worst, these Filipino nationals were paid to act as drug mules or couriers for drug syndicates based in Africa and South America in exchange for a few thousand dollars.
This incidence involving Filipinos are alarming and it seems that not only in China where Filipinos are being caught but also in other parts of South East Asia particularly Malaysia. It was middle of last year when I saw on a TV news report of a Malaysian news channel detailing on how Malaysian authorities caught a young and pregnant Filipino woman in possession of illegal drugs.
The woman came from South America and disembarked in Kuala Lumpur International Airport for a brief stopover for another flight to China where the said illegal drugs will be delivered. In just a few weeks, the same news program reported that another Filipino woman was taken into custody for the same offense of being a drug courier. Unfortunately for the two women, Malaysia is one the countries that have a severe and strict laws on illegal drugs.
The plethora of reasons seems too close to ponder on why this is happening to a number of Filipino nationals. For one, it was said that they are the unwilling victims of drug syndicates. On the other hand, the color of dollars made them so and the opportunity to travel from one country to another. Others, well of course, employment to support their family in the Philippines. In spite of the reasons given, they practically knew that they will end up in jail and suffer the fate of a criminal once nabbed by the authorities.
In this situation, the Philippines could do nothing but to make a practical decision-though unwise in some aspect-to give assistance to its own nationals awaiting execution in China. For having done so, the Philippines’ diplomatic stance was tested and would somehow influence the legal debacle of its nationals to overturn the death sentence and hand them down long years in jail instead.
But it depends on the attitude of China to reciprocate the action taken by its neighbor. For the Philippines, skipping this year’s Nobel “ritual” is less damaging to the nationalistic pride of the country. Kowtowing to the wishes of China is more than enough to appease the “roaring dragon” and to put above all the protection and redemption of its own nationals and deliver them from the maximum penalty of death.

Gunpoint Social Activism

World AIDS Day was observed last 01 December 2010 and as usual the same awareness campaign about the dreaded disease was again the main topic of discussions to educate people whereby putting more emphasis on how the world will prevent and fight the disease. The intent and purpose of World AIDS Day has a clear program of action to inform the world that AIDS is a threat to social health in particular and to the world in general.
Although the observance of World AIDS Day is to inform the people about the killer disease, it is ironic to say that the AIDS disease continues to increase simply because the message lacks the character and moral fortitude to counter the gunpoint social activism put together by various organizations from around the world.
Gunpoint social activism is making it hard for awareness campaigners to succeed obviously because the activists themselves are the progenitor of the disease by urging society to side with them in their immoral battle to promote same sex marriage and the horny culture of lust and perversion.
Ironically for these people, they are noisily seeking equal rights and full recognition from the society, but for all we know they are already enjoying their rights more than the ordinary people had. Men with homosexual orientation are often on the headlines accused of molesting children. Gay Bars are openly conducting their salacious operations right at the very noses of authorities. Men having sex men had been the norm anywhere else. Cases of rape against foreign male workers are prevalent in the Middle East.
Aside from this, other social activists are making headlines created by the WikiLeaks issue. A group of people wants Western governments to stoop to their level or even subjugate authorities to their own terms and conditions, and clearly this is a gunpoint social activism at its worst. The activists had morphed into different sub-groups; the freedom of information activist (gatecrasher of sensitive and classified documents), the anarchist (urban junkies without a cause), traitors (with cruel intention to get recognition & fame) and the hack-tivists (IT expert with abnormal neurotic disorder).
All told, social activists threaten the very existence of human being. They are shouting their slogan of PEACE, FREEDOM & EQUALITY and yet they are destabilizing world PEACE by exposing sensitive, classified or top secret documents. They are curtailing FREEDOM of people to live in a healthy society by spreading AIDS and they are more than guilty of disregarding EQUALITY by violating the rights of innocent children and men victims of sexual assault from activists cum sex offenders. Whether we like it or not gunpoint social activism is here to stay and will bring the world in anarchy rather than stability.