Author: Hafiz Noor Shams

For more about me, please read this.

Categories
Conflict & disaster

[2327] No to foreign military intervention in Libya

There is a civil war in Libya and the one that started it is Muammar Gaddafi. He is a vicious man. The way he violently handled peaceful protests against his government justifies the rebellion that is underway in the country. Between the Gaddafi government and the rebels along with the protesters, I find it impossible not to support the rebellion morally. Despite that, I cannot support any foreign military intervention that sides with the rebellion.

The talk of military intervention gained prominence when there was suggestion to impose a no-fly zone in Libya. The fact that two US warships are approaching the waters off Libya heightens the possibility of US intervention in Libya.[1] It is a relief when US Defense Secretary Robert Gates poured cold water on the suggestion.[2]

At the risk of sounding sadistic, I do not support intervention because I like to see how the civil war will play out in the end. If the rebels and protesters won the war eventually, then it would be relatively easy to justify the new government arising from the popular rebellion. The new government would be formed popularly and organically.

Any foreign military intervention will rob some legitimacy from the new government. Accusation of US imperialism will fly, possibly making the rebellion less popular inside and outside of Libya. Furthermore, in times when the whole Arab world appears to move forward towards a more democratic environment, such external intervention is unhelpful.

Meanwhile, Gaddafi does have some support in Libya, however deluded he is about the level of support he has. There are still people fighting for him. These supporters would definitely try to justify Gaddafi’s so far outrageous claim of foreign intervention in Libya. Having an actual military intervention will hand Gaddafi and his supporters some undeserved moral victory.

Besides, the rebels themselves have stated that they do not want foreign government to intervene.[3]

If the rebels loses, then the Gaddafi government will further lose its legitimacy because the rebellion is seen by many as a popular movement.

And then, there is another issue which I have raised earlier: we cannot fight tyranny everywhere. If intervention is justified in Libya, what about other protests suppressed violently in other part of the world? Myanmar? Iran?

I do not even support any United Nations or any other organization’s peacekeeping mission in Libya, given the current situation. The rebels seem to be winning. An international peacekeeping force by the United Nations would halt progress made by the rebels and protesters, preventing or at least prolonging possible victory that would remove Gaddafi from power and along with it, hopefully his arguably socialistic policies. I do not want any intervention that would increase the likelihood of Gaddafi staying in power. I would support a peacekeeping mission only if Gaddafi has the upper hand.

Until then, I insist all we can do — apart from humanitarian aid — is sit, watch and hope for the best in the Libyan rebels and protesters.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

[1] — WASHINGTON — A US warship with hundreds of Marines on board headed towards Libya on Tuesday, defense officials said, as US and European allies sought to pile pressure on embattled leader Moamer Khadafi. [US warship headed to Libya: officials. AFP. March 2 2011]

[2] — Military options, such as imposing a no-fly zone to prevent attacks on regime opponents, have consequences that need to be considered carefully, Gates said. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization hasn’t decided on any specific steps. [US signals caution about Libya military intervention. Lachlan Carmichael. AFP. March 3 2011]

[3] — Ghoga said the newly formed council was not contacting foreign governments and did not want them to intervene. [US signals caution about Libya military intervention. Al Jazeera. February 27 2011]

Categories
Economics Society

[2326] Conspicuous consumption in the train

When I first read Veblen’s The Theory of the Leisure Class, I found the idea of conspicuous consumption a bit ridiculous. In the book, he argued that individuals consume for the purpose of signalling his wealth. Wealth as a signal evolved from prehistoric social structure.

During barbarian times, what Veblen called successful exploits — primarily war but later as society became peaceful and orderly, through business — brought the great spoils to the victors. Success brought status and wealth. The society soon used wealth as a signal of success that brought status, while taking the causal relationship for granted. Slowly, it did not matter whether one is successful or not. Only wealth matters. Wealth differentiated individuals into classes.

Wealth is observed through either consumption or leisure. Long story short, through further evolution, the whole society in the end engaged in consumption to signal wealth and status. All that matters in the end are consumption. If one consumes some minimum level of goods or leisure, then one is accorded with some kind of respectability by the wider society.

Veblen called it conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure. It is conspicuous because individuals consume goods and leisure to — to put it crudely — show off.

As I said, I found the whole concept ridiculous initially. It could not be that we all consume to show off in conscious manner. After awhile however, I started to warm up to Veblen’s idea though there were some reservations, mostly because I accepted that there are individuals who engage in this type of consumption. After all, there is such a thing as a Veblen good. For example, a Ferrari. One of the reservation I had was not all consumptions are principally due to signalling. There are consumptions made out of necessity, even in a rich society. Even so, a majority of consumption of items that might be labelled as luxurious are done simply because individuals enjoy such consumption, not because they want to signal their status in a conscious manner.

That opinion of mine later changed.

While I was in Sydney, a majority of individuals, friends and strangers alike, had iPhone or iPod or anything Apple’s. Even I had one. Apple’s products were ubiquitous. It had become some kind of expected standard of consumption.

I only started to recall Veblen when I was riding a train in Kuala Lumpur. I did not see any Apple product, or at least, a majority did not own it. Consumption as a signal of wealth did function well in describing wealth difference between Malaysian and Australia societies.

As I switched on my iPod in the train, I kept holding it in my hand. I did that because I would like to control the player rather than allow it to randomize the songs for me. At one point, I asked myself, am I showing off in the way Veblen described more than a century ago? More question came to mind: what if whether one is aware that he or she is showing off is relevant? What if all of us are showing off, unconsciously?

Whether or not I was aware of the signalling, or regardless of my intention in consuming, I was effectively signalling my wealth, and arguably, status to others through my iPod.

I first read Veblen about five months ago. The first few months were a struggle that began with me trying to disprove Veblen. From disproving, I later tried to qualify his statements. In the end, Veblen won.

Categories
Pop culture

[2325] Do you hear the people sing?

When I first decided to ride a bus from Paris to London, I did not plan on watching anything at West End. A friend in Paris encouraged me to watch something but I ignored her, telling her I would not want to watch it alone. I changed my mind when I got out of Victoria Station, where I spotted a theater hosting Wicked. I watched Wicked with her in Sydney and I like the show. Remembering how much I like it, I told myself, the West End is in London. So, I looked around and decided I wanted to watch the famed Les Misérables.

I am glad I watched it.

Right now, the songs sang in the show keep ringing in my ears. It does not help when the television keeps airing news from Libya and the Arab world in general, reminding me of songs of Les Misérables sung when French student group in Paris led a failed rebellion against the authority.

I have not watched too many musical. That makes me easily impressed. I in fact was impressed as soon as the show began. As the show began, I could read ‘Toulon 1815’ floating in the air on the stage. Seeing how the words were floating, thought that was a hologram. I said to myself, whoa.

It was when they rolled up the thin screen in front of the stage that I realized those words were projected onto a screen. The screen and the smoke gave the appearance that the words were floating in the air.

And then it began with this song…

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The video is the best I could find on Youtube. Be aware that the video shows a recording of a concert rather than a play. While the scene in the video is continuous, in truth there are multiple scenes cut out. And of course, in the play, the actors do not just stand there in front of the microphones.

Anyway, what impressed me the most was the stage; specifically, the wheel that acted as a rotating mini-stage. As a person with limited education in theater, I found this to be absolutely ingenious way in portraying a moving street. It allowed the actors to walk while staying still with respect to the whole stage. Not only that, the rotating stage was especially effective during the fighting scene where the student group was at the barricade fighting the army. Because of that, the change of scene was seamless. This is what I mean by rotating stage:

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Although I have absolutely no use of this knowledge, the idea astounds me even till today, 3 weeks after I watched the show at Queen’s Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue.

This is the Queen’s Theatre.

The songs that I associate with the situation in the Arab world are these two: Red & Black…

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…and Do You Hear the People Sing?

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You know what is cool? Knowing and having been to some of the places mentioned in the songs and the play in general.

My favorite is Confrontation.

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I like how the counterpoint works.

There is of course the song which a lot of people who are unfamiliar with Les Misérables know, I Dreamed a Dream, when in the story, Fantine was just fired from work unfairly before being forced into prostitution.

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And then, One Day More…

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There are other great songs which you could watch on Youtube. I will not post all the videos here because the whole play last over 2 or 3 hours.

In fact, you should watch the real thing it if you have the chance.

Categories
Politics & government

[2324] Shadow cabinet: give Pakatan Rakyat a break

The formation of a shadow cabinet in Malaysia is ideal. That demand has been made multiple times to Pakatan Rakyat, especially by those unfriendly to Barisan Nasional. While shadow cabinet formation does indicate the seriousness and the preparedness of Pakatan Rakyat in governing Malaysia when the time comes if it comes, and that itself has some value, one — specifically those who are unfriendly to Barisan Nasional — has to be reasonable.

Although relations between the components of Pakatan Rakyat appear to be on good terms, there have been frictions from time to time. For instance, observe the issue of Islamic state. Members and sympathizers of Pakatan Rakyat have defended some of the frictions by stating that it is part of democratic culture, where there will always be difference of opinions. That however does not cover up the fact that there are groups within Pakatan Rakyat that have different ideals. Gaps exist. Part of the gaps is due to party loyalty. The way Anwar Ibrahim has been managing it is one of the wonders of Malaysian politics.

Now, a shadow cabinet indicates that that person would be the minister if Pakatan Rakyat forms the federal government. In other words, a shadow cabinet hints who is who. Imagine what a shadow cabinet could do in exacerbating those gaps. The amount of goodwill between parties that could be lost for something that might not happen — Pakatan Rakyat as the federal government — is not worth the effort. The bickering that might happen due to who should be whom might even reduce the chance of Pakatan Rakyat winning the next general election.

Right now, the foremost requirement for Pakatan Rakyat is to present a united front, especially when a general election is expected soon. The so-called shadow committee covering the existing ministries should do fine at the moment.

Besides, what is the purpose of a shadow cabinet?

Is it about knowing who is who, or about knowing what are the alternative policies?

Given the current general circumstances, I would say the latter. There is more substance in alternative policies compared to alternative persons. I am interested in issue-based politics, not personality cult.

So, Pakatan Rakyat should cross the bridge, only when they come to it. And the bridge is not in sight yet.

Nevertheless, members of those shadow committees need to raise their game. They are too quiet. Some of the members of the shadow committees have defected, making the members list outdated. It has to be updated.

Categories
Photography Travels

[2323] The National Gallery, London

I took over a thousand shots while I was in London. Yet, the amount of good photos that I have is astoundingly limited. Part of the reason probably has something to do with the fact that these days, I frequently shoot in manual mode.

This is one of those good photos.

This is the National Gallery in London.