300

I watched 300 with an old friend of mine on Monday. I enjoyed the company and the movie as well. The movie was basically adapted from the Frank Miller graphic novel which was in turn taken from the Battle of Thermopylae where King Leonidas of Sparta managed to hold off a Persian Army numbering hundreds of thousands with only three hundred men. King Leonidas held out for two days and would have lasted longer if it wasn't for a traitor in their mists.

300 was not without its controversy. Splashed over the front page of the world section of a recent issue of the Straits Times was an article about Iranian leaders making a big fuss and protesting about how the Persians in the movie were depicted. Decadent, gluttonous and sexually deviant. In fact, a certain prominent Iranian leader was quoted as saying that the movie was a propaganda tool of the west to villanize Iranians Now you might be asking why would Iranians make a big fuss about how Persians were depicted in some movie, it is because Iranians consider themselves modern Persians.

It is of course understandable how something like that would cause offence, but if the Iranian leaders stayed silent and did not stir up this huge fuss, I don't think people would link modern Iranians to ancient Persians. Yes, given that it is historical fact that Iranians have Persian ancestory, it is still a stretch of imagination for any layman to form such an association. Most of us would just enjoy the movie as it is. Furthermore, any movie, even those based on real events would have exggerated their storylines for dramatic purposes, artistic license so to speak. In fact, stirring up such a huge fuss would only lend credit to such an association.

So I guess this goes to show that even if you are offended by something somebody did, a little tolerance and silence would go a long way to make you look good.

Influences Part 2

A lot of people think that philosophy can only be learnt through reading super dense and hard to understand books that are too thick for own good, the kind of books that you can kill people with by throwing it at them. That could not be further from the truth. Lessons in philosophy can also be learnt through novels and story books that are easy and enjoyable to read. In fact through reading this kind of books you might be learning philosophy without even knowing about it. Such is the power of subtlety.

But it is not a book, but a series of books I read that made an impression on me. In fact the blog you are reading now actually pays a small tribute to these series of books. I am talking about the HHGG(Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy) series of books written by Douglas Adams. He wrote five in total. There are numerous multiple subplots to the story so it is difficult to summarise in detail (you will have to read the book to find out more) but the main plot (which is set in our modern era) involves a human called Arthur Dent who is forced to travel the galaxy as a hitch hiker because earth has just been blown up and he is the only survivor.

The character that made the deepest impression on me was a robot named Marvin. According to the book, Marvin was built with "Genuine People Personalities" technology and was the most advanced robot ever built... period. He is in fact 50,000 times more intelligent than any human and even that is an understatement. Marvin often appears to be depressed and bored throughout the book series because no task he could be given would occupy even the tiniest fraction of his vast intellect and that is the true horror of Marvin's existence. In fact, there is only one time he seemed to appear happy, after seeing "God's last message to creation" after which he died.

I think Marvin is the most human character in the book even though he is a robot. We humans often feel sad and depressed even though we have everything we could ever want in life, and a little message from God no matter how nonsensical is all it takes to make all the sadness go away even though we might be staring death in the face. I find it wierd that Douglas Adams who is a fiercely atheistic man would write a character like Marvin into his novels. Perhaps in writing the character of Marvin, he unintentionally let his guard down and acknowledge that there is a human need for God no matter how atheistic one might be. Food for thought

Interesting Proposition...

I was in Kuala Lumpur with both my bosses for a business trip yesterday. It was a pretty ordinary trip until the drive back to Singapore. Stopping at a hawker centre for dinner my boss offered me a very interesting proposition. Although I don't think it would be wise to reveal the details right now I can say that it will have very positive effect on my career prospects but it will also have a very profound impact on my personal life. Suffice it to say that it was very tempting.

My job has been great so far, a profound blessing. And although I gave a tentative 'yes' to my boss' proposition I have yet to ask God about it. All the things God has done for me after my NS has left me nothing but thankful and it almost makes me 'pai seh' to ask for more, which is why I don't. So perhaps taking on this proposition might be a bit too greedy, it is also a double-edged sword. Now is perhaps a good time to ask God for some wisdom and guidance.