Vietnam Visa Arbitrage

I went to the Vietnam Embassy in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia this morning to apply for a single-entry tourist visa to Vietnam.

The embassy here in Kuala Lumpur is charging 100% more than the official fees listed not only by the Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but also the fees listed by the Vietnam Embassy in Singapore and the Vietnam Embassy in Hong Kong.

In Malaysia, the Vietnam Embassy charges RM180 (US$50.86) for a one month single-entry visa, processed in 5 working days. They are charging RM240 (US$67.70) for an "expedited" visa processing of 3 days and who knows what sort of extortion for faster wrist action.

If anyone has a good explanation for this pricing discrepancy, I'd be pleased to hear it.

Dental Check-Up Review. Dr. Yeo Kian Boon, Gleneagles Intan

I've been visiting Dr. Yeo for my regular dental check-ups for about 4 years now since he first started his clinic. Thankfully, I haven't had any cavities, so the procedure each time has only involved basic cleaning (flossing, scrubbing, salt-water wash).

I have no complaints about the quality of professional and friendly service. Both are very good.

However, the pricing 'philosophy' (if you could call it that) is completely unreasonable.

For the exact same service, I have successively paid, RM65, RM90, RM90 and this time RM150.

I asked the receptionist of Dr. Yeo Kian Boon what other prices in Malaysia had incraesed by over 50% in 18 months (my last check-up had been in 2007) and over 100% in 4 years and she simply gave me a perplexed look and said "I only work here."

This kind of pricing is completely unprofessional. If the same customer has in recent memory paid less than half for the exact same procedure, it is unprofessional not to advise the customer of the new pricing. Unfortunately, this ethically weak behaviour is not exclusive to Dr. Yeo, but I'm sure is widespread. Asking a doctor how much a procedure will cost, or even requesting indicative pricing, is often a painful and obscure procedure, much like pulling out teeth!

The internet has done a lot to improve pricing transparency for many products, EXCEPT for medical products and procedures. If any one has any thoughts on developing a web application that could monitor medical fees please let me know. Even better, if you know of a website that already exists, please let me know!

Book Review: "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult

Before getting to the crux of this review (skip below if you're impatient), it should be pointed out that there are some very frustrating things that are lost in the public's appreciation of the political and academic debates that surround human stem cell therapies. And in my opinion, it's not the public that's at fault for this confusion, but rather the self-serving academics and politicians (by 'politician', I also refer to religious leaders of all faiths).

FIRST, academics and these politicians have done a terrible job distinguishing between stem cells derived from the embryo (embryonic stem cells) and those derived from adults or the umbilical cord blood (UBC) of new-born babies (adult stem cells). There is nothing ethically controversial about taking adult stem cells, as no donor has to be injured or sacrificed for their extraction. As of today, every single proven stem cell therapy has involved the transplant of adult stem cells. As of today, tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, of human lives have been saved by the transplant of adult stem cells, with the world's first recorded transplant conducted in the 1960's. In Malaysia, the leading stem cell bank has performed a number of successful transplants for former leukemia and thalassemia patients. Yet self-serving academics and politicians continue to insist on keeping the debate simple, and therefore erroneous, by simply referring to stem cells, rather than embryonic stem cells versus adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cell researchers feel that 'embryonic' is a bad PR word in their search for money, and some politicians that would rather not discuss more meaningful issues, know that 'stem cells' (which, conveniently, most people still assume are embryonic) is a great PR word for raising money, especially from the happy/scared religious.

SECOND, even for those that do understand and appreciate the debate about embryonic stem cells, one thing that is often neglected in discussing the ethical issues, is consideration and moments of contemplation for the human and moral issues that affect recipients, donors and their families. In other words, taking the debate from the abstract to the personal. Think of a mother, father and possibly sibling, contemplating what they should do to save the life of a loved one. The answer, for many mothers, fathers and siblings (not to mention self-serving politicians), is anything.

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Now, to the book review:

Jodi Picoult has seemingly developed a cult following for her dramatic family novels featuring tough modern-day ethical decisions. "My Sister's Keeper" is no exception.

In this novel, we have a two-child family whose two year old daughter, Kate, has been diagnosed with leukemia. Unfortunately, neither her brother nor the parents or other relatives are a suitable stem cell (a.k.a. bone marrow) match, meaning that Kate will face near certain death within a few years. The doctor of the parents (conveniently named Dr. Chance) suggests that if the parents would consider having another child, that they conceive using IVF so that the IVF doctor may specifically choose an embryo that will result in a sibling whose umbilical cord blood (UBC) stem cells will be a match for Kate. The parents proceed with this strategy, excited to have another child that may also have the hope of saving Kate. The procedure turns out to be successful, although in later years Kate develops new complications, that again require donations from her sister, culminating in the need for a kidney donation that suddenly, and surprisingly, divides the family and pits them against each other in court. Kate's younger donor sister, aged 13, presents her mom with a law-suit to claim the rights and decision to her own body.

Picoult deserves credit for presenting a human, personal perspective to the difficult experiences and decisions that parents with chronically ill children have to make. This book does a great job of bringing up these issues of selective IVF, stem cell transplants and organ donation and making them not only understandable, but also meaningful in the context of a family trying to stay together against all odds.

The book, presumably to make it even more accessible, has been written in first person narrative for each of the characters. Each chapter flips between the 7 characters in the book, each telling the moment in the drama from their own perspective. The book has now been made into a "MAJOR FILM" (as it says on the cover) starring Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin, and at some points I couldn't help thinking that this isn't really a novel I'm reading as much as it is the script for the 2 hour telenovela.

All the characters talk just like characters out of American TV sit-coms. In fact, I found that their voices were remarkably similar, it was just their actions that differed significantly. A part of me kept on wondering, 'can chick-lit get any better than this'?

There's Brian, the firefighting chief / husband who spends his down-time with a telescope on the roof of the station mapping the constellation of stars, studying the mythology associated with constellations, being with his wife whenever possible and generally serving as the moral compass to the other porn-watching and girl seducing firemen.

There's Sara, the lawyer turned full-time mom after she got lost looking into Brian's eyes and romantic road trips on America's blue-highways. She's definitely a super-mom, and the only time she gets to unwind is when her overly-successful corporate finance sister who hasn't had time for a family, brings her in with a combination of bear hugs and wine.

There's Jesse, Kate's elder brother, who is fine except for the fact that he's a) a teen-age boy, and b)neglected by all the medical problems his sister is having. Jesse is on a self-destructive path involving drugs, alcohol, arson and theft, but repeatedly the book brings out his human good side, and actually, he's a great kid. Deep down, everyone in this novel is good!

Well.. I shouldn't proceed to describe each of the other characters. The problem I have with them, is that all the characters are flat. In this type of narrative style there's actually very little room for creating depth to the characters. Instead, what is created, is drama around the characters, and it's not the same. I kept on waiting for a "blue velvet" moment, but it just never happened. The book is devoid of irony, it resides in the bliss of modernist suburbia with no post-modern David Lynch intrusions allowed.

Liew Kung Yu at Petronas Gallery

This afternoon I had the opportunity to quickly stop by the Petronas Gallery (yes, that gallery with the useless web site, no blog and silly no photography policy) to view the latest exhibit, a series of great collages developed by artist Liew Kung Yu.

But first, I must point out a significant error and even moderate re-appraisal regarding my previous post on the exhibit by the artist Eng Tay. First, contrary to my recollection (and sweeping judgements) after the first visit, the main exhibit does indeed feature a few nudes. Furthermore, while having a quick walk through his exhibit en-route to Mr. Liew's exhibit, I was also struck by the feeling of actually liking his work more this time around. I wondered if my own bias against the artist was more due to the sheer incongruity of his depictions, particularly coming from a Malaysian Chinese artist that has spent most of his life in the southern tip of Manhattan. Perhaps I was falling into the terrible trap of forcing the artist into his art and criticising the art for not painting something just as an artist from Manhattan or Malaysia should. Still, this isn't art that I would want hanging around me for very long, simply because I think it would get old rather quickly. It's hard to see where the layers of contemplation would come from in most of his pieces. Again, this is more a critique of his recent pieces, as the pieces displayed created in the 1970s and early 80's to me show much more depth and potential for on-going dialogue and reflection.

Now to Mr. Liew Kung Yu's exhibit. First - I was rushing through and will definitely have to go back, but my initial reactions are as follows: 1) the exhibit (and artist) should not be pigeon-holed into the category of 'photography' - these 3-dimensional pieces, though largely composed of photo images, have been recreated into something much more fun, mesmerizing and sub-conscious; 2) I must return for another visit; 3) take your kids.

The collages seem to turn scenes of Malaysia into ridiculous (but nice?) amusement park destinations for tourists. Crowning achievements of post-Colonial Malaysia, the twin towers, super-highways, the Proton car, 747s flying back and forth and even the functionally useless "KL Hop-on Hop-off Bus" all appear in one of his displays, but draped in a wild array of traditional patterns and very bright colors. Some images have been layered on top of each other creating a 3-D visual impact that inevitably draws you closer. Each collage is possibly composed of hundreds of photos (and endless photoshop hours) to create a complicated scene that can keep you entertained and discovering new things for a long time.

The accompanying pamphlet comes with a patriotic end-quote: "The artist humbly dedicates this work to the visionaries who conceived these spectacles and to the rakyat of Malaysia." Given that the exhibit is titled "Proposals for My Country" and the phantasmagorical scenes that have been presented, one has to wonder if there is more than a little bit of sarcasm intended in that quote.

If only the artist could be allowed to actually paint some of Malaysia's monuments as he had imagined them!

The artist will be at the gallery holding a talk on Saturday April 25, 4 p.m. and there will be a panel discussion titled "Examining the Aesthetic Choices of our Urban Environment" on Saturday 9 May. The artist talk might be very interesting. I dread the thought of the agglomeration of powerless and politically correct participants at the panel discussion and my only comments would be: 1) the aesthetic reality is the outcome of a mis-guided economic development policy that celebrated detached homes, suburbia and families with cars at any (i.e., the government's) cost; 2) these phantasmagorical (but sadly not at all colorful) outcomes are much more likely in the existing feudalistic society that is driven by a handful of well connected socially and spiritually anesthetized developers.

Eng Tay Exhibit at Petronas Gallery

Until May 15 Petronas Gallery is featuring paintings, etchings, sculpture and pottery of Kedah-born (b.1947) Malaysian artist Eng Tay.

Petronas Gallery studiously clings to the pre-internet era with a highly uninformative website (no blog or news feeds, no supplementary information, no access to the Petronas' extensive art collection, no links for further reading) and a strict no photography policy within the gallery.

Note that on Saturday April 18 at 4p.m. there will be a "guest-curated" walk through the gallery at 4p.m. It should be very interesting.

The exhibit consists primarily of recent (last 15 years) of paintings by the artist, a few very interesting sketches/paintings done in the 1970s and a few sculptures and pottery. Personally I thought that by far the most interesting works were those sketches/paintings done in the 1970s as well as some of the pottery pieces.

The written biography prior to the exhibit explains that the Kedah-born artist was in SoHo during the 9/11 attacks in Manhattan and that this event had a profound impact on his art and has reaffirmed the artists' interest in "returning" to the humanism found in an "Age of Innocence." However I wonder if his move from Kedah to Manhattan in 1968 might have been much more impactful. At that time, Malaysia was in the throes of trying to define its post-colonial narrative, tying to keep the races at peace, fighting off Chinese Communists and setting the ground-work for becoming an export economy independent of Singapore. America was embroiled in Vietnam and major social / generational changes that must have made Manhattan a pretty interesting place to be... Malaysia today doesn't seem very comfortable re-examining this period of its history, which is perhaps why the written narrative in the gallery doesn't even question why a 21 year old Chinese Malaysian in 1968 would leave to move to Manhattan.

With this curious written biography (desperate agent?) I proceeded to view this artist who I had never heard of before. My first impressions were of an art-dialogue with Gauguin, Botero and sculptural depictions of Tang Dynasty court ladies. Plump and large light-skinned Asian women and men often in pastoral, tropical or non-descript living rooms (playing classical Chinese and European instruments)... generally in comfortable clothing and with no particularly strong emotional expression. People look healthy, but not particularly happy - could be a statement similar to Botero's depictions of Colombian bourgeouisie, but who knows, the cynicism isn't really apparent. Some of the Mao-inspired communist era murals and posters had similar shapes, but of course those people were usually marching someplace and with banners, whereas Eng Tay's figures are always standing or lying down and seem to generally be celebrants of the leisure-class. The facial expressions nearly always appear vacant. The distracting 9/11 theme made at the introduction to the gallery was impossible to follow in the exhibit, with the chronology not showing a dramatic departure. If anything, it seems that the more significant shift in style came in the 1980s.

His art is said to tell "intimate stories of familial pursuits and the communal spirit, with a strong feminine presence. The notion of balance, as in the Ying-Yang order of things [yuck, desperate agent again?], is also key to his works." Indeed, a search online or in the book on sale at the Petronas book shop will show a number of nice nudes, none of which, of course, are on display in the gallery lest it offend the prude aesthetics of the day.

A number of websites selling works of the artist have the following quote from him: "Emotions, relationships, color, light, wind or sounds that I experienced last night, or many years before, are the raw materials with which I try to create "new" moments - the images my etchings represent - rooted in memory."

It's difficult to get more trite than that, but in fairness to the artist, these comments are generally vacuous and again, it might be best to blame his agent.

Lucien DeGuise, writing for The New Straits times has this article that tries to be complementary, but has some very interesting thoughts upon her review of the art:

All the signs are that art is returning to its traditional role as domestic space filler. There will be less talk about “irony” and other types of self-importance.

Only artists believe their art incorporates the meaning of life. For everyone else it’s a pleasant distraction. Which is why it’s such a relief to find Galeri Petronas launching an exhibition of works that are as anti-angst and as shopping-mall-friendly as an Osim calf massager.

Ha! Ha! My favorite quote from the reviewer, has to be this one:

He has also created a market in a few less celebrated parts of America, such as New Jersey.

Exactly. I just can't imagine anyone but the bridge-and-tunnel crowd from New Jersey and pre-crisis hotel developers plonking down cash for these pieces. Finally, after desperately trying to fill the page with whatever (really, you've got to feel sorry for this reviewer), she declares: "This is ecstacy at work, and it has nothing to do with drugs." And therein lies the problem: Eng Tay's exhibit is less amusing than bad porn, there's no one at the door handing out little pills, and they're not even displaying the nudes.

Book Review: The Lands of Charm and Cruelty: Travels in Southeast Asia - Cambodia: The Khmer Rouge Have Returned, by Stan Sesser

Just as Obama fever was taking hold of me and I was starting to feel patriotic about America, my pride was again sobered by this brief account of modern Cambodian history and America's complicity in promoting its holocaust in the 1970's.

This review pertains to only the chapter describing Cambodia in Stan Sesser's wonderfully written book. The other equally insightful chapters describe Burma, Singapore, Laos and Borneo. Though first published over 15 years ago in The New Yorker, many of Stesser's observations are as relevant today as they were then. This review is based on the Picador version of his book, published in 1994.

The Khmer Rouge was an anti-colonial, patriotic and communist-inspired guerrilla movement that probably formed in the late 1960s in response to the rightist government of General Lon Nol, the puppet political leader supported by America. It was named Khmer Rouge by Cambodia's King, King Norodom Sihanouk, in reference to their supposed Communist inclinations.

In 1969 as America became increasingly frustrated by their inability to win the Vietnam War, they started bombing supposed Viet-Cong targets outside of Vietnam's borders, in Laos and Cambodia. In both countries, the bombings were ruthless, extensive, and in many instances, indiscriminate. It was in this environment of American terror and domestic political negligence that the Khmer Rouge started to gain support, initially primarily in the countryside.

Unfortunately for General Lon Nol and his government, the support received from America was only conditional so long as Cambodia remained strategic to America's war in Vietnam. As the mid 1970's approached, America's commitment to fighting a poorly defined Vietnam War started to wane, and its commitment to Cambodia dissolved.

Finally in 1975, with America effectively defeated in Vietnam and disinterested in continuing to prop up General Lon Nol, the Khmer Rouge took the opportunity to enter Phnom Penh. They were welcomed on the streets as victors, though perhaps over half of those cheering them on would soon find themselves either tortured to death by the Khmer Rouge or dying of starvation on their so-called Killing Fields. Within weeks of the Khmer Rouge's entry, the Americans and ultimately the French all evacuated, leaving Cambodians to fend for themselves. The population of Pnom Penh dropped from 900,000 prior to the Khmer Rouge entry to less than half that amount four years later. Of 475 doctors prior to Khmer Rouge taking power, there were only 43 in 1975.

The Khmer Rouge never proceeded to create a communist or socialist state, but instead remained a loosely organized and ruthlessly despotic guerrilla movement. It's leaders were anti-intellectual, anti-Confucian and anti any social structure demanding bonds to family or religion. Only one devotion was allowed - to the Khmer Rouge. Initially I thought that the movement might have some similarities to China's Cultural Revolution (happening at the same time, by coincidence?), but on reflection, I think even the Cultural Revolution started with a socialist (socializing) intention that subsequently descended into a reign of anti-intellectual terror. The Khmer Rouge was an anti-intellectual terror movement from the outset. Anyone who displayed disagreement or capability to lead against its uneducated leaders was killed. In total somewhere between one and three million Cambodians died between 1975 and 1979. The Khmer Rouge was particularly ruthless towards ethnic Vietnamese, many of whom had lived in Cambodia for generations.

In January 1979, on the valid pretext of stemming continued deadly Khmer Rouge raids into Vietnamese territory, Vietnam invaded Cambodia and overtook Phnom Penh and the other large cities. The leader installed by Vietnam was 27 year-old Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge member who fled Cambodia in 1977 when he realized he would likely be killed by the movement. Following Hun Sen's Vietnam-backed invasion, many of the Khmer Rouge fled to the countryside and to Thailand, where the Thai military protected them in exchange for continued timber and mining concessions. The Thais, never particularly caring for the welfare of their ethnically distinct neighbors, were not concerned with the genocide taking place next door. The Thai military became the effective financier of the Khmer Rouge, with behind-the-scenes backing from America, China and Singapore.

A combination of injured pride and preference to try to bury the past dictated America's rationale not to recognize Hun Sen's government (after all, it was the victors of the Vietnam War that were installing this government). For a decade beginning in 1979, America voted year after year in the United Nations to keep Cambodia's seat with the Khmer Rouge rather than hand it to Hun Sen's government. The worst of the killings had ended, but Cambodia remained a fantastically poor and war-torn country, in dire need of international assistance. America did not care, as evidenced by their refusal to acknowledge Hun Sen's government in the United Nations that would have allowed delivery of badly needed aid. The embargo lasted until 1992, when the Hun Sen government allowed a UN mandated new election to take place that would re-establish the Khmer Rouge as a legitimate political party. America also forced the Khmer Rouge and the party of former King Sihanouk to form a coalition as a condition for receiving aid (just imagine, King Sihanouk had been imprisoned by the Khmer Rouge and had seen them kill 5 of his sons and daughters and 14 of his grandchildren and other relatives).

That's right: the despotic guerrilla movement that chased out the Americans from Cambodia in 1975 before killing millions of innocent civilians, that was overthrown by Hun Sen's Vietnam supported government, was subsequently re-installed by America and its UN mandate as a legitimate political party. It's hard to imagine how many Cambodians would be able to vote "freely" knowing how the Khmer Rouge treated its opponents.

The United Nations transition force became in itself a massively corrupt international boondoggle that at many moments seemed doomed for failure. It's debated whether UN intervention was even necessary, or simply a face-saving way for America via its UN proxy to become involved in a post Hun-Sen transition and try to re-write its miserable history in this country. As Stan Sesser writes, "the UN plan was mapped out not for the Cambodian people but to please the superpowers."

Today Cambodia remains a very poor country. In the current economic down-turn, it's hard to see how Cambodia will be able to re-build itself. It remains a very uneducated, poor and corrupt country. I've recently been to Pnom Penh (though not Angkor Wat yet) and would recommend it as a pleasant city to visit for a few days.

A Traveller's History of Japan, Richard Tames. 4th Edition, 2008

Richard Tames' A Traveller's History of Japan provides a very readable and short overview of Japan's history from pre-history through to the first few years of this century. I relied on this book to provide me with background information prior to a 5 day trip to Tokyo in November 2008.

The strengths of the book were in the introduction and first chapter, followed by the chapters beginning with Japan's contacts with the West. It could be my own bias, but in my opinion Chapters 2, 3 and 4 (covering the period from 500 A.D. to 1543) were not presented as well as the remaining chapters.

The book begins well with a brief geographical review of Japan, it's natural strengths and weaknesses in terms of natural resources, and thoughts about how these attributes have served in part to form some of the essential qualities of what it has meant to be Japanese. Tames immediately emphasizes the isolation and homogeneity of Japan:

To be Japanese is to be a Japanese citizen, born in Japan, living there and speaking Japanese. State, people and language coincide to a degree altogether remarkable in the modern world. Ninety-nine per cent of all the Japanese in the world live in Japan itself. . . Japan has no minority greater than one per cent which is different by virtue of religion or ethnicity.

The recounting of the tumultuous arrival of Christian missionaries (and subsequent violent reprisals against them and their converts) as well as the recounting of Japan's rise to strength before and after World War II, were told well.

Unfortunately, I read this book three months ago already, and I'm struggling to recall more of the thoughts I had of it.

It's hard for such a short book to provide anything more than a cursory overview of thousands of fascinating historical events. For taking on such a great challenge, I think this book generally did a good job. However I wasn't thrilled by the book, and will keep looking for more histories to read prior to my next trip.