fusion

Recipe for fusion breakfast

1. toasted seventh day adventist grain sprouted bread (gluten free)
2. smear with margarine and organic peanut butter
3.Sprinkle with shredded nori flakes, shredded dried pumpkin floss with sesame and grated raw carrot
4. sprinkle with ground dried roasted peanuts


Drinks

fresh orange juice,passionfruit juice and cubed red dragonfuit

time to read and paint

Just when I thought I'm freed from the shackles of cooking and picking up after the man of the house,I have to be down with a bad flu-the heat is so stifling that it dries up creative juices.

But before that ,I should be thankful to have a chance to have read Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" when I did post colonial literature in uni compared to my teenage yearswhich was limited to fairy tale romances of Mills and Boons or Valley of the Dolls and James Michener's novels.It opened my world literally and figuratively to reflect on the dichotomy of the powerful vs. the powerless,the oppressor vs. the oppressed. May Achebe rest in peace for he was truly representative of "A Man of the People". Isn't it ironical that when the liberators of the oppressed becomes the new oppressors or even worse? Or that which claim to represent "the People" are defenders of "themselves" ,and "a class above the rest".

  Despite all that one upmanship and superiority complex of "us" vs. "them",at heart the "isms" and "ideology" maintain the status quo and what Margaret Atwood "The Handmaid's Tale" depiction of the Orwellian dystopia or my latest reading Pramoedya Ananta Toer;s "Child of All Nations"praxis of the oppressed " show that that which appears different is actually the same. ",How different can "An enemy of the state" be from " A prisoner of the state".Wasn't Pramoedya Ananta Toer a prisoner of the state , Nelson Mandela, Aung San Su Kyi?

ASEAN

Economic sovereignity enables the community to deal with macro economic policies that suit each nation's level of development but cooperation in terms of accessibility to each other's market is essential.

  Food security and improving the quality of food available would provide social stability.Thailand has improved the agricultural produce to be able to be self sufficient but sacrificed in terms of environmental degradation.perhaps sustainability would be a more eco friendly model of raising agricultural output without the hazardous impact on the health of farming community or the consumers.
The agrricultural output has spin off benefits to the tourism sector,food and beverage industries, and sme manufacturing of cannedor processed food and others. Myanmar markets seem to lack the availability of local agricultural products even for basics like eggs,fresh local fruit and vegetables.Being dependent on imports would not be a long term sustainable solution but they should undergo training in co-operative ventures with the Thais to use technology to speed up agricultural production in a sustainable manner.Farmer's rights to their land is vital to be protected before they are grabbed for land development schemes that threaten their livelihood and cause the lop sided development ala China which sees farmers driven to migrate as seasonal workers in cities and causes socio-economic problems likethe break up of the stable family unit and slums in the cities that sees vast income disparity and environmental pollution.
     In terms of a healthy balance between sustainable tourism and preservation of traditional cultures,the symbiotic development of tourism in Bali sees a healthy coexistence between preservation of rural lifestyles and traditional architecture being maintained.No massive high rise blocks that mar the natural landscape.
     What can we learn from the mistakes and long term effects of modern " development" as we try to play catch up with the developed nations-the basic infrastructure,transportation and healthcare would be upgraded without the destruction of the values and cultures.The high rise edifices that eliminates the unique local architecture,the mono culture that displaces the cultural diversity, the sacrifice of quality of life for gross national product.

" V "

International Women's Day reminds me that it's time to reread Eve"s "The Vagina Monologue".
International World Book's Day reminds one of Cervantes Don Quixote

The Impossible Dream

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To go where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To strive when your arms are so weary
To reach for the unreachable star

And I know
if I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart
will be peaceful and calm
when I'm laid to my rest

And the world will be better for one
that one man/woman
all battered and torn
still strive with his/her last ounce of courage
To reach for the unreachable star
to dream the impossible dream