What would you do?

You live your life with the values you got somewhere along the line. I do not approach photojournalism as the be-all and end-all. It’s an honourable profession but the values I bring to my job come from other sources. – John Long, photographer.

 AN accident caused oil to spill onto the road. The vehicles involved were removed but nobody seemed to remember to clear the oil slick on the road. A typical scene at a road mishap.

An expatriate happened to drive by and not surprisngly, his car spun off the road on hitting the oily patch, and landed in a drain. Passers-by stopped to take photos and get the plate numbers.

A while later, the stunned driver, with a cut in his forehead, crawled out of his car and used his own handphone to call a friend for help. Another typical scene at a road mishap.

Meanwhile, a little bird laments the cavalier attitude that is responsible for such road accident scenarios. Her friend was recently involved in a mishap of a similar nature.

What she also finds disturbing are media reports tending to assume road accidents that happened at this festive time were due exclusively to one worst cause – drunk driving after CNY celebration, and this without the benefit of a breathalyzer test! Why was there complete silence on the oil spill that led to the accident in the first place?

One could also ask why didn’t anyone present at the scene think of helping the injured expatriate driver out?

We seek answers, do some soul-searching and hope if we ever find ourselves in the same situation, we will act with courage in coming to the rescue of the victim instead of assuming everything is fine, or standing by taking snapshots of the licence numbers, desiring to strike a lottery and make a fortune out of somebody’s misfortune.

Isn’t lending a much-needed hand to a person in distress the civilised thing do?

Most people would think so but behaviour science seems to suggest otherwise – like it or not.

On Friday, March 13, 1964, 28-year-old Kitty Genovese was returning home from work. As she approached her apartment entrance, she was attacked and brutally stabbed to death by a man.

Despite her repeated screams for help, some 38 people who heard her from their apartments did nothing – not even call the police.

After the story gripped the country, two young social scientists – Bibb Latane and John Darley --conducted a series of experiments on the behaviour of bystanders.

Their conclusion which is starling and now known as Bystander Effect, is that the greater the number of people present, the less likely people are to help a person in distress.

The study concludes it is partly because of diffusion of responsibility – you think to yourself, there are all these other people here. This isn’t entirely my problem.

A New York Post’s front page photo of a man about to be killed by an approaching subway train which generated fury in the US just before the close of 2012, has many similarities to this infamous story of Kitty Genovese.

Ki Suk Han, 58, was pushed by an assailant off the platform at Manhattan’s 49th Street subway station in New York.

Onlookers did not try to save the man. Some kept taking pictures of the scene. Ki was later killed in full view and right before the eyes of the crowd.

When viewed through the prism of behavioral science of Bystander Effect, it means each onlooker is possibly thinking someone else was closer, someone else was stronger, someone else would do the heroic act.

As a result, no one acted.

The next day, the New York Post flaunted the shocking picture on whole front page under the headline: This man is about to die.

A photographer freelancing for the tabloid who was at the scene, took the picture.

The reaction from the public was ferocious. In condemning the photopgrapher, many people asked whether the lensman was uncaring and more interested in getting a picture that would make him richer than saving a life? Was it ethical photojournalism?

They expressed shock why the newspaper decided to publish the photo of the tragedy.

Under tremendous public pressure, the photographer later said he was not deliberately taking pictures of the man on the tracks but was flashing his camera in an attempt to alert the conductor of the train that there was something wrong. The pictures were taken just by accident.

He also said he thought it was important enough to take the pictures to help police find the man who perpetrated the attack.

He was also quick to point the finger at others: “Why didn’t the people who were close enough help him? If I could reach him in time, I would have pulled him up.”

If you were there, what would you have really done in this 22-second life-and-death situation?

It’s certainly a disturbing story but also one that provides food for thought, especially on the behavourial study attributing the non-action of the crowd to the Bystander Effect.

Photojournalistic instincts could have taken over in the case of the photographer at the New York subway. But what justification did the other bystanders, reportedly busy taking pictures, have for not raising a finger to save Ki Suk Han that day?

Let’s do some soul-searching. What have we become when every other person in our community is trying to be the first to capture an event and post and share it on Facebook, Twitters and Instragram?

At corporate or private functions, shows, performances, birthdays, weddings, funerals, graduations, we see people holding their smart phones, ipads and cameras busy shooting away.

It’s no longer the exclusive rights of reporters and official photographers, and the privacy of the hosts is no longer an issue.

Has the longing for self-preservation in getting as many “like” clicks on our personal social media spaces taken over the virtue of respect for others’ privacy as well as the urgency to help people in distress?

John Long of America National Press Photographers Association, when asked about the duty of the photographer in a life-and-death situation, replied: Your job as a human being, so to speak, outweighs your job as a photojournalist.

Najib, the drummer

COOL BEAT: The formula is playing well with others – not

being too flashy, keeping good time and paying attention to details.

A LITTE bird told me if I did not watch the special short video, showing our Prime Minister beating the drum, then I must.

I heard Najib was deejaying a pre-Chinese New Year programme, sending greetings to the Chinese community in Mandarin together with his son Nor Ashman -- and the programme was aired by radio stations a week before Chinese New Year.

The duo discussed the definition of their names in Mandarin with Najib saying his Na-Ji means embracing luck and all positive things while Nor Ashman said his was si ji ping an which means peace for all seasons. It was very impressive.

But, of course, that was before I heard Celine Dion singing the Chinese folksong mo-li-hua (Jasmine Flower) in Mandarin with Chinese soprano Song Zuying on China State TV New Year Gala Show, welcoming the Lunar New Year.

I have also seen banners with pictures of Najib dressed in a Chinese suit, sprouting up prominently in the streets and highways of the Klang Valley and Penang.

I have also seen his picture printed on metal tea boxes and ang pow (red packets) -- which I thought was a bit too much.

Ang pow packets symbolise happiness, auspiciousness, prosperity and luck and are usually decorated with lucky symbols such as Chinese characters of the three immortals  -- Fook, Look, and Sow -- or Chinese zodiac animals, depending on the year the red packets are to be used. There has never been a personality printed on ang pow packets or gifts for New Year before.

I have also read his greeting letter, quoting Deng Xiaoping’s crossing the river by feeling the stone, reminding the Chinese community that refor-mation should not be rushed and that he is emulating the spirit of Deng in implementation the transformation programme.

Now, back to the special short (drum) video.

The first scene showed a little girl and her family in the midst of busily pre-paring to celebrate Chinese New Year at their home.

Like a busy bee, the little girl moved around the house excitedly, trying to lend the elders a helping hand. First, she told grandpa who was writing Chinese calligraphy on red paper that the stroke should be longer.

In the next scene, the little girl dashed into a room, searching frantically for something before emerging with a dusty old drum.

While she was sitting outside her house, looking at the drum, a man (the footage only showed part of his legs) appeared. She walked towards the man and asked: “Do you know how to beat a drum?”

The lower part of the man’s face, shown on the video, was distinctive of Najib’s lips and moustache. The man took up the drum and left.

The soft background music then changed to the grand beating of the drum. The little girl’s eyes sparkled and she gasped!

A pair of hands was seen beating triumphantly on the drum. More drummers joined in, firecrackers were lit, lion dancers pranced to live and a sizeable crowd gathered to watch the New Year spectacle.

Everyone was curious to know who the main drummer was. And the crowd did not have long to wait to find out. Their searching looks turned into awe and then applause when the “star” drummer was revealed – it was Najib, wearing a red Chinese costume, flinging both arms to signify the end of the performance.

The little girl whispered into Najib’s ear Gong Xi Fa Cai while Najib wished her the same.

It ended with a shot of the Chinese word Ji on a piece of red paper with Najib appearing to clasp his hands together to wish the crowd Gong Xi Fa Cai in Mandarin.

But lo and behold, the beautiful short video was spoilt by a glaring oversight – the word ji was written wrongly. Anyone conversant with Chinese knows the bottom horizontal stroke of the word is shorter than the top one.

Remember, at the beginning of the video, the little girl told her grandpa who was writing Chinese calligraphy on red paper that the stroke should be longer?

Could the elderly man have been writing the word ji? Or could he have been misled by the little girl into writing the second horizontal stroke longer?

From letters, red packets and greeting cards to tea boxes, I feel our Prime Minister has been misled by a group of public relations advisors not well-versed in Chinese culture -- just like this grandpa.

The short video also showed the burning of firecrackers which are still banned in the country.

All in all, the array of New Year greetings has done more harm than good to Najib’s image.

The STONE theory -- from Deng Xiaoping’s crossing the river by feeling the stone -- sounds convincing but are there really any stones to feel? Where is the other side of the river? Is there still time for Najib to find the way and learn as he continues to hit the campaign trail or has BN lost itself in the middle of the river?

Crossing the river by feeling the stones – well, it certainly is a trying and risky endeavour as well as a maze!

Buddy Rich (1917-1987), an American jazz drummer and band-leader also world’s greatest drummer, when interviewed, said:

I don’t think any arranger should ever write a drum part for a drummer because if a drummer can’t create his own interpretation of the chart and he plays everything that’s written, he becomes mechanical; he has no freedom.

This could be food for thought as Najib embarks on his election campaign in the country’s fiercest general election ever in the weeks ahead.

Politics of colours

 STOP, THINK, GO: This is fundamental knowledge that should be inculcated in young children, particularly, the yellow/orange colour which tells you not to rush but think before you act – Johnny Hii, PhD student of Tasmania University, Australia.

I WORE a purple blouse yesterday.

Violet, my friend, who believes in feng shui, said: “That seems to be the only suitable colour left for me to wear during Chinese New Year.”

She revealed she bought a blue cheongsam as this year comes under the Zodiac symbol of the Water Snake which, she reckoned, would feel comfortable with her water-blue traditonal attire and bring her good health, peace and prosperity.

She noted: “If, going by what Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said, red is support for DAP, yellow for Bersih and green for the environment and against Lynas, then surely blue is support for BN.”

Belonging to a group that do not wish to show their political inclination, Violet has been perturbed by the fact that one’s veneration for this year’s Spring Festival could be measured in political terms and degraded by simply classifying it on the basis of the colours of one’s attire on New Year’s Day.

Her mood during this festive season is also spoilt somewhat the BN-MCA’s Chinese New Year Concert in Penang, featuring performance by South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer and rapper Psy or Park Jae-sang, who gained global fame with his hit single “Gangnam style”.

But oddly enough and for reasons best known to himself, LGE was fuming when he heard such a show will be staged in Penang.

Has LGE over-reacted? Was it not so long ago that DAP produced a gangnam-style video, poking fun at BN -- and standing out prominently in the clip was wife of the Prime Minister, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

The video has since been given star-rating by DAP leaders and supporters. So a Real McCoy gangnam-style performance by the man (Psy) himself in a DAP-controlled state would be a boost for the video, wouldn’t it?

Not quite. An apparent kia su LGE has called on all those planning to attend the concert on Feb 11 to wear red in a show of support for DAP, yellow for Bersih and green for the environment and against Lynas.

Observers view this as a face-saving move to blunt the BN-MCA initiative that appears to have upstaged the Penang Chief Minister in his own backyard.

Pro-PR netizens have even pressured Psy not to come to Malaysia by resorting, as usual, to washing dirty linens in the public.

In an open letter, a certain netizen known as David Kang told Psy it is the citizens who will be paying for his performance in Malaysia.

He added: “The children in Sabah and Sarawak are struggling, walking miles of roads to school and feeding on the left-overs as they could not afford to buy fresh vegetables everyday.”

Such sweeping statements have offended many parents in Sarawak and Sabah for portraying them as uncaring and callous in the treatment of their children. Indeed, the current round of gangnam-related controversy has shown the true colours of many netizens.

Red, as a colour, is not only auspicious to the Chinese community, especially during the Lunar New Year, researchers have also discovered this particular hue has long been associated with love. And there’s some science to it as well.

According to a study, men are enarmoured of red clothes on women. In sports, athletes clad in red, are known to outperform their opponents. Moreover, red supposedly lends colour to the face of whoever wears it.

LGE probably will lose some points for asking people to wear red just to support his party and his political agenda.

In so doing, he is not only denying the people the opportunity to show love and respect for the Lunar New Year but also dilute the esteem in which the Lunar New Year has been held since time immorial.

Studies have shown blue and red enhance cognitive performance but they do not say which provides the greatest boost. It depends on the nature of the task, I suppose.

We associate red with danger, mistake and caution. In a heightened state, red makes us vigilant and thus helps us perform tasks where careful attention is required to produce a right or wrong answer.

Through association with the sky, ocean and water, most people associate blue with openness, peace and tranquility. This benign hue makes people feel safe about being creative and exploratory.

Studies have also found that red is most effective in enhancing our attention to detail while blue is best in boosting our ability to think creatively. So, the choice of blue or red should be made more thoughtfully!

Regardless, blue is still people’s favourite colour, besides red, and since this is the Year of Water Snake, it should come as no surprise – from the feng shui perspective -- if blue is preferred as the colour of choice.

Nonetheless, as it’s Chinese New Year and a time to celebrate, let us wear whatever colours we want, and pooh-pooh the antics of any political party to classify us by colours to suit its own ends.

Let the people in Penang, and fans of Psy in all corners of Malaysia have a good time, watching the Korean rapper strut his stuff on stage.

If there is a cause for complaint about the gangnam concert, this Foochow woman from Sarawak has made more “ringgit and sense” of it in her facebook post:

As a simple housewife, making a simple budget everyday, and every month too, I won’t pay my hard-earned Malaysian money, listening to an almost tuneless foreign rapper performing funny horse-steps on stage. P Ramlee impersonators for me anytime to show my patriotism. Not that my standard

is not high. It is a question of ringgit and sense. A sensible budget can put our country back on good economic and RM track in no time. Ask any good housewife.

Home sweet home

IN ALL HONESTY: Pupils raising their hands to show they play firecrackers at home during the Lunar New Year. -- (Photo courtesy of Sin Chew Daily)

MANY years ago, the Americans sent a delegation to France. Their mission was to search through Gallic cemeteries for the grave of a man that had been left unmarked -- and to disinter the body and bring it back to America.

When the body arrived in New York city, it was reportedly welcomed by a special band and the casket was displayed to public for a day before it was re-interred with a monument erected over the man’s grave to recognise his status as a celebrated poet, author and statesman.

Who could have deserved such honour but John Howard Payne, the composer of the song -- Home Sweet Home. The lyrics reflect the utmost importance of home, and also show Americans venerate home and family from which all human values spring.

The streets are getting busier than ever. People are flocking to department stores -- and also airports. Yes, it’s home-coming for those who have been away from home, to celebrate the Lunar New Year (on Feb 10 this year) in familiar surroundings and among loved ones and friends.

Yearning for home and anything that reminds one of home is imbedded in human nature.

While in Kuala Lumpur last week, I met up with three good friends, Jocelyn, Peter and Wuan for coffee. I brought along some local goodies -- kongpia (or guang bing, a type of bread baked in a tandoor-type oven) is always a favourite at such ‘long-time-no-see’ gatherings, especially among the Foochows.

Jocelyn, a Foochow but not-so-Foochow after living out of Sarawak for many years, was so excited about the kongpia that she took pictures and posted them on her Facebook, prompting an almost immediate response from her daughter at home: “Daddy asked if that’s kongpia.”

Jocelyn replied: “Tell daddy yes, but none for him.”

The daughter replied: “Ok..k..k..k..k. Daddy says you are not coming home.”

“Kongpia-deprived home,” Jocelyn quipped.

At that moment, I couldn’t help feeling (with a lot of wonderment) that the whole world actually dances with food from home!

Of course, Jocelyn is going home with or without a bagful of kongpia!

Home is a special place of love, laughter, simple joy and truth. Lest we forget, there are also responsibilities to be shared.

Now, how many of us, as parents, take our responsibilities seriously in keeping our children safe while celebrating the New Year?

Every year, amidst happy family reunions, there are always some mishaps to mar the celebration. What is regrettable is that such untoward incidents can be avoided with parental (or adult) supervision and responsibility.

Yes, I am talking about firecrackers! While letting off firecrackers is the Chinese way of greeting the New Year with a bang, it can most certainly dampen the celebrative mood if things go wrong.  

Two weeks ago, the police were invited to give a talk to the pupils of Chung Hua Primary School No. 2 in Stutong, Kuching, on the dangers of playing firecrackers.

When sub-inspector Simon Low asked “who play firecrackers at home during Chinese New Year,” a sea of little hands shot up almost instantaneously!  That’s what I love about children. They are so innocently honest.

But shouldn’t we be concerned about the situation or do we continue to close an eye to the potential danger it could bring? Notably, almost all the pupils admitted to playing firecrackers during the New Year despite the ban on firecrackers in the country since 1978. So, everytime we set off pyrotechnics, we are not only taking the law into our own hands but also passing it (illegally) into thousands of little hands no different from those of the Chung Hua Primary School No. 2 pupils in Stutong.

Had Low asked how many of the pupils knew firecrackers are banned in the country and playing firecrackers is punishable by law, he probably would have seen fewer little hands raised.

If the police were to issue summonses based on the confessions of these little ones, would you be receiving one for breaking the law?

I think it has to be said that responsibility for education along this line rests with the home -- not the schools. I would, in no way, recommend that schools take over such responsibility which comes, as it must, within the ambit of the home.

This is what home is for –a place where fuzzy values are set straight, law and order observed, false outlooks corrected and shoddy practices exposed.

While we may think the police have done a good job in educating the young ones on the danger of firecrackers, I have to state my case -- that failure on the part the enforcement authorities, their apathy and laxity in throwing the book at the culprits,

is a travesty of the law.

I thought poet Edgar A Guest put it wonderfully with these wise words:

If I don’t help my boy to grow up right, I call myself a failure no matter how much money I make or how big a reputation I get. I have a number of tasks to do, all of which I should like to do well; to be a failure in any one of them would be disappointing. Yet, I could bear that without whimpering if I were sure I had not failed my boy.

Not so much of me in the bank and more of me and of my best for the lad is what I would like to have to show at the end of my career. For me to succeed as a father, he must succeed. Unless my boy comes to manhood fit for the respect of his fellow man, I shall have been a failure. The glory of our handwork lies not in ourselves but in our children.

A blessed New Year to one and all.