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Banning Arcades in Malaysia?
Amon CMB was the first of several to submit a story from The Adrenaline Vault where they talk about
arcades banned in Malaysia. The story is pretty scary, one of the reasons for the ban is that children were willing to steal from their parents to get cash for the games. Think about that next time you get worked up about the government censoring the amount of blood in a game. Seems kinda insignificant relative to some places.
- To buy cigarettes, I have to identify myself.
- To buy beer, I have to identify myself.
- The goverment enforces 2am curfew on bars.
- I can't enjoy a beer in the park with some friends.
- I can't smoke in the bar, even if the owner of the bar thinks it's ok.
- She's cute, but I have to check her age...
And then theres the housing situation. I find it vaguely amusing that there is almost no rent control (at least that makes sense).And democracy ? Yeah sure, two parties and the one with the most money for the campaign is better off.
Lets not forget censorship. So you're sitting there at 2:30am watching a movie on cable (you'd rather be at a bar socializing, but thats illegal). You've seen the movie before, you remember theres a scene with a pair of naked breasts because the scene is oddly enough missing from the movie...
And half the music on the radio also seems censored, or the artists are just forgetting a few verbs here and there.
So when you rant against other countries, remember that quite a few people coming over here, have the same opinion of the states as I see expressed about malaysia.
I am just used to more personal freedom and less goverment interference in what I'm doing.
/dev/eskil ---
It's not about being "slapped around" or "abused." There's a big difference between appropriate punishment and child abuse. No one is claiming that abuse should be legal.
Ummm, hello? For someone who speaks of the evils of aggression, you sure are violently minded.
People like you are the reason the country is so fubared. Are you too brain-damaged to realize that this simply fosters aggresion and loathing?
I was spanked as a child and yet I am a very mild mannered (some would say nerdy) kind of guy. Furthermore, I appreciate what my parents have done for me. I love them with all my heart and respect them. There are many times I feel they were too easy on me, in fact. Appropriate discipline is born of love for a child. It's the, "I care about what happens to you and how you turn out as an adult," kind of love rather than the, "here's twenty bucks, go hang out somewhere and leave me alone," kind of "love" that most parents seem to practice.
Oh, and a "healthy" "respect" for authority isn't always the best thing for someone either.
Why do you think he used the term "healthy"? Because there's a difference between blind adherence to authority figures and appropriate respect for legitimate authority.
Go ahead, be a good little drone.
As those who know me will tell you, I am far from being a drone. Read my .sig. Yes, I know it's from Monty Python and is intended humorously. I still see a lot of truth to it.
...with its ban on chewing gum, etcetera. And the caning of that little bastard who was damaging cars.
Huge restrictions on what you can do, when you live in Singapore.
But on the other hand, you can walk the streets safely at any time of night, and you don't worry about people breaking into your car and stealing the stereo.
It's a trade-off, just as with all things in life.
When you allow a lot of freedoms, you also allow a lot of assholes to infringe on your own freedom.
Let some jerk chew gum, and you just *know* he's going to stick it on the seat of the bus when he gets up to leave, just as you're about to sit down on it.
Ban the gum, and you don't have to worry about it.
But, then, you don't get to chew gum, either.
Trade-offs and balances, costs and consequences...
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Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
the imprisonment of the former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia on trumped-up charges to keep the current Prime Minister and his corrupt cronies in power for a while longer.Amnesty International's annual report on Malaysia (the direct link doesn't work, you'll have to get to it yourself) details some of the abuses. Makes banning video arcades look pretty bloody unimportant by comparison.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
It's a democracy? Really? Well, let's go have a look at Amnesty International's website...
Hmmm, lesseee.... Ah! Asia, Malaysia, there:
Read it all here.
And next time, stop pontificating about Malaysia being a democratic country without doin' your homework.
--
Americans are bred for stupidity.
Unfortunately you'll find it becomes rather difficult in practice (i.e. when you actually have your own children) to follow through on these principles, because of the political climate in which we live (in this respect things are broadly the same in the UK as they are in the US).
You see, punishing your child will only be effective if they are upset by it. And its painful for any loving parent to have to inflict that on their child. If the punishment was successful, inevitably you will often harbour some doubts as to whether maybe you were a bit too hard on them. As a result psychologically healthy parents are all to some extent inhibited from doling out punishment.
Now if that were all, everything would be well. But unfortunately during the 1960's an idea arose which essentially states that disciplining children is always wrong. Good parents know in their hearts why this idea gained currency so easily, it is for most adherents nothing more than a reaction against the healthy sense of remorse I just spoke of. But as 1960's permissiveness took hold, society lost its backbone. In this, as in so many other things, most people no longer seem to have the stomach to face difficult moral responsibilities when there's an easy way out. And at some point since then, having acquired a wrapper of respectable post hoc rationalisation, the idea became a full-blown ideology. Nowadays people can reassure themselves that this abrogation of parental responsibility is all actually in a good and noble cause.
Is it fuck.
In the last twenty years, like many liberal ideas it has infiltrated social, health and educational policy, and has in some countries has even become enshrined in law. Although in some places you can therefore go to prison for slapping your child's rear end, that is not the most effective inhibitor to being an effective parent however. What is, is the fact that the ideology is now so widely accepted that most parents, teachers, healthcare professionals, welfare officers etc. would be shocked and offended to hear you admit that you are prepared to smack your child. Most people prefer to avoid public censure. More specifically, most people don't want to be regarded as the child-abusing monster they are made to feel they are. Unfortunately society at large no longer accepts the argument that the smack is necessary to teach an important behavioural lesson to a wilful child too young to reason with.
So whereas parents used to think twice about using physical punishment they now think thrice and more often than not they just abstain altogether. Even though many of us still know deep down that in doing so we are simply evading an unpleasant responsibility.
As everyone knows, it is in the first few years of life that our most basic behavioural patterns are given shape. If a child doesn't receive good discipline at that time it is going to be awfully difficult to change tactics later on when they are big enough to get into more serious trouble. But I'm afraid that too many parents don't realise their mistake until then and by that time it is of course far too late to do anything about it.
As for me, when I became a dad I set out at the beginning with the firm intent to dish out the odd gentle smack when necessary. But because of the current atmosphere surrounding the practice and the risk that the children might be encouraged to complain to the "thought police", I have found myself increasingly unwilling to make the effort. I have fared no better than anyone else in the end.
Consciousness is not what it thinks it is
Thought exists only as an abstraction
I did not know that. Thanks.... I'll go look that up.
It's just the way we think about it though.
.Where is the 'interest' payment supposed to come from, if all money is loaned in the first place?
By the same token, a society built on respect, if Abdul needs an extra grand to do something, and I have it to give, that is a gift. Out of respect, Abdul will repay that gift at an appropriate time.
If you look into where 'money' really comes from, you will probably find that interest is the devil itself.
Many countries work like this..
a national 'reserve' (the Federal Reserve, Bank of Canada, etc...) 'lends' money to the banks at prime. This is money 'created from ntohing'. This is the source. The bank, in turn, lends that money to people
Yes, they do.
Good for them. Loans at that level do not mean the same thing as they do when you borrow money from Uncle Bob.
Remember, money is illusory..
Gambling is only a 'sport' for people who can't do math!
That's right folks. If money represents our hard work and ability to trade.. what purpose does gambling serve? It's not like you are buying a service or a good.. you are simply risking money.
Muslims also don't believe in interest charges on loans, iirc. ANd this again makes sense; although it's so ingrained in our western society, think about it. Why should someone get interest simply because they lent you some money they didn't need anyway? Was more 'money' actually created in society through that lending? Why should more exist then? (Before ripping me apart, consider where money actually comes from)
Sadly, the movie has probably been banned.
Never meant half of the things I said to you. So you know, there's a half that might be true - G. Phillips
I'm sorry, I really should have backed up my statements trough links, but I didn't have any at hand.
I live in Switzerland, so I haven't been directly concerned by the censoring, but since I read a couple of german game magazines I have repeatedly heard about it.
The only relevant link I could dig up from my bookmarks is the web site of the government organization which does the "filtering". It's called Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Schriften" (more or less meaning: federal investigation agency for youth-endangering writings).
I have seen the german version of Half-Life however, and what I wrote is definitely true. In addition to this, I think most of the iD games have been "indiziert" (german word, which basically means censored, or at least no advertising or selling in places accessible by minors).
Maybe someone from Germany would like to comment on this?
PS: While I was writing this, I also checked out some links trough Google. Here's a justification for the censoring of iD Software's Doom (in german).
I strongly believe that trying to be clever is detrimental to your health. -- Linus Torvalds
... But not nearly as bad: In Germany, games which are deemed too violent are routinely subjected to modifications in order to be allowed to advertise and sell them in places accessible by minors.
A very funny example was Half-Life, in which the marines were replaced by some sort of combat droids which would spill motor oil instead of blood. Note that the gameplay doesn't change at all, you're still butchering like crazy...
I strongly believe that trying to be clever is detrimental to your health. -- Linus Torvalds
I'm just curious.. What other countries have you visited?
I dunno about the rest of the USA, but are there any arcades left in existence? I remember almost 20 years ago there was Chuck E Cheese's(before it was 99& kiddie/skee-ball games), Cirucs, Showbizz pizza place, and a couple others. Wall to wall of fun video games. Now you only see 1 or 2 games in movie theaters, etc. Blah. I miss the old days.
Actually, I am one of the few /.ers that agrees with age restrictions on games. However, I have seen politicians who want to outright ban game violence, since most stores do nothing to enforce the ratings levels. Here the problem is the same as movie theaters, crack down on the theaters, not the movie makers, and in parallel, crack down on the stores, not the manufacturers
So, basically, if somebody in Malaysia decides to earn money by operating an illegal arcade out of his van, what will happen to him? In China, middle aged ladies are beaten by police and killed in prison because they want to do Falun Gong breathing exercises.
I think Amnesty International is more concerned with state torture and judicial murder, not so much the crimes that these countries use as an excuse for their Draconian punishments.
All the creatures will die, And all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai. (Jubai, 1605)
Where do you get your definition of "right" and "not a right?"
There are only two kinds of rights. Inalienable rights, which are rights which can't be taken away. For example, the government can't order you to commit suicide, without using the threat of death or a fate worse than death against you. This is why we call the Right to Life an inalienable right.
All other rights are enshrined in law. In our society, rights are defined in the constitution and interpreted by the courts. The most recent interpretations by the courts on video games, Federal judge dismisses lawsuit against movie, video game makers have been that video games are not responsible for murders committed by people who happened to play one once. This being the case, video games are supposed to fall, legally, well within the realm of our First Amendment Rights protection, even considering the Supreme Courts recent creation of the 'secondary effects' doctrine. Nude-dancing case threatens free speech. Not that I agree with this moronic ruling by our wonderful Reagan/Bush appointees, but even considering the Supreme Court has been willing to undermine the First Amendment, video games are still protected. Maybe not for much longer, with the Hell hole people like you are turning this country into. (I really must get around to building a bunker, one of these days.)
Oh, right, I keep forgetting the American mantra. If we Americans keep pretending really hard that we live in a free and enlightened country, it will be true no matter what the pesky facts say...
All the creatures will die, And all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai. (Jubai, 1605)
Muslims aren't allowed to *gamble* by law. Games per se are fine, it's wagering money that's not allowed for Muslims. And it's a little harder to get around than saying "I'm not Muslim" since Malaysians carry compulsory identity cards which (amongst other things) help to distinguish Muslims and non-Muslims.
Knee-jerk reactions like this are typical of the Malaysian Government, unfortunately. We use the traditional approach to selecting Cabinet members - it's an intellectual race and the slowest ones win...
Somehow I doubt the government is going to start telling what you can and cannot play in your own home. One could even consider an extention of Roe vs Wade to cover this. I honestly don't think that a government saying that one has to be 18 or older to buy a game that has massive graphic violence in it is all that bad of a thing. That brings it to the point of one's parents telling you what you can and cannot play in your home, and I'm sorry, but you don't have that many rights in a matter like this. The point of that last like, imho, is that we should realize that government saying you have to be 18 or older to buy a game is a much more reasonable thing than alot of people think.
Be the Ultimate Ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today!
It might not have helped you, but it made my day. The man who cracks mirrors with his bad teeth, the ideal man? The joke is complete! I just about laughed my head off, and I'll be lucky if I don't fall out of my chair. Say it ain't so! You don't really believe that, do you?
Look out Mike Myers! the men and women of the world have fallen in love with Austin Powers!
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
In Malaysia 95% of the gaming is in Internet cafes not arcades anyway. Only the big arcades in the malls have any games from the last 10 years and will not be affected by the law. The arcades the government are referring to are not nice places...gambling is illegal in Malaysia (sort of...if you dont count Toto 3d etc). As usual an american centric view and bad journalism combine to make a story where there is none.
The best kind of gambling is among friends. That way, no money is going to some faceless third party. Although I still think that can be unhealthy if it gets too serious. Best to gamble for pennies.
Rich
(a) You are reading too much into the word "we". In fact, this said "we" also go to VCD stalls at night markets to buy said banned movies.
.....
/. posts!
:))
(b) You are also using a technique call "strawman" by posing the "we" above as a bunch of murderers+bla-blah. So much for your "logical and reasonable"-ness.
(c) I merely was stating certain facts of the "prudishness" of Malaysian Government. I laugh at this prudishness. But, instead, you make the judgement that I am condoning their actions. So much for your "logical....." (ditto)
(d) You concluded the Malaysians are "terrorized by criminals." While I agree that the Gov is not perfect and corrupt, I think your statement would fall under the fallacy called "slippery slope". So much for
(e) You keep invoking the concept of "Justice". However, I would like you to define "Justice".
Anyway, your rhetoric, and command of English is commendable.
Advice : Relax. Life's too short to get all wound up over
(Oh yeah, this is certainly Flamebait, so Moderators are welcomed to -1 Flamebait, but I am having too much fun to be held back!
Mode (3) smart-aleck mode. Press * to return to main menu.
You missed my point. Bad wording on my part to blame - your points are entirely valid and that was my point.
/. I've seen more and more people bash down other countries claiming that rights were being infringed, with a "holier than thou" consitution-quoting arrogance.
I was trying to get across the difference between a right and a privilege, and how some people will argue something to be their right, when it quite clearly isn't. Over the last few months on
If you are unable to distinguish in your own mind a privilege afforded you by the rules and laws within your country, and basic human rights, you're just not getting it. For example, in Holland they have an interesting political experiment going on where the law is extremely liberal. It is legal to smoke dope in Holland. Is that a basic human right, or is it a privilege? In my opinion, it's clearly a privilege, because by removing that law the only harm you are causing is that it is now illegal to smoke dope. If however they decided to refuse women suffrage that is an infringment against women's rights to speak out against the political and legal system in which they participate.
I admit my original argument was badly worded, but I'm getting kind of sick about the "rights" that some people on here think they are entitled to - in short, access to video games is a privilege, not a right, so treat it as such. Sure, it's a shame, but then is anybody going to be tortured or killed over this? Hope not, and it's pretty unlikely.
The one thing that makes me despise arguments about the preservation of people's basic human rights, is when people do not realise what is a right, and what is effectively a privilege. Being able to vote democratically is a right. Not being discriminated against due to race, creed or sexuality is a right. You have the right to not be imprisoned illegally, or to be tortured.
/. context. I really hate to break this to you guys, but other countries than the USA are democracies as well. In fact, if you had looked up your very own CIA's World Factobook entry for Malaysia yourself, you would notice that they do indeed have a democratically elected lower assembly, just like the UK. Marvellous. If they don't like it, they can vote them out. In fact, the legal system is based upon UK law (which is pretty hot on the old democratic rights stuff) and they have universal suffrage at the age of 21. Fancy that, they even let women vote as well! These foreigners are getting very advanced aren't they, and there you all were thinking that just because it was somewhere "foreign" it must be one of those places you see on CNN with pictures 100 foot tall of Commies everywhere. Indeed.
:-)
Being able to play video games is a privilege, not a right.
If you have the rights I've outlined above, you will be able to vote the government out of office who has banned video games, if that is your preference. A populous that is mostly in support of the banning of video games has the right to ban them (through democratic means) if they wish. Just because a minority disagree, does not mean that they are having their basic human rights taken away from them. If that were the case, the Klan would be able to argue it's their basic human right to set fire to black people, I would have the right to steal Dr. Pepper from the store whenever I couldn't afford it, and the legal system would just fall to pieces.
Perhaps something I've never really noticed about American xenophobia before, and it's only just clicked for me in the
No need for Amnesty International in this particular situation then - I'm sure that AI is busy enough dealing with real infringments against human rights. In fact, do us all a favour and go and read their Annual Report and read about some real horrors before describing the banning of arcades as a travesty.
Morons. Get your priorities right. I can understand you wanting to bitch about the FBI snooping your data - it's your contry, your right. But to bitch about a democratic government banning video games???? Purrr-lease....
I bet this doesn't get touched by the moderators, or if it does it will be negative.
actually runs as follows (or so I'm told). The gum ban only came into effect after S'pore had gotten a new, ultracool underground transit system. Automated doors, always on time, squeeky clean stations, the works. Then, one day, all this perfection comes to a crashing halt. For some strange reason, the train won't leave. The doors refuse to close and the driver can't take off. So the efficient as always in S'pore, transit mechanics proceed to take apart the entire train to determine where the problem is. After three or four hours, the train is completely disassembled, but still, nothing. So they put it back together again and tow it to some maintenance station or other, where it's given a good, solid cleaning before it's to be taken apart again, this time by more knowledgeable techs. Imagine the surprise when some underpayed malay or Indian scrublady discovers a piece of gum stuck to one of the electronic eyes that determines whether or not it's safe to close the doors yet.
In Singapore, this means you ban chewing gum straight away.
Don't know if the above story is true, but it went around at the time.
News and bla for computer musicians: http://lomechanik.net/
The amazing thing is that this is about video games, not crack houses or militias like the police in the US. I can't imagine that this is one of their biggest problems. Maybe there is there some kind weirdo fringe group behind it.
Icebox
I salute the efforts of organizations such as Amnesty International, who work for freedom in other nations
A slightly strange comment. AI concentrate on torture, political imprisonment, etc. The fact a few people aren't going to be able to play Daytona is unlikely to worry them.
If I was wearing my flame proof pants, I might mention that it's this inability to see the line that gets merkins a bad name.
I both agree, and at the same time I disagree with you.
First of all, I think we have to differ between "Beting the crap out of the kids" and "spanking" them.
Here in Norway we can't even grab kids by the arm if we catch them stealing, because it's forbidden by law. And spanking is absolutely not recommended, if the authoroties has a chance of knowing it. Wich sums up to "Don't even think about beating the crap out of any kids".
When that's said; I, too, got an occational spanking when I was a kid (I'm 27 now), but that was only when I did something really bad (like the time I totally killed my grandmothers flowerbed by feeding the flowers laundry detergant. There were some quite rare flowers in it, too.) Less serious "crimes" might be punished by just a slap on the hand, or just a verbal reprimande.
Today, we have a rising problem with crime, especially among young people (14-25), and I think the law forbidding parents physically punishing their kids have som of the blame. I'm not saying that kids should be beaten up for everything wrong they do, but if a kid gets spanked for stealing money from his/her mothers purse the first time, he/she will think twice before doing it again.
This fact that kids don't learn (by feeling) that crime is punished, makes it easier to resort to bigger crimes, since there is no fear for punishment. In addition, norwegian courts struggle with the problem that it takes a very long time to get a ruling, wich adds to the problem; there don't seem to be a punishment to the crime. I.e. the criminals are "told to say they are sorry and never to do that again", and that's it. No wonder they keep stealing when that's the way they're punished.
Give the kids a spanking if they really deserve it (but be sure to make that the exception, not the rule). Being unable to sit for an hour or so shouldn't do any long time harm, as long as the kid knows he/she did something really bad and deserved the punishment.
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This message has been ROT-13 encrypted twice for higher security.
When I was in high-school, they made it against the rules to go to the bathroom durring lunch when I was a Junior, because people smoked there.
Whatever you think of smokming or video games, most good things end-up banned to stop something else that scares the authorities. Authorities like to dictate and ""criminals" tempted them to do it. Give humanity enough rope, they'll always hang themselves some how.
As far as the reason, it seem the Malays actually have a slightly more justifiable reason than is often used here. Blood in gore have been in every media from folf lore ("Kill Snowwhite and bring me her lungs and liver"
As usual, Slashdot has applied its typically American/Christian/Agnostic/Atheist mentality to the affairs of another country. This seems rather prevalent in most Slashdot articles on 'freedom'. You cannot expect that every country wants to be like America. In Islam the parents are held responsible for the care and education of their children more so than in Christianity or Judaism. If a number of children are stealing money from their parents to play these arcade games, most of which advocate violence, sexual promiscuity and other things which fall under the term 'haraam'(forbidden) in Islam, then an Islamic government is going to take what ever steps that are neccesary to ensure that the moral fiber of their people is held intact.
As a Muslim, I aplaud the move by the Malaysian government in banning these arcades. Many children go to the arcades instead of studying or doing useful and lawful things. Most Americans find it difficult to believe that anyone could have a different idea of freedom or democracy than they do. And when somthing like this happens in a predominantly Muslim country(our way of thought is entirely different from Western thought, trust me), you whine and complain and start shouting about censorship and how this should scare us all. The Malaysians removed a cancer from their society as they have every right to do. And if the people don't like it, it will show in the next election.
This is dangerously close to A Clockwork Orange. In order to remove the bad parts of someone (or a society), they take the good parts out as well. Maybe we should ship them a few thousand copies of the movie
those who steal from their parents will just have to steal more to cross the border over to enjoy arcades in Singapore...
Reality Master dun said:
Actually, certain types of hidden cameras are generally not allowed to be sold to the public, or if they are allowed to be sold at all, require special licensing. Certain types of security cameras (smaller than, say, around an 8mm movie camera) are not allowed to be sold to persons other than "qualified" law enforcement and to licensed private investigators because they are considered "surveillance equipment".
New York State, in particular, has passed several laws on the books banning personal security cameras below a certain size (in an attempt to shut down "spy shops"), and many localities have similar laws.
In a word: Wrongo.
Up until fairly recently, literally all sex outside of the missionary position was illegal in Kentucky (our sodomy law has recently been overturned in KY Supreme Court as unconstitutional, as it was used largely to target the state's homosexual population). In Alabama, not only is everything but the missionary position flatly illegal (yes, people have actually been prosecuted for sodomy for consentual oral sex in Alabama, and yes, there have been convictions even in the past two years) but in fact all sexual activity between unmarried persons is illegal. The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled this legal, by the way.
A rather surprising number of states (often in the Southeast US, but a few other states have similar laws--Utah and Colorado are biggies) have laws that criminalise even consentual anal or oral sex. Most of these laws have not yet been ruled unconstitutional, and by and large, these laws are used to target homosexuals and/or teens "doing it"; they have been used to harass even straight, married couples in some cases, however. (Some good info on what is and isn't illegal is here; while the link deals more with statutory rape laws, it does have info regarding sodomy laws as well).
For that matter, a surprising number of states still have laws against adultery on the books. These are rarely enforced, but are sometimes used in divorce proceedings and the like.
A recent appeal to get Texas' sodomy law overturned has failed--and this was to the US Supreme Court. (Kentucky's sodomy law DID get overturned by the state Supreme Court, but this was because it was found it was used to blatantly harass homosexuals and that the definition of sodomy was overbroad--not on the merits of having a sodomy law in the first place.) Alabama's law, which (as noted previously) literally prohibits all sexual activity besides the missionary position between married adults, has not as of yet been overturned. (Incidentially--Alabama also has a law prohibiting gays from marrying, and (up until it was recently revoked after discovering it was still on the books) also had laws against interracial marriage. Some states still have these laws on the books, even though US Supreme Court decisions have overruled them.
There are court challenges to sodomy laws, but their success in part depends on state challenges and in part also to what happens with US Presidential elections. (If Dubya gets elected, it is likely that any Supreme Court nominees he picks are substantially more likely to rule sodomy statutes that even prohibit consentual anal/oral sex are constitutional.)
In any case, I'd say it would be quite inadvisable to, say, come into a small, rural Alabama town at night, going to Lover's Lane, being of one race and having a partner of another race--even if you ARE married (God help you if you're gay) and go through the entire Kama Sutra in the back of one's car. These are areas where the Kama Sutra is often banned for being considered obscene; doing such is probably a VERY good way to find one's self convicted under Alabama's sodomy laws. (Chances go up even more if your spouse or partner happens to be the same sex.)
(I'll note, as an aside, that Alabama is all but a fundamentalist Christian theocracy nowadays. One of the major judges posts and preaches Christian scripture before trials, has stated flat out that "Hindus and Muslims and pagans" are "not worth protecting". The Governor of the fine state of Alabama flat out stated (when he was warned by authorities that this was stepping over the bounds of the First Amendment's separation of church and state) that if the judge was ordered to leave he'd send in the National Guard to prevent the judge being disbarred. If it weren't for the Supreme Court, they'd be as much of a theocracy as Taliban Afghanistan (and no, I am not making this up--the Southern Baptist Convention [which has become increasingly fundamentalist and coercive to the point that their own seminary may now be defined to be a coercive group--destroyed the world's only college of social works in the process of a fundy purge] and other fundy groups and denominations [most notably the American Family Association, the UnChristian Coalition, Focus on the Family, and the Assemblies of God] have an incredible amount of influence on both the common folk of Alabama and on its legislature--one almost cannot get elected there without the approval of the Religious Reich, especially in more rural areas [read: most of the damn state]).
-Windigo The Feral (NYAR!)
This stuff is all on the surface, and all aimed mostly at the upper class Thai's, like my wife and her family. However (and I'm not trying to embarrass the Thai government into "cleaning things up" here I'm a Libertarian and I think prostitution ought to be decriminalized), Bangkok is not exactly known as the puritan capitol of Asia.
Incidentally, my wife can't understand why Austin Powers is popular in the United States. My brother tried to show it to her and her cousin, and they whispered to me part way through it "can we stop watching the movie now." Of course, it didn't help when I kept telling them that he was a popular sex symbol in the US and considered the ideal man...
Incidentally, in the United States, we have de facto restriction in a lot of areas of the country over what types of games are allowed in arcades. Games which use plastic guns are particularly targetted, as part of the propaganda campaign against the Second Amendment. Unfortunately, restrictions like these are very bad for arcades in the US, which seems to be a constantly shrinking market.
Basically, the Malaysian government is just more honest than the US government. If the US government wants something banned or censored, they just make the companies pretend they are doing it of their own free will. Of course, the companies wouldn't do it if people didn't threaten legislation, regulation, and litigation against them. The American people let the government get away with this, because we like to preserve the illusion in our country that the Bill of Rights means something and that we are freer than the rest of the world (yeah, life might be better in the US but we are not particularly free, we are just a fairly rich country.)
So, don't worry about the condescension you'll probably hear from /.ers on this, things are bad all over. If they aren't as bad here yet as they are in Malaysia (and they may be) its just a matter of time till they are.
I'm kind of sick of people claiming that people in the US should just shut up about the grim, Puritan Jihad that's going on in this country because other parts of the world are "so much worse." First of all, I happen to know that you make trade offs for living in the US, and that there are good things you give up as well as bad. Mainly, though, I think that the grim, humorless people who are rising to power in this country are a real threat. Both Weimer Germany, before Hitler, and Russia after the Liberal revolution, before Lenin, were temporarily free societies. All it takes to destroy that is a group of grim, humorless fanatics who are willing to use force against the populace to "save them from themselves."
These are the people behind all the Culture War crusades currently going on, and these people are dangerous.
All the creatures will die, And all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai. (Jubai, 1605)
Yes, the US government censorship of violent games seems mild compared to Malaysia's banning of entire arcades. But that doesn't make American censorship right. Just because someone is relatively worse doesn't make the situation in the US good.
Being complacent about US censorship because it's worse somewhere else is a sure-fire way to end up like that somewhere else in a hurry.
That said, comparing US censorship to Malaysian censorship is unfair. The US has a tradition of free speech and Malaysia does not. Malaysia bans all sorts of stuff:
I'm pretty sure they'd ban Slashdot if it were based there.
sig semper tyrannis!
I don't know where the rest of you grew up, but I know of a few people in my high school 10 years ago who didn't obtain their nintendo cartridges legally. (Oxon Hill High School, outside of Washington, DC)
These days, they're having problems with kids stealing other kids Pokemon cards. I'm guessing there's a few kids out there who are lifting a little cash from their parents to get it, too.
And the reason this happens is because unlike Malasia, if you give the kid a good spanking, you get brought up on child abuse charges, or your kid sues you for emotional trauma years later. But if you just let them steal, you're fine, as they're still a juvenile, and they'd just get sent up to Boy's Village for a little while.
Not even a full generation later, and you're not shocked to see some 5 year old mouthing off to his mom. If I did that to my mom, I knew that after we got home, I'd not be sitting so easy for the rest of the day.
Too many kids these say have no real adult supervision-- both parents work, and they're sent off to a daycare or have a babysitter watch after them 'till a parent gets off work. If they're lucky, they have an older brother who will beat them when they do something stupid. [of course, they could also get my brother, who would beat us for no particular reason]
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
Think about that next time you get worked up about the government censoring the amount of blood in a game.
Now, don't get me wrong, I believe it is a travesty that there are other countries out there that take away personal freedoms like this. I salute the efforts of organizations such as Amnesty International, who work for freedom in other nations. And, I feel very thankful for the freedom we Yanks have in comparison to some of these other countries. My sadness over their own situation, however will NEVER make me stop fighting to preserve my own rights. While it pales in comparison to the situation in Malaysia, my government telling me what I can and cannot play in my own home is STILL a violation of my rights, and I will continue to fight every single time something like that happenes. Give them an inch, and they'll take a mile.
I would like to note that a few years ago, when I took a trip to the UK, I ended up going into a few arcades there, and the place was about 75% gambling, 25% video games. If you read the article, it says that the ban was mainly focused at the illegal gambling 'arcades', and happened to catch the legitimate arcades as a side effect. I don't agree with this, but I don't think it's all that bad of a thing either. Given that the US has restrictions on gambling as well, I think people should realize that diferent countries are going to deal with different things differently.
Be the Ultimate Ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today!
I am sure glad to see that Malaysia has made a /. headline! -sarcasm- Malaysia Boleh! -sarcasm-
/.-ters, don't judge too hastily. It's the knee-jerk reaction that, unfortunately, permeates too many people (including /. people) nowadays.
Anyway, being a Malaysian, I can give a bit of history about this stuff.
Malaysia is a prudish country. To illustrate, let me list out the movies _we_ have banned : Austin Powers, Prince of Egypt, Schindler's list, Saving Private Ryan, countless others.
We also banned kissing scenes in American TV movies : they are always hilariously cut/bleeped off.
We banned Ellen Degeneres' appearance in David Letterman.
etc.. You get the Picture.
BUT...
The banning of Video Arcades, however, is not exactly a BadThing(tm), though. Have you ever seen some of these "video arcades" in Malaysia? They are not Dave and Busters' nice, clean stuff. But they are like gloomy, full of smoke, and lots of unsavoury characters.
Basically, if I have kids (I don't), I won't even let them -near- that place. If my kids want video games, I'll happily buy a Athlon and QuakeIII for him.
So, please
(As a point of history, video arcades were banned for the same reasons some years back. But the licenses were reinstated a few year back.)
Mode (3) smart-aleck mode. Press * to return to main menu.