Rant 417 / Runes Of Magic Is Racist - I Can't Make Black Characters

After reading on the deeds of Raffles in regards to Singapore, I find that the account as told by the local textbooks were omitting a lot of things. I understand that no country would want to discuss the uglier side of its history, not without trying to make it look better anyway, so I have nothing against that.

But now that I'm an adult, I should not just stick with the official stuff they teach in school. So here is the real story without the sugar-coating, summarised by yours truly.

Raffles, working for the British East India Company (which did a lot of things I don't agree with), was looking for a way to fight the strong Dutch influence in this region. He had been considering several spots, including Bintan, but eventually decided on the island that is now Singapore.

Now at this point, what I remember from my textbooks in primary/secondary school is that Raffles negotiated with the local Temenggong (probably equivalent of mayor or something) and they signed a treaty recognizing British rule on the island.

The truth is that the Temenggong was not the only guy in charge. There was a Sultanate of Johore, but nowhere was this mentioned in the story fed to local children today. Of course it wasn't, because it leads to a dirty little political ploy.

You see, when they first arrived the Sultan of Johore had just died. The Crown Prince, aka the supposed heir, was away to get a wife during this monumental event (at least for the people of Johore). The sneaky little brother, together with some of his traitorous supporters and the Dutch (hey, who doesn't want a ruler they can control?), did a coup d'etat and rose as the official Sultan of Johore.

Actually it wasn't called a coup d'etat by anyone since the rules for succession were supposedly rather unclear. I may be exaggerating here a little.

So at this point, Farquhar (the man we used to call Fucker, ah the good old days) arrived at the scene looking for the man in charge to sign trade agreements. They haven't tried to take over the island yet, but this was probably the precursor.

Since the British were trying to compete with the Dutch, of course Farquhar didn't want to negotiate the treaty with the Dutch-supported Sultan of Johore. So the answer to this problem was to sign it with the Temenggong.

Farquhar then claimed the negotiation was a success and reported this to Raffles. Raffles arrived and made contact with the local bigshots. Eventually his men decided to ask for the man with the most power sign a formal treaty with them for a more complete control of this island. They requested to sign with the Sultan, or whoever held the power, so the elder brother of the Sultan, Hussein Shah, came instead.

To avoid talking to the Sultan, Raffles made him a deal: the British would recognize him as the rightful ruler of Johore and Hussein would grant them control of the island. After several months, he left Farquhar in charge and returned to Bencoolen where he was supposed to be governing.

Obviously the Dutch were pissed. They made threats and stuff but never actually sent any soldiers to take back the island. The validity of the treaty was also debatable, but the Dutch somehow lost interest when they saw how fast Singapura was growing. About three months after, all the noise had died down and Singapura had grown from a bunch of kampongs sheltering 500 people to a town of 5000.

I remember that little was mentioned about Farquhar in the textbooks. It turned out that he wasn't exactly a capable governor. In fact, he sucked and Raffles actually took direct control of the settlement when he returned again three years later.

Moreover, Raffles also made repeated requests to the Company's HQ for a replacement for Farquhar. In the end, they appointed one of the men who had been following Raffles for a long time as the Resident.

One reason why Farquhar sucked was because he didn't bother with a plan for the growth of the colony. When Raffles came back he was not happy with the mess Singapore had become, even if it was a rich mess filled with money and trade potential.

That was when he had the Jackson Plan made, leading to what is now the CBD. By the way don't let the name European Town fool you - rich Asians were also allowed to live there.











Someone used a Watchmen trailer to make a video for Billy Mays, a well-known TV salesman in the US who passed away just after MJ. He is probably best known for selling Oxiclean and dying suddenly just like MJ. The other Pitchmen are also salespeople who have appeared on American TV.



Best quote in the show IMO:

-"Pitchmen television series is over. What do you suggest we do about it?"

-"Reruns."

Here's the original trailer.



And here's the Slap Chop remix starring another well-known TV pitchman, Vince. If you watch the Pitchmen trailer after this, you'd recognize Vince there.









A simple bus chase turns into something extraordinary.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ExplosmEntertainment#play/uploads/1/kRPJh-LJq1o










Ever thought about the unimaginable number of coincidences that eventually led to... you?









I forget. Do you see how scary it is to forget? How frustrating it is to not know what you do not know? That is why I'm so obsessed with pictures and videos and screenshots. I know I will forget, and I will forget what I forgot. And I will forget how scary it is to forget.

What is a man who has no memory?

A man is a product of his memories and his reactions towards them.

They say people are products of their environment. I say they are the products of their perception of their environment. What they think of it, what they remember they thought of it.

If one cannot remember how one got to the present state, how can one be?

Similarly for society, it cannot exist without knowing how it formed. A civilization without a history would crumble in an instant.

If only I have ROM in my head instead of organic memory.