It's official, she's married, off the market. Malaysia's most eligible bachelorette is now hitched. That's not the big news though, for me the bigger news was the number of people I know taking the day off just to catch the "LIVE" telecast of the wedding ceremony at 9am. And to think there is a repeat of that at 7.30pm. Even our national football team don't get as much coverage - we got all 0f 30seconds worth of excerpts on Football Crazy, for those lucky enough to have subscribed to SCV. So much for World Cup 2010....
OK back to the wedding of the year....
Granted that she is the media darling of Malaysian entertainment, probably of the Malay-speaking world, the wedding and the media circus surrounding it is extraordinary. I don't think even the wedding of Charles and Diana had the privilege of a repeat telecast back then. Well, she did look divine in her wedding garb, as she always does. Well, I guess that's the price you pay for being famous - a sacred ceremony becomes a spectacle in itself. No private ceremonies involving only relatives for her. I was reading the papers the other day and it stated that the alleged cost of the whole wedding was close to $6million. I'm sure some of it are sponsored. Nevertheless, it's an obscene amount isn't it? Especially when you consider that, probably, 75% of her fans can't begin to understand that figure, let alone imagine.
Oh well, they could afford it. Still, I can't help but wonder at the haste of the whole affair, I mean the ink on the Datuk's divorce papers has hardly dried and the division of matrimonial assets between the Datuk and the ex-wife was still pending when the announement was made. Little wonder then, that a lot of tongues were wagging and palms gleefully rubbing at the prospect of sleazy stories coming out. I think I better shut up about this already, else I'll be one of those people spreading rumours. In any case, my wife's been sniggering and teasing me to no end that my self-proclaimed girlfriend is now hitched to a Datuk. What was that I said about Siti being the object of desire and fantasies of many a hot-blooded malay male? I just hope their marriage lasts, unlike the other "Wedding of the year", if you know what I mean....
OK, back to the real world...
The ceasefire in Lebanon has been in effect for roughly 2 weeks now. I still can't believe how long it took for them to get their act together. Lebanon is not exactly resource rich as are Kuwait, Saudi Arabia or Iraq, for that matter, so it was in no one's strategic interest to intervene, least of all, the US. I can't help but draw parallels between the crisis in Lebanon and the Rwandan Genocide a decade ago. In both crisis, world nations powerful enough to do something dragged their feet in putting an intervention force or peacekeeping force. The end result? A racial genocide in Rwanda claiming roughly 1 million lives and millions more became refugees. Though, the situation in Lebanon is not as acute, it still says a lot of the ulterior motives of the powerful nations. Heck, even Japan practice selective diplomacy with the Iranian nuclear standoff, simply because, it can't survive without Iranian oil. Why else are they adamant against any economic sanctions placed on Iran?
Oh, lest I forget, Italy has offered to lead the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon with a contribution of 2000 troops. I do remember sometime back that there was a call for a Muslim peacekeeping force in Lebanon, however, no Muslim leader has stepped up to the plate and offered to take the lead. It's a good thing, from my perspective that the US is not leading this. Being a staunch supporter of Israel, it could not afford to be involved in such events, perhaps, worried at its waning credibility.
What credibility???? Exactly!
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