China: The Two Long Marches Contrasted & a Third Required

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 0 Comment

A Personal View – March 2014

In China, the history & significance of the Long March is well known. But steeped in propaganda, the truth is not known to the Chinese people.

During the 1920s & 1930’s, China was a very unstable country. The Chinese Emperor Puyi ruled from 1908 at the age of 2 years old until his abdication in 1912 during the Xinhai Revolution when he was 6 years old. He made a brief appearance to prominence again when the Japanese appointed him Kangde Emperor of the puppet state of Manchukuo [Manchuria] after its capture in 1931. He then ruled until the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945.

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Arranged Marriages: What’s Love got to do with it

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Religion 0 Comment

A Personal View – April 2014

The concept of romance & marrying somebody that one loves is a fairly recent innovation in human affairs. If one believes that this is an outdated practice especially in Western Society, I will disabuse you of that fact.

Let us take the contemporary case of Shrien Dewani. Firstly a caveat: I have not been following the case nor am I aware of his sexual orientation but what I am aware of is that he was obligated to marry somebody that he did not want to. Despite being classified as a desirable or stunning woman by most normal males, this fact has no bearing on whether he would reciprocate her love or make a desirable marriage partner. Clearly he would not.

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Official Language, Mother Tongue & Lingua Franca: How should these sensitivities be handled in a multicultural society?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 0 Comment

A Personal View – April 2014

Theoretically in terms of the South African Constitution all languages are guaranteed equality of treatment but is it possible or even desirable in such a multilingual country with nine official languages?

A family history will illustrate how “transient” or flexible the language issue really is. My late maternal grandmother [nee Nel] was born in the 1870s to 1880s on a farm in the Middleburg District in the Eastern Cape. With a paucity of other white families in the area, her natural play mates were the children of the farm workers. Naturally Xhosa became her stronger language as most of her communication was with her friends, the black Xhosa speaking children on the farm. At the time her family spoke a pidgin version of Dutch which was prevalent at the time.

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Telkom: The Monopolistic Urge

By Dean McCleland in Other Opinion Pieces 0 Comment

A Personal View – April 2014

Like most government enterprises, Telkom shares common traits with other governmental departments & institutions as if it is hardwired into their DNA irrespective where they were located. This is not a South African phenomenon but a world-wide one.

The example that I would to share is something that occurred in the late 1970s & early 1980s. In retrospect, it is no more ludicrous than the episode that arose some 10 years ago but it would have been no less tragic as it would have stymied progress in South Africa.

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Mampara for 16th April 2014-SABC & IEC and advert by DA

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, SA Heroes and Mamparas 0 Comment

A Personal View

First the SABC decided not to flight an election advert by the DA [Democratic Alliance] on the grounds that it maligns Jacob Zuma. They allege that the Nkandla affair has not been proven in a court of law therefore it is prejudicial to him.

Then the IEC [Independent Election Commission] stepped in & announced that it could not arbitrate on the issue until after the Easter long weekend because nobody was available to chair it despite its rules clearly stating that conflicts arising from adverts have to be resolved within 48 hours.

In its rush to prove that they are thoroughbred lackeys of the ANC, both parties revealed their biased hand early in this election campaign.

Pansy-Tlakula(IEC)

Both the IEC Chairperson Pansy Tlakula & SABC’s Acting COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng need to urgently go on refresher  training regarding the meaning of the words independence, freedom of speech & what the concept of free & fair elections mean but I fear that the notions are too esoteric especially for Hlaudi who does not even hold a Matric Certificate.

 

Articles on Mamparas:

 

Mampara for July 2014: Minister of Agriculture Senzeni Zokwana

Despite heading up NUM and the SACP, this Mampara only paid his own workers one third of the minimum rate for working seven days a week

http://thecasualobserver.co.za/mampara-july-2014-minister-agriculture-senzeni-zokwana/

 

 

Mampara for May 2014: Julius Malema

http://thecasualobserver.co.za/mampara-may-2014-julius-malema/

 

 

Mampara for 16th April 2014-SABC & IEC and advert by DA

http://thecasualobserver.co.za/mampara-day-wednesday-16th-april-2014/

 

 

 

Social cohesion: It is the little things that count

By Dean McCleland in Inspirational, Other Opinion Pieces 0 Comment

A Personal View – March 2014

In an older era, this would have been known as plain good neighbourliness but with the alienation caused by urbanisation, common civilities such as greeting a neighbour let alone knowing their names has become redundant.

Why should this be so & how can one promote social cohesion through common sense good manners?  But it is especially our attitude to the lower less fortunate strata in society that I am concerned about.

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Shutter Island – Psychological drama of the highest order

By Dean McCleland in Opinion Pieces 0 Comment

Rating: 5 out of 5

This movie has all the hallmarks of an excellent psychological drama. Firstly the weather is appalling. After arriving at Shutter Island with a colleague who he has never worked with beforehand to investigate the disappearance of an inmate of the psychiatric hospital, the weather closes in. The role of the police official, a US Marshall Teddy Daniels is played by Leonardo DiCaprio.

As he begins interviewing various persons he gets the impression that he is being treated as a fool with misrepresentations of the facts being the order of the day.   When DiCaprio’s colleague – Chuck Aule – goes to the loo, an inmate passes a piece of paper with the number 47 on it to DiCaprio. He quickly connects that number to the supposed number of inmates in the prison being 46.

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Monogamy: Is it merely a Societal Construct?

By Dean McCleland in Other Opinion Pieces, Religion 0 Comment

This is not normally a topic on which I would dwell even though it is so beloved of the pulp fiction & popular weekly magazines but it raises my awareness from time to time. This time it was an article about a Jewish Rabbi who decries the loss of lust in marriage. That concept certainly caught my attention, if nothing else, before I was forced to read the article.

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