Sabah Quake: 8 pupils, 2 teachers from Tanjong Katong Primary School are missing

[therat]

I add on

two F-5E Tiger II fighters engine disappeared from Malaysia Air force base, after apparently being illicitly sold by military officers to a South American arms dealer. Exported to Uruguay

[Brah]

Now where does it say each country must publish a list of dos and don'ts, including 'Don't offend the native beliefs, Don't offend their locals religious beliefs .. "

It's called not being a dick/jackass. Everyone should have learned it when growing up.

Yeah I mean just look at the gnarly expats staggering off home from Boat Quay at 2am/+
My feeling is most people behave maturely most of the time. We probably all have our 'occasional moments' when we momentarily stray from that, that's life. [Example: Consider how many foreign visitors get into trouble after visiting their first 'smokers cafe' in Amsterdam]. But we didn't get here by being a bunch of natural-born-jerks.
I'm all for respecting local customs, however we are all human (ref: para 1). BTW I'm not saying that as if it is license to occasionally go and do what the hell you like. What I have difficulty with is associating a state of dress/undress with God's and an earthquake.
I mean for example, if you wear a T-shirt in Thailand with an image of Buddha on it, it's wrong, it's insensitive, and it's the kind of thing that's hopefully taboo enough that most people know not to do it. But if I were a tourist and didn't know about it, and on Day2 went dressed thus to Wat Phra Kaew, is one of the statues going to topple over on me and kill me as a result?

I think about this kind of thing every time I see bloody tourists going topless at Thai beaches.

It's in conflict with their culture, it's in all the guidebooks along with not touching people's heads and not pointing feet towards someone - so don't do it, anything else is arrogance.

If anything it's gotten worse.

[JR8]

I think about this kind of thing every time I see bloody tourists going topless at Thai beaches. It's in conflict with their culture, it's in all the guidebooks along with not touching people's heads and not pointing feet towards someone - so don't do it, anything else is arrogance.
If anything it's gotten worse.

Hmmm. I think with the advent of budget airlines people have a far greater ability to travel. Whereas say a Brit in the 80s visiting Asia would have had something of a specific interest/reason to do so, and a decent budget (both $ and time), nowadays it's marketed as a cheap and fun alternative to Egypt, Ibiza/Majorca/Gran Canaria/Spain and Greece.

Whereas previously a journey to Asia was much harder to afford, it also merited much planning and research. You also had to rely upon whatever hard-copy published guidebooks there were, and you tended to pre-read them front-to-back. You arrived prepared, as odds on you'd not met anyone before going where you were heading.

I think it's changed. Such travel opportunities in the West run much deeper through society than they use to. Young people visit Asia on a '2 week all-in package'. All the details will be taken care of, and they can't be bothered to pay to download a 250 page travel guide on their iPhones, never mind read it.

Large parts of Asia are, er... far more morally polarised than the west. Go to a (notional) town, and the Westerner will be surprised to find a street or streets of go-go bars and brothels [ping-pong balls being er spat out in all directions].... but climb the local hill and naively and foolishly plan to take a nude group photo and you get jailed for having allegedly killed children.

I think in the West you get used to your own set of cultural values and moral parameters, which you instinctively presume are reasonable and perhaps universal, without thinking too deeply about it. Insight into local/additional cultural nuances comes with research, which many youngsters have little to spare on these days.

I wonder how a curious first-time visitor from the West reconciles not being able to buy chewing gum, or a beer from a shop after 10.30pm, then finds himself wondering around Little India late at night and encountering full-on working street brothels. It must seem like rather a startling paradox.

[TMD]

according to report, the helicopters could not land due to the weather and there is no way it could have approached the victims without risking impact as it has very little power to counter the turbulence...there's also a video circulating of the helicopter dropping supplies away from the victims on the slopes

Weather condition at the peak certainly played a major part.
Why risk another tragedy during a rescue attempt under windy and poor visibility condition?

Found a cockpit video of a landing attempt by a Robinson R66 on Mt KK in 2013.
The weather looks great and even that, the pilot clearly took pains making sure the LZ is safe, making some final adjustments in the light helo before touching down on the barren rocky terrain.

Now if we are to translate that example into a larger, heavier machine under cloudy and emergency situations...

[ecureilx]

.
Now if we are to translate that example into a larger, heavier machine under cloudy and emergency situations....]

A R44 weighing below 1,000 kilo vs a EC 725 weighing less than ~10,000 kilo, nothing much can go wrong I guess :oops:o

maybe a few victims going flying with the wind storm of over 50 kilometers per hour generated by the heavy machines.

I been near a similar sized helicopter, it wasn't fun when they lift off.

[Brah]

I wonder how a curious first-time visitor from the West reconciles not being able to buy chewing gum, or a beer from a shop after 10.30pm, then finds himself wondering around Little India late at night and encountering full-on working street brothels. It must seem like rather a startling paradox.

Some could argue it borders on hypocritical.

[the lynx]

Large parts of Asia are, er... far more morally polarised than the west. Go to a (notional) town, and the Westerner will be surprised to find a street or streets of go-go bars and brothels [ping-pong balls being er spat out in all directions].... but climb the local hill and naively and foolishly plan to take a nude group photo and you get jailed for having allegedly killed children.

In Borneo, you can't find brothels or any place that offer to pop ping pong balls out of any orifice for entertainment. Lonely Planet already warned travelers that they won't be able to find sexual element for entertainment in that part of the Asia. Just saying.

I'm sure the good Thais do not appreciate being viewed as "commercially sexual" but that's just one group of people.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Sadly, I'd have to disagree with you on that one. Let's face it, oil riggers will find it if it's there. But that was 30 years ago so it may have changed since then.

[JR8]

http://www.wikisexguide.com/wiki/Kota_Kinabalu

'Kota Kinabalu Sex Guide advises where to find sex, working girls, prostitution, street hookers, brothels, red-light districts, prostitutes, erotic massage parlors, strip clubs and escorts in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. The capital of the state of Sabah located on the island of Borneo, this Malaysian city is a growing resort destination due to its proximity to tropical islands, lush rain forest and Mount Kinabalu.' [continues at length]

[the lynx]

Not sure if I should say, "I rest my case," or, "I stand corrected," at this juncture.

[menudown]

the heroes get to reunite with student they saved

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/sin ... l?cid=fbsg