Ismail Fan

The plight of the Roma people in Eastern and Southern Europe has been well known and well documented but what was neglect and apathy of the general population seems to have transformed into something much more sinister in recent years — acquiescence towards aggression of a few but determined extremists. The rise of the Jobbik and far-right politics in Hungary is a snapshot of what has been happening all over Europe, and how the global financial crisis has exacerbated ethnic tension in many parts of the world. Visible minorities, who usually lack political clout and tend to be less favourably positioned to deal with an economic downturn to begin with, often have to bear the brunt of the general public's anger and frustration as in the case of the incident in Odz, Hungary. Since the Roma are not really the cause of this economic downturn and most of them lack the skill and education to compete with regular Hungarians in the job market, it begs the question: why the rising hatred for the Roma who has been in Hungary for centuries?

Set in modern day London, Eastern Promises stars Viggo Mortensen as Nikolai Luzhin, a driver for the Russian Mafia Vory, and Naomi Watt as Anna Khitrova，a midwife. Their improbable encounter was set in motion by the diary of a fourteen-year-old Russian girl, Tatiana, who died while giving birth in the hospital where Anna worked. Determined to find the whereabouts of Tatiana's family before the baby girl was to be sent to an orphanage, Anna managed to track down Semyon, played by Armin Mueller-Stahl, the owner of Trans-Siberian Restaurant, whose business card laid amidst Anna's belongings. Initially aloof yet polite, Semyon became eerily enthusiastic upon learning the existence of the diary and even volunteered to help translate it.

It turned out that Semyon was in fact the leader the Russian Mafia Vory and was desperately trying to protect from the law both himself and his slightly erratic and emotional son, Kiril, played by Vincent Cassel, who had raped Tatiana. The diary and the baby girl's DNA not only were incriminating to Kiril but could also expose the Mafia's involvement in human trafficking. Meanwhile, a war in the underworld is raging between the Vory and its rival Chechen gangs with a couple of Chechen mobsters arriving at London seeking to avenge their brother's death, a hit ordered by Kiril not too long ago. All too aware of the Chechen ways, Semyon hatched up a plan where Nikolai would be offered as the sacrificial lamb for Kiril, who had just become cognizant of the existence of the baby girl.

Violence is depicted in all its visceral and gory details in Eastern Promises but rather than the glorification of it, Director David Cronenberg seems to have intended it as the embodiment of human essence. On one level, violence is a manifestation of our bestiality and our instinct to survive, as exemplified by Kiril's masterminding the coldblooded murder of his Chechen enemy and the Chechens' equally cruel retaliation on the hapless Nikolai. On another level, however, such simplistic reading of violence is quickly overturned. Semyon turned against Nikolai out of his love for his son and his desire to protect him. Semyon, being the calculating type that he was, of course understood that Kiril, a much less competent and reliable leader, could put the whole Vory in danger if he was to succeed him. Lastly, we shan't forget either that it was rooted in brotherly love that the Chechens sought a gruesome revenge.

Moral ambiguity is a major theme in the film and it is embodied by Mortensen's character, Nikolai, whose true identity is that of a Scotland Yard informer on the Russian Mafia's criminal activities in London. Midway through the film, he fell victim to Kiril's alcohol abuse and was coerced into performing sexual intercourse with a young girl in order to prove his heterosexuality. Mortensen expertly acted the scene, showing the inner struggle of Nikolai in victimising the very person he sought to protect. Paradoxically, although very much a violent and remoreseless beast, even on Kiril, it seems a vestige of humanity lingered - the inner struggle between humanity and bestiality reached its climax when Kiril found the baby girl and planned to drown her to save himself. Cassel deserves plaudits for his portrayal of Kiril and for making the rare display of tenderness from a ruthless thug looked effortless.

Eastern Promises represents a departure from a Darwinian view of violence central in Cronenbergy's previous film A History of Violence. In Eastern Promises, violence is not just a means to survival but also a means to achieve higher virtues like ambition and love. Nikolai had certainly achieved his ambition by outmaneuvering Semyon and Kiril and usurping the Vory leadership, hence dealing a death blow to the detested Russian traffickers. However, this was accomplished at an enormous cost of his ever seeing Anna again. Nikolai's choosing ambition over love hints at the truism that real violence is one that occurs within us, with our myriad of primal impulses struggling to gain primacy underneath the veneer of civility and sanity, much like the scene where Kiril was discussing the Chechen murder against the backdrop of sumptuous festivity and conviviality.

Access to physical space manifests in human societies as a fundamental right. We need "space" to live, to learn and to interact with others. Unfortunately, space on Earth is finite and with scarcity comes competition, which invariably leads to bloody conflicts. In fact, most if not all human conflicts can be attributed, one way or another, to fight over "living space". One significant aspect of Peace of Westphalia, for example, is that it defined political boundaries. A defined boundary helped give substance to the idea of sovereignty. Now instead of a symbolic scepter or regalia, power becomes just that bit more tangible to its beholders.

The concept of physical space applies to ethnic tension as well. We know from slavery in the United States and apartheid in South Africa that the separation of physical space is a key to delineate access to resources. The act of segregation also demonstrates power and aversion. All these elements come into play in the clash between the  immigrant population, many of whom Muslims, and locals in Europe. Denmark is obviously embroiled in it as well. Danish Hell's Angels see Denmark as the living space for Danes. It's not enough that immigrants are sequestered in their pitiful ghettoised neighbourhoods but they must conform to the "Danish" norms, becoming Danish so to speak.

"What does it mean to be Danish?" A question that is probably on the minds of many Norberro residents. By asking this question, they're adding another layer to the concept of physical space, the cultural space. The gang wars in Norberro are in fact a struggle for the power to define - who gets to define what type of activities are acceptable in the fringe of Copenhaggen? We've moved from the material realm to the spiritual realm. This opens up a fissure, a hopeful one, since the spiritual realm is always more malleable than the material one. Once people are put in a shared physical space, there will inevitably be interactions, be them peaceful or bestial. Perhaps there will be a fusion of identities, fifty or a hundred years from now, in the country called Denmark.

I once had a Danish friend remarked to me that there's no ghettos or unemployment in her country. I was left puzzled. Perhaps I misunderstood her. But if I didn't, she may have the most dangerous form of segregation of all, a segregation in the mind.

Admittedly, such grand title should be reserved for a political commentator well versed in West Asia conflicts. After all I didn't live through the Nazi occupation nor have I been on the ground inside Gaza Strip. Thus far I have lived a life relatively free from persecution, starvation and despair. Most days when I wake up I am greeted with a clear blue sky and always with the hustle and bustle of the streets. This is a far cry from what the Gazans have been subjected to every day for the past month - deafening bombs, sleepless nights and piercing cries. Not to mention streets filled with the stench emanating from torn corpses.

Why does one dare to make a comparison between Gaza and Auschwitz? Obviously, we can't escape the irony of history that the persecuted has now become the persecutor. But what about scale? Certainly the death toll in Gaza Strip ever since the beginning of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seems paltry to the degree of insignificance compared to the approximately one-million Jewish deaths occurred in Auschwitz. Some might also challenge the comparison between the events that have taken place in Gaza with those inside Auschwitz-Birkenau. It's a "military conflict" after all rather than a genocide committed by a lopsidedly stronger party. Or is it?

Secondly, when Adolf Hitler was conducting his symphony of death, there was no global media conglomerates with field reporters scrutinising his every directive. The very nature of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was not ascertained by the Allied until late into the War. This is in sharp contrast with the situation the Israeli government has found itself in. Fresh photographs of Palestinian casualties are coming out of Gaza Strip by the minute, which effectively force the Israeli government into massive cover-ups and ban on reporting in certain areas of Gaza Strip. Imagine an Israeli military operation sans media scrutiny. It's not for the faint-hearted to even begin to fathom the devastation then.

Lastly, and perhaps most disturbingly, people tend to overlook that Hamas is a democratically elected body. By attacking Hamas, the state of Israel, itself a democracy, is attacking the will of the Palestinian people and the fundamental value of the Occident, which it claims to be a member of. Many Israelis like to invoke the rhetorical question: what would a Western country do if rockets are falling on its cites?  Implicit in the question is the denial and distortion of the cause and effect of history. Robert Fisk pointed out in his article : "most of the people of Gaza don't come from Gaza."

Why is Gaza our Auschwitz? Rockets are being launched out of Gaza Strip out of exasperation and despondency. The Israeli government has managed to turn the whole strip into a concentration camp by systematically wresting human dignity away from the Palestinian people. Undoubtedly we should condemn all wanton acts of murder, be it from Hamas or Israel but it's also incumbent upon us to know the facts. When you uproot a whole generation of people from their homes, force them into becoming refugees, raze down their apartments, deny them basic necessities of life, and then degrade them to the level of animals by constantly subjecting them to blood and toil, you will have suicide bombers, not as martyrs, but as desperate human beings trying to salvage their last scrap of dignity with a retaliatory act of blowing themselves up into pieces against their tormentors.

We all have some bittersweet memories in libraries. I remember trying to memorise a chapter worth of chemical reactions at a secluded carrel and having a debate on politics with my friend on the main floor. Library has given me so much so I think it's only appropriate that I commemorate it with a little poem:

I read something quite chilling the other day, an opinion piece titled "The age of 'celebrity terrorism'" by Paul Cornish, an expert on international affairs from Chatham House. Obviously much has been written about the tragedy in Mumbai but I didn't expect anybody to attribute the motive to seeking fame. Can one person, much less ten of them, be that hungry for celebrity that they would meticulously plan and synchronise their attacks and wreak havoc at the expense of more than a hundred innocent lives? I think it remains to be seen and perhaps we'll never know.

Although Cornish deplored the vanity of media speculations in regards to the incident, he nonetheless speculated. What he should have mentioned along with the target's reaction as what completes a terrorist act is that fame is invariably part of the equation as well. The shock value of a terrorist act in a global age depends on coverage, which generates celebrities. Fame is an inevitable byproduct. Terrorists mean to terrorise and to them, the more the merrier but fame is hardly the ultimate goal. Even in the case of Columbine, what the perpetrators ultimately desired the moment before their death is not to be on the front page (they wouldn't have seen the front page anyways) but that outpouring and release of their rage.

Terrorists are never eloquent and because if they were, they probably wouldn't have to resort to terrorism in the first place. Cornish is quite right in this respect to describe terrorists as "vapid and inarticulate" but in saying that "an obsessive audience" is there to feed on their every move, he unwittingly shifted the blame away from the terrorists themselves and unto the onlookers. Are we at fault? Perhaps fame works much the same way as terrorism where the 'target's' reaction is part of the equation? It's hardly imaginable that this is the way to look at the Mumbai tragedy. Well, at least let's hope it's not.

I often watch this video when things are not going well. Looking beyond his athletic ability, it's perseverance and dedication driven by a passion for what he does. The same maxim applies to almost everything in life — You like something that you have a knack for. You then put in time and effort, untempted by other worldly things. It's passion substantiated by hard work and focus and an awareness that talent alone is not enough.

I'm mostly settled in, after a long summer of constant relocation, in my new dorm room, which is both spacious and bright, alhumdulillah. One can see the skyline of the city through the only but exceptionally large horizontal sliding window that takes up most of the wall in the west.

"Isn't it great to be young?" I think to myself just now looking out. I couldn't have done all this moving around had I not the stamina that comes with youth. Youth allows one to adapt more quickly, physiologically speaking. Going from Iceland to Taiwan, I've covered three major climate zones in less than three months. In the same token, youth also furnishes one with endurance. Under the scorching sun typical of southern Taiwan, I'm still able to carry out daily business while fasting, alhumdulillah. Last but not least, there is another very important trait of youth and that is the desire to learn. I'm still learning. It is exactly the desire to pursue something I love that brings me here.

Speaking of learning, school will start in exactly a week for me. This week the plan is to get all the administratively-related paperwork done. I know a lot of you are starting school or have already started. Congratulations again to those who are steadfast in their pursuit of their goals. May you be rewarded.