Freedom of Speech.

As an Economics student, I tend to look at every issue via the cost-benefit analysis: which is really simple, if the costs are more than the benefits, abandon it. Which is why I am highy sceptical of this Western-idea of freedom of speech; sometimes the costs it generates are far greater than the benefits.

A simple example: the Danish caricatures controversy a couple of years back. Is that sort of freedom of speech supposed to be supported, encouraged and promoted? Is that even freedom of speech, or is it just blatant disrespect? Is there a hidden agenda on the part of the self-proclaimed proponents of "freedom of speech"?

And the caricatures contoversy isn't the only example: many a time, people have distorted and misused the idea of freedom of speech, both knowingly or not. Some people use this idea to justify personal attacks, to justify describing other people as dogs even: maybe they really do believe in freedom of speech, and if that freedom itself is going to cause resentment, is going to promote hatred, I question the wisdom in pursuing with that "fight" or "quest" for "freedom". In fact, the meaning of the word 'freedom' itself is a highly contentious issue, up for debate.

I'm not gonna say which definition of freedom is right or wrong, I'm not gonna say that freedom of speech should not be pursued when it's detrimental, nor am I gonna answer the questions I posted in the 2nd paragraph. I leave it to you, the educated audience,to make your own judgments after analysing the issues at hand.

Some updates for the week. Was a busy week, as in busy with school. Haha. Only 2 modules I'm doing for this block, yet it feels so heavy. Really. And the thing is, in NUS, you feel pressured/motivated/encouraged to study when you see people around you, people at Forum, people at Central Library all mugging. Here, haha, you don't see anyone studying! Haha. I remember a saying from my "bro"'s cousin last week: "In Holland, in high school, everyday is a holiday!" And apparently, that's how the Dutch students treat their university education as well!

Ohh, I did finally settle my module mapping, Alhamdulillaah. Initially, the Economics Department people at NUS specifically told me that 5ECTS here(which the value of credits for each module that I'm doing btw) is equivalent to 4MCs. But when they found out that I wanted to do only 4 mods, hence 20 ECTS, they only allowed me to map them to 12MCs. Ridiculous. They don't want me to slack. Haha. So i'm doing 4 next block insya Allah, a total of 6. Next block is gonna be a very very busy one.

Abt the weather,in the early part of the week, it was terrible. There were wind storms for a few days. 1 time, I was cycling to school, the wind was so bad I my bike swerved and almost fell. I had to stop for a while, before proceeding when the winds cleared. But these past 2 days, the weather has been magnificent. Really. About 13 degrees in the day, about 9 at night. It's really wonderful. I just hope it stays this way, though the likelihood of such a happening is close to nought.

And here are some pics, as always. But not too many this time.

Finally, sunlight in Amsterdam!


Food place in the city centre


Interior view


A gathering at my faculty for Masters students


And oh, been thinking a lot abt someone lately (Shaza jangan perasan eh!:p)



By the way, abt the Champs league draw, as expected, Chelsea and Man U got easy draws: that's how they always make it so far. Arsenal and Pool are really unlucky, coz by my estimation, they are the 2 strongest teams left in the competition. I hope Barca will knock Man U out in the semis, though I don not foresee that happening. Dream final for me- Arsenal V Barca. Henry against his old club. Master VS protege. A saliva-dropping prospect.

2005: Liverpool VS AC Milan (Liverpool)
2006: Arsenal VS Barcelona (Barca)
2007: Liverpool VS AC Milan (Milan)
2008??? Arsenal VS Barcelona (Arsenal)

It's written in the stars.