Behind the Badge in My Dreams

Based on my experience and interaction with most of my male friends and acquaintances, a typical guy's dream would revolve around sex. From dating the hottest girl in their class to sleeping with the girl of their dreams are the common stories I hear from them when they describe their best dreams of their lives they had so far during their sleep or nap. Of course like them, I do have my best dream as it occured just recently; however, if I would to tell my guy friends that my best dream did not revolved around sex, they would most likely to remind me how lame and pathetic am I. Worst come to worst, they might think that I am impotent. Unlike most of my guy friends, the best dream I had so far revolved around my dream life in the dark blue uniform tagged with shoulder patches on both sides that read "Vancouver Police". It wasn't the only best dream I had so far in my life but also one of the longest one.

The dream started off on the beginning of a weekday. I couldn't clearly remember which day was it but I remembered the time of the day very well; it was the dawn of the day. I was still tucked comfortably in my cozy queen size bed that early morning and it wasn't long before my eyes were wide opened. The time on my digital alarm clock located on a table lamp next to my bed was the first sight to welcome me on that early morning; it was 5 in the morning and I noticed that I had an hour more before I was suppose to get myself out from my bed. Seeing that I was already wide awake, I decided to throw myself out from my bed before switching of the alarm of my clock. After a brief stretching, I looked at the poster calender hanging on the wall which was highlighted in a florescent light yellow to remind me the first day of my job; something that I was looking very forward to. Not far away from my calender was a framed graduate certificate in International Business from Thompson Rivers University; the fact that I graduated in business but decided to do something completely different in my career humored me for a few seconds. Knowing that I was excited to begin my first day of my job, I immediately grabbed onto my towel and headed for my washroom before I brushed my teeth and took a nice hot shower.

After cleaning myself up, I dried myself up before putting on my dark blue police uniform that I have dreamed of wearing all my life. As I stood in front of a wall mirror buttoning my shirt feeling very proud of myself, my dad entered my room before he smiled proudly at me complimenting how handsome and smart I looked in the police uniform. Despite I was just a police constable, I somehow sensed that my dad was proud of me regardless of what position I held in the force. He then told me that breakfast was ready and he kindly volunteered to drive me to work at that morning after breakfast. After a light breakfast with my mum and dad, it was time for me to leave for work. My mum who handed me my police hat reminded me to give my best and try to get along with my seniors and my co workers; furthermore, she told me to be very careful at work. Shortly after I wished my mum goodbye, my dad and I left home for the Vancouver Police Department in downtown. After a 20 minutes drive, we were there and before I got out from my dad's car, my dad told me to take care of myself at work and reminded me to be careful, just like what my mum reminded me earlier. I reassured my dad that everything would be alright as the new comers won't get any "action" on the 1st day, before I wished my dad goodbye and exited his car.

On the 1st day of my job, I was introduced to my training officer who was a Korean Canadian; Officer Park was her name and she has been in the force for 5 years. She was 7 years older than me and according to my colleagues, she is as tough as nails. Rumors has it that she eats cornflakes out of her trainees' skull; the typical metaphor for tough police trainers. Officer Park was reluctant to have me assigned as her partner but I couldn't really blame her as I wouldn't like "babysitting" if I was in her shoes. Nevertheless, I was determine to show her that I was different from most "rookies". On the first day in the police department, my training officer and I roamed the streets of Vancouver in a squad car; she gave me a tour of our area of responsibility and in the middle of our patrolling she would slot in some personal questions to me in order to know more about the person she is working with. At times my training officer can be nice and approachable. On the other hand, most of the time she can be very strict or even a "bitch", yet I do not bear any grudges or resentment against her for the working environment here in the force mostly revolves around discipline.

During my days as a police constable in the force, I would always do my best. From volunteering to take on a colleague's shift and working overtime to sweating myself in the gym with my partner instead of joining the rest of my fellow brothers in blue at a pub on a Friday night; I was always seeking ways and opportunity to improve myself. Life as a patrol officer has its up and down. Of course moments where you give talks about crime prevention and personal safety at elementary schools can be very glamorous. Furthermore, getting the admiration from the public people especially the young ones during my routine patrol can pump lots of air into my head. However at times, my fellow colleagues and I are assigned to participate in a "treasure hunt" for evidences and clues that takes place in the most foul and filthy place one could ever imagine. The most dreadful part of the job is when we are called to secure a gruesome homicide scene until the police detectives arrive to take over. The less dreadful side of the job revolves around the domestic disturbance calls which usually comprise noise complaints, domestic violence and lewd conduct. At times, we'll get some "action" from chasing down a crook to assisting narcotics officers in a sting operation armed with pistols and shotguns; as dangerous and risky as it may sound, but the fact that I was at the thick of the action gives me an edge with interesting stories to share with my friends and my family over the dinner table compared to my other friends and family members whose job mainly revolves around the confinement of their office.

The climatic and the most memorable part of my dream was when I pursuit a snatch thief during my daily patrol in downtown Vancouver. It was just like every other day during my foot patrol with my partner in downtown until we heard an old lady screaming after a fleeing individual. Immediately I chased the fleeing suspect after I told my partner to take care of the old lady who was in grief. The thief dashed his way trying his best to outrun me but given the fact I was determined to apprehend him, he had a difficult time losing me. He started toppling trash cans and card boxes while he fled hoping that it would slow me down; fortunately for me, I managed to manuever my way around the obstacles he made and it wasn't long before he entered an old residential apartment. I lost my sights on him initially as some of the mess he made earlier on managed to slow me down a little; however with the occupants informing me that the thief headed for the rooftops, I knew the chase was still on. As I reached the rooftops via the elevator, I withdrew my pistol from my gun holster and I radioed in for additional units to seal the exits and the entrance of the residential apartment. With my gun raised, I carefully scout the roof tops for the suspect until I was ambushed. The thief struck my arm with an iron pipe thus knocking my gun off from my grip; my gun flew over the railings of the rooftop like a base ball and I had nothing left to arm myself. The thief then crashed the iron pipe into the side of my head forcing me to hit the ground hard; I lost my glasses as a result of my fall. An excruciating headache then followed before a cut on my head poured some blood out; I grabbed onto my wound as I picked myself up only to be struck with a kick from someone behind. As I turned around, I was shocked to see that there were another 3 more ruffians. The thief's accomplices showed up and I was corned getting ready to be ambushed; I then realized that the thief led me into his trap. One of them threw a glass bottle at my head which forced open another cut; they laughed sinisterly at my pain and demise eager to indulge themselves in the sadism they prepared for me. Feeling abused and manipulated, it wasn't long before anger struck me; I then unbuttoned my shirt slowly. Curious and perplexed, the ruffians were wondering what had gotten into me; as I finally unbuttoned my final button of my uniform's shirt, I removed it and tossed it angrily to the ground. Humored by my behavior, the ruffians continued laughing; they withdrew their weapons ranging from switch blades to iron pipes and base ball bats. I then threw my right arm behind my back and reached for my nun chucks which was tucked tightly all the while behind me. Instantly, I started swinging my secret weapon while giving out a war cry similar to Bruce Lee's one; ironically, it didn't intimidate the ruffians but only humored them further. As they charged for me with their weapons, I started swinging my nun chucks violently crashing it into their heads and face. Unleashing everything I had, I hammered them with my nun chucks as hard as I could forcing it to break after several times. Although my nun chucks were no longer available for use, I sprang into my Jeet Kune Do in a Bruce Lee manner and finished the remaining of them. After an intense duel with the ruffians, I finally survived as I crippled every one of them hard to the ground. My partner then joined me at the rooftops with more police officers before we placed those ruffians with cuffs. As I suffered from several cuts, my partner immediately called in the paramedics; I was shortly escorted to the hospital for medical assistance. That was all I could remember in my dreams behind the badge.

It wasn't the only best dream I had so far in my life but also one of the longest one. When I got up from my bed this morning, I was thrown into utmost disappointment as it was just a dream only. However, the dream was so real that I had difficulties differentiating it from what is real; it was just like getting plugged into the Matrix. I was once told by a friend of mine that whatever happens in your dream would unlikely happen in reality; if that's the case, I should be deeply worried as there could be a possibility that I will unlikely achieve my dream job. I pray my friend and I are wrong about this dream theory for if we were right, I shall be damned.

Hong Kong Today

My first visit (hopefully not the last) to Hong Kong dates back 13 years ago when I was still in my care free childhood days. The only memory I had during my visit to Hong Kong in 1995 for my holiday was my joyful moments in Ocean Park; other than that, I couldn’t remember much about the country. Although I have been exposed to the culture and life style of Hong Kong countless times through Hong Kong dramas and movies broad casted in my country when I was growing up, I never really thought about visiting the country again due to the fact that I was too young to appreciate the country. I managed to make a couple of Hong Kong friends in university during my fall semester last year and like most international students would do, they promoted their country with utmost enthusiasm. Furthermore, they even told me more than a hundred reasons why I should visit their country. One of my Hong Kong friends even showed me a photo book of her country and I was truly amazed with the urban landscape as well as some of the country’s landmarks. Ever since my exposure to the photographic scenery of Hong Kong, my eagerness to know more about the country was spawned; it wasn’t long before I thought about revisiting the country as well as to know more about it. During my random video browsing on YouTube, I came across an Al Jazeera video regarding Hong Kong today. The video was from a subsidiary TV program of Al Jazeera which was known as 48, hosted by Amanda Palmer whom briefly reported on Hong Kong today. I felt grateful bumping into this video as it was what I needed to know about Hong Kong today.

Formally known as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, this territory borders the Guangdong province in the north and is surrounded by the South China Sea. Once governed by the British, the country distinguishes itself from its Chinese predecessor in terms of politics, economy and infrastructure. During its handover back to China in 1997, many feared that Hong Kong would lose its independence; Prince Charles, one of the royalty during that moment announced that Great Britain will remain keeping a close eye on Her Majesty's former colony with the objective of preserving British interest despite the country was returned to the Communist Chinese government.

The Hong Kong Island is best known for its financial district and its concrete jungle of sky scrapers. Within the urban jungle of the main island are several hundred meters of new lands dedicated to the construction of commercial installments such as offices and shopping malls. The Hong Kong government is not keen on heritage preservation as the lands are among the populated. Hong Kong became a financial center after the 2^nd World War and it was during that moment when the government decided to replace old buildings with modern sky scrapers where many of the country’s past was erased as urban development followed. Several locations like Wellington Street where shops, markets and houses remained in their original form which dates back more than hundred years ago are targeted for removal by the Hong Kong government in a few years time to facilitate future construction of commercial buildings. As the government furthers its ambition to modernize the country, there’s a growing community in Hong Kong which are against the government’s decision as they deeply value their heritage.

The Hong Kong Central on Sunday is usually occupied with Filipinos. Most of them share another common characteristic apart from their similar nationality: their occupation which revolves around serving their Chinese employees at home as house maids. Since these Filipinos are banned from working outside their employee’s home, it is common for these maids to be vulnerable to abuse. With Hong Kong’s development progressing, it is a matter of time before these Filipino maids lose their common gathering to the government’s plans to allocate Hong Kong Central with office buildings and shopping malls. Their problems are further exacerbated by the obligations for these maids to pay a $5000 bond which leaves them no choice but to organize a peaceful protest in the streets of Hong Kong Central to justify their unfair treatment. Despite the harsh weather presented during the summer and winter in the country, the majority of the Filipino maids there will still congregate together at their usual gathering spot as they deeply value their companionship together. According to these maids, their pay over there in Hong Kong is 3 times more than their usual pay in their motherland which explains the vast number of Filipinos over here in Hong Kong. A majority of them agreed that the life as a working maid in Hong Kong is difficult nevertheless; they believe that their hardship is worthwhile with their tremendous pay they earn here in Hong Kong. These maids are regarded as the new heroes by the government; conversely they just prefer to earn a living wage back home. Until then, they continue carrying their traditions in their foreign land, Hong Kong.

Among Hong Kong’s political arena are a group of people pushing for full democracy in the country. Kwong Fung Tsang, a rising politician and Long Hair, a legislative council member are one of the few pro democracy movement members committed to promoting the idea of full freedom in Hong Kong despite realizing that China is a Communist nation. The pro democracy movement are angered by Beijing‘s false promise to provide full democracy to Hong Kong by 2007. The movement was informed by China that Hong Kong will be given full democracy by 2017; yet with the pro democracy impatient, it seems that China is not doing well to convince them. The fact that half of the legislative council in Hong Kong is elected while the rest is appointed by Beijing seems to anger not only the pro democracy movement but also a handful of Chinese people in Hong Kong. The movement also added that the government in Hong Kong has been a regime for the collusion between the rich people and the government. A majority of the people realize that their enterprise city is largely subjugated by major corporations forcing small businesses to struggle which then leads to the presence of the underclass. Although half a million of the Chinese Hong Kong have defeated the anti subversion laws proposed by Beijing, the pro democracy movement faces apathy as many of the Hong Kongers are enjoying China’s economic boom.

Another interesting aspect about Hong Kong would be its stock market. With 2.8 trillion dollars in their savings, the Hong Kongers has recently invested heavily in China. Many of them have left their jobs to try their luck in the market with the rapid cash flow in Hong Kong. As gambling is one of the few favorites for the Chinese, the trading of stocks in the market is not only for the profit but for the excitement as well. Since gambling is restricted according to the law, the people in Hong Kong adopt stock trading as their gambling pleasure.

Apart from staking their money in stock trading, the Hong Kongers places their bets on the horses racing against each other on the tracks. One of the few famous horse betting dents in Hong Kong is the Happy Valley which was constructed by the British in 1846. Initially, the Happy Valley was restricted to English people and it was mostly an English gentle men’s club in Hong Kong. However, 1 in 7 Hong Kongers today bet in horse races and an increasing number aren’t gentlemen. This gambling dent generates 5% of all Hong Kong’s taxes contributing to the development of the country.

I felt grateful bumping into this video as it was what I needed to know about Hong Kong today. Perhaps, one of the most interesting highlight of the video was when several Hong Kongers were asked whether they preferred to be regarded as Chinese or Hong Kongers. Like most of them I have asked myself over here in the university, some preferred to be identified from Hong Kong while there are also a few who wouldn’t mind being regarded as a Chinese given the fact that their culturally Chinese. One of the few reasons why some strongly insist that they preferred to be identified as Hong Kongers could be the fact that before Hong Kong was returned to China when it was still under British rule, they were taught to see themselves as Hong Kongers whom were different from their Chinese neighbors seeing that they were governed under a different set of British system that stands to separate them from the Chinese in Communist China

The Hmong Hunt

Just today when I was serving for the latest Al Jazeera videos on YouTube, I came across an interesting video entitled The Lost Tribe. Initially, I was hesitant to watch the video as I thought it was some sort anthropology documentary on one of the few oldest tribes in the world that are forgotten; however, knowing that it is foolish to be ignorant, I've decided to click on the video to know more about the content of the documentary. Furthermore, seeing that these are one of the few Al Jazeera reports that are up to date, I've decided to watch the video as I thought it would be a good idea to stay on top of things. After more than 20 minutes of the video, I could not help but to feel sorry for the Hmong tribes and I deeply regretted for my stupidity due to my earlier speculation of the video.

The Lost Tribe is a video report by Al Jazeera's television journalist, Tony Birtley on the current situation of the Hmong tribe in Laos. Tony Birtley, accompanied by a camera man explores the thick jungles of northern Laos to find this troubled tribe which is still under the Lao military's gun sight. In this report, he reveals the sorrow, desperation and the fear of the Hmong people whom struggle greatly to survive the Lao military’s persecution. Constantly moving and seeking shelter under the most appalling conditions in the jungles of Northern Laos with the hope of evading their military hunters, ambush and gun fights between the Hmong tribe and the Lao military are regular. With the presence of Tony among the Hmong tribe which seemed like savior and hope delivered by God, the Hmong tribes pleaded, beg and even worshiped him hoping that he will free them from their ever dreadful state of being hunted and persecuted by the Lao army. Knowing that he is just a journalist, Tony regretfully informed that he is powerless to influence the international aid’s attention on them. The most surprising aspect of the video was when the Hmong tribe decided to take Tony and his cameraman hostage, thinking that their action would force the United Nations to regard their attention on the Hmong tribe’s problem. Like any hostage would feel, Tony and his cameraman were nervous about the fact that they were taken hostage, yet they fully understood the Hmong’s action given their desperation for survival and help. Fortunately for Tony and his cameraman, they were released by the Hmong tribes a week later when Tony promised to pass on a letter prepared by the head of the Hmong tribe to the United Nations.

The Lao government's eagerness to annihilate these Hmong tribes bears its roots more than 40 years ago during the Vietnam War. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recruited over 80% of the Hmong people in Laos to aid the American soldiers in the Vietnam War; these Hmong soldiers were trained by the CIA to act as a Special Guerrilla Unit spearheaded by Vang Pao. The Special Guerrilla Unit was responsible for blocking their Vietnamese adversaries’ supply route from the north to the south. As the Special Guerrilla Unit was deployed on the front line of the war, its operatives mostly aided U.S forces to disrupt the North Vietnamese Army’s supply line and rescued downed American pilots. Due to such extensive duty of the Special Guerrilla Unit, more than 40,000 Hmong were killed in action

When the Americans lost the war in Vietnam in 1975, they withdrew their troops shortly before the communist government invaded Laos. Seeing that the Hmong assisted the Americans during the war, they became targets for retaliation and persecution by the communists. Under the new Lao regime, a number of Hmong returned to their villages and moved on; however the majority fled to Thailand via the Mekong River only to be frequently attacked where it became the biggest exodus for Hmong people from Laos. Although some of them made their way to Thailand, they were neglected and held in filthy United Nations refugee camps. For those who did not escape from Laos, they were declared as political prisoners under the Lao government and they were forced into re-education camps where they were subjected to harsh labor and appalling living conditions which resulted in many deaths.

From time to time, the Hmong executed attacks against the Lao and Vietnamese troops. Zong Zoua Her, the leader of the Hmong (even until today) with his followers established a guerilla movement called Chao Fa to resist the Lao and Vietnamese army. Their offensive campaign were a success, on the other hand, the Chao Fa’s attacks only encouraged the Lao government to conduct military counter attacks on them via aerial bombing , heavy artillery and even the use of defoliants and chemical weapons.

The Hmong featured in The Lost Tribe video, mostly comprise 2^nd or 3^rd generation descendants of former Special Guerrilla Unit soldiers. They constantly remain in hiding especially around the remote areas of Laos as they fear for government prosecution. On the constant run for more than 30 years, the Hmong are deeply isolated and they are stricken with poverty. The Hmong children are deeply malnourished, dressed in old thorn clothes, deprived of medicine and food as well as a basic sense of education. With an unimaginable poor standard of living for the Hmong, there seems to be no future prospect for them and with the lack of aid, many Hmong sees this as the “end of their line”.

After more than 20 minutes of the video, I could not help but to feel sorry for the Hmong tribes and I deeply regretted for my stupidity due to my earlier speculation of the video. What pisses me off about this issue is that during the Vietnam War and the decades that followed by, the U.S Government denied the fact that they recruited the Hmong to fight their war. The Clinton administration apparently denied the use of Hmong in the Vietnam War in order to justify the repatriation of Thailand-based Hmong war refugees to Laos in the late 1990s. On the other hand, several U.S. conservatives’ back then has urged the U.S. Government to acknowledge the existence of the Special Guerrilla Unit and to honor the Hmong as well as U.S veterans from the war. As a result of that, a Laos Memorial was dedicated on the grounds of the Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate the Hmong from the Vietnam War. It is also great to know that there are individuals who would sacrifice themselves for the cause of those in need. Harrison Jack, a retired Army infantry officer attempted to recruit Special Forces operatives to play the role of mercenaries whom will assist Vang Pao and his comrades to overthrow the oppressive Lao government. Unfortunately, they were all arrested for plotting to overthrow the Lao government in violation of the federal Neutrality Acts and for multiple weapons charges.

Zainichi Koreans in Japan

During my recent video browsing on YouTube, I came across an interesting video which revolved around a Korean worker in Japan who decided to sue his customer for discrimination. Thinking that this video will contain lots of vulgarity and hate knowing that most Koreans and Japanese hardly get along due to their national dispute which can be traced from the Japan-Korea Annexation in the early 20th century, I thought this video was worth my time. After a few seconds of the video, I was truly disappointed as everything were in Japanese which I couldn't understand a word of seeing thatI have no knowledge in Japanese. As I was about to view other unrelated videos, the "related videos" column of the YouTube window I was browsing then presented a list of other videos that shared the similar topic. Consequently, as I was curious and interested about the issues that triggers more conflict and dispute between the Japanese and the Koreans, I decided to check some of them out. Like the earlier video, most of them were either in Japanese or Korean which I knew it wasn't worth the watch as I have no knowledge in both the respective languages. As I was about to give up browsing for videos regarding the dispute between the Japanese and the Koreans, I came across an Al Jazeera video which featured a report regarding Koreans living in Japan. Realizing that Al Jazeera reports in English, my interest regarding the relationship between the Japanese and Koreans reignited. After more than 10 minutes of the video, I realized how ignorant I was not to know about the Zainichi Koreans in Japan.

The roots of the discrimination that the Koreans have been facing in Japan can be traced back to the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty in 1910 where all Koreans became the subject of Imperial Japanese rule. During the 2nd World War, the majority of Koreans were forced to migrate to Japan to be laborers in order to resolve Japan's labor shortage that was required to mobilize the manufacturing industry of the country. The Korean workers that were brought to Japan during the 2nd World War were forced to work in mines and factories under harsh and inhumane working conditions which usually resulted in deaths. Besides harsh treatment from the Japanese, the Koreans in Japan were forbidden to speak their native language and they were also obligated to adopt Japanese names and culture. Despite such atrocities conducted on them, some of the Koreans decided to construct their new homes in Japan after the 2nd World War where the children of these survivors amount to a million today. The reason behind their decision to remain in Japan after the Japanese defeat in the war was because of the political instability in their homeland as it was exemplified by the Korean War that followed shortly after the 2nd World War. Although the Koreans in Japan have spend most of their lives in their so called "enemy nation", they are forced to hide their Korean heritage in order to avoid discrimination from the Japanese.

The Japanese has considered themselves a homogeneous race and they have pride themselves repeatedly through the constant reminder that if an individual is not Japanese, he or she is similar to a handicap. This wouldn't be any of a surprise given the fact that Japanese culture and customs which strongly prioritize integrity, dedication, honor and loyalty have been seen as admirable traits by the global audience even from the ancient times. Furthermore, with the unexpected rise of Japan as a major economic power in the far east after their defeat in the 2nd World War, the Japanese view themselves as an elite race. On the other hand, there are many minority groups in Japan which faces harsh treatment and discrimination in a land dedicated to ethnic purity. According to Shin Ya Kim, a member of the Korean Community Center in Kawasaki, an example of the discrimination that the Koreans would face in Japan can be demonstrated by the housing rentals. If a Japanese Korean were to use his or her real name, the possibility of being able to rent the house would be very slim. The mistreatment does not end there as Bae Cheol-Eun, a member of the Korean Resident Union in Japan claims that Japanese Koreans are likely to get their job applications declined in a job interview. Such act of discrimination is impossible to be justified at the stage of law given the lack of evidence, nevertheless there are always stories regarding discrimination to be told by a Japanese Korean.

According to the United Nations, one of the possible causes for such racism to occur in Japan is due to Japan's lack of basic protective legislation. Japan was urged by the United Nations to pass on laws that would declare any form of discrimination to be an offense in 2005. On the other hand, Satoshi Kameda, the Japanese Ministry of Justice refutes that it is a misstatement to claim that Japan lacks discrimination law as most cases regarding racism ends up under the jurisdiction of criminal law. Dr. Yasunori Fukuoka, a leading sociologist from the Saitama University mentions that the lack of appreciation for people's differences is another possible cause to racism.

With no legal protection against discrimination, many Japanese Koreans have no choice but to masquerade themselves as a Japanese as this can be illustrated by 90% of Japanese Koreans whom adopt a Japanese name in their daily life. With two names, one Korean and the other Japanese, most Koreans living in Japan could not help but to experience such abnormality. Conversely, a handful of Koreans in Japan prefer to be public and proud about their Korean heritage rather than lie about it.

More than 200 Korean students at the Chosen school in Yokohama are educated in their native language instead of Japanese with the objective or preserving their ethnic heritage and the believe of returning to their homeland in North Korea. The Chosen school were among the first few Korean schools founded in Japan after the 2nd World War. The school was originally funded by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K.) to ensure that the Korean heritage survives among the Korean students in Japan and to discourage any form of cultural assimilation. Despite being educated in Japanese, Korean and English today, the students of Chosen are also taught about their great leader Kim Il Sung and their dear leader Kim Jong Il. Dr, Guy Sun Oh who is a historical researcher on Koreans in Japan says that many will assume that the Korean students are brainwashed with D.P.R.K. education at first impression, which is completely inaccurate. He added that it is nothing wrong at all for the students to learn about Kim Il Sung seeing that he is the founding father of North Korea after all. Furthermore, he mentioned that General Kim Il Sung said that the North Koreans in Japan are obligated to learn how to read and write in Korean as well as learn skills that will be beneficial to the D.P.R.K's future. Students of Chosen would go by their Korean names, dress in the North Korean attire in public and annually visit Pyongyang on a school trip. Of course such ethnic pride and patriotism comes with a costly price as it was demonstrated by the case of a North Korean girl being stabbed for dressing in her uniform in public. Joo Hyu Kim, a female student at the Chosen High School claims that she has encountered hostility countless times for putting on her North Korean school uniform in the public.

Both Japanese and minority activist has successfully forced the Japanese government to implement policies that will address the needs of the minorities over the years. The permission to allow Japanese Koreans to be citizens of Japan is an example of the concession between the Japanese government and the activist. On the other hand, such concession is not that effective as most Koreans realized that the choice for a Korean to become Japanese will be the greatest treachery to the Korean nationality. This is because the historical relationship between Japan and Korea as well as the suffering bore by the Koreans will be forgotten and lost.

After more than 10 minutes of the video, I realized how ignorant I was not to know about the Zainichi Koreans in Japan. I truly agree with Dr. Yasunori Fukuoka's opinion regarding racism which stems from the people's inability to appreciate differences. Due to strong values of ethnocentrism, people's differences are measured according to the measurer's values and beliefs which then leads to racism, prejudice and discrimination in the likely event that both values contradict with one another.

Extreme Redefined

2 years ago, the action genre for the video game industry was redefined by Pursuit Force for the Play Station Portable (PSP). The game which offered fuel burning car chases, insanely (and also exaggerating) action stunts as well as a great scripted thriller had many standing ovations and thumbs raised for the game; the game itself legitimated the reason for video game fans to own a PSP. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a copy of Pursuit Force and like others who have played it, I truly have to agree with the fact that the game was indeed amazing. Since my completion of the game, I've always hope for a sequel of the game and the day the developers of Pursuit Force announced a sequel entitled Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice, I knew I was blessed. Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice hit the shelves of the market on the 29th of January this year and seeing that I was extremely excited about the game, I wasted no time getting my hands on the long awaited sequel. After 2 days of Pursuit Force:Extreme Justice, I successfully completed the game's campaign and as the credits rolled, I couldn't help but to give a big applause for the game developers for their tremendous effort.

For those of you who don't owe a PSP, it wouldn't be a surprise if you are unaware of the Pursuit Force series. The game revolves around an elite police task force called the Pursuit Force that specializes in direct armed encounters. This police task force was established in response to the uprising wave of crime in Capital State caused by five major gangs which consist of the Capelli Family, the Warlords, the Convicts, the Vixens and the Killer 66. The game pits the player in the boots of a Pursuit Force officer who is assigned to restore order in Capital State by taking down the five crime gangs one at the time through massive car chases and bullet hissing gun fights. The car chases aren't only the typical game of cat and mouse but it also escorted by insane stunts such as jumping from one vehicle to another vehicle at speeds over a 150 miles per hour; that makes Pursuit Force unique and different from other action games out there.

Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice shortly takes place after the ending of the 1st installment with order restored and the 5 crime gangs arrested. The Pursuit Force officer (the same one the player controls in the 1st installment) is happily married to Sarah, one of his colleagues. On the day of their joyful wedding day, a motorcade of Convicts (the same crime gang in the 1st series) violently crashed through, ramming everything in their way thus cutting the wedding occasion short. Knowing that the Convicts are on the loose, the Pursuit Force wasted no time in tracking the criminals on the run. Meanwhile, they received another intelligence report stating that the Warlords (another returning gang) are also on the loose and they are plotting a nuclear devastation on Capital State with the help of new crime gangs such as the Syndicate and the Raiders. With the nuclear threat on the table, the law enforcement of Capital State, under the mayor's aprroval has established the VIPER unit, a SWAT team which also specializes in riot control techniques to assist the Pursuit Force. As the countdown for the nuclear devastation begins, both the Pursuit Force and the VIPER unit are pitted against time to take down the ruthless gangs and prevent an all out nuclear mayhem. Although the story premise seem to be simple at first glance, many unexpected plots and clever twists are presented as the player progresses further in the game's story mode. Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice excels in terms of story content.

The tremendous game play is the obvious reason that pits Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice in the league of the elite. Unlike most action games out there in the market which only revolves around a single type of action whether is it driving, shooting or third person action exploring, Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice combines all of them. The player will be thrown into a scene of high adrenaline car chase at one point of the stage, trying his or her best to take down a required number of enemy vehicles or reaching a certain checkpoint of the stage within the allocated amount of time. The scene then changes which demonstrates the player hopping onto an incoming police helicopter before manning an attached minigun which triggers the player's objective to shoot down fleeing enemy vehicles and incoming enemy rockets. The player will not be only restricted to the minigun missions but also missions which require him or her to take out enemy personnels from a distance using an automatic sniper rifle in a flying police helicopter or from a rooftop. The fun doesn't end there as certain levels of the game trigger a third person action sequence which forces the player to dodge his or her way through massive gun fights all for the sake of securing a perimeter or planting explosives on enemy equipments. When the fight gets too close, the player can pull off a variety of stylish close quarter combat techniques on his or her enemies. The boss fights are always amazing and also challenging as it test the player's ability to know when to dodge and attack. Besides that, certain boss fights require a correct sequence of button mashing combination in order to prevail, is isn't anything new but at the same time, is fun. With diverse action featured in Pursuit Force:Extreme Justice, it wouldn't be exaggerating to state that this game is a fine example of what an action game should be. The controls are great most of the time as the vehicle maneuvering is smooth as a silk, the 3rd person action shoot out are easy to control and the minigun control layout is comfortable. The default aiming sensitivity for the sniper missions can be painfully annoying seeing that it is extremely difficult to get the sniper cross hair on the target but fortunately, the aiming sensitivity can be adjusted in the options menu of the game. As the player progresses deeper into the game, many abilities like reloading the weapon faster, jumping onto enemy vehicles from a greater distance, increasing damage attacks and reducing the minigun from over heating by a certain amount of percentage, can be unlocked with credits earned during missions. With its awesome game play, it is not surprising that Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice deserves two thumbs up.

Like its terrific game play, Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice blows the player away with its awesome style. Although the music score is not composed by Harry Gregson Williams or Hans Zimmer, a great mixture of metal and heroic themes in the game's soundtrack is sufficient enough to let the player experience how tough and valiant an action hero or heroine can be. Voice acting is still good although not exactly Hollywood scripted and the dialogs which features a handful amount of humor and sarcasm never fails to make the player giggle. Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice triumphs in its sleek, smooth and colorful 3D graphics which has a slight comic theme behind it making it ideal for the genre of the game. Overall, the game performs well in terms of its style.

After 2 days of Pursuit Force:Extreme Justice, I successfully completed the game's campaign and as the credits rolled, I couldn't help but to give a big applause for the game developers for their tremendous effort. With everything to rave and nothing to rant about the game except for its slightly flawed aim sensitivity which fortunately can be adjusted in the options menu, Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice scores a 9 out of 10. Hopefully, there will be news regarding the development of a third title in the near future. Like Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops, Pursuit Force is an outstanding game that will prompt video game fans to own a PSP.

The player will assume the role of a Pursuit Force police officer in Extreme Justice.

Meet the VIPER unit. They are the law enforcement's SWAT team that also specialize in riot control techniques. The gentleman in the middle is Commander Decker and he is the head of the VIPER unit

Chase em!

If you can't get them to stop, jump onto their vehicle and shoot them.

Jumping onto the bad guys' vehicle is cool...but one small mistake and you're roadkill.

At times, your colleague will assist you to take down the bad guys.

A variety of vehicles at your disposal including bikes.

Run and gun!

Sorry sweet heart, but I only ride alone. An officer of the Pursuit Force knocking off a Warlord criminal from her bike.

Take the fight to the water.

...and air

Death from above. One of the few mingun missions which can be very enjoyable.

Target in sight. The sniper missions are as fun as the minigun missions...just make sure you adjust the aim sensitivity before playing or you'll hate this part of the game.

Too close to the enemy? Take em' down with some close quarter combat.


The trailers for Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice, enjoy.

A Brawl that Forced Me to Consider Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

-The scary part was I conducted a perfect knee bar on him when I have no basic knowledge of grappling or jujitsu


Through out my 7 years practicing martial arts mostly Muay Thai, I've been told countless times by martial arts articles, self defense documentaries and sometimes experienced martial artist that the self defense techniques regardless of the style, are all useless when it comes to a real street fight. With this warning deeply stuck into my principles of martial arts, I often remind myself to avoid any unnecessary fights, not to be a hero by using what I have learned to defend myself and only practice martial arts for sports and fitness. Conversely, after a bloody brawl on the early morning of the 24th of February, I truly underestimated the capabilities of my martial arts as it have defended me very well and for that, I felt like a fool. What even surprised me, was the fact that I defended myself fairly well during the ground attacks with the choke hold and knee bar I performed despite the fact that I hated grappling or jujitsu for I was never good at those. After that morning's brawl which showed me that I had the potential in grappling, I then considered taking up Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

It all happened the night before when I was having a nice friendly steam boat dinner with my Hong Kong, Taiwanese and Japanese friends at my apartment's common lounge. Seeing that our 1 week of reading break was soon to be over, all of us vowed to extend our time together until the following early morning. After our dinner at the common lounge, we cleaned up and washed the dishes. Seeing that we still had a long time more before we called it a day, one of my Hong Kong friends, Cindy suggested that we should drink. Having experience the bad side of drinking more that once, I felt a cold chill down my spine as my instincts told me that something bad is going to happen due to our decision to drink that night. Yet, I knew I was thinking too much and it would be rude to counter Cindy's suggestion; so, I went with her plan. Cindy popped open a brand new bottle of Raspberry flavor vodka while Shelley, another Hong Kong friend of mine brought a carton of apple juice drink boxes with her to mix it up with the vodka. Everyone drank a lot accept me as I dare not indulge myself in heavy alcohol ever since the incident where I was drunk. My roommate who was with me started drinking a lot and because of that, he began to feel tipsy. Knowing that he was a better drinker than me, I was not concerned about him. Shelley later suggested a game of King's Orders to accompany our happy hour.

The game functions through a deck of 7 cards (depending on how many people is playing. I had 8 people including me back then, so we used 8 cards). Each cards have its specific numbers ranging from 2 to 8 and a King card. The cards are then scattered throughout a table with its number hidden and the players are obligated to pick a card. The lucky person who picks the King card can order any numbers (the other person with their respective card numbers) to play out an act. The game was indeed funny with all sorts of dirty orders given out by the King; there were times we were told by the King to kiss each other or played out some weird sexual positions. There were moments where I loved the game especially when I had some of my cute or pretty female friend told to kiss me or play out a dirty act on me; conversely, there were also time when I hated the game a lot when I had to play out a love scene with my Taiwanese guy friends all because the King's order. The game's fun was then compromised by my roommate who was getting drunk from the drinking he had. He went on saying stupid stuff and he consistently interrupted the game with stupid suggestions and comments. The worst part was, my roommate tried to sexually harass my female friends like a typical fucking old pervert and because of that, they had to consistently avoid my roommate only to end up getting chased by him. Most of the time, I had to make sure he was next to me or he would end up saying or doing foolish things.I was irritated a bit by his perversion but seeing that he was drunk, I fully understood the situation and I tried to be more patient. During the next round of King's Orders, it so happened that my roommate and I were chosen by Maaya, who turned out to be the King for the round, to play out a sexual position. According to Maaya, my roommate and I had to play out a "doggy style" position on the couch which managed to get everyone laughing wildly. Seeing that I wanted to get this over quick, I laid over the couch with my stomach facing the surface of the couch before telling my drunken roommate to "nail" me. As he was high and totally drunk, he jumped on my back violently and continued humping on me; everyone was excited and they were laughing at our great acting. However, I was in deep pain as my roommate was so rough. As he couldn't control himself, he started shouting, "Yeah, motherfucker" at my ears while he continued to hump me. He then, grab whole of both my kidneys and squeeze them which forced my reflexes to automatically throw him of the couch. Seeing that he couldn't think rationally, he taught I was trying to fight with him; therefore he grabbed whole of my denim jacket and pulled me down to the ground together with him as he fell before igniting a violent brawl.

As the both of us were rolling over the floor going at each other, I knew that my roommate was berserk and he wasn't reluctant to hurt me badly, therefore I had to defend myself or risk becoming the victim of his drunken madness. Here came the surprising part: since it was a ground fight, I automatically knew that grappling was more effective than striking, therefore I performed a knee bar on my roommate the moment I caught whole his left leg. The scary part was I conducted a perfect knee bar on my roommate when I have no basic knowledge of grappling or jujitsu. My other friends knew that the fight was real, so they tried to break the both of us away before I snapped my roommates leg. As we were seperated, my roommate somehow got loose and he continued pounding me while I was still lying on the ground. Immediately, I performed a center shield technique I learned from Muay Thai in order to cover my face from his punches. As he landed the next punch, I caught whole his punching hand and immediately threw both my inner thighs around the back of his neck to lock him in. I then forced the back of his neck down with my remaining hand. I clearly remembered how to do this lock hold as I've seen my favorite Kung Fu actor Donnie Yen doing something similar in his recent action movie, Flash Point (talk about how educational TV can be); like before, I was surprised that I executed this defensive technique perfectly as my roommate was choking for air. My other friends tried breaking the both of us again and this time, they succeeded. As we got up, I immediately removed my jean jacket and tossed it to the ground before getting into my Muay Thai stance. Eric, my Taiwanese friend was holding me back off telling me to calm down while Randy who was another Taiwanese friend of mine, held my roommate back. I decided to let it go but unfortunately my roommate didn't have the same idea as he didn't hurt me badly. Consequently, instead of physically attacking me, he mentally and verbally assaulted me; that was a clear example of psy-ops (psychology warfare). He began saying that I was pretending to be a Caucasian simply because of the fact that I'm a Chinese who couldn't speak Mandarin which fucking annoyed me deeply. All along, I have been experiencing this same shit from those fucking Chinese educated pricks and Chow Mien speaking chinks in Malaysia, hoping that I will not experience the same thing in Canada, only to have that problem resurrected by my fucking roommate. That fucking skinny weirdo with his bloody perversion got me boiling even further when he told me to return to my 3rd world country, Malaysia. I charged at him only to be restrained by Eric and Cindy who reminded me that he was drunk. That piece of shit was walking free around the common lounge insulting me in Mandarin and every time I tried to reach him, my friends held me back. Knowing that I couldn't reach him because of my friends, the only way to get him was to strike him from my stationery position. As he was insulting me further in Mandarin, he was unaware about the close distance between the both of us that placed him in a dangerous position. Knowing that I was in a kicking distance, I immediately unleashed a strong rear teep trong (front kick in Thai) to that bastard's gut at the horrors of my other friends. That fucker was pushed back but he was still standing which shocked me as I knew that my kick was just child's play to him. Immediately, Eric restrained me like usual while Shelley warned my roommate to shut the fuck up. Instead of trying to deliver the favor, my roommate continued running his mouth with vulgarity. He then insulted my Muay Thai art and he said it was inferior to Chinese Kung Fu; everyone knew I was pissed so they demanded my roommate to shut up. He then said "fuck your mum" in Cantonese to me and I know that was his death wish. I chuckled in anger and I told him to said it again at my face and unsurprisingly (seeing how stupid he was) he walked closer to me which was at a punching distance before repeating his insult to my mother. As he opened his mouth, I immediately launched a devastating mat throng (rear punch/cross in Thai) at lightning speed to his nose. As my knuckles landed hard on his nose, it also shattered his glasses at the same time. "TAKE THAT YOU, MOTHER FUCKER!", I screamed as loud as I could the second I hammered his fuck face with my fist of fury. He was immediately pushed back and blood started pouring out from his nose. Randy held him back further and informed my roommate that he was bleeding. My roommate then screamed in Mandarin saying that I smack his nose which felt orgasmic to me; Randy immediately rushed him to the common kitchen to wash the gushing blood from his nose while Eric held me back. That punch was for my mum and I really hope that the bastard will think twice before cursing my mum again. The girls calmed me down and Eric told me to take a seat. Shelley who saw my cut knuckle ( the one which I delivered the cross) insisted on having them bandaged but I reminded her the one who was going to need the bandaging was that bleeding asshole in the kitchen. Although I was pissed at that bastard, I was also pissed at myself for showing how barbaric I was that morning to my friends. On the other hand, I was truly proud of the fact that I defended myself properly with my Muay Thai skills and surprisingly, the grappling techniques that I once dislike for being complicating.

After that morning's brawl which showed me that I had the potential in grappling, I then considered taking up Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). I then talked to Cindy online later on in the day to express my guilt for showing how barbaric I am. To my surprise, she said such barbarism from me was essential as I was trying to defend myself, not to mention my roommate was out of line for saying all those hurtful words. The brawl between my roommate and me taught me a lot of things; first of all, it taught me that the claim of martial arts being ineffective in the streets is a fallacy. It also taught me that drunk people can be stronger than usual (apart from being foolish which cost them their blood) as the kick I delivered to my roommate' gut seemed like a child's play to him when by right it was suppose to send him flying, and the cross that I landed on his face which was suppose to knock him out instantly only made him bleed. Finally, it taught me that ground fighting is very important yet mostly neglected as it can be exemplified by the fight I had with my roommate on the floor and my dislike for grappling techniques. The most amazing thing about the fight was it showed me that I had potential in grappling seeing that I instantly knew how to execute a knee bar and a choke hold without thinking at all. Even though I won the fight, I sustained cut knuckles from delivering that hard cross and also a sprained right leg from all the "humping" my roommate gave me. It was surprising to note that my idiotic roommate apologized to everyone for his behavior, especially to me for saying all those hurtful stuff, immediately after Randy fixed his nose at the kitchen. Although I forgave him, I will never forget that incident as he finally revealed his true impression about me thanks to the alcohol that got him drunk...and honest. I'll be keeping an eye on him and making sure that my Muay Thai is in stand by mode...just in case.

Denied

My first aquaintance with the Conflict series dates back 6 years ago when I first got my Play Station 2; among my early collection of games back then included Conflict: Desert Storm. Although I am a military fanatic, it was strange that I didn't bother much about Conflict: Desert Storm back then for some mysterious reasons. However as I grew older and mature (ahem...I think), so did my interest in global conflict and politics. When Game Trailers (the usual gaming website I often visit) announced that a new Conflict installment entitled Denied Ops for the Play Station 3 was bound to hit the shelves in the middle of February, I was excited mostly because of the political scenario and also the military tactical nature of the game. Consequently, I knew that Conflict: Denied Ops would be one of my anticipated military games this year for the Play Station 3, apart from Rainbow Six Vegas 2, End War, Battle Field: Bad Company, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Front Line: Fuels Of War. When the game was released in stores about a week ago, I contemplated about buying it as I wouldn't want to flush $57 down the drain recklessly. Consequently, I searched for the game's review on several gaming website only to be disappointed with the unavailable reviews as the game was still new. I went on waiting a couple of more days and I managed to find a review about the game on a foreign gaming site which I couldn't really remember the name. To my surprise, Conflict: Denied Ops was a flop according to the reviewer due to poor graphics, Artificial Intelligence, and gameplay. Knowing that reviews are not totally trustworthy, I decided to try the game myself. The only problem was, it would be an expensive waste of money for me if the reviewer was right about the game, thus instead of buying it, I rented the game. After 2 days of Conflict: Denied Ops, it is a shame that this game has been DENIED from my list of favorite games.

Conflict: Denied Ops revolves around present day Venezuela which is thrown into a violent civil war between the democratic government and the Ramirez regime which is spearheaded by rogue General Ramirez. As civilian casualties sky rocket throughout the civil war in Venezuela, the U.S. government decides to help its troubled neighboring country in the south with military aid, only to be threatened by General Ramirez who wouldn't hesitate to launch nuclear missiles into U.S for meddling with Venezuela's internal affairs. With the nuclear threat on the table, the United States is choice less but to mobilize its CIA Special Activities Division (SAD). The SAD is a paramilitary clandestine unit that specialize in covert special operations. Members of this division comprise former members of U.S. Special Forces, Delta Force , Navy SEAL, FBI and SWAT. These operatives do not equip themselves with any weaponry, gears or accessories that would associate them with the U.S. In the event that these operatives are apprehended, their existence will be officially denied by the U.S government. The game features a fictional world conflict scenario and a covert CIA division which is plain simple yet interesting enough to attract gamers (like me).

In Conflict: Denied Ops, players will be placed in the boots of Lincoln Graves and Reggie Lang whom are members of the CIA's Special Activities Division. Lincoln Graves specializes in long range weapons which pits him as the partnership's sniper. A former U.S. Marine and Delta Force operative, he played a major role in America's covert operations in Afghanistan, operating secretly against the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Unlike Graves, Reggie Lang's profile revolves around the law enforcement sector; shortly, after the September 11 attacks, he joined the FBI's Critical Incident Response Group which was responsible for the capture of many high profile Al-Qaeda terrorists suspects including Abu Zubaydah in Pakistan. Apart from his profile, Lang's combat specialty is the exact opposite of Graves' as it can be demonstrated by Lang's advantage in Close Quarter Battle (CQB). Like most military or espionage game which features tough looking heroes with an impressive military resume, the characters in Conflict: Denied Ops aren't special or new; however they are not necessarily dull as both of the characters interaction with one another in the game can be very dramatic.

The game play in Conflict: Denied Ops has its pros and cons. The positive aspect of this game is its character swapping feature which allows players to swap between Graves and Lang during the missions to fully utilize their respective combat capabilities. Although this character swapping feature isn't new as it is also offered in Battlefield 2: Modern Combat for the Play Station 2, yet such feature makes the game unique as it test the player's ability to decide which character to use depending on the mission's current situation. For instance, when the enemies are needed to be taken out from a distance with utmost stealth and secrecy, the player will swap to Graves as he specializes in sniping and stealth techniques. On the other hand, when the situation requires heavy fire power or close combat, players will utilize Lang's heavy machine gun. A variety of scenarios in the game that necessitate the players to use both Lang and Graves fully utilize the character swapping feature in the game. The controls are decent and the aiming system is very accurate. Although the players will initially confuse themselves with the zoom in button for Graves' sniper scope and gun camera mode which can be slightly annoying, eventually the players will get the hang out of it after repeatedly playing the game. As the players complete missions and fulfill their secondary objectives (which usually consist of protecting an important figure that bears Intel), they will be rewarded with awesome weapon upgrades like the gun camera, silencer attachment, grenade launcher attachment, shotgun attachement, bigger magazine, faster firing rate and weapon stock. Furthermore, the players will be rewarded with a variety of grenades like the flash bang, incinedary grenade and a trip mine which is capable of stopping infantries and light armor. The enemy AI in the game is surprisingly smart and intelligent seeing that they know when to take cover and are aware of the dangers of staying in one spot for too long. Here comes the bad part; unlike the enemy's intelligent AI, the player's partner can be ridiculously foolish. Constantly, the player need to issue his or her partner the "follow me" order or risk leaving his or her back up far behind. During missions which require either one of the agents to wheel a tank or a hovercraft, it would be a waste of time to have the player's partner to take charge as he will do nothing. The enemy's marksmanship which is highly accurate regardless of the shooting distance can be frustrating and annoying; this only spoils the realism of the game as well as the player's interest to further continue the game. Often times, the player will be struck by enemy rounds from all direction throughout the game even behind cover thus making it a hair ripping experience of frustration.Throughout the entire game, the players will be only restricted to using a machine gun or a sniper rifle. Seeing that it is impossible to pick up the fallen enemy's weapon, the variety and the liberty of weapon selection in this game is highly compromised. Although the aiming system is accurate, the grenade tossing format of the game is flawed. It is difficult to throw a grenade at a closer range as a single tap on the R1 button will automatically lob your grenade kilometers away from you. With plenty of flaws, Conflict: Denied Ops fails to provide a solid game play experience.

The graphics are just mediocre. Although the graphics are highly detailed and the explosion seems very realistic not to mention blood stains and smoke fumes can be spotted on the player's face, the glitches that often appear in terms of the enemy's gun sinking right through his(there's only a "he" in the game) supporting palm just look awful. The enemies movement which looks very bouncy makes them stiff and unnatural. Nevertheless, such graphical flaws are forgivable as the game's strikingly sharp detail and great lightings outweighs the game's graphical flaws.

Conflict: Denied Ops prevails in terms of its soundtrack and music scores. The game's soundtrack is similar to those from Hans Zimmerman and Harry Gregson Williams and it never fails to remind you of those Michale Bay or Jerry Bruckheimer action movies. The music score in the Rwanda level clearly reminded players of Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down. Another amazing aspect of the game's soundtrack is that it provides different music scores depending on the scenes in the game. A violent gun fight and the race against time to complete a certain objective will trigger a heroic fast paced music score. On the other hand, in a calm environment with the absence of gun battles, a slow music score will accompany the scene. The soundtrack for Conflict: Denied Ops deserves both thumbs up.

Voice acting for Conflict: Denied Ops is at its best. The dialogs among the characters are well scripted and also dramatic, keeps the players fully entertained. Every line is expressed with utmost enthusiasm and also a variety of emotions, authenticate the game very well. At times, the dialogs can be comical especially among Lang and Graves whom hardly get along, loosens the players once a while from the highly tensed and volatile political story premise. The awesome voice acting in Conflict: Denied Ops enforces the game's style and presentation.

After 2 days of Conflict: Denied Ops, it is a shame that this game has been DENIED from my list of favorite games. The game has a lot of potential as it can be illustrated by the intresting story premise, great sound track and awesome voice acting; however it is a shame that its poor game play restricted Conflict: Denied Ops from reaching the top. To sum it up, Conflict: Denied Ops scores a 6 out of 10.

Lincoln Graves specializes in sniping.

Reggie Lang prefers to take it to his enemies up close and personal with his heavy machine gun. He is also an electronics expert as it can be shown above by the wiring he is busy with.

Your weapons of choice throughout the game: a machine gun or a sniper rifle...quite limited huh?

Take your enemies out from a far.. At this point, it is best to swap to Graves since he is more skillful with long range combat.

Hey sniper, any hostile ahead? You might wanna get behind cover like me before some sniper have your ass.

Some missions requires you to gather Intel

...while some obligates you to destroy them. Shown above is Graves rigging the enemy's data dump with a C4.

Graves going for a kill...Not really a pleasant sight, though.

Your enemies are not limited to infantries but also helicopters, tanks and jet fighters (No,I'm not kidding)

One hell of a combined assault.

A Nice CNY Dinner Followed by a Karaoke Session

February 16 (which is a Friday) of this year marks the final day for TRU students before they embrace a week of reading break. For those who have no midterms immediately after the break, the one week of holiday would be an opportunity for them to unwind themselves from the dull and stressful days of university. On the other hand, for those who will be packed with midterms after the break, that one week of break would be a stressful and painful preparation for the exams. Just in case you're wondering which side of the holidays I would fall into, unfortunately I would have to categorized myself in the latter part seeing that I will be having my Financial Accounting shortly after my holidays. Fortunately, there is nothing much to prepare for my accounting exam as I have been constantly doing my homework; therefore, my one week of break wouldn't be as stressful as those who will have several midterms. It so happened on the same day, the Chinese students of TRU were organizing a Chinese New Year festival at the Campus Activity Center. Since I won't be celebrating Chinese New Year as much as my friends in Malaysia for the next 2 years, I thought that this dinner might help relieve the pain of missing Chinese New Year in Malaysia. Furthermore, according to my friends, there would be a lucky draw at the festival where the grand prize would be an 80GB Play Station 3; consequently, I attended the dinner with my group of usual hang out buddies. After the Chinese New Year dinner, all of us decided to head for the karaoke lounge not far away from our place as we thought the night was still young. The Chinese New Year dinner followed by our visit to the karaoke lounge was a great way to end our weekdays and welcome the long awaited reading break here in Kamloops, Canada.

As my Macroeconomics class ended at 1:20pm, I was relieved to know that I was done for the day and ready for a week of holidays. However, I did not retire to my apartment immediately after class as I promised my Hong Kong friend, Shelley that I would have lunch with her over at Tim Horton's at the campus's Old Main. The both of us shared a huge portion of chicken wrap for lunch and we chat about our plans for the break and what recently happened in university. Although we were both immersed into our friendly conversation, the both of us were still watchful for the time as Shelley had another class at 2:30pm and Yoshi was coming to my place later at 3pm. In the middle of our conversation, Yoshi bumped into us so he decided to say hi. After trading greetings to one another, Yoshi reminded me about our meeting at my place at 3pm and he asked us whether were we going for the Chinese New Year party that night. Yoshi was delighted as we told him that we would be attending the party as he knew that he will have some company for the party. Like him, we were also delighted the moment we knew he was going for the party that night as we always thought the more the merrier. Yoshi was in a hurry for something, so he decided to depart from our conversation. After wishing him good bye, we checked our watch and we knew it was time for the both of us to finish up as Shelley was about to have her class soon. Shortly after my lunch, I wished Shelley good bye and headed back for home.

Back at home, I decided to listen to some music while waiting for Yoshi as I recently purchased a set of Logitech speakers that came with a subwoofer. Knowing that my roommate was not around and most of the occupants in my apartment were away for the holidays, I decided to turn the music up to enjoy the maximum capabilities of my speakers. In the middle of my enjoyment, my phone rang; apparently it was already 3pm and Yoshi was waiting for me downstairs at my apartment's lobby. I ushered him to my room after signing him in at the front desk and we began our time together by watching the movies I brought back from Malaysia. Before we started, I gave Yoshi the liberty to choose which movies he wanted to view from the file of DVDs I brought. Knowing that it would be difficult for him to pick because he has never heard of most of the titles I have with me (...I guess my taste for movies are unpopular), I gave him a brief tour of every movies I had through the movie trailers on YouTube. It seemed Yoshi was mesmerized by the action in the trailer from one of the movies I have entitled Flashpoint. Since he was very interested in the movie, we began watching Flashpoint. After an hour and a half of mixed martial arts and gun fighting from the movie, we then decided to choose what will be our next movie for our following Friday (Yoshi and I always hang out together every Friday). We spent approximately an hour going through a bunch of movie trailers again on YouTube trying to decide which movie to watch for the following Friday. This time it was more difficult for Yoshi as he like every movie trailers he saw on YouTube thus making it difficult for him to decide. Knowing that it was difficult for him, I told him that it was okay for me to watch more than a movie for our following Friday; therefore, Yoshi's burden of deciding was gradually removed.

At 5:30pm sharp, Maaya, another Japanese friend of mine who was going for the Chinese New Year party reminded Yoshi and I to meet up at the lobby in a few minutes time. Consequently, we halted what we were doing and got ourselves ready for the party. Down at the lobby, we rendezvous with Maaya; she was slightly shocked to see the both of us in our casual outfit. Yoshi and I were completely clueless about the party's dress code as we weren't informed the moment we bought the tickets for the party. Seeing it was Maaya who was the only one who dressed slightly formal than the both of us, we somehow sensed that she was the one who misunderstood the party's dress code; consequently, we questioned her about her dress code which then made her nervous. She defended her claim saying that the party required a formal dress code when she managed to point out several students whom were smartly dressed and were going to the party; Yoshi and I both knew we were in deep trouble seeing that we were going to look awkward at the party with our casual outfit. It wasn't long before Shelley joined us; like us, she also wore casually which then confused the 3 of us even further regarding the party's dress code. Since the party was going to start in a few minutes time, we were too late to change into our formal wear, so we decided to just go with our formal outfit.

At the party's entrance, the 4 of us were waiting for Randy, our Taiwanese friend who was also going to join us. As he arrived at the party looking formal and smart like Maaya, we handed in our ticket to the party's doormen and looked for a table for ourselves. The 5 of us managed to find a table for ourselves only to be joined by a couple of husband and wife. The couples weren't exactly strangers, in fact I knew them at my recent Curling expedition. It was interesting to note that the husband is a Canadian while his wife is a Korean; consequently, I invited them to join us before I introduced them to my friends. The host of the party started off the Chinese New Year festival with a warm welcome and a brief information about the festival as there were also several non Chinese guests at the party. Dinner was shortly served in a buffet manner and it was surprisingly great considering the fact that some of my friends mentioned that the dinner at the previous Chinese New Year festival was horrible. Of course Chinese food was served given the theme of the festival and there were a variety of dishes featured on the metallic buffet trays. As the food was simply delicious, I could not help but to go for 2nd serving. Dinner did not end with just a main course but also a variety of mouth watering desserts ranging from creamy and sweet black forest cakes to lip smacking fruit tarts and ice creams. The awesome dinner wasn't the only feature of the Chinese New Year festival as there were several performances and games from the fellow Chinese students. Unlike the food, the performances weren't great and hardly got the attention of the guests; most of the guests especially the students (whom my friends and I were one of them) couldn't help but to laugh at the silliness and the dull performances. The magic performance weren't that spectacular as it only revolved around card tricks and the stand up comedy by one Chinese students weren't funny at all. Nevertheless, the performers should be credited as they tried their very best to entertained the guests at the festival. The climax of the party was the lucky draw that determined who would be the very lucky owner of the 80GB Play Station 3. The 5 of us vowed to each other that we would split the money after we sell the PS3...that is if any of us win the PS3; however, we weren't lucky as none of us were the winner. Seeing that we were only here for the PS3, we immediately left the party after realizing we didn't win the video game console.

As the night was still young and we were still feeling energetic, we forbid ourselves to call it a day. Instead, we all agreed to do something, yet we were clueless about what to do. It wouldn't be any surprise if we didn't know what to do next as there were nothing much to do over here in Kamloops. Maaya suggested that we go for a night of crazy dancing at Thirsty Dog (one of the few clubs in downtown), conversely I decided to pass that on as I never really like clubs. Randy then proposed the idea of visiting the karaoke for a little singing. Knowing that I hardly sang, I was a bit skeptical about visiting the karaoke lounge. On the other hand, seeing that there were no other place to have fun and visiting the karaoke was way better than visiting the dance club, I finally decided to follow the rest of them to the karaoke lounge. The 5 of us then took a cab to the Executive's Billiard, a snooker house which also facilitated karaoke services. Over there at the karaoke lounge, Randy started off with some songs from Jay Chou;he had a difficult time catching up with the words which amused everyone. After a couple of Jay Chou songs, Randy wanted to test our singing abilities, so he passed on the microphone to us. Yoshi and Maaya did a duet on a couple of Japanese songs which got our applause. Shelley and Maaya later on sang a couple of songs from Avril Lavigne and it forced the rest of us to laugh as they did not get the tune right most of the time. Knowing that I didn't sing yet, Yoshi passed me the microphone and cheered me to sing. I was reluctant to sing initially as I was afraid of making a fool out of myself; on the other hand, after realizing that everyone had already made a fool out of themselves, I decided to be sporting and join in the circle of fools. Besides, I wanted to know how horrible I was at singing, so I decided to give it a go. I sang a slow song from Eric Clapton and I tried Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word from Blue and Elton John. Like others, I sucked horribly at singing but I wasn't really embarrassed, instead I felt great as everyone cheered for me. As I spent more time singing, I finally realized that karaoke was so enjoyable. A hilarious moment during our visit from the karaoke lounge was the time when we boys (Randy, Yoshi and I) sang Don't cha from the Pussycat Dolls. The 3 of us managed to forced the girls to laugh their guts out with our out-of-tune singing and our erratic physical movement that accompanied our singing. What made them laugh the most was the 3 of us sang a song that were not meant to be sang by men. We even went to the extreme of singing Kylie Minogue's Can't Get You Out Of My Head which made us guys looked like a bunch of faggots; however, we really enjoyed ourselves at the karaoke lounge. We spent 3 hours over there at the lounge and by the time we were done, our throats were bloody sore due to the singing (...and also screaming) we did for the past 3 hours. As we ended our day at the lounge, it was already 2 in the morning, therefore we decided to call it a day and retire to our respective rooms.

The Chinese New Year dinner followed by our visit to the karaoke lounge was a great way to end our weekdays here and welcome the long awaited reading break here in Kamloops, Canada. Having the opportunity to attend the Chinese New Year dinner at my university really helped me to relieve the pain of missing Chinese New Year in my country. Moreover, the my visit to the karaoke lounge taught me a new way of enjoying myself over here in the dull and boring town of Kamloops. It was a shame that my roommate and Cindy did not joined us for both the fun and exciting occasion. Nevertheless, I am sure if all of us were to hang out and have fun together, it would be indeed more enjoyable.

(Top left to right): Yoshi and Randy. (Bottom left to right): Me, Shelley and Maaya. We were enjoying ourselves at the Chinese New Year festival.

Having fun at the karaoke lounge

That's me making a fool out of myself behind the microphone.