The living saint that is Nelson Mandela reminded us just how unifying sport can be when he donned a Springbok rugby jersey for the 1995 World Rugby Cup Final, between South Africa (Springboks) and New Zealand (All Blacks), at Ellis Park in Jo'burg. Up until that moment, the Springbok rugby jersey had mostly negative connotations for the majority of South Africa's black population. But the sight of their President wearing the no 6 jersey in support of Francois Pienaar, the South African rugby captain, served to unite the entire population of South Africa behind their team. This culminated, some 80 minutes later, in an improbable victory for South Africa when Joel Stransky kicked a drop goal in the dying minutes and won the game for the host nation, 15-12. The much vaunted Jonah Lomu, who had single-handedly destroyed England in the semi-finals was effectively neutralised. The All Blacks later spoke about how herculean their task seemed because they weren't just playing against 15, it was 15 against 43 million.
When Madiba later thanked Francois Pienaar for captaining the South African team to World Cup glory, the latter poignantly responded, "it is we who should be thanking you".
Didier Drogba of Chelski and Ivory Coast, recently crowned 2006 African Footballer of the Year took his prize on a tour of his war torn country and made an appeal for peace - he was cheered by both opposing factions. Similarly Liberian George Weah, 1995 FIFA World Player of the Year, European Footballer of the Year and African Footballer of the Year, drew on his countrywide appeal to run for the Liberian presidency in 2006.
Even amidst the unprecedented savagery of World War I, the British and Germans put the war on hold for a day, to play a football match on Christmas Day 1914. Pele managed to stop the Biafran war in Nigeria for 2 days because both sides wanted to see him play.
So how about we stop the warring and go out and play some football.
Friday, 6 April 2007
Thursday, 5 April 2007
Will POWER
Who said good guys finish last? As evidenced by this, all it takes is meticulous planning and some serious charm to become $4,000,000,000 of global box office appeal. At the age of 38, Will Smith has become Hollywood's most powerful actor and dethroned Tom Cruise in the process. As someone who has followed his career from the days of the seminal summer song, "Summertime", I felt a quiet sense of satisfaction on hearing the news. Six Degrees of Separation proved he could act and over the years, he hasn't been afraid to move out of his comfort zone and take on roles that reinforce this notion. The fact that the Museum of the Moving Image saw fit to honour him proves his acting chops.
What's more he's a family man and any lurid stories are firmly in his past.
At the age of 18, he was declared bankrupt because he forgot the part about paying his taxes and lived it up after the success of "Parents Just Don't Understand" and "Summertime". However, as someone who turned down a scholarship to MIT, he's got a not inconsiderable amount of grey matter and he subsequently put a plan in motion that saw him reach Hollywood's summit 20 years later.
There's a line in one of his songs that goes, "so many zeroes on my cheque, it's like oooooooo!", but then he has always believed there's no limit to what he can achieve if he puts his mind to it.
You could say, he learnt how to fail with the customary aplomb that he does everything else so in the words of Tupac, can you feel me now?!
What's more he's a family man and any lurid stories are firmly in his past.
At the age of 18, he was declared bankrupt because he forgot the part about paying his taxes and lived it up after the success of "Parents Just Don't Understand" and "Summertime". However, as someone who turned down a scholarship to MIT, he's got a not inconsiderable amount of grey matter and he subsequently put a plan in motion that saw him reach Hollywood's summit 20 years later.
There's a line in one of his songs that goes, "so many zeroes on my cheque, it's like oooooooo!", but then he has always believed there's no limit to what he can achieve if he puts his mind to it.
You could say, he learnt how to fail with the customary aplomb that he does everything else so in the words of Tupac, can you feel me now?!
Wednesday, 4 April 2007
I is free, you?!
Last month has seen a lot of commemorative events to mark the abolition of slavery, but I would argue that mental enslavement remains and is even more debilitating. "Free your mind and the rest will follow"are the words to the eponymous En Vogue song and we have a long way to go in this regard.
Despite my 2 degrees and the FLAs (2) and TLAs (1) that I can legitimately append to my name, there will always be some 2-bit person who will make me feel black. My racial radar is always on red alert so when I know a person is being racist, I give them a verbal dressing down - I've paid my dues and I won't tolerate such ignorance.
I was educated in the UK and Africa, and have worked in Africa, the UK and the US. My experiences have taught me to celebrate Africa, the good, the bad and the downright ugly. I have finally attained mental emancipation and do not aspire to the culturally barren materialism of the American dream. It therefore sticks in the craw to see the obsequiousness with which we continue to treat those of a lighter skin hue, in Africa.
A holocaust that happened 60+ years ago is commemorated at every turn - we are continuously extorted not to forget. Germany has paid its dues and continues to apologise for the role it played. German and Swiss firms that benefitted from forced labour during that time have paid compensation, yet the British government can't even muster an apology for an even greater holocaust that they actively promoted. When slavery was abolished, it was only plantation owners and others like the Church of England and the Royal family who were deemed worthy of compensation.
People have argued that slavery was legal at the time as if that makes everything ok. Well, the Nazis amended the laws to make the persecution of Jews legal so does that make what happened at Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, Sachsenhausen alright?!
Today, slavery's horrific legacy is all too evident in the Caribbean, the UK and the US. One of its more chilling objectives was to make the slaves relinquish their African identity and the first step in this process was achieved by flogging the slave until they accepted the name bestowed on them by their massa. The Church of England went a step further and branded the slaves, lest they forget who owned them.
When I asked a friend of mine what he thought of Amistad, he sagely remarked that, "the oppressor can never tell the true story of the oppressed" - true dat!!
Despite my 2 degrees and the FLAs (2) and TLAs (1) that I can legitimately append to my name, there will always be some 2-bit person who will make me feel black. My racial radar is always on red alert so when I know a person is being racist, I give them a verbal dressing down - I've paid my dues and I won't tolerate such ignorance.
I was educated in the UK and Africa, and have worked in Africa, the UK and the US. My experiences have taught me to celebrate Africa, the good, the bad and the downright ugly. I have finally attained mental emancipation and do not aspire to the culturally barren materialism of the American dream. It therefore sticks in the craw to see the obsequiousness with which we continue to treat those of a lighter skin hue, in Africa.
A holocaust that happened 60+ years ago is commemorated at every turn - we are continuously extorted not to forget. Germany has paid its dues and continues to apologise for the role it played. German and Swiss firms that benefitted from forced labour during that time have paid compensation, yet the British government can't even muster an apology for an even greater holocaust that they actively promoted. When slavery was abolished, it was only plantation owners and others like the Church of England and the Royal family who were deemed worthy of compensation.
People have argued that slavery was legal at the time as if that makes everything ok. Well, the Nazis amended the laws to make the persecution of Jews legal so does that make what happened at Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, Sachsenhausen alright?!
Today, slavery's horrific legacy is all too evident in the Caribbean, the UK and the US. One of its more chilling objectives was to make the slaves relinquish their African identity and the first step in this process was achieved by flogging the slave until they accepted the name bestowed on them by their massa. The Church of England went a step further and branded the slaves, lest they forget who owned them.
When I asked a friend of mine what he thought of Amistad, he sagely remarked that, "the oppressor can never tell the true story of the oppressed" - true dat!!
Books
My relationship with books goes back a long way. I've always been in a hurry to get things done, I was clamouring to feed myself when I was 6 months old and my introduction to books came shortly after. During my teenage years, like everything else, my reading went into overdrive and at that time books trumphed engaging with people everytime! Other things have come and gone in my life, but the books have remained a permanent fixture.
The importance of the ability to read cannot be overstated. Reading nourishes the grey matter in a similar vein to what a well balanced diet does for the body. If one knows how to read, there's no limit to what one can do. Reading allows one to self educate and provides exposure to concepts that can be life changing. Reading fires the imagination and provides a springboard for launching, what may seem like to some, the improbable dream.
About 21 years ago, a friend gave me a book* for my birthday that set me on the road to becoming an information security specialist. After reading the book, I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in computing and thus began a journey that culminated, 16 years later, in me obtaining a Masters in Information Security.
Sly, I owe you big time.
* sadly the title of the book eludes me, but the genre was science fiction
The importance of the ability to read cannot be overstated. Reading nourishes the grey matter in a similar vein to what a well balanced diet does for the body. If one knows how to read, there's no limit to what one can do. Reading allows one to self educate and provides exposure to concepts that can be life changing. Reading fires the imagination and provides a springboard for launching, what may seem like to some, the improbable dream.
About 21 years ago, a friend gave me a book* for my birthday that set me on the road to becoming an information security specialist. After reading the book, I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in computing and thus began a journey that culminated, 16 years later, in me obtaining a Masters in Information Security.
Sly, I owe you big time.
* sadly the title of the book eludes me, but the genre was science fiction
Tuesday, 3 April 2007
The first REAL day of Spring
March 21st was the first official day of spring, but it took awhile for the weather to catch up. Last Tuesday, the weather was finally in sync with the season so I went for a walk along the river Thames and took some photos along the way.
Monday, 2 April 2007
M-PESA, a world first
Africa is known as the cradle of civilization although what's going on in certain parts of the continent, today, is uncivilised at best and downright savagery at worst. Anyway, I digress.
Safaricom (Kenya) in conjunction with Vodafone (UK) has rolled out M-PESA, a mobile payment solution that allows mobile phone users to send and receive money via their mobile handset, at a fraction of the cost of traditional money transfers.
M-PESA's ultimate target market is the Kenyan Diaspora who remit a significant amount of money to the folks back home. One of the more impressive statistics is that approximately 1 in 4 Kenyans has a mobile phone and the expectation is that the number of mobile subscribers will continue its rapid upward trajectory. Using M-PESA does not require one to have a bank account which is a big plus. Another is the fact that one can transfer money to a relative who maybe on a different network (read Celtel).
First Kenya, next the world!!
****UPDATE****
You can read more here
Safaricom (Kenya) in conjunction with Vodafone (UK) has rolled out M-PESA, a mobile payment solution that allows mobile phone users to send and receive money via their mobile handset, at a fraction of the cost of traditional money transfers.
M-PESA's ultimate target market is the Kenyan Diaspora who remit a significant amount of money to the folks back home. One of the more impressive statistics is that approximately 1 in 4 Kenyans has a mobile phone and the expectation is that the number of mobile subscribers will continue its rapid upward trajectory. Using M-PESA does not require one to have a bank account which is a big plus. Another is the fact that one can transfer money to a relative who maybe on a different network (read Celtel).
First Kenya, next the world!!
****UPDATE****
You can read more here
Pachyderms
I've carried a torch for elephants since I watched Dumbo a few decades ago. I dispensed with the cartoons and got pretty close to the real deal when I joined a honeymoon safari (the newly weds were extremely accomodating) and we stayed at TreeTops.
It was at TreeTops that Elizabeth Regina aka QEII learnt she had become queen on the death of her father, King George VI.
TreeTops employs a salt lick to entice the animals out into the open and during our stay, we were fortunate to see a menagerie congregate at the watering hole, from the comfort and warmth of the observation lounges. I felt a certain closeness to these magnificent creatures as I observed them enjoying their nocturnal treat. Guests are warned not to use flash photography as one elephant took great exception to a flash going off and charged the building. Needless to say, the building sustained significant structural damage so in order to thwart further charges, the staff laid down plus dinner plate sized pebble stones (apparently, elephants don't like the sensation underfoot) around the outside of the building.
Elephants live in a matriarchal society ie there's a Queen Bee and everybody defers to her. On any expedition, she will lead the way, the calves will be in the middle and an adult will bring up the rear. The site of elephant herds radially converging on the watering hole, in a procession of single files is a sight to behold (this is hearsay, as I haven't borne witness to this, however I can visualise as well as, if not better than, the next person).
Their renowned intelligence is another plus in my book, and like me, they NEVER forget.
It was at TreeTops that Elizabeth Regina aka QEII learnt she had become queen on the death of her father, King George VI.
TreeTops employs a salt lick to entice the animals out into the open and during our stay, we were fortunate to see a menagerie congregate at the watering hole, from the comfort and warmth of the observation lounges. I felt a certain closeness to these magnificent creatures as I observed them enjoying their nocturnal treat. Guests are warned not to use flash photography as one elephant took great exception to a flash going off and charged the building. Needless to say, the building sustained significant structural damage so in order to thwart further charges, the staff laid down plus dinner plate sized pebble stones (apparently, elephants don't like the sensation underfoot) around the outside of the building.
Elephants live in a matriarchal society ie there's a Queen Bee and everybody defers to her. On any expedition, she will lead the way, the calves will be in the middle and an adult will bring up the rear. The site of elephant herds radially converging on the watering hole, in a procession of single files is a sight to behold (this is hearsay, as I haven't borne witness to this, however I can visualise as well as, if not better than, the next person).
Their renowned intelligence is another plus in my book, and like me, they NEVER forget.
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