Monday 11 October 2010

Growing

My youngest son Jack, is 7 years old this week.He is still our baby, and always will be, but at 7 he is now a young boy, albeit a small one. Joseph will be 10 years old in the coming year, time is slipping away, so I thought it was time to take a look back.

Thursday 26 August 2010

Jackie Chan's Tweets on Manila bus deaths draw ire


Filipinas


HONG KONG – Jackie Chan's Tweets about the Manila bus hijacking have drawn a barrage of Internet attacks in his native Hong Kong, which lost eight residents in the tragedy.

An armed former police officer seeking reinstatement commandeered a bus carrying a Hong Kong tour guide and 20 tourists in the Philippine capital on Monday. He released several children and elderly hostages early on, but later opened fire on the remaining hostages after a daylong standoff with police, killing eight before being shot by a police sniper.

Outraged Hong Kongers have criticized the Philippine government for acting too slowly.

But Chan, Hong Kong's most famous celebrity, has taken a more diplomatic tack, suggesting in comments through his Twitter account that the Philippine police faced a tough dilemma.

"If they killed the guy sooner, they will say why not negotiate first? If they negotiate first, they ask why not kill the guy sooner? So sad," the veteran action star wrote on Wednesday.

He also urged Hong Kongers not to direct their anger at Filipinos living in Hong Kong. Tens of thousands of Filipinos work as live-in domestic helpers for Hong Kong families.

The comments did not go down well with his compatriots. Facebook users quickly set up three groups called "Jackie Chan doesn't represent me" and drew a slew of sharply worded attacks.

"Shut up! Hong Kong people don't need you. You side with outsiders and not your own. You will face karmic retribution for your disrespect for the victims," Iris Yau said.

"He just doesn't understand the pain of Hong Kong people," Violet Wing wrote.

Edward Tang, a publicist for Chan, didn't immediately respond to an e-mail from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Chan has a history of making controversial comments.

He caused an uproar last year by saying at a business forum it may not be good for authoritarian China to become a free society, saying freedoms in democratic Taiwan and Hong Kong _ which enjoys some free elections _ made those societies "chaotic."

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/ap/20100826/ten-as-people-hong-kong-jackie-chan-5e343d7.html


Monday 23 August 2010

Indecisive police


'Indecisive' police under fire

Manila police came under fire for being "indecisive" and taking more than half an hour to get inside the bus to rescue hostages after the last gunshots were heard.

Diana Lee

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Manila police came under fire for being "indecisive" and taking more than half an hour to get inside the bus to rescue hostages after the last gunshots were heard.

Hundreds of Hong Kong residents expressed disbelief and disappointment in discussion forums and on Facebook, saying the police officers were overcautious, if not slow, to storm the bus.

"Is there only one ax in the Philippines?" "Why didn't the police shoot the gunman earlier?" and similar comments were posted in the forums.

Dennis Wong Sing-wing, associate professor of the department of applied social studies at the City University, said the Philippine government is to blame for allowing the situation to get out of control.

He said the hostage taker's earlier actions, including releasing children and elderly people, showed he hoped his demands would be heard.

A bloody end to the standoff could have been avoided had the authorities shown they were willing to listen to him, Wong added.

"Yet there was no senior official from the government, no negotiator was sent to negotiate with him. The authorities failed to handle the crisis and they had no power tools to assist in the police operation, not to mention the failure to storm the bus immediately after gunshots were heard," Wong said.

"The police appeared to be in panic and indecisive. They spent more than 45 minutes breaking the window.

"They disappointed Hong Kong people and the world as well."

However, Steve Vickers, a former Hong Kong police senior superintendent and now the president and chief executive of risk mitigation organization International Risk, said rescue operations in kidnapping situations should not be underestimated.

"Clearly from the point of view of an operation it was not successful. The situation is not ideal when the police tried to get into the bus without success and it appeared to be an equipment issue. Yet we don't know at this stage why the Philippine police made such a decision," Vickers said.

If its intelligence found out that the gunman had started to kill hostages, the police had to act immediately, he added.

Vickers believed such a tragic incident could not happen in Hong Kong, where the best equipment and the finest anti-terrorism squad are available.

Holiday in the Philippines


Chris How to screw up a hostage situation. Swat team take half an hour and over 5 attempts to get into a bus! And they are still not in!

  • Chris"A serious kidnap incident happened in the Philippines. Hong Kong residents should avoid all travel to the country," a government spokesman said in a statement.
    2 hours ago · LikeUnlike ·
  • Chris
    Hong Kong's leader Donald Tsang'

    Calling it a "major tragedy", he expressed some disappointment with the handling of the incident by Filipino authorities.

    "The way it was handled, particularly the outcome, I find is diappointing," said Tsang.... See more
    2 hours ago · LikeUnlike ·
  • Chris
    Sky News Foreign Affairs editor Tim Marshall said: "The operation was pretty unimpressive, to be hitting it with a sledgehammer without a ladder did not seem to be the best way to get into the bus.

    "They tried in five places to get in and they failed on each ocassion and that means they didn't have the proper kit."

Eight Tourists Killed In Bus Hijack Battle


6:44pm UK, Monday August 23, 2010

Tom Bonnett and Pete Norman, Sky News Online

Eight tourists have been killed and two seriously injured after a sacked policeman hijacked a tourist bus in the Philippines.


The deaths on the hijacked bus, which carried 20 tourists and five staff on a three-day visit from Hong Kong, were confirmed by President Benigno Aquino.

The gunman, identified as 55-year-old ex-police captain Rolando Mendoza who was armed with an M-16 assault rifle, had stopped the bus in a sprawling park.

He pasted a handwritten, signed note to the door of the bus which read: "Big deal will start after 3pm today."

Mendoza had earlier threatened to kill the hostages in a live telephone interview with a local radio station if police approached the bus.

"I know they will kill me, I'm telling them to leave because anytime I will do the same here," Mendoza said.

Police storm the bus

Police storm the bus carrying tourists from Hong Kong

The gunman allowed a family with young children to leave the bus before police approached the vehicle.

Police commandos tried to storm the bus but they struggled at first with a sledgehammer to smash side windows, door and windscreen.

Sky News Foreign Affairs editor Tim Marshall said: "The operation was pretty unimpressive, to be hitting it with a sledgehammer without a ladder did not seem to be the best way to get into the bus.

"They tried in five places to get in and they failed on each ocassion and that means they didn't have the proper kit."

Police Colonel Nelson Yabut said: "The hostage-taker was killed. He chose to shoot it out with our men.

"On our first assault, Captain Mendoza was sprawled in the middle of the aisle and shot one of our operatives.

He was disappointed that he did well in police service but was dismissed for a crime he did not do.

Gunman Rolando Mendoza's brother Gregorio

Colonel Yabut said a woman was seen moving at the back of the bus during the first attempt, and on the second assault 30 commandos had used tear gas and flash bombs.

Mendoza moved to the bus door, where snipers shot him.

"On our second assault we killed him," Colonel Yabut said.

"We did everything to negotiate and end this peacefully, but he gave us no choice."

Police could be seen removing the body from the front of the bus before entering the vehicle and minutes later a number of hostages were helped off the bus.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Tsang, citing China's Foreign Ministry, had earlier said seven Hong Kong residents were killed, two severely wounded with the remaining six hospitalised in the "major tragedy".

"The way it was handled, particularly the outcome, I find is disappointing," Mr Tsang told a news conference in the city.


View Larger Map

One survivor, who identified herself as Mrs Leung, told reporters that her husband was killed as he tried to stop the gunman from attacking other passengers on the bus.

The woman was still in shock as she was carried out from the bus following a 12-hour standoff, but demanded to know why Manila police came to their rescue so late.

"It's too late. Why were there no one to help us after so many hours?" she said at the scene of the siege, in comments broadcast on Hong Kong's Cable TV.

"There were so many people on the bus - no one came to our rescue. Why?

"We were in fear for so many hours. I find it really cruel."

Hostage negotiators talk to foreign tourists taken hostage by former Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza

A hostage negotiator talks to foreign tourists as they are freed

Afterwards President Aquino expressed his deep sympathy for the incident.

"With the rest of the Filipino people, I wish to offer our deepest condolences to the families of the victims whose lives were lost in the hostage situation," he said in a statement.

According to newspaper reports from 2008, Mendoza was among five police officers who had been charged with robbery, extortion and threats.

A Manila hotel chef filed a complaint alleging the policemen falsely accused him of using drugs to extort money.

Mendoza's younger brother, Gregorio, also a policeman, said his brother felt that "injustice was done on him".

"He was disappointed that he did well in police service but was dismissed for a crime he did not do."

Saturday 23 January 2010

Sunday 2 March 2008

Tuesday 26 February 2008