The Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) recently decided to introduce a video games classification system (see press release), which for many avid gamers is a welcome move.  This is because video game titles which previously could not be released in Singapore because of violence or sexual activity can now be sold, either with an age advisory label or to any person above 16 years.  Now gamers who have been looking forward to engaging in virtual alien sex can do so lawfully.  Hurray.

We live in a strange, strange world. 

In Bringing Up Boys, James Dobson quotes from Ellen Goodman, who writes regarding parental responsibility to protect children from harmful influences of our day (full text available on Google books here).  Excerpts read :

"… one of your main jobs as a parent is to counter the culture.  What the media deliver to children by the masses, you are expected to rebut one at a time.

But it occurs to me now that the call for ‘parental responsiblity’ is increasing in direct proportion to the irresponsibility of the marketplace.  Parents are expected to protect their children from an increasingly hostile environment.  Are the kids being sold junk food ?  Just say no.  Is TV bad ?  Turn it off.  Are there messages about sex, drugs, violence all around ?  Counter the culture.

Mothers and fathers are expected to screen virtually everyy aspect of their children’s lives.  to check the ratings on the movies, to read the labels on the CDs, to find out if there’s MTV in the ouse next door.  All the while keeping in touch with school and, in their free time, earning a living.

…

… there has been a fundamental shift.  Americans once expected parents to raise their children in accordance with the dominant cultural message.  Today they are expected to raise their children in opposition.

…

It’s what makes child raising harder.  It’s why parents feel more isolated.  It’s not just that American families have less time with their kids, it’s that we have to spend more of this time doing battle with our own culture.

It’s rather like trying to get your kids to eat their green beans after they’ve been told all day about the wonders of Milky Way.  Come to think of it, it’s exactly like that."

The objective behind MDA’s liberalisation is to enable "more media choice for Singaporeans while protecting the young".

I don’t buy that.  (I think) I’m not a big believer in censorship, at least not when it comes to movies screened in the theatre.  But video games unlike movie screenings are stuff kids can easily buy (or get an older kid to buy) off the shelf, and play on the sly.  Now society has irresponsibly decided to indulge in the gratuitous sex and violence in video games, by shifting to parents the task of preventing access by kids to inappropriate games.  As this is an almost impossible task, I think the absolute ban on video games with gratuitous sex and violence (is there such a thing as sex and violence in a video game that isn’t gratuitous ?) should have stayed.

Josh turned three months old last Monday.  He’s also beginning to learn how to turn over on his side.

I’ve been reading some British Parliamentary reports as part of research for work.  Their Parliamentary debates, unlike those in Singapore are brilliant, and never boring.  I recall watching Tony Blair in Parliament once on CNN.  It was quite unlike Today in Parliament (yawn).

This exchange is a sample of what typically goes on in UK Parliament.

Opposition :

The Bill deals with human welfare, which is rightly the priority for the Government and the House. However, did the consultation involve animal welfare organisations, as many people are close to their pets, especially family pets? There could therefore be a practical difficulty, and the Minister will have to spend time on such difficulties in Committee—[Interruption.]

Sponsor :

One of my colleagues observes from a sedentary position that no animals wrote to us during the consultation, and I certainly believe that that is the case. We must look at the definition of emergency in the Bill to understand what we were consulting on. Human welfare was uppermost in our minds throughout the 12-week consultation that concluded on 11 September last year.

We received about 400 responses, with about half of all local authorities and fire services commenting, along with a quarter of police and ambulance services. The message was clear—there was wide support for the overhaul and modernisation of the existing framework, but there was still work to be done on the detail of the proposals. Following the conclusion of the 12-week public consultation, we submitted the draft Bill to pre-legislative scrutiny. The Government …

Jed loves watching Bob the Builder.  Two of the central characters in this children’s TV series is Bob (naturally) and Wendy (who as her name implies, is a lady).  Like Bob, Wendy is a builder (I suppose you could say construction worker but that has conjures certain images in the Singaporean mind, from Phua Chu Kang to Bangladeshi workers).

Joyce and I have been trying to figure out the relationship between Bob and Wendy for the longest time.  Are they siblings ?  (Apparently not, because Wendy does not address Bob’s parents as "mum" and "dad").  Are they cousins ?  (No hint of this).  A couple ?  (Not very clear).

So today I turned to the almighty Internet, respository of all information useful or useless, for enlightenment.

Wikipedia says

Wendy is Bob’s business partner who runs the office and keeps the business in order, and often organizes tools and equipment. An underlying romantic tension between Bob and Wendy is hinted at in several episodes.

This entry, from equally confused blogging mother Purple Kangaroo, is quite amusing

Right now the kids are watching Bob the Builder.

I still haven’t figured out the relationship between Bob and Wendy. When I inquired, the kids informed me that Bob and Wendy are married, but they live in different houses. They said that Bob and Wendy used to share a house until Bob built Wendy her own house (pink, with a flower on it) and now they live nearby with a little pathway going between their houses.

"They’re husband and wife. Well, I guess maybe they’re not husband and wife, but they’re partners. They build and fix things together … they’re partners."

So, can anyone clue me in on this one? Do my kids have it a bit mixed up, or is that the basic story?

And this analysis (by a Christian writer, apparently) takes the cake for its paranoid psychoticism

… Essentially modernist in it’s philosophical outlook ("Can we fix it?  Yes we can!"), Bob the Builder was originally written with the intention of introducing children to the world of philosophical thought.  The character of Bob is a thinly veiled parody of Bertrand Russell, and Bob’s desire to impose order on his town by tackling all of its construction needs is an obvious extension of Russell’s firmly held belief in the power of rational thought to impose order and understanding on society.

It should be pointed out that there is an element of tension between Bob’s humanistic roots and the animism inherent within his mechanical workmates.  … Russell’s notoriously liberal approach to sexual morality is mirrored in the battle for Bob’s affections that takes place between Wendy and, among others, Mrs Potts and Mavis from the Post Office.  The sexuality of the show is, of course, underplayed for the sake of the watching children, but adult viewers of the series have long been aware of the slow-burning sexual chemistry at the heart of the show. Even the casting of Morrissey, best known for his sex-obsessed lad-about-town role in Men Behaving Badly, as Bob’s voice serves to reinforce the image of Bob as a free spirit, sowing his seed wherever his fancy takes him …

The role of Wendy has also prompted great discussion as to whether Bob the Builder represents a repressive example of patriarchal society, or a feminist paradise …  

Bob’s relationship with his workforce of machines has also prompted much discussion as to the socio-political leanings of the programme …  .

That Bob the Builder is highly politicised is not open to doubt.  The fact that it remains unclear whether the programme leans to the left, the right, or even rejects the old political compass altogether, makes it a controversial and potentially dangerous social experiment.  How will the children of Bob’s generation express their politicisation as they grow to adulthood?  The hearts and minds of the future are being shaped by an enigmatic figure in a hard hat.  You have been warned.

Given that one is hyper-mobile (Jed) while the other is immobile (Josh), it’s not easy to capture both kids in one photo !

Tonight would be one of the rare nights when I’m not trying to clear some backlog from home.  I’m beginning to question the point of working so hard.  I’ve no ambitions to become king; I simply hope to live the Biblical ethic that work should be done with sincerity of heart and reverence for God (Colossians 3:22 - 23).  I’m just wondering if I’ve somehow allowed this ideal to mutate into a relationship of exploitation.