Give me your tired, your poor...
Published Thursday, June 08, 2006 by Robin.CUT TO: Vito, on board the “The Moshulu”, looking at the Statue of Liberty.
Inside Ellis Island Immigration Station.
CUT TO: Immigration official inspects Vito's eyes and uses a chalk to write an encircled X on him.
CUT TO: All the immigrants are waiting inside the immigration hall. A man is playing a violin as everyone is talking in different languages.
CUT TO: Immigrants trying to explain themselves to customs officers at the customs counter. CAMERA pans along the counter.
…
[VITO walks up.]
CUSTOMS OFFICER: What is your name? Come on son, what is your name?
TRANSLATOR: ["What is your name?" in Italian. Then, looking at the tag on Vito's coat] Vito Andolini from Corleone.
CUSTOMS OFFICER: Corleone -- Vito Corleone. Okay, over there. Next --
…
CUT TO: A doctor inspects Vito's chest with a stethoscope.
DOCTOR (to NURSE): Tell him he has small pox, quarantine three months.
NURSE (translating for VITO): [In Italian, something like "you have small pox and will be quarantined for three months at Ellis Island"]
…
[The future Don Corleone is placed in a room. He looks out the window at the Statue of Liberty, places his suitcase on the bunk, sits and then starts to sing.]
Applying for a US visa is an extremely bureaucratic, frustrating, irritating and time-consuming process. There are thousands of instructions, to be found in a hundred different places, and just as many hidden adminstrative costs. Went to the embassy early this morning, but because of some missing forms my visa application was Gomez-ed even before I get to meet the immigration officer. Then spent a big part of the rest of the day putting the additional paperwork in order. Bo-bian, I don’t intend to try anything funny; the embassy has got more CCTVs than the Elections Department.
At the foot of the Statue of Liberty, there is a plaque that has come to symbolize the statue's universal message of hope and freedom for immigrants coming to America and people seeking freedom around the world. It reads:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless,
tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
Bloody hell, of course ‘tired’ and ‘yearning to breathe free’ lah! So much paperwork! Wonder who is not ‘poor’ after paying all the hidden costs.
Postscript: Some forms have got very interesting questions. Here are some examples:
Have you ever unlawfully distributed or sold a controlled substance, or been prostitute or procurer for prostitutes?
Have you ever participated in persecutions directed by the Nazi government of Germany; or have you ever participated in genocide?
List all Professional, Social and Charitable Organization to Which You Belong (Belonged) or Contribute (Contributed) or with Which You Work (Have Worked).
Singapore Armed Forces, Bedok Methodist Church
Do You Have Any Specialized Skills or Training, Including Firearms, Explosive, Nuclear, Biological or Chemical Experience?
Yes. Mandatory National Service
Have You Ever Been in an Armed Conflict, Either as a Participant or Victim?
Global Day of Prayer
Published Monday, June 05, 2006 by Robin.Was a pity we couldn’t fill the entire stadium, but I’m pretty sure the crowd that was there yesterday can rival the Worker’s Party rally at Hougang. Sometimes we find that ‘personal encounter’ amidst the multitudes.
Having the city skyline as the backdrop gave added significance to praying for the country. Perhaps because of our multi-religious/ ‘unity in diversity’ credo we tend to disassociate the idea of prayer from ‘nation-building’. Maybe it is also because we want to save ourselves from sounding like a Ms Universe contestant talking about World Peace or a congressman on Capitol Hill going ‘God Bless America’. In accordance with His purpose, God has made this our home. And the concept of home becomes more than a notion from Establishment-Speak whenever we sense that stirring when we look at that skyline. We have a unique set of needs, plenty to pray about and plenty of work to do for the expansion of His kingdom.
Psalms 127 tells us "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain". 
Thought about the Sermon on the Mount as I was seeing this.