It certainly would be a surprise to find a panda at one’s door! If you were in such a situation, what would you do? 🙂 The photo below is of Ibzy and Imzy, romancing the panda! No! Actually, they are simply playfully posing against a life-size poster of “a panda at the door” pasted on one of the walls of The Curve, a mall in Petaling Jaya, Selangor Malaysia. Finding the postered walls during one of the family’s forays to the mall was unexpected, and was certainly another surprise treat for the kids.
photo of ibzy and imzy with ‘the panda’. photography by ssj, july 2016
And here’s another treat, this time for you, dear readers: a haiku that seems to be playful on the surface, but … Before continuing with my notes further below, enjoy the haiku first:
PANDA ALERT!
beware, bamboo shoots!
might as well feed the panda,
cola and tributes.
-© SSJ 2016
This haiku is actually a political allegory to a very sticky situation in the disputed area called the South China Sea, with the panda & its bamboo symbolizing China. Wikipedia’s overview of the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, found here and here, underscores the complexity of the situation. While the Philippines, with its pittance of land, air and naval arsenals, cannot hope to win in a military confrontation with China on the issue, nor can it afford to disengage itself from the economic influence that China wields in the region, it is thus well advised to instead nurture its economic and social ties with the superpower — to tame the panda at its doorsteps, so to say — in the spirit of cooperation and fraternity among nations. — SSJ, 15 April 2017
Additional Reading:
Developments in the South China Sea arbitration case …
https://amti.csis.org/ArbitrationTL/
What’s at stake in the messy South China Sea dispute (according to CNN)
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/11/asia/philippines-china-south-china-sea-hague-ruling/
The ruling on the South China Sea arbitration case (Philippines vs. China)
https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/philippines-v-china-verdict-chinas-crossroad/
Current ‘fluid’ status at the South China Sea: Philippines mending relations with China?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/17/philippines-to-set-aside-south-china-sea-tribunal-ruling-to-avoid-imposing-on-beijing
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God. I just love them
Thanks for dropping in a comment 😊. Pandas are indeed cute, but we have to warn readers that they can be dangerous, so no petting when you see one 😊:
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150310-the-truth-about-giant-pandas
I might have to remind myself that when I see a panda. LoL
🙂 Think of Winnie the Pooh when you see a panda. They’re both lovable, BUT both of them are still BEARS, i.e., you can cuddle them only as stuffed toys 🙂
I can only hope that the Panda will not take advantage of the proffered bamboo. It seems that China is building itself up again as the Middle Empire and trying to attach everything to its already humongous territory.
That is why it is imperative to give this panda as much cola as it will take 😉 Thanks for dropping by, Imelda. 🙂