Sunday, November 20, 2005

how convenient

from this...





















[meet michelle. she's a swimwear model]



to this...

















[here's michelle in custody in bali. now she's a muslim. she's obviously devout, because to wear hijab to try and sway the jury or whoever if she is not devout would simply be making a mockery of islam. funny though. balinese people are not muslim. whatever, it's worth a shot...]



to this...




















[phew, that was close. lucky i don't have to wear that outfit anymore. because if i was the type of muslim to wear it once, i'd have to wear it all the time. because of modesty you know. i'm glad i can choose to be a part-timer.]

25 comments:

PiesFan90 said...

Is this something Shapelle should have tried instead of hiring a movie star lawyer?

Chai said...

I thought exactly the same thing when I saw that in the Age today. I also hear she'll be marrying her "millionaire" boyfriend. Some people just get all the breaks, eh?

PiesFan90 said...

I think it's more to do with the fact that there was something else going on in the background, with the minister son etc rather than her "conversion".

Fluffy said...

That's a bit rough don't you think? If I were in a Balinese prison on drug charges I'd want to play whatever card necessary to get out. She was well advised, and she got out. Do you think she brought her own hijab or what?

Melba said...

what irks me is that she professed to be a muslim who wears a hijab, then it was so obviously just a ploy. because if it wasn't, she would still be dressing modestly. and wearing it.

i don't know fluffy. i guess you're right. you would try anything. but it does stink.

BEVIS said...

I agree, despite Fluffy's objections (which I acknowledge, all the same).

It angers me all the more about the Shapelle injustice, though.

DJ said...

Mmmm so we're all of the opinion that Shapelle is squeaky clean innocent.. I remain to be convinced
Anyway about the topic or person of the moment, its said you're clever to learn from your own mistakes but genius to learn from other's mistakes. Seems she and her advisors learned from other's mistakes, played the right cards at the right time, and got off pretty much scott-free. OK So she wont get to travel to Indonesia ever again.. big frickin deal.
Pity the next Australian to be busted in Indonesia, they'll be screwed from the get-go

GS said...

Shapelle's choice of religion to convert to in an overtly muslim country was, quite frankly, stupid. We may then surmise she's not the brightest light on the christmas tree. So I am with DJ on the not ruling out the possibility of guilt on this one, going on her intelligence track record thus far.

Leslie though is another kettle of non-shellfish. More resourced and cluey. She had a 3 month weight loss diet and no doubt a million dollar book deal waiting in the wings. She will do very nicely out of all this. That is unless Islamicists who are a tad peeved about the stunt, don't take a jihad out against her.

Anonymous said...

I was saying to my partner this evening that she played all the right cards and pressed all the right buttons. Wouldn't you? Facing several years in jail. Good on her. But, what worries me is how the media are jumping all over this. What a circus. Australian media has alot to answer for.

Melba said...

we all know the media machine for the dog it is. i'm not questioning that.

and to wear the hijab, well ok. but ploy or not, have a bit of sense and don't come out of the gaol in a tank top. unless there are mitigating circumstances there? i'm not wishing she was still in gaol, i feel happy for her. but it's just the scarf thing that sticks in my craw.

i look forward to reading the truth locket, but how will i find it? it will all be ponied up by the media... will she appear anywhere credible?

oh and aof, you don't take out a jihad against someone, you take out a fatwa. which doesn't automatically mean a death sentence. it can be any type of order or decree from a mufti and is often just day to day type stuff.

Chai said...

Exactly as MG said. Ploy or no ploy, couldnt she wait till she's on the plane before ditching the hijab. It's almost like rubbing their noses in it.

BEVIS said...

I want a doughnut.

Fluffy said...

I'm kind of pleased she ditched the hijab so quickly. If it played such an important role in defining her as innocent then let's rub their noses in it. They should have been looking beyond her appearance all along.

Melba said...

i would have been happier if she'd worn that crisp white shirt that featured in some recent pics, i think even when she received her sentencing. there's nothing wrong with that, and it was nice and modest.

i think the hijab probably had little to do with her getting off, as clokey said. but that wasn't my point.

elaine said...

I just think the poor thing needs to eat.

Maybe the lack of food has resulted in cloudy judgement calls.

GS said...

The Oz today has a direct quote from Leslie saying she is (still) a muslim. ABC radio, quoted her as saying she always has been one, BEFORE Bali. So the whole 'ploy or not' scenario becomes very interesting.

As for her story, the DPP is investigating as to whether she can financially profit from making money out of crime.

Indonesia has a corrupt legal system and these can call for desperate measures at times, but I am with the argument that leaving prison wearing a tank top that shows more flesh than fabric, is going to get her flack in the circumstances.

As for the jihad/fatwa I stand corrected. Must rewatch 'john safran vs god' again before i make any comments on religion.

Justine said...

I hear what you're saying, but I can't agree with you on this one.

Muslim girls can wear what they want. If I were Muslim, I'd be dressing that way there, too. Its not just religious dogma stuff, its also a way of respecting and conforming to local customs and norms.

She's quite young. She might be still deciding how she wants to dress.

When she first got to prison, I think she was trying to protect her identity - by the time she got out, she was on camera and trying to look a bit stylish. I don't think we can judge her.

Melba said...

hi cotton, yes bonded. but i've linked mr maze too and i haven't bonded with him.

justine, i don't think you've understood what i'm talking about. about michelle though, of course muslim girls can dress how they like. i'm not saying that. i'm saying though that a muslim girl who makes the choice to wear the hijab and present seriously as a conservative muslim is not going to be the same muslim girl who wears a belly-baring tank top, with bare shoulders etc etc. and it's this act that has destroyed any credibility here. but i'm prepared to wait and see as locket said.

of course there are muslim girls who dress all different ways. i have lived several years in a muslim country, as well as been married to one for more than ten years. BUT i'm not making that point. i'm saying that the type of muslim who covers up for religious reasons, is not the type to then go and wear skimpy clothes. they would feel incredibly self conscious and wrong. sorry justine, you saying she's quite young and still deciding how to dress is just bullshit. and that if you were there, you'd dress that way too. have you been to bali? apart from it being a hindu/buddhist island (ie not muslim), the hijab is not a local form of dress code. not the one she was wearing. and certainly not the burqua, where she had the black shield over her face in some photos.

you know, she could have presented as a muslim, cause i'm still prepared to believe she is until it's stated otherwise, in a nice white shirt and skirt/pants etc. she didn't need the scarf. i know that sounds very "gran" but it was just the blatant attempt at manipulation that bugs me. especially as the muslim community just seem fair game at the moment.

Darcy said...

And the moral of the story is...

shit, I can't think of one.

Don't do drugs? In Bali?

Ummmm...

Make sure you're pretty if you're gonna break the law?

Ahhh...

Fuck.

Muslims rule? Tits rule? Less flesh, more respect? Do what you can to get outa jail? Stay away if you wanna play?

Fuck, I don't know.

BEVIS said...

And I still want a doughnut.

DOES NO ONE CARE??

PiesFan90 said...

Bevis, let's get some Krispy Kremes sent down.

Melba said...

alright bevis. what's the connection? is there are joke here somewhere.

come on, i care. tell me the joke...

BEVIS said...

There was no joke; I just trying to be surreal and diffuse all the angry talk with a bit of nonsense designed to make people smile.

(Or roll their eyes at me in anger - either way I'm good.)

But I'm with Clokes. Send us down some Krispy Kremes, you lucky Sydney-siders, you!

(If you love us.)

... Because I really do want a doughnut.

Anonymous said...

I know I have commented about this already but I feel like I need to say something more. So here it is. After what I have read, screw the media and screw the neo- conservative types that are leading us all astray. Everyone took this girl down because she had two pills in her bag. So we ruin a family with half truths and rumours. Well, I hope everyone feels better for themselves. I have said my little bit again and good on her for what she did. Leave her the hell alone.

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