It's been something of a turbulent week. On Wednesday, Malaysia Day, against the background of the continuing haze, the "Malay Dignity Gathering" vuvuzelaed its way from various points in the city to the main rallying point. We could hear them setting off from PWTC, just down the road. This was supposedly a counterpoint to the recent Bersih 4.0.

Yesterday, I was part of The Liberalism Conference, organized by IDEAS. It was clear by the end of the day that there are as many different permutations of the various strands of liberalism as there are people. For some, liberalism is our salvation. For others, liberalism is distinctly inferior to other value systems, and needs to be approached with care.

Presumably our erstwhile North Korean hosts would agree with the latter view. This week we watched A Traffic Controller on Crossroads, a 1986 movie we brought back from our NK trip. Quaint, you would have to say. But very revelatory as a microcosm of the whole system. Our heroine is strict -- but for everyone's good. She's not always popular -- but our streets are safer because of her work. It is in accordance with a completely different ideology, however, that North Korea's female traffic police have achieved a slightly dubious cult status among some.

And lastly, the clash of ideas in music. Beethoven's Fifth, which we listened to as part of an MPO programme on Friday, was revolutionary in its time.

Battistelli's Mystery Play, on the other hand, which was also on the programme, is revolutionary right now. The idea behind this music is that "sounds... take on the features of the characters in their own story. The sound of fog, the sound of forests, the sound of evil witches, the sound of sweet fairies, the sound of suspended enchantments: this is what is brought to the invisible stage of this musical drama." Great idea. But just possibly, I wasn't ready for it...