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Cashing in on
Osama
By Richard S Ehrlich
BANGKOK - The Osama bin Laden cigarette
lighter is adorned with his raised, chrome
portrait, an embossed "9-11", sketches of the New
York World Trade Center, an approaching airplane,
and a big red splotch. When you flick the sleek,
metal lighter open, a light-emitting diode
illuminates the splotch so it glows bright red
 on one of the
buildings, emphasizing the site of the first
crash. Loud, computerized music beeps out a loop
of Mozart.
Made in China - as are many of
the latest gimmicky Osama bin Laden souvenirs -
the butane lighter recently showed up in Cambodia.
"I paid US$2 for it, in the old Soviet
market in Phnom Penh," a Canadian traveler, who
asked not to be identified, said in an interview
after visiting the Cambodian capital. "One man's
catastrophe is another man's cheesy souvenir," he
said. "I bought three, for the novelty. I'll give
them to people who would appreciate the irony that
they even exist. When you open it, it plays a
classical tune. It's quite freaky, eh?"
The lighter came boxed with a
gold-and-black cigarette holder, and was
manufactured by Boerda Smoking Set Co Ltd. An
Internet search indicated the Chinese company
makes various lighters for domestic use and
export.
In a crammed, middle-class
shopping mall in Bangkok, other bin Laden
souvenirs are also currently on sale. A Thai shop
selling lava lamps, magic tricks and embarrassing
gifts to surprise recipients, offers a small,
inexpensive hand puppet of bin Laden wearing
boxing gloves. Stick your fingers inside and
wiggle them, and little Osama punches the air.
On Bangkok's popular Khao San Road, where
thousands of backpackers flock to cheap hotels,
restaurants, discos and an avant garde street
market, stalls sell droopy, rubbery bin Laden
masks alongside other scary faces.
The
souvenirs appear to be made not by bin Laden
supporters, but by profit-seeking factories that
have slapped bin Laden's visage, and symbols of
his international Islamist war, onto existing
generic toys and other items in a crass effort to
reach a fresh demographic of buyers.
While
Asian customers often appear non-plussed or bored
with the al-Qaeda leader's appearance in their
markets, many foreign tourists express shock and
awe at the commercialization of the world's
most-wanted killer. Other tourists, including
Americans, can be seen laughing with sarcastic
delight at the cruel globalization of absurdity,
despite the outrageous insult to bin Laden's
victims.
Thai clothing sellers cater to
both sides by offering a high-quality T-shirt
adorned with a reverently painted, color portraits
of bin Laden; another hangar dangles a T-shirt
with the al-Qaeda leader's face targeted inside a
red bull's-eye. One common T-shirt in Thailand,
which seems to attract mostly cynics and
anti-right-wingers, is printed with the faces of
bin Laden and President George W Bush
side-by-side, and captioned, "CIA and FBI
Presents: Twin Terrors".
"I bought one of
the T-shirts of the Twin Terrors," said a
snickering New Yorker who visited Bangkok's
tourist-friendly Patpong Road night market. "But
I'm afraid of bringing it back to America. Can you
imagine what customs might do to me if they find
it in my luggage?"
Much bigger and more
bizarre is a 15-inch (37-centimeter),
battery-powered action figure of bin Laden. Its
"Warfare Puppetry" box promises it "can dance and
sing, hands can act, waist can wobble". The
plastic bin Laden doll's excited singing is
reminiscent of India's Bollywood film songs.
Two fake, plastic hand grenades clip onto
the figure's vest. Five tiny, fake rockets, a
pistol and a knife are stuffed into its pockets.
The doll brandishes a plastic dagger in its right
hand and waves a "V" - for victory - sign with its
other. Long, gray, lifelike hair flows from its
beard.
"Not suitable for children under
3-years-old due to the danger of tearing off and
swallowing small parts," the box warns.
In October, French police
demanded an investigation when the doll appeared
in a Paris shop, amid allegations it was
"apologizing for terrorism". The Paris police bust
made headlines  in Le Parisien
magazine. Associated Press picked up the story and
it was splashed worldwide, including in the
Jerusalem Post.
Around the same time, the
high-quality "action singer" doll also appeared in
Bangkok's so-called Arab Quarter, where dozens of
Middle Eastern, African and South Asian
restaurants, travel agencies, hotels, shops,
shipping agencies and other businesses cater to
Muslims and other visitors who enjoy its crammed
lanes lined with signs in Arabic and other
languages.
Selling for about $12, the bin
Laden doll is often found next to a near-identical
one of Saddam Hussein. Both figures are "Made in
China". Their boxes show illustrations of four
other dolls, similarly armed, including what
appears to be a Palestinian guerrilla with its
head wrapped in a black-and-white checkered scarf.
Another is a Caucasian wearing a white
shirt and bright red tie under its weapons-heavy
vest. A bigger picture shows the doll wearing a
hat featuring the official seal of the US
government - an eagle holding arrows and olive
branches.
Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, a
hand-held, "Laden vs USA" computerized game is
available in Hanoi, Vietnam. The game includes
photos of bin Laden wearing a white turban
alongside a grimacing Bush. As one plays, using
the game's 10 white push-buttons, a matchbox-sized
screen shows an image of one of the World Trade
Towers exploding while a second airplane bursts
into flames after hitting the other tower. The
player's low-flying airplane has to defend itself
from attacks by jet bombers.
"The game is
divided into 20 levels," the package explains.
"What's more, the inspiring music will play during
the game." On sale for $5, it is similar to a
Nintendo Game Boy but built by Panyu Gaming
Electronic Co Ltd in China.
Richard
S Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist from
San Francisco, California. He has reported news
from Asia since 1978 and is co-author of Hello
My Big Big Honey!, a non-fiction book of
investigative journalism. He received a master's
degree from Columbia University's Graduate School
of Journalism.
(Copyright 2005 Richard
S Ehrlich.) |
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