A few years back before the current Lehman Brothers saga, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was the fad amongst governments and companies alike. The "giving back" culture was the byword of the last decade. Companies started embarking on a spree of "giving back". While that is highly noble, it is being replaced by the current emphasis on ethics and integrity. Declaring one has ethics and integrity is the current fad of governments and companies alike and telling employers that you think that ethics is a load of bull is the fastest way to fail an interview.

Steve has always maintained that people who are willing to die for their ideals are in fact the most stupid people on Earth. By stupid, Steve means that these people are too stubborn that they fail to see the full picture, stubborn to the point that they are willing to sacrifice their life for this. Surely there are many other ways to see out your ideals? Being idealistic is for the young, being realistic is for the old - once you have learnt that simply compromising your ideals, it is so much easier to accomplish stuff.

Are ideals, integrity and ethics really worth 20 years of your life? Kudos to his wife for standing by him all these 19 years and 8 months of detention. Steve is not saying that Dr Lim is stupid for standing by his ideals. But Dr Lim could have done so much more with his life had he not stood by his ideals.

And for what? Sure let history be the judge, but by then there is nothing he could have done. For the past 20 years, he was wiped out of the history books and many have never heard of him. Struggles with the political system are only good when it garners you the publicity to further your aims and goals. Ms Aung San Suu Kyi did it the right way - her house arrest and detention garnered enough media attention around the world and highlighted the ills of the current government. Nobody remembers second place; human beings have short memories. By being cooped up and locked up for so many years, Steve is sure that pretty soon Dr Lim's name and his hunger strikes and his imprisonment will go to dust.