The fuss people make about likenesses that are mass produced in factories is ridiculous. People offended by this probably go around looking for things to be offended by.

What's the big deal? Saw a young man awhile back wearing a goth style shirt in a mall proclaiming "Christ is a Whore." To some, that would be just as offensive as a pair of slippers hanging on a statue. You can choose to be offended or ignore it.

Here's another angle:

- Buddhists horrified by seeing shoes (ballet shoes are still shoes) around the neck of a Buddha statue, and demand that their faith be respected.

- Same buddhists couldn't care less about visitors to their country being ripped off again and again by taxi drivers and jewelry shop scams, tourists being murdered by well connected policeman....

Here's another angle:

- Buddhists horrified by seeing shoes (ballet shoes are still shoes) around the neck of a Buddha statue, and demand that their faith be respected.

- Same buddhists couldn't care less about visitors to their country being ripped off again and again by taxi drivers and jewelry shop scams, tourists being murdered by well connected policeman....

Reminds me of where I live, many small business display signs that they are a Christian business (mostly mechanic shops). These shops are probably the most likely to give you the runaround and their business owners have the least regards in the community.

Last week, I saw a teenage Thai girl wearing a T-shirt with a picture of my Queen with a safety pin through her nose!

T-shirts with Nazi-style swastikas (not Buddhist style) are widely on sale in Bangkok in major department stores. A real fashion item........

Gotta love the Thai's here !

And worst :

A group of students at Thewphaingarm School in Bangkok chose to dress as Nazis on sports day

It looks like this Indian gentleman Prabhat Choudhary gave The Times Of India a wrong shop name. Below is the response of the French head office of “Anne Fontaine”, the Geneva shop he named:

We found this shocking article in the Indian times.

Please be advised that this is not an image of the Anne Fontaine store in Geneva. Anne Fontaine is a French luxury retailer specializing in white blouses and does not sell footwear of any kind. This is an image of our neighbouring store VIA ROMA. Anne Fontaine respects all religions and would never outwardly disrespect or mock the Buddhist faith.

We have attached an image of our Anne Fontaine shop in Geneva. As you can see, it is totally different from what is shown in the article.

Best regards,

Laura ROBERT

Export Commercial Assistant

ANNE FONTAINE SA

Pôle de développement

14600 HONFLEUR

Aren’t news editors supposed to make at least at minimal effort at verifying an accusation before printing a slanderous report, even in India?

It took me just a few minutes, a few strokes on the keyboard, to find the email address of Anne Fontaine and send them an email.

--

Maestro