Looks like our creative Mr Sim is really going ahead with the plan to halt Apple's i-pod sales via litigation. How Singaporean is that? If we can't compete on a level playing field, we claim the other guy's cheating, take him to court, hope that we have more resources than he does to survive a long-drawn out and expensive process, eventually bankrupt the guy, and Game Over! We win!

This strategy has been decisively effective against our opponents before: certain individuals who are generally unloved by the public, and, in some cases, are even an embarassment to be associated with in public.

ST's editorial cartoonist depicted Creative's foray as an intrepid David facing off against a formidable Goliath. Right.

Goliath, as the Bible portrayed him, was a yutz who deserved what he got from the shrimp. What Creative is contending with is quite a different animal. Apple-heads have reason to love their Macs, and for better or worse,podders love their pods. Apple is more than just a company to be taken down; for many of us, it a culture and a way of life.

And, yes, though Creative is a Singaporean home-grown model of entrepreneurhood we bow down to and worship, lots of Singaporeans ourselves have spurned the Zen for the pod. Perhaps we are irrational to do so, but "cool" is something we'll pay for once we can afford it.

The court battle isn't about pod sales here, though. The suit seeks to halt pod sales in the US itself -- Apple home turf!

Inasmuch as Goliath was unwelcome on David's backyard, David himself would have been just as obnoxious if he walked through Goliath's front door, totting his home-made uzi and gunning for a head shot.

In short, I doubt Creative would please anyone in this rather un-creative adventure. But I take my hat off to Sim and his organization for their audacity.