Hilarious piece in today’s SCMP about karaoke in the Philippines. The nation’s reputation for violence and guns appears to also affect the seemingly harmless pass-time involving the singing of cheesy 80’s tunes.

Numerous fights have erupted in the Philippines because of this Asian hobby, as especially in the rural areas strangers are forced to rub shoulders while vying for female attention through their serenades. But here’s the kicker: Frank Sinatra’s classic “My Way” has a very special reputation, as the song has apparently resulted in at LEAST half a dozen victims over the past few years and has as such created a whole new subcategory of murders: “My Way killings.”

Why this song you ask? There’s two theories. One, because of the song’s popularity, it is sung more often and hence statistically it simply causes more trouble in this violent society. A second explanation centers around the song’s lyrics: as they are a tad arrogant in nature, they result in feelings of pride and machismo behavior. Apparently to such an extent that many karaoke bars have simply erased the song of its machines because it resulted in too many fights.

If that wasn’t entertaining enough, SCMP tells us that may of these bars employ gay men because of these quarrels. These fellas are not seen as rivals for female attention and can use their queer humor to soothe tensions between the macho Sinatras. A fantastic remedy wethinks: all we need is gay diplomats on both ends and the Sino-US issues are history.