November 22-28, 2013
Asia, be prepared
| November 22-28, 2013
November 22-28, 2013
Contents Life View
Meeting a monster
Asia, be prepared
Life
Road to development
November 22-28, 2013
| November 22-28, 2013
Contents Politics
Reset of India's foreign policy
Politics
Lessons learned, more to come
Business
Building resilience
Business
Greedy for gold
November 22-28, 2013
Contents Culture
Gates of old
Travel
Sabahan allure
>>DATEBOOK
Happenings around Asia
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VIEW
| November 22-28, 2013
A MAN AND WOMAN WALK ALONG A ROAD IN TYPHOON RAVAGED TACLOBAN. THE UNITED NATIONS ESTIMATES 10,000 PEOPLE MAY HAVE DIED IN TACLOBAN ALONE, WHERE FIVE-METRE (16-FOOT) WAVES FLATTENED NEARLY EVERYTHING IN THEIR PATH AS THEY SWEPT HUNDREDS OF METRES ACROSS THE LOW-LYING LAND.
Photos from AFP
Asia, be prepared
| November 22-28, 2013
VIEW
RAVI VELLOOR The Straits Times Singapore
“
Thy hand, great Anarch! lets the curtain fall; And universal Darkness buries All." Thus concludes Alexander Pope's The Dunciad. Written in the early 18th century, the three-book poem follows the progress of the goddess Dulness as her minions bring destruction, decay and bestiality to the land. Perhaps Dulness was in full cry over the predominantly Catholic Philippines last week. How else but allegory to make sense of the malevolent power that laid waste to several provinces in this Southeast Asian nation, and brought looting
and violence in its aftermath. At last count, the projected death toll was nudging 5,000. And yet it is not a surprise. About 250 million people worldwide are affected by natural disasters every year. Developing countries account for 99 per cent of the deaths and 90 per cent of the economic losses, according to estimates by the World Economic Forum in Geneva. Asia should pay heed because the worst natural disasters of the past 100 years have been mostly in this region, with some exceptions such as the 2010 earthquake that flattened Haiti's capital. "April," T.S. Eliot famously wrote in The Waste Land, "is the cruelest month." Not in this part of the world, where disasters tend to strike later in the year when the seas
are angry and the monsoon waxes and wanes. The 2004 tsunami struck in December, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake that killed 75,000 was in October. This year, Asia has had two major weather-related catastrophes — the multiday cloudburst in June over the northern Indian hill state of Uttarakhand that killed more than 5,000 and now, supertyphoon Haiyan in the Philippines. What is interesting is that disasters caused by flooding and cyclones have risen dramatically, while others, such as volcanoes and earthquakes, have held fairly steady. Clearly, climate change and environmental degradation are increasingly the cause. What is more, the intensity of these strikes will only grow. This is why global relief
| November 22-28, 2013
VIEW
INDIAN RESCUE PERSONNEL HELPING PILGRIMS LEFT STRANDED IN UTTARAKHAND BY FLOOD WATERS AND LANDSLIDES WHICH STRUCK IN JULY THIS YEAR
VIEW
| November 22-28, 2013
AERIAL VIEW OF BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA AFTER IT WAS HIT BY A POWERFUL TSUNAMI IN 2004
| November 22-28, 2013
VIEW
organisations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) have been boosting their presence in Asia lately. The pity is that we endure calamities even as science has progressed enough to provide us the means to anticipate a good many of them. Last month, when cyclone Phailin hit the Indian coastline along the Bay of Bengal, the country got rare praise because, for once, its disaster management teams had worked efficiently. District officials persuaded nearly a million people to move far inland, even against their will. The death toll, fewer than 20, was tiny by Indian standards and a far cry from October 1999, when a similar Category 5 cyclone hit the same area. That time, 15,000 perished. With Haiyan, which swept
in at what some say were record speeds, perhaps the most careful arrangements may have been inadequate. Even so, both preparedness and response could have been better. After all, the Philippines is not unfamiliar with tropical storms, typically receiving as many as 20 during the season. If nothing else, an unambiguous command and control structure should have been in place long ago. Its absence is palpable. As my colleague Raul Dancel reported from Tacloban, federal and provincial officials are now in a blame game. How can the Tacloban mayor, with less than 10 per cent of his municipal staff reporting for duty, possibly handle the situation when he is whiplashed by conflicting demands for rescue, relief, burials, rehabilitation
and disease control? If there was one lesson the world drew from the 2010 Haiti earthquake, it was that crisis situations such as these should be immediately handed to the military. And every relief outfit, rather than trying to make independent assessments of the situation, should be connected to a central command grid. As of November 15, a week after the typhoon struck, MSF was still involved in damage assessment and had not been able to put its full complement of 141 doctors and nurses on the ground. In Haiti, the most efficient relief crews were soldiers of the US 82nd Airborne Division who had precise orders, knew their mission and had the means to accomplish it. This is why Washington's prompt response in sending the US 7th Fleet to the Philippines last week
| November 22-28, 2013
VIEW
is an unqualified blessing. What now? For sure, the Philippines is poised for an overflow of global sympathy. That money must be used well and the leftover - there is bound to be some - properly audited and saved for the next disaster. The longer-term after-effects, and trauma, are still to come. The worst perhaps is the dependency syndrome that follows sudden, large injections of aid. In several coastal communities after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, fishermen were refusing to put out to sea for months because they wanted the government to replace even boats that could be repaired. Meanwhile, they lived - and drank - off the supplies the world sent them. The Clinton Foundation, which raised US$16 million for Haiti, correctly focused on
building back a nation that taps on its people's energy. There is also the threat of diseases such as cholera and tetanus that could loom for months. Worryingly, disease patterns can change with huge shocks. In the Andaman and Nicobar Islands the biting pattern of mosquitoes altered after the tsunami, keeping alive the threat of malaria as the vector began biting through the day, not just at dawn and dusk. And then, there are the children, usually the worst sufferers. To be protected, even at the cost of parent life, is the privilege of every child. But what when father or mother, or both, perish? The Nicobarese tribes do not have a word for orphan because a parentless child is quickly adopted by the community.
Sadly, we are not Nicobarese all. On a wider scale, perhaps it is time to consider an Asia-wide multilateral relief body, with regional centres, that can move quickly. Charitable giving for emergencies also needs to be a regular process rather than episodic. That way there is a ready bank of aid to tap. Both are easier said than done, however. It needs the rawness of tragedy to loosen pockets. And Asia is riven with so many political rivalries and conflicting claims over land and water that many governments are unable to swallow their pride and request help. But as the disasters come, these attitudes will have to change. The seas are blue only for tourists. Those who live by the water know another story. ÂŹ
LIFE
Meeting a monster A first-person account of ‘meeting’ supertyphoon Haiyan
Photos from AFP
A SHIP THAT WAS WASHED ASHORE BY SUPERTYPHOON HAIYAN. SURVIVORS SCAVENGE WHATEVER THEY CAN FIND FROM THE DEBRIS OF THEIR HOMES.
| November 22-28, 2013
LIFE
| November 22-28, 2013
US MARINE OSPREY AIRCRAFT ARRIVE TO DELIVER AID AT TACLOBAN AIRPORT AFTER TYPHOON HAIYAN HIT THE EAST COAST OF THE PHILIPPINES.
LIFE
| November 22-28, 2013
A TYPHOON VICTIM PRAYS DURING MASS AT THE SANTO NINO CHURCH IN TACLOBAN.
LIFE
| November 22-28, 2013
A TYPHOON VICTIM PRAYS DURING MASS AT THE SANTO NINO CHURCH IN TACLOBAN.
| November 22-28, 2013
LIFE DJ YAP Philippine Daily Inquirer Manila
T
he woman’s smile was a ray of sunshine utterly out of place on that dark and desperate Friday. She was standing among the ruins of an old church in downtown Tacloban when I chanced upon her, just hours after supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: “Haiyan”) tore into the city, sending its residents into the clutches of despair.
A MAN PAINTS A MESSAGE THAT SAYS “HELP SOS WE NEED FOOD” IN TYPHOON HIT TACLOBAN.
| November 22-28, 2013
LIFE Hers was the first true smile I saw that day, the sight of it so unexpected, so jarring, that I found myself asking the one question journalists were supposed to avoid during a catastrophe: “How are you?” “We are all right. With God’s mercy we are all safe,” she replied. Her name is Julita Jaca, and she is 65 years old. She was paying a visit to all the churches in town to say her prayers as her “way of thanking Mama Mary” for saving her and her neighbours. Along with those neighbours, Jaca had taken refuge on the second floor of their house in a village overlooking Cancabato Bay. They survived, almost miraculously, the ferocious surge of wind and water that flattened entire villages and killed multitudes in the coastal parts of Leyte. But something was bothering Jaca. Her 33-year-old son, she said,
was reluctant to let the neighbours stay with them and to share the week’s supply of food and water the family had stocked up in preparation for the storm. “I want to tell my son that it’s not the time to be selfish,” she said, her eyes welling up. “I want him to understand that it is during times like this that we must help others. We should not be selfish.” Her voice broke then, replaced by quiet sobs. For the first time that day, I came close to crying, too. All day, the Inquirer team consisting of myself and photographer Nino Jesus Orbeta walked the streets of Tacloban, absorbing the scenes of shock, terror, grief and desolation that had engulfed this city of 220,000 people. Of the emotional stories we documented, it was Jaca’s account, punctuated by smiles and tears that struck the most strident chord in me.
Here was a mother driven to tears not by the loss of her loved ones or the deaths all around her, but by the erosion of her son’s humanity. It was at some level a triumph of the spirit. Orbeta and I arrived in Tacloban early Thursday morning. It was drizzling when our plane touched down in what then seemed to be an auspicious time.
NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT
On the way to the hotel, the tricycle driver told us that there was nothing to worry about downtown. “The most it (the flooding) will reach is up to the knee,” he said. We were almost reassured. “We need to find a solid building,” said Orbeta, who hails from Bicol, one of the places frequently battered by tropical cyclones blowing in from the Pacific. A lot of hotels downtown were fully booked, with mostly
| November 22-28, 2013
LIFE residents of low-lying settlements. We checked in at Asia Stars Hotel on one of the main avenues not far from the Port of Tacloban. We spent the rest of Thursday surveying the storm preparations around the city and the adjacent town of Palo, where Douglas MacArthur famously landed in 1944. Residents went about their business unmindful of the ominous clouds on the horizon. It was calm, perhaps too calm. That night, Orbeta and I discussed our game plan for the next day, Yolanda’s landfall. The expectation was Tacloban would be hit, but not too badly. We were to hire a vehicle to take us to the areas expected to be most devastated from the storm, and we would return to Tacloban to file our stories and photographs. But as I browsed for weather updates on the Internet and checked Yolanda’s track, I thought, “Aren’t
we on the direct path of the storm?” Coming into Tacloban, we had gathered that Yolanda would hit the “Samar-Leyte area,” and there were indications it would be moving northwest, theoretically hitting Samar more heavily than Leyte. In fact, my biggest concern at that point was that the storm might strike another area too distant for us to go. I was very, very wrong.
‘THIS IS A STRONG ONE’
At 4am on Friday, we woke to the howling and whistling of the wind outside, punctuated by what sounded like booms and crashes, of things slamming into buildings, the grating noises of metal hitting metal, of glass breaking and shattering. It was so fierce the walls of the hotel shook lightly. “Jesus Christ. This is a strong one,” Orbeta said, quickly slinging his camera around his neck
to snap pictures of the scene outside. We went to the fire exit on the fourth floor to look through the glass window. The view was white. Sheets of water were sweeping furiously inland, practically horizontally. We saw corrugated metal roofing and other things we couldn’t identify flying past. Cars were being dragged through the flooded street. An electric pole was swaying dangerously. The tide was sweeping inward, unbelievably strong, fast. We rushed out the fire exit, afraid that debris might hit the window. And soon enough, just as we closed the door, we heard the shattering of glass. A sharp object had pierced the fire exit window, letting the water in and flooding our floor. Downstairs, the water had reached the ceiling of the ground floor. Hotel guests were leaving their rooms, filling the lobby, alarmed and restless.
| November 22-28, 2013
LIFE “What is going on?” one whispered. Conversations were hushed, as though people were afraid of further angering the heavens. The lights went out. Orbeta and I went back to our room. Our phones and modems had no signal. The hotel Wi-Fi was no longer accessible. There was no water from the faucet. I took stock of our supplies: just a 1-litre bottle of water for each of us, a couple small packs of SkyFlakes crackers, and a handful of Fudgee cake bars. How are we going to survive on this? I thought of my family back home. I had not even told them where I was. I entertained morbid thoughts. Before shutting down my phones and laptop to save on battery, I deleted everything I didn’t want people to find there should I be killed. I felt like laughing at the ridiculousness of it. I lay in my bed, Orbeta
in his. “Many people are probably dying right now,” I said aloud. Orbeta agreed. In the darkness we listened in silence to Yolanda’s roar. By 9am, the waters had subsided, but the winds remained strong, and a current still ran through the streets, only this time moving in the opposite direction, back east where the disturbance had come. From our vantage point at the hotel entrance, we could see children wading through ankle-deep waters, some of them entering shops forced open by the surging water. They were already looting even before the storm had completely blown away. By noon, we headed out to assess the damage, to talk to people who were affected, to record their ordeal.
FIRST BODIES
I saw the first bodies almost immediately. They were of a woman and her young son on a wooden cart being pushed by two men.
I signalled to Orbeta, and he began taking pictures. I chased the tragic carriage through the main thoroughfare to the small alleys. Everywhere the pushcart went, residents mutely watched, some of them coming closer to look at the faces of the dead. The two corpses were taken to a village outpost. Then on top of the mother, somebody placed a dead baby that had gotten separated from them. It wasn’t difficult to spot the woman’s husband and the children’s father. He was weeping on the pavement, a broken man. He had lost his entire family. This story was repeated everywhere I went in what remained of Tacloban, of mothers and husbands and children, dead or missing. Some of the bereaved had faces so racked with pain I couldn’t bear to watch, let alone try to talk to them. And those I managed to interview
| November 22-28, 2013
LIFE spoke of a heart-wrenching grief. Len de Guzman emerged, hysterical from a public elementary school that was supposed to be an evacuation centre. Her 6-year-old daughter Ellen Shane had died in her arms, drowned as they clung to the ceiling of a classroom, frantically trying to keep their heads above the water. Bodies were everywhere, under the rubble, on the sidewalks, some covered with blankets, others uncovered, still dripping blood.
TRAGEDY UP CLOSE
We didn’t need to look for them. All we needed to do was follow the trail of men and women, dazed, crying, helpless, in the streets. I had never seen a tragedy this close. My emotions were drained, my mind numb. That was when I met Julita Jaca with her incongruous smile. Maybe it was she who saved my sanity. Orbeta and I walked for
hours that first day, recording harrowing stories and images even as we had no way of transmitting them to our editors. Our feet were blistered, our backs sore. We returned to the hotel in the evening, spent and hungry. “We will have to ration our food,” I told Orbeta in jest. We laughed at our meagre supplies laid out on the bedside table. The hotel management had served porridge and boiled eggs to the guests earlier that day, but the porridge was gone by the time we came back. We ate a boiled egg and drank precious sips of water for dinner that night. The next day, the scene on the streets downtown was postapocalyptic: barefoot residents sifting through trash that remained uncollected, the homeless wandering around, stores looted and emptied. “It’s anarchy,” the owner of our hotel said, expressing his fear that
people might soon try to break into the building out of desperation. Lawlessness had gripped Tacloban, and nowhere was this more evident than in the establishments stripped not only of food and water but practically anything of value: bags, clothes, shoes and slippers, appliances, TV sets, DVD players.
HUMAN NATURE
The paranoia and panic were contagious. Truthfully, I was feeling it, too. Our drinking water was running out. Our empty stomachs were groaning. Were we to resort to looting, too? It was unconscionable, but in some ways, understandable. Was Thomas Hobbes right after all? Was this the true nature of humans without law and without government? Fortunately, Orbeta and I came across a woman selling bottled water, soft drinks and potato
| November 22-28, 2013
LIFE chips from a roadside. She allowed us to buy two big bottles of water and a couple of packs of chips. She couldn’t sell us more, the woman said, as she had nothing else to feed her family. By our fourth day in Tacloban, we were brimming with stories and images, but with nothing to show for it. Orbeta was concerned that the longer we stayed there, unable to send our materials, our stories and photos would no longer be usable, overtaken by newer developments. “They do not even know yet that we are OK,” I reminded him, referring to our editors. By chance, we met a team from GMA 7 network led by reporters Jiggy Manicad and Micaela Papa. They were on their way to Palo, where they had set up to broadcast live via satellite. (The Inquirer would later acquire satellite phones to be used by subsequent teams sent to the area.) We had also wanted to visit Palo,
so we accepted the GMA 7 team’s kind offer to join their party.
HEART-WRENCHING SCENES
Palo was 13 kilometres away, and the walk was punishing. My feet bled from chafing. The streets were filled with people carrying all sorts of things taken from stores, anything that could be useful. Others were looking for their loved ones in the piles of bodies. Two young men were peering at the faces of the corpses lying in front of a building. I witnessed the exact moment they recognised their dead father. Tears streamed down their faces, and the older brother could only sit down beside the body, his face crumpled. It was heart-wrenching. Palo was just as devastated as Tacloban, if not more so. The corpses, most of them now in body bags, were taken to a cathedral. They had started
to putrefy. Family members stood some distance away. The somber silence was interrupted by a commotion on the road. Men aboard a moving truck were giving away dressed chickens. People immediately swarmed around the truck as chickens flew like projectiles from it. Although deep in grief, the residents erupted with laughter, delighted by the unexpected treat. A little boy who got a chicken played with it, flapping its wings and clucking his tongue, as he walked home, bringing dinner for his family.
WE’RE ALIVE
Later that night, toward the end of his report, Jiggy Manicad announced on live TV that we were safe. (One editor, Juliet Labog-Javellana, would tell me later how worried sick she was about us, and how Manicad’s announcement eased her worries). The GMA 7 team also told us
| November 22-28, 2013
LIFE that they were to hitch a ride on a C-130 military transport plane, which was to land in the Tacloban airport early the next morning. Manicad offered to let us come with them, and we gladly accepted. The news team had also invited a few others who were stranded in Tacloban. They didn’t need to do it, but they did. I am forever thankful to them for their generosity. On the ride to the airport, in two rental vans, Orbeta and I saw dozens of people, including little children, walking aimlessly in the streets, in the stillness and darkness of the wee hours, against a backdrop of a city in ruins. It was 3am. Where will these people sleep? What will become of them? Will help ever reach them? I wondered. What I saw in the broad light of day had been horrible. But nothing prepared me for the night. It was far grimmer, darker, what “nightmare” means, but real. The buildings of Tacloban will rise again, no doubt, but it will take much longer to heal the people.
MEETING A MONSTER
I am no stranger to monster typhoons. I’d flown to Mindanao for two Decembers in a row, in 2011 and 2012, to report on the aftermath of Tropical Storm “Sendong” (“Washi”) and Typhoon “Pablo” (“Bopha”), respectively. I covered the devastation inflicted by Tropical Storm “Ondoy” (“Ketsana”) on the eastern parts of Metro Manila four years ago. But Yolanda was the first monster I set out to meet a day before it came. It was the first one to truly take me out of my comfort zone, to make me fear for my life, and to show me a terrifying glimpse of the nature of people at their best, at their most desolate, and at their most wicked. I arrived in Tacloban a veteran reporter of disasters, mistakenly believing I had seen it all. I left the broken city humbled and grateful, sure only of the knowledge that I knew nothing at all. I won’t ever forget what happened there. May it never happen again. ¬
Editor’s Note: DJ Yap, the Inquirer’s environment reporter, and photographer Nino Jesus Orbeta were the first Inquirer team sent from Manila to cover Supertyphoon “Yolanda” in Tacloban City. They arrived on November 7, a day before the world’s strongest typhoon landed. His tweet on that fateful Friday morning—“Sounds of glass shattering; hotel guests in lobby, restless, alarmed. ‘Jesus Christ,’ says our fotog Nino Orbeta. ‘Worse than Reming.’”—was the first and last time we heard from them until they sent word through GMA 7 on Saturday night that they made it through the storm.
| November 22-28, 2013
LIFE
Road to development KUANG LINHUA AND DAQIONG China Daily Medog, Tibet
A
major road opened recently, linking Medog county in the Tibet autonomous region to the rest of China, as workers continue to refurbish other roads in the region. The opening of the 117-kilometre highway ends Medog county's status as the only one in China inaccessible by road. It is set to improve the lives and well being of 10,000 people in Medog. The road is part of the repair and construction works of networks in the autonomous region. Unstable land formations mean landslides and avalanches are prevalent in certain areas. China Daily reporters capture Tibet's road landscapes, offering a glimpse into the development of roads in the region. ÂŹ
LIFE
| November 22-28, 2013
Kuang Linhua/China Daily THE LACK OF PLANTS AND GREENERY MAKES MOUNTAINOUS ROADS VULNERABLE DURING RAINY SEASONS.
LIFE
| November 22-28, 2013
Kuang Linhua/China Daily FREQUENT LANDSLIDES AND RAINSTORMS BRING BIG CHALLENGES TO REGULAR ROAD MAINTENANCE.
| November 22-28, 2013
LIFE
Kuang Linhua/China Daily
THE NYINGCHI SECTION OF NATIONAL ROAD 318 IS SAID TO EXPERIENCE FOUR SEASONS A DAY - FREEZING, COOL, WARM AND HOT. THE WINDING ROAD, WRAPPED IN HEAVY FOG, IS DOTTED WITH TRAFFIC MIRRORS WITH TIBETAN DECORATIONS.
LIFE
| November 22-28, 2013
Kuang Linhua/China Daily RAPID ROAD CONSTRUCTIONS BRING MORE TOURISTS TO VISIT VILLAGES DEEP IN THE MOUNTAINS.
POLITICS
| November 22-28, 2013
Lessons learned, more to come The Thai government has been taught some valuable lessons of late, but more are in store
AFP PHOTO/Christophe Archambault
THAI ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTERS RALLYING AGAINST THE CONTROVERSIAL AMNESTY BILL
POLITICS
| November 22-28, 2013
TULSATHIT TAPTIM The Nation Bangkok
A
lthough 90 per cent of democratic politics is about good timing and seizing the opportunities, sooner or later you will have to do the remaining 10 per cent and nothing else. In other words, you can lie, pretend, manipulate, get a payback or "play" politics all you like, but keep in mind that genuine "conscience" has a place in politics too. The time will always come when you can no longer point at something that is seriously wrong and tell the people that it is right.
THAI ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTERS RALLYING AGAINST THE CONTROVERSIAL AMNESTY BILL.
| November 22-28, 2013
POLITICS Thailand’s ruling Pheu Thai Party's amnesty agenda used up its "90 per cent" quota on Halloween night when the House of Representatives passed that controversial bill while most Thais were sleeping. When Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and other top government figures described the antiamnesty uproar as a conspiracy against her government, they overlooked the 10 per cent requirement. The rest is history. The anti-amnesty crowds, if put together, were far bigger than those that besieged her brother Thaksin before he was removed from power in 2006. Adding to the rare phenomenon was growing dissent among the ruling camp's own supporters. The red shirts are in danger of being divided into a proPheu Thai movement, and an "independent" one that remains at the fledging stage but could become a significant political
variable in the near future. The legislative door is threatening to slam shut on an amnesty for Thaksin Shinawatra and the return of money seized from his business empire. The constitutional windows have also been almost sealed. Some blame poor timing and arrogance, saying the amnesty juggernaut overturned because it was speeding. Truth is, the parliamentary Halloween-night farce was just the last straw, and the amnesty bill was doomed at conception because it directly insulted the public conscience. The red shirts don't want to forgive people they hold responsible for the deaths of protesters in 2010. The other half of Thailand doesn't want to let corruption go unpunished. Which side is right or wrong is not as important as the fact that many ideologically divided Thai people somehow agree that legislative
powers should not be exploited to meet individuals' goals. The government had been toying with its election "mandate", whereas the situation was crying out for "accountability", that heavy responsibility that comes with great power. With the Yingluck administration caving in to public outrage, a credibility crisis has resulted. The opposing Democrats describe it as a liar's retreat after getting caught, and accuse the government of planning to lie low until the time is right for revival of the controversial amnesty. The anti-government campaign has been "upgraded", with nine Democrats resigning to lead street protests, and calls for strikes or slowdowns to increase pressure for political change. The ruling camp, meanwhile, is attempting to play the sympathy card again, counting on the red shirts to swallow the pain
| November 22-28, 2013
POLITICS
of being "stabbed in the back" and come to its rescue. But Thailand is in that "10 per cent" stage of politics, and it's important that both political camps - the government and its rivals - realise it. The balance between the rule of law and democracy - which has kept Thaksin a convict and his sister an elected prime minister - is inconvenient, but it cannot be tilted. This is why anti-government protests before the amnesty bill flare-up were lukewarm. Despite what the world probably thinks, most Thais understand that democracy means living with a government that they don't like. The government side has learned that even that understanding has limits. When the crucial line was crossed, with a disliked government attempting to pass a law that defied widespread concepts of right and
wrong, a groundswell of public anger materialised in a bid to teach the "democratically-elected" administration an important lesson about democracy. Is the government listening? Probably not. Is it remorseful? Absolutely not. To Prime Minister Yingluck and the Pheu Thai Party, the amnesty bill remains what Thailand really needs, but is strongly opposed because the country is so full of sour losers who distort facts and fool gullible millions in their conspiracy to destroy democracy. The world heard the same excuse when Thaksin was removed from power. Truth is, Thailand doesn't need such a highly divisive law, at least for now. The phenomenal opposition to the bill is not a conspiracy, either. The government is losing public trust not because its enemies have "distorted" the bill and "deceived"
the Thai public, but because the administration itself has looked nowhere near being sincere. The bill was suspiciously proposed, then outrageously altered and then scandalously rammed through the House of Representatives. That's simply not how it's supposed to be. Although we may be mastering the art of flying blind politically, some guiding lights will help. The government may have itself justified a "conspiracy", but it's up to its opponents to decide how tight the noose should be. The anti-amnesty movement may have largely involved the "10 per cent" part of politics, so the trick is how to avoid slipping into the 90 per cent part. Conscience does not assert itself very often in politics, but it has emerged to say a resounding "No" to the amnesty bill. We hope it stays a bit longer, because we know what can happen when it's gone. ÂŹ
| November 22-28, 2013
POLITICS
Reset of India's foreign policy In this re-shaped perspective, India's development priorities are seen as the essential objective of foreign policy. Promoting development has always been a major consideration for India, but now development issues have been given a higher priority, thereby reflecting the sense of urgency that the government clearly attaches to economic development SALMAN HAIDAR The Statesman New Delhi
I
ndia’s ambassadors from the world over have just concluded an extended meeting in New Delhi where they were given a comprehensive briefing on India’s current priorities in foreign affairs.
They were brought up-to-date on the considerations which must shape their diplomatic activity abroad, and it is a token of the seriousness of the exercise that the Indian prime minister himself addressed the gathering. In his speech, Manmohan Singh called for a "fundamental reset" of policy in response to the country’s
expanding international responsibilities in the midst of the immense changes now happening in the world. To this end, he outlined five essential principles that have come to define India’s foreign policy, not so much a recasting of established policy as homing in on essentials while setting out a new direction. Putting together
| November 22-28, 2013
POLITICS
such a conference of ambassadors is in itself a demonstration of stronger diplomatic ambition and readiness for fresh initiatives. Not many similar ambassadorial conclaves have taken place in the past though there have been one or two: in earlier days, when the country had perforce to practise great austerity owing to its very limited financial resources, such an initiative would no doubt have been considered an unacceptable extravagance: at best, one would see gatherings of regional envoys when leaders from
Delhi were on a visit to a particular region. Enforced pennypinching does not make for active responses to challenging situations, so the kind of across-theboard exercise just seen has much to commend it. For one thing, it reminds everyone, including some envoys tucked away in remote parts that seldom figure on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) screen, that in this globalised era nobody is out of sight or out of mind. The principles set out by the prime minister need careful attention. What is immediately
evident is that there is no mention of nonalignment. Since earliest independence, it is nonalignment that has been the foundation and touchstone of Indian diplomacy, and India has been regarded as the chief progenitor of the nonaligned doctrine. But the significance of this doctrine has been fading for some time, after the ending of the cold war. Although the nonaligned movement (NAM) remains active and has not lost the allegiance of its members, it has had to yield prominence to other groups and doctrines. Even so, from time to
| November 22-28, 2013
POLITICS
time efforts are made to re-define non-alignment in the light of present day needs - only recently a highly regarded group of experts described it as the continued search for strategic autonomy, which is indeed a core nonaligned value. The prime minister, however, decided not to hark back to the term and all it implies, preferring to look ahead to what now needs doing. Nonalignment thus no longer commands centre stage even in the land of its origin. Another attitude to a degree linked with NAM is solidarity among third world countries in global economic affairs, and this
too is no longer a thrust area of policy, to judge from the PM’s remarks to the ambassadors. He spoke of ‘stable, long term and mutually beneficial relations with all major powers’, which provides a different perspective from the familiar one of the G-77 or group of developing countries, of which India has been a leading member since it was established in 1964: G-77 worked assiduously to obtain special advantages for developing countries in global economic exchanges, with some success, but the action has long shifted to bodies like the World Trade Organisation
(WTO) in Geneva where member-states pursue their individual and group interests. The considerations that drove the G-77 a generation ago no longer apply and third world solidarity is not seen as the path to advantage for the developing countries - indeed, even the terms ‘developing country’ and ‘third world’ have become dated and of greatly reduced relevance. India and China, the largest and most potent emerging countries, are sometimes blamed by erstwhile partners for claiming particular privileges as "developing countries". especially in discussions
| November 22-28, 2013
POLITICS
and conferences on environmental issues where there is a demand for them to assume greater responsibilities commensurate with their size and the environmental impact of their policies. It is noteworthy that the guiding principles listed by the PM deliberately move away from ideas and perceptions of an earlier era. The ‘reset’ of which he spoke is in reality a major departure and sets out to project an India as ready to take a more active and confident part in global affairs. It should be welcomed as such. In this re-shaped
perspective, the country’s development priorities are seen as the essential objective of foreign policy. Promoting development has always been a major consideration for India, but now development issues have been given a higher priority, thereby reflecting the sense of urgency that the government clearly attaches to economic development. With this re-emphasised link between foreign policy and development, certain changes to some familiar ways of conducting the nation’s business must follow; reference has already been made to the diminished usefulness of
the ‘third world’ ethos What the prime minister now calls for is greater integration with the world economy and maintenance of stable relations with all major powers, concepts that follow logically from the revised goals of foreign policy but have not hitherto been stated in such clear terms. It is noteworthy, too, that the matter of security, which has lately tended to dominate the foreign policy discourse, is seen as part of the search for an improved global economy and security environment. Growth and security are thus seen as mutually supportive. In this renewed
| November 22-28, 2013
POLITICS
quest for an enlarged international engagement for the country, the prime minister does not ignore matters nearer home and makes due acknowledgement of the shared destiny of the countries of the Indian sub-continent, drawing particular attention to regional cooperation and connectivity as two important areas of endeavour. Maintaining good relations with neighbours is a perpetual preoccupation of Indian policy, always meriting the importance it has received from successive leaders of the country, including the present prime minister.
And ultimately, going beyond matters of changing strategy, he invokes the basic values of the state which must animate policy in all areas of national endeavour, not external relations alone. It is a thought provoking and satisfying iteration of what the country needs and the course it must pursue to attain its goals. But between careful iteration and effective action lies a considerable gap. The dominant discourse on foreign policy at this time has little to do with the carefully structured five principles set out by the prime minister. Powerful regional
demands have compelled the prime minister to keep away from the impending Commonwealth meeting in Colombo. The balanced foreign policy structure set out for the guidance of the ambassadors has proved vulnerable before the imperatives of domestic politics. The writer is India’s former Foreign Secretary. 
| November 22-28, 2013
BUSINESS
Building resilience
AN EXPERT FROM IUCN HELPS FARMERS SELECT THE BEST YOUNG TREES
Vietnamese island farmers dig deep to adapt to climate change
PAPAYA IS PROCESSED FOR EXPORT A FARMER IS HAPPY WITH HER BUMPER HAUL OF PAPAYAS PAPAYAS HELP FARMERS ELIMINATE POVERTY AND HUNGER
| November 22-28, 2013
BUSINESS
PHAM HOANG NAM Ha Noi Viet Nam News
F
or the past five years, the livelihood of residents on Cu Lao Dung Island in Soc Trang province, southern Vietnam, has been increasingly at risk because of the effects of climate change. "Sometimes thousands of hectares of crops are destroyed by heavy rains," Nguyen Tri Dung, chairman of An Thanh Nam Commune in the district, said. To protect the farmland in the area, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) started a four-year project to train locals to build their “resilience” to climate change. Apart from Cu Lao Dung, the IUCN also works with local governments and residents in eight coastal provinces in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. “The programme promotes sustainable management and strategic rehabilitation of natural resources. This will make local
ecosystems more resilient to climate change and improve livelihood and food security of the local community,” said IUCN member Nguyen Duc Tu. The area on Cu Lao Dung Island, which is located in an estuary where seawater and fresh river water mix, is considered one of the most vulnerable in the country to the effects of climate change. In recent years, crops such as sugarcane, vegetables, fruit and rice, which form the main income of local residents, have become subject to rising sea levels, storms, higher tides, landslides, increasing temperatures, saltwater intrusion and flooding. The commune has a total of 1,000 hectares of mangrove forest and its coastline of 17 kilometres includes large areas of mudflats, which allow local people to breed clams and exploit aquatic resources from mangrove forests. "To reduce climate change and
| November 22-28, 2013
BUSINESS
maintain livelihood for our local residents, we must protect the mangrove forest," said Dang Quoc Chi, vice-head of the district's agriculture department.
Looking to the future
Climate change affects marine and coastal ecosystems through a gradual process, notably through temperature increase, changes in salinity levels, acidity, turbidity and loss of habitat due to increased sea levels. According to IUCN, climatechange has brought stronger winds, higher waves and fiercer storms to Suc Trang. Sea levels in the East Sea in southern Vietnam are rising by three to 5.5 millimetres per year, and the dry season is expected to become longer and hotter. Along with local authorities, the IUCN project leaders have spent the last 14 months drawing
up regulations on how to use natural resources responsibly and how to protect forests, through on negotiations between local governments and residents. "As a first step, we asked local residents how they want to treat the mangrove forests. Then we discussed how exploit while sustaining the mangroves, Chi said. "After that, we provided detailed regulations, including one restricted area excluded one area in the mangrove forest to allow aquatic species and wildlife to safely reproduce," he added. More than 200 residents in Vo Thanh Van hamlet were asked to be involved in the Mangrove Forest Comanagement Group. The group is tasked to ensure that no one cuts down trees in the forest, and in return they are allowed to source for aquatic life there. Trinh Man, 58, a local of Khmer
| November 22-28, 2013
BUSINESS
ethnicity, along with his son, joined the group when it was first formed. He said his 5,000 square metres of sugarcane plantation was not enough to feed his family. "Seafood has become less plentiful and we worry about the future. When the project started, I began to understand why we need to protect and responsibly exploit the forest," Man said. Every day, group members are divided into smaller clusters that take turns to "stand guard" over the forest. Man now earns up to 2 million dong (US$100) each month from his sale of seafood which he gets from his area of the protected forest. "If you're not a member of the group, you're not allowed to come into the forest. We have to increase awareness among our relatives and neighbours, and even watch other people in other localities so they won't enter the forest illegally," farmer Nguyen Van Khoai, 38, said.
Local authorities also visit neighbouring localities to educate the people about the benefits of forest protection. "We invite people to join our clam collective. Those who join take on the benefits and duties of as collective members. Those who don't want to join, at least they understand the regulations," Chi said.
Sustainable strategies
Apart from protecting the mangrove forests and marine resources, the project also provides vocational training for housewives, who are now earning a stable income of 1-2 million dong ($50-100) each month. They have also been taught to optimise crop growing according to local weather conditions. Before the programme, fishing activities were conducted indiscriminately, putting local resources at risk. But sustainable fishing is
| November 22-28, 2013
BUSINESS
now practised as a result of awareness-raising activities. The IUCN project also supported construction of two small-scale water supply stations in the Vam Ho and Vo Thanh Van hamlets. Funded by the European Union, in partnership with the Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands and the German Agency for International Cooperation, the IUCN project supports the integration of climate-change adaptation strategies into policy development and local socio-economic planning. In addition, it promotes ecosystem-based solutions that allow for harmonious interaction between people and nature, and advocates a shift from monoculture mangrove plantation for dyke protection to multiple-species mangrove restoration with integrated aquaculture practices.
By doing so, this provides not only ecological but also social and economic benefits. "The local government and community hopes that the model will be expanded even when the project is completed because we have realised long-term benefits of forest protection, not contributing to our own incomes but also in the context of adapting to climate change," said Nguyen Tri Dung, chairman of the An Thanh Nam Commune's People's Committee. The Mangrove Forest Comanagement Group is expected to grow in number and become even more effective, he said. "We expect the Soc Trang People's Committee to give locals the right to protect and use mangrove forests. That would help the model become even more successful," he added. ÂŹ
BUSINESS
| November 22-28, 2013
Greedy
for gold IZWAN IDRIS The Star Kuala Lumpur
| November 22-28, 2013
BUSINESS
G
old, as an investment, has had a horrid year and will probably continue to disappoint investors next year. But Asian consumers are unperturbed, as they see the sharp decline in bullion prices as a golden opportunity to stock up their hoard of the precious metal. The benchmark spot gold price in New York had dropped 22 per cent year-to-date at US$1,287 an ounce on November 9 and was heading into its first annual loss in more than a decade. Some analysts predict prices will fall even lower in 2014, with Goldman Sachs’ commodity research head Jeffery Currie declaring
gold a “slam dunk” sell for next year. Currie also says that gold may “overshoot” below the $1,000 mark in the near term as fund managers and savers in the West continue to unwind their positions in gold investment products ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s plan to taper down its monthly bond-buying programme. HSBC chief metal analyst James Steel announced that “gold’s more-than-decadelong bull market ended this year.” The price of gold has had a spectacular run up since the start of the new millennium, but gold’s shiny investment status as the safest bet at times of crisis may have run its course, at least in the West, as risk appetite return for fast-money fund managers. Since the burst of the US dotcom IT bubble in 2000, the price of gold has soared from $300 an ounce to a dizzying height of US$1,920 on Sept 6, 2011. The bullion more than doubled its value from early 2007 to mid-2011 after the Lehman Brothers collapse and the start of Greek crisis in the eurozone. Gold supporters in past years argued that loose money-printing programme by central banks in developed economies to jumpstart growth will fuel inflation on a
| November 22-28, 2013
BUSINESS global scale that will render paper currency useless everywhere. It was the fear of an imminent economic collapse in 2009 that drove investors into gold as they sought to protect their capital and ride out the unfolding turmoil in the West. But as the worst of the recession passes, gold increasingly loses its shine. Analysts say as the outlook for the global economies brightens in recent months, billions of dollars that were poured into various sophisticated gold investment products have been pulled out and shifted into equities and other riskier investment classes. The demand for gold, which pays no dividends and is just a store of value, suddenly vanished. The steep fall in April this year plunged gold into bear market territory and marked a remarkable turnabout for the precious metal. Even some of its strongest supporters, including billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Johnson, halved his stake
during the second quarter of this year in SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest gold exchange-traded fund (ETF) following the rout. The gold market has had its share of spectacular booms and busts before. Nobel prize winner for economics Paul Krugman wrote that gold historically has been anything but a safe investment, and can sometimes yield big gains as in the 1970s and the period between 2001 and 2011. But he noted that the 1970s run up was followed by “an epic plunge” with the real value of gold falling by two-thirds. Stock investment guru Warren Buffet too had said that he was never a fan of gold as an investment. He argued that gold doesn’t do anything and he would rather put his money in more productive ventures such as a farm or a company.
Strong demand
While falling gold prices may whet the appetite of legendary
investors like Buffet, a rising number of households in fast-growing developing Asian economies are stepping up their purchases of the metal as ornaments and investment, according to the World Gold Council (WGC) on Thursday. “The growth we are seeing in jewellery, bars and coins, in particular, demonstrates once again the unique diversity of gold demand, as different sectors increase in prominence at different points in the global economic cycle, clear evidence of ebbs and flow of what is an extremely liquid market,’’ WGC’s managing director for investment Marcus Grubb says. He says two key themes
| November 22-28, 2013
BUSINESS have emerged during 2013. The increasing level of consumer demand off-setting outflows from ETFs and the geographical flow of gold from western to eastern markets. In Europe, gold is being refined from larger bars suitable into smaller sizes preferred in Asia, WGC says. Exports of bullion from the United Kingdom to refineries in Switzerland rose more than 10-fold to 1,016.3 tonnes in the first eight months this year. China is poised to overtake India as the world’s largest consumer of gold as consumption is expected to reach 1,000 tonnes this year. Since 2008, demand for gold in India more than doubled, while consumption in China rose almost 350 per cent. The two big countries, combined with fast-growing markets in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, will account for 60 per cent of global gold consumption this year. “Projected income gains by the World Bank and HSBC
growth forecast imply that China will remain a strong buyer of bullion,” commodity analysts at HSBC wrote last week. They argue that China is “the single most bullish factor” in the gold market right now, and if China’s demand for gold cools in 2014, without a pick up in physical demand from India or a revival in Western investment in ETFs, then the outlook for gold price in 2014 will probably will be subdued. WGC says on November 14 that demand for gold in the third quarter of 2013 fell 21 per cent year-on-year to 868.5 tonnes, while supply of gold declined 3 per cent to 1,145.5 tonnes during the same period despite modest increase in mines production. The high gold price in recent years has spurred mining companies and adventurous entrepreneurs to open new mines and increase production. But the slump this year has forced a growing number
of smaller and unprofitable operators to cease business. Last week, Malaysia Smelting Corp Bhd said it had set aside 34.5 million ringgit ($10.7 million) for impairment charges and other provisions after the company and its South Korean partners took the painful decision to close their gold and base metals mining operations in the Philippines. Analysts at RHB Research Institute think that bill will probably be higher, assuming the group was unable to get a decent price for its processing plant there. Given the current bearish mood in the metal complex, it is a buyer’s market out there. But like many other things, the price of gold is determined by demand and supply. Demand for gold in Asia, which is already at a record, are poised to increase even further amid rising affluence in the region. Falling prices may only spur their hunger for gold. ¬
| November 22-28, 2013
CULTURE
Gates of old
A new exhibition highlights Beijing's ancient entryways in the old city walls, recreated in red sandalwood that can last for thousands of years
Provided to China Daily
THE SANDALWOOD MODEL OF THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN WEIGHS NEARLY 12 TONNESS AND IS ABOUT ONE-EIGHTH THE SIZE OF THE ORIGINAL BUILDING.
CULTURE
| November 22-28, 2013 Provided to China Daily THE MODEL OF ANDINGMEN IS ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS AT THE SHOW SCULPTURE AND MEMORY. IT IS ABOUT ONE-TENTH SCALE OF THE ORIGINAL BUILDING AND FEATURES CITY WALLS, AN ENTRANCE, A GATE TOWER AND A WATCHTOWER.
CULTURE
| November 22-28, 2013 Provided to China Daily
THE MODEL OF ANDINGMEN IS ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS AT THE SHOW SCULPTURE AND MEMORY. IT IS ABOUT ONE-TENTH SCALE OF THE ORIGINAL BUILDING AND FEATURES CITY WALLS, AN ENTRANCE, A GATE TOWER AND A WATCHTOWER.
CULTURE
SUN YUANQING China Daily Beijing
F
or people who never had the chance to see the old city of Beijing, there is now a way to travel back in time. Sculpture and Memory, an exhibition of sandalwood models of Beijing's old city walls and gates, opened in the National Museum of China on October 30, evoking memories of the old city. The exhibition showcases models of the Temple of Heaven and Andingmen. They are the second and the third installment in a series of models of Beijing's ancient architecture initiated by China Red Sandalwood Museum. The first model, Yongdingmen, also known as the Gate of Everlasting Stability, was finished in December. "When I was a kid, I saw many of these city gates with my own eyes. But how about our descendents, how can they know what the old Beijing was like?" says Chen Lihua, founder of the China Red Sandalwood Museum and chairwoman of Fuwah International Group, a major commercial property developer in Beijing.
| November 22-28, 2013
The model of the Temple of Heaven, a royal Taoist Temple where emperors prayed for good harvests, is made entirely of precious sandalwood, a heavy and fine-grained wood. It is one-eighth the size of the original building. Weighing nearly 12 tonnes, it is the largest piece of sandalwood artwork created by the China Red Sandalwood Museum. The model of Andingmen, the north gate in the former city wall, is one-tenth the size of the original architecture. It features city walls, a barbican entrance, a gate tower and an embrasured watchtower. All the painted parts are illustrated by red sandalwood, which has a gentle glow. The city walls are made of ebony, a wood with variations in colour much like the bricks on the old walls. The model weighs about 6.5 tonnes. Andingmen, also known as the Gate of Stability, was where the armies once returned from wars. The museum has also finished the model of Deshengmen, the Gate of Triumph, where the troops embarked on expeditions. Deng-shengmen is not on display this time because of limited space. All the models are made with mortise-and-tenon work, an essential technique of traditional Chinese architecture, Chen says. Woodworkers around the
CULTURE
world have used this simple but strong method to join pieces of wood, particularly when the adjoining pieces connect at an angle of 90 degrees. Born into a noble Manchu family in Beijing, Chen saw the ancient city walls and gates vanish in the latter half of the 20th century. She has always wanted to restore them to the public consciousness. "We have to leave our memory about old Beijing for the later generations," Chen says. Chen chose to re-create these buildings in miniature with red sandalwood, because they can last for thousands of years. It took 10 years to complete the blueprint for the models, a process that involved professional assistance from the Palace Museum and the Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage. The capital city of both the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, Beijing had 20 gates in the walls of the outer city, the inner city and the imperial city. In the 1950s, a debate raged among academics, politicians and historians as to whether these city walls and gates should be kept. Liang Sicheng, the "Father of Modern Chinese Architecture", was a leading advocate to save them.
| November 22-28, 2013
However, Liang and his fellows failed to persuade the authorities, and the structures were torn down to make way for urban construction in Beijing. Yan Chongnian, a historian and director of Beijing Manchu Institute, says the models are more than reminders of the old city. "Because of the special quality of sandalwood and ebony, these models can survive for a very long time so later generations will have the chance to get a glimpse of the old Beijing," he says. This is also the first cooperation between the National Museum of China and the China Red Sandalwood Museum. "The molding, the materials and the proportions are all impeccable," says Lu Zhangshen, director of the National Museum of China. The models also display "the beauty of Chinese wooden architecture craftsmanship", he says. Chen says she plans to finish the rest of the city gates in five years. "If time allows me, I will continue to make the 72 memorial archways of the old Beijing," she says. "And I would then love to be the doorman for the old city of Beijing." ÂŹ
TRAVEL
| November 22-28, 2013
Sabahan allure TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN MARINE PARK
| November 22-28, 2013
TRAVEL
KADAZANDUSUN MEN IN THEIR TRADITIONAL GARMENTS
TRAVEL
| November 22-28, 2013
KADAZAN MEN AND WOMEN IN TRADITIONAL COSTUMES
TRAVEL
| November 22-28, 2013
ORANGUTANS AT THE SEPILOK ORANG UTAN REHABILITATION CENTRE
TRAVEL
| November 22-28, 2013
NGAU CHAP – A DELICIOUS LOCAL BEEF NOODLE BROTH
| November 22-28, 2013
TRAVEL THE KINABALU PARK IS A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE
RUBEN SARIO The Star Kota Kinabalu
S
abah has it all: tall mountains, beautiful beaches and diverse yet respectful ethnic groups. What more could you ask for? The number “50” figures prominently for me and Sabah this year.
I was six months old when the territory of North Borneo gained independence on Aug 31, 1963. Two weeks later, the territory that came to be known as Sabah teamed up with Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore to form the Federation of Malaysia. The 50th anniversary celebrations of that momentous event on September 16 took place at Prince Philip Park along Tanjung Aru beach. That park and beach are among the city folk’s top destinations for enjoying picnics and taking in the spectacular sunsets. Tanjung Aru beach features among my personal favourites in my home state.
| November 22-28, 2013
TRAVEL In no particular order, here are the others:
THE PEOPLE (I):
We Sabahans are such an accommodating lot. After all, the popular phrase here is “Bulih bah, kalau kau (Can do, just for you).”
THE PEOPLE (II):
We are also a mixed up lot and I mean that in a good way. With more than 45 indigenous groups and many other communities, many Sabahans are of mixed descent. My children are Filipino-Kadazandusun while their cousins are Malay-Filipino, Filipino-Chinese, IndianKadazandusun, EurasianKadazandusun and SinoKadazandusun. I’d like
to think ours is just a typical Sabahan family. It is for this reason that Sabahans are so accepting of different communities and cultures instead of being merely tolerant. It is also why folks of different religions have no hang-ups about sitting at the same table to enjoy the different foods and drinks.
LANGUAGE:
We Sabahans cannot help but put our own twist to the national language as well as the English language. For instance, say you want to ask how far away a place is. If the reply is “saaana (there)”, it would likely be a short walk. But if the response is
“saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaana”, then going by car makes more sense.
'BAH!':
Whether we are speaking in Bahasa Malaysia or English, Sabahans add the word bah to stress a point as in “Don’t disturb me bah!” But bah is a multipurpose word that is also used to reaffirm a statement as in “Bah! I will see you at 2pm.”
KINABALU PARK:
A pristine highland conservation area just an hour’s drive from Kota Kinabalu where the 4,095m-high Mount Kinabalu is located. It has been declared a Unesco World Heritage site.
| November 22-28, 2013
TRAVEL TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN MARINE PARK: This park comprises five largely pristine tropical islands and is a 30-minute boat ride away from Kota Kinabalu.
KOKOL VILLAGE:
Located at an altitude of about 300m and a 30-minute drive away from the city centre, this village on the Crocker Range overlooks the greater part of Kota Kinabalu. The night views here are amazing. Drop by the Kasih Sayang Resort to savour the sights.
SEPILOK ORANG UTAN REHABILITATION CENTRE: Its world-class
facilities have spearheaded the rehabilitation of the beloved primates that have become an environmental icon of Sabah.
SEPILOK RAINFOREST DISCOVERY CENTRE: Located just next to the Orang Utan rehabilitation centre, the treetop walkway is the best way to get to know how precious our rainforests are. Catch the live late afternoon show of flying foxes in action.
DANUM VALLEY AND MALIAU BASIN:
One of the last pristine conservation areas with lush green rainforests dating back millions of years.
SABAH TEA:
This includes its numerous variations, notably the pandan and ginger flavours. Who needs Earl Grey?
TENOM COFFEE:
The Yit Foh coffee factory’s slow roasting of the pure robust coffee beans to perfection results in an aromatic brew.
KUIH PAJARAM:
These deepfried pancakes are most commonly associated with the Bajau community and usually come in two natural flavours: dark brown palm sugar or green pandan. They are best eaten warm along with a cup of
| November 22-28, 2013
TRAVEL kopi-o (black coffee).
TAMU:
The weekly farmers’ market where kuih pajaram and other ethnic delicacies are available. The most accessible tamu is the one on Thursdays at Donggongon, a township in the city’s outskirts. Here, you can shop for local vegetables like the lembeding fern and fruits like tarap amid the beating of gongs.
SEAFOOD:
Fish of seemingly endless varieties, crabs, squid, clams, shellfish – we have it all and at reasonable prices. Among the favourite seafood spots of city folk are Gaya
Seafood restaurant in Inanam and Welcome Seafood restaurant in Penampang.
SEAFOOD BAK KUT TEH:
Sabah has so much seafood that some enterprising chefs have come up with a local version of this herbal soup, which is usually associated with meat. A nice place to eat this dish is Tasty Coffeeshop in Sandakan.
UFO:
A sweet creation from my hometown of Sandakan. It has a sponge cake base about 3cm in diameter, topped with meringue filling and vanilla custard. For some, “that’s what
heaven tastes like”.
NGAU CHAP:
Variations of this delicious beef noodle broth abound in Kota Kinabalu, Penampang and Menggatal. One of the more popular versions can be found at Cheng Wah coffee shop in the Lido area in Penampang.
PIPIN MEE SOUP:
Further on in Penampang district, along the banks of the Moyog River, is Inobong Village. An extended family in this village operates two eateries from their home, serving diners pork noodle soup in a rustic setting. Sabah has indeed come a long way over the past 50 years, and it is nice to know that some things never change. I hope that remains. ¬
DATEBOOK
| November 22-28, 2013
SHANGHAI
CAT POWER LIVE IN SHANGHAI Born Charlyn Marshall, the popular American indie singer comes to Shanghai. When: December 6 Where: Qianshuiwan Creative Arts Centre, Shanghai
BANGKOK
KING BHUMIPOL'S BIRTHDAY The revered Thai king's birthday is celebrated with much pomp and festivities (also celebrated as Father's Day in Thailand), where the king will address the crowds at the Royal Plaza in the morning, ensued by fireworks, and traditional song and dance throughout the day. When: December 5 Where: All over Bangkok
DATEBOOK
| November 22-28, 2013
SINGAPORE
KALAA UTSAVAM 2013 The annual festival celebrates the Indian arts during the festive Deepavali celebrations - the festival of lights. Started in 2002, Kalaa Utsavam has since grown into a 10-day festival, and this year will feature a fascinating aray of contemporary and traditional performances by renowned Indian artistes from Singapore and beyond Where: Singapore Esplanade When: Until November 24 Info: http://www.kalaautsavam.com/microsite/
HONG KONG
GERMAN CHRISTMAS MARKETS If there's anyone who knows how to do Christmas, it's the Germans. This festive season, the Elements shopping mall will be transformed into a German Christmas Market to bring on the festive cheer. Where: Elements shopping mall, Tsim Sha Tsui When: Until January 1
DATEBOOK
| November 22-28, 2013
KYOTO
HANATORO SHOW During the Hanatoro, or "flower and light show", the streets are illuminated by thousands of lanterns set throughout popular areas combined with flower and light displays. Many temples and shrines will boast colourful light displays and have special extended visiting hours. There will also be special performances staged. The pleasant and unique atmosphere of Hanatoro attracts many visitors who can stroll the streets and see a different side of Kyoto. When: December 14-23 Where: Arashiyama district, Kyoto
TAIPEI
CLAUDE MONET'S WORKS The exhibition features 55 pieces from the Museum Marmottan Monet, a museum which features over 300 pieces of impressionist and post-impressionist works in France. His works are heavily influenced by the rise of American abstract expressionism and the artist's inconvenience as a result of a cataract, the exhibition aims to tell the story of Monet. When: Nov 14, 2013-Feb 16, 2014 Where: National Museum of History, Taipei
DATEBOOK
KEP, CAMBODIA
SEA FESTIVAL
| November 22-28, 2013
VIENTIANE
THE FRENCH WEEK
Live concerts, artist performances, musical entertainment and fireworks will offer festive atmosphere everywhere. Tourism projects in the province will be the highlight of the festival, while ocean activities are not to be missed after visiting the heritage sites.
The inaugural French week will see a series of different events highlighting French influence in Laos. the festivies are aimed at promoting the development of business relations between the two countries.
When: December 7-8 Where: Kep province, Cambodia
When: November 25-December 1 Where: Vientiane
| November 22-28, 2013