asianews

N. KOREA’S SURPRISE CURRENCY REVALUATION

D EC E M B E R 1 1-17, 2009

Casinos Galore

Asian cities gamble to be the region’s best version of Las Vegas

US$2.50 / Bt100 ISSN 19052650

9 771905 265009

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12/8/2009 2:03:31 PM

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12/8/2009 2:03:35 PM

DECEMBER 11-17, 20 0 9 • Vo l 4 N o 4 6

AFP

SPECIAL REPORT

13

A FP

Volatile Valley Only an open and peaceful dialogue with Indian Kashmiris can produce positive results

VIEWPOINT 6

DESIGN 22

Travesty Of Democracy Taiwan’s opposition party put an end to a long losing streak since 2004

A Walk In The Park Stop and smell the rainforest before you fly off in Kuala Lumpur

BUSINESS 16 The Hermit Won North Korea’s currency reform aims at crushing the emerging middle class

LIFESTYLE 24 YOMIURI SHIMBUN

Marriage Of Convenience An increasing number of gays and lesbians in China fake their marriage

PHOTO ESSAY 18

PEOPLE 30

Going Nuts Going gaga over peanuts in Chiba, Japan

The Diva And Her Man What kind of man does it take to charm Asian diva Anita Sarawak?

stakes are up Will Asian countries betting on casinos hit the jackpot?

C HI NA DAI LY

Pink & Evil Imagine a mart where you can find all things fashion under one roof

www. pink ev il .com

FASHION 28

COVER STORY 8

EXPLORE 32 Soul Mountain Sichuan is a place where mountains suddenly jump out of the plains

COVER IMAGE | Inside a Macau casino/AFP PHOTO WRITE, FAX, EMAIL Please include sender’s name and address to: anneditor@nationgroup.com | Asia News Network Nation Multimedia Group Plc 1854 Bangna-Trad Road (Km 4.5), Bangna, Bangkok 10260 Thailand.Tel: (662)338 3333 Fax: (662)338 3964 Subscription inquries: Nation Multimedia Group Plc 1854 Bangna-Trad Road (Km 4.5), Bangna, Bangkok 10260 Thailand.Tel: (662)338 3333 Call Center: (662)338 3000 press 1 Fax: (662)338 3964

Copyright © 2006 of Asia News Network. All rights reserved. AsiaNews (ISSN 1905-2650) is a weekly magazine. Printed by WPS (Thailand) Co, Ltd Subsidiary of Nation Multimedia Group Plc.

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12/8/2009 2:03:41 PM

ACROSS ASIA

AFP

Wen was listed behind US regulators Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke, Timothy Geithner, Sheila Bair and Alan Greenspan.

Former AIG CEO Maurice Greenberg also made the list just ahead of Wen. ABC explained why it included Wen by saying: “Wen Jiabao, the premier of China, is driving a roaring engine.”

The article that accompanied the POWERHOUSE: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) list said China will with US President Barack Obama. be increasingly imChinese Premier makes it to US portant to the US. top-10 influential list “The world’s most populous country is quickly rising to the top of the global BEIJING: Chinese Premier Wen Jia- economic heap, with a growth rate that bao is the only non-American on a has barely been touched by recession,” new top-10 list compiled by United the article said. “In fact, China recently States broadcasting giant ABC that overtook Germany to become the names people with the most influ- world’s third-largest economy.” ence on the US economy.

ABC said the 10 people on the list all T h e A m e r i c a n B r o a d c a s t i n g have either great power or control a Company said Wen’s influence was vast fortune, or both. massive, despite the 67-year-old The top 10 list is completed by C h i n e s e p r e m i e r ’ s g e o g r a p h i c a l JPMorgan Chase chairman Jamie distance from the US. Dimon, former Bank of America The TV broadcaster said the big CEO Kenneth Lewis and investment 10 are the people who have had the guru Warren Buffett. most impact on the world’s largest —ZHANG JIN AND SI TINGTING/ economy since 2000.

CHINA DAILY Twit the CEO Bangkok: Among Twit-

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—ASINA PORNWASIN/THE NATION (THAILAND)

JAKARTA: Street crimes has gone up in Indonesia’s capital with the number of people living in poverty increasing from year to year.

Between November 20 and 29 alone, police arrested 300 suspects during its annual operation designed to eradicate thuggery and street crime in Greater Jakarta.

During the first 10 days of the operation, named ‘Sikat Jaya’, the police said they had closed a total of 199 street crime cases.

Of the 199 cases, auto theft and violent robbery topped the list with a total of 99 cases, followed by brawls (35 cases), gambling (24 cases), pick pocketing (17 cases), and others (24 cases).

With 41 cases and 47 arrested suspects, West Jakarta is the most street-crime ridden area of Greater Jakarta, followed by Bekasi, West Java, with 28 cases and 41 arrested suspects and East Jakarta with 17 cases and 21 arrested suspects.

The operation continues until December 20.

—HASYIM WIDHIARTO/THE JAKARTA POST

Taiwan designer wins NY prize NEW YORK: Taiwanese fashion designer

Johan Ku won the top prize in the 2009 Gen Art’s Styles International Design Competition.

Ku won for one of his 2004 designs— a knitted onepiece wool dress that highlights the delicacy of the yarn and displays creative patterns.

Ku, 30, graduated fashion design from Taiwan’s Shu Te University. He is a graduate student at London’s Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design.

The designer said the prize would serve as a stepping stone for him to enter the global fashion market.

He dreams of having his own brand and finding the right investment partners one day.

www.johanku.com

ter users in Thailand, there are few who fail to recognise @Patee122.

It is the Twitter account of a well-known executive who uses the 140-character short-message medium heavily.

CEO of Nok Air—the budget airlines affiliated with Thai Airways International—Patee Sarasin is @Patee122 on Twitter.

He began to tweet four months ago, with the expectation of making friends. He is eager to point out that his heavy tweeting every day

is not aimed at increasing Nok Air’s revenue. Rather, his Twitter account is personal and most of his conversations are about his interests and general topics.

Even though his purpose on Twitter is to make friends, he admits he also uses it to listen to Nok Air customers. Since people knew he is Nok Air’s big boss, they have asked him directly about promotions or raised complaints.

Unemployment spurs street-crime rate

—ASIA NEWS NETWORK

DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 • ASIANEWS 12/8/2009 2:03:43 PM

SEOUL: A growing number of Koreans

are choosing cremation over burial.

According to data from the health, welfare and family affairs ministry, nearly six out of every 10 Koreans who died last year were cremated. The cremation rate for 2008 marked 61.9 per cent, up from 27.5 percent 10 years ago.

“Over the years, the overall cremation system, including the modernisation of related facilities, has improved, resulting in the surge of the nation’s cremation rate,” said a ministry official.

“And, more fundamentally, the nation’s demographic structure has changed along with a low birth rate, aging and the formation of nuclear families.”

Shiseido releases DVDs of ads TOKYO: Want to watch those nice and

breezy Shiseido ads featuring some of Japan’s most beautiful women over and over again?

You can now with the release of a set of DVDs carrying the company’s about 170 TV commercials aired from 1961 to 1999.

The cosmetics firm hopes the sale of the DVDs will boost the domestic cosmetics market, which has been hurt by the declining birthrate and weak consumption.

The ads come in two volumes: one

SPECTACLE: Previous fireworks display at Taipei 101.

Taipei 101 plans New Year extravaganza TAIPEI: The famous skyscraper in Taiwan’s capital is preparing for the most exciting and expensive yet fireworks extravaganza as it welcomes 2010.

Taipei 101 is set to unveil the largest number of fireworks this year— 22,000 in all—topping all previous records and representing an increase ASIANEWS • DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 5

Largely affected by the traditional Korean belief that ancestors should be given due respect through a burial and regular gravesite visits, the cremation rate here was less than 20 per cent in the early 1990s.

However, due to the nation’s lack of land for gravesites, people found it difficult to find a suitable location for burials, thus, cremation gained attention as an alternative.

Cremations overtook burials in 2005. The ministry expects the nation’s cremation rate to surpass 70 per cent within two to three years.

But there is a lack of cremation facilities nationwide and the shortage is most serious in the metropolitan areas.

—LEE JI-YOON/THE KOREA HERALD

T he Nation (T hail and )

Koreans prefer cremation

Thai king celebrates 82nd birthday

of 6,600 over last year.

A total of 1,700 fireworks will go off simultaneously to create a truly spectacular sight ever seen.

This will be the first time with the firing of fireworks at the various angles of 180, 90, 45 and 30 degrees from the high-rise structure. There will also be two fireworks layers to cover the diverse angles. The overall presentation will be much more magnificent. In particular, this year, the 3-inch barrel-fireworks permitted by fire regulations allows further range and a larger scale.

Brand-new fireworks designs with dazzling colours are to be utilised this year for fire wheel fireworks, drifting star fireworks and bouquet shower fireworks, challenging the limit of low altitude combination fireworks.

BANGKOK: Thais from all walks of life on December 5 celebrated the 82nd birthday of the world’s longest reigning monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The King, a revered figure who is considered as the ‘Father of all Thais’, celebrated his birthday with a Grand Audience, one of the rare occasions where he makes a public appearance.

He delivered a brief message to his constituents saying in part “my happiness will occur when our country prospers, is stable and peaceful”.

Flag-waving Thais—many of them wearing pink for the king’s good health —lined the route to the Grand Palace and shouted “long live the king!” as his gold coloured van went past. The king was accompanied by Queen Sirikit and the members of the royal family.

Besides the grand celebration in Bangkok that began on December 4, people from other provinces had other merry-making activities. Pattaya made Thailand’s largest cake while Phuket had a parade of over 100 sailboats for the occasion. Chefs from 50 hotels in Pattaya made the 150m-tall cake, consisting of 15 15-inch by 13-inch pieces.

Ten countries—Bangladesh, China, Finland, Germany, India, Iran, South Korea, the Philippines, Russia and Spain—presented puppet shows as part of the festival organised at the National Theatre.

Meanwhile, Bangkok governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra led pink-clad residents and officials for alms offerings to 283 monks.

—THE CHINA POST

—THE NATION (THAILAND)

featuring 79 commercials aired from 1961 to 1979 and the other with 88 advertisements aired from 1978 to 1999.

The commercials, mostly uncut from their original versions, offer the opportunity to see actresses and models popular at the time the commercials were made—including Bibari Maeda, Mariko Kaga, Rie Miyazawa and Kumiko Goto—and get a taste of people’s lives in those times through the footage and music.

Sports superstars such as Sadaharu Oh and Shigeo Nagashima also appeared in ads for men’s cosmetics.

—THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN

5 12/8/2009 2:03:45 PM

Vi e w p o i n t

A Travesty Of Democracy

Taiwan’s opposition party put an end to a long losing streak since 2004, right after former president Chen Shui-bian’s re-election Taipei The China Post

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APF

ore than four million voters went to the Only non-issues dominated the elections, made ever more polls in Taiwan on December 5 to elect important by Ma’s personal involvement in his campaigning 17 mayors and magistrates, 592 city for KMT nominees as their party chairman. One of them was and county councilors, and 211 town- an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement between ship and village chiefs. What were billed Taiwan and China, which has nothing to do with the adminisas “all-important local elections” were the least clean in tration of local governments. Another was the beef war fought Taiwan’s brief democratic history. on the domestic front. The opposition party attacked the govAs of the eve of the elections, district prosecutors across the ernment for allowing American beef and offal to be imported, country had looked into 2,248 cases of vote-buying. The in- despite suspicion that they may cause mad cow disease by a vestigation into 52 casone-in-billions chance. es resulted in the indictInstead, President Ma ment of 76 of the 150 was castigated for “insuspects detained withconsideration” for hogout bail for bribery to ging a freeway on his rig the elections. Of way to a barnstorming those indicted, 23 were tour. Character assassiKuomintang members nation and other smear (KMT), against two of tactics reigned supreme the opposition Demoin the long electioneercratic Progressive Party ing by candidates of (DPP). The rest were both parties. Election independents or their bookmaking was as party affiliation was unrampant as ever. clear. That made a ChiMa made the elections ayi district prosecutora test for his party rein-chief lament he form. He wanted a very never saw vote-broking clean KMT slate of canon such a large scale in Political vote: Taiwan’s opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairwom- didates. Fu Kun-chi, a his career covering close an Tsai Ing-wen (C) joins hands with party officials during a press conference in Taipei on KMT lawmaker convictDecember 5 as Taiwan’s ruling party looked set to lose ground in local elections. Taiwan ed of inside trading and to three decades.

Ma Ying-jeou may slow down an aggressive push for improved ties with China T h e o p p o s i t i o n President sentenced to 10 years in after the island’s voters showed unhappiness with his policies in local elections. party put an end to a jail, was vetoed as a long losing streak since nominee. He ran as an 2004, right after former President Chen Shui-bian’s independent for magistrate of Hualien and won overwhelmre-election thanks to sympathy votes cast by swing vot- ingly. Ma stumped more than enthusiastically for incumbent ers who believed he was shot at by a gunman in an as- Yilan Magistrate Lu Kuo-hua for re-election. Lu lost. The Yisassination attempt orchestrated by Beijing. That was lan election was a barometer of Ma’s charisma as the top voteno mean accomplishment, while it has yet to emerge getter. It was Ma’s personal defeat. out of the shadow of the disgraced former president, Though keeping its three county chief executive posts in who was convicted of corruption and sentenced to life Pingtung, Chiayi and Yunlin and winning Yilan, the opposition in prison in his first trial earlier this year. party did not expand its voter support a great deal. The KMT But the DPP did not claw back because of the promises retained control of 12 cities and counties. Altogether 17 posts for a better political future for the electorate. They did so were at stake. Ma, however, can take comfort that his insistence solely because the ruling party had let down its supporters on the clean elections did not hand his party a fiasco, inescapawho elected President Ma Ying-jeou by a landslide in bly due to his many almost unforgivable policy flip-flops.

March last year. Not just swing voters deserted the KMT The only true losers in the unclean elections are voters who in droves, but members of the ruling party stayed away have looked forward to real political reform. They have to from the polls in disgust over the poor track record of the admit no improvement was made in elections in Taiwan, Ma government over the past 18 months. which have remained a travesty of democracy.

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DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 • ASIANEWS 12/8/2009 2:03:46 PM

Vi e w p o i n t

Rudd On An Asean Charm Offensive

Asean members welcome closer economic integration with Australia but they still have divergent views regarding its political and security role Kavi Chongkittavorn in bangkok The Nation (Thailand) A FP

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he night before the Asia cials, known collectively as 1.5 track, Pacific: A Community for based in the Asia-Pacific were divided the 21st Century Conferinto two groups - the first belonged to ence started, the delegates Asean and its supporters including Chifrom Asean held an inna, believe in an incremental and evoluformal 30-minute caucus at a Sydney tionary approach while the other group, hotel to review their positions on the mainly the non-Asean countries, is Australian plan to create a new commore proactive. That much was clear. munity in the region.

Somehow, the Asean delegates made They went quickly over their three up over half of overseas delegates common positions—the continuity of continued to wonder what Australia Asean centrality, no new structure whathas in mind in proposing such a megasoever and any new effort on regional aridea for the region, which is so diverse chitecture must not be detrimental to the and accounts for three-quarters of the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd grouping. All delegates agreed. global economic world and nearly 60 They were the same positions that the per cent of the world’s population. current Asean chairman, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vej- Questions and views from Asean delegates had one patjajiva, had taken during the panel discussion last month at tern - they did not believe that a new regional organisathe Apec CEO Summit in Singapore along with Australian tion was needed at the moment to face future challenges.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. But Abhisit went further in Despite their shortcomings, existing institutions, espestating that no single formula is better than another, as each cially the Asean Regional Forum (ARF), Asean plus three, has its own unique characteristics. Asean is linked to all ex- East Asia Summit (EAS) including Asia Pacific Ecoisting frameworks, he added, but it must remain open to new nomic Cooperation (Apec), are capable of handling and ideas as they can strengthen the existing institution to better coping with both regional and global issues. cope with the challenges of the 21st century.

In his opening speech, Rudd was succinct in taking these Although the Asean delegates attended the two-day con- stances, reiterating the importance of Asean centrality and ference in such a spirit, nonetheless their anxieties ran ex- its success. He also stressed that there would not be any sutremely high as they did not know what Rudd really pra-national decision-making structure. Rudd’s remarks wanted. Without prior consultations with Asean, he proposed immediately drew sighs of relief from the Asean delegates. the idea to form an Asia-Pacific community last June. For His idea does not need an additional institution. the past 18 months, it has generated lots of debate in the Having said that, Rudd set out three trial balloons using region, which has seldom gone through such intense brain- some features of the architecture that the region already has storming and consultative sessions on such a topic.

—Apec, EAS and the ARF. First, he suggested that Apec Rudd said his special envoy, ambassador Richard Wool- could evolve over time to include a more defined security cott, had done much of the footwork: 21 countries, 85 days mandate. If that is the case, India must be admitted. and discussions with more than 300 people including more Obviously, Rudd’s Australia is eager to fulfil what he than 10 ministers and eight heads of state or heads of gov- calls “activist middle-power diplomacy”. Rudd has played ernment. Albeit parts of Woolcott’s findings reaffirmed the an active role in the G-20 summit, making sure it is a grouping’s positions, scepticism still reigns among the Asean platform to discuss global financial problems. His enbureaucrats who have a “seeing is believing” attitude. thusiasm over climate change is another barometer of Essentially it was the-Asean-comes-first thrust that how Australia wanted to be perceived globally. the Asean delegates wanted to hear anyway. They know While the Asean members unanimously welcome closer all the challenges outlined by Rudd whether they are economic integration with Australia, they still have divergent political, security or economic in nature. views regarding its political and security role. In coming Otherwise, they contended the grouping would not years, Rudd’s litmus test will be two-fold. First, he must have been able to survive for the past 42 years overcom- show his perseverance that he is going for long-term subing all sorts of crises. stance not the symbolism he is often accused of. And, finally At the end of the discussion, everybody agreed the confer- he must instil a new perception in the region that Australia is ence was good and candid and the dialogue should continue an Asian country and champions its causes—not playing in the future. Participants, who were officials and non-offi- second fiddle for anybody else.

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7 12/8/2009 2:03:47 PM

COVER STORY

High Rollers Many countries in Asia have placed their bets on casinos. Will they hit the jackpot?

BANGKOK

Asia News Network

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ingaporeans still talk about last month’s family tragedy of a restaurant manager who killed his two children and set fire to his flat before jumping to death.

Some neighbours had seen 39-year-old Ng Chee Kiang behaving oddly on the 12th floor ledge before committing suicide.

Unknown to anyone, he had just suffocated his two children, aged 5 and 3, after sending the maid out on an errand. His wife was at work.

News reports later said that the manager of a Japanese food company, who was earning S$5,000 (US$3,600) a month, owed S$200,000 (US$ 144,000) to some loan sharks. He had used the money to finance his profligate lifestyle, which included overspending, gambling and share speculation. But he didn’t have a penny in his bank account to pay back his debt.

The news, which came few months before the opening of first of two multibillion-dollar casinos in Singapore, has renewed concerns over Singapore’s official entry into the gambling world.

There are fears that once the casinos open in Singapore more people will meet the fate of Ng. Many in Singapore, like in other Asian countries, see gambling as a hab-

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it that corrodes an individual and the entire society. They feel gambling will gradually drain away virtues like diligence and honesty from an individual, giving rise to immoral and criminal activities, and mishaps like bankruptcy, family break-up and suicide.

But lately, the deep-seated animosity towards casinos and gambling seems to be fading away in the country as the fragile economic condition has taken away thousands of jobs in recent months. Many still dislike gambling but they want food on the table first.

And come 2010, Singapore will see two huge dazzling casino resorts in the city state.

First is US$4.2-billion Resorts World at Sentosa, developed by Malaysia-based Genting Group. The other is Las Vegas Sands’ US$5.5-billion project. The two casinos have a franchise to operate for 10 years and each of the new casinos will employ about 10,000 workers. They are also expected to spin off related businesses that will need 35,000 more workers and many believe these two ventures will give a boost to country’s tourism—one of Singapore’s major revenue earners that capitalises on Asia’s rising middle class.

Like Singapore, Japan is also looking for options to give additional support to its fledging economy. The world’s biggest gambling market on a per capita basis is currently reeling under problems of falling prices and the stronger yen, and corporate profits are slumping DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 • ASIANEWS 12/8/2009 2:03:48 PM

AFP

WHEELS ON MOTION: An employee trying out a roulette inside the casino of Venetian Macau.

causing the government’s earnings from tax receipts to deplete.

Although Japan has been considering on legalising casinos for the last 10 years, nothing concrete have come out so far. Yet many casino operators, including the world’s most valuable Las Vegas Sands, are lobbying for it. It is the same in other Asian countries like Thailand and India, where casino operators like Las Vegas Sands are willing to pour billions of dollars.

Recently, the Philippines saw the opening of the US$700-million Resorts World Manila casino complex.

The casino is the first deluxe Casino Hotel and entertainment haven in the country that features largest casino in the Philippines, an iconic mall, restaurants and bars, a 1,030-seat arts theatre, cinemas and other exciting outlets.

Universal Entertainment is also planning to penetrate the Philippines’ gambling market by investing US$2.2 billion to operate a casino in Manila.

It is currently lobbying the government to let it own more than the 40 per cent cap on foreign ownership of property. And following the footsteps of Cambodia—where casinos totally rely on Thai gamblers—Laos, has also opened several casinos hoping to lure Chinese gamblers.

It looks like interest in state-approved gambling business is growing around Asia as governments seek new ways to generate income. On top of that many countries in Asia also seem to be convinced that legalisation is the only way to eradicate illegal forms of gambling and stop incessant outflow of capital.

Some years ago, the then police chief of Thailand was quoted as saying that he strongly supports the legalisation of casinos as it can save billions of dollars that flow out of the country every year.

He was referring to casinos operating on Thailand-Cambodia border that are filled with Thai gamblers.

So far, many countries in Asia and companies have placed their bets on casinos. Will all of them hit jackpots?

—With reports from Asia News Network members

ASIANEWS • DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 9

9 12/8/2009 2:03:49 PM

AFP

COVER STORY

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14,036

NUMBERS GAME

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acau is undoubtedly Asia’s gambling heartland, its version of Las Vegas if you will.

To date, there are 38 casinos in Macau, the biggest of which is The Venetian Macau.

Next year, Las Vegas Sands Corp. is eyeing the resumption of construction work on its multibillion-dollar gambling resorts while Ponte 16 gaming resort plans to lure gamblers and tourists alike with a Michael Jackson museum.

Sands suspended construction last year amid a massive funding crunch and is seeking to raise more than US$3.3 billion from an IPO. Its executives said about $500 million will be used to restart construction on casino and hotel projects that they hope to open in January 2011.

Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson has long wanted to turn a section of Macau

stage at a gallery that the hotel—halfowned by gambling tycoon Stanley Ho’s Sociedade de Jogos de Macau— plans to open early next year along with nine other Jackson items.

These new developments come admidst earlier pronouncements that

ot m Ga ach m ine es s ta VI ble P s ro om Ho VI s te P lr ha oo lls m s ( Hot es els tim at e)

Asia News Network

known as the Cotai Strip into a Chinese version of the Las Vegas Strip with a mix of gambling, conventions, shopping, entertainment and other draws.

Macau casinos operate under a government franchise and under a common set of rules.

Many forms of gambling are legal there, such as blackjack, baccarat, roulette, boule, Sic bo, Fan-Tan, keno and slot machines.

Gambling has been legal since 1851 when there was a licensing system for gambling houses until 1863. In 1934, casino ownership and operation was centralised and monopolised by the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau for 39 years. But this changed in 2001 when casino licenses were offered to other operators, including American companies such as Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts.

Ponte 16, meanwhile, is betting on a $350,000 rhinestone-encrusted glove that Michael Jackson wore in his first “moonwalk” dance in 1983 as its prime attraction. The glove will take centre-

Sl

BANGKOK

The Venetian Macau

Number of casinos (as of December 2009)

Gambling Lord

DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 • ASIANEWS 12/8/2009 2:03:52 PM

It’s A CasiNO PENGHU/TAIPEI

The China Post

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o much for Penghu’s casino dream.

At first glance, it seemed like a good idea to develop Taiwan’s western coast by building a “tourism zone” that would include entertainment and gambling facilities that promise to lure tourists, provide jobs for the local populace and generate revenues for the county government.

But majority of Penghu residents did not think so

Macau might curtail expansions due to the rise of social ills like prostitution and drug addiction.

In October, Macau economic and finance secretary Tam Pak Yuen said all six major casino operators have agreed broadly that casino expansion should not be limitless.

Aside from Sands and Wynn Resorts, the island’s other operators are homegrown players Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd and SJM Holdings Ltd.; and Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd--a joint venture between Melco International Development Ltd and Australia’s Crown Ltd--and MGM Mirage.

As the Macau government considers rules in the next few months on whether it should impose limits on table numbers and raise age limits from 18 to 21 for casinos, double-digit percentage growth in visitors to the island show that gambling does pay, at least in terms of revenues for Macau and the gambling tycoons.

—With reports from The Straits Times

ASIANEWS • DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 11

pledged to work with the local tourism community to show the island county’s distinctive features.

Penghu tourism operators were disappointed with the result.

“It failed because the government did not fully and clearly explain the proposal’s complementary measures, and also because most the local people are conservative,” said one tour operator, who feared that Penghu’s tourism sector would go from bad to worse.

Penghu, though famous for its marine ecological resources and various leisure activities, is hampered by very windy

NO WAY: Penghu residents rejected plans to build a casino for fear of the after-effects.

after they rejected the proposal following warnings by NGOs of the potential perils of gambling. Critics argued that the casinos’ potential economic benefits for Penghu have been overstated.

“The gaming industry is only one of the options for developing Penghu,” Penghu County Magistrate Wang Chien-fa said, adding that without a casino, the county will still pursue progress and prosperity.

He cited a possibility of developing green energy with low-carbon, and he also

weather conditions that shorten the county’s tourism season to about six months a year.

Successive administrations in Penghu, also known as the Pescadores, felt the establishment of a casino would help attract visitors from Taiwan and neighboring regions year round.

Following the defeat in the referendum, the county has shifted its attention to promoting electric motorcycles so it would have the distinction to be the first low-carbon island in Taiwan.

11 12/8/2009 2:03:54 PM

COVER STORY

Where Gamblers Don’t Risk BANGKOK

THE NATION (THAILAND)

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ost of their customers, Thais from Thailand’s northeast, no longer show up.

“Things have been like this for more than one week already,” an employee at the Holiday Palace casino lamented in November.

Shuffling sounds are gone. Rows of slot machines stand idle and staff members can only look around expectantly.

Inside the main hall, attendants at baccarat tables are struggling hard to keep their last batch of customers.

“Please play with me,” a female attendant said, “Please, let’s continue playing”.

Another attendant tried to explain that gamblers could safely return to Thailand because any border closing must be announced in advance.

“When you heard the announcement, you would still have plenty of time to go back because we are so close to the border,” she added persuasively.

Thousands of Thai gamblers used to visit casinos in Poipet each day because there are no such gambling complexes on Thai soil.

Since Cambodia and Thailand became engaged in their diplomatic row over Thaksin, most gamblers have decided it’s reasonable to stop going, at least temporarily.

At Grand Diamond casino, just 10 per cent of the baccarat tables were working.

Located on the other side of the road is the Tropicana, another gambling complex.

In sharp contrast to its cheerful music 12 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 12

and brightlycoloured carpet, the place had nothing else to reflect buoyancy.

“Our last batch of customers were Taiwanese and they have left,” a female attendant said.

She said all tour groups from Thailand and Taiwan have cancelled their planned trips to Cambodia because they felt uncomfortable about the ThaiCambodian conflict.

“Our business has suffered badly,” a senior attendant at Tropicana said.

Identifying herself only as “Ple”, she said she did not know when the situation would return to normal.

So far, Ple said Tropicana could still struggle by because it had online baccarat for gamblers too.

“You don’t have to be physically in Poipet to play,” she said.

When a visitor showed up, female attendants rushed in to greet him.

“If you exchange chips now, I will open a guest room for you,” one smiling attendant offered. The visitor was clearly interested.

Later, he said, “I usually play here till midnight and then go to bed. When I wake up, I play again till noon. After that, I head back home,” the Thai man in a yellow T-shirt said.

Being the most spacious casino of all,

Crown Plaza looked forlorn with just a few gamblers inside.

The bright star and colourful light bulbs at Star Vegas, meanwhile, shone temptingly but to no avail.

Inside, things were quiet except for a handful of gamblers.

When asked for comment, a Thai said, “Why worry? If the border closes, I will only have to head back.

Now it’s still open and so I can enjoy my time here”.

According to reception and security staff, only bold customers have decided to visit the casinos in Poipet as usual.

The adventurous ones, however, are clearly far outnumbered by people who think they should not come.

A Thai tour guide, Champ, said he often brought customers to the casinos in Poipet.

“But now, the number of my customers has reduced by half,” Champ said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a casino owner said his business had been reeling because of Thaksin’s appointment.

“But I can’t do anything. I can only wait and hope that the situation will improve over time,” he said.

He said he could not predict when the brisk trade would return.

DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 • ASIANEWS 12/8/2009 2:03:55 PM

ROU F BH AT/AFP

S P E C I A L R E P O RT

NEW DELHI

Amit Kushari The Statesman

I

Volatile Valley The Indian government has taken several bold steps to win over the hearts of Kashmiris, but perhaps far greater efforts are required to bring about peace in the state ASIANEWS • DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 13

n spite of sincere efforts by India’s central government as well as the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) government, conditions in the state are not fully normal. The government has taken several bold steps to win over the hearts of Kashmiris, but perhaps far greater efforts are required to bring about peace in the state. By only taking a railway line to Kashmir, the Kashmiris are not likely to be won over.

The situation could be quite bad even now; otherwise the government would not have taken such an unprecedented step like cutting off connections of 3.6 million mobile phone-users who have prepaid connections. Such a discriminatory treatment of Kashmiris vis-a-vis other Indians could push the Kashmiri hearts further away from India.

The Indian government needs to show far greater magnanimity for drawing them closer to the centre. Only granting a measure of autonomy under Article 370 of the constitution may not satisfy the Muslims of J&K as they crave for something much more than that. Sixty per cent of J&K’s population is Muslim. In Kashmir, 99 per cent of the people are Muslims. Therefore, a dialogue needs to be initiated by the Indian government immediately with the Kashmiri Muslims.

Forty per cent of the population are Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists who live in the Jammu and Ladakh regions.

Their political aspirations are diametrically opposite to their Muslim brothers living in the Kashmir region and the hilly areas of Jammu adjoining the Kashmir Valley. They want closer ties with India and so it is very easy to solve their political problems. All that they want is a separate Jammu state within India and the two Union Territories of Leh and Kargil. However, if only this easy part of the question is addressed without solving the problems of 60 per cent of the population living in Kashmir, the solution for Kashmir will become more complicated. Hence we must try to first come to some agree13 12/8/2009 2:03:56 PM

S P E C I A L R E P O RT

WINNING KASHMIRIS: An open and peaceful dialogue with Kashmiris can produce positive results.

ment with the Muslims of Kashmir.

The problems of Jammu and Ladakh would be solved automatically.

India must start a dialogue with an open mind with the Hurriyat Conference, the Hizbul Mujahideen, the J&K Liberation Front and others, and subsequently associate Pakistan with the talks for taking their acceptability.

Mainstream political parties like the PDP and the National Conference should be involved in the talks because they also represent the Kashmiris and their aspirations are identical to the other Kashmiri aspirations except for the fact that they do not believe in violence and practise democratic methods.

India must start the dialogue with an offer of forming a highly autonomous region of Kashmir where the Kashmiri language is spoken. The region would obviously constitute the whole of the Kashmir Valley and some parts of Doda district of Jammu (like Kishtwar, Banihal and Bhaderwah tehsils), the Thamamandi areas of Rajowri, the Loran areas of Poonch and Mahore tehsil of Udhampur district. This region could be given all the autonomy that Kashmiris want—maintaining Indian sovereignty over the region. Defence and foreign affairs should be with India— but otherwise the Prime Minister of this autonomous region should be allowed to take all decisions by himself if he strictly follows democratic means to 14 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 14

come to power. They may even have their own currency, telephone services, television channels if they so wish.

The supreme court of India, the chief election commissioner of India, need not have any jurisdiction there and the all-India services could be withdrawn.

Checkposts could be set up at Ramban to check the Indian passports of Indian visitors. They will not require any permit from the Kashmir government to enter this region and on return, their passports could simply be checked.

All Kashmiris must hold Indian passports and if they want to enter India through Jammu their passports will have to be checked at Ramban or Banihal. If they want to travel by air to India their Indian passports will have to be checked at the airport counters. This will ensure that non-Indians cannot sneak into India using this autonomous territory as a clandestine route.

If Pakistanis want to enter Kashmir by road through Uri or elsewhere, they must obtain a permit or visa from the Kashmir government. If they want to take a direct flight to Srinagar from Lahore or Rawalpindi then their permits/ visas will have to be checked at Srinagar airport and this checking will be done only by the Kashmir government staff.

There’s no need to be alarmed by this because even if Pakistanis enter Kashmir freely, they will not be able to cross over to Jammu and other parts of India

without a visa from the Indian government. If the flow of traffic from Pakistan increases, this will boost all manner of economic activity in Kashmir.

And this is bound to gladden the hearts of all Kashmiris.

The autonomous region of Kashmir could become a bridge of friendship between India and Pakistan and the prime minister of Kashmir could help in cementing Indo-Pak ties. This step will certainly save India and Pakistan from a nuclear confrontation and could boost our economy not least because all unnecessary expenditure on defence would decrease. Pakistan may also see merit in such a solution because its economy will also get a boost.

As a by-product of this solution, Jammu will get its much cherished statehood and the grievances of its people that they are being discriminated against vis-a-vis Kashmiris will also disappear. Ladakhis will also get their promised Union Territories of Kargil and Leh. If a dialogue is started with such solutions in mind, all misunderstandings will vanish.

So too will militancy from Kashmir as well as other parts of India.

We must stop suspecting all the time that Kashmiris are terrorists. We should not forget that Kashmiris are the most generous, friendly, hospitable and polite among all Indians, besides being the most handsome race in India.

DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 • ASIANEWS 12/8/2009 2:03:59 PM

3 International Holcim Forum for Sustainable Construction Universidad Iberoamericana Mexico City April 14 – 17, 2010 rd

Speakers include Marc Angélil, ETH Zurich, Switzerland; Alejandro Aravena, Elemental, Chile; Ray Cole, University of

British Columbia, Canada; Keller Easterling, Yale University, USA; Arab Hoballah, UNEP, France; Yolanda Kakabadse,

WWF International, Ecuador; Kazuhiro Kojima, Coelacanth and Associates, Japan; Sheila Kennedy, Massachusetts

Institute of Technology, USA; Ashok Lall, GGSIU, India; Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute, USA; Thom Mayne,

Morphosis, USA; Enrique Norten, TEN Arquitectos, Mexico/USA; Menghao Qin, Nanjing University, China; Jeremy Rifkin,

Foundation on Economic Trends, USA; Michel Rojkind, Rojkind Arquitectos, Mexico; Mike Schlaich, TU Berlin, Germany;

Masanori Shukuya, Musashi Institute of Technology, Japan; Werner Sobek, University of Stuttgart, Germany; Michael Sorkin,

City College of New York, USA; Klaus Töpfer, UNEP, Germany; Simon Upton, OECD Round Table on Sustainable Development,

New Zealand; Jean-Philippe Vassal, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, France; Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank, Bangladesh.

How can approaches to the design, fabrication and use of built structures be aligned with the principles of sustainable development?

201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 15

Re-inventing construction Reduce CO2 With technology to zero emissions Play with complexity With integral solutions to an economy of means Mine the city With logistics to circular metabolism Stimulate stakeholders With incentives to implementation

The Holcim Forum is a three-day conference including workshops and site visits. It is open to academics and professionals from architecture, civil engineering, urban planning, natural and social sciences, as well as representatives from business, politics, administration and civil society.

Program details and registration: www.holcimforum.org

12/8/2009 2:03:59 PM

BUSINESS

The Hermit Won North Korea’s currency reform primarily wants to destroy the newly emerged North Korean middle class SEOUL

Rudiger Frank The Korea Herald

O

n November 30, the North Korean government implemented a currency reform, exchanging old against new won, 100:1. Shops were closed to ensure a smooth transition to the new currency. Reportedly, the maximum amount of money that could be converted this way has been limited in the range between 100,000 and 300,000 won per person. This is not big money; according to the unofficial exchange rate, this would be between 50 and 150 Euros (US$75 and $226).

Such a major financial transaction is costly. New notes have to be designed, printed and distributed (probably with a new face?); old notes must be collected and destroyed. This involves expensive raw materials such as special paper and ink, hundreds of trucks and fuel for transportation and a high security effort. Accordingly, a currency reform rarely takes place without an expected gain. What could it be in the case of this 2009 reform?

One possible motivation would be to shed a few zeros, which is something that has been discussed in many countries including South Korea for many years. It is inconvenient for individuals to carry large bills. Globally, spending 10,000 units of one’s currency on something as profane as a modest meal

16 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 16

is usually associated with underdevelopment, or worse, with inflation. Fair enough, but SCARED OF THE FUTURE: The hermit kingdom’s would such considerations be move is believed to be against a growing middle sufficiently high on the agenda class with its own values and aspirations. of the North Korean government to prompt it to go through the economic and administrative ordeals of a currency reform? This tion and distribution. As sharp differences in wealth became visible across appears very unlikely.

Rather, it seems that we have to in- the board and triggered growing disterpret this measure as part of the ongo- content, successful trading was crimiing neoconservative trend in North nalised. In late 2008, Kim Jong-il Korea that has started around 2004-05. resuscitated orthodox economic policies The Pyongyang government was of the 1950s and 1960s when he started shocked by the unexpected effects of the second Cheollima movement, or the economic liberalisation after the July great revolutionary upsurge. Shortly 2002 reforms. These were catalysed by thereafter, a 150-day battle started. As in the new economic cooperation with the not so good old days, a 100 day battle South Korea and the exploding official followed suit, and the North Korean popand unofficial trade with China. North ulation gets ready for a few more such Korea’s leaders were disappointed by the “final” charges. The economic utility of failed deal with Japan (exchange ab- these measures is questionable as indiductees against normalisation and huge viduals learn quickly and respond by funds) and acted under the impression withholding performance. The true value of the post-9/11 policy of the United of the “speed battles” is ideological.

The currency reforms are part of this States. Washington made it very clear campaign to return to the North Korean how it was ready to deal with misbehavversion of orthodox socialism and to ing members of the “axis of evil”.

So since spring 2003, when People’s eradicate the dangerous effects of the Life Bonds were issued and the range of few years of reform that were so gravely goods tradable on markets were ex- misunderstood, overlooked or plainly panded from food to industrial goods, ignored in the West.

The most dangerous result of these no further reforms were implemented. reforms was the emergence of a new Later, trading on the markets was curgroup of people who became wealthy tailed step by step, and efforts were made to lure people back into the state- enough to develop individual ambicontrolled economic system of produc- tions and to break out of the stateimposed collectivism. The number DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 • ASIANEWS 12/8/2009 2:04:00 PM

T H E ST RAITS T IMES

of mobile phone subscribers to the Orascom network, allegedly about 30,000 in Pyongyang alone, the burgeoning private restaurant business etc. are instructive.

Once North Koreans realised that they could progress in society by their own economic effort, this created an alternative to advancing only politically through the ranks of state organisations. To many, this new option seemed attractive, they used it and generated not only wealth but also power. The new middle class provided an example that led to envy, but also to many unanswered questions by the people around them.

Such a situation does not lead to an immediate collapse of the existing system, but it is nevertheless highly risky. Kim Jong-il’s analysis of the case of Eastern Europe correctly states that the collapse of socialism begins with a collapse of ideology.

It is such a situation that the North Korean government wants to prevent by all means. However, the virus of individual economic activity and the paradigm shift deriving from this is hard to kill once society has been “infected”.

The North Korean leadership went from technical measures to ideological ASIANEWS • DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 17

campaigns to eradicate the dangerous traces of individualism that had emerged in the past years. Not unexpectedly, success was limited. It is one thing to withhold economic freedom; it is much more difficult to take it away once it has been granted for a while and people developed a taste for it.

The currency reform primarily wants to destroy the newly emerged North Korean middle class. No money, no trading; that seems to be the logic. But will this measure be effective? The answer depends on the situation of the affected individuals. Many of them will have been smart enough to convert their earnings into safe foreign currencies such as euros, dollars, Chinese yuan or Japanese yen. These are the true professionals, those who engage in large-scale economic transactions. However, in lieu of a functioning domestic banking system, trading requires large reserves of cash to pre-finance wholesale transactions. Revenues are made in domestic currency and not always instantly converted. So most North Korean business people will lose at least some of their property.

Those who suffer the most are those who are at the lower end of the new middle class. They interact with inter-

mediate dealers, their transactions are made exclusively in domestic currency, their information networks are not overly sophisticated, and their opportunities for converting money into hard currency are limited. With the price of one kilogram of rice being about 1,500 won, a small-size trader makes a turnover of 1.5 million won by selling one metric ton of this staple food. If only 300,000 won or less can be converted into new currency, this clearly is a drop in the bucket. Complaining will have serious consequences, as possession of too much money is suspicious in a system that regards individual wealth as a byproduct of exploitation and deception.

What will be the consequences of the currency reform? Those who were excluded from economic success will shrug their shoulders and probably be happy that their newly rich neighbour is brought back down to earth. The top level of society has in all likeliness been prepared. The lower end of the new middle class will suffer a serious blow to its ability to continue economic transactions at the previous scale. Many North Koreans will lose their savings.

Even those who were able to avoid expropriation by having shifted their holdings into hard currencies, gold or other valuable goods will be much more careful in the future. Certainly, nonstate economic activities will be seriously curtailed by the new measure, although it is unlikely that it will be stamped out altogether. The state will regain a good share of control over the economy that it lost in the past years.

The political consequences, however, are less promising for Pyongyang. The experience of other formerly socialist societies has shown that frustration and discontent silently accumulate until they reach a level that Lenin would call a “revolutionary situation”. It can prevail for quite a while, but a triggering event such as the death of a leader, a famine, an external impact or a smallscale domestic quarrel suffices to bring about a major reaction.

Rudiger Frank is professor of East Asian Economy and Society at the University of Vienna, Austria. He can be reached at ruediger.frank@ univie.ac.at.

17 12/8/2009 2:04:00 PM

PHOTO ESSAY

Going Nuts T E XT & P H OTOS BY YASUSHI WADA T H E DA I LY YO MIURI

T

he next time you shell out for a packet of peanuts from Japan, cast an eye over the small print on the bag and it is highly likely the words “Made in Chiba Prefecture” will figure somewhere.

Chiba Prefecture produces more than 70 per cent of Japan’s peanuts, with Yachimata, in the north of the prefecture, topping the list.

Masuda Co., which has been processing and selling peanuts in Yachimata for nearly 60 years, uses a traditional process known as tempiboshi, or sun-drying, to dry its peanuts.

Newly harvested unshelled peanuts purchased by the company from neighbouring farmers are washed in water and placed atop about 350 nets behind the factory. Each of the nets is almost the size of a tatami mat.

“Sun-drying peanuts enhances their fragrance and taste,” said Shigeru Masuda, chairman of the company.

Nowadays however, even in Yachimata, few traders employ the tempiboshi process, as most use machines to heat-dry the peanuts instead—a method that started in the 1950s.

18 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 18

DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 • ASIANEWS 12/8/2009 2:04:01 PM

ASIANEWS • DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 19

19 12/8/2009 2:04:02 PM

BUSINESS

Where Uncertainty Is The Only Certainty M

Many Bollywood stars look for alternative income sources knowing that their careers in the movie industry can end any time without any pensions or retirement benefits MUMBAI

Devraj Singh Kalsi The Statesman

ost of her films—except for a few like Mela—were damp squibs at the box office. Taking it as a clear indicator that she was not accepted by the public, she realised films were not her cup of tea.

She then stepped into interior designing. And soon accolades and awards started pouring in.

Yes, you’ve got it right. We are talking about Twinkle Kapadia—daughter of Bollywood superstar Dimple Kapadia—who couldn’t twinkle in the starry sky but has nonetheless struck gold in a different profession.

Her fate was different from her mother’s who had a successful stint as an actress and she herself forsook everything for the sake of love and family when her career was thriving.

Dimple Kapadia, when she was not

Hema Malini

20 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 20

Preity Zinta

acting, chose to set up candle-making business. It’s a flourishing trade and she’s lighting up the lives of many though she also takes time off to face the camera whenever a suitable role comes her way.

After prancing around trees in landscaped gardens with Govinda and Chunky Pandey, another Bollywood actress, Neelam, who had a successful run as an actress in the eighties, decided to look for an alternate career option when the scene became crowded with too many sexy starlets.

She had an inkling that the younger lot would push the ageing lot out of business. So she established herself in the business of jewellery. Bhagyashree is another Bollywood diva who wrecked her own promising career and chose to indulge in the business of gems and jewellery. It has now become a gem of a career for her.

Hema Malini is another Bollywood actress who has looked for an alternative income source despite being a famous actress and director. She runs a

Pooja Bhatt

DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 • ASIANEWS 12/8/2009 2:04:06 PM

Suniel Shetty

dance troupe in southern India.

But, she says, it’s not for monetary purposes as dance is her passion which has kept her going for all these years.

On top of that she doesn’t see any conflict in having multiple engagements as long as they give her satisfaction.

When Pooja Bhatt realised she couldn’t stay on as a leading actress after she put on weight, she put all her weight behind a related avenue: film production. Since then, she has launched quite a few actors in her ventures like Rog, Paap and Holiday.

These movies may not have become commercial blockbusters, but her films have definitely shown that she’s certain to go several notches up in the years to come.

Some super rich Bollywood stars have also displayed their business acumen by bidding for cricket teams.

Actors and actresses like Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta now have their own teams and many are planning to put big bucks into this game which is a staple for Indians.

One of the reasons why many Bollywood stars look for other stable income sources is because of fear that their earnings based on movie contracts can dry up anytime.

It’s an uncertain business, which throws many unpleasant surprises.

This foresight compels them to invest in businesses that give steady, regular income in the long-term.

Mithun Chakraborty ruled the roost as a big Bollywood star for more than a decade. He chose to set up hotel business in southern Indian city of Ooty.

He has paid adequate attention to its expansion, though he has also been ASIANEWS • DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 21

Shah Rukh Khan

open to the idea of acting in films, be it Kaalpurush or Zor Laga Ke. Mithun is a favourite judge when it comes to singing and dancing contests on reality TV shows, behaving very much like a Big Daddy who has come full circle: having undergone the highs and lows in an industry where uncertainty is the only certainty. He has nuggets of advice for all participants.

Though a relatively new star who acted in multi-starrers like Mohra, Border, Hera Pheri, Suniel Shetty could not deliver a big hit single-handedly despite positioning himself as a macho actor who can bash up twenty goons with his fist power.

He’s aware that he’s not been as successful as Akshay Kumar who began his career around the same time and continues to give the young entrants tough competition. Very wisely he chose to branch out into the restaurant business since gourmet food and eating out have become a national craze in this decade.

Another example is that of Anuj Saxena who shot to fame as Jatin in the TV serial, Kumkum. When not facing the arc lights, he has to look after the pharmaceutical business that has grown by leaps and bounds. Quite an elderly pursuit!

It’s true that there’s no business like showbiz; even stars themselves, big or small, young or old, realise that cinema will not give them pension or retirement benefits. So provisions have to be made much in advance.

When obscurity looms large or offers stop pouring in, an actor cannot sit back and exhaust the savings. There should be something to fall back on.

Govinda

But there are also some prudent ones who begin a parallel track quite early in life. These people later use their film contacts and the concomitant elevated status to promote their business interests.

Finally, there are those who pick up a line of business when films don’t take them where they want to—a sort of compromise. But whatever the reason behind the decision, the bottom line is that it surely makes sense to pursue an alternative career even though many call it unbridled greed.

On screen they play so many roles. In real life if they play a double role, it should be perfectly fine.

21 12/8/2009 2:04:10 PM

DESIGN

A Walk In The Park Th e Star

Stop and smell the rainforest before you fly off

KUALA LUMPUR

Allan Koay The Star

T

he Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang is the only airport in the world that features a rainforest within its premises. Beautiful and unique as it is, all passengers at the airport can do is look at it from the outside of the glass enclosure.

What’s more, the rainforest centrepiece is actually a hindrance and an obstacle to the commercial aspect of the airport.

But all that is about to change. Four years ago, a journalist from the BBC visited the airport and was intrigued by the sight of a rainforest inside the building.

He then asked to be allowed to enter the rainforest, but was denied entry.

Umar Bustamam, CEO of Eraman Malaysia, remembered: “At the time, I was in charge of corporate services. I told him he couldn’t go inside because it was closed to the public. But he insisted that he wanted to see the inside 22 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 22

because he thought it was beautiful.

“We managed to get him inside by entering from the basement. Once he was in there, he was really amazed.

He told us: ‘You have such a beautiful forest inside the airport which no other airport in the world has. Why don’t you open it up?’ I thought he was right,” said Umar.

So, passengers will soon be able to walk through the rainforest along a wooden walkway and come out of the glass enclosure on the other side. This feature has more advantages than is apparent.

The way the KLIA is designed divides the satellite building (where the rainforest is located, and connected to the main building by aerotrain) into four zones— north, south, east and west. Once out of the aerotrain, passengers would normally look at the signages to see where their departure gates are, and head straight for them. With the rainforest glass enclosure in the centre of the building, it would mean that passengers on any one side of it would not see what was on the other side. From a business point of view, this is disadvantageous as passengers would

miss out on the shopping opportunities that are not visible to them.

“We had to find ways to entice people to go to the other shops,” Umar explained. “We did that in two ways. We provided an opening through the forest, which is one-way so they would have to come out on the other side and see the shops there. Next, we constructed a viewing gallery on the mezzanine floor. Now, people can walk around the forest and see everything, including the shops. That also creates visibility.”

The mezzanine viewing gallery, which is already completed, provides a top view of the forest as well as clear views of the shops in all the zones. All these changes were done as part of what is called a retail optimisation programme. Eraman, the biggest duty-free operator in the country and wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysia Airports Berhad, has seven outlets in the satellite building.

“If you’ve been to the satellite building, before this, it used to be gloomy and not interesting at all,” said Umar.

“So, we tried to change it to make it DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 • ASIANEWS 12/8/2009 2:04:11 PM

UNIQUE LANDSCAPE: The rainforest in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport is a one-of-a-kind feature.

more vibrant, and the ambience is more interesting for people to do their shopping. There is more variety now.”

Also, under the programme, all food and beverage outlets are now on the mezzanine floor, thereby creating more retail space on the ground floor.

However, three small cafes remain on the ground floor, to cater to those who want a short break.

“The changes are done by the airport, but since Eraman is part of Malaysia Airports, we gave our input,” said Umar.

“During the design stage, we came up with the ideas for the changes.”

Umar revealed that they had to work around existing designs to optimise and maximise the usage of space.

“From a commercial point of view, that forest shouldn’t be there, because that is the most important space for commerce,” Umar explained. “But we cannot just remove the forest, because it is also a very good feature of our country. It is an iconic feature of KLIA; other airports don’t have such a thing.

So we used it to attract people to walk through, to get to the other side.”

ASIANEWS • DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 23

He said other airports are designed based on commercial needs and requirements. In KLIA’s case, during its design stage, there was less emphasis on the commercial aspects.

“So we had to carry out the retail optimisation plan and make the best out of it within the constraints,” said Umar. “We cannot change the design of the building.”

Umar said consultants who had been involved in many airport projects around the world were engaged. They carried out comparative studies and made recommendations. Areas of highest footfalls were identified, and more shops were placed there. The area after immigration and the first security check, and before the aerotrain station —known as the “contact pier”—has been livened up with colourful shops, among them a children’s toy and candy store with fanciful decorations.

Eraman operates more than 30 airport-retail outlets nationwide. It began operations in January 1994 at Terminal 1 of the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah International Airport in Subang, Selangor.

It started business at KLIA in July 1998. Apart from its duty-free emporiums, Eraman also operates brands such as Lacoste, Tie Rack, MNG and Burberry. It also runs the Food Garden outlet in KLIA’s main terminal building.

“We wanted to have the same kind of atmosphere (as other airports),” said Umar. “We will gradually bringing in new brands and more variety to the airport. That’s why we needed to create more space. We are still working towards getting more top brands from around the world to the satellite building. We have already introduced the Godiva brand of boutique chocolates.

We also have Harrods, which not many other airports have.”

Umar said prices at KLIA’s shops are regionally competitive, even with neighbouring airports such as Bangkok and Changi, Singapore. Most people are not aware that the prices at KLIA are even lower than what is available in downtown KL. “We have started a campaign to create awareness about our competitive prices,” said Umar. “People are also not aware that there are products available in the airport which are not available downtown.”

According to Umar, KLIA recorded a total 27.5 million passengers last year. Now, with 10 million passengers at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT), KLIA sees 17.5 million passengers, recording 13 million at the satellite building. The number of passengers at the LCCT is expected to increase to 12 million. Meanwhile, the upcoming new low-cost carrier terminal, known now as KLIA 2, will provide even more business potential.

“We are definitely not going to repeat the same mistake we made for KLIA,” said Umar of KLIA 2.

“We will design with emphasis on commercial needs. KLIA’s initial focus was on functionality and high technology. But, so far no one has complained about our architecture. They like it very much. Even (Singapore’s Minister Mentor) Lee Kuan Yew praised our airport,” he concluded.

23 12/8/2009 2:04:12 PM

AFP

LIFESTYLE

AUDACIOUS: Two Chinese gays kiss each other at a kissing contest in Beijing. China has a gay population estimated in the tens of millions but homosexuality is still a largely taboo subject in the country.

Marriage Of Convenience

Many gays and lesbians in China are resorting to fake marriages to hide their true identities

24 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 24

SHANGHAI

Shi Yingying China Daily

W

hen 31-year-old Xiao Gong chats in a coffee shop with his girlfriend about their future wedding, anyone overhearing them would think they were a love-struck couple.

Truth be told, the marriage is just for appearances: Xiao Gong is gay and his “girlfriend” is a lesbian—and both want to keep their parents happy without coming out of the closet.

In big Chinese cities like Shanghai and Beijing, this form of marriage for appearance is becoming trendy in the gay and lesbian community.

“For most gay men and lesbians in China, one of their biggest obstacles is parental presDECEMBER 11-17, 2009 • ASIANEWS 12/8/2009 2:04:13 PM

AFP

sure to get married,” said Xiao Gong, who always compromise?” he said. works in an international airline company, “We have to create a bigger environment refusing to give his full name. He said he that accepts homosexuality and fake marstarted to think about it two or three years riages are certainly not the solution.” ago when his parents began asking about Zhang Mumu, a 32-year-old lesbian who his personal affairs more frequently. came out of closet with her girlfriend this “We’ll appear to be husband and wife to year, said helping the parents of gays and the outside world,” Xiao Gong told China lesbians is a more urgent problem.

Daily. “In fact we are close friends. It’s just “They’re the ones who need more help. In a white lie to comfort our parents and modern society we’ve almost been accepted other social groups. We don’t want to show by the public except for the approval of our our true identities.” parents,” Zhang said.

According to a recent survey on douban.

“They (parents) are in a helpless situation com, over 86 per cent of the more than 300 because they can’t go to friends or relatives homosexuals surveyed in China are thinking and refuse help from us, but they need psyabout fake marriage. chological support.”

The survey also shows that, compared to Wu Youjian, a woman regarded as the lesbians, gay men pay more attention to fake marriage as they get older.

“I think it has something to do with Chinese men’s traditional duty to have descendants,” said Xiao Gong.

“I know my parents’ limits, especially my father’s. If they can’t accept my brother divorcing his wife, they definitely can’t understand why my partner is a man.”

However, less conservative gays and lesbians born in the 1980s and ‘90s tend to exALL SET FOR THE SHOW: A Chinese homosexual dancer gets press their sexual his make-up done prior to a performance at a gay bar in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province. Homosexuality was listed as a orientation in mental disorder in China until 2001. public and are against marriages of convenience.

“The whole idea of a fake marriage first Chinese mother to publicly support delays the protection of Chinese gay and her child’s homosexuality in 2005, is lesbian rights for at least 10 years,” said holding out hope for other parents, and 23-year-old gay Mu Lin, who just grad- in 2008 started a hotline for relatives and uated from university and started his friends of gays and lesbians. first job at a small media company.

She also maintains a blog and travels na“Marrying a lesbian might make a gay tionwide giving lectures and visiting parents feel better, ethically, compared with who have gay and lesbian children. Recently marrying a straight woman, but in es- in Shanghai she gave a lecture at Fudan Unisence it’s all the same. Why should gays versity called “A gay in her mother’s eyes”.

ASIANEWS • DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 25

25 12/8/2009 2:04:14 PM

CULTURE

JAKARTA

Dian Kuswandini The Jakarta Post

W

Slicing The Fruit Myths

Fruits are the subject of many old tales and myths

26 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 26

THE NATIO N ( THAIL AND )

TRUTH OR MYTH: Pineapples have long scared pregnant women, as they are said to have a high level of acidity that may cause miscarriages.

HOT FRUIT: Durians are believed to increase one’s libido.

hen the durians come down, the sarongs come off. There goes an adage about the power of durians to increase one’s libido.

And judging by the number of durian sellers crowding the streets of Singapore’s Geylang red-light district, there is no shortage of people believing in this myth.

Many cultures across Asia have shared this belief for centuries, even if it may sound odd to some of us. The durian is not the only fruit to bear this kind of mystical power. The likes of pineapples, cucumbers, eggplants and tomatoes also carry their own myths in relation to our body and health. The cucumber, for example, has been blamed for moistening female genitalia, while pregnant women have long shunned pineapples for fear of miscarriage. Eggplants, on the other hand, are a big no-no for men as they are believed to cause impotence.

But, is there a semblance of truth in any of those myths deeply rooted in our societies?

Well, the answer is no, says fruit expert Dr. Reza Tirtawinata, because such myths are only based on personal experiences, thus they do not apply to everyone.

“Such myths are simply based on personal experiences and have been passed on from generation to generation,” says Reza, head of the special projects development division at the Mekarsari Fruit and Tourism Park in Bogor, West Java. “The myths have been perpetuated because there hasn’t been any scientific research to prove them wrong,” he adds.

Researchers, Reza adds, tend to prove the benefits of fruits, rather than find their faults. That’s why there are still so many myths about fruits that haven’t been scientifically proven.

DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 • ASIANEWS 12/8/2009 2:04:18 PM

In the case of durians, for example, there is no research confirming their ability to enhance libido.

“People believe the fruit has aphrodisiac properties, or substances that can increase sexual desire,” Reza says. “ W h a t w e k now is that eating durian can cause your body temperature to increase, which some people believe can stimulate sexual desire,” he says. “But whether it really does increase our libido depends on each individual. The result, I can say, varies from one person to another.”

Myths such as the one about durian also hold a special place in our societies because they are engrained in certain traditions or attached to famous people, he further explains.

Late former Indonesian president Sukarno, who was famous for his relationships with many women, had long been known as a fan of durian hepe, a variety of durian with deflated seeds and a high level of alcohol. As a result, some Indonesians have correlated durians to men’s sexual vitality.

Even before Sukarno cemented the durian’s reputation, Reza reveals, the fruit had long been recognised as a libido enhancer. Centuries ago in Narmada, about one hour from Mataram, Nusa Tenggara, a king planted durian trees nearby his palace, and would devour the fruits before having “private sessions” with his concubines.

“It was some 180 years ago, so just think how long we have believed in such a myth,” he says.

Besides durian trees, he adds, the king also planted mangosteen trees along the way to his palace. And from there, another myth unfolded.

“It’s believed that unlike the durian, mangosteen works to neutralise body heat, creating a calming effect,” Reza says. So, while the king ate durian to perform his daily “private routines”, he would also compensate by eating mangosteen before he carried out his duties as a king.

“That’s why we believe today that mangosteen is the antidote to durian,” Reza says, adding both the legendary durian and mangosteen plantations can still can be found in Narmada.

Leaving mangosteen and durian myths aside, pineapples on the other hand are said to have a high ASIANEWS • DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 27

level of acidity that may cause miscarriages, consequently scaring off many pregnant women. So, what does Reza say about it?

“It’s also a baseless claim, because there is no scientific research backing up such a theory,” he says.

Mekarsari once brought many experts together to discuss the properties of pineapples and whether such tales should be taken seriously.

“But the experts agreed that pineapples do not cause miscarriages,” Reza emphasises. “It’s true that unripe pineapples have a strong acidic taste that could be uncomfortable for the fetus. However, women will react differently to this as they all have different defense mechanisms.”

The same can be said about red fruits like tomatoes and red grapes, he says, which are believed to improve sexual vitality.

lems making their wives pregnant.

Reza’s statement echoes the views of noted herbalist Prof. Hembing Wijayakusuma, who strongly emphasises in his book Terapi Terungi (The Eggplant Therapy) that “eggplant actually helps men cure sexual dysfunction”. So, as Hembing suggests, men shouldn’t worry about eating eggplant because it actually benefits them.

After all, as Reza points out, all these myths were perpetuated without any scientific basis, and although individuals may feel fruits affect them a certain way, those experiences cannot be generalised.

“A person with high blood pressure, for example, might eat a durian, collapse and die,” Reza says. “But it’s not something that will happen to everyone. It all has to do with our medical history. Just don’t eat fruits that do not

GARDEN OF EDEN: Fruits and vegetables can be consumed without fear, as long as they are eaten in moderation, Indonesian fruit expert Dr. Reza Tirtawinata says.

“That’s only because of the red colour commonly associated with vitality,” Reza says.

And what about the cucumber, which is believed to moisten women’s “button hole”? At least half of us know how seriously Indonesian woman take this myth.

“Well, basically, people believe in such myth because a cucumber is more than 90 per cent water,” Reza reveals.

But logically, he adds, if cucumber can cause “wetness down there, then drinking water can just do the same, right?”

He also dismisses the myth that eggplants can cause male impotence. In fact, he says, many men out there love to eat eggplants and have had no prob-

react well with your body.”

Another rule of thumb, Reza says, is we should eat fruit in moderation.

“Basically, all fruits are relatively safe,” he says. “Fruits contain many properties, which cannot do harm to our body if eaten in reasonable proportions.”

“It’s not like drugs that are made of many chemical components, which mixed together, could affect our health in a negative way,” he adds.

So, Reza goes on, we don’t have to worry about eating certain fruits, as long as we eat them with moderation.

“But if you’re uncertain about certain fruits, the best thing is to avoid them,” he says. “After all, when it comes to fruits, you have many options.”

27 12/8/2009 2:04:19 PM

Pink www.pink ev il .com

& Evil

28 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 28

DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 • ASIANEWS 12/8/2009 2:04:21 PM

Imagine a mart where you can find all things fashion under one roof Kuala Lumpur

PATSY KAM The Star

T

he colour pink is often associated with sugar and spice, and everything nice, or so the rhyme goes. Thus, to have the word “evil” next to it seems almost a juxtaposition of images.

However, the play of words for the new fashion label Pink Evil’s Fashion Supermarket is purely intentional, says designer Anthony Szeto.

“Think Paris Hilton: girls who are sweet with a dangerous edge,” he says with a grin. The label aims to “stir the Malaysian fashion industry” by offering runway looks minus the runaway prices.

“I wanted to incorporate a supermarket with vintage concept. Imagine the scenario—women pushing their shopping cart, loading up on groceries, except that it’s not fresh produce or meat, but clothes and accessories that they’re buying.”

Usually, the suburban supermarket occupies a large area on a single level, or even extends to a couple of storeys, and is located near a residential area in order to be convenient to consumers. This is ultimately Szeto’s dream, to have a “fashion mart” of sorts, offering a broad selection of goods under one roof at relatively low prices, accessible to everyone easily.

“People love H&M as the things there are of good quality and the designs are very trendy. Similarly, I’m sure we (local fashion providers) can offer quality products at attractive prices as well. The designs at Pink Evil’s move very quickly as we come up with new outfits every month. The clothes are manufactured in China, which is how we manage to keep our prices down,” adds Szeto.

Currently, the flagship store in Mid Valley Megamall spans 158 sq m, offering ASIANEWS • DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 29

a kaleidoscope of colours and styles. The decor consists of retro wallpaper and funky furniture replete with a runway of mannequins as the centrepiece to capture your imagination. Ironically though, despite what the name suggests, there’s no pink corner or even signature pink line!

The label also has stores in 1-Utama Shopping Centre, Petaling Jaya; Bukit Bintang Plaza, Kuala Lumpur and Taiping Centre, Taiping.

Pink Evil’s Fashion Supermarket is “a space where fashion meets grocery shopping”, claims Szeto, who has been in the fashion industry for 16 years, offering his services as a supplier and design host to department stores and local brands.

He personally designs all the outfits for the label, which he admits can be quite a challenge coming up with new designs sometimes. He gets his inspiration from people watching as well as the latest on fashion from the entertainment channel E! (on Astro).

The ranges at Pink Evil’s comprise Bread & Butter, which is essential wear and basics for everyday wear and casual occasions; Sugar & Spice, clothes with that all occasion chic, perfect for that girls’ night out; and Coffee & Magazine, offering fashion that’s stylish and smart, suitable as career wear with a twist.

If you want to turn up the heat, check out Chocolate & Martini, which offers sensuous and elegant fare and party favourites. These outfits, says Szeto, are ideal for after-work drinks, clubbing and even wedding dinners. Last but not least, there’s Cupcake & Candy Bar, offering colourful and fun clothes that are expressive statements of one’s personality.

Pink Evil’s also has fashion accessories and handbags which are sourced from China, Thailand, South Korea and Hong Kong. In the future, Szeto hopes to come up with his own shoes and handbag line as well.

“We also sell shopping bags for those who are environment-conscious. I’m working on the packaging whereby next time, customers can just ‘take away’ their items in paper bags, like how you would buy a loaf of bread!” he says.

Info www.pinkevil.com 29 12/8/2009 2:04:22 PM

PEOPLE

The Diva And Her Man

asia’s Singing superstar Anita Sarawak and her husband Mohamad Mahathir Abdullah exude the vibe of a couple with a charmed, immaculate life SINGAPORE

Tan Yi Hui The Straits Times

W

hat kind of man does it take to tame a diva?

One who courts her long-distance with hundreds of faxed love poems and up to five calls a day, as Mohamad Mahathir Abdullah, husband of Southeast Asia’s singing superstar Anita Sarawak, will tell you.

And, perhaps, one who is fated to tame her.

“Let me tell you an interesting bit of fate about us,” Mahathir says.

In 1982, almost two decades before they got married, they had a Moment.

She was in London for a trip, shopping at department store Harrods.

He, running late for an appointment, rushed through a revolving door and rammed right into her.

“I could tell she was a drama queen with her wild exclamations.

I apologised and went on my way because I was late for a meeting, and that was that,” he recalls, chuckling at the memory.

After they got married, he chanced upon a photograph of 30 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 30

her from back then.

She says, laughing: “He asked me, ‘Do you remember a tall guy in a blue coat bashing into you at Harrods? That was me!’ I said, ‘Oh my god, yes! How could I forget? It was a big bump.’”

Fate or just creative story-telling, there is an undeniable chemistry between them.

The couple joke and have moments where they both blurt out the same response to a question simultaneously.

And having celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary on November 11, the couple act like they are 20-somethings still on their honeymoon.

Arriving for this interview, the glamorous couple cruise, showbiz-style, into the foyer of Royal Plaza on Scotts hotel in a chauffeur-driven grey BMW. A welcome party of about 10 hotel staff applauds and presents orchid garlands as they alight, all smiles behind matching sleek shades.

It is an entrance befitting a star like Singapore-born Sarawak, who achieved widespread fame in Asia in the 1970s for her music, outlandish costumes and electrifying stage presence.

In 1985, she moved to the famous hotel casino, Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, where she was a regular act for 18 years. That was also where she met her

current Englishman husband.

Their long-time friend, Patrick Fiat, 57, general manager of Royal Plaza on Scotts, says: “They are a very close couple. You’ll never spot one without the other.”

Cutting a strapping figure at 1.93m tall and all decked out in a stylish red checked shirt, slim-fit white pants and spiffy sports shoes, the clean-cut Mahathir, who is also Sarawak’s manager, is every bit a match for his wife in the fashion department.

She looks vivacious in a sheer purple blouse worn over a black dress, with matching black pants and sleek high heels. That famous pout is still there, but gone is the short-cropped platinum blonde hair that fans are used to seeing.

In its place, a chic Cleopatra cut.

Nestled in the plush sofa seats of a presidential suite for the interview, the duo exude the vibe of a couple with a charmed, immaculate life.

They are polite to a fault, all manners and class with no airs. And they both have had broken marriages.

Anita, 57, is tight-lipped about her three previous ones, but from past reports in the papers, she was married briefly to pianist Mohamad Abdul Samad in 1972. In 1981, she wed the late actor, singer, composer and songwriter Broery Marantika, a union that lasted four years.

Her third marriage in 1995 was to JD Nicholas from American funk band The Commodores. They divorced after about five years because she said they were constantly separated by work.

She has no children.

Mahathir, 56, was married to an Englishwoman for 23 years. He has a son, Matthew, 24, a student at Bristol University in Britain, who gets along fine with his stepmother. In fact, the father says proudly, the young man will be flying over with his girlfriend to visit Sarawak and him “on his own money”.

Sarawak coos: “Matthew’s now my son. He is adorable—so laidback and much better than his father in temperament.”

So Mahathir is actually the feisty one? She explains: “When you’re living with someone, you’ve got to make compromises. I put him before me all the time. It doesn’t matter even if I’m down.”

DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 • ASIANEWS 12/8/2009 2:04:22 PM

Desmond Foo/T h e Straits T imes

He says: “I can get grumpy but she gives me all her affection.”

Born Martin Cox, the name ‘Mahathir’ came about when he had to convert to Islam to marry her, and “Mahathir was the closest thing I could think of to Martin”, admits Sarawak sheepishly.

She had apparently forgotten that he could have used the similar-sounding Muslim name ‘Matin’.

Mahathir comes from Chelsea, London, and grew up living with his parents and younger sister in a working-class neighbourhood. He studied in Britain at the former Farnborough College after grammar school, graduating with a degree in business studies.

He started out as an equipment buyer at Thorn EMI Company, a government- funded arm of the British recording powerhouse EMI. He moved on after four years to multinational giant 3M, and then did sales and market-

THE COUPLE: Anita Sarawak with her husband Mahathir Abdullah.

ASIANEWS • DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 31

ing at a mobile phone company before setting up a similar outfit with a friend.

By the time he met Sarawak, his business, The Pocket Phone Shop, had grown to about 400 outlets in Britain.

The couple met in 1999 when he was in Las Vegas on a leisure trip. He caught the singer’s performance at Caesars Palace, chatted her up and followed up with more than a year of long-distance courtship before proposing to her in style under the Eiffel Tower on a trip to Paris.

Shortly after getting married in Las Vegas in 2001, the couple returned to Singapore for two years. He sold his mobile phone business to relocate and became her manager while she hosted TV talk shows such as Speak Of The Diva for MediaCorp.

They moved to Kuala Lumpur in 2003 and Sarawak signed on with Astro, where she has been ever since.

Inseparable, they keep themselves

busy with her shows, studio recordings and concert rehearsals.

For the past six years, their home has been a two-storey penthouse in Mont Kiara, an expatriate neighbourhood in Kuala Lumpur. Mahathir is British and Sarawak is now a United States citizen. Both are Malaysian permanent residents.

An avid writer, Mahathir has penned screenplays for telemovies in Malaysia, such as 2006’s Topeng (Mask), a psychological thriller starring Sarawak. Also in the works is a biography of Sarawak, he reveals.

But this writer also has a rugged side. In his youth, he was a boxer who took part in many tournaments, winning some and also breaking his nose “a few times”.

He displayed that toughness earlier this year when he and Sarawak were attacked by a gang of four armed robbers outside her stepmother’s house in Kuala Lumpur. He suffered a slash on his head and was rushed to the hospital but remained calm throughout.

She says: “Here I was freaking out and screaming.

Our driver was trembling at the wheel and Mahathir just sat there calmly, his head bleeding all over, telling us to relax.”

He needed 10 stitches but makes light of the experience: “They did a brain scan on me, but they didn’t find one.”

Do they wish they had met earlier in life? “No,” both chime in unison. They are thankful they met “at a right time” in their lives and that is why everything clicks.

She reveals fondly: “The most wonderful thing at night is when we find each other’s hands to hold while asleep and wake up in the mornings like this.”

He leavens the mush with his smooth wit. Referring to her latest hairdo, he quips: “There is always something new. She reinvents herself all the time. It’s like waking up every morning next to a new woman.”

31 12/8/2009 2:04:24 PM

EXPLORE

Don g Le i /China Dai ly

Soul Mountain

PINE TREES: Coniferous forests dominate mountains in Tangjiahe Nature Reserve.

Don g Le i/China Daily

Sichuan is a place where mountains suddenly jump out of the plains, whooshing streams crisscross forbidden grasslands and wildlife are in abundance

FOREST TRAIL: Fallen magnolia flowers in Tangjiahe.

32 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 32

Sichuan

Victor Paul Borg China Daily

H

ave you ever snooped in primeval forests that exhale mist, like a place that belongs to sorcerers? Have you walked through dense bamboo forests where pandas live, scouring the ground for their feces to track them down?

Have you ever gazed upon a sweeping vista of dark mountains tumbling into every direction toward infinity?

Or, what else can you do in the mountains that hold some of the most spectacular peaks and richest repertoires of species in the world?

In the mountains in China’s Sichuan province—where nature reigns in unadulterated glory—imagination is the only limit. After travelling extensively in Sichuan, my dilemma remains: Where do I go for my next trip?

It would take a lifetime to explore the vast mountains of the province, which is as large as Spain.

The province’s terrain is incredibly diverse, and it is, together with Yunnan, the stronghold of China’s wildlife.

After all, Sichuan straddles five geological zones. And its landscapes range from some of the world’s highest mountains to the forbidden grasslands of the Tibetan plateau.

And there’s much more in between, including China’s largest peat wetland and deep gorges that hold

MEADOW: A pair of steppe polecats lives on the grassland in northern Sichuan province.

subtropical microclimates.

The elevation ranges from about 500m in the Sichuan basin to more than 7,500m in the Gongga Mountains. The difference in altitude between these two extremes is possibly the greatest in the world: There are no foothills.

The mountains suddenly jump out of the plains. These peaks are home to 76 per cent of the world’s wild giant pandas.

And the forests—which cover 31 per cent of Sichuan’s territory and have been expanding since the ban on logging and the gradual abandonment of agricultural land on steep slopes in 1998—are crucial reservoirs of species, many of them endemic.

It’s a natural eminence that is indeed global: Sichuan (together with Yunnan) is recognised by international environmental organisations as one of the world’s most important eco-regions and the richest temperate zone on earth. Many of the 10,000 plants species are endemic, and the mountains hold many varieties of pheasants, rhododendrons and ferns.

For sheer adventure and challenge, perhaps nothing beats the snow-capped Gongga Mountains, which feature Sichuan’s highest peak at 7,556 metre.

A three-day walk is the standard taster of this Buddhist holy mountain.

But the arduous 12-day loop around the mountain is the ultimate foray. The trail weaves through pine forests, grasslands, Tibetan herders’ camps and DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 • ASIANEWS 12/8/2009 2:04:26 PM

WILDLIFE: Sika deers in Tiebu Sika Deer Nature Reserve in Dege County.

Victor Pau l B org/China Daily

massive glaciers. It rises to its maxiUnfortunately, last year’s earthquake mum altitude at a 4,880m-high pass devastated the southern parts of the on Mount Daxue, which offers the best Minshan Mountain range and parts of view of icy, saw-toothed, granite peaks. the Qionglai Mountains.

But most travellers set their sights on It damaged or destroyed about 10 Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan’s most famous per cent of the habitat in the area’s destination. Jiuzhaigou’s lakes and wa- most famous reserve, Wolong. And terfalls are undeniably impressive, but about 23 per cent of panda habitats the valley has become so famous that were destroyed in the four most devasthousands visit daily during the peak tated reserves, a recent study found. seasons of summer and autumn.

The forestry department is currently Now the reserve administration has working on a habitat-rehabilitation opened another area exclusively for trekkers, involving a hard three-day ascent of Mount Zhayiga, a holy mountain for the local Benbo Tibetans and Jiuzhaigou’s highest peak. The trail weaves through forests of Chinese pine trees, cutting across some alpine meadows and eventually topping out at 4,180m, where the vista reveals a sea SCENIC BEAUTY: The Nuorilang Waterfall is of mountains and clouds. one of the major sights in Jiuzhaigou.

The view is of the core range of the Minshan Mountains, my favour- scheme to expedite the regeneration of ite peaks in Sichuan. These alpines, natural vegetation along slopes gutted which divide the Sichuan basin and the by the earthquake.

Tibetan Plateau, are some of the world’s Luckily, the most pristine core of the densest and steepest.

Minshan Mountains lies further north, They also form part of a straggle of beyond the orbit of destruction. I parm o u n t a i n s — e n c o m p a s s i n g t h e ticularly like the Tangjiahe and WangQionglai Mountains and the entire lang nature reserves.

Minshan range (the Minshan range In Tangjiahe, with its dark and steep alone cover an area almost as large as slopes and dramatic gorges, I feel as Sri Lanka)—that hold some of the though I am in a hidden paradise. least-touched wildlife habitats on earth.

The reserve is home to bizarre aniA cluster of nature reserves has been mals, especially golden monkeys and established in these pristine landscapes. takins—shaggy antelopes that look

dumb and primeval, like some kind of deformity from the underworld.

And at Wanglang, I like to venture into panda territory with a warden, wriggling through bamboo forests as thick as the bristles on a broom, tracking the elusive panda. The bamboo is so dense that a panda could be 10m away and still be hidden from sight.

But the wardens have trained eyes able to follow the animals’ trails: We found tufts of bamboo littering the ground where the panda tossed them after eating the hard stems; we examined their greenish feces, as large as three eggs put together; and we even spotted white fur snagged on trees.

On other days, I might simply stray to the upper reaches of the valley in Wanglang, marvelling at the metalliccoloured granite peaks that hem the monumental valleys.

The mountains reveal a different demeanor every time.

They’re icy and frigid in winter, amber-red and benevolently pleasant in autumn, and filled with the trills of birds and colour splashes of flowers in summer.

Most people like sunny weather when they travel, but I believe the Min-

ASIANEWS • DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 33

TURQUOISE-BLUE: Fish swim in a pond in Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve Park.

shan Mountains reveal themselves most evocatively during a fine drizzle.

That’s when it’s still possible to walk without getting soaked and when the mountains are at their most primeval.

Filled with shifting mists and forests darkened by moisture, and carpeted with squiggly and spongy moss that’s crisscrossed by whooshing streams the landscapes seem trapped in an earlier state of evolution.

And that’s when I feel a sense of peace and wonderment that’s akin to spiritual revelation.

33 12/8/2009 2:04:28 PM

DATEBOOK H O N G KO N G

Brands and Products Expo

T

his is the largest outdoor expo in Hong Kong, featuring famous brands from local and overseas designers plus quality products.

Great fun for shopaholics!

When: Dec 12, 2009-Jan 4, 2010; 11am10pm daily; 11am-1am (December 24 & 31) Where: Victoria Park, Causeway Bay Tickets: HK$10 (US$1.30) Info: www.hkbpe.com.hk

TOKYO

SHANGHAI

Setagaya Boro-ichi

H

undreds of dealers take over Boroichidori during Tokyo’s lively antique flea market in Setagaya Boro-ichi. A rummage could reward discerning shoppers with an antique kimono, hidden among colourful displays of art, bric-a-brac and food stalls selling fresh daikan-mochi rice cakes.

Many moons ago a rakuichi market for unlicensed merchants was established

Ringing of the Bell to add prosperity to this castle town.

Four centuries on and the market is older than the antiques it sells and the exc i te m e n t of t h o u s a n d s of feve r i s h bargain-hunters is hard to beat.

When: December 15-16, 9am-9pm Where: Boroichi-dori Info: www.tokyo-cci.or.jp/setagaya/

B

uddhists ascend the Longhua Temple in Shanghai for a traditional New Year ceremony. At midnight, they ring the temple bell 108 times and the gathered crowds pray for good fortune. Lively celebrations follow, such as lion dances and folk performances.

When: December 31 Where: Longhua Park & Temple

SINGAPOR E

Swan Lake

P

remiered in December 2007, the Singapore Dance Theatre’s Swan Lake was warmly received by both critics and audiences, with Dance Europe calling it “a valiant effort” and an indication that the company is “capable of competently presenting one of the classics of the ballet repertory”.

Helmed once again by the company’s Artistic Director, Janek Schergen, with music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, this full length classical ballet tells the love story of Prince Siegfried and Odette in four breathtakingly beautiful acts.

Under the spell of the evil sorcerer Rothbart, Odette is transformed into a swan by day and can only reveal her human form at night.

On a hunting trip, Prince Siegfried chances 34 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 34

S eo u l

Independent Film Festival

T

upon Odette at the lake and thus begins a magical journey of a love that transcends both human boundaries and evil spells.

When: December 17-20, 8pm Where: Esplanade Theatre Info: www.singaporedancetheatre.com

he annual film festival screens independent Korean films of all genres, lengths and formats in the IndieSpace of the Spongehouse Joongang Cinema. Delve into Korea’s independent culture on the big screen and give your opinion during Audience Night.

When: December where: Spongehouse Joongang Cinema Tickets: 5,000 won (US$4.30) per film Info: siff@siff.or.kr DECEMBER 11-17, 2009 • ASIANEWS 12/8/2009 2:04:29 PM

ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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Global competition 2009: Building Asia together.

Two Holcim Awards for Asia Encouraging Whether you’re building or investing in factories, homes, bridges, schoolhouses or shopping malls we’re the perfect partner make for sustainable construction The Holcim Awards to competition and visions attracted your project happen. As the No. 1 supplier ofprojects building materials inalmost 5,000 entries from 121 countries – the most outstanding were honored with Global Asia we can deliver the right solutions when and where it counts.

construction in Asia Holcim Awards 2009. Find out more on page 15.

The Holcim Awards are supported by Holcim Ltd – one of the

Holcim in Asia-Pacific: world’s leading suppliers of cement and aggregates – and its Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China,and Fiji, use India, Malaysia, New Caledonia, is supported by Holcim Ltd – one of the Holcim Foundation How can approaches to the design, fabrication ofIndonesia, Laos, The Group companies in more than 70 countries including Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam world’s leading suppliers of cement and aggregates – and its built structures be aligned with theSingapore, principlesSri ofLanka, sustainable

development? These and more questions will be discussed at the 3rd international Holcim Forum for Sustainable Construction in Mexico City,www.holcim.com April 14 - 17, 2010. Find out more about the Holcim Forum on page 15.

Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Laos, Group companies in more than 70 countries including Australia, Malaysia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Malaysia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Strength. Performance. Passion. www.holcimawards.org www.holcimforum.org 201AsiaNews_Dec11-17_2009.indd 36

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