Helsinki Times

ISSUE 3 (83) • 15 – 21 JANUARY 2009 • €3 • WWW.HELSINKITIMES.FI DOMESTIC

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

BUSINESS

SPORT

FASHION

Look to the skies above

UN Chief to visit Middle East

Euro celebrates 10 years

High hopes in figure skating

Finnish designer in Paris

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page 7

page 12

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page 16

New project brings Kosovars to work in Finland DAV I D J . C O R D HEL SINKI TIMES

AN INNOVATIVE solution is coming to

Finland that may help solve two major problems. Finland’s aging workforce is expected to lead to a major labour shortfall in the coming years, and the new country of Kosovo has unemployment levels reaching 42 per cent. Now the Bridge Kosovo-Finland project is seeking to tackle both problems with plans to bring Kosovars to train and work in Finland.

Bridge Kosovo-Finland plans to start with a pilot project of around 30 individuals. In time, the project hopes to have several hundred Kosovars come to Finland. They will receive job and language training and work for two or three years prior to returning home to Kosovo. In this way Finland will receive a needed labour force while the struggling Kosovo economy will find a source for its labour and then receive its trained workers back home.

“The know-how gained will be used later in the employee’s home country, after the country’s economic situation has improved,” said Petri Ahonen, Director of Staffpoint.

Staffpoint is the commercial partner in the project, which is also supported by the Kosovo Ministry of Labour and the European Social Fund’s Immigratum and Pro Labour.

Staffpoint will use its expertise in finding the industries most in need for labour. The workers may be placed in sectors such as logistics, commercial and health care.

Economists have been warning that Finland will start feeling the labour pinch by 2010. By this time the workers from Kosovo should be trained and in the labour force.

If everything proceeds as planned, recruitment and preparation of the first Kosovar employees will begin in the spring. These initial individuals in the project could be working in Finland as early as this summer.

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Delicacies from south to north

Visa applications to Finland reach record levels L E H T I K U VA / M A R T T I K A I N U L A I N E N

DAV I D B RO W N HEL SINKI TIMES

ACCORDING to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finnish embassies handled a record number of visa applications last year. The number of applications was in excess of 800,000, 12 per cent higher than in 2007. The main area of growth was Russia, with 90 per cent of all applications being made there. This represents a 15 per cent increase on previous years. The rise in numbers was especially high in the St. Petersburg area, which saw over half a million applications.

More than 5,000 applications were also processed in Moscow, Kiev, New Delhi, Bangkok, Beijing and Shanghai, with the highest percentage of rejections being recorded in the Nigerian capital of Abuja.

Of the Schengen countries, Finland processes easily the most Russian visa applications. The main reason for this may be that unlike other countries within the EU, Finland has a policy of accepting applications unless clear reasons exist why they should be rejected.

“You would probably need to ask the Russians why the numbers have increased,” Vesa Häkkinen of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs commented. “There seems to be more and more money available there, with Russians increasingly travelling both for business and pleasure. Finland is of course the closest Schengen country to St. Petersburg, which makes it cheaper to visit than other countries.”

A recent agreement between Russia and the EU to facilitate visa processing has made visas easier for Russians to get, but so far only Finland has implemented the plan.

Of the visas issued in Russia, more than 80 per cent are longterm multiple-entry visas, a move apparently facilitated by improved technical facilities and cooperation between the various Finnish authorities involved. Unlike many other EU countries, Finland no longer requires Russian passport holders to have an invitation to come to Finland.

Finland is an increasingly popular travel destination. Of the 800,000 visa applications made last year in Finnish embassies and consulates, 90 per cent were made in Russia, the vast majority in the St.Petersburg region.

Representatives of the Finnish immigration authorities in Russia and the Ukraine have had to employ more staff to deal with the increase in applications. The influx of applications has caused huge backlogs in the system, with delays as long as fi ve weeks recorded. In addition staff have had to work in shifts to catch up, at times processing 2,000 applications per day.

Some Schengen countries see the Finnish policy on granting visas to Russian citizens as being too lenient.

Nevertheless, Häkkinen insists overstaying is not currently a systematic problem. “Of course individuals do overstay, and when border guards check those people can be given a warning, fined, or even banned from entering Finland for a certain period of time. But it is not a big problem”.

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VIEWPOINT

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

Ann-Jolin Grüne The author works as the Project Coordinator of the Bridge immigrant integration project, an initiative of the Finland-Swedish Information and Cultural Centre Luckan in the Helsinki area, funded

by RAY.

ened by these demographic changes. It is visible in the way that the Perussuomalaiset (“the True Finns”), who strongly oppose increasing immigration, enjoyed their largest electoral win to date in the recent municipal elections, and how even the Youth Party of the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) called for stricter immigration policies soon after. Evidently, many Finns fear their culture is in danger of being overrun by outsiders.

HELSINKI TIMES

CHANGE YOUR SCENE

attitudes towards immigrants seem to go hand in hand with the growing trend towards similarly poor perceptions of the FinlandSwedes. Such negative sentiments spring from fear of losing one's own culture; the instinctive response is often to try to strengthen that culture by asserting a drastically simplified version of it.

Though this is in some ways understandable, responses driven by fear and suspicion are unlikely to bring good results. Rather than simply posing a threat, globalisation and immigration provide opportunities for all to take a closer look at what they have in common, to learn more about each other and themselves. Finnish culture will inevitably change through immigration, but is that necessarily bad? And is culture something that we can contain, however much we try?

NEGATIVE

Are Finns falling for the illusion of monoculturalism?

Swedish has been spoken in Finland for almost a thousand years. If Finns cannot accept Finland-Swedes fully, a minority with such deep historical roots in the country, how will they possibly be able to embrace other minorities?

THIS YEAR marks the bicentenary of the end of Swedish rule in Finland. The occasion gives good reason for us to reflect on our collective heritage, and the experience of the Finland-Swedes is of perhaps of some extra interest here. Even though I would like to point out that FinlandSwedes consider this event from a Finnish perspective, as Finns.

are Finns whose native language is Swedish. We are not Swedes, nor can the Finland-Swedish minority be described simply as descendants of Swedes.

Many of us have ancestors who migrated from diverse parts of Europe, in addition to having ancestral ties to the Finnish-speaking majority at home. Increasingly, Finland-Swedish children come from mixed marriages between Finnish-speaking Finns and Finland-Swedes. In fact, 80 per cent of the children in the capital region’s daycare facilities are from bilingual homes.

FINLAND-SWEDES

AMONGST other legal guaran-

tees, the status of Swedish as an official language of Finland enables us to uphold our linguistic and cultural traditions.

In legal terms Finland-Swedes aren’t a minority at all. Nonetheless, the position of the Swedish-speaking community is now seriously threatened: Finnish-speaking Finns seem less and less keen on maintaining the country’s long-established bilingual tradition. The rights of this particular minority are regarded by growing numbers of Finnish-speaking Finns as a lingering burden of the past that finally needs to be dispensed with. The strong legal position of the Swedish language in Finland seems to present to many a last remaining obstacle to “full” Finnish sovereignty. Perhaps by abandoning Swedish the Finnishspeaking Finns could feel more secure in the global world?

Such a break with the past would secure Finnish at the top of the language pyramid, at least on home territory.

THE CRISIS currently afflicting Swedish-speaking Finns

has been explored in detail in Hufvudstadsbladet, the largest Swedish newspaper in Finland, where there has recently been an ongoing discussion about our identity and rightful entitlements as a group. I fear that some of this identity crisis is due to the prevailing language climate, which at the moment is strongly negative.

On the positive side, this critical self-reflection can be used to build a common platform on which we can stand up for ourselves. I hope for a day where Finnish Swedes would not constantly have to defend and argue for their rights but instead be seen as a natural part of the Finnish people. the first step in finding ways to integrate different ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities is to consider the diversity of the Finnish people themselves.

The realisation that Finland has in fact been home to several different cultures for many centuries should certainly help to tone down the issue of difference. The historical and present-day experience of Finland’s national minorities could provide much-needed guidance about the nature of the integration process as a whole.

It is sad that Finns in general know hardly a word of Sámi (the language of the Sámi, or the indigenous people of the Arctic that have a cultural autonomy in the North of Finland), nor much about Russian, Jewish, Roma or Muslim traditions, despite all these and others having long been part of Finnish culture.

IN MY VIEW

of Finland's nationbuilding process there has been a sustained drive for a common sense of nationhood, which has focused on establishing a national selfimage as one people, indivisible. As a response to the demographic and fiscal problems presented by an aging population decision-makers have for some years favoured a policy of promoting immigration to meet the labour demand. Increasing immigration poses a challenge to the Finnish culture, as we know it today. Many feel threat-

AS PART

MY OWN hope is that acknowledgment of the heterogeneity of Finnish culture and the Finnish people would open up a broader range of options for new immigrants in choosing which group they wish to integrate with. Some asylum-seekers integrate into Finland-Swedish culture as a result of being placed in regions where the majority speaks Swedish. However, since the capital region is the place where most immigrants want to live, the Swedish-language services on offer in the Helsinki region should also be given better opportunities to contribute to integration of immigrants into Finnish society. Finland-Swedes fully acknowledge the need to know Finnish in Finland. However, countless Swedish speaking children have learned Finnish even though they have gone through the educational system in Swedish. Because of the length of our historical presence in the country and Swedish being the other official language in Finland, there is a strong case to be made for the Swedish-speaking community to be given greater responsibility for immigrant integration than is presently the case. Our long experience of what it is to be a minority equips us well for the task.

FINLAND HOPES to secure one of the temporary seats in the UN Security Council in 2013. I hope this will mean more than printing colorful brochures and donating tractors. It should also lead to a renewed seriousness to promote democracy and genuine respect for human rights, at home as well as abroad.

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DOMESTIC NEWS

HELSINKI TIMES

A Nugget of Knowledge University of Helsinki

by PAULIINA SUSI

photo VEIKKO SOMERPURO

translation MATTHEW PARRY, HT

The Art and Science of Sailing As a two-year-old, Martin Gahmberg climbed aboard the tiny optimist dinghy built for him by his captain father. From that moment on, the sea and sailing have kept him under their spell. Before going on to become a Finnish Championships-grade sailor and sailing coach, and shepherding the team that won bronze at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Gahmberg spent his childhood on the Finnish coast of the Baltic Sea. For the Finnish sporting community and general public, the medal-winning performance of Star class team Fredrik Lööf and Anders Ekström was a bitter-sweet one, for it was executed under Swedish colours. And all because the Swedes were the first to invite the gifted young man to join them!

So what was the secret of their competing success? In acting as a coach, Gahmberg carefully exploits the theory and practice absorbed in his studies in meteorology at the University of Helsinki. The subject of his dissertation was the fine structure of coastal sea breezes in various weather conditions, and by using a numerical model developed by his professor Hannu Savijärvi, he was successfully able to predict the properties, changes and behaviour of the famously capricious sea winds while sailing. ”Sailing is a challenging sport because it is an especially complicated one. In addition

to a high level of physical fitness, it demands theoretical and practical knowledge about the weather, winds and sea currents. This knowledge forms the basis of an ongoing series of fast-paced, largely intuitive decisions.

For all that sailing is a science, it is even more of an art,” Gahmberg says. ”One of the more important sides of my work is the psychological one. A good coach is able to choose the right words at the right moment.”

The coach’s own Olympic-grade Laser boat awaits him moored in the coastal waters of Helsinki, a short bike-ride away from home. The charm of sailing for Gahmberg has certainly not faded, even if his hobby has become his job. ”Early mornings and late evenings are the best times to go out sailing.

Sunsets

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

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www.helsinki.fi/university

NEW MASTER’S PROGRAMME ON RELIGIOUS ROOTS The Faculty of Theology is introducing a new Master’s Programme called the Religious Roots of Europe (RRE). The programme studies Judaism, Christianity and Islam together from the beginning of the Common Era to the seventh century.

The period of application ends on February 2, 2009. Read more about this and other M.A. programmes in English. www.helsinki.fi/internationalprogrammes/subjects WELFARE TAKING SHAPE —The welfare state is a key issue of transitional economies, Markku Kivinen, Director of the Aleksanteri Institute, stated in the opening of the eighth annual Aleksanteri Conference.

Russia is facing many challenges; such as, the diversification of the economy, the democratization process and the security challenge. Without a wide range of interest organizations welfare cannot be developed.

The aim of the conference, was to deepen the understanding and to bring together researchers of various disciplines to examine the interrelationships of welfare, gender and agency in Russia and Eastern Europe during the transitional period.

on the Baltic Sea are always such striking spectacles.”

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DOMESTIC NEWS

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

HELSINKI TIMES

L E H T I K U VA / P E K K A S A K K I

High hopes of Roma immigrants soon fade A research project by the City of Helsinki and the Helsinki Diaconess Institute shows many Roma expect to find work here easily.

R I S T O H A ATA J A HEL SINKI TIMES

The flu vaccine is most commonly injected into the arm.

Influenza season set to be slightly milder this winter Between 5 and 15 per cent of the population are expected to suffer from influenza, despite it being avoidable in most cases.

R I S T O H A ATA J A HEL SINKI TIMES

experts recommend getting the flu vaccination early to prevent infection, although the signs are that this year’s influenza season won’t be severe. Analysis conducted during the Australian and New Zealand winter (summer in the northern hemisphere) concludes that the annual influenza epidemic will have less impact than in past winters.

Throughout history influenza epidemics have caused thousands of deaths at both local and regional levels. The best known pandemic is the Spanish flu of 1918–1920,

which killed an estimated 40–100 million people worldwide.

HEALTH

An ounce of prevention The widely administered flu vaccine contains a deactivated virus of the latest strain that is known to be spreading globally in any given year. This method has been found to be effective in preventing the flu, as long as the strain that one is exposed to is close enough in nature to the one the vaccine was designed to prevent.

This is the case around 80 per cent of the time.

Pekka Tolvanen, 46, got his flu jab this year for the first time. “I have had some health problems and I am

worried that catching influenza would complicate things for me,” says Tolvanen.

Experts say that now is the time to get your vaccine, or you could be too late.

It takes two weeks for the vaccine to become effective enough to offer protection.

Influenza causes symptoms such as chills, fever, muscle pains, headache, coughing and general weakness. Severe bouts can in some cases lead to pneumonia, which is generally the leading cause of death by flu.

Elvi, a nurse working at a retirement home who does not want her last name used, has witnessed the complications arising from the illness.

“Miracle virus” back with a vengeance SINIKK A SUOSAL MI– S T T M AT T H E W PA R R Y – H T

THE NOROVIRUS is once again on the loose in Finland, provoking symptoms of vomiting and diarrhoea among its unfortunate victims. Over the last two years, a persistent nuisance has slowly grown into a full-blown epidemic.

“This microscopic but powerful virus is capable of causing a lot of grief. It’s quite surprising how easy it is for these viruses which are typically carried by faecal matter to spread even in developed countries,” says Professor Emeritus Carl-Henrik von Bonsdorff from the University of Helsinki.

The norovirus is spread very rapidly through either person-to-person transmission or by way of contaminated water or food. A mere handshake, for instance, is often enough to transport it from one victim to the next.

The virus is immune to the cold, and nor does chlorified water kill it. The symp-

“We encourage our residents to take the vaccine. Although most do some decline for personal reasons,” says Elvi.

“I always get the vaccine because I work in a high-risk group who may be exposed to the disease,” she adds. “It has been an effective prevention tool for me.”

According to some experts, doubt among the general public about the effectiveness of flu vaccination is greater than necessary. This may be because of the similarities between symptoms for the common cold and the flu. Additionally, if the actual strain of influenza being spread is different from that of the jabs, they may not be effective.

Though a success rate that is based on something being prevented is always going to be difficult to assess, perhaps it's best to be on the safe side. “It’s important to have your shots,” concludes Elvi.

“Getting them doesn’t mean you will not be sick at all, but it does mean you are likely to avoid coming down with the strain of flu that the shots are designed to prevent.” toms appear within a day of infection.

Young and old equally vulnerable The variation GII.4 is clearly the most common form of the norovirus, and has been dubbed the “miracle virus”.

It has managed to trigger numerous epidemics, many of them bringing pandemonium in their wake. In recent years, these have struck at intervals of two to three years.

Social worker Marjatta Vesalainen and registered nurse Tuomo Leinonen are currently conducting a study on Roma who have come from Romania to Finland in recent years. About 200 Roma have so far been interviewed for the project, which is expected to continue until 2010. The results so far have been surprising.

Contrary to popular misconceptions about organised rings of beggars, most of the Roma who find their way here come to find work. Most borrow the money for the long bus trip, which normally costs between 100 and 200 euros. On arrival their hopes of employment soon fade.

“A large proportion come to work, but are unable to get jobs,” says Leinonen. “They have heard stories at home of workers being needed, and of good earnings here,” he continues, and adds that once arrived, Roma find many ob-

stacles to obtaining employment. These include language problems, lack of documented work history, and low level of education.

“Most of those who come here are musicians and street sellers, selling flowers and cheap jewellery, but, many turn to begging when all else fails,” Leinonen says.

Although it is not possible to predict how many more will come, in Leinonen’s view the effects of the financial crisis are likely to boost the numbers of Roma on the streets. Other factors could also add to the increased Roma immigration to Finland.

“I would expect a gradual increase in the flow of Roma here over the summer and the next few years, but it will hardly become a flood,” Leinonen predicts. “Our aim with this ongoing study is to help in devising appropriate policies and action plans for helping their people, taking into consideration their needs and the needs of society as a whole”.

L E H T I K U VA / S A R I GU S TA F S S O N

Most of the Roma immigrants come to Finland to find work.

The GII.4 is devastatingly effective when it comes to transmission by direct contact. In practice this makes hospital wards and nursing homes are the sites of most rapid transmission.

After infection and recovery, victims enjoy immunity for only a few months, so potential hosts of all ages are equally vulnerable to the virus. The viruses are also quick to mutate: although a virus may initially only

spread among victims of certain blood types, it is capable of reforming its own structure in such a way that other types become susceptible, too. This in turn ensures that at any one time there exist an entire range of slight variations on the viral theme.

Avoiding the virus demands strict hygiene. During the epidemic, it is important to wash one's hands with particular care, and perhaps even avoid shaking hands with others.

DOMESTIC NEWS

HELSINKI TIMES

Look to the heavens above During the International Year of Astronomy 2009 professional astronomers and expert amateur stargazers aim to get many more people interested in the wonders of the night sky.

U R S A A S T O N O M I C A L A S S O C I AT I O N F R A N W E AV E R HEL SINKI TIMES

THE YEAR 2009 has been designated as the International Year of Astronomy by UNESCO and the International Astronomical Union, to encourage people around the world to find out about our place in the Universe and enjoy a personal sense of wonder and discovery.

Helsinki’s Kaivopuisto Park is an excellent place to start discovering the night sky, guided by experts from the Ursa Astronomical Association. Ursa runs an observatory on top of a small hill in the seaside park that offers an unobstructed view of the skies to the south.

The observatory will be open to all keen stargazers from 19:00 to 21:00 every clear night between 15 January and 15 March (except Mondays). For a token fee of just two euros for adults and one euro for kids Ursa’s duty astronomer can introduce you to some of the marvels of the Universe.

Celestial highlights Sakari Lehtinen, who manages Ursa’s observatory, explains that lucky visitors to Kaivopuisto’s observatory may be able to enjoy include awe-inspiring close-up views of the moon, or perhaps the beautiful planets of Jupiter and Saturn with their own myriad moons. “Even if the moon and planets are not suitably aligned, we can usually find impressive sights like beautiful galaxies, double stars or star clusters to show them,” explains Lehtinen.

Helsinki is also northerly enough that the mysterious coloured lights of the aurora borealis can occasionally be seen in the night sky, though auroral activity is expected to be quite low this winter, since we are currently at a low point within the relat-

The astronomical observatory in Helsinki’s Kaivopuisto Park opens to visitors on clear winter nights.

ed 11-year cycle of sunspot activity.

Finnish plans for the year of astronomy The International Year of Astronomy has been timed to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the first astronomical observations made

by Galileo Galilei through the first astronomical telescope. Special international projects aim to promote astronomy as a hobby and also build up astronomical expertise in developing countries.

According to Professor Tapio Markkanen of Helsinki University’s astronomy department, many related activities and events will also be organised around Finland,

with the focus on education and awareness-raising.

“We want to make people aware of the dark night sky as part of our heritage,” explains Markkanen. “It’s a great pity that due to light pollution over our towns and cities many people have never enjoyed the fantastic experience of simply seeing the Milky Way, and we want to give people back this experience!”

Has anyone seen Pluto?

Ursa’s portable planetarium and exhibitions featuring amazing scenes from space will tour Finland during 2009. A major exhibition From Earth to the Universe will be on display outside Helsinki’s main bus station

in September. There are also plans to restore Ursa’s unique outdoor model of the solar system, which consists of miniature replica planets spread out through western Helsinki and Espoo at scaled intervals. Ursa’s website currently reports that the planet Pluto has gone missing.

Finnish schoolchildren will meanwhile be working through the internet with their counterparts in Canada, Chile, Australia and South Africa on international astronomy projects. “One idea is to help everyone realise that we’re all travellers on spaceship Earth together, and that it’s up to us whether our planet remains habitable for future generations,” adds Markkanen.

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

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IN BRIEF COLUMN FinnChurchAid asks Israel to explain clinic strike

Finnish finance minister urges firms to curb remuneration

FinnChurchAid, the Finnish Evangelical-Lutheran Church’s aid arm, announced on 12 January that it would ask Israel to explain why its airforce had destroyed a clinic in Gaza on 10 January.

FinnChurchAid also appealed to the Finnish government for support.

Jouni Hemberg, the head of humanitarian aid at FinnChurchAid, said Israel appeared to be systematically targeting clinics in Gaza. “One cannot help thinking that what is going on is the destruction of infrastructure,” he added. No one was hurt in the strike on the Al Shujaia clinic, partly funded by FinnChurchAid. STT

Finnish finance minister and Coalition Party leader Jyrki Katainen was quoted by the national daily the Helsingin Sanomat on 10 January as saying that companies should restrain pay practices that risked greater inequality in the workplace given the current economic turmoil.

“Some may lose their jobs at a time when others receive extra bonuses from past years, for example,” Katainen told the paper.

Minister Katainen also appealed to companies’ owners to reconsider past remuneration decisions.

STT

Jani Sievinen to run for European Parliament

The Finnish government announced on 9 January that the cabinet committee on foreign and security policy and the president had decided in a joint session that Finland would prepare to send a further 100 troops to the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan to help secure elections.

Some 110 Finnish soldiers are currently serving as part of the Isaf.

“Smooth running of the Afghan presidential and provincial council elections is important for Afghanistan’s stability and the advancement of democratic developments in the country,” the government added.

“The Afghan security authorities bear the main responsibility for the security arrangements for the elections, but in this they rely on support from the Nato-led Isaf mission.”

Nato had issued a request to countries with troops serving under the Isaf to bolster their presence for the duration of the elections. STT

Former swimmer Jani Sievinen announced on 12 January he would stand as a Finnish Social Democratic party (SDP) candidate in June’s elections for the European Parliament.

The SDP party management is expected to confirm Sievinen's candidacy on 15 January.

STT

Finland to host police workshop on school shootings Finland’s interior ministry has invited police from other EU countries to attend a seminar on school shootings, Tampere-based daily Aamulehti reported 10 January.

Finland has been left reeling by two school shootings in the space of less than a year, the latter in September last year. STT

Finland to send further 100 troops to Afghanistan

L E H T I K U VA / V E S A M O I L A N E N

Don’t shout, please With any luck, the intensely irritating habit of loudly discussing personal information in public on mobile phones may become rarer among Finns, if not a thing of the past.

NICK BARLOW HEL SINKI TIMES

Älä kailota campaign encourages people to practice mobile phone courtesy especially on public transport.

THE Älä kailota (Don’t shout) campaign is sponsored by, amongst others, the Finnish railway company (VR), Helsinki City Transport (HKL), and the Finnish Taxi Association. Ironically, also contributing are several mobile phone companies and service providers, including DNA, Sonera and Elisa. The cam-

paign was originally begun a year ago and received a positive response from the public. Since then it has been relaunched to further public approval.

The campaign has been established with the aim, say the organisers, of encouraging our good citizens to consider the most appropriate places and times in which to use their mobile phones. The organisers suggest polls have

shown that people find it uncomfortable when others have long public discussions on the phone concerning relationships, health issues or confidential work-related matters. Starting this month the campaign is being promoted around the public transportation network in the capital area. The governmental ministry of transport and communication is also one of the supporters of the initiative.

A quick ride on public transport around Helsinki, in my case the 3T tram, reveals that Finns still have a lot to learn about polite usage of their mobiles. In a thirty-minute spell myself and my fellow passengers were treated to six public conversations with topics ranging from someone’s boyfriend and his infideli-

ty to, amazingly, a hospital worker discussing patient details. Fellow passenger Pasi Saarinen is in agreement with the aims of the current campaign. “It’s definitely true that people could be more discrete in general,” he says. “Old people in particular don’t seem to realise that you don’t have to shout when you’re using your mobile. There’s a volume control for a reason. Just because you can’t hear the other person so clearly doesn’t mean you need to yell to make yourself heard.” It seems we are not alone in believing that many of Helsinki’s inhabitants need to learn better manners in this regard, and that the Älä kailota campaign will continue to receive strong public support. www.alakailota.fi

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FINNISH PAPERS

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

HELSINKI TIMES

TRANSLATIONS BY MICHAEL NAGLER L E H T I K U VA / J U S S I N U K A R I

AAMULEHTI 11 January. KRISTIINA TOLVANEN

Finnish tourists threatened by malaria in Africa The number of Finnish travellers contracting malaria abroad reached a record 42 cases in 2008, most cases transmitted by malaria-spreading parasites attacking the liver, reports the Tampere-based daily Aamulehti. “ THE NATIONAL Institute for Health and Welfare’s doctor of infectious diseases, Eeva Ruotsalainen, is concerned about the development as well as the indifference of tourists.

She recommends that no last-minute trips or package holidays be sold to affected regions of tropical Africa. The strain of malaria prevalent in these parts can be fatal.

‘We recommend that the sale of last-minute trips be

Inmates face various challenges when making the transition to civilian life.

KALEVA 11 January. SUSANNA KEMPPAINEN

More prisoners participating in "monitored freedom" programme The Oulu-based daily Kaleva reports that the number of inmates living in “monitored freedom” is becoming increasingly common.

“IN 2007, an average of 22 prison inmates a day were living in monitored freedom.

In 2008, the number was 50 and the aim is to raise the figure to 100 inmates a day this year.

That goal is challenging, admits Vuokko Karsikas, a specialist at the Criminal Sanctions Agency.”

“According to Karsikas, it was thought that enact-

ing the programme of monitored freedom would reduce the workload of prisons. This is because an inmate living in so-called ‘monitored freedom’ does not have to be looked after 24 hours a day in a prison cell. While this is still true, a lot of effort is required to prepare an inmate for monitored freedom and then to supervise him, which was not taken into account.”

“‘Trial monitoring is arduous. The inmates may live quite far apart and it can take several working days for us to visit each person,’ says Margit Kyngäs, the warden of Oulu Prison.” “‘Nobody has been released from our prison unprepared for civilian life, which significantly improves the inmate’s lot. After all, it could come as a great shock

to a prisoner who is suddenly released after a long prison sentence,’ explains Kyngäs.

For example, the normal skills required for civilian life may have changed or been forgotten, such as preparing food and paying bills. Mobile-phone or credit-card use might also be alien to newly released inmates, she explains.

Nationally, there have been good results from the monitored-freedom programme. Karsikas says that only a handful of trials have been revoked or suspended, usually because of inmates violating the ban on intoxicating substances.”

L E H T I K U VA / M A R K K U U L A N D E R

TURUN SANOMAT 11 January. ESKO PIHKALA

Warm-weather skating may soon be possible in Turku

ended, because the danger is that people will forget to take malaria-prevention medication or a vaccine against yellow fever. They may also simply lack the time to get proper medication, or they may not have accurate information concerning the diseases,’ she warns.

The National Institute for Health and Welfare has invited travel agencies and Finnair to discuss travellers’ health at a meeting in January.”

HELSINGIN SANOMAT 10 January. ANNA-RIITTA SIPPOLA

Foreigners increasingly prone to work-related accidents The national daily Helsingin Sanomat reports that 27 people died in work-related accidents last year, six of them foreigners.

“EXPERTS ESTIMATE that foreigners are also falling victim to a growing number of minor accidents. However, only a fraction of these incidents are reported in the statistics because many foreigner workers are uninsured in Finland.

“For example, the share of foreigners in accidents reported to the Uusimaa labour-protection district has been growing steeply. However, district head Kaarina Myyri-Partanen points out

that part of that growth is because there are now more foreign workers in Finland.

Foreigners’ susceptibility to accidents is attributed to differences in work culture, and poor or even non-existent job familiarisation owing to the language barrier.

The use of temporary workers also contributes to the number of accidents because workers are unable to form safe working routines when their work environment changes often and rapidly.”

L E H T I K U VA / M A R K K U U L A N D E R

The city of Turku is considering the use of plastic skating rinks, reports the city’s daily the Turun Sanomat.

Year-round ice tracks made of plastic could replace the costlier energy eaters in the near future.

“IF THE Turku Municipal Facilities Corporation has its way, it may be possible to skate on plastic ice in the centre of Turku next summer. “‘We are perfectly serious.

The maintenance of artificial ice tracks is highly expensive, and for that price we are only able to extend the skating season a bit at the beginning and end. Instead, you could skate on plastic ice all year round,’ points out Lauri Laine, the head of Turku’s Streets and Parks organisation.

The Director of Turku’s Municipal Property Corporation, Jouko Turto, also supports the project. ‘With regards to controlling climate change, a plastic ice track would be a good yearround solution. The reports

that we have received from abroad is that plastic tracks work very well,’ says Turto.

“According to CEO Jari Heinola of Ice Consulting Finland Oy, a company that imports plastic ice tracks, the purchase price of a track the size of an ice hockey rink is about 300,000 euros.

By contrast, the construction of the artificial ice track in Kupittaa cost 700,000 euros and the ice track at Helsinki’s Rautatientori Square cost at least the same amount, according to Laine.” “‘The maintenance costs of an artificial track are roughly 75,000-100,000 euros a year, whereas the costs of a plastic track would probably remain at around 10,000-20,000 euros,’ says Laine.”

Fall-related accidents are increasing amongst foreigners working in Finland.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

HELSINKI TIMES

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

7

UN Chief on grim peace mission to Middle East Africa may face "centuries" of poverty Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who admits he is "very frustrated and deeply anguished" about Extreme poverty will continue to blight subSaharan Africa for another 200 years unless action to overcome it is intensified, a new report has suggested.

NIAMEY

DAV I D C RO N I N IP S

SOCIAL WATCH,

a network of campaigning groups, has devised a measure known as the "basic capabilities index" to assess the level of hardship throughout the world.

Its latest report finds that 80 countries – home to half the world's population – fare badly when three criteria are examined: the number of children who die before their fifth birthday, the proportion of children who complete primary education, and the proportion of births that are attended by trained midwives.

Only 16 of these countries have registered considerable improvement since 2000. Although the countries making progress include India, home to 1.6 billion, regression has been recorded in others with a combined population of 150 million. The latter category includes Chad, Niger, Malawi, Benin and Yemen, while Bangladesh, Uganda, Nigeria, Madagascar and Ghana have been listed as stagnant.

While much of sub-Saharan Africa has recorded strong economic growth in recent years, this has not translated into a major drop in poverty levels. As things stand, the basic needs of mil-

lions of Africans will not be met until the 23rd century.

Coordinator of Social Watch Roberto Bissio predicted that the crisis which gripped international capitalism during 2008 will complicate matters further. "Poor countries will very likely suffer quite heavily from a crisis which they did not at all create," he said. Bissio argued that one of the most appropriate responses of governments would be to develop a more coherent response to the fulfilment of human rights, particularly those with an economic and social dimension.

Over the past twenty years, he said, international bodies have been eager to promote the "rights" of corporations to establish themselves anywhere in the world, forbidding poor countries to "impose on them conditions that contribute to the development of host countries."

According to the World Bank up to 800 billion dollars in untaxed capital leaves poor countries or economies in transition each year. This dwarfs the 100 billion dollars that such countries receive in annual development aid.

Simon Stocker from Eurostep, an alliance of antipoverty groups, said that the EU's development aid activities pay greater heed to investment opportunities for western firms in poor countries than to health and education needs. Of 70 aid plans drawn up by EU officials for Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, health and education have been identified as priorities in less than 10 cases each.

the grave military and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, left on a grim peace mission to the Middle East. Visits are planned to Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Kuwait.

L E H T I K U VA / A F P P H O T O / M A H M U D H A M S

GAZA

THALIF DEEN IP S

ULTIMATE success of Ban's weeklong visit will depend on whether or not he can persuade both the Israelis and Hamas to implement last week's Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire to end the three-week-old fighting.

"In the name of humanity and international law," both warring parties must observe the resolution, Ban told reporters on 12 January on the eve of his trip.

Asked how he plans to help implement the resolution in the face of defiance by both parties, Ban said he was talking to countries, including the United States, Egypt, Syria and Turkey, who can help influence the Israelis and Hamas.

"The Security Council resolution is binding - and all member states should comply," he added.

However, an Arab diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IPS that Hamas was not identified by name in the resolution, nor is it a member state, or even "recognised" by the United Nations.

"If Israel, a member state, is unwilling to abide by the resolution, how can you expect Hamas, which has no standing at the UN, to comply?" he asked.

Asked whether he was willing to talk to Hamas, which has a democratically

THE

A Palestinian man carries blankets as he and his family flee from the Zeitun district of Gaza City as Israeli forces advance into the suburbs of the city.

elected government in Gaza, Ban ducked the question.

"As Secretary-General, I deal with internationallyrecognised Palestinian leaders," he said, referring to Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), who is recognised by the United States, Israel and the European Union as the legitimate leader of the Palestinians.

Contrast in casualties Describing the gravity of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Ban said more than 900 Palestinians have died and about 4,000 more have been injured.

"They have no place to hide, no place to run," he said.

"It is tragic and heartbreaking to see so many civilians killed and suffering."

In contrast, the Israeli casualty toll stands at 13, according to published reports.

Asked if he would like to visit Gaza, Ban would only say

he would meet with his senior officials based there, and who are overseeing the UN's humanitarian operations.

Ban said he was awaiting a response from Israel on a proposal to send an independent investigating team to probe the bombing of a UN compound where about 40 Palestinians died last week.

Meanwhile, John Ging, director of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza, told reporters on 12 January that more than 40 per cent of the nearly 900 Palestinians killed in the Israeli offensive were women and children.

After a visit to the overburdened Al Shifa hospital in Gaza, he said: "(It) is the place of course where you see the most horrific human consequences of this conflict."

Fleeing to shelters Ging said the sense of fear in Gaza "was all pervasive among a battle-hardened

population of 1.5 million that had already seen many years of conflict."

"In my three years here I have never witnessed anything like the scale of fear that is there. We have to recognise that there's no safe place in Gaza and that continues to be the case and the casualty figures speak to that," he added.

Ging said 35,000 Gazans had fled their homes for 38 UNRWA shelters, and many more had sought refuge with relatives.

The Secretary-General told reporters that the United Nations has about 10,000 staff on the ground overseeing humanitarian operations.

"I want my visit to be a tangible expression of support for their work under the most difficult and dangerous circumstances," Ban said.

"I salute their bravery and their dedication to the UN's mission," he added.

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careers by 15 – 21 and JANUARY 2009 8 Jobs

HELSINKI TIMES

What are my unique selling points? is designed to do one thing and one thing only: to get you an interview.

Yet the average recruiter will only spend between 20 to 30 seconds glancing at your CV. This means you need to make an impression quickly and sell yourself.

YOUR CV

communicator,’ say that you use your excellent communication skills to attract and retain high profile clients. are a few ways to help you identify your unique selling points:

HERE

personal statement is your first opportunity to do just that. Its aim is to highlight your professional attributes and goals, emphasising why the recruiter should continue reading the rest of your CV. Aim to use no more than 50 words, making each sentence a key selling point.

What are your skills?

Put yourself in the shoes of your clients. The image that you have of yourself may differ from the image that you project. What skills do you have that are highly desired by clients, and hence your potential employer? You may find a skill that is highly regarded and desired by others.

IT IS IMPORTANT that your statement doesn’t simply tell a potential new employer what you have done or what you would like to do. It should also avoid a list of unquantifiable skills. Instead, link your skills to why you are the best person for the job. Instead of saying that you are a ‘good

What benefit do you bring?

Employers don’t just buy skills. They buy solutions.

How can you make the company money, save the company money, and resolve the problems that they have? By thinking in depth about your skills and abilities, you may

YOUR

realise more benefits that you are especially proficient at providing.

What are the employer's needs, and can you meet them?

Don’t just list your unique selling points – emphasise them by showing your experience or success. Detail the amount of money you have saved past employers or the value of projects in which you contributed. The employer can see the return on investment if you are hired. agencies are paid large sums of money to create headlines that grab their audience’s attention.

They use language that explains the benefits that you, as a consumer, will have if you purchase their product. Take a look at your CV and read it out loud to yourself. Imagine it was a television advertisement – would you buy the product?

Source: Monster.co.uk

ADVERTISING

Monster is the world’s leading provider of online recruitment services, operating in 56 countries. It has over 75 million registered users worldwide. 75% of Monster Finland is owned by Alma Media, one of the largest media companies in Finland, and 25% is owned by Monster Inc. The business started in 1998, and in ten years the internet has become the most popular recruiting channel, causing Monster Finland to become the market leader with over 60% of the total online recruitment business. In 2007 Monster Finland’s turnover grew 47% in comparison to 2006.

Advertisement enquiries: Monster Oy, tel. +358 10 665 2293, e-mail: yritys@monster.fi

FINLAND IN THE WORLD PRESS

HELSINKI TIMES MIRAMICHI LEADER 7 January. Ryan Ross

Local biathlon design on Olympic stage

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

MP TALK

L E H T I K U VA / T I M O J A A KO N A H O

Finnish born Ray Kokkonen is well known in the Canadian biathlon circles, writes the Miramichi Leader.

L E H T I K U VA / V E S A M O I L A N E N

“WHEN RAY KOKKONEN was growing up in Finland, he was raised on stories of soldiers on skis fighting the Russians.

‘To a kid it was a very glamorous thing,’ he said.

Those stories led him to take up cross-country skiing and eventually biathlon while he served in the Canadian military.

His last competition as an athlete was in 1983 ... After he stopped competing, Kokkonen coached off and on, but then a commander in the military asked him to design a biathlon facility in Wainwright, Alta.

From there, someone contacted him when Calgary was bidding for the 1988 Olympics.”

“When Vancouver was bidding on the 2010 games, the bid committee contacted him.

Kokkonen said they picked the top person in each sport to help with the bid. ‘It's humbling in a way, but it's certainly satisfying in another way.’”

“Kokkonen has been writing biathlon rules for 15 years and has been honoured with a place in the sports officials Canadian Hall of Fame.

His picture hangs in military gyms across the country after his induction into the Canadian Forces sports Hall of Fame.

But he said one of his biggest honours was his induction into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame as a builder.

‘In that kind of company I do feel humbled,’ he said.”

DEMOCRATIC VOICE OF BURMA 5 January. Yee May Aung

KANSAS CITY BUSINESS JOURNAL 6 January

Burmese Buddhist monastery opens in Finland Superior monks came from overseas to open Burmese Buddhist monastery in Kuopio, reports the Democratic Voice of Burma. “ THE FIRST Burmese Buddhist monastery in Finland was officially consecrated in Kuopio on 3 January by five monks led by Penang abbot U Pannya Wuntha and abbot U Uttara of London’s Sasana Ramsi Vihara.

The Buddha Dhamma Ramsi monastery was set up

by Burmese Buddhists living in Finland with the help of the abbots, according to monastery secretary Kyaw Htay.”

“Kyaw Htay said around 300 people took part in the ceremony, which marked the culmination of more than three years’ work.

‘The effort to set up a monastery in Finland started in 2005 when U Pannya Wuntha visited the country,’ Kyaw Htay said.

‘He provided us with the basic capital and we saved our hard-earned money to make it happen.’

Finland is one of several countries to which Burmese refugees have been resettled since 2005. Finnish law requires refugees to study or work, which has made it difficult for Burmese Buddhist monks to continue in their vocation.”

Tuula Peltonen is a Social Democrat MP from Central Finland, a special needs teacher by profession, and the first vice chairperson of the Social Democratic Women's League.

Humanity for beginners IN HER NEW YEAR’s speech to the nation, President Tarja Halonen expressed concern over the increasing incidence of violence in this country. We have an obligation, she said, to do everything in our collective power to remove this pernicious problem from our society.

THE PRESIDENT’S sentiments and concerns are shared by many of us. Last year, one of our schools again became the scene of a tragic shooting, this time in Kauhajoki. The killing was the second within the space of a year. It all seems so incomprehensible: what could possibly drive our young people to such bloody, violent acts?

The biathlon facility at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver will be designed by Finnish born Canadian Ray Kokkonen.

Finland-based company buys Aviation Systems Maintenance Finnish company Vaisala has bought Aviation Systems Maintenance, Inc. for 3.2 million dollars, reports the Kansas City Business Journal. ”VAISALA is based in Finland. Aviation Systems Maintenance is based in Overland Park and has nine employees.”

“Aviation Systems has been in business for 25 years.

It installs and provides maintenance services for aircraft instrument landing systems and weather-monitoring equipment.

Vaisala provides a range of observation and measurement products and services for meteorology, weather-critical operations and controlled environments. It has more than 1,100 employees.”

L E H T I K U VA / M A R T T I K A I N U L A I N E N

IT IS CLEAR that some of our children and adolescents suffer from anxiety and mental health problems. It is scarcely any consolation that these young must endure a lengthy waiting list before receiving therapy. Nor is medication necessarily any relief, though we are often quick to prescribe pills as treatment for sadness or trauma. We need a thorough investigation of the factors which provoke these negative feelings in the first place.

THANKS to our youngsters’ outstanding PISA results, the Finnish school system is lauded as one of the world’s best. After all, our children can count and read with the best of them. But our triumph soon fades when we turn to the rankings on child welfare, for Finnish children are among the most likely to express dissatisfaction with school. Should that not set alarm bells ringing?

NOW THERE are initiatives under way at the ministerial and

governmental level. The majority of these have emerged as a reaction to the school massacres. This is encouraging, but nevertheless these initiatives tend to resemble first aid care, such as gun restriction laws, or security procedures within schools. It is important that we get those things right, but is it not equally, important that we take action in response to precisely the things which drive a young person to carry a gun into school in the first place? hear that bullying is a serious problem in Finnish schools, and as a teacher it is one I am well aware of. Bullies and their victims are a universal feature of schools. Large class sizes often aggravate the problem, since teachers cannot monitor pupil interaction. On numerous occasions, I have personally witnessed the positive effect of identifying bullying and nipping it in the bud. Many bullies will cease their habits if they are caught the first time.

WE OFTEN

Vaisala’s dual polarization Doppler weather radar in Helsinki can detect and locate a diverse range of weather conditions.

IT IS FANTASTIC to hear that the Ministry of Education

Your Global Exhibition Partner arvelin.fi

has decided to work on reducing class sizes. I only regret that there is not the political will to regulate them by law. Municipalities are currently under huge pressure to increase their class sizes because small schools are falling victim to tightening municipal budgets.

Maintaining previous levels of service is simply not a possibility in these days of financial crisis. global economy slides towards recession it is extremely important that we safeguard people’s welfare. Although Finland in many respects maintains quality social services, our treatment of mental illness leaves room for improvement. A system which leaves a young person to wait a year before receiving professional help can scarcely be called adequate.

AS THE

OUR ATTITUDES also carry a great deal of significance.

YOUR PLACE IN THE WORLD Find it with us.

ARVELIN

INTERNATIONAL OY

If we as parents accept unresponsive and unemotional behaviour in our children, then we are in effect accepting violence. Taking other people into account, and reaching out to them, are things we need to teach and learn, despite the fact that they are part of what defines us as human beings. When it comes to basic humanity, it seems, we still have a few things to learn.

Translated by Matthew Parry.

9

10

BUSINESS

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

HELSINKI TIMES L E H T I K U VA / M I K KO S T I G

COLUMN

DAVID J. CORD is a private investor with over ten years of international experience.

Goodbye, Kirsti LAST week the long and admirable association of Marimekko and Kirsti Paakkanen came to an end. Under Paakkanen’s firm hand, the iconic company transformed from a struggling division of a conglomerate to become once again a thriving, profitable firm.

MARIMEKKO had a colourful history before Paakkanen

purchased it. Founded in 1950, it grew rapidly through the 1960s and listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange in 1974. Amer Sports purchased the company in 1985, and the design icon became a division of the conglomerate.

THE PARTNERSHIP of Marimekko and Amer Sports was not a happy one. Business suffered and the future of the company was in doubt. Much as General Motors is learning now, being an iconic company was no guarantee for financial success.

THEN Paakkanen came into the picture. She purchased

the company in 1991 and began to reorganise the business operations. It was a dangerous gamble. As Warren Buffett so succinctly stated, “Turnaround situations rarely turn.” Kirsti Paakkanen was one of those rare persons who could make a situation turn.

IN 2000,

soon after Marimekko was relisted on the stock exchange, she explained her strategy in simple terms. “When I first came to Marimekko I analysed the company’s history thoroughly: what had been done right during periods Kirsti Paakkanen was of success, and what had gone wrong one of those rare when the company persons who could failed. We decided to make a situation turn. return to the original business concept and operating model – and now that we have adhered to them, we found success again.”

Good holiday season for online stores

PAAKKANEN indeed found success for Marimekko again. Since 1996 sales have increased at a 14% rate per year. Profit increased even faster, at 22% annually. Return on equity doubled from 12% to 26%, higher than the global industry standard or the average of the companies on the Helsinki 25 index. Moreover, Paakkanen did all this with a minimal amount of debt. By the end of 2007 total debt only equalled 6% of equity.

DAV I D J . C O R D HEL SINKI TIMES

good things must come to an end. Like a benevolent dictator, Paakkanen found a successor. She entered into an agreement to sell her stake to former banker Mika Ihamuotila, who also replaced her as CEO. Last autumn, he bought half of her stake, 10%, and entered into a contract that would allow him to buy her remaining shares at a later time.

BUT ALL

UNFORTUNATELY,

the situation deteriorated since then. Equity prices fell, credit became more expensive, and Ihamuotila had to back out on the planned purchase of the remainder of Paakkanen’s stake. Paakkanen was clearly annoyed, hinting that she might make a bid for the company or come back as CEO. It was all a show, though. In the background, she found buyers for the remainder of her shares and rode off into the sunset.

SO ENDS an era. Marimekko remains in good hands; both

CEO Ihamuotila and new Chairman Pekka Lundmark are very capable businessmen. Both individuals have been interviewed by this paper in the past, and there are no indications that the new management are in any way inferior to Paakkanen. But we will still miss her. david@davidcord.com

Amazon.com had a record-breaking holiday season in 2008, with the peak day for shipments being 44 per cent higher than in 2007.

Internet retailers throughout the world are currently outperforming traditional sellers.

DURING the current economic slowdown consumer spending has dropped considerably, but the one segment of the retail industry that has proved remarkably resilient is the online sector.

The powerhouse Amazon. com has once again led the field, having another recordbreaking holiday season.

Amazon.com had 6.3 million items ordered on its peak day, 15 December, and shipped to over 210 countries during the holiday season.

“We are extremely grateful to our customers,” said founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in a statement. “We wish everyone the very best for the coming year.”

Bezos has good reason to be grateful. Amazon.com’s peak order day was up 17 per cent from the year before, while the peak day for shipments was 44 per cent higher than 2007. In typical eye-catching fashion, Amazon.com announced several

interesting facts, such as it sold enough Breaking Dawn books from the Twilight series that if stacked on end they would reach the summit of Mt. Everest eight times.

Amazon.com is best known for its book store, but it has since expanded to a number of different consumer goods selling a wide variety of products, from plumbing fixtures to electronics. MP3 players, toys and high-definition televisions were particularly sought after this Christmas.

The scale, flexibility and convenience of the online retailer allowed it to significantly outperform its rivals and announce new record sales. Investors, pleasantly startled by the news of Amazon.com’s record season, pushed the share price up almost 4 per cent.

Global e-retailers show strength Interestingly, online retailers appear to have performed better than their physical store counterparts world-

wide. The Wall Street Journal reported that consumer spending in America was predictably terrible. Luxury retailers had a 35 per cent fall in sales while women’s apparel stores had a drop over 23 per cent. Online retailers did relatively much better. Their modest 2 per cent decline in sales was the best performance of any retail segment.

The situation is similar in the United Kingdom. Internet retail group IMRG estimated that shoppers spent 103.6 million pounds on online Christmas Day purchases alone, up 23 per cent from the year before. E-shoppers continued on Boxing Day. Experian announced that the busiest day of the year for UK online retailers was 26 December. Websites selling apparel, groceries or alcohol had the largest increase in traffic.

Finnish sites thriving Finnish online stores seem to have had a positive year as well. Verkkokauppa.com has not released its Christ-

mas sales figures yet, but the electronics retailer was having an excellent 2008. During the first three quarters it sold over 9 million products for a 22 per cent increase in sales.

The Modern Times Group also had a good year. During the first nine months of the year its online division had sales increase 13 per cent.

It owns websites such as CDON.COM, BET24 and Nelly.com. The Group was able to increase sales with only a slight decline in operating margin.

Stockmann primarily sells through physical stores, but it also has a significant online presence. Its Hobby Hall division as well as its Akateeminen kirjakauppa (academic book store) sell goods via the internet. Communications Manager Juhana Häme declined to give specifics about Stockmann’s online sales prior to the release of their upcoming annual report, but some information was provided in the company’s stock exchange releases.

Hobby Hall had sales fall 3.2 per cent in Finland, but this was largely due to extremely high sales of digital televisions and digiboxes in 2007. These electronic devices also had a decline in retail prices which hurt the overall sales figures. Although sales did fall, Hobby Hall outperformed the Stockmann Group as a whole which had sales in December fall 5.3 per cent.

HELSINKI Business Hub

HELSINKI TIMES

BUSINESS BUSINESS BUSINESS

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

11

Promoting Helsinki to the world

A D A M L L OY D M O N A G H A N

The Helsinki Business Hub is the international business promotion agency for the Greater Helsinki area. Their job is to showcase Helsinki to businesses around the world. Here we profile and interview their team.

Tatu Laurila Title: Chief Executive Officer Education: University of Helsinki Past Positions: Culminatum Innovation, Venture Cup Finland Foundation, University of Helsinki

“It is difficult to imagine a more inspiring career. We are international, we work for the common good and are opportunity focused. Helsinki Business Hub has a lot to gain in 2009. There are many new attractions for international investors and people in Helsinki.

We have the new Aalto University, our geographic location between Asia and Europe is growing more important, and emerging economies like China are strengthening their presence in Europe.

Our work is a catalyst and engine that makes all the well-kept secrets of Greater Helsinki appeal to international companies and talent.

We help all those interested learn more and settle their operations in the region in a very pragmatic matter.

For an international investor Helsinki provides an innovative but also stable ecosystem for new business, service or product development. Helsinki is an excellent base to handle the whole Baltic Sea Region, including north-west Russia. Helsinki offers a great quality of life including some pretty exotic flavours, like skating on the sea ice downtown! Also, we can’t forget the great people!”

Arto Käyhkö Title: Director, Customer Delivery & Operations Education: Vaasa University, University of Helsinki Past Positions: TeliaSonera, Sonera Plaza, Nokia

“I plan, partially coordinate and operate all of our customer-related operations. I work with our customers and partners on a variety of is-

sues, such as finding a suitable location or a country-level innovation hub agreement.

The Helsinki Business Hub can be seen as a free-of -charge outsourced business development unit for a company. We can give significant benefits for any company who is looking for markets, skills or a winning location for their R&D operations. We know the area and its players and can help for a smooth and fast start for business.

Whenever someone is asking about business in the Helsinki area we can be of help. The Helsinki metropolitan area wants to grow and attract new international investments, and we will do our best to make that happen.”

Ann Zhang Title: Chief Representative, China Education: Lanzhou University Past Positions: Agilent Technologies, FOSS Analytical, LG Chemical

“As the representative of Helsinki Business Hub in China, I’m responsible for all contacts, developing the market plan, setting up the office, building up partnerships and generating investment leads in China.

Last year we focused on image building and developing partnerships. We have aroused the interest of Chinese companies and Chinese policy makers towards Helsinki. In 2009 we will focus more on generating investment leads and results from China to Helsinki. We expect to get a few qualified investment cases from China which fit with our strategic target sectors, such as knowledge intensive businesses.

We provide professional investment services to our clients. We give comprehensive information on business and investment opportunities in Helsinki and tailormade assistance. With these

The Helsinki Business Hub team from top left Micah Gland, Tatu Laurila, Arto Käyhkö and from bottom left Yueching Ho, Johanna Korhonen and Ann Zhang.

services, our customers can more easily set up businesses in Finland and make a successful future.”

Johanna Korhonen Title: Director, Communications Education: New York University, University of Helsinki Past Positions: Dexterius, Viestintätoimisto AC-Sanafor, OpenMobile Finland, StoraEnso

our country know that Helsinki has a lot to offer!

All information about interesting projects, ongoing or planned, that have potential for attracting international business are of interest to us.

We certainly don’t know the future, so while we are working with current strengths that Helsinki has to offer, we really need to know about upcoming ones. All ideas are welcome!”

Micah Gland “My job involves a lot of networking with different departments of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen as well as organisations that we cooperate with on different projects. Communications is an aspect of everything the company does publicly: the visual identity, key messages, web presence, and providing information to stakeholders and clients. I was very proud to hear that our visual identity received a Red Dot award in the communications design category.

We are here to promote Helsinki to businesses and professionals. It would be great if every resident of Helsinki would take it upon themselves to make sure people outside

Title: Director, Business Development Education: Helsinki School of Economics Past Positions: MobileZoom, OpenMobile Finland, Lionbridge

“There are three main areas on which I focus my energies: intelligence work, internal development and strategic and operational planning. I also supervise or have supervised a number of different projects like the Otaniemi Microcluster project, BaltMet Promo, and a Paris-Helsinki ‘Cities as Living Laboratories’ event.

For 2009, I am looking forward to executing our plans so that we become a more mature, more profes-

www.helsinkibusinesshub.fi

This page is provided by Greater Helsinki Promotion.

sional organisation. A lot of the intelligence work and internal development will start to make a real difference because it will make the lives of my colleagues easier, which will in turn give them more time and energy to focus on truly important things.

The people in Helsinki should know that we exist to serve the public good. If we succeed in our mission, the result will be a Helsinki that is a thriving international metropolis, where wealth and employment are created.”

Yueching Ho Title: Business Development Manager Education: University of Helsinki Past Positions: Centre for Liaison Interpreting in the Helsinki Region, City of Helsinki Urban Facts

“My work is divided into three areas: administration, business development and supervising a few projects we have with our partners. In administration I make sure that our infrastructure is working; in business development I have a support role in projects; and in project supervising I work on several projects with our

partners, like the real estate fair next March.

For 2009 I am looking forward to seeing our sales management processes implemented in our everyday work, and also giving business development support in making our sales more efficient and smart. I will also be in charge of the Investment Drivers Development programme next year. This is focused on influencing and participating in the development of the key investment drivers of Greater Helsinki.

It has been great to work in Helsinki Business Hub, because you get to work with amazing people from the private and public sectors as well as the university world.

It is very exciting.

Did you know …

About 3.5% of Finnish GDP is spent on research and development, over 1% higher than the OECD average.

12

BUSINESS

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

HELSINKI TIMES

L E H T I K U VA / A N T T I A I M O - KO I V I S T O

rency. The Government at the time was careful, downplaying the European Monetary Union. In 1999 Member of Parliament Erkki Tuomioja pointed out that if the euro had been a focus of the national referendum on the EU, Finland probably would have voted no.

At the time, it was a difficult decision. Finland was alone among the Nordic countries in deciding to join the euro zone. Finland has historically liked to move in lockstep with Sweden, but our influential western neighbour declined to join the euro. With a fair amount of trepidation, Finland moved into the euro zone without its Nordic partners.

Commemorative two euro coins bearing this design will be issued by all euro-area member states in celebration of the ten year euro.

Ten years of the euro Finland was a founding member of the euro club. At the tenth anniversary, Finns look back on the history of the European currency.

DAV I D J . C O R D HEL SINKI TIMES

ago Finland took a step into the unknown, deciding to discard the 139 year-old Finnish markka for the new European Currency Unit, the euro. Now on the

TEN YEARS

ten year anniversary of the euro few have found reason to regret the decision.

Before Finland joined the euro zone, there were many reasons to be apprehensive.

It was a hard choice, with political and economic rationales butting heads with an

emotional attachment to a patriotic symbol. Worse yet, no one knew what to expect, because such an undertaking had never been attempted before.

Fears of the euro A decade ago many Finns

LEARNWELL OY

COR PO R AT E L ANGUAG E TR A ININ G

were worried about the loss of independent monetary policy. In the past Finland had used the trick of currency devaluation in times of economic stress. By devaluing the currency, Finnish exports became cheaper overseas. This was especially helpful to the important forestry industry. With no control of monetary policy, this tool disappeared from the policy makers’ tool box.

Ordinary people were distressed at the idea of abandoning part of the national conscious, the Finnish cur-

Success of a new currency Some Finnish politicians at the time had political reasons to adopt the euro. They hoped that such a move would strengthen the relationship between Finland and the EU for foreign policy and security reasons. They believed that if Finland were part of the ‘inner-circle’ of EU politics, it would be more likely to have its views heard.

While political aspects were important, economic considerations played the major role in choosing the join the euro zone. After time, it appears those optimistic hopes have yielded some fruits. Economic growth is higher, interest rates are lower and unemployment is almost half of what it was

prior to joining the monetary union.

“Entering the euro area was an easier process than many had expected,” Speaker of Parliament Sauli Niinistö told the Dow Jones News Wire last week. “It was a success for Finland partly due to the fact that other Nordic countries chose not to join.

In a way it promoted Finnish self-confidence.”

The euro promoted more than Finnish self-confidence.

It also promoted the self-confidence of the entire integrated European economy.

The European Central Bank has worked hard to keep a stable currency and strong monetary system. The global financial community has embraced the euro: in 1999 only 18 per cent of foreign exchange reserves were held in the European currency while now the rate is 27 per cent.

Some people disliked the idea of joining the euro zone then, and remain unconvinced of the currency’s usefulness now. “I hated that we joined,” says Heljä Kokko. “Everything has gotten more expensive.”

Other individuals have been won over by time. Fears of an economic collapse or of hordes of Germans buying every summer cottage in the Finnish countryside has not come to pass. It is difficult to give up a national symbol, but many people have come to accept the new currency.

“I didn’t like it at the time,” Karri Salminen explains.

“But now I think it’s only a good thing!”

Learnwell Oy is a Helsinki based company, providing corporate language training and translation services in over 18 languages to companies, including: 9 Corporate Finnish courses 9 Swedish and Finnish courses to prepare you for the language proficiency test for Finnish citizenship application 9 English conversation classes 9 Russian courses 9 Courses in 12 other languages (from French, German to Spanish or Chinese) Our goal: to teach you precisely what you require using dynamic, creative, fun methods.

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www.thelanguagemenu.com

SPORT

HELSINKI TIMES

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

13

L E H T I K U VA / M A R K K U U L A N D E R

Blues bow out of CHL The International Ice Hockey Federation celebrated its centenary with a new competition for 2008-09. Finland dropped out at the semi-final stage, but the new competition looks set to rejuvenate European club hockey.

EGAN RICHARDSON HEL SINKI TIMES

participation in the inaugural Champions Hockey League came to an end with Espoo Blues' disappointing 4-1 semi-final second leg loss at home to Zurich Lions on 7 January. Zurich's Finnish goaltender Ari Sulander saved 33 shots to keep Blues at bay, just one day after his 40th birthday.

Zurich were favourites to advance when they arrived to Finland, after a 6-3 victory in the first leg ensured they could not lose the tie without a penalty shoot-out, thanks to the points system in the Champions Hockey League.

The system awards three points for a win and one point for a draw, even in the knockout stage, with teams equal on points after both legs of a knock-out tie going to penalties to determine the winner. Blues have an appalling record in shoot-outs, and would have needed to win

FINNISH

the second leg in normal time just to get that far.

With 500 Zurich fans out shouting the home support at the LänsiAuto Areena, the atmosphere was raucous even when Blues went 2-0 down in the first period. Both goals came on power play, from Espoo's first two penalties.

Blues rallied in the second period, but they could not find a fluent offence, and when they did manage to get shots in Sulander was there to save Zurich. Blues were magnanimous in defeat.

Zurich Better “We played well tonight, but Zurich just played better,” said Blues Head Coach Petri Matikainen.

“They skated well and they are a good organized team,” said Blues defenceman Dale Clark. “We showed a big difference from last game and I think it shows a lot of character how we battled back.”

The competition has now established itself as a major at-

traction for Finnish and Swiss clubs, a gratifying result for Ovation Sports, the marketing company retained to give hockey its own version of the UEFA Champions League.

The parallels are clear to anyone who has watched both competitions. The rinks and jerseys are clean, with only two sponsors allowed to advertise in CHL arenas. The competition has a hard fought group stage, then a knock-out round and final. The best countries get to send more clubs to the tournament, which ensures a minimum standard is maintained.

CHL good for clubs The step change from the old days of European competition, when a weekend tournament would see a few teams playing at half pace, makes the CHL an attractive proposition for fans.

“I am absolutely sure that it will be a big thing for Finnish clubs in the future, they

Zurich Lions goaltender Ari Sulander watches team mate Mathias Seger collide with Espoo Blues’ Toni Kähkönen during the second leg semi-final match of the Champion Hockey League.

all want to participate in it,” said CHL Media Officer Timo Walden. “Blues and Kärpät committed to the tournament this year and played at a high intensity, setting a good example and really boosting the competition here.”

While the reaction in Sweden has been more muted, Espoo have shown Finnish clubs that the excitement, full houses and prize money are an excellent way to lift a club in the middle of the season.

“The first Blues game against HV71 was the most memorable game for me. Before that nobody really knew how the competition would be received, if the arena would be full or if we would get good media coverage. As it turned out, Blues beat the Swedish club and everybody was very excited – it really gave the competition a lift in Finland.”

Zurich will now face Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the final, over two legs. The winner

of the final will play against an NHL team for the Victoria Cup, as part of the IIHF marketing link-up with the NHL. Finnish qualifiers for next season's CHL will be the regular season winner and the play-off winner in the 200809 season. After Blues took a total of 700,000 euros in prize money this year (not including gate receipts and other spin-offs), the race for domestic success will have a little bit more spice than usual.

Helsinki gets its skates on L E H T I K U VA / T O R U YA M A N A K A

M A N U PA AV O L A HEL SINKI TIMES

FROM JANUARY 20th to 25th

Finland’s Kiira Korpi, one of the hopefuls at this year’s European Figureskating Championships.

sudoku

Helsinki will host the European Championships in figure skating. Finnish hopes have never been higher, as Kiira Korpi, Laura Lepistö and Susanna Pöykiö all have realistic chances of a medal. But they face strong opposition from 38 other contestants, and near-perfect performances may be required for a podium finish. The reigning European champion, Italy’s Carolina Kostner is the favourite, having skated the highest-scoring performance of the season.

SOLUTION ON PAGE 22

The men’s competition is perhaps more of an open question, since much depends on who can successfully perform the demanding quadruple jumps on the day.

Tomáš Verner of the Czech Republic and Brian Joubert of France, two former champions, are perhaps frontrunners here also. However, Joubert’s countryman Yannick Ponsero and Belgium’s Kevin Van Perren are also strong contenders. Nordic medal hopes may rest on the shoulders of Sweden’s Kristoffer Berntsson. The Finns for their part must put their trust in the tunes of a tramp, as Antti Nurmenkari will perform his freestyle programme to music by Charlie Chaplin.

The pairs competition features the reigning world and European champions Savchenko and Szolkowy representing Germany. They should face the stiffest challenge for the title this time round from the top Russian and Ukrainian pairs. The ice dancing section may suffer from the absence of France’s current world titleholders Delobel and Schoenfelder, but local pair Klimova and Välimäki at least means the host country is represented at the event for the first time in five years.

Ticket demand for the ladies’ event has been so high that the freestyle programme is already sold out.

Some seats should still be available for the other three events.

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14

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

HELSINKI TIMES

The Czech presidency answers the most frequently asked questions What are the Czech presidency’s priorities with regard to the conclusions of the European Council summit in December? How will the Czech Republic manage the financial crisis? Prime Minister Topolánek answers some of these questions.

This spread is provided by the Embassy of Czech Republic 1. What are the priorities of the Czech presidency and how will the conclusions of the European Council summit in December be followed up?

After bilateral consultations with representatives of the EU Member States, the presidents of the European Commission and the European Parliament, the Czech presidency has, under the motto “A Europe without barriers” formulated its priorities around the three ‘E’s – economy, energy and external relations.

Following agreement on the energy-climate package, the economic recovery and a financialcrisis solution plan and foreign policy, the December summit enables the EU to extend furter in the first half of 2009 its policies on the abovementioned three areas: ensuring energy security through diversification of sources; strengthening Europe’s competitiveness by promoting R&D and SMEs; developing the “Eastern partnership”;

and continuing the integration of countries in the western Balkans.

In the area of transatlantic relations, which the Czech Republic considers to be the basis of international security policy, it is signifi cant that the Council of the EU – in the light of existing global threats – has pronounced itself in favour of full complementarity with NATO, in other words favouring mutual covering of military and civilian needs during joint operations and co-operation on larger projects.

2. How do you see the French presidency and its outcomes?

Don’t you think that it will be difficult to follow the expressive style of French president Nicolas Sarkozy?

France, and its president Nicolas Sarkozy in particular, has done a great job. The French presidency had to face two unexpected events: the Russia–Georgia conflict on the diplomatic level and the financial crisis

on the economic level.

The matter-of-fact way that the French president under these circumstances managed to lead the Member States’ governments towards key agreements in December is inspiring, so I appreciate even more that it was Nicolas Sarkozy, as well as representatives of the European institutions and other Member States, who directly expressed their support for the Czech presidency.

Our meetings have always been held in a friendly and open atmosphere, from which we have managed to agree upon a smooth handover of the Presidency.

3. How will the Czech Republic proceed to eliminate negative effects of the financial crisis? Will it be able to do it as a country that has not adopted the euro?

The Czech Republic appreciates that the EU countries reached an agreement under the French presidency. The financial crisis and its im-

pact must be tackled both by emphasising the preservation of existing economic rules (Stability Pact) and free-market principles (without protectionist measures), and by respecting differing positions of the Member States. The Czech presidency wants to do its utmost to maintain confidence in the market system and support reform of the existing global institutions (such as the IMF). The fact that the Czech Republic has not adopted the euro gives it the opportunity to moderate the ongoing debate on the single currency without passion. We are not directly hit by the recession of the euro area, but we can sense its impact – for example through exports. A joint solution is therefore in our interest.

4. How important is ratification of the Lisbon Treaty for the Czech presidency?

The ratification process for the Lisbon Treaty continues. At European level, following the Irish request, the summit guar-

anteed the sovereignty of the Member States in security and tax-policy matters. Therefore, Ireland has the possibility to repeat the referendum that took place in June 2008, when Irish voters refused the document because it lacked these safeguards.

This may happen during the Czech presidency.

The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic has given its opinion on the six points concerning the Lisbon Treaty, referred to it by the Senate, and did not find them in conflict with the Czech Constitution. This made it possible to continue the ratification process in both chambers of the Parliament. The Chamber of Deputies is expected to give its opinion on the document in February 2009.

5. During the Czech Presidency, the new US administration will take office. Will the plans for the antimissile systems in the Czech Republic and Poland change?

Even the EU Member States are not unanimous on this issue…

The new US administration will certainly change its foreign-security-policy priorities, including military projects and operations. However, I do not think that the role that the US plays in today’s international system will change dramatically.

Members of Barack Obama’s government have indicated that they will seek to ensure the highest possible efficiency of the antimissile system, which is also in the interest of the Czech Republic. New arguments may even help convince citizens who have not yet made up their minds – and politicians in both the Czech Republic and the rest of the EU – that the project is a meaningful one and dispel Russia’s concerns. In my view, Moscow’s attitude so far, and its threats to deploy missiles in the Kaliningrad region aimed at the Czech Republic and Poland in case the antimissile shield is built, are examples of unjustified intimidation.

At the December summit, the EU Member

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

HELSINKI TIMES

15

The map of the Czech Republic is full of preserved historical towns, old castles, glamorous chateaux, magnificent cathedrals and beautifully decorated churches (left). Křivoklát Castle (right) Pilgrimage Church of St John of Nepomuk at Zelená Hora.

Popisek: Protection of Czech nature is high on the list of the government´s goals, leading to the preservation of significant places in the Czech Republic that have unique character and variety. Český ráj natural reserve.

States agreed that the global threats identified in 2003 in the European Security Strategy are still relevant, but new risks keep appearing. Defence co-operation must inevitably take place at international level. Indeed, 21 EU Member States are also NATO members, and NATO already committed itself to building an antimissile shield several years ago.

6. How important will the western Balkans be for the Czech EU presidency?

The western Balkans is geographically and historically a natural priority for Czech foreign policy, and logically also for the Presidency. We want to contribute to the progress in the accession negotiations with Croatia and also support the continuing integration of other countries in the region.

It can only be the level of preparedness of these countries that determines how fast they will manage to integrate into the European structures. From the Czech point of view, only further integration can solidify the fragile stability of the region.

The Czech Republic has, along with several other EU countries, recognised the sovereignty of Kosovo – emphasising that the same rules apply for Kosovo as for all other countries. On 9 December EULEX, a European civil

mission, was started after great difficulty. We want to make it as efficient as possible.

7. How strong is the mandate of the Czech Government, considering that the presidency is at a time when forces in the Czech Parliament are balanced and the European Parliament is facing elections?

The Government coalition and the strongest opposition party are willing to agree on a calm progress of the Presidency – to avoid making it a hostage of political struggle and make it a success.

Agreement on the Treaty of Lisbon and the anti-ballistic missile defence system is fundamental at present. It is in the interest of both parties to solve the technicalities, such as to agree that when a number of ministers, who are also MPs, are absent from Parliament, the same number of opposition MPs abstain from voting.

The upcoming European Parliament elections mean that the Czech presidency only has three months for practical legislative co-operation with MEPs. According to the resolutions of the December summit, it is in the first half of 2009 that the president of the European Commission will be elected. We adjusted the programme of our presidency accordingly, and the pres-

ident of the European Parliament and the president of the European Commission have both expressed their support.

8. The slogan of the Czech presidency aroused controversial reactions. Did you expect that?

The slogan was meant to draw the attention of the Czech public to the EU presidency and, judging from the response in the media, it was a success. The slogan in Czech is self-confident, which is not so apparent in another language, but when we see respected personalities around the world playing with the sugar cube, we are reminded that the sugar cube is a traditional Czech product that has become a household item in every continent. So we still have something to offer, even today. The English translations of the slogan varied from the harsh “We will give Europe a taste of its own medicine” to the literal “We will make it sweet for Europe”. They will now have to come to terms with the second part of the campaign; when the original slogan obtains a new and unequivocally positive meaning.

9. How well is the Czech Republic prepared for the presidency from a technical and administrative standpoint?

The Czech government started to prepare for the presidency in 2006. On

a political level, it concerned developing a progressive formulation of priorities and a harmonisation of national and European interests. On a technical level, it meant making sure that the administrative and organisational capacities are sufficient.

In 2007, the Czech Republic invested 200 million korunas and a year later 900 million korunas. We can also add another billion korunas for the presidency itself. The ministries have a further 1.4 million korunas at their disposal, which includes costs that they would pay anyway as part of the EU agenda, so the state budget won’t suffer from it.

More than 1500 people with a working knowledge of English, and in some cases of French, will work for the presidency.

Some 400 jobs were created temporally and they will disappear before the end of 2009. This also applies to some positions in the permanent representation of the Czech Republic to the European Union in Brussels, where the number of employees doubled from 110 to 220.

The regions where the events will take place often take part in the preparations. The Ministry of the Interior has adopted a special measure to ensure the security of all participants.

The most visible proof of Czech cultural maturity are the works of art that can be seen in theatres, cinemas, libraries, globally recognised galleries and concert halls. International Music Festival Český Krumlov.

Factbook

Area total:

78,866 sq km, land: 77,276 sq km, water: 1,590 sq km Population: 10,325,941 Capital: Prague, population 1,198,094 President: Vaclav Klaus Prime Minister: Mirek Topolánek Member of: EU, United Nations, NATO, WTO, IMF, IBRD, EBRD, OECD, UNESCO. Currency: 1 Czech korunas (CZK) = 100 hellers GDP 2007: 6,6 Avrg. inflation 2007: 2,8 The Czech Republic is linked to the rich historical tradition of the Czech Crown Lands, especially with the democratic heritage of 1918–38 , when the Czechoslovak Republic was one of the most advanced European nations. At the time, it was considered an island of democracy and civil liberties in Central Europe, as well as an active partner cooperating internationally with democratic countries.

European Union membership In 1993, the Czech Republic expressed an interest in becoming a member of the EU. The official application for membership was submitted three years later. On May 1, 2004, the economic growth, social stability and a successful referendum resulted in the country‘s accession to a united Europe during the largest enlargment of the EU from 15 to 25 member states.

The Czech Republic is an advanced Central European country with increasing standards of living. Its rich history has left a significant historical legacy, spectacular architecture and beautiful cultural works. The Czech Republic is a treasury of beautiful historical as well as contemporary European art.

The Czech Republic is located at the heart of Central Europe. This small nation also boasts a host of spectacular natural wonders.

16

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

FASHION

HELSINKI TIMES

Jasmin Santanen Paris-based fashion designer Jasmin Santanen draws inspiration from sources as diverse as philosophy, the arts and nature.

L I I S A VA L O N E N

in the land of Makebelive A I J A S A L O VA A R A HEL SINKI TIMES

words that describe Jasmin Santanen´s design are quality and enchantment. During her 17 years of living in Paris and working in different areas of the fashion industry, she has learnt genuine French fashion knowhow. “I have always been in love with Paris. The roots and the heart of fashion design are in France,” Santanen says. She always knew that she wanted to become a designer. Years of hard work are now paying off, as she makes her way to the top in the competitive world of fashion. She now plans to expand her business further. “I would like to design for men and children as well,” she says. Santanen recently designed a collection of jewellery for the Finnish brand, Rubens.

THE KEY

For Jasmin Santanen, the art of fashion design at its best requires that every item created is unique and must be crafted with the same care and attention to detail needed in polishing fine diamonds.

Is she French or Finnish?

“Being Finnish gives you certain credibility: it is easy for people to trust you. In France, I have learnt the way I work: the sophisticated way to cut, handle and elaborate the textiles. In Finland the weather conditions set strict limits on which materials can be used.

Finland has not had the long tradition and culture of fashion design that France has, but Finns today travel a lot and they are very interested in trying new ways, new designs, more feminine cuttings and materials,” she says.

“In Finland people often tend to think that one has to have the perfect body to wear elegant, luxury dresses. But a dress that is cut into the right

size will look beautiful no matter what body type you have.

For me, high-quality materials and stylish, vigorous cuttings are vital. I don’t want to draw complicated things just for the sake of it. A piece of clothing must not be flamboyant, but there can and must be a hint of playfulness. It's good to be a bit strident, but how you do it is another matter,” she adds.

Where does she find inspiration?

“I want my collections to represent one, clear idea and every piece of clothing to follow that same red line. There are so many pieces in one collection that there has to be something that keeps them all together. In one of my first collections I used Marie Antoinette as source of inspiration, and the next one was followed by a collection inspired by Charlie Chaplin and the female characters of the movies of the silent era. My upcoming Autumn-Winter 2009-10 collection is influenced by the Cold War era and its many different faces and directions. It is fascinating how in the former Eastern Bloc countries people managed to create luxuriant clothing with simple materials. Arts and self- expression flourished. Excessive materialism often kills creativity,” affirms Santanen.

French magic “Even the most everyday piece of clothing should have a hint of magic about it. A piece of clothing must create emotions. If it is too ordinary, it has no reason to exist in today’s extremely competitive world,” says Santanen. “Eve-

Finnish Fashion Fair 27-28 January: – Finnish catwalk trade fair – Shoe and Bag, trade fair for the Finnish shoe industry, agents and importers Organiser: Helsingin Messut Oy Wanha Satama Pikku Satamakatu 3-5

ry piece of clothing is unique and the working process is very delicate, like polishing a diamond. The most difficult part of my work is to create high-standard design within the limitations of time and personnel. My first collection had 30 pieces. At the moment my collections consist of 60 to 90 pieces. We are about to expand into the Japanese market, and they require collections of 200 pieces. That is an enormous challenge for us,” she explains.

Who wears Jasmin Santanen?

“Because of the relatively high prices of my clothes, I would say my work is typically worn by the career woman who wants and perhaps needs to wear luxurious clothes, but with classical elements.

She will not be someone impressed by passing seasonal fads. I do not believe in making shocking clothes. A woman's appearance should charm,” concludes Santanen.

And incidentally, Jasmin Santanen proved to be as enchanting in person as the clothes she designs.

Jasmin Santanen: – Left her native Finland at the age of 18 – Studied fashion design in New York and Paris – Founded The Jasmin Santanen Company in 2004 – Launched the ready-towear collections in March 2004 – Presented the first Jasmin Santanen couture collection in 2007 – In 2008 she was selected as one of the “ten on-therise designers worth watching” by Style.com – Plans to continue her current prêt a porter and couture lines as well as expand into other subsidiaries.

Samples from the recently launched Jasmin Santanen Spring Summer Collection 2009. The collection, entitled “The land of make belive”, expresses the joys and optimism of the spring and summer months.

FASHION

HELSINKI TIMES

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

17

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18

LIFESTYLE

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

HELSINKI TIMES SC ANS TOCKPHOTO

COLUMN COLUMN

LESLIE HYDE

Troubled seas 2009 begins with a certain foreboding that something from the deep is about to drown us. The financial crisis does not seem the usual downturn that eventually becomes an upturn. No one knows where things are going. No one is in control, and the US is no longer able to act as the powerhouse for economic renewal. Instead, we are urged to keep on buying as though nothing has happened – but people around the world are not doing this, convinced that it does not make sense. Are they right?

MY HOLIDAY reading was the outstanding Europe Between the Oceans: 9000 BC–AD 1000 by Barry Cunliffe. The book sets out the early economic development of Europe, which was shaped by its geography. Cunliffe illustrates time progression through a sea metaphor conceptualised by the French historian, Fernand Braudel: "There is the deep time of geographic change; above this the slow stream encompassing historical eras and on the surface the choppy seas of everyday events." If we keep on consuming, won’t we be scudding on a sea of events in ever bigger and better toy boats while ignoring the forceful currents below?

Industrial processes today are leading to deep-rooted changes that can bring about a tsunami-like catastrophe, yet every international agreement on climate change has exemption clauses for the polluters. Finland is no exception.

Finns died in the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, creating the biggest Finnish peacetime disaster of modern times. The anniversary has become a sad period in our holiday season. Almost everyone knows someone who suffered in the disaster, which demonstrates that Finland is affected by what happens around the world.

SOME 180

in the jostling for the next presidency is Sauli Niinistö, who himself survived the catastrophe. I hope that commenting on this is not upsetting, but it is a reminder of how connected we are.

Niinistö is the right-wing candidate and a victory for him could increase calls for NATO membership. Former president and Nobel Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari vociferously backs this notion, stating that Finland should belong to all European organisations. He has been criticised for re-Finlandising the country; but this time to accommodate the US super power. An exaggerated claim, perhaps, but one can understand the criticism. To deny that NATO is a military alliance aimed at Russia avoids certain questions that must be considered. Perhaps those who support a strong pro-US military line are in fact lining up with the new Eastern Europe, instead of backing ‘Old Europe’ Foreign policy must always be long term. For some we are now in a new post-Soviet era, for others this is just how it looks on the choppy seas of the surface – yet nothing much has changed down in the deeper currents that decide whether we sink or swim.

THE FRONTRUNNER

The pearls and perils of internet-based radio S T E P H E N M C K AY HEL SINKI TIMES

The BBC Radio website contains a kaleidoscopic cornucopia of talk radio for those of us post-antenna or out of range. This Radio on Demand system allows one to select from the largest audio library in the world. There are news programmes. There is comedy spanning generations. There are factual programmes such as Thinking Allowed and In our Time.

There is drama in abundance and science from the fictional to the factual. Each of these is superbly scripted and presented. This fantastic library therapeutically includes the type of output that made me throw away the TV; the type of shows that are so riddled with control-freak, rightwing sputum that you find yourself yelling obscenities at the machine that dared to bring such noxious verbiage into your house. Or “therapy”, as I like to call it.

With such variety you would think that every visit would return distinct selections. Sadly, no. Like a customer at a Chinese takeaway, there’s a tendency to ask for the same thing over and over until you are sick of your choice. The problem with bingeing on a classic drama series is that you see formulas appearing.

I have always been a fan of Sherlock Holmes. When very young I followed the bread crumbs of clues skilfully laid out by Conan Doyle. I marvelled at the ingenuity of the sleuth. I re-read the books in later years and enjoyed the varied characterisations superbly brought to life by the TV adaptations.

With Radio on Demand, I’m sad to say, I overdosed on Mr Holmes. Every evening for a fortnight I foolishly partook of my pleasurable nectar.

Locked away in the Nordic forest I overdosed on Sherlock. The subtle clues, the bread crumbs, became lurid-

ly painted breeze blocks that I stub my toes on. The onceintriguing twists and turns became the Ladybird book of Arithmetic for the Hard of Thinking. The once-fantastic characterisations became a dreary lesson in the revolting English class system of the period.

Sherlock is bored and indulging in his destructive habit. Watson is being motherly. A nice middle-class woman appears at Baker Street. Sherlock determines the route she took there.

She’s impressed. Sherlock solves the case and returns to the doldrums. Screeching violin and roll the credits. 1+2=3.

In my overdosed state I ache to hear the following dialogue: “I hope the delay at Chatham didn’t cause you too much distress, Miss Harper,” “I’m sorry, Mr Holmes. I don’t understand.”

“Ah, my dear. You came from Margate on the 10.00

a.m. train. The journey to Victoria should take two hours but I notice that you arrived here at 12.40 p.m.

While teaching philosophy to the Dalai Lama in Tibet I happened to study the statistics of British Rail, especially the points system at Chatham.

They are notoriously faulty at this time of year due to the effect that the humidity of the southern autumnal air has on the leaves falling on the mechanisms.”

“Em, sorry, Mr Holmes.

I’m late because I stopped for a pee.”

Oh what an overdosed cynic I've become!

I know it’s revolting of me to reduce Doyle’s work to such facile points, but that’s what overdosing on Sherlock does to you. Let this be a warning to those feeding at the trough of BBC internet radio. Binge listening sours your palate.

The outstanding BBC Radio on Demand service is free of charge and can be found by visiting www.bbc. co.uk/radio. I recommend you start your varied diet with the menu offered under ‘Radio 4’ but I warn you against gorging on a specific genre.

CULTURE

HELSINKI TIMES

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

19

DOCPOINT

A montage of Beckett L E H T I K U VA / M A R K K U U L A N D E R

Theatre director Peter Brook’s production Fragments will be performed for three nights in Espoo Cultural Centre.

RO B I N D E W A N HEL SINKI TIMES

THE CHANCE to see high quality international theatre performed in English in Finland is rare. Espoo City Theatre presents such an opportunity in the beginning of February when they stage world-famous director Peter Brook’s production of Fragments. The theatre piece is a visionary interpretation based on four of Samuel Beckett’s short plays: Rough for Theatre I, Rockaby,

Act Without Words II, Come and go and the poem Neither.

Together with his assistant Marie Hélène Estienne, Peter Brook has created a play that demands the spectator’s full attention, promising to deliver a profound experience.

Fragments was initially created in French at Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris in October 2006 and was later recreated in an English version which has toured major European cities. For the 2009 tour, a new cast consisting of Hayley Car-

michael, Antonio Gil Martinez and César Sarachu will star in the production.

Consistent with much of Beckett’s original work, Fragments is “a clean, uncluttered, minimalist play. At the same time it is poetic and also fun.

It slips fluently from tragedy to comedy and back again.”

Beckett is credited with developing a type of drama that dispenses with conventional plot and the unities of place and time in order to focus on essential components of the human condition. A recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969, he is considered one of the most influential writers of the later half of the 20th century. A native of Ireland, he, like fellow compatriot and mentor James Joyce, lived most of his life in France.

He is regarded as a perfectionist and in this respect Brook’s direction aims for a seamless harmony between voice and breath, movement and stillness, rhythm, speech and silence. will be performed in Louhi Hall, Espoo Cultural Centre, for three nights only: 4-6 February, at 19:00. Tickets prices range from €15 to €28. More information is available from the website: espoonteatteri.fi

FRAGMENTS

C A A / H A N N U PA K A R I N E N

Paris dansant by Yrjö Saarinen, 1930.

Last chance to see celebration of Mika Waltari, national icon SAR AH HUDSON HEL SINKI TIMES

National Gallery’s exhibition Mika Waltari and Artist Friends is a celebration of what would have been the 100th birthday of this much-revered Finnish cultural treasure.

Mika Waltari was a figure of many creative endeavours, but is internationally renowned for his magnum opus The Egyptian (Sinuhe egyptiläinen).

Not only a noted historian, Waltari was also a prolific novelist and playwright. Some of his works were adapted for the screen and were general-

THE FINNISH

ly well received by domestic audiences. Waltari also had great affection for the arts, and as such the exhibition is a tribute not only to his own enduring writings but also to the many facets of Waltari’s appreciation of culture. Works from his own private collection are on display, including pieces from respected Finnish artists such as Eemu Myntti, Yrjö Saarinen, Aimo Kanerva and Otto Mäkilä.

The exhibition is well organized and strikes a good balance between a diverse mixture of media. The paintings are complemented by various audio and visual pieces, original manuscripts,

book covers, film posters – and a mummified corpse.

Visitors without a knowledge of Finnish or Swedish might miss out on some of the background details, as some parts of the exhibit are not accompanied by English translations. Mika Waltari and Artist Friends is still a rewarding experience however, as it offers a valuable overview not only of Waltari’s own life and work but also of Finnish art and culture during the vibrant period of the mid-1900s. and Artist Friends will be on display at the Finnish National Gallery until 18 January.

MIKA WALTARI

Peter von Bagh's beautiful compilation film Helsinki, Forever portrays Helsinki as it used to be.

Truth or dare?

The Helsinki Documentary Film Festival DocPoint expands to a sixday event, with an impressive programme and interesting guests.

K AT I H U R M E HEL SINKI TIMES

THIS YEAR’S DocPoint brings

the concepts of truth and change into special focus, as these themes are treated in the series poignantly titled Tell me the truth, Images of Change and I, a perfect human. The main geographic focus is on Italy and India.

The festival’s main stars are renowned British filmmakers, cinematographer and director Richard Leacock and director Nick Broomfiled. Leacock is best known for developing the Direct Cinema style along with D. A. Pennebaker and Robert Drew. The festival will screen the series A Tribute to Richard Leacock, which includes some of the key films from his distinguished career as well as important pieces on the history of documentary.

Broomfield is best known for his signature style; participatory interviews and a certain ironic approach, with which he has portrayed both celebrities and lesser known figures. The festival will screen a selected filmography that includes some of his best known works, such as Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer and Biggie & Tupac, as well as lesser known but equally, if not more, intriguing films like The Leader, His Driver and the Driver’s Wife, a documentary about Eugene Terre’Blanche, the controversial leader of South African nationalist party.

Best of Finnish As usual, DocPoint features an extensive and versatile selection of the finest Finnish documentaries, from both professionals and talented film students.

Director Peter von Bagh’s film Helsinki, Forever is a beautiful mosaic of the city’s his-

tory as it has been portrayed in the works of artists in different eras. He perceptively captures both continuity and breach, as familiar landscapes are interlaced with ones that have since disappeared. The film is a key to the essence and spirit of Helsinki.

Von Bagh, with an impressive career as both director/film researcher and journalist, will also present a lecture about the history of documentary film during the festival.

Other notable films in the Finnish series depict meaningful fragments of the lives of

handicapped twins, members of Finnish parliament, crooked sports managers and other ordinary people. A number of other events include: lectures; clubs; and a screening of the silent film classic The Battle of the Somme (UK, 1916) accompanied with DJ Jori Hulkkonen’s music. The majority of films featured at the festival have either English dialogue or English subtitles.

20-25 January www.docpoint.info

Proudly sponsored by:

SHEEP THIEF

Transported to Australia in 1828 for the crime of steeling a sheep, this man was never to see Europe again. Now his descendents are back.

Serving you with criminally good Australian beer, wines and snacks in Helsinki today.

SERVICE BY DESCENDENTS OF CRIMINALS

Open: 14-02 Sunday-Tuesday 12-03 Wednesday-Saturday WHAT’S ON AT THE AUSSIE BAR:

Thursday 15th- Cocktail Evening with DJ from 9:30pm. Friday & Saturday- Maddness!!!! DJ both nights @ 9:30pm. Sunday 18thCatherines farewell bash!! Wednesday 21st Live Music with Brand New Classics @ 9:30pm. Keep 26th Jan Monday freeAUSTRALIA DAY kick off 6pm Come and have a Tooheys or two!

AUSSIE BAR Salomonkatu 5, Kamppi 00100 Helsinki, Finland

Tel. +358 (0)9 737 373 Email: aussiebar@aussiebar.net Web: www.aussiebar.net

20

EAT & DRINK

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

HELSINKI TIMES SC ANS TOCKPHOTO

Salads and other good stuff NICK BARLOW HEL SINKI TIMES

ATE TOO much at Christmas?

Added a few extra unnecessary kilos to your body mass?

Feeling the need to adopt a healthier lifestyle after the excesses of the festive season? Well, join the club. Going to the gym and exercising are all well and good but personally I’m in favour of staying at home and eating more good stuff instead. Eating healthily is in fact a very simple matter. Eat as much fruit and vegetables as you like, cut down on fatty and sugary foods, and don’t drink too much alcohol. Of course, nutritional ‘experts’ often have a hard time deciding how much alcohol, for example, is a good thing, and it’s easy to get confused by the various contradictory state-

ments that are frequently being made. Sometimes one glass of wine a day will defeat cancer, other times it might cause an instant heart-attack and lead to an early grave.

On the other hand, some foods are so obviously healthy and taste lovely you would be a fool not to partake in them.

Of course, there is no accounting for taste, and what I like might not be your particular cup of tea, but here are a couple of suggestions. Salads are, in my opinion, one of the most underrated foods around. The idea that many Finns seem to have of salads are those horrible pre-packaged monstrosities frequently found in supermarkets and kiosks, consisting of meagre portions of re-constituted chicken and some limp iceberg lettuce. The real deal, for my money, is often to be

found in Asian food restaurants. A good Thai salad with noodles, cabbage and some chillies hits the spot I can tell you.

One problem with living in Finland is that supplies of fresh fruits can be hard to come by, at least in the winter months. Unless you were thinking forward last summer and have bags of frozen berries in your ice-box, you’re sadly going to be paying over the odds for un-environmentally friendly produce flown in either from other continents or from EU-subsidised farmers in Southern Europe. Still, if you are prepared to bite the bullet and splash out you needn’t miss out on the goodness. But don’t forget national staples like good old smoked salmon and potatoes – it is cheap (-ish), tastes good, and yes, it’s also healthy.

SATKAR Nepalese Restaurant The biggest Nepalese Restaurant in Helsinki • Suitable for group parties • Fully licensed • Delicious food with tandoor

Welcome to Satkar Fredrikinkatu 46 (Kamppi, Autotalo). 00100 Helsinki, Finland Tel. +358 9 611 077, +358 40 707 1140 www.satkar.fi

After Christmas comes the fitness boom Each January, many of us feel the need to lose few kilos. There are thousands of ways to do it, and just as many competing for your attention and your money.

VILLE VUORINEN HEL SINKI TIMES

letting the kids do it); or anything else that adds even the slightest extra physical movement to your day. You will burn off the calories in no time.

ONE OF THE common New Year’s resolutions is “This year I will start to exercise regularly, live more healthily and I will join a gym first thing in January.” Therefore, long before the holidays are over, radio stations and television commercials start to tempt you to get that gym membership. You get your first month free and receive other small perks to get you sign-up and start getting the body that you’ve always wanted. And what better time of the year to try to lure you to do this than when many people feel that they really should get more exercise? Some gyms even have special classes aimed at helping you to lose those kilos you put on during Christmas as quickly as possible.

Ways and means to suit everyone These ways do not necessarily work for everyone, because not everybody has the time.

A quick search on the internet will find tens of different ways to work off the nasty weight put on over the holidays. If you believe that they work, you can order the latest “wonder” pills that promise to help you lose pounds by doing nothing at all. Why not try a self-help CD that will help you change towards a healthier lifestyle? Every possible way you can imagine, and many you probably never thought of, are all out there waiting to be found.

Change the little things in life By changing just a few small habits at home can help you burn those all-important extra calories, without having to set foot inside the gym.

These little things can include: starting to walk to the supermarket; walking the extra metres to the metro station instead of taking the short ride on the bus; taking the dog for a walk (instead of

There's always next year...

It is hoped that most of us will succeed in losing the extras kilos and get into shape in time for the all-important summer season, as well as continue our healthy living well into the year. Still, deep down inside, we silently know that 12 months from now it will be Christmas all over again. Like it or not, the truth is that we will proba-

Thai Cucumber Salad 2 cucumbers (thickly grated or sliced) 2 cloves garlic (minced) Two handfuls of fresh basil and coriander (roughly chopped) 1 fresh red chilli (de-seeded and finely chopped) 2 red onions (sliced) Crushed cashew nuts optional) Dressing: 2 tablespoons fish sauce Juice of ½ a lime 1 tablespoon soy sauce ½ teaspoon of sugar ½ - ¼ teaspoon fish paste Mix the dressing in a cup.

Add sugar or more lime juice to taste – it will have a less pungent flavour when it is on the salad. Combine all the other ingredients together and mix well. Pour the dressing over the salad, mix well, and enjoy. Shrimps or chicken can easily be added as well.

bly be over-eating once again and putting the same kilos back on again. The vicious circle round on every year, but then again, who will be able to resist the fully laden table come next Christmas?

EAT & DRINK

HELSINKI TIMES RESTAURANTS

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

RESTAURANTS

Sandeep Indian Restaurant Menu: www.sandeep.fi

RESTAURANTS

G]c` V][S OeOg T`][ V][S

LĂśnnrotinkatu 22, 00120 Helsinki Tel/fax: (09) 6856 206 PUB ANGLETERRE - FREDRIKINKATU 47 MON-THU 15-01, FRI 15-02, SAT 13-02

Open: Mon-Fri 10:30-23:00 Sat 12:00-23:00 Sun 12:00-21:00 Reservations: lucky.tarsem@elisanet.fi

Mon-Thu 11-24 Fri-Sat 11-01 Sun 13-21

Mikonkatu 8, 00100 Helsinki Tel. 09 - 6222 625. www.meze.fi

The Nepalese restaurant Gorkha is located in Ullanlinna, near the city centre.

Advertise your restaurant here.

The cosy and homely atmosphere invites you to enjoy good food and excellent service.

For example, this size: 37.5 x 31 mm

www.currypalace.fi

Vuorimiehenkatu 12, 00140 Helsinki Phone: 09 676 106, www.gorkha.fi

www.currypalace.fi

CURRY palace New weekend buffet Fully licensed

Indian speciality restaurant Original Indian taste

Daily Buffet 10:30-14:30 ₏8.50 (only weekdays) Opening: mon-fri 10:30-23:00, sat 12:00-23:00, sun 12:00-20:00 Leppävaarankatu 10, 02600 Espoo Opposite Sello Shopping complex Phone/fax 09 548 3751

FIRST ORIGINAL NEPALESE RESTAURANT Open: Mon-Fri 11-23, weekends 12-23, Lunch: Mon-Fri 11-15 Contact: Ratakatu 1 b, 00120 Helsinki. www.himalaya.fi Book your table: tel. (09) 647 551, fax. (09) 647 552

Salomonkatu 19, Helsinki Tel. 09 694 0750 Mon-Fri 11-23, Sat 12-23, Sun 12-22

www.ravintolatandoor.net

Time stands still at the Brezhnevian era’s last monument Kafe Moskova, situated in central Helsinki. Cold beer and freezing service.

Open: Mon-Sat 6pm-2am. Sun closed.

Contact information Eerikinkatu 11, 00100 Helsinki, Finland Tel. +358 9 751 75613 www.andorra.fi

Korkeavuorenkatu 27 Helsinki Tel. +358 9 635 732 www.juuri.fi

Transforming Finnish gifts of nature in an innovative manner to suit modern tastes.

FROM MIAMI TO HELSINKI New Latino Cuisine Finally in Helsinki!

Korkeavuorenkatu 47 / Etelä Esplanadi, Helsinki tel. 09 678 345 www.nuevolatino.fi

21

22

WHERE TO GO

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

HELSINKI TIMES

COMPILED BY MIISSA R ANTANEN Installation and watercolourpaintings.

Gallery Jangva Uudenmaankatu 4-6 Tue - Fri 11:00–19:00 Sat - Sun 11:00–17:00 Free entrance www.jangva.fi

Visiting – Young Croatian Art Scene

Until Sun 25 Jan Tomer Ganihar: Channel of Light The Israeli photographer Tomer Ganihar is interested in the different aspects of light.

Tennis Palace Art Museum Salomonkatu 15 Tue - Sun 11:00–20:30 Tickets €7/5/0 www.taidemuseo.hel.fi

The first presentation of Croatian contemporary art in Finland is on view at MUU Gallery. The exhibition is called Visiting and it will present the strength and vitality of the young Croatian art scene through works of eight young artists.

The exhibition’s quality and diversity are guaranteed by Ivan Tomasovic's exceptional painting skills, Marko Tadic's ludism, Iva Vranekovic's playfulness in the use of ready-mades in the construction of a new space and Alem Korkut's unorthodox minimalist sculptural work. Viktor Popovic and Tina Gverovic bring intimacy and nostalgia to the exhibition whereas Vedran Perkov and Sonja Gasperov deal with freedom from frustration and wittiness in their works.

Until Sun 25 Jan Teatrip The exhibition concentrates on the rich and colourful history of tea in different parts of the world.

Design Museum of Finland Korkeavuorenkatu 23 Tue 11:00-20:00 Wed - Sun 11:00–18:00 Tickets €7/6/3/0 www.designmuseum.fi

Visiting is a respectable and very interesting selection of the young Croatian art scene that makes the visual arts of the nation with a population of only 4.5 million seem convincing and internationally noticeable.

Fri 16 Jan to Sun 8 Feb MUU Gallery Lönnrotinkatu 33

Tue - Fri 12:00–17:00 Sat - Sun 12:00–16:00 Free entrance www.muu.fi

MUSIC

Fri 16 Jan Meta4 The young Finnish string quartet is one of the rising stars of the international chamber music scene.

Korjaamo Culture Factory, 20:00 Töölönkatu 51 B Tickets €16 www.korjaamo.fi

15/16/17 Jan Prisoner of Freedom A Finnish chamberopera about former Finnish president Risto Ryti.

Finnish National Opera Helsinginkatu 58 Thu & Fri 19:30 Sat 15:00 Tickets €40/20 www.kamariooppera.org Thu 15 Jan Klima Kalima Finnish Jazz Federation’s tour.

Berlin-based Finnish guitarist Kalle Kalima leads this energetic jazztrio on their tour of seven cities.

Goethe Institut, 18:00 Mannerheimintie 20 A Free entrance www.jazzfin.com

16/21/23 Jan Rigoletto The opera about the tragic tale of Rigoletto is carried by some of Verdi’s most memorable melodies.

Finnish National Opera, 19:00 Helsinginkatu 58 Tickets €30-68 www.operafin.fi Sat 17 Jan Erja Lyytinen Band Erja Lyytinen is one of the biggest stars in Finnish blues.

Film premiere in Finland

A painting by Ivan Tomasović.

Restaurant Juttutupa, 21:00 Säästöpankinranta 6 Free entrance www.myspace.com/erjalyytinen Sat 17 Jan Eero Koivistoinen Quartet The saxophonist Koivistoinen is one of the all-time greats in Finnish jazz.

Storyville, 20:00 Museokatu 8 Tickets €9 www.storyville.fi Mon 19 Jan Lauren Harris (UK) The daughter of Iron Maiden leader Steve Harris has her own career as a metal vocalist.

Tavastia Club, 20:00 Urho Kekkosen katu 4-6 Tickets €14/12.50 www.tavastiaklubi.fi

A ENTR FREE

Fri 16 & Wed 21 Jan Visible Volumes A dance work choreographed by Mikko Orpana.

Koko Theatre, 19:00 Unioninkatu 45 Tickets €20/12 www.kokoteatteri.fi

Wed 21 Jan Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra’s repertory will consist of the works of Schönberg, Tchaikovsky and Brahms.

Finlandia Hall, 19:00 Mannerheimintie 13 E Tickets €20/13/6 www.hel.fi/filharmonia

Sun 18 Jan Death of a Scrarecrow The physical theatre work that mixes dance and mimicry has been a great success in more than 80 countries.

Sello Hall, 15:00 Soittoniekanaukio 1 A Tickets €12/6 www.sellosali.fi

THEATRE AND DANCE 16/19/20 Jan Theatre Academy Dance Company: Distances, Rough Plan Seven talented young dance graduates will perform two new works.

Theatre Academy, 19:00 Haapaniemenkatu 6 Tickets €10/5 www.teak.fi

EXHIBITIONS

NCE!

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (USA) Based on John Boyne’s novel with the same title, the movie tells a story of two boys during WWII. Director: Mark Herman Starring: Asa Butterfield, Vera Farmiga, Jack Scanlon Genre: Drama/War

OTHERS Thu 15 Jan Uniexpo The greater Helsinki area’s universities and colleges present information on how to apply, what courses they offer and other studying options.

Helsinki University main building Fabianinkatu 33, 9:00-16:00 Free entrance http://www.helsinki.fi/opiskelijaksi/uniexpo.html

Hel sinki Travel Tip SUN

HELSINKI in Your Mobile Phone

AT

Helsinki.mobi

25 |1 | 2009

AT 2pm.–6p

Lasipalatsi sq

A mobile information package about Helsinki, which you can carry around in your pocket. Within the portal you can find all sorts of useful information about Helsinki, from attractions and restaurant guides to city maps and transportation schedules.

m.

uare

Metropolitan mobile map service Direct click-to-call action Video guide tour of the main attractions in the city Advertising slots for advertisers Supports multiple language selection

WELCOME! THE CITIES OF HELSINKI AND BEIJING

Images automatically targeted to mobile device

visit espoo

Lion and dragon dancers | Chinese market and food stalls | Colourful fan- and lantern-dance troupe from Beijing | New Years show live from Beijing on video screen | Traditional acrobatic wushu (martial arts) from Beijing | Traditional Chinese puppetry from Beijing, also lot of other activities for children | CHINESE FIREWORKS OVER TÖÖLÖNLAHTI AT 6.15PM ORGANIZERS AND PARTNERS:

MORE TIPS FROM

www.visithelsinki.fi

Thu 15 & Thu 22 Jan Reading Course The comics reading course’s subject is Jimmy Corrigan’s The Smartest Kid on Earth. The course is held in English by Jelle Hugaerts.

Comics Centre, 17:00 Kolmas linja 17 Tickets €10 www.sarjakuvakeskus.fi Tue 20 to Mon 26 Jan The ISU European Figure Skating Championships The unforgettable sporting event with the right atmosphere and a fully packed arena.

Hartwall Arena Areenankuja 1 Tickets €17-129 www.stll.fi/european_ championships_2009

Updated event calendar

In cooperation

Until Sun 1 Feb Håkan Rehnberg: Headings Håkan Rehnberg’s paintings are unique, final and incontrovertible acts.

Galerie Anhava Mannerheiminaukio 3 Tue - Fri 11:00–17:00 Sat - Sun 12:00–16:00 Free entrance www.anhava.com Until Sun 1 Feb Tatu Hiltunen: Jamais Vu There are only stop motion videos in the exhibition of photographer Tatu Hiltunen.

Photographic Gallery Hippolyte Kalevankatu 18 B Tue - Fri 12:00–17:00 Sat - Sun 12:00–16:00 Free entrance www.hippolyte.fi

Until Sun 25 Jan Eungyung Kim: Breath

Friday 16 January

www.helsinki.mobi

Until Fri 30 Jan Kalle Juhani Nieminen: Thisshit In his art Nieminen deals with different kinds of existential questions using and mixing many methods simultaneously.

Cable Factory Tallberginkatu 1 C Tue 11:00–18:00 Wed - Fri 11:00–17:00 Sat - Sun 12:00–16:00 Free entrance www.kaapelitehdas.fi

KIINAN KANSANTASAVALLAN SUURLÄHETYSTÖ

SUOMI-KIINASEURA

W

.KIIN WW

ALAI

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O ENVU

SI.FI

solution sudoku

TV GUIDE

HELSINKI TIMES

thursday TV1 09:30 Down to Earth 11:05 News in English 11:10 Born and Bred 14:30 Doctors Mother of a family moving to Jamaica is hiding something from her loved ones.

15:05 Coronation Street Roy and Hayley hear bad news on the phone and Kelly sends Becky packing.

17:08 Born and Bred 22:40 Life Isn’t All Ha Ha Hee Hee Part 2/3. The aftermath of Tania’s brutally bold movie has an effect on the lives of all three women and Tania loses her friends’ confidence. Sunita meddles with her new friend’s divorce.

23:40 Imaginary Heroes (CERT15) FILM Suicide in the family leaves everyone struggling with feelings of guilt and remorse. Directed by Dan Harris. Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Emile Hirsch, Jeff Daniels, Michelle Williams.

USA 2004.

TV2 06:50 Pikku Kakkonen Cartoons for children in Finnish. 07:55 The Moomins.

10:35 Happy Days 11:05 Camilla Plum – Boller af Stål 11:35 Plus belle la vie 12:00 Junk Brothers 12:25 John Wilson’s Fishing Safari 12:50 Derrick 16:10 Schwarzwaldklinik 17:00 The Secret World of Benjamin Bear 18:00 Cooking the World Fred Chesneau visits Thailand.

19:20 Tour de Ski SPORT Men’s relay. Commentary in Finnish.

20:10 Die Kommissarin 23:55 David Nolande Part 2/6. David’s family thinks he is suffering from post traumatic stress, but the man himself believes there is a more sinister explanation.

YLE TEEMA 17:00 Around the World in 80 Treasures DOC Part 2/10. Professor Cruickshank travels from Mexico to the statue of liberty.

19:00 SOAP 20:30 Everest ER DOC 21:00 The Genius of Charles Darwin DOC 21:50 Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran (Monsieur Ibrahim) FILM Friendship between a Jewish boy and a Muslim merchant blossoms in 1960’s Paris. Directed by Francois Dupeyron.

Starring: Omar Sharif, Pierre Boulanger. France 2003.

friday

15.1.

MTV3

09:35 The Young and the Restless 10:20 Emmerdale 10:45 Emmerdale 12:20 Just for Laughs Gags 12:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 13:00 How Clean Is Your House?

13:30 The Bold and the Beautiful 14:30 New Adventures of Old Christine 15:00 Men in Trees 17:00 The Bold and the Beautiful 17:30 Emmerdale 18:00 Emmerdale 21:00 ER Ambulance explodes with devastating consequences.

ER. MT V3 at 21:00 22:30 Closer 23:30 Romper Stomper (CERT18) FILM Melbourne skinheads attack Vietnamese immigrants. Directed by Geoffrey Wright.

Starring: Russell Crowe, Alex Scott, Josephine Keen, Daniel Pollock. Australia 1992.

01:15 Unit

NELONEN 07:00 Cartoons for Children In Finnish. 07:00 Disney’s the Replacements. 07:25 Tutenstein. 07:50 Charlie & Mimmo.

08:00 Big Day 09:00 Come Dine with Me 09:30 Birth Stories 10:00 10 Years Younger USA 10:30 Staying Put 13:00 Birth Days 13:30 Diva on a Dime 14:00 Staying Put 14:30 Come Dine With Me 15:00 Dr. Phil 16:05 Days of Our Lives 17:00 October Road Funeral of a childhood sweetheart puts things in perspective.

18:00 So You Think You Can Dance 20:00 Stylista 21:00 Criminal Minds Small girl goes missing and the agents have their hands full with her cousin.

22:00 Breaking Bad Skyler’s strange questions lead Marie to draw the wrong conclusions.

23:20 Frasier Roz is trying handle becoming a mom.

23:50 The Office

SUB 07:00 Cartoons for Children In Finnish. 07:00 Tractor Tom, 07:10 Jim Jam and Sunny, 07:35 Batman.

11:25 Sturm der Liebe 12:45 Holiday Showdown 15:35 How I Met Your Mother 16:00 Stacked 16:30 E! Entertainment: Behind the Scenes 17:00 E! Entertainment: Snoop Dogg’s Fatherhood 18:05 Sturm der Liebe 19:00 My name is Earl 19:30 Will & Grace 20:00 Friends 20:30 Simpsons 21:00 Top Chef Traditional American dishes receive a make-over.

23:00 Supernatural 00:00 Late Night with Conan O’Brien 01:05 Génesis

TV VIISI 18:00 Home and Away 18:30 Fresh Prince of Bel Air 19:00 America’s Funniest Home Videos 19:30 America’s Funniest Home Videos 20:00 Scrubs 20:30 Scrubs 21:00 Alias 22:00 GSG 9 - Die Elite Einheit

Men in Trees.

MT V3 at 15:00

JIM 15:30 Stunt Junkies 16:00 Amazing Adventures of a Nobody 16:25 Design Remix 16:50 Trigged Out 17:15 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

18:00 Banzuke 18:30 Amazing Adventures of a Nobody Leon Logothetis travels from Middlesborough to Whitby.

19:00 Don’t Sweat It 19:30 Save My Bath 20:00 Perfect Weapon Bows and slings make surprisingly effective weapons.

21:00 Digging for the Truth DOC In the middle ages, Timbuktu was known as the golden city.

22:00 Contender 23:00 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

23:50 Modern Marvels: Shovels DOC 00:45 Mastermind (CERT15) Stephen Blumberg is the son of a very wealthy family, who steals rare and valuable books.

Jordan and Peter’s big pile NICK BARLOW

Finnish T V imports a lot of shows from overseas. For reasons unknown, T V channels have multiplied out of all proportion to necessity. So though we absolutely don’t need ten channels available on digital, plus another nine or so domestic cable channels, we’ve got ‘em, and that broadcast time has to be filled with something. This, presumably, is why all the channels feel the need to fill their airtime with great big piles of T V sewage. The case in point for this week is Jordan: Povipommin päiväkirja, a.k.a. Katie & Peter: The Next

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

23

SELECTION OF ENGLISH PROGRAMMES ON FINNISH TELEVISION 16.1.

TV1 09:30 Down to Earth 11:05 News in English 11:10 Born and Bred 14:30 Doctors Mac treats a woman going through menopause.

15:05 Coronation Street Kelly is arrested and Gail tries to be strong.

17:08 Born and Bred 19:00 Heartbeat 22:00 The Street Part 2/18. Stan gets sacked just before retirement.

MTV3 09:35 The Young and the Restless 10:20 Emmerdale 10:45 Emmerdale 12:20 Just for Laughs Gags 12:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 13:00 How Clean Is Your House?

13:30 The Bold and the Beautiful 14:30 Still Standing 17:00 The Bold and the Beautiful 17:30 Emmerdale 18:00 Emmerdale 21:00 Without a Trace Chris Howe’s wheel chair is found on a skip, but the man himself has vanished.

22:35 Predator (CERT 15) FILM Group of elite soldiers face an extraterrestrial enemy. Directed by John McTiernan. Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Elpidia Carrillo, Jesse Ventura. USA 1987.

00:40 Smallville

The Street. T V1 at 22:00

SUB 23:50 William & Mary Molly’s bachelor party is wild and Mary has big news for William and her mother.

TV2 06:50 Pikku Kakkonen Cartoons for children in Finnish.

11:05 World Café Asia 12:50 Derrick 15:25 Biathlon World Cup SPORT Women’s sprint. Commentary in Finnish.

21:00 Eurovision 2009 Who will go on to represent Finland in the Eurovision 2009 song contest?

The first elimination round.

Commentary in Finnish.

22:05 Cross country skiing World Cup SPORT The finals. Commentary in Finnish.

22:50 Nordic combined World Cup SPORT Ski-jump and men’s 10 km.

Commentary in Finnish.

00:10 Sin City Law (CERT15)

07:00 Cartoons for Children In Finnish. 07:00 Tractor Tom, 07:10 Jim Jam and Sunny, 07:35 Batman.

11:25 Sturm der Liebe 15:35 How I Met Your Mother 16:00 Stacked 16:30 E! Entertainment: E! News Weekend 18:05 Sturm der Liebe Laura and Alexander return.

19:00 My name is Earl 19:30 Will & Grace 20:00 Friends 20:30 Simpsons 22:10 Bones Class of 1987 gathers to open the time capsule they had buried on graduation, only to be shocked by its contents.

23:05 C.S.I. Grissom bumps in to Lady Heather.

00:20 Late Night with Conan O’Brien 01:45 Katie & Peter – The Next Chapter Traveling home from the US, Peter falls ill and is hospitalized. Jordan is left to take care of the family by herself.

YLE TEEMA TV VIISI 18:30 Tropic of Capricorn DOC SERIES ENDS. Part 4/4.

Simon Reeve’s journey ends in South America.

20:00 Forsyte Saga SERIES BEGINS. Part 1/13.

Forsyte family gathers to celebrate Winifred’s engagement to Montague Dartie.

22:15 A Streetcar Named Desire FILM Fragile and neurotic Blanche Du Bois arrives at her sister's doorstep. Unfortunately her brother-in-law is brutal and suspicious. Directed

by Elia Kazan. Starring: Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh.

USA 1951.

Chapter. Actually the Finnish title is much better, since it roughly translates as Jordan: A Big-Titted Celebrity’s Diary.

This outstandingly poor show centres around Jordan, real name Katie Price, a B-list celebrity mainly famous in the UK for baring her breasts in public and not writing books that have her name on them, and her husband, professional idiot and singer of the 1995 hit Mysterious Girl. The couple met when filming the show I’m a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here, and married in 2005.

The show follows them around in their daily lives, recording them doing interesting things like going shopping and saying, ‘Oh I hate it when we can’t go anywhere without being recognised,’ oblivious to the irony of getting paid to be followed around by a T V crew.

18:00 Home and Away 18:30 Fresh Prince of Bel Air 19:00 America’s Funniest Home Videos 19:30 America’s Funniest Home Videos 20:00 The Color of Money FILM Felson (Paul Newman) teaches Vincent (Tom Cruise) the intricacies of hustling at pool. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Starring: Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. USA 1986.

22:00 Friday Night Project 22:30 Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman

The reasons that this show sucks and why Sub T V should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves for airing it are too numerous to mention, but I’ll try anyway. First off, the two main protagonists are absolute tossers. Peter Andre in particular is a grade-A bell-end whose entire career rests on the fact he once had quite a good sixpack stomach. Devoid of any intellect, wisdom or insight, he nonetheless insists upon treating the viewers to completely meaningless cod-philosophical insights like, ‘I’ve learnt that if you try hard you can achieve anything,’ which is patently rubbish as he’s trying really hard to be intelligent but is still as thick as two short planks.

As for Jordan, she’s the poster girl for both moronic alpha males whose idea of the perfect woman is anyone with a fake tan and D-cup breasts, and sad

NELONEN 07:00 Cartoons for Children In Finnish. 07:00 Disney’s the Replacements, 07:25 Tutenstein, 07:50 Charlie & Mimmo.

08:00 Big Day 09:00 Come Dine with Me 09:30 Birth Stories 10:00 Diva on a Dime 10:30 Staying Put 13:00 Birth Stories 13:30 What Women Really Want 14:00 Selling Houses 14:30 Nigella 15:00 Dr. Phil 16:05 Days of Our Lives 17:00 October Road Eddie’s high school sweetheart comes back and Janet is worried. Nick considers leaving Knights Ridge.

18:00 So You Think You Can Dance 22:00 The Italian Job FILM Group of criminals take revenge on an old friend. Directed by F. Gary Gray.

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Donald Sutherland, Edward Norton.

USA/France/UK 2004 00:15 Tudors 01:25 Another Meltdown a.k.a The Black Sheep Affair (CERT15) FILM Police officer meets her old girlfriend by accident and together they stumble onto the evil plans of a Japanese cult leader. Directed by Allun Lam. Starring: Wen Zhuo Zhao, Qi Shu, Ken Wong, Andrew Lin. Hong Kong 1998.

Another Meltdown.

NELONEN at 01:25

JIM 15:30 Stunt Junkies 16:00 Amazing Adventures of a Nobody 16:25 Don’t Sweat It 16:50 Save My Bath 17:15 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

18:00 Canadian Sportsfishing 18:30 Skier’s World 19:00 DIY to the Rescue 19:30 Carter Can 20:00 Police Interceptors 21:00 Parole Board (CERT15) DOC Paul and John Bagdonas have to face the parole board before their release.

22:00 Miami Ink 23:00 Banzuke 23:30 Banzuke 00:00 Most Daring Rescues 01:00 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

01:45 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

misguided teenage girls who are conned into thinking that the height of their ambition should be getting enormously enlarged breasts and thereafter making a living by flashing them in lads’ mags. Intelligence is entirely unnecessary.

The real question though is, what the hell is this doing on Finnish T V? Did anyone at Sub T V actually watch this show before buying the rights to it? If so, why did they think a show made by idiots, for idiots, starring two people who are not famous in Finland (before this show anyway), would be a good idea? Well, it’s not. It’s a rubbish idea, and an excellent reason to turn off the telly and do something fun instead, like gouging your eyes out with rusty nails.

Sub at 01:45 Fri and 18:00 Sun

TV GUIDE

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

saturday TV1

sunday

17.1.

MTV3

14:15 14:45 16:00 18:20

Keeping Up Appearances Los Serrano Holby City Mumbai Calling Part 3/7. Accents need improving.

19:45 Monk Monk searches for Captain Stottlemeyer’s son.

22:30 Lucky Louie (CERT15) Tina’s sixteen year old daughter runs away from home and ends up with Lou and Kim. 22:55 The Thick of It SERIES BEGINS. Part 1/6.

Hugh Abbot is appointed the new cabinet minister for health and social services. He isn’t much for protocol and the media has a field day.

23:25 Medea Part 4/6. Medea’s father dies of a heart attack.

TV2 07:45 Pikku Kakkonen Cartoons for children in Finnish. 10:00 The Moomins.

13:55 Speed skating World Cup SPORT 15:10 Biathlon World Cup SPORT 16:45 Speed skating World Cup SPORT 20:20 Cross country skiing World Cup SPORT 20:50 Siska 22:05 Skiing and Nordic combined World Cup SPORT 00:40 The Border 01:05 Yle Live: Glastonbury 2007

YLE TEEMA 10:45 Cidade dos Homens 11:20 Jorden under mine fodder (Earth beneath my feet) DOC 15:55 Everest ER DOC Part 2/5. British doctors work on top of the world.

19:10 Prestuplenie i nakazanie (Crime and Punishment) SERIES BEGINS. Part 1/8.

Raskolnikov is forced to pawn the last of his possessions. In Russian.

21:00 Operation Filmmaker DOC 22:28 Kurt & Courtney DOC Nick Broomfield’s documentary about the death of a legend.

00:04 All White in Barking DOC 01:20 The Bullshit Detectives

Powerpuff Girls.

MT V3 at 08:40

NELONEN

07:55 Cartoons for Children 07:55 Dora The Explorer, 08:25 Viva Piñata, 08:40 Powerpuff Girls, 09:05 Pokémon, 09:30 Zorro, 09:55 Woody Woodpecker.

In Finnish.

10:25 Hannah Montana 13:15 This World: Russia’s Prime Suspect DOC 14:20 Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace FILM Dark forces threaten the galaxy. Directed by George Lucas. Starring: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd.

USA 1999.

16:55 Star Wars: The Clone Wars SERIES BEGINS. This animated series, created by George Lucas, is set in the Star Wars universe.

17:55 Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares 21:00 Survivor 22:25 Flight 93 FILM The passengers of flight 93 fought back when terrorists hijacked their plane on 11 September 2001. Directed by Peter Markle. Starring: Jeffrey Nordling, Brennan Elliott, Kendall Cross, Ty Olsson.

USA 2006.

00:10 Mystére SERIES BEGINS. Laure stumbles onto crop circles, which remind her of her mother, who disappeared mysteriously when she was young.

13:00 13:30 14:30 15:30

16:30 Loco Love FILM Successful restauranteur marries his gardener’s sister to save his business. Directed by Bryan Lewis. Starring: Laura Harring, Roy Werner.

USA 2003.

18:30 America’s Next Top Model 20:00 American Gladiators 21:00 The People vs. Larry Flynt (CERT15) FILM Larry Flynt went from a stripclub owner to a porn magnate. Directed by Milos Forman. Starring: Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love.

USA 1996.

23:55 Las Vegas 00:55 Birthday Girl (CERT15) FILM Cousins of his Russian mailorder bride cause problems for a small-town bank manager. Directed by Jez Butterworth. Starring: Nicole Kidman, Ben Chaplin, Vincent Kassel. UK 2001.

13:50 Mad T V 14:40 E! Entertainment: How Do I Look 15:35 E! Entertainment: The Big Party Plan-Off 16:30 World’s Greenest Homes 17:00 Instant Star 17:30 Office Monkey 18:00 Tantastic DOC Some people are obsessed with tanning themselves.

20:00 Real Housewives of New York City 21:00 C.S.I. Miami 22:00 Most Haunted 00:00 Murder (CERT15) 00:55 Stargate SG1 01:45 X-Files

JIM 11:10 Hooked on Fishing 11:35 House Hunters International 12:00 A Cook’s Tour 12:25 A Cook’s Tour 12:50 Good Eats 13:15 Stuntdawgs 13:45 Human Weapon – Pankration 14:35 Dangerous Encounters Brady Barr talks about crocodiles.

15:30 America: The Wright Way 16:20 Canadian Sportfishing 16:45 Skier’s World 17:10 DIY to the Rescue 17:35 Carter Can 18:00 Hidden Potential 18:30 Ace of Cakes 19:00 Rip + Renew 19:30 Dream Builders 20:00 Border Security 20:30 Crime Museum: Doctor Crippen 21:00 TWA Flight 800 DOC 22:00 Crime Scene Academy 22:30 America’s Dumbest 23:00 Banzuke 23:30 Banzuke 00:00 Most Shocking (CERT 15) 01:00 Fifth Gear 01:30 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

02:15 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

TV VIISI 18:00 Home and Away 18:30 Fresh Prince of Bel Air 19:00 America’s Funniest Home Videos 19:30 America’s Funniest Home Videos 20:00 SOS Gute 21:00 Bad Company FILM Agent is killed in the middle of a crucial operation and his twin brother has to take his place. Directed by Joel Schumacher. Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Chris Rock, Peter Stormare. USA 2002

Saturday 17.1.

16:55 Chelsea-Stoke, Premierleague (C+SE) 17:00 Bolton-Manchester United, Premierleague (C+S1) 19:25 Hull-Arsenal, Premierleague (C+S2) 19:55 Grenoble-Lyon, Ligue 1 (U+) 20:55 Dallas-Los Angeles, NHL (C+S1) 21:25 Milan-Fiorentina, Serie A (C+S2) 23:00 Sevilla-Numancia, La Liga (U+) Sunday 18.1.

13:25 Roda-Eindhoven, Eredivisie (C+S1) 15:25 West Ham-Fulham, Premierleague (C+S2) 15:55 Torino-Roma, Serie A (C+S1) 15:55 Cagliari-Udinese, Serie A (C+SE) 17:55 Tottenham-Portsmouth, Premierleague (C+S1) 17:55 PSG-Sochaux. Ligue 1 (U) 21:25 Lazio-Juventus, Serie A (C+S1) 21:55 Almeria-Atletico Madrid, La Liga (U) 21:55 Arizona Cardinals-Philadelphia Eagles, NFL (Via1) Monday 19.1.

21:55 Liverpool-Everton, Premierleague (C+S1) C+ S1/2/E = Canal+ Sport1/2/Extra, U(+) = Urheilukanava(+), Via1 = Viasat Sport 1

HELSINKI TIMES

SELECTION OF ENGLISH PROGRAMMES ON FINNISH TELEVISION 18.1.

TV1 14:35 Los Serrano 17:08 Gilmore Girls SERIES BEGINS. Rory has a complex relationship with her mother, Lorelai, due to their different personalities.

22:15 Nesser’s Van Veeteren (CERT 15) Part 2/2. Moreno is hot on the killer’s trail.

23:00 Absolutely Fabulous Patsy and Edina go to a Marilyn Manson concert.

TV2

SUB

LIVE SPORT

Gay, Straight or Taken 3 lbs Animal Crack-ups Ghost Whisperer

Ghost Whisperer.

NELONEN at 15:30

L EH T IKU VA/R EU T ER S/MIK E S TO NE

24

07:45 Pikku Kakkonen Cartoons for children in Finnish. 10:00 The Moomins.

11:25 Little House on the Prairie 12:15 Cooking the World 13:10 Biathlon World Cup SPORT Women's 10 km. Commentary in Finnish.

14:00 Speed skating World Cup SPORT 16:15 Speed skating World Cup SPORT 16:50 Biathlon World Cup SPORT Men's 12,5 km. Commentary in Finnish.

19:10 Good Night and Good Luck FILM Reporters struggle with politicians in 1950’s America. Directed by George Clooney. Starring: Jeff Daniels, David Strathairn, George Clooney. USA 2005.

21:00 Cross country skiing World Cup SPORT Commentary in Finnish.

22:35 Skithouse

YLE TEEMA 10:20 Prestuplenie i nakazanie (Crime and Punishment) SERIES BEGINS. Part 1/8.

Raskolnikov is forced to pawn the last of his possessions. In Russian.

11:15 Cuéntame cómo pasó 14:55 The Genius of Charles Darwin DOC Part 2/3. Darwin is still topical for contemporary scientists.

15:45 SOAP 16:10 Forsyte Saga SERIES BEGINS. Part 1/13.

Forsyte family gathers to celebrate Winifred’s engagement to Montague Dartie.

18:00 Saboteur FILM Man suspected of sabotage flees across America. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Starring: Robert Cummings, Priscilla Lane. USA 1942.

21:50 Brando DOC SERIES BEGINS. Part 1/3.

Many consider Marlon Brando to be the most influential actor of the 20th century.

23:45 Rock Album Classics Electric Ladyland (1968) by Jimi Hendrix.

The Forsyte Saga Originally produced by Granada Television for the IT V network, The Forsyte Saga tells, quite predictably, the story of the Forsyte family, who are an uppermiddle-class family with only a few generations separating them from their peasant ancestors.

The rocket-like ascent up the social ladder has made the family conscious of their property and new-found social status.

Based on several novels by John Galsworthy, written in the first decades of the 20th century, this thirteen-part mini-series, which boasts a very classy cast of actors, is firmly Edwardian and extremely British by character.

Prepare yourself for beautiful costumes, pent-up emotions and plenty of stiff upper lip.

Yle Teema at 20:00 Fri and 16:10 Sun

MTV3

NELONEN

07:40 Cartoons for Children 07:40 Tractor Tom, 08:05 Pokémon, 08:30 Transformers Animated, 08:55 Batman. In Finnish.

13:00 According to Jim 13:30 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup SPORT 15:10 Dr T and the Women FILM Women cause problems for a wealthy gynecologist. Directed by Robert Altman.

Starring: Richard Gere, Helen Hunt. USA 2000.

17:25 Simpsons 22:35 In Plain Sight 23:30 K-Ville

SUB 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30

Cow & Chicken Futurama Family Guy King of the Hill Office Monkey Dog the Bounty Hunter SERIES BEGINS. Former convict Duane “Dog” Chapman is now a bounty hunter.

13:00 Instant Star 13:30 Quantum Leap 14:30 Xena: Warrior Princess 15:30 Holiday Showdown 16:30 Hot Properties 16:55 Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps 17:30 Commercial Breakdown 18:00 Katie & Peter – The Next Chapter 19:00 Project Runway 20:00 Little Britain 20:35 That Mitchell and Webb Look 21:05 Heroes 22:30 Entourage 23:05 Short Angry Men DOC What is life like below the average height?

00:55 Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps 01:30 Supernatural

TV VIISI 18:00 Home and Away 18:30 Fresh Prince of Bel Air 19:00 Manatu - Nur die Wahrheit Rettet Dich FILM Ordinary board game is full of surprises in this entertaining German film. Directed by Edzard Onneken. Starring: Markus Knüfken, Susanna Simon. Germany 2007.

21:00 Farscape 22:00 Paranormal State 22:30 Friday Night Project

Gilmore Girls.

T V1 at 17:08

09:00 Jamie at Home 09:30 Colin & Justin’s Home Heist 10:30 Jeff Corwin Experience Jeff harvests venom from four deadly vipers.

11:30 The Most Extreme 12:35 Dr. Phil 13:30 Frasier 14:00 Frasier 14:30 Frasier 15:00 Frasier 15:30 Whistler 16:30 Wildfire Kris’ mom comes for visit claiming to have given up drugs. Kris is not convinced.

17:30 Brainiac: Science Abuse SERIES BEGINS. Proving that science can be fun.

18:30 My Dad is Better than Your Dad 21:00 King Arthur FILM Letting Jerry Bruckheimer loose on an old classic can’t result in anything but good entertainment. Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Starring: Clive Owen, Keira Knightley, Mads Mikkelsen. USA/Ireland/UK 2004.

King Arthur.

NELONEN at 21:00 23:50 Lost (CERT15)

JIM 10:00 24 Hour Design 10:55 Hooked on Fishing 11:20 House Hunters I nternational 11:45 Amazing Adventures of a Nobody 12:10 Amazing Adventures of a Nobody 12:35 Corkscrewed 13:00 Mighty Movers 13:55 Flip This House 14:45 A Bikeography 15:10 Wheeler Dealers 15:35 Celebrity Rides 16:05 Kings of Construction 17:00 Digging for the truth: Timbuktu DOC 18:00 Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern 18:55 Cooked 19:25 Cooking in the Danger Zone 20:00 Destination Truth Josh searches for a giant anaconda.

21:00 Biography: Sharon Osbourne 22:00 Crime Stories (CERT15) 23:00 Contender 00:00 Parole Board

TV GUIDE

HELSINKI TIMES

monday TV1 09:30 Down to Earth 11:05 YLE News 11:10 Peak Practice 14:30 Doctors 15:05 Coronation Street Gail finds a shocking card on the kitchen table.

17:08 Peak Practice Has Jack bitten off more than he can chew?

23:45 The Recruiter DOC

09:35 The Young and the Restless 10:20 Emmerdale 12:20 Just for Laughs Gags 12:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 13:00 How Clean Is Your House?

13:30 The Bold and the Beautiful 14:30 Two and a Half Men 15:00 L.A. Law 17:00 The Bold and the Beautiful 17:30 Emmerdale 18:00 Emmerdale 21:00 Life Charlie meets Detective Carl Ames, who sent him to prison and still doesn’t believe he is innocent.

22:30 Fringe Passengers of a bus get frozen.

Tutenstein.

NELONEN at 07:25

TV2 06:50 Pikku Kakkonen Cartoons for children in Finnish.

08:50 Vets in Practice 10:20 Plus belle la vie 11:35 Supernanny 12:15 Eurovision 2009 Who will go on to represent Finland in the Eurovision 2009 song contest?

The first elimination round.

Commentary in Finnish.

13:05 Der Alte 16:10 McLeod’s Daughters Time for shearing is at hand and the women are full of enthusiasm.

18:05 Schwarzwaldklinik 20:20 Sky Cops London street gangs cause problems for Sky Cops in surprising ways.

22:05 The Border Kessler finds out about a Croatian war criminal living in Canada under a false identity. This reminds him of his own experinces in the Balkans.

22:50 Third Watch Bosco is temporarily assigned to a secret elite unit.

Yokas receives alarming information regarding Fred’s health.

YLE TEEMA 19:00 Cuéntame cómo pasó 21:00 Rock Album Classics The Grateful Dead: From Anthem to Beauty 1968-1970.

22:00 Tui Shou (Pushing Hands) FILM Ang Lee’s first movie tells the story of a tai chi master, who moves from China to America to live with his son.

Directed by Ang Lee. Starring: Sihun Lung, Bo Z Wang, Deb Snyder. Taiwan 1992.

tuesday

19.1.

MTV3

Fringe. MT V3 at 22:30 23:30 Psych Shawn tracks a stolen diamond ring.

00:35 Survivor

SUB 07:00 Cartoons for Children In Finnish. 07:00 Tractor Tom, 07:10 Jim Jam and Sunny, 07:35 Animaniacs.

11:25 Sturm der Liebe 15:35 How I Met Your Mother 16:00 Stacked 17:00 Commercial Breakdown 18:05 Sturm der Liebe 19:00 My Name Is Earl 19:30 Will & Grace 20:00 Friends 20:30 Simpsons 21:00 The 40-Year-Old Virgin (CERT15) FILM Andy collects action figures but has no luck with women.

Directed by Judd Apatow.

Starring: Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd.

USA 2005.

23:15 Bionic Woman 00:10 Short Angry Woman DOC 01:00 Late Night with Conan O’Brien 01:50 E-Ring

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

NELONEN 07:00 Cartoons for Children In Finnish. 07:00 Disney’s the Replacements, 07:25 Tutenstein, 07:50 Charlie & Mimmo.

08:00 Big Day 09:00 Nigella 09:30 Birth Days 10:00 What Women Really Want 10:30 Selling Houses 13:00 Birth Stories 13:30 10 Years Younger USA 14:00 Open House 14:30 Come Dine With Me 15:00 Dr. Phil 16:05 Days of Our Lives 17:00 October Road SERIES ENDS. Nick has to make a difficult decision.

Janet and Eddie deal with the mistakes they’ve made.

18:00 Talent USA SERIES BEGINS. Search for stars kicks off in New York City.

20:00 Ugly Betty Betty and Amanda are tasked with improving Mode’s online service, but things get completely out of hand. Claire warns Daniel not to get too close to Molly.

21:00 Desperate Housewives Carlos gets his eye sight back and Dave starts to crack. Lynette keeps fighting for her son.

22:00 Californication (CERT15) 22:35 Weeds (CERT15) 23:30 Frasier 00:00 Day Break

JIM 15:15 Stunt Junkies 15:45 Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern 16:35 Ultimate Gambler 17:00 Cooked 17:25 Cooking in the Danger Zone 18:00 Banzuke 18:30 Amazing Adventures of a Nobody 19:00 Cool Tools 19:30 Hidden Potential 20:00 Most Daring Rescues 21:00 Single Subject: Miami Manhunt (CERT15) DOC Serial rapist terrorized Miami in the spring of 2003.

How did the police catch him?

22:00 Most Shocking (CERT15) 23:00 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

23:50 Biography: Sharon Osbourne DOC 00:45 Mastermind (CERT15)

TV1

TV2

Most Daring Rescues.

JIM at 20:00

The 40-Year-Old Virgin Steve Carell plays Andy, an electronics salesman, who collects action figures, plays computer games and whose contacts with the fairer sex have been strictly limited to the platonic. Andy’s co-workers, a bunch of imbeciles, who are either single or in dysfunctional relationships, decide that enough is enough and try to find a mate for our poor protagonist. Andy finds himself being dragged to various clubs and dating bonanzas. The apex is reached when one of his moronic friends hires him a prostitute who turns out to be a transvestite. Andy, the stereotypical nerd, then meets the lovely Trish, a mother of three and grandmother of one, and the unlikely pair hit it off. But will they live happily ever after?

Sub at 21:00 Mon

09:35 The Young and the Restless 10:20 Emmerdale 10:45 Emmerdale 12:20 Just for Laughs Gags 12:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 13:00 Honey, I Ruined the House SERIES BEGINS. Naomi Cleaver turns horrid abodes into trendy apartments.

13:30 The Bold and the Beautiful 14:30 Alf 15:00 Windfall 17:00 The Bold and the Beautiful 17:30 Emmerdale 18:00 Emmerdale Ashley returns to Emmerdale, but things don't go as she planned. Sadie is faced with a difficult decision.

20:00 Private Practice Cooper treats a young diabetic with a mysterious past.

21:00 Lipstick Jungle Wendy finds a script that has some delicate information about her personal life.

Nico is drawn to Kirby. Victory is forced to fire some of her people.

22:30 C.S.I. New York 23:30 C.S.I. New York 00:30 Man Stroke Woman

NELONEN 07:00 Cartoons for Children In Finnish. 07:00 Disney’s the Replacements, 07:25 Tutenstein, 07:50 Charlie & Mimmo.

08:00 Big Day 09:00 Come Dine With Me 09:30 Birth Stories 10:00 10 Years Younger USA 10:30 Open House 13:00 Birth Stories 13:30 10 Years Younger USA 14:00 Open House 14:30 Come Dine With Me 15:00 Dr. Phil 16:05 Days of Our Lives 17:00 Kyle XY SERIES BEGINS. Teenager is found wandering the streets of the city, but he remembers nothing of his past life.

SUB

06:50 Pikku Kakkonen Cartoons for children in Finnish.

10:35 Happy Days 11:00 Kylie Kwong: My China 11:30 Animal Hospital 12:00 Vroom Vroom Maxi Jazz shows us what’s in his garage. Emma Parker Bowles races with a lawnmower.

16:00 Figure Skating SPORT Ice dancing. European championships. Commentary in Finnish.

20:00 Figure Skating SPORT Opening ceremony and pair skating. European championships. Commentary in Finnish.

22:05 Figure Skating SPORT Pair skating. European championships. Commentary in Finnish.

23:30 Skithouse

YLE TEEMA 19:00 Cidade dos Homens 19:35 Little Mosque on the Prairie

TV VIISI 18:00 Home and Away 18:30 Fresh Prince of Bel Air 19:00 America’s Funniest Home Videos 19:30 America’s Funniest Home Videos 20:00 Airline 20:30 Big Spender 21:00 Intervention 22:00 The People Watchers

20.1.

SELECTION OF ENGLISH PROGRAMMES ON FINNISH TELEVISION

MTV3

09:30 Down to Earth 11:05 YLE News 11:10 Peak Practice 14:30 Doctors Kate has to worry about her own well being as well as Ciaran’s.

15:05 Coronation Street Gail tackles the mystery of the card by herself. Claire is offended when Ashley concentrates on everything except the baby.

17:08 Peak Practice Jack and Beth are shocked

by Will’s actions.

18:30 Barack Obama’s inauguration Live from Washington.

Commentary in Finnish.

21:00 Miss Austen Regrets Jane Austen looks back on the choices she made in her life. Everybody is familiar with the women Austen wrote about, but how much do we know about the author herself?

22:35 The Street Part 2/18. Stan gets sacked just before retirement. He sees only one way out of his predicament.

25

Pushing Daisies.

SUB at 22:00

Biography: Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States of America on 4 November 2008. He will be sworn in on 20 January and Nelonen has chosen the same day to show a documentary about the president-elect, which features among others his sister Maya Soetero-Ng and the future first lady Michelle Obama talk about the man many Americans think will be the next John Fitzgerald Kennedy. In this documentary the president-elect himself speaks candidly about his life, his family and his political ambitions.

Nelonen at 20:00 Tue

Inauguration Live TV1 at 18:30 Tue

07:00 Cartoons for Children In Finnish. 07:00 Thomas & Friends, 07:10 Jim Jam and Sunny, 07:35 Animaniacs.

11:25 Sturm der Liebe 12:45 World’s Greenest Homes 15:35 How I Met Your Mother 16:00 Stacked 16:30 E! Entertainment: Denise Richards 17:00 E! Entertainment: Battle of the Hollywood Hotties 18:05 Sturm der Liebe 19:00 My Name Is Earl 19:30 Will & Grace 20:00 Friends 20:30 Simpsons 21:00 O.C. Marissa’s new acquaintance gets everybody in trouble.

22:00 Pushing Daisies SERIES BEGINS. Ned can resurrect the dead and he uses his gift to help Emerson, a private investigator.

23:00 Génesis 00:00 Late Night with Conan O’Brien 01:25 Tantastic DOC

TV VIISI 18:00 Home and Away 18:30 Fresh Prince of Bel Air 19:00 America’s Funniest Home Videos 19:30 America’s Funniest Home Videos 20:00 8 Simple Rules for Dating my Teenage Daughter 20:30 Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman 21:00 Alles Ausser Sex 22:00 Secret Lives of Women

Kyle XY. NELONEN at 17:00 18:00 Talent USA Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne and David Hasselhoff search for talent in Chicago and Los Angeles.

20:00 Biography: Barack Obama DOC 21:00 Navy NCIS Dead man is found in an abandoned restaurant.

22:00 Girl with Two Faces DOC 23:30 Frasier 00:30 Jericho

JIM 15:30 Stunt Junkies 16:00 Amazing Adventures of a Nobody 16:25 Cool Tools 16:50 Hidden Potential 17:15 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

18:00 Banzuke 18:30 Amazing Adventures of a Nobody Leon spends the night on a pub bench in Kendal.

19:00 Over Your Head 19:30 Dream Builders 20:00 Re-Inventors Leonardo Da Vinci’s machine gun was more dangerous to the people using it than to the enemy.

20:30 How It’s Made 21:00 Mediums: We See Dead People DOC 22:00 Penn & Teller 22:30 MANswers 23:00 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

23:50 Single Subject: Miami Manhunt DOC 00:45 Master Mind (CERT 15)

26

TV GUIDE & WEATHER

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

wednesday

HELSINKI TIMES

Thu 1/15

21.1.

−22 −22

TV1 09:30 Down to Earth 11:05 YLE News 11:10 Peak Practice 14:30 Doctors 15:05 Coronation Street 17:08 Peak Practice Young woman goes into labor in a remote mountain cabin. An unexpected hero comes to her rescue.

18:55 Keeping Up Appearances Romantic life of friends and relatives cause problems for Hyacinth.

00:20 Inside the Actors Studio Actors from the popular show, Law & Order, discuss their work with James Lipton.

TV2 06:50 Pikku Kakkonen Cartoons for children in Finnish.

10:35 Happy Days 11:00 Mat med Niklas 11:55 Globetrekkers 16:00 Figure Skating SPORT Men’s ice dancing. European championships.

Commentary in Finnish.

17:00 The Busy World of Richard Scarry Classic animation spoken in Finnish.

20:00 Figure Skating SPORT Pair skating. European championships.

Commentary in Finnish.

22:05 Figure Skating SPORT Pair skating. European championships.

Commentary in Finnish.

23:00 Shot in Bombay DOC Documentary about Bollywood, organized crime and terrorism.

YLE TEEMA 21:00 Brando DOC Part 2/3. The life and times of the great Marlon Brando.

21:55 Little Mosque on the Prairie 22:20 The Bullshit Detectives Alasdair Jeffrey reveals how consumers are being tricked. Under the microscope are feng shui and hypnotherapy promising larger breasts.

23:20 Yle Live – Venom Abaddon! Cronos!

Mantas! Black metal veterans do London in 1985.

MTV3 09:35 The Young and the Restless 10:20 Emmerdale 10:45 Emmerdale 12:20 Just for Laughs Gags 12:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 13:00 Honey I Ruined the House 13:30 The Bold and the Beautiful 14:30 How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother.

MT V3 at 14:30 15:00 17:00 17:30 18:00

Northern Exposure The Bold and the Beautiful Emmerdale Emmerdale Laurel is in a rush to start to the wedding preparations.

21:00 C.S.I. Grissom investigates dog fighting.

22:30 Ice Road Truckers Storm warning worries the truckers.

23:30 Mythbusters 00:35 3rd Rock From the Sun

SUB 07:00 Cartoons for Children In Finnish. 07:00 Tractor Tom, 07:10 Jim Jam and Sunny, 07:35 Animaniacs.

11:25 Sturm der Liebe 15:35 How I Met Your Mother 16:00 Stacked 16:30 E! Entertainment: True Hollywood Story 18:05 Sturm der Liebe 19:00 My Name Is Earl 19:30 Will & Grace 20:00 Friends 20:30 Simpsons 21:00 Training Day FILM Rookie cop is groomed by a corrupt colleague. Directed

by Antoine Fuqua.

Starring: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn. USA 2001.

23:30 C.S.I. Catherine and Warrick track down the killer of a basketball player’s son.

00:25 Late Night with Conan O’Brien 01:20 Wire

TV VIISI

Dirt. NELONEN at 00:50

18:00 Home and Away 18:30 Fresh Prince of Bel Air 19:00 America’s Funniest Home Videos 19:30 America’s Funniest Home Videos 20:00 SOS Gute 21:00 The People Watchers 22:00 Dark Justice

NELONEN 07:00 Cartoons for Children In Finnish. 07:00 Disney’s the Replacements, 07:25 Tutenstein, 07:50 Charlie & Mimmo.

08:00 Big Day 09:00 Come Dine with Me 09:30 Birth Stories 10:00 10 Years Younger USA 10:30 Open House 13:00 Birth Stories 13:30 10 Years Younger USA 14:00 Staying Put 14:30 Come Dine with Me 15:00 Dr. Phil 16:05 Days of Our Lives Sami fears for her wedding.

17:00 Kyle XY Kyle finds out he doesn’t have to sleep.

18:00 Talent USA Hunt for talent continues in L.A. and N.Y.C. 20:00 The Bachelor Brad gets to know to girls’ families.

21:00 Grey’s Anatomy Meredith is shocked, when Derek finds her mother’s diary.

22:00 Mad Men Peggy is testing an electrical dieting belt and discovers the contraption has very pleasurable side-effects.

23:20 Frasier Frasier dates a top lawyer, who puts him in his place.

The poor man is confused.

23:50 Kidnapped Everybody is drawn to a small town in Mexico.

00:50 Dirt

JIM

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−11 −8 −12 −11

−6 −3 Sun 1/18

−10 −5 −14

−8 −9

−11

−5 −4 Mon 1/19

−8 15:30 Stunt Junkies 16:00 Amazing Adventures of a Nobody 16:25 Over Your Head 16:50 Dream Builders 17:15 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

18:00 Banzuke 18:30 Amazing Adventures of a Nobody Leo travels to Wales on a shoestring.

19:00 Design Remix Mary's and Gordon's living room is in dire need of a makeover.

19:30 Trigged Out Honda Accord gets its dashboard renewed.

20:30 Fifth Gear 21:00 Modern Marvels: Tobacco DOC A look at tobacco’s history and the controversies around it.

22:00 Wheeler Dealers Mike and Edd work on a Lexus LS 400.

22:30 Celebrity Rides Kevin's Spyder is almost finished. All that's missing is the engine and some final touches.

23:00 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

23:50 Mediums: We See Dead People DOC 00:45 Mastermind

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Sun 1/18 Mon 1/19 Tue 1/20 Wed 1/21

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0

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Thursday 1/15

−12 −12

−4 −5

Shot in Bombay

Grey’s Anatomy

Bollywood megastar Sanjay Dutt’s drug problems and custody squabbles have been daily fodder for India’s yellow press for years. He was sentenced to jail in 2007 after weapons, which were linked to the 1993 Mumbai terrorist attacks, were found in his possession. This documentary follows Dutt as he divides his time between making the movie Shootout at Lokhandwala (in which he, ironically enough, plays a heroic policeman) and fighting in court. Movies are big business in Bollywood, but not the only business. Behind the glitz and glamour lurk the ugly characters of terrorism and organized crime. Shot in Bombay offers a unique view of one of the largest film industries in the world.

Gray's Anatomy: Descriptive and Surgical was first published in the United Kingdom in 1858, and Henry Gray would undoubtedly turn in his grave should he find out what has come of his anatomy textbook. Hospital shows form one of the corner stones of modern television and Grey’s Anatomy is an excellent example of the genre – the male doctors are handsome, the female ones ambitious and the hospital is more a place for finding sexual partners than it is for treating the sick and the lame. Watching this makes you wonder how people actually make it out of there alive.

There is, however, one thing that sets Grey’s Anatomy apart from the rest: All roles have been cast without specifying the character’s race, which has resulted in a very diverse cast.

TV2 at 23:00 Wed

Nelonen at 21:00 Wed

9:10 am 3:49 pm

9:56 am 2:58 pm

9:22 am 3:58 pm

10:19 am 2:34 pm

9:26 am 3:43 pm

12:40 pm

CLASSIFIEDS & SERVICES

HELSINKI TIMES

15 – 21 JANUARY 2009

27

Finland info Thursday 15 – 21 Wednesday January 2009 DENTAL CARE

Dental care centre

tel. 726 2266 Emergency duty

24 h

Eurohammas Hämeentie 60

Open Mon - Fri 8-20 Sat 9 -15

Uushammas tel. 146 1460

The prices of the special dental technician Prosthesis as if the teeth were your own (made with the best materials)

We offer you kind and professional service. Our dentist: Mikko Larjomaa.

OUR SPECIAL PRICES Tooth-coloured filling from.............................€52 Painless tooth removal from.........................€52

IN THIS MONTH: THE FULL PROSTHESIS OF UPPER OR LOWER JAW......€360 THE FULL PROSTHESIS OF UPPER AND LOWER JAW....€590 THE FULL PROSTHETIC LINING................................ ........€65

Removal of dental calculus and stains, fluoridation and cleaning from.......................€52

Alko. The only store to sell alcohol stronger than beer. Alkos are open Mon-Fri 9-20, Sat 9-18 and closed on Sundays. More information is available at www.alko.fi. For store locations, please call: +358 20 711 712.

Banks and Money Exchange. Banks are usually open Mon-Fri 10-16:30. Money Exchange office Forex at the Helsinki Railway Station is open Mon-Sun 8-21. See www.forex.fi for more information.

Emergency Number. 112

TRAVEL

Health. Helsinki City Health Centers are open Mon-Fri 8-16. In case of children in need of urgent medical treatment contact tel +358 9 10023 or Lastenklinikka’s Emergency Department, tel +358 09 471 72783 or +358 09 471 72751. Emergency Rooms at the Malmi and Maria Hospital offer treatment at night and during weekends. Malmi tel. 09 10023 or +358 9 310 6611. Maria tel. 09 10023 +358 9 471 63466.

Working in Finland?

Travel,Training & Business Services for Europe and India

Grocery stores. Most grocery stores are open Mon-Fri 7-21, Sat 7-18, Sun 12-21.

To get earnings-linked benefits in case of unemployment in Finland, you need to be a member of an unemployment fund.

Get your independent unemployment security now for only 67 €/ year.

Join us: www.ytk.fi

Euro-India Business & Travel Annankatu 7C 19 00120 Helsinki (Finland) +358 9 8138077 Tel. in UK +44 8718714098 e-mail: mail@euro-indiatravel.com

Dental whitening..........................................€150

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY THE PROSTHESIS CAN BE MADE IN 12 HOURS.

Other services: Dental Implants Surgery Tooth Jewels Open: Mon – Fri 8 – 20. Right by the buses, trams and the metro.

On the street level, easy access with the wheelchair.

24 h

Lining and fixing while waiting.

No discount of the special prices

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

Advertise your service here

Department stores are open Mon-Fri 9-21, Sat 9-18 and closed on Sundays.

www.euro-indiatravel.com

YOUR ADVERT COULD

For example, this size: 80 mm x 31 mm

BE HERE

Market halls. Fresh vegetables, fish, meat, bakery and dairy products are sold at the traditional market halls. Wanha Kauppahalli (Old Market Hall) in Kauppatori (Market Square) and Hakaniemen Kauppahalli (Hakaniemi Market Place) are the most popular. Both are open Mon-Fri 8-18, Sat 8-16 and closed on Sundays.

Libraries. Public libraries in Helsinki are usually open Mon-Thu 10-20 and Fri-Sat 10-16. Kirjasto 10 (Library 10) in the centre of Helsinki (in Postitalo, Elielinaukio 2 G) offers internet access and good information services in English. It’s open Mon-Thu 10-22, Fri 10-18 and Sat-Sun 12-18.

Museums are closed on Mondays. The National Museum of Finland is located in Helsinki (Mannerheimintie 34, next to the Parliament building) and is open Tue-Wed 11-20, Thu-Sun 11-18. For more information see www.nba.fi or call +358 9 40 50 95 44. Should you wish to book a guided tour, call +358 9 40 50 95 52 Tue-Fri 9-12.

Bear in mind that bookings should be made one week in advance.

More information about museums is available at www.a5.fi/lehdet/ museoesite

EXPAT VIEW

Public Transport operates in Helsinki and its environs from around 05:30, 06:30 on weekends, until midnight. Night buses operate extensively on weekends. For more information see www.ytv.fi and www.hkl.fi

Will Sillitoe is from Norwich in the UK and has lived and taught in Helsinki since 2007.

Post. Post offices are usually open Mon-Fri 10-18. www.posti.fi Passenger rail services in Finland are operated by VR. See www. vr.fi for more information or call +358 60 04 19 02.

Silence is golden – except during conversational English classes ten years of teaching adults and young people in the UK I got used to chat and noise. It’s fair to say the British dislike quiet – it makes us feel uncomfortable. Voluntary quiet is reserved for special occasions: a doctor’s waiting room, or a visit to church. Sadly, it is a rarity in the classroom. As a teacher of mine once asked us: "Is my lesson interrupting your conversation?"

In comparison, teaching English to Finns is an easier, yet stranger business. The idea of our lessons is to practice speaking. Instead long silences frequently occur as each student waits for someone else to make the first move. This demonstration of humility exemplifies an inner tranquility of Finns which I have come to call the ‘sauna silence’.

Maybe sauna culture

AFTER

helps explain why Finns find smalltalk so alien – the act of saying something as filler and not because it needs to be said is truly foreign here.

To sit at ease, even with strangers, needs no words; it is instinctively okay to let silence reign.

The first time I walked into a classroom of Finnish adult learners they were all sitting silently waiting for me. I said hello, to which one or two looked up in acknowledgement while the others continued with quiet contemplations. It seemed as if they imagined themselves in a steamy log cabin throwing water on hot stones instead of being in a modern air-conditioned office.

The social influence of the sauna should not be underestimated. It is a state of mind and body that Finns carry with them to the out-

In this series expats look at their life in Finland.

side world. I’ve shared this observation with my students. Their immediate reaction is to laugh dismissively, before a thoughtful quiet quickly follows and they seem magically transported to some kind of inner sauna. A few seconds later they snap out of it and start to nod their heads in agreement with me.

To explain this phenomenon evolutionary psychologists might look for answers in the Finns’ ancestral forest past: their isolated and sparse dwellings; the long dark winters; the lonely search for berries and mushrooms; and a healthy fear of wild animals and wandering strangers. What could Finns have possibly needed to make smalltalk about?

- "Today I trapped a bear and then it snowed, Maija!"

- "That’s nice, Matti. I

chopped some firewood and then heated the sauna".

Idle chat had no place in the struggle to survive a cold and harsh climate.

But that was then and this is now. Social silence can tell us how Finns feel about themselves and their modern environment. To me it suggests a sense of acceptance and ease of the sort that endless small talk often fails to bring about. Besides, the Finnish strategy is a lot less demanding.

I’ll be using this article with my students in a future lesson, and I wonder what they’ll make of it. Some will no doubt wish they were in a coniferous forest and not sitting through an English lesson. Others might

wonder what ‘coniferous’ means. But so long as it helps get them talking, it’s all to the good.

Information sessions about entrepreneurship in English Information sessions are for everybody who are planning on starting their own business in the Helsinki region and want to know more about entrepreneurship.

Topics: Business idea•Business plan•How to start a business Financing•Profitability•Forms of enterprise•Taxation; VAT and prepayment of taxes•Start up-grant•Insurances

Sessions in the spring 2009 22.1 18.2 19.3 23.4 14.5 Location: EnterpriseHelsinki classroom Kaisaniemenkatu 6 A 6th floor, Helsinki Starting time: 16.15 (last about 2 hours) Sign up for the information session Session is free of charge Call 09 310 36360 or e-mail to yrityshelsinki@hel.fi

www.yrityshelsinki.fi

Regional Business Services for Immigrants

035535-0803

ISSUE 3 (83) 15 – 21 JANUARY 2009 • ISSN 1796-8321. Price €3 (sis ALV) Publisher Helsinki Times Oy Vilhonvuorenkatu 11 B 00500 Helsinki Finland

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Editor-in-chief Alexis Kouros Editor Laura Seppälä Subeditor Heidi Lehtonen Proofreading Jesse Karjalainen, James O'Connor Editorial team Nick Barlow, David Cord, Kati Hurme, Mari Kaislaniemi, Miissa Rantanen, Egan Richardson, Ville Ukkola Layout and graphic design Andrei Kuzmin Trainee in layout design Saira Jaferi Webmaster Mahmoud Assiabi, Jere Kokko Translations Michael Nagler, Matthew Parry Sales Aiman Kaddoura, Bob Graham, Kati Hurme, Stephen O'Brien Print house I-print, Vaasa All articles, pictures, adverts and graphics are subject to copyright. No reproduction or reprinting is allowed without permission from ©Helsinki Times Inc.

the week in pictures L E H T I K U VA / A F P P H O T O/O L I V I E R M O R I N

FRIDAY

A bride walks down the aisle of the chapel of the ice hotel in Jukkasjärvi on 9 January.

Around 150 marriages take place there each winter. The chapel and ice hotel are temporary buildings, since the chapel and hotel melts away in the spring.

T UE SDAY

MONDAY L E H T I K U VA / R E U T E R S / K I M K Y U N G - H O O N

Women dressed in ceremonial kimonos pose before a display showing stock prices at the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s (TSE) New Year opening ceremony in Tokyo 5. Japan’s Nikkei average rose 1.5 percent on Monday, the first trading day of 2009, after Wall Street rallied on 2 January to its highest levels since early November.

T HUR SDAY

W EDNE SDAY L E H T I K U VA / R E U T E R S / S T OYA N N E N O V

Men brave the icy waters in an attempt to grab a wooden cross on Epiphany Day in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia 6 January.

S AT URDAY L E H T I K U VA / E L I O T J . S C H E C H T E R

Brandon Spikes, no. 51, of the Florida Gators celebrates with the trophy after defeating the Oklahoma Sooners in the FedEx BCS National Championship Game at Dolphin Stadium on 8 January in Miami, Florida. The Gators won the game by a score of 24-14.

L E H T I K U VA / A F P P H O T O / S H A H M A R A I

Afghan Shiite Muslim men beat themselves with chains and blades on the streets of Kabul on 7 January as part of the Muslim Ashura celebrations. Shiites in their hundreds of thousands crowded the streets of the capital for the annual ceremonies.

SUNDAY L E H T I K U VA / A F P P H O T O D D P / O L I V E R L A N G

Swans gather on the Isar river to catch some rays of sunlight on 10 January in Munich, southern Germany. Meteorologists forecast icy temperatures and sunshine for the following days in southern parts of the country.

LEHTIKUVA / REUTERS / SUHAIB SALEM

Smoke rises during Israel’s attacks on Gaza 11 January. Israeli forces edged into the Gaza Strip’s most populous area on Sunday, killing at least 14 Palestinian guerrillas and 12 civilians in an operation that was escalated in defiance of international calls for a ceasefire.