Jumaat, 6 September 2013

The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

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The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

Koreas re-open military hotline
McDonald’s burger sent to lab for lizard test
Funds not misused, court told

Koreas re-open military hotline

Posted:

SEOUL: North Korea reconnected a military hotline to the South that was cut earlier this year at the height of cross-border tensions, Seoul's government said.

The line – one of the two remaining inter-Korea military hotlines – was disabled in late March weeks after the North's third nuclear test and the following month a joint industrial zone was shut down.

The North in early March cut off another line at the border truce village of Panmunjom before reopening it in July when relations showed signs of thawing.

Cross-border army hotlines in other parts of the country were severed years ago when tensions soared and left unrestored since then.

The latest re-establishment of the hotline paves the way for the reopening of the Kaesong industrial zone as it is largely used to provide security guarantees when South Korean businessmen and workers visit the complex.

The North made the first call to the South via the hotline since March yesterday morning, said Seoul's unification ministry, which handles cross-border affairs.

"Reception is still a bit shaky but at least the connection has been restored," a ministry spokesman said. It followed an agreement on Thursday at a meeting of the inter-Korea committee tasked with reviving the shuttered Kaesong complex.

The ministry spokesman said businessmen from the South would be able to visit the zone – 10km north of the border – to check on infrastructure and facilities left dormant for months.

In April, as tensions increased following the North's nuclear test, Pyongyang effectively shut down operations at the zone by withdrawing the 53,000 North Korean workers employed at the 123 South Korean plants there. Seoul subsequently withdrew all its managers.

The two Koreas agreed last month to work together to re-open the complex – a valued source of hard currency for the impoverished North – after Pyongyang changed tack to make a flurry of conciliatory gestures. — AFP

McDonald’s burger sent to lab for lizard test

Posted:

A MCDONALD'S Sausage McMuffin burger which a customer claimed to contain a baby lizard has been sent to a laboratory for testing.

The fast-food chain sent an employee down to the customer's home on Wednesday night to collect the food sample.

Results from the lab are expected "within the next few days", said McDonald's Restaurants senior communications manager Kevin Lim.

"Food safety is our top priority and we take all feedback relating to the quality of our food very seriously."

The customer, known only as Sandy Sand on social networking site Facebook, posted a photograph of the half-eaten burger on the fast-food chain's Facebook page on Wednesday at noon.

It had what looked to be the tail of a lizard sticking out of it, she claimed, adding that the burger was bought from the Ang Mo Kio drive-through branch.

McDonald's has apologised to the customer for her experience.

The photo post has been shared over 500 times on Facebook as of Thursday evening. Numerous threads have also popped up on online forums like hardwarezone.com.sg, questioning if the burger actually contained a lizard.

The customer could not be reached for comment. But in several posts on the McDonald's Singapore Facebook page, she said: "Thanks to McDonald's for (its) attention and sending (its) personnel over at this hour to collect it for analysis."

She added that she hoped "an upright judgment will be announced" and wrote: "Thanks for the prompt action but no thanks for the unforgettable awful experience." — The Straits Times/Asia News Network

Funds not misused, court told

Posted:

City Harvest church leaders wanted to buy a stake in Suntec City and had recalled the church's investment money and loans to raise funds. The transactions involved were legal and in some cases even "common" in the business world.

That was the explanation put up yesterday by defence lawyers who were giving a more prosaic take on financial deals which the state believes were used to conceal a misuse of church funds.

Three prominent law firms including Singapore's Drew & Napier and Rajah & Tann had also drafted these and other allegedly suspect transactions and found nothing wrong with them, the defence argued.

City Harvest founder Kong Hee and five of his deputies were charged last year with misusing about S$50mil (RM131mil) of church funds, partly through the buying of alleged sham bonds.

A prosecution witness had said earlier that former church investment manager Chew Eng Han, one of the accused, told him that the church's auditors had grown "uncomfortable" with the bonds.

Chew then proposed a plan to "restructure" these bonds.

But defence lawyer N. Sreenivasan noted that at the time, City Harvest was in talks to purchase the Suntec stake, and suggested that the various transactions that followed was to finance this.

He also noted that in the end, the church and its investment manager AMAC Capital Partners' bond monies were paid back with interest in full, so they had not suffered any losses as a result of the transactions. — The Straits Times/Asia News Network

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

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The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

'True Blood' to end

Posted:

Sookie, Bill and Eric fans all over the world cry as there will not be a Season Eight for the popular drama.

Brace yourselves, True Blood fans; the end is near.

HBO programming president Michael Lombardo said yesterday that the vampire drama will end its run next year following its seventh season, which will launch next summer. In a statement, Lombardo called True Blood – which saw the departure of showrunner Alan Ball prior to its sixth season – "nothing short of a defining show for HBO".

"Alan Ball took the books by Charlaine Harris, assembled a brilliant cast led by the magnificent Anna Paquin in the role of Sookie Stackhouse, and crafted a show that has taken its many devoted fans on an unforgettable journey. Alan passed the baton to Brian Buckner, who led our fantastic writers and crew in crafting a spectacular sixth season, and he will lead us through the seventh and final season of this amazing show.

Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard) cries bloody murder upon hearing the news of True Blood's imminent death but at least Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) is around to console him.

"Together with its legions of fans, it will be hard to say goodbye to the residents of Bon Temps, but I look forward to what promises to be a fantastic final chapter of this incredible show," said Lombardo.

Buckner, who took the reins for the show's sixth season, said that he was "enormously proud" to be part of the series.

"I feel enormously proud to have been a part of the True Blood family since the very beginning," says Buckner.

"I guarantee that there's not a more talented or harder-working cast and crew out there, and I'd like to extend a personal heartfelt thanks to them for their dedication and tenacity over the years, especially this past year, as I stepped into a larger role.

"Thank you also to HBO for their unwavering support and of course to Alan Ball, whose genius enabled all of us to share in this incredible journey. Finally, a huge thank you to the most passionate fans in television. As we take a final walk through Bon Temps together, we will do our very best to bring Sookie's story to a close with heart, imagination and, of course, fun." — Reuters

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The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

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The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes

Posted:

The Hobbit actor is set to play an older version of the world-famous detective, in a new thriller.

Can the world's most famous detective retire? That's the question at the heart of A Slight Trick Of The Mind, an upcoming detective thriller that will reunite Gods And Monsters director Bill Condon with Ian McKellen.

The story follows a late-in-life Sherlock Holmes after he has given up his Baker Street digs for a quieter life in a sleepy Sussex village with his housekeeper and her amateur-detective son.

Instead of puttering around enjoying retirement and, say, picking up golf, Holmes finds himself haunted by an unsolved case from 50 years ago involving an angry husband and an unstable wife.

There's been no shortage of Holmes adaptations in recent years, among them Robert Downey Jr's boxing detective in a series of big screen adventures and Benedict Cumberbatch's modern-day investigator in the popular BBC series.

Each has promised a fresh spin on the iconic sleuth, but this one has the advantage of checking in with Holmes at a point where Arthur Conan Doyle's novels never ventured – old age.

Based on a novel of the same name by Mitch Cullin, the screenplay is being adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher (The Duchess). Filming will begin next April in Britain.

Condon's Wikileaks drama The Fifth Estate hits theatres this fall in the US, while McKellen will be seen in the upcoming The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug and on Broadway opposite Patrick Stewart in productions of No Man's Land and Waiting For Godot. — Reuters

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews

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The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews

Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes

Posted:

The Hobbit actor is set to play an older version of the world-famous detective, in a new thriller.

The story follows a late-in-life Sherlock Holmes after he has given up his Baker Street digs for a quieter life in a sleepy Sussex village with his housekeeper and her amateur-detective son.

Instead of puttering around enjoying retirement and, say, picking up golf, Holmes finds himself haunted by an unsolved case from 50 years ago involving an angry husband and an unstable wife.

Each has promised a fresh spin on the iconic sleuth, but this one has the advantage of checking in with Holmes at a point where Arthur Conan Doyle's novels never ventured – old age.

Based on a novel of the same name by Mitch Cullin, the screenplay is being adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher (The Duchess). Filming will begin next April in Britain.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: World Updates

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The Star Online: World Updates

Rodman back from North Korea, without jailed American
Direct link between Assad and gas attack elusive for U.S.
Conservative leader Abbott expected to win Aussie election as polls open

Rodman back from North Korea, without jailed American

Posted:

(Note strong language in paragraphs 6 and 10)

BEIJING (Reuters) - Former U.S. basketball star Dennis Rodman returned on Saturday from his second visit to North Korea this year where he again met the reclusive country's leader Kim Jong-un, but did not come back with jailed American missionary Kenneth Bae.

The flamboyant former NBA star's visit came after North Korea abruptly withdrew its invitation to Robert King, the U.S. special envoy on North Korean human rights issues, who was expected to head to Pyongyang in a bid to secure Bae's release.

Bae, 45, was sentenced to hard labour for 15 years in May for crimes against the state. He had been arrested in November after entering the North with a tour group and his health has been deteriorating since he was imprisoned.

Though there had been speculations that during Rodman's visit the detained American would be released, he said ahead of his visit he was going for "another basketball diplomacy tour".

Wearing his trademark dark sunglasses, the 6-foot 7-inch (2.01 metre) Rodman emerged at Beijing's international airport, a common waystation for travellers to and from North Korea, with an unlit cigar in his mouth.

"That's not my job to ask about Kenneth Bae. Ask Obama about that. Ask Hillary Clinton," he told a throng of reporters. "I don't give a shit."

Kim and Rodman spent quality time together by having dinner and watching a basketball game during Rodman's five-day trip, the North's KCNA news agency reported.

The report added Kim warmly welcomed Rodman and had a "cordial talk". Rodman reportedly expressed his thanks to the leader for spending time with him, saying Kim's greeting is "an expression of good faith towards the Americans".

Rodman showed reporters in Beijing pictures of him meeting Kim, and said he had given Kim a gift of his Bad Boy vodka, which "he loved".

"He is my friend for life. I don't care what you guys think about him. I don't give a shit about what people around the world think about him," he added.

Rodman's latest trip was sponsored by Irish bookmaker Paddy Power.

Kim, the third of his line to rule North Korea, is a basketball fan and appeared to get along well with Rodman on the earlier visit, with the two of them pictured laughing, eating and drinking together and watching an all-star basketball match.

Rodman first visited Pyongyang earlier this year at a time when North Korea was threatening the United States, South Korea and Japan with missile strikes.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard, and Jane Chung in SEOUL; Editing by Michael Perry)

Direct link between Assad and gas attack elusive for U.S.

Posted:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With the United States threatening to attack Syria, U.S. and allied intelligence services are still trying to work out who ordered the poison gas attack on rebel-held neighbourhoods near Damascus.

No direct link to President Bashar al-Assad or his inner circle has been publicly demonstrated, and some U.S. sources say intelligence experts are not sure whether the Syrian leader knew of the attack before it was launched or was only informed about it afterward.

While U.S. officials say Assad is responsible for the chemical weapons strike even if he did not directly order it, they have not been able to fully describe a chain of command for the August 21 attack in the Ghouta area east of the Syrian capital.

It is one of the biggest gaps in U.S. understanding of the incident, even as Congress debates whether to launch limited strikes on Assad's forces in retaliation.

After wrongly claiming that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction before the 2003 U.S. invasion, the U.S. intelligence community, along with the Obama administration, are trying to build as solid a case as they can about what it says was a sarin nerve gas attack that killed over 1,400 people.

The Syrian government, backed by Russia, blames Sunni rebels for the gas attack. Russia says Washington has not provided convincing proof that Assad's troops carried out the attack and called it a "provocation" by rebel forces hoping to encourage a military response by the United States.

Identifying Syrian commanders or leaders as those who gave an order to fire rockets into the Sunni Muslim areas could help Obama convince a war-weary American public and sceptical members of Congress to back limited strikes against Assad.

But penetrating the secretive Syrian government is tough, especially as it fights a chaotic civil war for its survival.

"Decision-making at high levels within foreign governments is always a difficult intelligence target. Typically small numbers of people are involved, operational security is high, and penetration - through either human or technical means - is hard," said Paul Pillar, a former CIA expert on the Middle East.

One possible link between the gas attack and Assad's inner circle is the Syrian government body that is responsible for producing chemical weapons, U.S. and allied security sources say.

Personnel associated with the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Council (SSRC), which has direct ties to Assad's entourage, were likely involved in preparing munitions in the days before the attack, they say.

A declassified French intelligence report describes a unit of the SSRC, known by the code name "Branch 450", which it says is in charge of filling rockets or shells with chemical munitions in general.

U.S. and European security sources say this unit was likely involved in mixing chemicals for the August 21 attack and also may have played a more extensive role in preparing for it and carrying it out.

"BEST EVIDENCE"

Bruce Riedel, a former senior U.S. intelligence expert on the region and sometime advisor to the Obama White House, said that intelligence about the SSRC's alleged role is the most telling proof the United States has at hand.

"The best evidence linking the regime to the attack at a high level is the involvement of SSRC, the science centre that created the (chemical weapons) program and manages it. SSRC works for the President's office and reports to him," Riedel said.

U.S. officials say Amr Armanazi, a Syrian official identified as SSRC director in a State Department sanctions order a year ago, was not directly involved.

Much of the U.S. claim that Assad is responsible was initially based on reports from witnesses, non-governmental groups and hours of YouTube videos.

U.S. officials have not presented any evidence to the public of scientific samples or intelligence information proving that sarin gas was used or that the Syrian government used it.

The United States has also not named any Syrian commanders it thinks gave the green light to fire gas-laden rockets into Ghouta.

But U.S. and allied security sources say they believe that Syrian military units responsible for the areas that were attacked were under heavy pressure from top commanders to wipe out a stubborn rebel presence there so government troops could redeploy to other trouble spots, including the city of Aleppo.

An analysis by the Congressional Research Service, a branch of the Library of Congress, reported that a declassified U.S. government paper summarizing intelligence findings concludes that Syrian government officials were "witting and directed" the gas attack. But the evidence of who ordered it was not watertight, the analysis said.

The findings were partly based on intercepted communications "involving a senior official intimately familiar with the offensive" which "confirmed that chemical weapons were used by the regime," it said.

As more information has been collected and analyzed, early theories about the attack have largely been dismissed, U.S. and allied security sources said.

Reports that Assad's brother, Maher, a general who commands an elite Republican Guard unit and a crack Syrian army armoured division, gave the order to use chemicals have not been substantiated, U.S. sources said. Some U.S. sources now believe Maher Assad did not order the attack and was not directly involved.

(Editing by Alistair Bell and Ken Wills)

Conservative leader Abbott expected to win Aussie election as polls open

Posted:

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's conservative leader Tony Abbott, expected to win national elections on Saturday and end six years of Labor rule, cast his vote at a Sydney surf club, joking he'd rather be enjoying the beach than campaigning.

A confident Abbott, who is often photographed in his swimming costume at his local Manly Beach, was accompanied by his wife and daughters in warm spring sunshine.

But while Abbott and his supporters enjoyed the sunshine, opinion polls say voters are set to send a chill down the ruling Labor party, throwing it from office and giving Abbott an overwhelming majority and ending three years of a hung parliament.

Abbott, 55, told reporters that Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had failed to govern for all Australians and that was why Australians needed to vote for a change on Saturday.

"I'm in a suit. I sort of wish I was out there on the waves. It's a nice wave for an elderly long boarder this morning," Abbott said, adding he did not trust the polls which pointed to an easy conservative win.

"Anything can happen today. I don't believe the polls, Kevin Rudd doesn't believe the polls. I think it's still very close."

The election has been pitched as a choice on who is best to lead the resource-rich nation as its economy adjusts to an end to a prolonged mining investment boom, fuelled by China's demand for natural resources.

CARBON TAX, REFUGEES

Abbott built up a strong poll lead on the back of promises to rein in government spending, scrap an unpopular tax on carbon emissions, and stop the flow of refugee boats arriving in Australia's northwest.

The super-fit Abbott, a keen cyclist who often exercises before dawn, has also promised to restore government stability after three years of a hung parliament and Labor's change of prime minister twice in three years.

Rudd, who replaced Australia's first female prime minister Julia Gillard in late June, has painted Abbott's planned spending cuts as dangerous European-style austerity and said his government is best placed to manage a slowing economy.

Two last minute polls on Saturday, Newspoll in the Australian newspaper and Nielsen in the Fairfax media, found Abbott's Liberal Party would win 54 percent of the national vote, compared to 46 percent for Rudd's Labor.

That would give Abbott an overwhelming majority of around 40 seats in the 150 seat parliament.

(Writing by James Grubel; Editing by Michael Perry)

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Business

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The Star Online: Business

IILM Moves To Build Sales Network After Sukuk Debut
Asia Naphtha-Russia Offers Up To 1.2 Mln T In Rare 12-Mth Deal
Southeast Asia Stocks-Indonesia Rebounds In Negative Week

IILM Moves To Build Sales Network After Sukuk Debut

Posted:

KUALA LUMPUR: Primary dealers of the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corp (IILM) said after enjoying healthy demand for its debut Islamic bond last week, efforts were shifting to expand the distribution network of buyers.

The $490 million, three-month sukuk was auctioned to seven primary dealer banks, as the IILM aims to address a shortage of financial instruments for Islamic banks to manage their short-term funding needs.

With the structure and approvals now in place, Malaysia-based IILM can shift its focus to establishing regular issuance, decide on future tenors and possibly expand its network.

"Ideally one of the next steps would be to develop an issuance calendar. They will develop a plan in relation to the other tenors," said Leon Koay, head of global markets and co-head of wholesale banking at Standard Chartered Malaysia, one of the seven primary dealers.

"They've been approved for $2 billion, they've got plenty of runway. With this landmark issuance out of the way, the rest of it would be easier."

A key element of the IILM, backed by nine central banks and monetary agencies as well as the Islamic Development Bank , is a network of dealer banks that ensure a secondary market for sukuk.

"As primary dealer, we are obliged to participate in all auctions conducted by IILM and at best, try to be the market maker for the sukuk," Aria Putera Ismail, head of Islamic global markets for Maybank Islamic, told Reuters.

"The market in general is still short of Islamic assets. Hence, we expect that there will be continuous demand from investors for such instruments."

CLARITY

With the sukuk now trading in the open market, prospective buyers can observe the bid-ask spreads which reflect liquidity in the market for IILM paper.

On Thursday, the first IILM sukuk had a sample best bid of 0.608 (for a block of $5 million) with a sample best offer of 0.525 (also for $5 million).

"This shows a perfectly normal and healthy secondary market," said Jonathan Grosvenor, general manager of global financial markets at KBL European Private Bankers, the Luxembourg-based primary dealer for IILM.

The remaining IILM primary dealers are Kuwait Finance House , AlBaraka Turk, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Qatar National Bank.

The sukuk was sold to primary dealers at 30 basis points over the London interbank offered rate, seen as attractive pricing for primary dealers to create a secondary market.

That spread was set by the IILM for the launch but going forward it would be determined according to the auction process by primary dealers, Grosvenor added.

As the market gains a better understanding of how the IILM works, it could also attract a wider range of buyers.

KBL, for instance, has reached out to Islamic asset managers and other regular buyers of such instruments in Europe, said Grosvenor.

"We haven't made any calls to the Middle East and in a way we are very complementary to IILM, we are adding something different."

Better understanding of the IILM's structure could help to market its offerings.

The IILM uses a wakala structure, according to a filing with Malaysia's central bank. Wakala is a sharia-compliant agency agreement where one party acts as agent (wakil) for another.

In a wakala sukuk, certificates are issued by an originator to buy specific assets, which in turn are given to a wakil for management, which charges a fee for its services. The originator undertakes to buy the assets at maturity at an agreed price.- Reuters

Asia Naphtha-Russia Offers Up To 1.2 Mln T In Rare 12-Mth Deal

Posted:

SINGAPORE: Russia's Rosneft has offered up to 1.2 million tonnes of naphtha in a rare 12-month contract starting October 2013, traders said.

The up to three tanker-sized cargoes a month will come from Rosneft's Angarskiy and Komsomolskiy plants and will be exported through the port of Nakhodka, which is nearer to Asia than to Europe.

The tender for the year-long contract - to start from Oct. 15, 2013 - will close on Sept. 9. Bids will be valid until end-September.

"Rosneft usually offers a 6-month contract," said a Singapore-based trader. "It is unclear why they are going for a one-year term when this is not a good time for sellers to lock themselves in for a longer period."

The Asian naphtha market is currently marked by surplus cargoes and it will take time for this to ease. Some traders expect the glut to clear from end-October, while others have said it will last until at least the second-half of November.

Rosneft has an existing 6-month contract to sell up to a total 400,000 tonnes of naphtha for May to October loading from Nakhodka to Japan's JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp and Malaysia's state-owned refiner Petronas.

It recently sold a rare spot naphtha cargo to Japan's JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp.

Rosneft also exports naphtha from Tuapse but these cargoes usually head to the Mediterranean.

Its Tuapse refinery recently added a new crude unit, raising its total throughput by almost three times- Reuters

Southeast Asia Stocks-Indonesia Rebounds In Negative Week

Posted:

BANGKOK: Southeast Asian stocks rose on Friday as players sought bargains from the beaten-down emerging equities but broad appetite remained weak ahead of U.S. jobs data.
Jakarta's Composite Index reversed earlier losses to
close up 0.5 percent as the rupiah's spot rate on Friday
was seen 4.17 percent stronger from the opening price.
The gain helped trim the benchmark's weekly loss to 2.9
percent, still Southeast Asia's worst performer.
Indonesia's central bank released data after market close,
showing foreign exchange reserves rose slightly in August.
Recent declines in the reserves were among market concerns.

Regional sharemarkets staged a mild rebound in the first
week of September following a plunge in August amid rising risk
aversion and concerns about a potential cut in monetary stimulus
in the United States.
Among outperformers, Thai SET index climbed 1.7
percent on the day and 3.2 percent on the week. Singapore's key
index edged up 0.3 percent on the day, ending the week
0.6 percent higher after four weeks of falls.
Across exchanges, stocks with greater exposure to improving
global outlook and some battered blue chips were actively
bought, including Maybank, Keppel Corporation
, Kasikornbank and SM Investments Corp
.

For Asian Companies click;
For South East Asia Hot Stock reports, click;

SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
Change on day
Market Current Prev Close Pct Move
TR SE Asia Index* 380.12 378.45 +0.44
Singapore 3048.35 3039.45 +0.29
Kuala Lumpur 1723.80 1720.97 +0.16
Bangkok 1336.25 1313.49 +1.73
Jakarta 4072.35 4050.86 +0.53
Manila 5974.62 5959.22 +0.26
Ho Chi Minh 480.03 477.57 +0.52

Change on year
Market Current End prev yr Pct Move
TR SE Asia Index* 380.12 424.10 -10.37
Singapore 3048.35 3167.08 -3.75
Kuala Lumpur 1723.80 1688.95 +2.06
Bangkok 1336.25 1391.93 -4.00
Jakarta 4072.35 4316.69 -5.66
Manila 5974.62 5812.73 +2.79
Ho Chi Minh 480.03 413.73 +16.02

* The Thomson Reuters South East Asia Index is a
highly representative indicator of stocks listed in Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Stock Market Volume (shares)
Market Current Volume Average Volume 30 days
Singapore 204,616,500 272,313,503
Kuala Lumpur 128,068,200 163,766,590

Bangkok 6,018,560 8,410,602
Jakarta 3,292,601,500 3,571,949,067
Manila 55,163 79,484

Ho Chi Minh 46,817 42,928 - Reuters

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

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The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes

Posted:

The Hobbit actor is set to play an older version of the world-famous detective, in a new thriller.

The story follows a late-in-life Sherlock Holmes after he has given up his Baker Street digs for a quieter life in a sleepy Sussex village with his housekeeper and her amateur-detective son.

Instead of puttering around enjoying retirement and, say, picking up golf, Holmes finds himself haunted by an unsolved case from 50 years ago involving an angry husband and an unstable wife.

Each has promised a fresh spin on the iconic sleuth, but this one has the advantage of checking in with Holmes at a point where Arthur Conan Doyle's novels never ventured – old age.

Based on a novel of the same name by Mitch Cullin, the screenplay is being adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher (The Duchess). Filming will begin next April in Britain.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Nation

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The Star Online: Nation

Canteens awarded for cleanliness
Housewives eager to help fight crime in neighbourhoods
DAP appoints audit firm to monitor polls

Canteens awarded for cleanliness

Posted:

PUTRAJAYA: About a quarter of all food poisoning cases reported in the country last year was suspected to have come from the consumption of meals prepared in school canteens.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the School Canteen Cleanliness awards had been conceptualised to counter cases of food poisoning in school canteens.

"This is to recognise the school staff, including teachers and canteen operators, who have taken the initiative to solve the problem of food poisoning in schools," he said in his speech during the awards ceremony.

Subramaniam said he hoped the competition would encourage canteen operators to practise and maintain cleanliness and food safety.

The Health Ministry, he added, worked closely with the Education Ministry to ensure that food served in school canteens was clean and healthy.

"If we don't look after the students' health when they are young, there will be other problems when they are adults," Dr Subramaniam told reporters at the event.

On the competition, Dr Subramaniam said the level of food safety and cleanliness in rural and urban schools, was judged under two different categories respectively.

The top three primary schools from each category participated in the national level competition to represent their respective states.

SK Taman Tun Dr Ismail (1), Kuala Lumpur, emerged as champion in the urban category while SK Tebing Tembah, Terengganu won the first prize in the rural category. Both schools received RM3,000 each.

Normadiah Nadzir, who runs the canteen in SK Taman Tun Dr Ismail (1), said she had come up with a specific menu for the pupils.

Called the Selamat, Murah, Sihat 1Malaysia (SMS1M) menu, she prepares a range of dishes for the pupils daily which includes at least one main dish and several varieties of snacks.

She had also ensured that the chopping boards used in the canteen to be colour coded and those used for meat cannot be used for other types of food.

Housewives eager to help fight crime in neighbourhoods

Posted:

PETALING JAYA: Housewives and anti-crime groups are excited over the Amanita project to rope in women to help fight crime in neighbourhoods.

Rokiah Hassan said they were suited for the job because housewives were home most of the time.

"Break-ins also happen during the day. By having special programmes with the police, we will know who to call for immediate response.

Karsom Abdullah said it was high time the police roped in housewives to help, especially in high-risk neighbourhoods.

Voice of Women president Chew Hoong Ling suggested that the police formulate a structured long-term plan to ensure those participating in the scheme are able to relay messages effectively to the police.

"There should be programmes to educate non-tech savvy housewives so that they can relate messages fast and effectively use mobile social media tools," she said.

Chew said the community policing programme should also be extended to househusbands and others who work at home.

Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) Residents Association chairman Mohd Hatim Abdullah said they had initiated an e-mail group to help feed information to the police.

"We created this e-mail group two years ago, and we have 1,500 participants," he said, adding the RA held monthly meetings with the police to provide feedback on security issues.

He said residents in TTDI, which has 6,500 households, had also created a Facebook page and Twitter account to help disseminate information on incidents and events in the neighbourhood.

Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye described the idea as "very practical".

"However, combating crime should involve all sections of the community.

"Every Malaysian, irrespective of gender, can play a role in crime prevention," he said, adding that the police must provide contact numbers for residents to call when they suspect something amiss in their neighbourhood.

DAP appoints audit firm to monitor polls

Posted:

KUALA LUMPUR: The DAP is confident the erroneous tabulation of votes that led it to hold fresh polls for the central executive committee (CEC) will not recur as the party has appointed an international auditing firm to monitor the procedure.

The re-election is due to be held at a special DAP congress at the One World Hotel in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, on Sept 29.

Congress steering committee chairman Anthony Loke said the firm began monitoring the process yesterday, when notices to inform the 2,576 delegates of the re-election were issued.

We are confident this measure will ensure irregularities will not happen again. - ANTHONY LOKE

Declining to name the firm, he said it would monitor the process right up to the day of the special congress, including in the registration of delegates and tallying of votes.

"We are confident this measure will ensure irregularities will not happen again," he told a press conference here yesterday.

Loke said the DAP will hand-deliver an official letter to the Registrar of Societies to inform the RoS of the re-election.

He said the candidates list used at the CEC election last December will be used again for the re-election.

On July 30, RoS director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman ordered the DAP to hold new CEC elections following a technical glitch that occurred in December, which led to a controversial vote count.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

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The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

The Rosie Project

Posted:

DON Tillman is looking for a wife. He is an intelligent and successful associate professor of genetics, physically very fit, lives in a nice apartment, can cook a great meal and is not too shabby in the looks department. He has everything going on for him as a promising life partner, and has been on many dates. The only problem is he has never been on a second date.

To start off, Don is socially awkward, which is what hinders every first date from progressing on to a second. Secondly, he has a very high expectation for who qualifies as his wife. To name a few criteria: she must not smoke, must not be a drinker, must hold high regard for punctuality (just like him) and must not be a vegetarian.

In his quest to look for the perfect wife, Don decides to embark on the "Wife Project". Since he is a science professor, it seems only natural that his project would constitute a 16-page questionnaire for potential life partners to answer, from which he would be able to pick the best candidate that fits his criteria.

Amidst this project, Rosie Jarman comes into the picture in search of her biological father. She goes to Don for help since he is a genetic expert. Rosie is intelligent and engaging, but she is also exactly everything that Don will not ask for in a future wife.

Don usually does not like to be distracted from carrying out his project, but he decides that it is okay to take up some of his time to help Rosie on her project in finding out the identity of her real father.

We all can make a guess early on that this is a story about two unassuming persons crossing paths and finding love in each other. However, what makes this story endearing is not the outcome, but the journey that Rosie and Don have to go through – in becoming friends, and then partners in crime – before they finally come to acknowledge their feelings for each other.

This makes for a surprisingly remarkable and entertaining read as its narration is by the main character himself. Don is too frank for his own good, inflexible in many ways and also shows symptoms of Asperger's syndrome. You can look forward to all these elements being reflected in his narration.

Do not, however, expect to be reading a literary work of poetic prose, for Don finds no practicality thinking in such a way. There are no impressive words to tell the story. Simsion uses words in a direct and logical way that befits Don's character and personality.

Throughout the story, Don's need to explain the most basic of events and even state the time of events to the exact minute, surprisingly, does not fall flat but adds an engaging dimension in revealing his character.

No doubt, Don is an odd man. What this book does is make you fall in love with the character, despite his disregard for what others think about him and his lack of conscious effort in being a likable person.

You won't be laughing at him for all the social gaffes that he commits. Instead, you will be laughing with him as you look at the world through his lens. By the end of the book, you won't be able to help but like him.

In spite of his many quirks – or more likely, because of them – he is able to overcome the ordeals thrown his way. And of course, Rosie will play a big part in helping him learn many of the big life lessons. Through this journey, we get to see a genuine friendship form before there is pursuit of a romance, which is refreshing to see in the midst of novels that often build romance without the foundation of friendship.

Simsion may not have painted the most accurate representation of a person with Asperger's, but this story makes for an engaging read, and offers an interesting perspective of a person who thinks differently from most of society.

The Rosie Project has just enough substance to make it good for a day of light reading.

The Gamal

Posted:

THE "gamal", or Charlie, as no one calls him, is a reluctant narrator with more than a touch of the Holden Caulfields. His is a book, he tells us, for people who have better things to do than "reading s***". Within a few pages, we discover that Charlie found a body, and the trauma of it sent him into a near-coma for two years, but even before that he was generally accepted to be Ballyronan's village idiot (roughly, what "gamal" means). Writing has been prescribed by his psychologist, Dr Quinn, to process the event that triggered his collapse.

The problem with limited, inexpert narrators such as Charlie is that the novels they create run the risk of not being very good. Christopher in Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time isn't a novelist, but Haddon makes sure he knows how to tell a story. By contrast, Collins allows Charlie almost 300 meandering, digressive pages before he begins his tale. Much of this first part of the novel is spent on a small cast of characters in a tiny Northern Irish village, focusing in particular on the teenage love, longings and musical ambition of Charlie's only friends, Sinead and James.

James is the rich, middle-class Protestant football star who draws the jealous attention of other, less accomplished boys. Sinead is the beautiful, creative daughter of a violent alcoholic, who sings with the voice of an angel. They've been inseparable since primary school, and are the only people in Ballyronan willing to put up with Charlie.

In the last third of the novel, a plot emerges concerning the young couple, the violent results of petty jealousies and the unburied history of the village. Collins doesn't always steer away from melodrama, and the star-crossed lovers motif is so heavy-handed that the conclusion is fairly predictable.

The real pleasure of the novel lies with Charlie, who is both naive and knowing. His narration is shot through with a sly humour that's a delight to read: "I decided there was no point in being a gamal if you're not ignorant." Much of this invites the reader to wonder if Charlie is really as innocent as everyone thinks. "You won't like me," Charlie says. "Mainly because you know I don't care whether you like me or not." Actually, Charlie's witty observations of the people around him, his eccentricities and his wilful defiance make him very likable. Charlie has the discomfiting, not quite plausible voice of a narrator who is trying very hard to persuade his reader of something. We might like him, but we certainly don't trust him.

There's evidence that Charlie has been shaping the narrative according to his own ends all along. He omits scenes that portray Sinead as less than angelic, mentioning but not dramatising the warnings he's had from others – about the effect drinking has on him, about being too obsessed with Sinead. Dr Quinn questions him closely about his relationships with women. Even when Charlie quotes from court transcripts, he interrupts, rephrases and edits in order to show us more clearly what he wants to say.

In the last few pages of the novel, Charlie remarks that perpetrators of crimes, as well as the witnesses and victims of them, can suffer from trauma. The novel ends abruptly shortly afterwards, and this well-judged finish leaves the reader space to reconsider the mass of Charlie's words – the disjointed memories and the non sequiturs – in order to work out just who, in this novel of love, friendship and small-town gossip, is guilty of what. – Guardian News & Media

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Lifestyle: Arts & Fashion

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A twist on Shakespeare

Posted:

The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre's Theatre For Young People programme will end their season with a different take on a Shakespeare classic.

AFTER a whole season of preparation, this year's Theatre For Young People (T4YP) ensemble is ready for the big one – Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Billed as "Theatre for young people, by young people", T4YP was founded in 2008 as a platform for youths between 16 and 25 to try their hand at theatre. Participants would run through a series of plays and workshops, ending with a Shakespearean piece like Twelfth Night (2010) and Much Ado About Nothing (2011).

T4YP's 2013 season was a jam packed one, opening in May with the interactive promenade performance Ugly People, then splitting the group between two plays (What If God Was One of Us and Boeing! Boeing! in July), plus two "sweatshops" – where the ensemble cobbled together a show in 24 hours, twice!

For this year, T4YP director Christopher Ling choose to go with the classic of classics, Romeo and Juliet. The old tale of star crossed lovers is the go to for many a school drama club and has inspired everything from Romeo + Juliet (by the king of garish adaptations, Baz Luhrmann) to this year's Warm Bodies, where Romeo is a zombie and Juliet a post-apocalypse survivor.

Ever one to experiment, Ling has pulled a "play-ception" by making T4YP's Romeo and Juliet a play in a play. Set in a fictional school, SMK Damansara Verona, the cast play students doing a reading of Shakespeare, where they act out scenes from Romeo and Juliet.

Arief Hamizan, 20, a returning alumni from last year's T4YP, opined that people have got the wrong idea about Romeo and Juliet; that it is just an old fashioned romantic tale.

"It's funny that people look at Romeo and Juliet as a play that defines true love, but it's really about teenagers that get married, have sex, then die. They're basically cicadas," he said, with a laugh.

Nadin Norzuhdy, 20, who plays Juliet, busted another misconception. "People think Romeo is the lead in their relationship, but it's Juliet that tells the boy 'If you love me, Romeo, marry me'. Juliet's a modern girl, one of the first feminist archetypes," noted Nadin.

Learning about a play and digging deeper into it is part and parcel of the T4YP programme. In an effort to give a holistic education, the cast also got free tickets to watch other local performances.

"It's a great experience to watch others perform, to see how more experienced actors do it," said Joshua Aeria, 24, (who plays Romeo), cheekily adding "it's always more fun watching than acting in a play!".

A former international school student, Nadin had theatre experience from her time in the school's drama club. However, like many public school kids, Arief, Aeria, and fellow T4YP member Aaron Lo, 24, never had the chance to be in a drama club.

"I never watched a single play until I started working and got a little disposable income, and even then I was dragged by my lecturer to my first play," admitted Lo. A full-time musician, Lo joined the programme to improve himself as a performer.

Ironically, Lo found his skills as a musician being used in the play, writing the school anthem for SMK Damansara Verona and singing his original song Light Years in the central dance scene, where Romeo and Juliet fall in love at first sight.

Ling described Light Years as a perfect description of what the lovers went through, that feeling of being close enough to see each other yet just out of reach.

"After seeing a YouTube video of Aaron performing the song at an open mic session, we bullied him into performing it for the play," joked Ling.

Joshua summed up the season as an experience in being other people through acting, but also learning more about one's self.

"Ultimately your character is layered over who you are, and it makes you think about what you personally would do in the same situation and what drives you."

T4YP presents Romeo & Juliet will play at KLpac, Kuala Lumpur from Sept 12-14 (8.30pm) with matinee shows on Sept 13 (11am) and Sept 15 (3pm). It will also be staged at Penangpac, Penang from Sept 19-21 (8.30pm) and Sept 22 (3pm). For tickets, log on to ticketpro.com.my or call 03-4047 9000.

Liza Minnelli and sister to perform together

Posted:

Judy Garland's daughters will be performing together for the first time in 20 years for charity.

Judy Garland's daughters Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft will perform together for the first time in 20 years to raise money for breast-cancer research.

They will give two concerts at Manhattan's Birdland in New York on Oct 14 and Oct 21, titled Nothing Like A Dame – Lorna's Pink Party.

The shows will benefit the Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative and the Dr Philomena McAndrew Fund of Tower Cancer Research Foundation.

The last time the sisters performed together was at the 1993 Tony Awards. Other guest performers will include Newman, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Ann Hampton Callaway, Liz Callaway, Jim Caruso, Kelly King and Nick Adams. — Reuters

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The Star Online: Metro: Central

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Email revealed in City Harvest trial

Posted:

The returns from what are allegedly sham bonds that City Harvest Church invested in was repaid with money from the church, the prosecution tried to prove in court during the trial against founder Kong Hee and five of his deputies.

The prosecution on Thursday produced email between several of the accused to show the "flow of funds" between the church's investment management firm AMAC Capital Partners and glassware manufacturer Firna, which had issued S$11mil (RM28mil) worth of bonds invested in by the church.

AMAC is run by Chew Eng Han, one of the accused, and Firna is owned by long-time church member Wahju Hanafi.

An email between Hanafi and Chew and another accused Serina Wee, set out the timeline for money transfers from AMAC to Firna so Firna could repay the church's bond investments.

When asked on the witness stand whether the AMAC-Firna timeline was followed, Hanafi replied "I think almost there" but he added that the plan had come from the accused and he had not asked why they needed it done.

Hanafi also did not know where AMAC had received the money it gave to Firna.

The prosecution has been trying to show that Firna, AMAC and another company, music production firm Xtron Productions, were all used to illegally channel church funds to Kong' wife Ho Yeow Sun's pop music career.

The six accused were charged last year with misusing about S$50mil (RM130mil) in total to finance Ho's career and to cover this up. -The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Teacher gets jail for sexual offences against 14-year-old

Posted:

A music teacher who committed sexual offences against a 14-year-old girl was sentenced to 18 months' jail.

James Rohan Fernando, 25, who faced six charges, admitted to three counts of sexual penetration of a minor between December 2011 and March last year.

A district court heard that Fernando, who was teaching in a private school, came to know the victim through online social network Facebook in 2010. She was then 13.

The victim, who the court heard had been diagnosed with autism since she was a child, accepted his friend request as she badly needed someone to talk to. She subsequently became very attached to Fernando and fell in love with him.

When they met for the first time in Telok Blangah in December 2011, he took her to the highest floor of Block 87 Telok Blangah Heights, and touched her inappropriately.

When the victim told him that they should not engage in any sexual acts if they were to meet again, he said he did not want to meet her anymore. She then relented and agreed to meet up with him.

Sometime in January or February last year, they met a second time. Fernando took her to a multi-storey carpark at Telok Blangah Heights where she performed oral sex on him at a staircase landing. They had sex in the same carpark one evening in March.

The victim's mother reported to the police on March 28 last year after seeing Fernando's many text messages to the victim which were all sexual in nature.

Fernando's lawyer Stephen Wong said his client was truly remorseful. He said given the relationship, there was no manipulation and exploitation on Fernando's part. He has also written a letter of apology to the victim.

He could have been jailed for up to seven years and/or fined on each charge. -The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Jumaat, 6 September 2013