Ahad, 13 Oktober 2013

The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

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The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

Senior Citizens’ Day should be made a public holiday
Tharman is 'best Finance Minister'
More youngsters diagnosed with eating disorders

Senior Citizens’ Day should be made a public holiday

Posted:

BEIJING: Chong Yang Festival, which falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month and was observed yesterday, is associated with filial piety.

Traditionally, Chinese observe the festival by paying respects to their deceased ancestors, climbing mountains and drinking chrysanthemum wine.

In China, the day also marks Senior Citizens' Day, as written in the revised Elderly Rights Law that came into effect on July 1.

Ideally, Chinese should make use of the day to visit their aging parents, but many lamented that it was unfeasible when the day is not declared a national holiday.

Children working in big cities cited long travelling hours as the reason that discouraged them from going home.

Local media ran articles that quoted experts urging the government to consider a day off on Senior Citizens' Day for people to spend quality time with their parents.

Renmin University Professor Zheng Gongcheng told state news agency Xinhua that the elderly should not be left celebrating the festival alone.

"It is family reunion that makes the festival meaningful. While the children are compelled by law to visit their parents, we must acknowledge that such visits require time.

"Making Senior Citizens' Day a public holiday would help raise the awareness on Chinese values and customs," he said.

China National Committee on Aging deputy director Wu Yushao added that since Chong Yang Festival centres around filial piety, declaring the day as national holiday would highlight its cultural values.

He suggested the government to introduce housing policies to encourage children to live together with, or near to, their parents.

The Elderly Rights Law, which was passed in December last year by the standing committee of the National People's Congress, spelled out the children's duties in caring for the elderly in the families.

According to the law, citizens aged 60 and above are considered elders. Their needs, including spiritual and medical, should be well taken care of.

"Those who do not stay together with the elderly should visit or send them greetings often," Clause 18 read.

Nonetheless, the law did not specify the punishments that await those who flout the law by neglecting their parents.

Chinese legislator Yu Jianwei told reporters last December that there were 178 million elders in China as of 2010, which represented 13.26% of the population.

"The elderly population is expected to exceed 300 million in 2025 and 400 million in 2033," he said.

Tharman is 'best Finance Minister'

Posted:

SINGAPORE'S push towards greater productivity has won its key architect and spokesman an award for good policy-making.

Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam was named Finance Minister of the Year by Euromoney magazine, a global banking and finance publication.

He will receive the award today in a private presentation at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings in Washington.

The accolade recognises Tharman's "over-arching role" in shifting Singapore's economic growth model from one dependent on an ever-expanding working population to a steadier platform of increasing productivity, Euromoney said yesterday.

The shift is taking place even while Singapore's status as an innovative trade and financial services hub to diversified export markets is being maintained.

"Not content with ... relying on low taxes to attract foreign direct investment and business ... (he) has spearheaded a push to find new sources of economic growth, while building a social safety net to address discontent over strained infrastructure and rising living costs," it added.

"There is universal consensus that there is no better policymaker than (he) to push through this domestic agenda, while actively crafting policies to ensure the city-state maintains its relevance amid competition from such rivals as Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai and Dubai."

In glowing reports, Euromoney detailed Tharman's successes and challenges in helping Singapore move towards more sustainable and inclusive growth.

Describing him as "energetic" and "reformist", the magazine also lauded Tharman's accomplishments outside Singapore.

He is the first Asian to chair the IMF's International Monetary and Financial Committee and was seen as a contender to lead the IMF itself.

Tharman has also earned acclaim for his prescient and wide-ranging warnings that the region needs stronger and timelier reforms and better regulatory coordination, it added. With degrees from the London School of Economics, Harvard University and the University of Cambridge, he "is regarded as one of the region's smartest finance ministers".

He is the 34th recipient of Euromoney's annual award and is only the second Singaporean winner, after Hon Sui Sen in 1982. Euromoney's choice is based on the opinions of its senior editors, the world's leading bankers and economists around the world. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

More youngsters diagnosed with eating disorders

Posted:

MORE teenagers, some as young as 13, are being treated at public hospitals here for eating disorders.

Figures from the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) show that 95 youngsters aged 13 to 19 suffered from anorexia or bulimia last year, up from 65 in 2011 and 75 the year before.

"About a third of these cases needed hospitalisation," said Dr Lee Huei Yen, director of the eating disorders programme at SGH.

The number of these young patients with eating disorders outpaces the number of adult patients, which also went up from 40 in 2008 to 70 last year. SGH said it has already seen close to 50 teenage patients as of April this year.

The number of youngsters diagnosed with eating disorders at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) over the past three years has also increased – by about a third.

At the National University Hospital, doctors have observed a 20% increase in cases involving young patients in each of the last three years.

"Based on estimation – 70% of them are brought by parents," said Dr Rajeev Ramachandran, a consultant at the hospital's division of general ambulatory paediatrics and adolescent medicine.

The remaining 30% are picked up by schools or are diagnosed when they experience fainting spells or hair loss. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: World Updates

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The Star Online: World Updates

Australia can expect up to 11 cyclones this 'storm season' - official weather bureau
Merkel starts crucial week of talks on new German government
U.N. voices concern over delay to Guinea election results

Australia can expect up to 11 cyclones this 'storm season' - official weather bureau

Posted:

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia can expect an average cyclone season with up to 11 tropical storms, four of them severe, in the next six months, the Bureau of Meteorology forecast said on Monday.

Australia's cyclone season runs from November 1 to April 30 with storms forming in the tropical waters off the northeast and northwest coasts before making landfall.

Each year, cyclones close shipping lanes and disrupt mining of hundreds of millions of tonnes of iron ore, coal and other commodities in Australia.

Last February, Cyclone Rusty, packing winds up to 200 kms (120 miles) per hour, closed the Indian Ocean ports of Cape Lambert and Dampier ports used by Rio Tinto. It also closed nearby Port Hedland, used by BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals, which handle 500 million tonnes of iron ore annually between them.

Flooding caused by cyclones in eastern Australia in January 2011 disrupted about 40 percent of the world's metallurgical coal exports and 8 percent of the world's thermal coal exports

"Near average tropical cyclone activity is most likely for the Australian region this season," the bureau said, citing a neutral outlook for El Nino and La Nina weather events.

In the absence of El Nino or La Nina, cyclone numbers around Australia are most often close to average, though individual years can be above or below the long term mean, it said.

The last time the number of cyclones exceeded the national average was in 2005/06, when 14 cyclones were recorded, nine categorised as severe.

Only cyclones with winds above 165 kms per hour (100 miles) are classified severe by the bureau.

Australia on average sees its first cyclone make landfall in late December.

(Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Michael Perry)

Merkel starts crucial week of talks on new German government

Posted:

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel is likely to pick a new coalition partner this week before moving on to detailed negotiations that could produce a new German government within about two months.

While the rest of the Europe waiting for clarity in its pivotal economy, Merkel has moved slowly since the September 22 election towards making a deal with her two potential partners. She meets the Social Democrats on Monday (1400 GMT) and the Greens on Tuesday.

Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), emerged as the dominant force from the election but, with 311 of the 631 seats in the Bundestag (lower house), they lack a majority.

She had a first round of preliminary talks last week with the SPD, the largest opposition party with 193 seats, and the Greens, the smallest with 63 seats. No decisions were reached and neither party showed much desire to join her after her last partners, the Free Democrats, failed to win enough votes to remain in parliament.

The battered SPD is seen as Merkel's most likely ally, in a revival of the right-left 'grand coalition' that ruled from 2005-09. But Germany's oldest party is split on whether to join Merkel again after seeing its support crumble as her junior partner before.

"Monday's talks will be of decisive importance to answer the question of whether there is a stable foundation for full coalition negotiations," said SPD deputy leader Andrea Nahles.

The possibility that talks could take months worries Germany's European partners, who fear the negotiations could delay decisions on measures to fight the euro zone crisis - such as a plan for banking union.

Merkel has kept the option of a coalition with the Greens alive, despite resistance from the CSU. Tensions are high between the CSU and the Greens, a left-leaning party with roots in the 1970s peace and anti-nuclear movements.

Although the CDU/CSU-Greens coalition is considered less likely, Merkel, a former environment minister, has nurtured the idea for years and promoted conservative lawmakers open to a newfangled alliance with the old political enemy.

She may need the Greens if the SPD baulks. SPD leaders have promised the party's 472,000 grassroots members, many opposed to another coalition with Merkel, the chance to vote on any government agreement - an unprecedented and risky plan that could backfire.

The SPD wants a national minimum wage in Germany, where there is currently none, and higher income taxes on the rich, demands that the CDU/CSU reject. The SPD said on Sunday that there would be no deal without a minimum wage.

The CDU/CSU would get more ministries and more of its policy aims into a coalition with the smaller Greens party, which shared power with the SPD from 1998 to 2005, than with the SPD.

By keeping the option of a coalition with the Greens open, Merkel hopes to have strengthened her hand in talks with the SPD.

"I didn't have the feeling that Merkel was only talking to us for strategic reasons," Greens parliamentary leader Katrin Goering-Eckardt told Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "We'll talk at length with her again on Tuesday."

U.N. voices concern over delay to Guinea election results

Posted:

CONAKRY (Reuters) - The United Nations and the international community on Sunday called upon Guinea's electoral commission to publish results of a September 28 election aimed at completing a transition to democracy, saying it was concerned over the delay.

Disputes over a published partial count have held up the final result and raised fears of a resurgence of violence that killed about 50 people before the vote.

The opposition is calling for the election to be annulled, dampening hopes for an end to years of instability since a 2008 military coup that deterred investment in the world's largest bauxite exporter.

The United Nations and representatives of the international community including the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, the European Union and the International Organisation of the Francophonie, which brokered a deal with the opposition to end protests and allow the legislative vote, said they were concerned by delays in the publication of the results.

Guinea's "National Election Commission should make every effort to complete the tabulation of preliminary election results for publication in any event before Eid al-Adha," the Muslim feast on Tuesday, said the statement issued by the United Nations and the other entities.

It called upon political parties and the election commission to cooperate in publishing results from the Matoto district in the capital Conakry, one of the country's biggest, which both sides claim to have won.

Partial results from 37 of the country's 38 electoral districts show President Alpha Conde's ruling RPG party leads with 53 seats, opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo's UFDG has 38 seats and former Prime Minister Sidya Toure's UFR has 9.

No party is expected to win an outright majority in the 114-seat parliament, and parties are expected to try to form coalitions after the results are known.

Opposition groups, which have rejected the partial results, last week pulled their representatives out of the election's organising commission, calling for the vote to be annulled.

"Everyone knows that the opposition won all the five districts of Conakry including Matoto. In that district, we are ahead with over 2,000 votes," Toure told Reuters on Sunday.

The ruling party, however, disputed the opposition claims, arguing that it has requested the vote to be recounted because several result sheets where not included in the count.

(Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer and Mohammad Zargham)

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Business

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The Star Online: Business

Are you denying yourself or your wife a new car, house or branded outfit?
Malaysia’s blue chips fall, Petronas stocks, KLK down
Asian shares fall, yen up as U.S. debt deadline nears

Are you denying yourself or your wife a new car, house or branded outfit?

Posted:

Have you ever denied yoursel or a loved one of a branded outfit, an imported toy or expensive fine dining just because you think you shouldn't be spending that kind of money?

Are you still unsure if you can afford to upgrade your home or change your old junk to a better car?

Financial freedom has been a buzzword for some time. It is a desirable long-term goalfor everyone - being able to enjoy the lifestyle one desires withou tthe financial constraints.

However, life is a journey. We should enjoy this journey whilst working towards our long-term financial freedom goal.

SOME of us work hard and save frugally to arrive at the state of financial freedom. Is it possible to have
the liberty to spend as we work at our personal finances?

[ Type in your image caption here ]

Know yourfinancial health

Do you have a positive cash flow? How much is left after paying for ally our commitments like housing loan, hire purchase and basic necessities? Do you have an emergency fund for medical bills, major car repairs or replacing big ticke thousehold items? When you know the actual state of your financial health, it removes the anxiety and it gives you the liberty to enjoy what you have.

Have your long-term financial plans in place

Do you own a home? What are your children's education expenses going to be like? Plan your children's education based on your own convictions and values. You do not need to send your children to study overseas just because all your otherfriends intend to. Do you have an idea of the nest egg you require foryour retirement years? Have a plan towards building that nest egg. Work with a financial planner if you need to.

Consciouslyput aside 5%to 10%ofyourtake-home income intoyour"playjar"

This is the amount you can spend on yourself or your loved ones without feeling guilty as it was specifically set aside for that purpose.

Determine what's important to you

Spend your money well o nwhat's really meaningful to you and that which makes you happy. Don't spend on something that will make you feel guilty afterwards. Avoid shopping just because you are feeling frustrated, stressed or angry. Retail therapy may give you a sense of satisfaction for a brief moment but you may end up feeling worse than before.

Financial freedom may not be as near as we want it to be, but it does not mean we cannot liberate ourselves now to enjoy the journey. Sometimes it isn't just about the destination but it's the journey that counts.

Malaysia’s blue chips fall, Petronas stocks, KLK down

Posted:

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's key FBM KLCI fell nearly 10 points in early Monday trade, kicking off the week on a cautious note, as investors fretted about the resolution to the US Budget impasse.

At 9am, the KLCI was down 9.84 points to 1,775.91. Turnover was 25.75 million shares valued at RM17.39mil. There were 53 gainers, 68 losers and 113 counters unchanged.

BAT fell the most, down 64 sen to RM62.74 with 2,000 shares done. KL Kepong lost 48 sen to RM22.40 and Hartalega 27 sen to RM7.21.

Petronas Dagangan was down 38 sen to RM29.02 and Petronas Gas 30 sen to RM22.20.

HLFG fell 16 sen to RM15.12 and Hong Leong Bank 14 sen to RM14.16. However, Public Bank rose six sen to RM18.26.

Uzma was the top gainer, adding 14 sen to RM4.59. Its subsidiary Uzma Engineering Sdn Bhd had secured a one-year contract from Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd to provide a drilling project management team for Petroleum Management Unit
(PMU) wells.

Infrastructure companies IJM and Gamuda tose, with IJM up five sen to RM5.82 and Gamuda gaining three sen to RM4.79. Power giant Tenaga added five sen to RM9.10.

Asian shares fall, yen up as U.S. debt deadline nears

Posted:

TOKYO/SYDNEY: Asian shares and U.S. stock index futures fell and the safe-haven yen rose on Monday as a possible U.S. debt default edged closer after the failure of weekend talks in Washington, though expectations are that a last-minute compromise will be reached.

Adding to the gloom, data on Saturday showed China's export growth unexpectedly fizzled in September, underscoring worries about flagging global demand.

U.S. stock index futures fell 0.7 percent in early trade. If the losses are sustained, it indicates that Wall Street would open lower later on Monday.

U.S. Treasury futures edged up 3-1/2 ticks, though the cash market will be shut due to the Columbus Day holiday. Markets in Japan and Hong Kong are also closed on Monday for public holidays.

U.S. stocks had risen strongly ahead of the weekend on hopes a deal to raise the $16.7 trillion federal borrowing limit was near. However, U.S. politicians remain at loggerheads as the October 17 deadline approaches.

Failure to break the stalemate before Thursday's deadline would leave the world's biggest economy unable to pay its bills in the coming weeks, an outcome that is unthinkable for global financial markets.

Still, trading has remained relatively calm as many analysts expect Republicans and Democrats to strike a last-minute deal, believing U.S. politicians would want to avoid the dire consequences of a default.

"Most likely, a solution will be found before, or be in the making, by October 17," analysts at Nomura wrote in a client note.

"The tail risk comes into play if there is no clear framework for a solution by October 17. Entering this tail would see risk jump in terms of funding market stress and risk assets more broadly."

Some financial institutions have reduced the use of Treasury bills as collateral for trades as the deadline gets closer. Hong Kong's securities exchange is applying a bigger discount on U.S. Treasuries used as margin collateral.

UNCERTAINTY AHEAD

The failure of the weekend talks in Washington saw investors react by seeking safety in the yen.

The dollar fell 0.3 percent to 98.30 yen and the euro dipped 0.1 percent to 133.30 yen. The Australian dollar eased 0.1 percent to 92.82 yen.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was a touch softer.

In commodity markets, gold held steady at $1,271.6 an ounce after losing 2.9 percent last week.

Brent crude dipped 0.3 percent to just below $111 a barrel on concerns that the U.S. debt standoff and slower growth in China would crimp demand.

"China still faces significant external headwinds while a recovery in domestic demand is lifting import growth," HSBC said in a note.

"Beijing should keep its accommodative policy and steer structural reforms to sustain a recovery driven by domestic demand," it added. - Reuters

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Nation

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The Star Online: Nation

Umno polls: 'Palestinian battleground' for Klang Wanita chief post
Restaurateur rams car into thieves who stole his phone
Four robbers struck apartment before being shot

Umno polls: 'Palestinian battleground' for Klang Wanita chief post

Posted:

KLANG: The race for the Klang Wanita Umno chief's post saw an intense battle between a prominent party warlord's daughter and the daughter-in-law of a former Umno strongman.

Datin Paduka Nor Hayati Onn is being challenged by Roselinda Abd Jamil, the division's former Puteri chief. Nor Hayati is the daughter of former Selangor speaker Tan Sri Onn Ismail while Roselinda is the daughter-in-law of the former Port Klang assemblyman, the late Datuk Zakaria Mat Deros.

"The Wanita division polls is like a battleground in Palestine," joked a division member.

The rivalry between the two was clearly visible with supporters of both sides trying to upstage each other during the division's Wanita meeting at SMK Bukit Tinggi here yesterday.

Nor Hayati later retained her post.

Meanwhile, at the division's Youth meeting at SMK Datuk Hamzah here, there was confusion over ballot papers.

Many had complained that the papers for division election and that for the national level were "almost similar".

Division head Zainuri Zakaria said the ballot papers had confused many delegates who could not tell the difference between the two.

"I am sure this will result in many spoilt votes," he said.

There was also a small commotion at the Youth election due to the absence of the contestants' name list.

In the end, Zainuri had to write out the names on a white board as a guide for the delegates.

The Puteri election at the Crystal Crown Hotel went on without any hiccups.

Two Siamese delegates pleased to play their part

Trader: Travelling 500km to cast vote a small sacrifice

Teething problems arise

Najib: This election has been challenging but worth it

DPM: Accept defeat gracefully

KJ and Shahrizat clear winners

Restaurateur rams car into thieves who stole his phone

Posted:

PETALING JAYA: Two snatch thieves picked the wrong victim when the man gave chase in his car and rammed the duo off their motorcycle.

Restaurant owner Kee Ooi Leng, 28, was talking on his mobile phone as he stopped his car at a traffic light in Taman Sri Gombak when two men on a motorcycle pulled up next to him.

As his window was wound down, the pillion rider cooly reached into the car and snatched Kee's phone from his hand and sped off.

"He responded quickly and chased after the duo in his car," said Gombak OCPD ACP Abdul Rahim Abdullah. "They got as far as 100m before they were flung off their bike when Kee rammed into them," he said.

The robbers, aged 20 and 21, tried to flee on foot but were blocked and beaten up by bystanders.

One of the suspects sustained a broken right leg while the other fractured his left ankle. They were later picked up by police officers and sent to the Selayang Hospital.

ACP Abdul Rahim said the suspects had been remanded until Oct 17 and the case was being investigated under Section 395 of the Penal Code for robbery.

Four robbers struck apartment before being shot

Posted:

KUALA LUMPUR: Hours before the police ambushed and killed four robbers at an apartment in Jalan Ampang Putra here on Friday, the suspects had struck at the home of a retired army man in Bukit Antara-bangsa.

Recalling his family's ordeal at the hands of the Indonesian men, Jamaludin Sukhi, 60, said he was in the living room when the intruders came at around 3.15am.

The foreigners, two of whom were masked, were armed with parang and a screwdriver.

"They threatened to kill me if I did not give them money," said the pensioner, who alleged he was dragged to the bedroom where he saw his wife bound and gagged.

He was then forced to lead them to his daughter's room where they ransacked for valuables.

Jamaludin and his family were locked in the master bedroom before the robbers fled.

"They took our phones, jewellery and money," he told the police.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

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The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

It's a lift-off for Sandra Bullock

Posted:

Sandra Bullock panicked when she found out she had to ride in a Vomit Comet in Alfonso Cuaron's space saga Gravity.

ONCE you see Gravity, Sandra Bullock seems the logical choice to play a NASA medical engineer stranded in space and running out of oxygen after her shuttle is destroyed.

But how did director Alfonso Cuaron, who also co-wrote the film with son Jonas, know that Bullock was the right actress for the role?

Sure, she won an Oscar for The Blind Side, but does that qualify her to carry an entire movie set in space? It couldn't have been The Heat, the comedy hit she starred in earlier this year with Melissa McCarthy. And we're guessing that Miss Congeniality and While You Were Sleeping probably didn't seal the deal.

"The short answer is connectivity," explained Cuaron, who was nominated for an Oscar for his 2006 film Children Of Men.

"There are great actors whose magic is lost when filtered through the camera lens. Cameras adore certain people, and Sandra is one of them. That's why she is a movie star. And after auditioning many unknowns, we decided that we needed a movie star because we had to have someone who the audience could invest in for such a long time. They needed to connect to her character.

"But finding the right movie star was the key.Movie stars don't usually like to leave their comfort zone. Why mess with success? And Sandra is fantastic doing dialogue and this is a role with very little dialogue. But she wanted to get out of her comfort zone. She wanted to go to those deep, dark corners that most movie stars run away from. She was up for anything, even the Vomit Comet."

The Vomit Comet is a special plane that simulates zero gravity in 20-second bursts by plunging toward Earth. Bullock, 49, will not only describe her fear of the Vomit Comet, but will tell us how she felt when she learned that Cuaron didn't reveal to her that he had decided that the Vomit Comet limited filming too much, and that he would film everything on enormous movie sets in London.

Had you crossed space movies off your bucket list?

There was never a space movie on my bucket list. I've never had a bucket list. And I've been thinking a lot lately about that. Why don't I have a bucket list?

And the answer is?

I realised that, in a beautiful way, anything that I've ever wished for, I've gotten. So I never needed a list.

When you won the Oscar, did you think it might open some new doors for you?

No. There were so many other things going through my head the night I won the Oscar than how it would impact my career (laughs).

That's right. You were secretly adopting your son Louis the week of the Oscar ceremony. By the way, who says that Sandra Bullock can't keep a secret?

Hey, everybody who knows me knows that I will go to my grave with a secret. If you tell me not to tell anyone, I don't tell anyone. But yes, my head was elsewhere.

How excited were you when you were approached to be in your first space movie?

I didn't think like that. I thought about being approached to be in an Alfonso Cuaron movie. He is the archetype for me. He is an artist. He is the one I based everything on. I make people watch his movies. I have such an emotional connection to all his movies – how he did it, how he pushed the boundaries, where he broke the rules.

You must have jumped at the chance to work with him.

Not really. He came at a time when I did not want to work. I had nothing to offer. I had nothing to give.

You've been through this before when you burned out on your career and stopped working for a while.

Yes, I've shut down before. But you have to listen to your body. You have to honour it, but this business doesn't want you to honour it.

What changed your mind?

I met the person. I was just so moved and so connected to his journey of how this movie came about, not from a technical standpoint but from an emotional and storytelling standpoint. I love this man. I have very similar views, and I felt trusting of this human being. By the time he left, my curiosity was piqued.

Are you ever fearful on a movie project?

Every time you start a movie, you have it. I say yes, and then I panic and try to pull out. Every single time.

Really?

Really. I think it's going to be a bomb, and I want somebody to get me out of it. And guess what, half the time, it is a big bomb, and half the time, it's not.

Isn't it amazing that Sandra Bullock has survived in Hollywood with that attitude?

It is amazing. Like the cockroaches, I just won't die.

I wasn't comparing you to a cockroach.

Well, I was, and I'm comfortable with that.

Once you got over your fear and accepted the role, what happened next?

He told me the entire movie was going to be shot in the Vomit Comet. I told him I am deathly afraid of flying. I took it as another sign that I shouldn't do the film. It was not in my comfort zone.

How did you overcome that?

I decided that the universe was taking me someplace I needed to go. Once George (Clooney, her co-star) stepped on board, I was almost in tears. I thought, "Thank God, I know him. I know that he doesn't know what this is all about, either, but that he admires Alfonso." We were both novices in Alfonso's world, but I was so grateful that at least there was something familiar around.

You must have been elated when Alfonso informed you that he had changed his mind, and would not be using the Vomit Comet?

He didn't tell me. They purposely led me to believe it was still happening. It wasn't until a few days before we flew to London that George told me.

Why didn't they tell you? I would think that it would have allayed some of your fears?

The producer told me later that they decided not to tell me because they felt that I would be so excited about not filming on the Vomit Comet that I would gladly do anything they asked of me. And they were right.

I know you have a tendency to look at the dark side of things, but wouldn't you have to admit that with The Heat and Gravity, your career is in a pretty good place right now?

Let's just say it's a good work week.

You understand, though, that you are seen as a valuable property in Hollywood right now?

Maybe this week I am. Next week, when I make a choice that doesn't do so well, then I'm not anymore. You can't ever think of yourself as valuable property. If you do, you're destined to have a nice little crash and burn. I expect great failures, and I expect great heights. You can't control it, so you have to be grateful for what you have, and then just live your life. – The Orange County Register/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

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The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

The Lowland
The Accursed
Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope For A Future On Earth

The Lowland

Posted:

SHORTLISTED for the Man Booker Prize 2013, Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland is a multi-generational tale that tells of two brothers and what follows after the death of one.

Subhash, the older of the two, is the reserved, dutiful son – the opposite of the impressionable, adventurous Udayan. Yet the brothers grow up as part of a close-knit family in Tollygunge, Calcutta, during the tumultuous era following India's independence.

Then comes news of the Naxalbari incident in 1967 (police opened fire on a group of villagers demanding their right to farm a particular piece of land). The idealistic Udayan becomes a Communist Party supporter while Subhash, who wants no part in his brother's politics, eventually moves to the United States and becomes a scientist there.

The elder sibling receives updates from home on occasion. A picture arrives in the mail one day, that of his sister-in-law Gauri. Not too long after that, news of Udayan's death follows; the lowland near the family home is where he hid in vain from his fate.

Subhash returns home to Tollygunge for the funeral and learns that his brother was killed because of his involvement with the Naxalites. But was it his attraction to Gauri or the duty to his late brother's unborn child that drove him to marry his sister-in-law and take her to the United States?

Of course the union is ill-fated, otherwise this would be a very short book. In America, Gauri eventually abandons Subhash and her young daughter Bela. But, as they say, life goes on. And it really goes on and on....

This book is probably not a good introduction to Ms Lahiri's body of work, which includes two short-story collections praised by a colleague and numerous others. I wanted to enjoy this book but couldn't.

Earlier, I'd read a novel about displaced characters and felt comfortable with it, probably because they were created by a fellow countryman and, therefore, felt familiar and more relatable.

Lahiri's vivid depiction of the life of Bengalis in India and the United States is greatly helped by what she and her family had witnessed and been a part of – and is an exemplary showcase of her writing talent.

But I feel her kind of polished, flourish- and gimmick-free prose is better sampled in small doses. This is not a novel you'd want to relax with.

And, for me, Tollygunge is too far away in terms of history and geography – except perhaps for the Communist violence. Closer to home are the struggles of one who has to pick up the pieces after a loved one's untimely demise. Nearly all the main characters seem be struggling to fill the void carved out by the death of Gauri's husband.

The slow decline and passing of her parents-in-law is particularly poignant, a powerful admonishment to children who embark upon violent careers that might work for places such as India, where Naxalite insurgents are still active.

Most notable is Gauri who tries just about everything but can't seem to patch that Udayan-shaped hole. Her attempts to do so, culminating in her ditching Subhash and Bela, is responsible for dragging the melancholy across two generations and over 200 pages.

For me, the book's atmosphere finally lifted when, after a grown-up Bela tells a suitor about her past and why she can't be with someone, the dude says, "I'm not going anywhere".

A strong art-house-film vibe comes off this book, and it might find a second wind in the form of a silver screen adaptation (hello, Mira Nair!). The way The Lowland drags on, though, begs me to concur with another critic (I forget who) who wondered if Lahiri is only good at short stories. That would be unfortunate, considering her way with words.

The Accursed

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LET me get straight to the point: Joyce Carol Oates's The Accursed is not an easy novel to read.

The good: labelled as a Gothic/horror work of historical fiction, the novel perfectly captures the ideals, values and personalities of turn of the century Princeton, New Jersey, the United States, and contains chilling murders, a bride's abduction by a demon bridegroom, sinister secrets, and ghostly apparitions.

The not so good: the almost 700-page novel definitely takes its time in getting to these juicy bits, weighing itself down with pages of side stories, lectures and historical notes that seem mostly tangential to the main plot. The book also has tons and tons of characters, with the closest thing to a hero vanishing three quarters of the way in.

Clearly not a novel for novice readers.

The 76-year-old Oates is renowned as one of America's master storytellers: she is the author of many critically acclaimed novels such as Bellefleur, We Were The Mulvaneys, The Tattooed Girl, and The Gravedigger's Daughter, among others. She is also the recipient of the US National Medal of Humanities, the US National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, among many other accolades.

Her latest novel, The Accursed, is presented as an account of mysterious events that take place among the elite families of Princeton from 1904 to 1906, compiled from historical documents by one M.W. van Dyck II, a descendant of one of the families affected. Visions and dreams haunt the innocent, and the most unexpected people start committing the most heinous of deeds.

The novel is populated by both fictional and historical characters, all with their own agendas. Princeton University president (and future US president) Woodrow Wilson frets over his legacy at the university and a mysterious woman he encounters. Upstart (and real) author Upton Sinclair fears for the future of the Socialist movement.

Brave salt-of-the-earth lad Josiah Slade goes on a quest to rescue his sister Annabel, kidnapped by the demon bridegroom, while his companion, the spunky Wilhelmina Burr, pines for him. Meanwhile, Josiah's grandfather, the esteemed preacher Winslow Slade, reveals secrets that threaten the fate of the town.

The Accursed is presented in epistolary format, with the story told in the form of narratives, journal extracts, letters, and so forth (think Bram Stoker's Dracula). This style is admittedly not always easy to get through.

Oates cleverly blends her novel's supernatural themes with social commentary on the prejudices, misogyny and hypocrisies of the era. Issues such as women's suffrage, lynchings of blacks in the American South, and religious problems of evil are all explored in great detail: sometimes too much detail, in fact.

Oates' writing is crisp, with some of her passages positively lyrical, and her research faultless: She brings Princeton to life with wondrous vigour. Her characters are generally well-drawn – though The Accursed is also populated with many unreliable narrators, which adds creepy layers to its already formidable plot.

The novel has some terrific scenes. The Bog Kingdom (where Annabel Slade is taken to and which she relates is an underground realm populated by nightmare creatures) is absorbing and chillingly atmospheric, while "The Temptation of Woodrow Wilson" is a suspenseful account of the titular character's experience with an amoral supernatural messenger. In one chapter, a minor character is revealed to be a bloodsucking creature of the night; in another a character tries to murder a baby: these supernatural scenes are very well-written, and were my favourite parts of the novel.

Unfortunately, with the book's slow pace and propensity to ramble, getting to these parts occasionally felt like a taxing marathon. I am not against long books; however, I felt that a lot of the stuff in the novel, particularly extraneous detail about the private lives of Princeton residents, could have been edited out without any major impact.

A major sideplot revolved around authors Sinclair and Jack London (both real people) and the rise of the socialist movement. While the chapter was memorable, their story felt disconnected, and went on for too long: occasionally when reading, I had to double-check my book cover to make sure the novel hadn't suddenly morphed into A Brief History Of Socialism.

Also difficult to read were chapters of excerpts from the diary of Adelaide Burr, a victim of the curse, written in a rambling, stream-of-consciousness style, to say nothing of the final and highly crucial Epilogue, which was TWENTY PAGES WRITTEN COMPLETELY IN ALL CAPITALS. Those chapters made me question if I was being paid enough to review books like this!

I also did not like the book's climax, where the fate of Princeton is determined through a game between a boy and the closest thing to the novel's villain. I personally thought it felt out of place, anticlimactic and overly bizarre.

Overall, a highly divisive read. Those looking for a straightforward horror story will probably not become fans, while fans of postmodern and unconventional historical fiction will most likely adore it. While I personally think The Accursed is not really my style, I must admit there were enough interesting parts in it to keep me generally invested through the arduous read.

A challenging but somewhat rewarding novel for those with perseverance.

Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope For A Future On Earth

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A provocative journalist and wonderful writer gives us a book with a message so compelling that it will change the way we see the future.

WHAT if we suddenly vanish? How would nature cope with a lack of human beings?

Insects would take over our houses, which would rot beyond use, snow would pile up high or sheets of ice will form, as if we were back in an Ice Age....These frightening predictions are explained in great detail in A World Without Us, a bestselling book written by Alan Weisman, a journalist whose face is weathered by his fears for Mother Earth.

But that is the author's old introspect. His new theory, as presented in his latest book, Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope For A Future On Earth, is the other side of the coin but equally haunting.

Travelling to more than 20 countries in over two years, Weisman sought answers to one question: What would the world be like if there are too many of us and too little of everything else – water, air, food?

The answers he discovers conjure up frightening scenarios that demand immediate attention, input and solutions from ecologists, hydrologists, geographers, and agronomists, not just the usual cast of engineers, economists and politicians. And now we, as laymen, can very well answer that question ourselves by following Weisman on his eye-opening journey.

The first stop, interestingly enough, is the holy land of Jerusalem. Immediately, the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish procreative tactic of "outbirthing" the Palestinians becomes anything but inspiring. Though Palestinians hope to boast double-digit population growth like their Israeli counterparts, they can't. Their dwellings are walled and they are squished and squashed, making mobility an impossibility. What a sad chapter to begin this book with – yet I was hooked, nevertheless.

That chapter unveils a weary Earth and a first glimpse into Weisman's thorn: population. Weisman believes either we manage the duplication of ourselves voluntarily or nature will do it for us brutally in the form of famine, thirst, climate chaos, crashing ecosystems, opportunistic diseases, and wars over dwindling resources.

This meta crisis, whose urgency trumps all economic, political, cultural and religious differences, is frighteningly real. Weisman trudged down into the valleys only to see dried up orchards and cracked river beds; into the forests where the existence of even the most trivial species, butterflies, is important to human existence; and into the slums of Mumbai – a microscopic version of a world reaching 10 billion in population. And what he saw is a world bursting at its seams. Hunger, deprivation, pollution, destitution, prostitution, abuse ... the list of woes goes on. Name anything that portends disaster, and you'll find it here in this book, and the culprits are you and I, us, humankind.

Wait. This book is good not because of the endless problems it forces our eyes to confront. As the mega crisis tramps across borders and gyrates around religions, politics, economics, science and culture, it is necessary that we understand all of these factors to help answer the question Weisman asks.

Although journalists rarely claim depth in any field, as they are trained to ask common sense questions and translate answers for laymen to understand, Weisman is an extraordinary journalist in his presentation of these various ruinous aspects of a ruined world.

Without sounding at all polemic, he maps the intricacies between these aspects. Whether it is liturgies, histories, feminism, nationalities, tribes, beliefs and finance, Weisman sheds light like a storyteller armed with boundless knowledge and blessed with a voice profoundly enlightening and moving. He makes Ponzi finance, for example, as easy as ABC, and his recounting of Iran's convoluted history, from Shah to Ahmadinejad, is awe-inspiring.

The book is designed to be readable despite its rather haunting subject. Like the catchy lyrics of a chart-topping pop song that linger in your head incessantly, Weisman's words resound in your ear, making his book nearly impossible to put down.

Wielding simple yet stylish prose, Weisman is a master of description. He describes, for instance, on one page that Yoshio Takeya, a young Japanese man who opts for a reclusive life far away from the city, has bowl-cut hair plastered on his forehead. Just as quickly as the image of Takeya is conjured up, a picture of him appears on the next page. The two images are confluent to near perfection.

And how poignantly beautiful Iran becomes when seen through Weisman's eyes and described by his words, and how melancholically alluring is Dharavi, the world's biggest slum in India, when it is not stereotyped as a dumpsite, as most writers would describe it.

Weisman's charisma emanates from the pages, intoxicating and engaging.

Never mind that the burgeoning effects of our cumulative presence is wreaking havoc on our precious planet. We are still blessed with a provocative journalist and wonderful writer of a marvellous book whose message is so compelling that it will change the way we see our existence and our future.

"What future will be there for our kids?" I ask myself.

"A bleak one," I answer.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

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Killer cyclone wreaks havoc along Indian coast (Updated)

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BHUBANESWAR, India, Oct 13, 2013 (AFP) - Cyclone Phailin ripped through India's east coast leaving a trail of destruction on Sunday and up to seven people dead after one of the biggest evacuations in India's history to minimise casualties.

As emergency teams began assessing the damage from the country's worst cyclone in 14 years, a massive relief effort came into full swing to distribute food, clear roads and help the injured.

The worst affected area around the town of Gopalpur, where the eye of Phailin packing winds of 200 kilometres an hour (125 miles per hour) came ashore, remained cut off with emergency services rushing to reach there.

Elsewhere, roofs were blown off, trees fell across roads and debris was strewn over the streets of state capital Bhubaneswar where the winds had died down and heavy overnight rainfall had ceased.

"Our teams have fanned out on the ground, they are running searches, trying to check if there have been any casualties, check the extent of the damage," Sandeep Rai Rathore, inspector general of the army's National Disaster Response Force told AFP.

Orissa state relief commissioner Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra told AFP that three people had been confirmed dead, while other estimates put the toll at seven.

"We almost cleared out the danger zone. In the end, we cleared more than 8.61 lakh (861,000) people. It might be India's biggest evacuation ever," Mohapatra added to AFP.

With another 100,000 people in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh state evacuated on Saturday, the total figure is likely to be more than a million.

Local member of parliament for Orissa Jay Panda told local television that seven people had been killed.

"Casualties figures will change as information comes in from remote parts there are quite a few places which are cut off from communications," he told NDTV television.

The number of dead appeared to be "significantly lower than what it could have been" because of the mobilisation of emergency efforts before the storm stuck, he said.

No let-up

The Indian weather office said that cyclone Phailin had weakened significantly after it moved inland, but warned it still posed a danger, particularly from flooding.

"The cyclone appears to be weakening. As of 5:30 am, we recorded wind speeds of about 130-140 kilometres per hour," senior scientist from the Indian Meteorological Department M. Mohapatra told AFP in New Delhi.

Initial reports suggested Phailin had been less destructive than a more powerful storm in 1999 which hit the same coastal area - a region populated by fishermen and small-scale farmers who live in flimsy huts with thatched roofs or shanties.

A government report on the 1999 disaster put the death toll at 8,243, and said 445,000 livestock perished.
Authorities have said they are better prepared this time. The Orissa government had set itself a "zero casualty target" in the state of close to 40 million people.

"No one was prepared for the storm in 1999 but this time the government declared an emergency," said telecoms worker Rajiv Baral as he bought emergency supplies from the shopkeeper Singh in Bhubaneswar on Saturday.

"Because of that we've been getting ready for it for two to three days."

Some of the deadliest storms in history have formed in the Bay of Bengal, including one in 1970 that killed hundreds of thousands of people in modern-day Bangladesh.

Grand funeral for a hero second only to Ho Chi Minh

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HANOI: Vietnam's top leaders gathered to pay their last respects to independence hero General Vo Nguyen Giap, who died last week at 102, as his state funeral began in Hanoi.

The commemorations come as the one-party state tries to capture Giap's legacy as a symbol of its own legitimacy, hailing him as a communist hero while downplaying the general's later reputation as a persistent government critic.

Soldiers in white uniforms stood to attention as officials, including Vietnam's prime minister and president, bade farewell to Giap who was second only to late president Ho Chi Minh in the affections of the communist nation.

"He had an outstanding talent in military leadership," wrote Communist Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong in a book of condolences, according to state media.

Lauded as a military genius for the guerrilla tactics that defeated both the French and American armies, the general is being honoured with two days of national mourning.

A photograph of Giap and a gilt frame containing military medals was placed above his coffin, which was draped in the national flag.

Giap, a former history teacher turned military commander, led his troops to victory over France in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu – the battle that ended French involvement in Indochina – and played a key role in Vietnam's defeat of the United States in 1975.

Despite being politically sidelined after the country's reunification in 1975, Giap remained enormously popular – even with people born after the war.

"I am deeply honoured to attend the funeral," said Colonel Bui Xuan Tuyen.

"General Giap is a symbol of the pride and triumph of the Vietnamese People's Army," the 46-year-old added.

More than 100,000 people queued for hours to visit Giap's house this week to pay their final respects after news of his death broke.

Concerts have been cancelled, national parks closed, and normal state television broadcasts suspended in favour of patriotic music and documentaries for the mourning period. — AFP

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

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Rewriting the script of art

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Media/Art Kitchen – Reality Distortion Field is not about paint and paper. It's about motion, lights and things around us.

TO experience a cross-platform explosion in the art world, pop over to Publika in Kuala Lumpur for the Media/Art Kitchen – Reality Distortion Field exhibition. Visitors will be able to witness and participate in workshops surrounding media art, an innovative art form like no other.

Media art makes use of video and digital technology and has become increasingly prevalent in the art world. Artists use a combination of familiar, everyday items and computer technology to take viewers into a whole different realm.

In this particular exhibition, artists use unsuspecting but familiar mediums to create spectacular works of art through the use of videos, pictures, shadows, lights and sounds.

Held in commemoration of the 40th year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation in 2013, the theme Media/Art Kitchen is inspired by and enveloped in the image of a kitchen which is full of daily invention and creativity.

Philippine media artist Tad Ermitano's piece titled

Philippine media artist Tad Ermitano's Sammy And The Sandworms.

The subtitle, Reality Distortion Field, is meant to suggest the kitchen, which is considered a sort of workshop or laboratory, as a space where reality is distorted and the impossible becomes possible. The rules are simple – there are none.

Japanese media artist Kuwakubo Ryota, 42, sums up his exhibited piece titled "The Tenth Sentiment": "I used everyday objects to create my works and technology was used to cast the shadows through the use of light, which I attached to the left side and front of the train."

Ryota's exhibit comprises a laid out train track for a toy train with lights attached to the front and side. This allows for the light to cast shadows of the laid out "scenery".

"I want adults to experience the joy of seeing," said Ryota, whose work has won him several prizes at ARS Electronica in Austria.

Singaporean musician and sound artist Bani Haykal, 28, adopts a somewhat avant garde approach.

"I wanted to create music out of dormant objects. There are no rules in how to interact with them, you can find your own new way on how to approach it," he explained.

Bani deconstructs dormant objects such as a bicycle, pipes and an electric guitar to make a whole new instrument you can create music with.

"Operasi Cassava" is an ongoing project which examines Malaysia's cultural identity through the symbolic Cassava plant. People don't know much about this food /plant, but there are several memories and bits of information attached to this plant.

"We have created a digitised museum with lots of digitised memories. We use this website to document different stories and to bring in scientific information as well," said Yap Sau Bin, one of the people involved in "Operasi Cassava".

In addition to the exhibited art works, visitors will also be able to take part in Media/Art Kitchen's creative laboratory, workshops, talks and screenings.

Indonesian pixel-artist Narpati Awangga's (aka oomleo) Pixel Video Art Showcase.

This one-of-a-kind exhibition enables visitors to immerse themselves in the art and create their own interpretation of media art through the labs and workshops.

Rather than simply passively consume the exhibition, the labs and workshops available are designed for visitors to convert their thoughts and inspiration after seeing the exhibited artwork into an active response.

Some of the labs and workshops available include working with touch and moist synthesisers (TM Synth), pixel-art, experimenting with sound and light and, forms and shadows.

The Media/Art Kitchen exhibition took in Jakarta last month, and will later travel to Manila and Bangkok later this year.

"We started planning this event last August in Tokyo with all the other curators. It's great to see it all come together," said Adeline Ooi, one of the Malaysian curators.

The content and size of the exhibition varies in each of the four countries it's held in. As the project targets a wide range of audiences, each country will feature different artists to fit the specific conditions of each region.

This touring event is jointly organised by a talented group of young curators and artists throughout South-East Asia and will be showcasing the works of 50 carefully selected artists from all over the region.

Two curators from Malaysia, Ooi and Shooshie Sulaiman, have selected the 13 media artists from Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia for the KL leg of the exhibition.

Japanese artist Yuichiro Tamura with a Mahameri mask modeled after his face.

A Mahameri mask modelled after Japanese artist Tamura Yuchiro's face.

The works of Malaysian group "Operasi Cassava" and media artist Fairuz Sulaiman will be representing Malaysia in the exhibition.

Other artists include Kuwakubo Ryota, Horio Kanta, Hagihara Kenichi, Tamura Yuchiro and Yagi Lyota from Japan; Lifepatch and Narpati Awangga from Indonesia; Tad Ermitano from the Philippines; Bani Haykal from Singapore; Nitipak Samsen from Thailand; and The Propeller Group from Vietnam.

The artist's works, labs, workshops and talks will be held at Black Box, Art Row and Plan B in Publika. The exhibition ends on Oct 20.

> Admission to Media/Art Kitchen – Reality Distortion Field is free, but pre-registration is advised. For more information visit mediaartkitchen.tumblr.com/ and www.facebook.com/mediaartkitchen.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

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Killer cyclone wreaks havoc along Indian coast (Updated)
Grand funeral for a hero second only to Ho Chi Minh
Typhoon Nari pounds Philippines