Ahad, 27 Oktober 2013

The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

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The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

Soaking up Biennale art - in sarongs
New Express runs front-page apology
North Korea flexing its nuke muscles

Soaking up Biennale art - in sarongs

Posted:

IT was wet. It was messy. It was fun. And it was art.

The lawn of the National Museum saw 100 women, men and children dressed in sarong wraps, sitting in plastic tubs of water, drenching themselves and having a ball.

They were taking part in a mass Mandi Bunga – flower bath – in a 10-minute performance art piece by Malaysian artist Sharon Chin. It is one of 10 community-driven arts projects featured in this year's Singapore Biennale, which is focused on South-East Asian art.

The flower bath item saw participants meeting at the Singapore Art Museum to collect flowers and herbs for the bath, before crossing over to the National Museum to sit in tubs, pour water on themselves and others and even whip off their sarongs at the end of the performance piece.

Participant Nur Sue'Aldah, 19, an art student, called it "a once-in-a-lifetime experience".

"Mandi Bunga is traditionally a cleansing ritual bath. It was amazing to see how the artist got us all to connect with each other through such a simple ritual," she said.

The Biennale is Singapore's biggest contemporary art event. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

New Express runs front-page apology

Posted:

BEIJING: A Chinese newspaper issued a front-page apology recanting its bold defence of an employee arrested after reporting on a company's "financial problems", adding another twist to the high-profile media controversy.

The statement was the latest public disavowal of the journalist Chen Yongzhou – despite initial public sympathy after his detention and open support by his employer, the New Express, in a rare act of defiance against powerful state censors.

"This newspaper was not strict enough about thoroughly fact-checking the draft of the report," it said in a small announcement on a bottom corner of its front page.

"After the incident occurred the newspaper took inappropriate measures, seriously harming the public trust of the media."

The paper, which is based in the southern city of Guangzhou, promised to "make serious corrections" and better ensure that its reporters and editors "comply with professional journalistic ethics and regulations".

The statement came a day after Chen appeared on state television in a green prison uniform to "confess" after being arrested more than a week earlier on "suspicion of damaging business reputation".

He had written 15 articles accusing the engineering giant Zoomlion of "financial problems", including inflating its profits.

Zoomlion is about 20% owned by the state and is listed on the Hong Kong and Shenzhen stock exchanges with a total market capitalisation of more than US$8bil (RM25bil).

The official news agency Xinhua said on Saturday that Chen had admitted to "having released unverified and untrue stories about a company for money and fame", and that he had acted "at the request of others".

"I did this mainly because I hankered after money and fame. I've been used. I've realised my wrongdoing," Xinhua quoted him as saying.

The All-China Journalists Association also issued a statement on Saturday criticising Chen's actions and saying that the New Express "seriously neglected its professional duties".

The apology by New Express, a tabloid, starkly contrasted its initial reaction – a full-page editorial printed days after Chen's detention with the front-page headline "Please release our man" in large print.

The arrest had initially elicited public support, with one well-known government researcher, Yu Jianrong, criticising the detention as an "abuse of public power". — AFP

North Korea flexing its nuke muscles

Posted:

SEOUL: If the international community's main goal is to push North Korea towards denuclearisation, does the fact that Pyongyang is racing in precisely the opposite direction suggest a fundamental policy failure?

The question has taken on added urgency following a succession of monthly warnings sounded by satellite imagery analysis that the North's nuclear weapons programme is gathering pace.

In August, images suggested the North had doubled its uranium enrichment capacity at its Yongbyon nuclear complex.

In September, they indicated it had restarted the plutonium reactor that provided the fissile material for at least two of its three nuclear tests, and just last week they pointed to preparatory work for another detonation at its nuclear test site.

"Pyongyang is moving ahead on all nuclear fronts," believes US nuclear scientist Siegfried Hecker, a leading expert on the North's weapons programme.

Since coming to power in late 2011 following the death of his father, North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-un has overseen a successful long-range rocket launch and the North's third – and largest – nuclear test.

"Denuclearisation must remain the goal, but it is a more distant one following these new developments," Hecker wrote in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

If there is clear agreement on where the North is heading, there is little consensus on how best to stop it getting there.

The key question for the international community is the same as it has always been – whether to engage with Pyongyang or not.

Both North Korea and its main ally China want a return to six-party talks grouping China, the two Koreas, Japan, Russia and the United States.

Washington and Seoul are adamant that Pyongyang must first demonstrate a commitment to denuclearisation, but the North has repeatedly stated it has no intention of abandoning its weapons programme.

The result is almost total impasse at a time when the North is making possibly its greatest strides towards achieving a credible nuclear deterrent.

"There is no diplomatic mechanism in place that offers any prospect for slowing or stopping the North's WMD programmes," former senior US State Department official Evans Revere said in a paper published this month by the Washington-based think-tank Brookings Institution.

"The road to further development of these programmes by North Korea is now wide open, and Pyongyang is taking it," Revere said.

Supporters of the principle of no substantive dialogue without prior progress on denuclearisation argue that to do otherwise would be tantamount to accepting Pyongyang's recent progress towards nuclear statehood.

"Returning to talks now... would allow North Korea to have reset the table for negotiations in a way that undercuts the goals of North Korean nuclear disarmament," said Paul Haenle, a former US representative at the six-party dialogue.

At the same time, Haenle, now the director of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing, noted that dialogue with Pyongyang in the past at least had the merit of slowing the North's weaponisation programme down.

Since the last six-party talks in December 2008 the brakes have clearly been taken off, with the North conducting two nuclear tests, revealing a uranium enrichment facility and putting a satellite in orbit with a launch widely seen as a ballistic missile test.

International sanctions have been expanded but, despite increased cooperation from China, they still lack the intensity to present Pyongyang with a choice between nuclear weapons and economic survival.

Barring a sudden implosion of the regime, Revere believes talks are the only real option – and at the very highest level.

"If the goal is to convince North Korea to implement its denuclearisation commitments, nothing short of a dialogue with the North's leader or his inner circle is likely to achieve this," he said. — AFP

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

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The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

'Simpsons' voice actress of 'Mrs Krabappel' dies

Posted:

LOS ANGELES, Oct 27, 2013 (AFP) - Marcia Wallace, the voice of Edna Krabappel - Bart Simpson's jaded, chain-smoking schoolteacher on the animated show "The Simpsons" - has died, the show producers said Saturday. She was 70.

Wallace died in Los Angeles of complications from pneumonia, her son Michael Hawley told the Los Angeles Times.

"I was tremendously saddened to learn this morning of the passing of the brilliant and gracious Marcia Wallace," read a statement from the show's executive producer Al Jean posted on Facebook.

"She was beloved by all at 'The Simpsons' and we intend to retire her irreplaceable character," Jean wrote.

Wallace's career in show business included her role as a sassy receptionist on the 1970s TV comedy "The Bob Newhart Show," and guest roles in '80s and '90s shows like "Full House," "Taxi" and "Murphy Brown."

In 1992 Wallace won a Primetime Emmy award for her work on "The Simpsons."

Harry Shearer - who plays several key "Simpsons" voices, including greedy tycoon Montgomery Burns and two of Krabappel's love interests, school principal Seymour Skinner and Simpsons neighbor Ned Flanders - took to Twitter to share his grief.

"So sad to learn - through Twitter, first - of the passing of the wonderful Marcia Wallace. Sorely missed already," Shearer wrote.

Jean said the show had been considering staging the death of another one of the "Simpsons" characters, but not Edna Krabappel.

"Marcia's passing is unrelated and again, a terrible loss for all who had the pleasure of knowing her," Jean wrote on Facebook.

Wallace was "sweet, funny, not at all pretentious," Jean told the Los Angeles Times. "You fall in love with these people when you see them as characters on television, but when you met Marcia you loved her even more."

"I don't intend to have anyone else play Mrs. Krabappel," Jean added. "I think Bart will get a new teacher."

Wallace's final role is in "Muffin Top: A Love Story," a film set for release in 2014 in which she appears with her son, who is also an actor.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

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The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

Tom Hardy set to play Elton John

Posted:

The actor will portray the legendary music man in an upcoming biopic.

Elton John's production company Rocket Pictures has confirmed that British actor Tom Hardy will portray the pop rock legend in Rocketman, a musical biography film that has been under discussion for two years now.

Up for the role since last spring, Hardy, who is perhaps best known for playing tough guys in films like Bronson (2009) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), will take on a new challenge as he dons John's signature rose-tinted glasses.

The involvement of John himself ensures that his songs will be present throughout the film. The artiste behind Your Song and Crocodile Rock will re-record a number of his hits for the film's soundtrack.

Rocketman, named of course for one of John's most famous songs, will be helmed by Michael Gracey, who is known particularly for his mastery of special effects. The screenplay will be penned by Lee Hall, who penned the scripts for Billy Elliot (2000) and War Horse (2011).

Principal photography on the film is set to begin in fall 2014.

Tom Hardy will be a frequent face in cinemas in 2014, appearing in Animal Rescue, Child 44, Locke and Mad Max: Fury Road. — AFP Relaxnews

Thumbnail movie reviews

Posted:

Check out our mini reviews of movies that are showing in the cinemas now.

Special ID

SINCE we just go to these things to watch Donnie Yen kick ass and chew gum, it's only a matter of time before someone decides to just link all the fight scenes with test footage and out-takes and pass it off as a movie. Special ID is a sign that this day is not far away.

Yen is an undercover cop named Chen Zi Long who has infiltrated the triads. His cover is so deep that his handler and other cops wonder if he even is a cop any more.

This could have been the basis for some great drama to match the intensity of the fight scenes, but the characters just insist on shouting at one another all the freaking time. There's a gangster named "Loud Jia" or somesuch, and he's the quietest guy in the film, especially after he gets thrown out a window.

Forget subtlety, logic and common sense as the characters double-cross, threaten, stare down and out-shout one another for no apparent reason.

It's puzzling, also, how everyone just sort of stands around wool-gathering when Chen's mother is in deadly danger, a truly "WTF are they smoking?" moment.

The fight scenes are all right, if not the best we've seen from the star, and the car chase is quite exciting. The final confrontation, however, is unsatisfying – as is nearly everything else about the film. — Davin Arul (**)

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Mira Nair's adaptation of the acclaimed Mohsin Hamid novel takes artistic licence, but nevertheless addresses some important questions, including: how do you define yourself when what you thought of as your identity is stripped from you?

The story revolves around lecturer Changez Khan (Riz Ahmed), who is being interviewed in Lahore, Pakistan, by American journalist Bobby Lincoln (Liev Schreiber), because of his suspected involvement in a terrorist plot. What Lincoln discovers, though, is the journey of a young man in search of his personal and cultural identity.

Nair excels at creating a vivid portrait of contemporary Pakistan, and these are some of the best scenes in the film. But it sometimes feels like this comes at the expense of other important plot points, which feel a little superficial. The ending, too, feels a little too neat for a story that is otherwise so beautifully ambiguous.

Brilliant performances, particularly by Riz, and a hauntingly realistic story make this a film worth catching. — Sharmilla Ganesan (****)

Make Your Move

These days, whenever I hear news of a new dance movie coming out, I'd be like: "Another one?" But as it turns out, Make Your Move is a little more than that. Originally titled COBU 3D, the movie stars the lovely Queen of K-Pop, Kwon BoA (of whom I am a huge fan) and Dancing With The Stars hottie Derek Hough as lovestruck dancers from opposite sides of an underground dance club war.

You see, their feuding brothers were former partners, and this makes things complicated for them (a hint of Romeo And Juliet in this tale).

While you can pretty much predict what happens, it's worth saying that the filmmakers added plenty of neat touches that raise it above the average dance movie.

For one, I believe this is possibly the most interracial dance flick ever – BoA's Aya and her brother are Japanese-born Koreans while Hough's Donny is Caucasian with an African-American brother. There's even an Irishman thrown into the mix! It's also quite refreshing to see Asians take on central roles, and not just be the comic relief.

The most important element in a dance movie are the moves themselves, and Make Your Move delivers. The leads have excellent chemistry and in quieter, intimate moments they shine even more.

Some scenes are told entirely though dancing, and have to be witnessed to be fully appreciated. Kudos to the filmmakers for not going mainstream with hip-hop like every other dance flick out there. Instead, the film centres around Aya's COBU Taiko drumming group and Donny's tap dances.

So if you're a BoA fan and you haven't watched this already, what are you waiting for?

Now, if only they brought in the 3D version ... — Aris Zaril (****)

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: World Updates

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The Star Online: World Updates

German paper says Obama aware of spying on Merkel since 2010
Hawaii lawmakers to hold special session to consider gay marriage
Fernandez's allies thumped in Argentina mid-term vote

German paper says Obama aware of spying on Merkel since 2010

Posted:

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German newspaper said on Sunday that U.S. President Barack Obama knew his intelligence service was eavesdropping on Angela Merkel as long ago as 2010, contradicting reports that he had told the German leader he did not know.

Germany received information this week that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) had bugged Merkel's mobile phone, prompting Berlin to summon the U.S. ambassador, a move unprecedented in post-war relations between the close allies.

Reuters was unable to confirm Sunday's news report. The NSA denied that Obama had been informed about the operation by the NSA chief in 2010, as reported by the German newspaper. But the agency did not comment directly on whether Obama knew about the bugging of Merkel's phone.

Both the White House and the German government declined comment.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the NSA ended the program that involved Merkel after the operation was uncovered in an Obama administration review that began this summer. The program also involved as many as 35 other world leaders, some of whom were still being monitored, according to the report, which was attributed to U.S. officials.

In response to the WSJ report, National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden noted in a statement that Obama had ordered a review of U.S. surveillance capabilities.

"Through this review, led by the White House, the United States is reviewing the way that we gather intelligence to ensure that we properly account for the security concerns of our citizens and allies and the privacy concerns that all people share," Hayden said, adding that she was not in a position to discuss the details.

Citing a source in Merkel's office, some German media have reported that Obama apologised to Merkel when she called him on Wednesday, and told her that he would have stopped the bugging happening had he known about it.

But Bild am Sonntag, citing a "U.S. intelligence worker involved in the NSA operation against Merkel", said NSA chief General Keith Alexander informed Obama in person about it in 2010.

"Obama didn't stop the operation back then but let it continue," the mass-market paper quoted the source as saying.

The NSA said, however, that Alexander had never discussed any intelligence operations involving Merkel with Obama.

"(General) Alexander did not discuss with President Obama in 2010 an alleged foreign intelligence operation involving German Chancellor Merkel, nor has he ever discussed alleged operations involving Chancellor Merkel", NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines said in an emailed statement.

"News reports claiming otherwise are not true."

Bild am Sonntag said Obama in fact wanted more material on Merkel, and ordered the NSA to compile a "comprehensive dossier" on her. "Obama, according to the NSA man, did not trust Merkel and wanted to know everything about the German," the paper said.

White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden declined to comment and reiterated the standard policy line that the United States gathers foreign intelligence of the type gathered by all nations.

Bild said the NSA had increased its surveillance, including the contents of Merkel's text messages and phone calls, on Obama's initiative and had started tapping a new, supposedly bug-proof mobile she acquired this summer, a sign the spying continued into the "recent past".

The NSA first eavesdropped on Merkel's predecessor Gerhard Schroeder after he refused to support President George W. Bush's war in Iraq and was extended when Merkel took over in 2005, the paper said.

Eighteen NSA staff working in the U.S. embassy, some 800 metres (yards) from Merkel's office, sent their findings straight to the White House, rather than to NSA headquarters, the paper said. Only Merkel's encrypted landline in her office in the Chancellery had not been tapped, it added.

Bild said some NSA officials were becoming annoyed with the White House for creating the impression that U.S. spies had gone beyond what they had been ordered to do.

BREACH OF TRUST

Merkel has said she uses one mobile phone and that all state-related calls are made from encrypted lines.

The rift over U.S. surveillance activities first emerged this year with reports that Washington had bugged European Union offices and tapped half a billion phone calls, emails and text messages in Germany in a typical month.

Merkel's government said in August - just weeks before a German election - that the United States had given sufficient assurances it was complying with German law.

This week's news has reignited criticism of the U.S. surveillance. Volker Kauder, head of Merkel's party in parliament, called it a "grave breach of trust" and said the United States should drop its "global power demeanour".

Kauder said, however, that he was against halting negotiations on a European free trade agreement with the United States, a call made by Social Democrats and some of Merkel's Bavarian allies.

Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich told Bild am Sonntag: "Bugging is a crime and those responsible for it must be held to account."

The Social Democrats, with whom Merkel is holding talks to form a new government, have joined calls from two smaller opposition parties for a parliamentary investigation into the U.S. surveillance, but Kauder has rejected the idea.

SPD parliamentary whip Thomas Oppermann said former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked many of the sensitive documents, could be called as a witness. Snowden is living in Russia, out of reach of U.S. attempts to arrest him.

(Reporting by Annika Breidthardt; Additional reporting by Anna Yukhananov in Washington; Editing by Robin Pomeroy, Alistair Lyon, Christopher Wilson and Paul Simao)

Hawaii lawmakers to hold special session to consider gay marriage

Posted:

HONOLULU (Reuters) - Hawaii, which had a pioneering role in the acceptance of same-sex matrimony in the United States two decades ago, could become the 15th state to extend marriage rights to gay couples when state lawmakers meet this week for a special session.

Governor Neil Abercrombie, a Democrat, has called the session to start on Monday to debate a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage.

"I think Hawaii has always celebrated its sense of Aloha for one another," Abercrombie said in a telephone interview. "This is a question of equity."

In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled it was discriminatory to deny marriage rights to same-sex couples.

But rather than pave the way for a gay marriage law, the ruling prompted a conservative backlash. In 1998, Hawaiian voters approved a state constitutional amendment that limited the right to marry to heterosexual couples.

The tide has begun to turn under Abercrombie, who was elected in 2010. He signed a same-sex civil unions bill into law in 2011 and has been a vocal proponent of gay marriage since then.

"To win now through the political process in Hawaii would show just how far public opinion in our nation has evolved, and how quickly," said Jon Davidson, legal director at Lambda Legal, which promotes gay civil rights. "It would demonstrate that ... allowing same-sex couples the same right to marry that different-sex couples cherish only provides greater joy and security to more families, and harms no one."

Just one year ago, only six states and the District of Columbia recognized same-sex marriage.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a landmark victory for gay rights by forcing the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages in states where it is legal and paving the way for gay marriage in California.

But the court did not endorse a fundamental right for gay people to marry, leaving the issue to be decided on a state-by-state basis, at least for now. Same-sex couples and gay rights organizations now have 36 lawsuits pending in 20 states, according to Davidson.

Last week, same-sex weddings started in New Jersey, and the high court in New Mexico heard arguments on whether gay marriage should be recognized there statewide.

Lawmakers in Illinois are also considering the issue.

"This is an issue where we've hit a tipping point," said James Esseks, who oversees gay rights advocacy for the American Civil Liberties Union. "The momentum we have is striking."

DUELING EVENTS

The debate over same-sex matrimony has long divided the Aloha State, and the special legislative session is being greeted by rival demonstrations.

On Sunday, a crowd of about 300 gay marriage proponents staged an "All You Need is Love" rally at the state Capitol in Honolulu in support of state Senate Bill 1, which is due for its first hearing on Monday morning.

Men, women and children wearing colourful silk flower garlands, or leis, waved giant rainbow flags and carried signs urging passage of the measure. Some sat down at computers provided by organizers to type out statements to be presented as written testimony to legislators for the hearing.

"I am just as deserving of participating in the tradition of marriage as anyone," said Valerie Smith, 42, a school teacher who said she was just days away from giving birth to her first child but hoped to hold off delivery until she and her partner can get married in Hawaii.

They also wed in Canada in 2009 but would like to have their union legalized in their home state and their own country.

"When people tell me I don't have a right to get married, they're telling me I don't have a right to be a part of society," she said. "No one owns marriage."

Opponents of the bill who favour leaving the outcome of the debate to voters, plan to make their voices heard on Monday with a separate "Let the People Decide" gathering.

"They're starting House hearings on Halloween, when many of those opposed will be busy with their families, so we're telling people to bring their kids trick-or-treating at the state capitol," said Jim Hochberg, president of Hawaii Family Advocates, the leading group opposing the governor's bill.

Donald Bentz, head of the gay rights group Equality Hawaii, said he was hopeful the bill would pass, adding it was bad policy to allow voters - rather than lawmakers or the courts - to decide civil rights questions.

"Whenever you leave the rights of a minority up to the majority, that's a bad day," he said.

(Additional reporting and writing by Edith Honan; Editing by Steve Gorman and Sandra Maler)

Fernandez's allies thumped in Argentina mid-term vote

Posted:

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentine President Cristina Fernandez's allies took a beating in mid-term elections on Sunday, shrinking her majority in Congress, ending chances of a constitutional change to allow her a third term and kicking off the contest to succeed her in 2015.

Voters chose half of the lower house of Congress and a third of the Senate. With 62 percent of ballot boxes counted, the government said the opposition was ahead throughout the country.

Re-elected in 2011 on promises of increasing state control in Latin America's No. 3 economy, Fernandez's political coattails were trimmed by inflation, clocked by private analysts at 25 percent. Heavy-handed currency controls and falling central bank reserves have dented confidence in her government.

"Seven of every 10 votes cast today went against the government. This election was a triumph for the opposition," said local political analyst Rosendo Fraga.

Candidates sponsored by opposition leader Sergio Massa led the House of Deputies' contest by 43 percent to 32 percent in the key province of Buenos Aires, Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo said, citing partial results.

Buenos Aires is home to 40 percent of Argentina's voters and most of the country's agricultural output. The loss in this strategic province was expected to shrink the majority that Fernandez's alliance has in Congress to just a few votes.

Massa, the mayor of the affluent Buenos Aires town of Tigre, headed his own list of candidates for Congress and is seen as a possible, business-friendly presidential contender in 2015.

"Tomorrow, we start with a new political map," said Mauricio Macri, mayor of capital city Buenos Aires and another possible presidential candidate who promises a shift toward market-friendly policies.

Sunday's vote also tested the support of other presidential hopefuls. Julio Cobos, a Radical Party member from Mendoza, won his race, as did Hermes Binner, a socialist from Santa Fe.

Buenos Aires Governor Daniel Scioli, an ally of the president despite his market-friendly views, campaigned with her candidates and shared in their defeats, his position weakened.

Over the months ahead, the jockeying among these potential presidential candidates is expected to increase with financial, grains and energy markets watching for signs of policy changes ahead.

At play in 2015 is policy in one of the world's top grains exporters as it struggles to keep up with rising world food demand and attract investment needed to exploit the vast Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas formation in Patagonia.

NO THIRD TERM

Some legislators had said they wanted a constitutional amendment to allow Fernandez to run for a third term. But the poor showing by her branch of the Peronist party in Sunday's elections dashed those hopes once and for all.

To push through the legislation, they would need two-thirds support in both houses. If the exit polls prove accurate, Fernandez would not come close to achieving that level of support for another run for the presidency.

She was unable to campaign for her congressional candidates since an October 8 operation to remove blood that pooled on her brain after she fell and hurt her head in August. She is expected to continue convalescing for another few weeks.

Speaking to local television, Fernandez's son, Maximo Kirchner, declined to speculate on when his mother would return to work. "She's OK. She's in a good mood," he said.

EYES ON MASSA

As expected, Massa beat his rival, Martin Insaurralde, Fernandez's handpicked Buenos Aires candidate.

Vowing to fight crime, combat inflation and improve farm profits, Massa appears well positioned to run for president. But Argentine history shows mid-term victors are rarely able to sustain momentum and clinch the nomination.

A dark horse could appear within the next two years, as was the case with former President Carlos Menem, who burst onto the scene in 1989, and Nestor Kirchner in 2003.

Argentina's peso weakened past 10 to the U.S. dollar in informal trade last week, widening its breach with the formal rate of 5.88 pesos per greenback. Central bank international reserves are at $34 billion, down from $43 billion in January.

But stocks and bonds have rallied on hopes of market-friendly policy changes ahead.

The blue-chip Merval stock index is up nearly 50 percent since a mid-term primary vote on August 12.

(Additional reporting by Alejandro Lifschitz; Editing by Kieran Murray and Sandra Maler)

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Nation

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The Star Online: Nation

Cooking up a storm online
Sharing of baby photos made easy
Tapping into latest promotions

Cooking up a storm online

Posted:

HE likes Malay food; she likes Western food. But like any technopreneur worth his salt, Ezmir Mohd Razali (pic) turned the little "problem" at home into a business opportunity.

"After we got married, my wife tried very hard to learn all my favourite recipes from my mother. However, she needed to refer to my mother quite often as some of the recipes were quite complicated and sometimes her cooking didn't turn out as expected. So I came up with the idea to record videos of all my favourite recipes from my mother."

The growing mobile application usage gave him another idea: make a mobile recipe video app for other newlyweds.

The app, which he named Trymasak, offers not only his mother's recipes but also other interesting local and traditional recipes.

"We decided to include other recipes so that other people could also benefit from this. What users can do is bring their smartphone into the kitchen and follow the step by step guide in the Trymasak videos," he says, adding that the app also contains a feature to help users manage their grocery list of ingredients for their favourite recipes.

Trymasak now has had more than 60,000 downloads and Ezmir hopes to hit the 100,000 mark by early next year.

The biggest challenge for local app developers is still marketing their product, he shares. "To overcome this we keep the app development as simple as possible, and focused on the main value proposition. Based on the users' feedback, we sought to improve on it."

He believes Malaysia has all the right ingredients to be a top mobile app and content developing country, at least in the region.

Malaysia not only has a high mobile penetration rate, he points out, but also a good pool of app developers and talents, thanks to initiatives by stakeholders like the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and MDeC to provide funding and support for the industry.

"We also have a high take-up rate for mobile apps, both private, such as in banking and airline booking, and in the public sector with the Police's MyDistress app, Mampu and others."

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Age does not deter gifted app creator

Sharing of baby photos made easy

Posted:

HAVING a baby in February changed the life of Tang Tung Ai, technical director and founder of application software company Icon Mobi Solution.

"I became like my friends who were first-time parents. I found myself taking a lot of photos of my newborn baby," he says.

Intrigued, he researched the habits of other new parents on social networks and found pictures of babies and food among the most popular.

That gave him the idea for InstaB for Baby, a mobile app that provides a one-click solution for parents to customise their baby photos or videos.

"Going through the same experience and seeing all the pictures of other new parents convinced me there is a market for this app. Parents like to customise and make their baby photos unique, and at the same time, they want to be able to keep track of small things like what the baby was doing at that particular time, age and mood."

InstaB allows parents to automatically add the essential information of their child on the photos from age, gender, zodiac, date and the baby's mood, and then share them on social networks.

"We are not trying to solve a problem here, but we are meeting a need. Many parents feel they need to organise or personalise their children's pictures and videos," he adds.

Tang, who has more than 12 years of industry experience in application software, only started developing mobile apps seriously around four years ago.

To hone his skills, he joined the Multimedia Development Corporation's Integrated Content Development (Icon) programme and various mobile app development contests. Last year, Tang got together with two friends to set up Icon Mobi Solution.

InstaB was launched on the Apple App Store in May and on Android later this year.

The app got a big response from Malaysian and Singaporean users and has been downloaded more than 20,000 times, generating over 80,000 pieces of content.

To keep their users coming back for more, Tang is working on adding more features to the app, including a video feature.

"We want to create more useful features because we believe the extra features will help build InstaB users' base. We also have to keep up with the rapid technology changes and the competitive app space. Every day, more apps are launched, and any one of them can take over your market niche," he says.

Features like the video can give them opportunities to monetise the app, especially through video advertisements, he adds.

Marketing the app is also a challenge due to the big budget that it normally entails.

"Currently, we are using a low-cost marketing strategy such as SNS, holding photo contests and working closely with an online baby store," he says.

Tang's target is to have 100,000 users by the end of the year, which he admits will not be easy as Malaysian users do not like to pay for apps.

"But I do think this is one of the few app categories that users are willing to pay for," he says.

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Tapping into latest promotions

Malaysian app developers still lack market knowledge

Cooking up a storm online

Tapping into latest promotions

Posted:

MALAYSIANS' love for promotions is the idea behind the app Perks designed by Ker Jia Chiun and Tan Jit Ren.

Calling themselves Team Pillow, Ker and Tan entered the Malaysia Developer's Day 2013 (MDD2013), a hackathon organised by AT&T and the MCMC, recently and won the first prize of US$10,000 (RMRM32,000) with Perks, which provides a fast and easy way for people to look for promotions.

The app incorporates the social media element, turn-by-turn navigation and also tracks achievements that allow users to view all the promotions available with a single tap on the sign-in icon.

They based their idea on Malaysia's Facebook usage statistics, which showed that the average Malaysian spends at least 20% of his or her time on the social media network looking for promotions.

However, when they surfed through the three big mobile stores – AppStore, Play Store and Marketplace – they found only a few Malaysian promotions-based apps available.

"We knew there were some gaps here and there, and therefore it was something that can be improved further," says Ker.

The team spent a lot of time on the design of the app to make it look attractive and more "international" as well as adding on personal touches.

"We felt that paying attention to 'user experience' was the key in developing an app such as this," says Tan.

He concedes that the biggest challenge will be sustaining the attention and interest of users on a particular product.

"Statistics have shown that consumers have the tendency to ignore your product after 10 seconds if they find nothing interesting," he says.

However, these budding app developers are confident that the local app developing industry will only grow, especially with more app designing competitions and support from related agencies and global telcos.

Earlier this month, Team Pillow got the opportunity to present their product at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Kuala Lumpur as part of their prize.

"We know the competition in the international market is very strong. But Malaysia is not that far behind other countries. Competitions like the MDD2013 will give budding app developers a chance to build on their ideas. It shows the world what we can do and gives us an opportunity to meet potential investors there. Perhaps more agencies and colleges can look into organising similar competitions," says Tan.

Related stories:

Sharing of baby photos made easy

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Msian app developers still lack market knowledge

Cooking up a storm online

Chinese Zombie wins the war

Age does not deter gifted app creator

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

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The Circle
Never Go Back
Mother, Mother

The Circle

Posted:

Could this be the most prescient satirical commentary on the early Internet age?

IN a recent essay, American author and social commentator Jonathan Franzen inveighed against what he sees as the glibness and superficiality of the new online culture. "With technoconsumerism," he wrote, "a humanist rhetoric of 'empowerment' and 'creativity' and 'freedom' and 'connection' and 'democracy' abets the frank monopolism of the techno-titans; the new infernal machine seems increasingly to obey nothing but its own developmental logic, and it's far more enslavingly addictive, and far more pandering to people's worst impulses, than newspapers ever were."

I cite this because it chimes with the points that Dave Eggers is making in his latest novel, The Circle; we are at an interesting moment when two such significant figures of American letters have both independently been so moved to expound on the same subject. But my guess is that Eggers won't suffer the same online crucifixion that has subsequently been Franzen's fate. Why? Because although Eggers is saying all the same things as Franzen (and so much more), he makes his case not through the often tetchy medium of the essay, but in the glorious, ever resilient and ever engaging form of the novel.

The Circle is a deft modern synthesis of Swiftian wit with Orwellian prognostication. That is not to say the writing is without formal weaknesses – Eggers misses notes like an enthusiastic jazz pianist, whereas Franzen is all conservatoire meticulousness – but rather to suggest that The Circle is a work so germane to our times that it may well come to be considered as the most on-the-money satirical commentary on the early Internet age.

This is the story of Mae Holland, a woman in her early 20s, who secures a job at the vast techno-sexy social media company, the Circle, an approximate combination of Facebook, Google, Twitter, PayPal and every other big online conglomerate to whom we have so far trusted our lives.

Run by the "Three Wise Men", the Circle recruits "hundreds of gifted young minds" every week and has been voted "most admired company four years running". Among their inventions is "TruYou", a single integrated user interface that executes and streamlines every Internet interaction and purchase: "One button for the rest of your life online." Their philosophy is total transparency and their campus is an architectural essay in glass, a temple to all the geek-chic entertainment and amenities that limitless profits can buy.

Mae is absurdly grateful for the opportunity to work in this brave new world. The novel tracks her own integration into the ethos and activities of the Circle, gradually illuminating a deeply disconcerting vision of how real life might soon be chased into hiding by the tyranny of total techno-intrusion. Mae herself ends up suggesting that an account with the Circle should be made mandatory by the government, this being the most effective way to increase voter turnouts.

There is much to admire. The pages are full of clever, plausible, unnerving ideas that I suspect are being developed right now. "SeeChange" is one such: millions of cheap, lollipop-sized "everything-proof" high-resolution cameras with a two-year battery life that can be taped up anywhere so that the video streams can be accessed by all. "This is the ultimate transparency. No filter. See everything. Always." Meanwhile, there are some fine moments of description – Eggers portrays the mysterious Kalden as a man whose "skinny jeans and tight long-sleeve jersey gave his silhouette the quick thick-thin brushstrokes of calligraphy".

The book is also very funny. Dan, Mae's boss, is described as "unshakeably sincere"; he nods "emphatically, as if his mouth had just uttered something his ears found quite profound". One of my favourite passages describes Mae's frenzy as she attempts to raise her "PartiRank", her relative Circle social-participation score, calculated as the result of her digital interactions. After work, therefore, she sits for hours in front of her myriad screens and posts in 11 discussion groups, joins 67 more feeds, replies to 70 messages, RSVPs to dozens of events, signs petitions and provides widespread "constructive criticism" before realising that, in order to make real headway up the ranks, she had better stay up all night and manically comment, smile, zing, join, frown, befriend, invite....

Mae has a boyfriend from her past, Mercer, her main antagonist. Mercer spends hours thinking of ways to "unsubscribe from mailing lists without hurting anyone's feelings". He finds that the digital bingeing of the world leaves him "hollow and diminished", and that there is "this new neediness (that) pervades everything". Indeed, it is Mercer with whom Franzen might best get along; Mercer feels that he has "entered ... some mirror world where the dorkiest s*** is completely dominant", that "the world has dorkified itself". And it is Mercer's fate – when Mae tracks him down in hiding using Circle technology – that furnishes the novel with its most kinetic passage of satire.

There are a few weaknesses. Eggers struggles here and there to balance psychological plausibility with the outlandishness of his satirical flourishes; he sometimes needs his characters to behave in ways that seem – certainly when you put the book down – to be wholly implausible. There is also a clumsy metaphorical scene where a shark eats all the other fish in the aquarium tank.

But this is a prescient, important and enjoyable book, and what I love most about The Circle is that it is telling us so much about the impact of the computer age on human beings in the only form that can do so with the requisite wit, interiority and profundity: the novel. – Guardian News & Media

Never Go Back

Posted:

Well plotted and tightly paced, the latest Jack Reacher book departs from the series' formula in a couple of ways.

IT isn't surprising that Jack Reacher appeals to so many people. The former army man turned hobo is living the life many folks dream about – free and easy, drifting from one place to another with no baggage, going wherever his fancy takes him.

And of course, the two-fisted adventures, spectacular (a common adjective Reacher employs) women and the chance to sample coffee across the length and breadth of the United States nicely fulfil our need to live vicariously through our literary heroes.

Perhaps Reacher's somewhat incongruous movie incarnation summed it up best in that scene in the Jack Reacher film when he asked Rosamund Pike's idealistic attorney to look at all the supposed "free" people living lives of voluntary enslavement.

"You tell me which ones are free. Free from debt. Anxiety. Stress. Fear. Failure. Indignity. Betrayal. How many wish that they were born knowing what they know now? Ask yourself how many would do things the same way over again, and how many would live their lives like me." +1!

Oh, for the open road and the freedom to punch idiots in the side of the head (violent lateral displacement of the brain is most effective at incapacitating a target, says a valuable nugget of information from the Encyclopaedia Reacherica) – strictly in the name of justice – and avoiding repercussions simply because you're way, way off the grid.

Getting back on that grid is a bad move, as book #18 in the series shows us. It is the finale of a four-book arc that began with 61 Hours, more or less continued into Worth Dying For, got interrupted by the flashback tale The Affair, and then went on in A Wanted Man.

Never Go Back marks the culmination of the ex-MP's (as in Military Police, not Member of Parliament, though Reacher would probably be a huge hit with some legislative assemblies in the region) quest/ mission/ seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time to meet Susan Turner, his successor at the Army's 110th Special Investigations Unit.

Turner was just a voice on the phone in 61 Hours, a significant factor in the story because of the assistance she provided – in an adventure that proved to be one of Reacher's more epic screw-ups (he's only human after all).

The trip has taken him a while, but Reacher finally gets to Washington DC in the opening pages of Never Go Back and almost immediately has cause to regret it. He doesn't find Susan Turner in his old office, but a different commanding officer named Morgan who proceeds to drop several bombshells on him.

Before long, Reacher has been re-enlisted in the army, and finds himself facing two obviously trumped-up charges. As for Turner, she's facing a cooked-up charge too, one bordering on treason. I was a bit disappointed that Reacher takes a whole lot longer to see through these than any reader who's finished at least a handful of Child's books.

Still, something's got to give in order to propel the plot along, no?

And the plot of Never Go Back, as thin as it ultimately proves to be, is propelled along quite nicely.

The page-turning momentum from Child's carefully structured plotting is never in doubt; the zippy pace and peppy dialogue will have you shooting through its 415 pages in hardly any time at all.

At which point you might notice there was something a little off about the whole story. No doubt as a way to break from formula, the author – spoiler ahead, but it has to be said for purposes of this review – keeps Reacher from ever interacting with the Big Bad(s) behind all the malfeasance, such as it is, here.

Instead, he tangles with henchmen a whole lot, and these encounters are a little different, or at least presented differently, from those in previous books (the 13 Jack Reacher books I've read since January). I especially liked the way he neutralises two goons in the cramped confines of a passenger airliner without alerting anyone else on board to the act.

Make no mistake, the Big Bads here do feel the relentless Reacher closing in on them, though the resolution just wasn't what I expected.

Reacher's eventual (and inevitable) liaison with Turner is, however, exactly what fans of the series would expect.

It's not detailed in as, umm, vigorous terms as his hooking up with Sheriff Elizabeth Devereaux in The Affair, nor do Turner and Reacher complement each other as nicely. Still, they do make an effective team (oops, wrong Tom Cruise film reference) in getting to the bottom of the mystery.

Never Go Back is a mixed bag in which the treats thankfully outnumber the tricks. I liked how Reacher's plan to get both himself and Turner out of army detention comes together, and their getaway is a seemingly uneventful affair that will have you holding your breath nonetheless.

There's an amusing detour into redneck country, where Reacher makes a withdrawal from one of the many "ATMs" that society has seen fit to put in his path, though this sojourn – together with its consequences – has little to do with the main plot.

Ultimately, Never Go Back is up there with the best of the series in terms of plotting and pacing, but has a rather lightweight story and central mystery.

It works better if you look at it as being more about Reacher and Turner, with everything else merely incidental. This relationship, and one of those bombshells that gets dropped on Reacher early on, may lead you to wonder, as the story unfolds, if this could be the one that makes our wandering hero hang up his walking boots and settle down. Here's a non-spoiler: Naaah.

Mother, Mother

Posted:

Two days of intense reading went by in an instant.

SOMETIMES an author wins by creating a plot so wacky and mindboggling that you hope such things do not exist in real life.

And sometimes, an author can be so unrevealing, and we as readers so unassuming, that we are taken for a ride, thrilled to death and frightened by the author's sneaky antics.

And then there are also authors who love to pamper us with their figurative descriptions, so the images of gore and awe emanate endlessly from the pages.

The scary moments are scariest by these types of authors, and our brows knit tighter at every turn and twist, knowing we once again have been misled.

Koren Zailckas (don't ask me how to pronounce her last name, please!) is such an author. For me, she seems to have come out of nowhere but actually, she has under her name two previous bestsellers – Smashed and Fury – books I have not read but I will, soonest possible.

Her third offering, Mother, Mother, is freaking me out with her immense talents, having woven a story that is simple yet profoundly dark, elegiac and mortifying. This book is like vodka – a genteel burn that scorches throughout but fans love it.

It is an understatement to say that I love this book.

It captivated me right from the beginning with a bang when matriarch Josephine Hurst sends her daughter to a mental hospital and accusing her of harming her on-and-off-and-on-again epileptic brother, Will. And right from the beginning one may be sympathetic towards Josephine, a seemingly devoted mother whose voice is always one pitch louder and whose persona seems way too refined to be vicious.

But slowly, one deception calls forth another, and Josephine reveals herself in the most menacing way.

Whenever the book is put down for a hiatus, I wager you'll think about Josephine, trying to puzzle out what makes her the way she is and what stunt she'll pull next to shock us once more. Though addicted to her lies, you'll think of ways to help her, to talk sense into her or to ask her to stop altogether.

But you can't, for Josephine does not speak for herself, as the book is told in the alternating voices of her daughter Violet, the one that is supposedly mentally-ill, and her epileptic (as well as autistic) son Will, the one allegedly harmed. Reading this book, therefore, is dizzying. Just as we find enough reasons to believe in Josephine, she turns darker and more vindictive.

And you may even groan at the book as I did when it lured me from the depths of sleep, making me crawl out of bed to continue from where I left off just a couple of hours ago, and keeping me guessing with every page and at every corner and every turn.

Such thrills, so incessant and mindboggling, coupled such exquisite prose and such descriptive language, make this book frustrating and tempting.

The epileptic Will "gasped for air" in the wake of a brutal revelation, while I gulped hard before turning a page to begin yet another chapter in the wee hours of the night. That kind of forcefulness at the end of every chapter is what makes this book a page-turner.

"I have got to read on, dammit!" you'll hear yourself saying as I did.

That being said, though Mother, Mother turned out to be darker and way more addictive than I expected, the book, by and large, is somewhat predictable.

As an author, Zailckas is still young and has yet to reach a depth of storytelling at which she can be hailed as the next queen of thrillers.

Her ability to withhold the truth is contrived and the way things fall into place seems too convenient.

The crime is solved almost too easily (as it is at last confessed) and the most interesting character, Rose, the eldest daughter who was driven to death by the narcissistic Josephine, was not well developed – a pity.

Still, I see it as not only a novel with high potential to be adapted into a movie but also a story that will have readers reflecting on their own lives and searching for happiness of their families.

In an interview, Zailckas discloses that her own family is totally un-Hurst-like though she grew up in a family very much like them.

It is her hope that readers will recognise with a shiver that a character such as Josephine can exist and that such an intense neediness, manipulative nature, grandiose sense of self-importance, tendency to play favourites between her children are common traits of narcissism.

At last, I turned the last page after two days of intense reading, and realised it had been as gratifying as it was an eye-opening experience.

Psychological thrillers are not at all as boring as I had previously thought.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

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Small bomb blasts near rally for India opposition leader

Posted:

PATNA, India, Oct 27, 2013 (AFP) - Five small bombs exploded killing one person in the eastern Indian city of Patna Sunday, where opposition leader Narendra Modi was shortly set to address a political rally, a police official said.

TV footage showed several small explosions and smoke outside the venue in Patna, in the state of Bihar, where several hundred thousand people were gathering for the rally.

Footage showed people running from the low-intensity explosions.

The rally later went ahead with other leaders of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) taking to the stage ahead of Modi.

Another small explosion also occurred at a railway station in Patna, killing one person, a local police officer said.

"One person succumbed to his injuries after a bomb explosion at platform number 10 of Patna railway station," local police official Manu Maharaj told AFP on the phone.

Maharaj confirmed the four other blasts near the venue, and said police were making several arrests.

Hindu nationalist Modi was named last month as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate for national elections due by May next year.

The chief minister of economically successful western Gujarat state, Modi is popular with the corporate world, with many hoping he can turn revive Asia's third-largest economy, if elected next year.

But he remains a divisive figure, tarred by the religious riots in Gujarat in 2002 in which as many as 2,000 people were killed, mainly Muslims, according to rights groups.

Modi was chief minister at the time and denied any wrongdoing, but one of his former ministers was jailed last year for orchestrating some of the violence.

The Supreme Court once likened him to Nero, the emperor who fiddled while Rome burned.

Modi and leaders of the ruling Congress party are holding a series of mass rallies across the country in a battle to win five key state elections later this year.

Those elections are seen as a crucial test of popularity, with both parties hoping to capitalise on any momentum from the results for next year's elections.

Japan's PM warns China on use of force as jets scrambled

Posted:

TOKYO, Oct 27, 2013 (AFP) - Japan's leader warned China on Sunday against forcibly changing the regional balance of power, as reports said Tokyo had scrambled fighter jets in response to Chinese military aircraft flying near Okinawa.

Verbal skirmishing between Asia's two biggest economies, who dispute ownership of an island chain, escalated as Beijing warned Tokyo that any hostile action in the skies against Chinese drones would be construed as an "act of war".

"We will express our intention as a state not to tolerate a change in the status quo by force. We must conduct all sorts of activities such as surveillance and intelligence for that purpose," Abe said in an address to the military.

"The security environment surrounding Japan is becoming increasingly severe. This is the reality," he said.

"You will have to completely rid yourselves of the conventional notion that just the existence of a defence force could act as a deterrent."

Abe presided over an inspection of the military at which a US amphibious assault vehicle was displayed for the first time, an apparent sign of Japan's intention to strengthen its ability to protect remote islands.

The defence ministry plans to create a special amphibious unit to protect the southern islands and retake them in case of an invasion.

"There are concerns that China is attempting to change the status quo by force, rather than by rule of law," Abe earlier told the Wall Street Journal in an interview following a series of summits this month with regional leaders.

"But if China opts to take that path, then it won't be able to emerge peacefully," he said in the interview published Saturday.

"So it shouldn't take that path, and many nations expect Japan to strongly express that view. And they hope that as a result, China will take responsible action in the international community," Abe added.

On Sunday Jiji Press and Kyodo News reported that Japan had deployed jets for two days running in response to four Chinese military aircraft flying over international waters near the Okinawa island chain.

Two Y8 early-warning aircraft and two H6 bombers flew from the East China Sea to the Pacific Ocean and back again but did not violate Japan's airspace, the reports said.

The Japanese defence ministry was not immediately available for confirmation.

Japan's military is on increased alert as Tokyo and Beijing pursue a war of words over the disputed islands in the East China Sea that lie between Okinawa and Taiwan.

On Saturday China responded angrily after a report said Japan had drafted plans to shoot down foreign drones that encroach on its airspace if warnings to leave are ignored.

Tokyo drew up the proposals after a Chinese military drone entered Japan's air defence identification zone near the disputed islands in the East China Sea last month, Kyodo said.

"We would advise relevant parties not to underestimate the Chinese military's staunch resolve to safeguard China's national territorial sovereignty," China's defence ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said in comments posted on the ministry's website.

"If Japan takes enforcement measures such as shooting down aircraft, as it says it will, that would constitute a serious provocation, an act of war of sorts, and we would have to take firm countermeasures, and all consequences would be the responsibility of the side that caused the provocation."

Tokyo and Beijing both claim the small uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. Japan administers them and calls them the Senkakus. China refers to the islands as the Diaoyus.

One of Abe's first decisions as prime minister was to increase the defence budget for the first time in 11 years.

Tokyo also plans to hold a major air and sea exercise next month to bolster its ability to protect its remote islands.

In the Wall Street Journal interview, Abe said Japan had become too inward-looking over the past 15 years, but as it regains economic strength "we'd like to contribute more to making the world a better place".

The Journal said he made it clear that one way Japan would "contribute" would be countering China in Asia.

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Small bomb blasts near rally for India opposition leader
Japan's PM warns China on use of force as jets scrambled
Indonesian capital tweets to beat traffic chaos