Jumaat, 27 Disember 2013

The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

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The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

One dead as gunman opens fire at Thai protesters
Vocal teacher faces the music
Alleged killer to undergo mental evaluation

One dead as gunman opens fire at Thai protesters

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 07:06 PM PST

BANGKOK (AFP) - An unidentified gunman opened fire at opposition protesters in Bangkok Saturday, killing one person and wounding several others in a pre-dawn attack that fanned tensions in the politically divided kingdom.

The shooting follows weeks of mass anti-government protests - seeking to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra - that have triggered bloody clashes between police and demonstrators.

A protester died after he was shot in the torso and three others were hospitalised with gunshot wounds, a spokesman for the city's Erawan emergency centre said.

Police confirmed the shooting but said its forensic team was unable to access the scene of the incident, which happened where a group of protesters was camped overnight near Government House.

It was unclear who fired the shots but armed provocateurs have a history of trying to stir tensions in the politically polarised kingdom, with each side usually blaming the other.

Some local media reports said the shots were fired from a passing car by more than one gunman.

Yingluck has called February elections in the hope of bringing an end to the demonstrations, which have drawn tens of thousands of people seeking to curb her billionaire family's political dominance.

But the protesters have vowed to block the vote, saying it will only return the Shinawatra clan to power.

A second round of registration for constituency candidates was due to begin around the country on Saturday, raising fears of further clashes.

Eight people, including a policeman, have been killed and about 400 wounded in several outbreaks of street violence.

The government has said it will ask the army to provide security for election candidates and voters.

A policeman and a civilian died of gunshots fired by unknown assailants while 153 people were injured after violence erupted Thursday when demonstrators tried to force their way into an election registration venue.

The army chief insisted Friday that the military would remain neutral and said it was up to the election authorities whether the vote could go ahead, but he did not rule out another coup.

"The door is neither closed nor open. In every situation, anything can happen," he said when asked about the possibility of a coup, without elaborating.

Thailand has been periodically convulsed by political bloodshed since Yingluck's older brother Thaksin Shinawatra was overthrown by royalist generals in a coup seven years ago.

The protesters, a mix of southerners, middle class and urban elite, accuse the billionaire tycoon-turned-politician of corruption and say he controls his sister's government from his self-exile in Dubai.

They want an unelected "people's council" to run the country to oversee loosely-defined reforms - such as an end to alleged "vote buying" - before new elections are held in around a year to 18 months.

Yingluck's government still enjoys strong support in the northern half of the country and is expected to win the election if it goes ahead.

Thaksin's "Red Shirt" supporters have accused the demonstrators of trying to incite the military to seize power again, in a country which has seen 18 successful or attempted coups since 1932.

It is the worst civil strife since 2010, when more than 90 people were killed in a bloody military crackdown on pro-Thaksin Red Shirt protests under the previous government.

Vocal teacher faces the music

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 08:00 AM PST

A VOCAL instructor at a music school organised sex-and-drug parties and also sold "Ice" on the side to pay for the medical treatment of his AIDS condition.

Tommy Lim Yong Thong's days of partying and pushing drugs are now over. He was sentenced yesterday to five-and-a-half years in jail and six strokes of the cane.

He pleaded guilty to trafficking and consuming drugs and planning the drug-fuelled gatherings.

Lim was arrested with two other men by officers of the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) at 1pm on May 26. He was then with Diego Mark Jason Solares, 29, and De Tomas Camerino Efren Jr, 33, both Filipinos, in a room at the Furama Riverfront Hotel. More than 40gm of Ice, the street name for methamphetamine, was found in the room.

Later that day, CNB officers returned to the hotel to raid the room of Coert Isaac Stanley Parree, 42, and found Ice and an improvised pipe. The Dutch national was then a flight attendant with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

Investigations then revealed that Parree had messaged Lim on May 22 that he was in the Furama Riverfront Hotel. Lim agreed to organise a "session". Within the gay community, this refers to a party involving sex and drugs.

The next day, he booked a room at the hotel and invited Solares and Efren. Lim admitted to bringing the Ice and giving it to the two Filipinos for free, with whom he had sex with.

He also admitted to selling the drug to his clients outside the hotel. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Alleged killer to undergo mental evaluation

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 08:00 AM PST

A FORKLIFT driver charged with the murder of a beautician whose decapitated body was found floating in Whampoa River has been sent for psychiatric assessment.

Gursharan Singh, 25, an Indian national, was charged last week with the murder of Jasvinder Kaur, 33, together with an unknown person at a Balestier Road premises between Dec 10 and 12.

Jasvinder's body was wrapped in a trash bag when it was spotted floating in the waterway between McNair Road and St George's Road.

Besides her still-missing head and hands, her arms had also been apparently mutilated.

Gursharan, who is on a Special Pass, was arrested last Wednesday at his workplace in Sims Avenue.

According to the police, he is a friend of the victim's senior logistics coordinator husband, Harvinder Singh, 33, who skipped town half an hour before his wife's body was found on Dec 12. Gursharan's case will be mentioned again on Jan 17. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

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The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

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The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

Memorable villains of 2013

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 08:00 AM PST

Find out who was really good at being bad on the big screen this year.

IS there a Hans Gruber in the house?

Can Hannibal Lecter come out and play?

Darth Vader, please report to the principal's office.

You know where I'm heading with this – it's our annual list of the most memorable movie villains of the year.

Heroes are only as good as their villains are bad. A worthy adversary is necessary in measuring the worth of our heroes.

Every actor will tell you that it's more fun to play a villain than a hero. The good guy must stay within a structure and conduct himself by certain rules of behaviour, which can be confining for an actor. But a bad guy doesn't have to play by the rules so it is inherently more freeing than a leading man role.

But not all villains are created equal.

Some villains are dastardly but delightful, like the aforementioned Hans Gruber, played so well by British actor Alan Rickman in Die Hard. Likewise, Hannibal Lecter and Darth Vader are villains we love to hate.

The flip side to those lovable villains, of course, are the movie characters we don't like so much but love to watch on the big screen. Amon Goethe, the sadistic Nazi camp commandant of Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List, played with chilling efficiency by Ralph Fiennes, and Nurse Ratched of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (Louise Fletcher) are not the kinds of people you'd like to meet in a dark alley, although you love them in a darkened movie theatre.

The performance of a great villain is etched in our movie memories. Not-so-great movie villains are forgotten before you get to your car.

So, how does this year's crop of movie villains look? Do any of them have staying power? Will any of them be remembered 10, 20 or 30 years from now? The only test is the test of time.

Here are our nominees for the most memorable movie villains of 2013. Do you think any of them could be a classic villain like Auric Goldfinger? Or perhaps they will be dismissed like Mel Gibson's Luthor Voz in Machete Kills?

1. Bilal

The terrorist leader opposite Tom Hanks in the thriller Captain Phillips was played by newcomer Barkhad Abdirahman, who responded to an ad in a Minneapolis newspaper. The filmmakers conducted their search for actors to play Somali pirates within the substantial Somali community in Minnesota. Who knew there was a substantial Somali community in Minnesota?

2. Edwin Epps

Played by Michael Fassbender in 12 Years A Slave, he is the sinister slave owner who is so much more complicated than the classic moustache twirler of the Silent Era, who would look into the camera and twirl his moustache as he tied the damsel to the railroad tracks.

The best villains are complex, and Epps is conflicted as he inflicts beatings on the same young female slave that he also covets. It is a performance that not only will be remembered, but might bring Oscar nominations to both Fassbender and his victim, a young actress fresh out of the Yale School of Drama – Lupita Nyong'o.

3. Butch Cavendish

Not much can be said about The Lone Ranger, but William Fichtner's villain was truly villainous. The bird on Johnny Depp's head was a close second.

'All this rust, wear and tear ... Abrams, this is supposed to be the bright shiny Star Trek universe, not the Star Wars universe, dammit!' - Benedict Cumberbatch as the sinister John Harrison.

Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness.

4. Khan

Benedict Cumberbatch plays Captain James T. Kirk's formidable foe in Star Trek Into Darkness, and almost makes us forget Ricardo Montalban, who first breathed life into the Khan character in the 1982 film Star Trek: The Wrath Of Khan, which remains to many the best Star Trek ever. And one of the reasons is the film's awesome villain.

5. Loki

Let's see, sibling rivalry leads one brother to try to kill the other brother. Where have we heard that story before? Tom Hiddleston played Thor's villainous brother in Thor and The Avengers, and then reprised the character in the 2013 film Thor: The Dark World.

6. General Zod

Like Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon of Boardwalk Empire fame had to deal with the ghost of the villain's originator (Terrence Stamp in the 1978 film Superman) when he pulled rank on the Man Of Steel.

7. President Snow

Donald Sutherland is a politician that everybody can hate in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, regardless of which side of the aisle you sit.

8. The zombies

Remember when I told you that a hero is only as good as his villain? Well, what villain could match Brad Pitt's pretty face better than millions of zombies in World War Z?

9. Smaug

Yes, we're talking about the dragon in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug. This isn't Puff the Magic Dragon. This is a nasty, trash-talking monster who likes to play with his food before he eats it.

The Mandarin (played by Ben Kingsley) in Iron Man 3.

10. The Mandarin

Ben Kingsley's terrorist leader in Iron Man 3 is not what he seems. That's all we can say under penalty of death. — The Orange County Register/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

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The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

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The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

TV stars to watch in 2014

Posted: 25 Dec 2013 10:00 PM PST

A list of actors who are expected to make excellent screen time on the small screen next year.

After a particularly rich and exciting year of TV in 2013, networks are planning to outdo themselves once again in 2014, and they couldn't do this without the help of the stars. Whether returning to the small screen or making their first appearance, these actors are bound to have viewers talking next year.

Kevin Spacey

The coming year promises to be a busy one for the veteran film actor, who returned to the spotlight last year in House Of Cards. Spacey will be in the running at the Golden Globes on Jan 12, and he will once again be at the centre of attention when the second season of Netflix's political thriller is unveiled on Feb 14. His role as a charismatic and cunning senator could earn him the statuette for the best actor in a drama series, a prize that slipped through his fingers in the 2013 Emmy Awards. (Unfortunately, the show has yet to be shown in Malaysia.)

Josh Holloway

Since the end of Lost in 2010, the actor behind the mysterious Sawyer has kept a rather low profile, with the exception of a role in Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol. In 2014, the actor will return to the airwaves as the star of Intelligence. The drama will follow an elite cyber-defense agency that relies entirely on the talents of one man, a former Navy SEAL with an electronic chip implanted in his brain, making him essentially a cyborg.

Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu

The two actors co-star in the crime series Elementary, a modern take on the Sherlock Holmes story that is currently in its second season on CBS. A former Scotland Yard consultant, Holmes has moved to New York to receive treatment for his drug addiction. Joan Watson, a former surgeon who lost her license after the death of a patient, is his sober companion. Together, they lend their deductive skills to the NYPD. After earning multiple awards in 2013, Elementary seems destined for even more success in 2014.

Jay Leno

After 22 years on NBC's The Tonight Show, and after infamously refusing to cede his throne to Conan O'Brian in 2009, the famous late-night host is finally stepping down. His successor Jimmy Fallon will pick up the torch from Feb 24, 2014, just after the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

Kiefer Sutherland

While we're waiting for the possible movie adaptation of 24, the unforgettable Jack Bauer will return to the small screen in a prolongation of 24 on Fox. The ninth season of the drama will take the form of a miniseries starring Sutherland alongside Kim Raver and Mary Lynn Rajskub, aka Chloe O'Brian, the counterterrorism unit's expert systems analyst.

Halle Berry

For her first major TV role, the Hollywood star has agreed to headline in Extant, a science-fiction series created by Steven Spielberg for CBS. This summer, Berry will appear on the small screen as an astronaut returning to Earth after one year in space. While struggling to reconnect with her loved ones after her long absence, the character must also confront a series of disturbing events – apparently connected to her recent mission – which could pose a threat to humanity. — AFP Relaxnews

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The Star Online: World Updates

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The Star Online: World Updates

Four U.S. military personnel released in Libya -U.S. official
Thai anti-government protester shot dead - hospital official
China formally eases one-child policy, abolishes labour camps

Four U.S. military personnel released in Libya -U.S. official

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 08:45 PM PST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four members of the U.S. military detained in Libya were released after being taken into custody by the government, U.S. officials said on Friday.

"All four (have been) released," a U.S. defence official said.

Earlier, the U.S. State Department confirmed that the four were being held and U.S. authorities were in touch with the Libyan government over the issue.

Circumstances under which the four were detained remained unclear. But more than two years after the collapse of Muammar Gaddafi's government, the country remains in turmoil with widespread insecurity.

The New York Times reported that the service members were taken into custody near Roman ruins at Sabratha, a tourist area about an hour's drive from the capital, Tripoli.

The incident takes on greater significance because of the militant attack in Benghazi on September 11, 2012, in which U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed.

The attacks touched off a political storm in Washington, with Republicans accusing President Barack Obama's administration of telling shifting stories about who was behind the attacks.

In October, U.S. forces seized Nazih al-Ragye, better known by the cover name Abu Anas al-Liby, in Tripoli in connection with the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton and Missy Ryan; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Thai anti-government protester shot dead - hospital official

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 08:35 PM PST

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Thai protester was killed and four wounded, an emergency official said on Saturday, after an unidentified gunman opened fire on demonstrators whose efforts to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra flared into violence over the past two days.

The shooting came 48 hours after clashes between police about 500 protesters, who are determined to disrupt a snap February 2 election called by Yingluck, outside a voting registration centre in which two people were killed and scores wounded.

Petphong Kamjonkitkarn, director of the Erawan Emergency Centre in the Thai capital Bangkok, told Reuters one man in his 30s had been killed and four others suffered gunshot wounds.

The protesters have been rallying for weeks in their attempt to topple Yingluck, who they see as a puppet of her brother and former premier, billionaire tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra, and have vowed to disrupt the election.

Yingluck, who draws her support from the populous voter base among the rural poor in the north and northeast, is determined to go ahead with the poll. On Friday, her government asked the military for help to provide security for both candidates and voters.

However, the chief of the heavily politicised military refused to rule out military intervention, responding that "the door was neither open nor closed" when asked if a coup was possible.

Several hundred protesters are camped out in tents around the walls of Government House in Bangkok. Witnesses said they were sleeping when gunfire suddenly rang out at about 3.30 a.m. on Saturday (2030 GMT Friday).

"I was sleeping and then I heard several gunshots. I was surprised," said one 18-year-old protester, who would not identify himself other than by his nickname "Boy".

Other witness said the shots could have come from a car as it drove past the protest site. Reuters television pictures showed bullet holes in a concrete wall and a generator, as well as bloodstains inside in one of the many flimsy tents set up by protesters around Government House.

Protesters showed several small-calibre slugs they had found.

Registration for the election was to continue on Saturday, although Thailand's Election Commission has requested that the poll be delayed after Thursday's violence until "mutual consent" from all sides was achieved - an increasingly unlikely outcome.

With the street protests escalating, any delay to a poll that Yingluck's Puea Thai Party would otherwise be expected to win would leave her government open to legal challenges or, worse still, military or judicial intervention.

Thailand's military has staged or attempted 18 coups in 81 years of democracy, making Friday's comments by General Prayuth Chan-ocha more chilling for Yingluck and Thaksin, who was toppled in a 2006 coup.

The protesters draw strength from Bangkok's conservative middle classes and elite, many with ties to the judiciary and military, who resent the rise of the billionaire Shinawatra family and their political juggernaut.

They accuse them of manipulating Thailand's fragile democracy by effectively buying the support of the rural poor with populist policies such as cheap healthcare, easy credit and subsidies for rice farmers.

Instead of an election, the protesters want an appointed "people's council" to oversee reforms before any future vote.

The first two years of Yingluck's government had been relatively smooth until a blunder by Puea Thai in November, when it tried to push through an unpopular amnesty bill that would have exonerated Thaksin from a 2008 graft conviction he says was politically motivated. Thaksin fled into exile to avoid jail.

(Additional reporting by Jutarat Skulpichetrat; Writing by Paul Tait; Editing by Ken Wills)

China formally eases one-child policy, abolishes labour camps

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 08:15 PM PST

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China formally approved on Saturday easing its decades-long one-child policy and the abolition of a controversial labour camp system, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Both were among a sweeping raft of reforms announced last month after a meeting of the ruling Communist Party that mapped out policy for the next decade.

Under the new policy, couples will be allowed to have two children if one of the parents is an only child. Previously, a couple could generally only have a second child if both parents were only children.

The plan was envisioned by the government about five years ago, with officials worried that the strict controls were undermining economic growth and contributing to a rapidly ageing population China had no hope of supporting financially.

The resolution, formally approved by China's largely rubber- stamp parliament on Saturday, will allow local legislatures to decide when to implement the policies, Xinhua said.

Parliament also approved the abolition of the "re-education through labour" system, in place since 1957, which allows police to sentence petty criminals to up to four years' confinement in labour camps without going through the courts.

Critics say the system undermines the rule of law and is often used against political activists and followers of Falun Gong, a banned spiritual group.

(Reporting by Kazunori Takada; Editing by Paul Tait)

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The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews

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The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews

Memorable villains of 2013

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 08:00 AM PST

Find out who was really good at being bad on the big screen this year.

IS there a Hans Gruber in the house?

Can Hannibal Lecter come out and play?

Darth Vader, please report to the principal's office.

You know where I'm heading with this – it's our annual list of the most memorable movie villains of the year.

Heroes are only as good as their villains are bad. A worthy adversary is necessary in measuring the worth of our heroes.

But not all villains are created equal.

The performance of a great villain is etched in our movie memories. Not-so-great movie villains are forgotten before you get to your car.

So, how does this year's crop of movie villains look? Do any of them have staying power? Will any of them be remembered 10, 20 or 30 years from now? The only test is the test of time.

1. Bilal

2. Edwin Epps

3. Butch Cavendish

Not much can be said about The Lone Ranger, but William Fichtner's villain was truly villainous. The bird on Johnny Depp's head was a close second.

Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness.

4. Khan

5. Loki

6. General Zod

7. President Snow

Donald Sutherland is a politician that everybody can hate in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, regardless of which side of the aisle you sit.

8. The zombies

Remember when I told you that a hero is only as good as his villain? Well, what villain could match Brad Pitt's pretty face better than millions of zombies in World War Z?

9. Smaug

The Mandarin (played by Ben Kingsley) in Iron Man 3.

10. The Mandarin

Ben Kingsley's terrorist leader in Iron Man 3 is not what he seems. That's all we can say under penalty of death. — The Orange County Register/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

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The Star Online: Business

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The Star Online: Business

Good year ahead for aviation?
World Cup to help boost ad spending
Apple CEO's 2013 total pay same as last year's US$4.25mil

Good year ahead for aviation?

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 08:00 AM PST

THE rapidly-expanding aviation sector is expected to remain challenging and competitive in 2014. Nevertheless, industry players and analysts are of the opinion that the outlook will be "positive" next year.

According to industry players, the opening of KLIA2, which has been delayed numerous times, promises an interesting development as it is expected to boost air traffic. At the same time, all eyes will also be on Malaysia Airlines (MAS) turnaround story.

AirAsia group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes says 2014 would be a big year for the AirAsia group and it would be introducing new duty-free business like a mall in the sky to boost its ancillary income.

He adds that the outlook seems positive for the industry while competition would be more rational next year.

He says there was rising demand for air travel as well as positive economic growth.

"I think if competition is rational, which I believe it will be, the industry's outlook will be positive. I think 2014 has huge benefits for Malaysia because of AirAsia X's growth," he says.

Fernandes says the opening of KLIA2 will give the industry a massive boost.

"As long as we keep fares low, people will fly. There are 3 billion people in Asia," he adds.

To reflect the optimism of the aviation industry, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently revised its industry outlook upwards for the coming year. It is now predicting that airlines will collectively post a global net profit of US$12.9bil in 2013, surging to US$19.7bil in 2014.

IATA's projected profit of US$19.7bil for 2014 is a new record for airlines. The upward revision is due to lower jet fuel prices over the forecast period as well as improvements to the industry's structure and efficiency already visible in quarterly results this year. Passenger markets continue to outperform the cargo business which remains stagnant both on volumes and revenues.

Industry net profit margins, however, remain weak at 1.1% of revenues in 2012, 1.8% in 2013 and 2.6% in 2014. Within this aggregate forecast for the entire industry, performance of individual airlines and regions will vary considerably.

Asia-Pacific airlines are expected to post a US$4.1bil profit in 2014, up from US$3.2bil in 2013.

"Overall, the industry's fortunes are moving in the right direction. Jet fuel prices remain high, but below their 2012 peak. Passenger demand is expanding in the 5%-6% range – in line with historical trend. Efficiencies gained through mergers and joint ventures are delivering value to both passengers and shareholders. And product innovations are growing ancillary revenues," according to IATA director-general and CEO Tony Tyler.

MAS group CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya says "2013 was an exciting year for us at MAS. New routes to Dubai, Kochi and Darwin were introduced as we look to improve our network reach. We also deployed our flagship A380 aircraft to the Paris and Hong Kong routes. We expect 2014 to also be a year of more exciting projects.''

He adds that "we are constantly monitoring markets and various destinations around the world and exploring their economic viability''.

Malindo Air CEO Chandran Rama Muthy says the airline's performance the past 10 months has been good and he expects the trend to continue to 2014. Malindo Air will continue pursuing significant domestic and international expansion to capture a greater share of the regional market.''

He adds that the airline has 11 aircraft this year and will increase to 25 next year.

''We will continue pursuing international expansion, sticking to our long-term plans of turning the under-used KLIA into our main transit hub, thus easing the congested Singapore and Bangkok airports. With the launch of our Indian market in the beginning of the year, we are poised to capture a bigger market share. However, we will focus on a good foothold in the South-East Asian market. Domestically, we are now providing more than 60,000 weekly seats, and with more aircraft next year, we are projecting an increase of 60,000 seats,'' Chandran adds.

Meanwhile, analysts expect competition in the industry to continue to be intense and not restricted to local airlines.

They note that full-service airlines and low cost carriers are expanding their fleet and seat capacity, making South-East Asia one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world. Carriers across the region are aggressively expanding their network and capacity ahead of the full implementation of the Asean Open Sky policy in 2015.

AirAsia X Bhd, which was listed on Bursa Malaysia in July, has ordered 25 more A330-300s valued at US$6bil (RM19.55bil). Another notable order of aircraft for 2013 would be Emirates' purchase of an additional 50 Airbus A380 superjumbos valued at US$20bil, confirming the continued strong demand for air travel.

RHB Research says competition in 2014 will persist, but will be less severe as Malindo Air opts to take a more conservative expansion strategy, which bodes well for AirAsia and MAS.

"We see value in the former and AirAsia X as their valuations are relatively cheap compared to their regional and global peers," it says.

RHB Research maintains its overweight call on the sector, citing the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 campaign and KLIA2 as the theme for higher passenger arrivals.

"The year 2014 is expected to remain competitive as Malindo continues to spread its wings. However, we think Malindo Air will be less aggressive due to its high cost structure.

Its airfare discounts have narrowed while there have been capacity cutbacks on some routes. Furthermore, fleet delivery so far (it currently has six narrow-bodied aircraft) has been below its initial target of 12 aircraft."

RHB Research says "2013 has been a challenging year for Malaysian carriers" as they embarked on aggressive capacity expansion to boost topline and achieve economies of scale amid heightening competition driven by Malindo Air's debut. This resulted in yields coming under pressure for MAS and AirAsia, dropping by 12.7% and 5.3% year-to-date respectively.

The entry of Lion Air group's Malindo Air this year has proven to be impactful in the MAS-AirAsia duopoly domestic air travel market as both airlines have seen their yields affected by the new carrier.

AirAsia executive chairman Datuk Kamarudin Meranun says its yield has been slightly affected due to the intense competition and that it will be coming back with more promotions, cost reductions and new ancillary income streams to defend its turf.

RHB Research says AirAsia's low-cost model has enabled it to stand strong despite intensifying competition amid a cost-conscious culture.

It says Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) benefits the most from rising passenger demand as low air fares stimulate air travel. The airport operator reported a 17.3% jump in year-to-date passenger numbers in October, driven by strong growth in both the domestic and international segments.

There's a new carrier, Flying Fox Airways, an Ipoh-based airline which aims to increase the accessibility of Ipoh.

Flying Fox was supposed to commence operation on Dec 13 but got grounded on the day itself as the Ipoh airport runway was not ready for their aircraft.

Flying Fox complained that it had to cancel all its Ipoh-Medan flights between Dec 13 and June next year because the airport was unable to accommodate the Boeing 737-400 and Airbus A320.

On the opening of KLIA2, there have been reports suggesting that the contractors may not meet the scheduled completion to commence operations in April 2014.

MAHB has also expressed concern over the slippage in the work schedule of the terminal building, which is being built by the UEMC-Binapuri joint venture.

Nevertheless, UEM Construction Sdn Bhd and Bina Puri Sdn Bhd, the main contractors of the new low-cost terminal, have reaffirmed their commitment to complete work on the project within the stipulated deadline of Jan 31, 2014.

World Cup to help boost ad spending

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 08:00 AM PST

A CAUTIOUS, albeit optimistic, stance is being forecast for the local advertising industry next year, with growth expected to be in the single-digit range.

With higher electricity tariffs effective Jan 1 and the inevitable gradual reduction in fuel subsidies, rising inflation is expected to keep advertising expenditure (adex) in check.

"With rising inflation, a lot of advertisers will be cautious about how they spend their money in 2014," says Malaysian Advertisers Association (MAA) president Khoo Kar Khoon.

"Whatever spend has to generate revenue, and with a variety of options (digital and traditional advertising), advertisers will be cautious on how they part with their money," he adds.

Khoo reckons adex will grow no more than 5% in 2014.

Industry observers believe that the bonus for next year will be the World Cup, which is expected to boost adex. Khoo feels that the global football tournament, which is held once every four years, will be the saving grace.

"I think if you take away the World Cup, adex will likely be flat in 2014," he says.

According to market research firm Nielsen, adex for the first 11 months of this year grew 3.2% if pay TV is excluded (the number of pay TV channels monitored has increased significantly since 2012) and 20.2% when pay TV is included.

Including pay TV, total adex hit RM12.2bil up to November. Local government institutions was the top category by spending, showing an 89.6% jump in adex. The top three advertisers by spending were Unilever, Nestle and the Prime Minister's Department.

Khoo, who is also Nestle Malaysia communications director, feels one of the major challenges facing the advertising industry next year is the variety of options that will be available and advertisers will need to figure out how best to part with their money.

"With so many options, advertisers will need to know which is the most viable option that can yield the best returns," he says.

Most industry observers agree that the World Cup will help boost ad spend.

"Like the Olympics, it's a major sporting event that happens only once in four years, and TV stations and beverage players will likely be ramping up spending to capitalise on this," says Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) president Datuk Johnny Mun.

Omnicom Media Group Malaysia (OMG) managing director Andreas Vogiatzakis says the World Cup and the fact that 2014 is Visit Malaysia Year (VMY), will help spur ad spend.

"We (OMG) also expect to see further spending from the big technology players on launches of new devices and gadgets.

"However, we don't forecast 2014's spend to be very high, but foresee more of a stabilisation in adex. With the World Cup, we expect more tactical drive and spend, but not massive investment," he says.

Carat Malaysia chief executive officer Bala Pomaleh concurs, explaining that the last few World Cups did not boost ad spend as much as they had previously.

"It would depend whether it is broadcast also on digital media like YouTube," he says, adding that VMY spending would mainly go abroad so adex may not be much impacted locally.

On the global front, ad agency ZenithOptimedia has forecast ad spend to grow 5.3% in 2014, underpinned by events such as the World Cup, Winter Olympics and improving economic conditions.

It predicts mobile technology will contribute 36% of the extra ad spend between 2013 and 2016.

Apple CEO's 2013 total pay same as last year's US$4.25mil

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 06:59 PM PST

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook earned roughly the same in 2013 as in 2012, but lost part of his performance-based stock award during a year in which intense competition and margin pressure bludgeoned the iPhone maker's stock.

Cook took home $4.25 million, including a base salary of $1.4 million and a performance bonus of $2.8 million, roughly on par with 2012, the company said in a preliminary proxy statement on Friday.

But he gave up about 7,100 shares tied to an annual performance-dependent award, based on shareholder returns from August 24 of 2012 to August 25, 2013. Apple's stock lost a quarter of its value over that one-year period.

The company also advised shareholders to vote down a resolution by activist investor Carl Icahn, who proposed the iPhone maker buy back $50 billion worth of shares in fiscal 2014. It was the first time the company had publicly voiced its response to Icahn's demands.

Apple argued on Friday it has already returned $43 billion in dividends and share repurchases over the first six months of its roughly $100 billion capital return program.

The "dynamic competitive landscape and the company's rapid pace of innovation require unprecedented investment, flexibility and access to resources," Apple said in advising shareholders to reject Icahn's proposal.

Known for decades of strong-arm tactics, including proxy fights, Icahn has repeatedly made it clear that his proposal is not a sign that he stands against Apple's management. The billionaire has discussed the issue with Cook in past months, arguing via tweets that a buyback of as much as $150 billion is within the company's means and would prop up its stock.

STRAIN

Since taking over from the late Steve Jobs, Cook has steered Apple in a more investor-friendly direction, including the establishment of one of the industry's biggest capital return programs.

Apple's board in 2012 granted Cook an award of one million restricted stock units (RSUs) - one of the largest pay packages for an executive in a decade, intended to signal its confidence in Cook in the wake of the late Steve Jobs.

The award vests annually, but part of the grant depends on shareholder returns versus a basket of Apple's corporate peers, including Cisco Systems Inc <CSCO.O> and Google Inc <GOOG.O>.

But Apple has come under increasing strain from rivals like Samsung Electronics <005930.KS> andHuawei <HWT.UL> in key markets, while Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> and other manufacturers are using Google's Android software to launch competing tablets.

Apple's profit and margins slid in the September quarter despite selling 33.8 million iPhones. Sources have said demand for the $100 cheaper, brightly hued iPhone 5C has severely lagged sales for the top-tier 5S, spurring concerns about the iPhone's market positioning and its ability to compete with a growing profusion of lower-cost rivals.

This month, it finally secured a deal with China Mobile <0941.HK> after protracted negotiations, a deal that should enlarge its footprint in the world's largest telecoms market.- Reuters

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All set for Illaiyaraaja family concert
Bittersweet Xmas for kids
Check status of visa applications online, foreign students told

All set for Illaiyaraaja family concert

Posted: 26 Dec 2013 08:00 AM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: The stage is set for the highly anticipated "The King of Kings" concert, featuring illustrious South Indian music maestro Illaiyaraaja (pic).

His children, musicians Karthik Raja, Yuvan Shankar Raja and Bhavatharini, assured fans attending the concert in Stadium Merdeka tomorrow that their father will be present despite his recent health scare.

Illaiyaraaja, 70, was hospitalised for a mild heart attack at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India on Monday.

"The first thing my father asked me was if he could still make it for the concert.

"He's so committed to the show. Instead of keeping us by his bedside, he made us come here to keep things going," Karthik Raja told a press conference here yesterday.

Throughout his 40-year career, Illaiyaraaja has composed over 4,500 songs and provided scores for over 950 Indian films in various languages.

Ready for concert: (From left) Yuvan Shankar Raja, Karthik Raja and Bhavatharini posing at the press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

He was conferred the title "Isaignani" (maestro) in 1988, and has received numerous awards and honorary doctorates both from India and other countries.

Meanwhile, Yuvan Shankar Raja said they were awaiting the result of a last medical test before doctors can give his father the green light to travel.

"So far, the doctors have not advised against my father flying to Malaysia, although he might have to bring a medical team along with him," he added.

The concert will be the biggest Indian music concert in Asia outside India.

Dubbed the Illaiyaraaja family show, it includes his nephews, film director Venkat Prabhu and actor Premgi Amaran.

Among the stars who have already arrived for the four-hour concert are singers Mano and Haricharan, along with actors Aravind Akash and Vaibhav Reddy.

Over 15,000 tickets have been snapped up for the mega-event, which is also attended by popular singers S.P. Bala, K.S. Chitra, Krish and Madhu Balakrishnan, actors Ramarajan, Poornima Jayaram and Ramki and acclaimed directors P. Vasu and Gautham Vasudev Menon.

Backing them up will be 70 orchestra performers from India. Collectively, the performers are expected to present about 45 songs from the legendary musician.

Bittersweet Xmas for kids

Posted: 26 Dec 2013 08:00 AM PST

PETALING JAYA: This year's Christmas celebration has been a bittersweet occasion for Trinity Children's Home.

It has not received any invitation from any organisation to celebrate the special day with them.

"The children are disappointed. They were hoping to visit some interesting places," said the home's assistant administrator Daisy Abishegam.

She said that unlike previous years, none of the children had been invited to attend Christmas events at hotels this time.

"Nevertheless, the children have remained positive and opted to look on the bright side," she added.

"None of us will be going home to our families, so we will celebrate Christmas together," said 12-year-old Brian Stanley.

Brian and his brother Steven, 10, have called the place home for seven years.

During Christmas last year, they both played Santa Claus.

"We wanted to make the other children happy. We dressed up as Santas," the boys said.

Despite it being the Christmas season, the children do not ask about their parents as they feel that they have nothing to worry about since the place feels like home.

The children fondly call their three caregivers — Mary, Helen and Daisy — citti, which means younger mother in Tamil.

The children also regard the co-founders of the home — Joseph and Nancy Clements — as their parents.

Trinity Children's Home runs on donations and sponsorships, and houses 20 children at any one time.

The children at the home come from broken families.

In some cases, they had been abused.

Check status of visa applications online, foreign students told

Posted: 26 Dec 2013 08:00 AM PST

PETALING JAYA: Foreign students can directly check the status of their student visa applications through an online dashboard system that is expected to go live next month.

The dashboard will be manned by Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS), an Education Ministry one-stop centre to streamline the processing of student visas.

"Students will be able to log in with their passport numbers and see the application status.

"They can then see where exactly their passports are, and if their applications have been sent back to the college due to insufficient documentation," Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan told The Star yesterday.

He said Immigration Department officers would help speed up the visa application process.

Many foreign students had reportedly faced delays in visa renewal.

Some said their passports were withheld for months while others claimed the delay had caused them to pay extra for special passes in order to continue staying in the country.

Kamalanathan said he had received about 200 e-mails from international students who had such problems.

"I have been trying my best to reply to each e-mail. All cases are being sent to EMGS," he said.

"EMGS has assured me it will help as much as it can, although the final approval for the visas is still up to the Immigration Department."

Kamalanathan had earlier said international students who were still waiting for their passports to be returned could contact him at kamalanathanp@gmail.com.

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A life out of the ordinary
A rewrite for 'The Magnificent Seven' remake
Martin Scorsese lambasted for his film

A life out of the ordinary

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 08:00 AM PST

Ben Stiller plays a man who steps out of his comfort zone in The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty.

Struck by the notion presented in James Thurber's 1939 short story – that everyone is a hero inside who goes unnoticed – Ben Stiller decided to make The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty. Directing and starring in the film, Stiller described it as one of the most challenging and meaningful films of his career.

In a transcript provided by the film distributor, Twentieth Century Fox Film, Stiller theorised why the classic tale about a daydreamer who escapes his unremarkable life by entering a world filled with fantastic adventures still resonates with people. "It is the idea that we all have so much inside that nobody knows about. Walter sees so much but nobody really sees him. I thought that was a beautiful idea."

For the film, Stiller expanded the idea a little bit. "This film is not just about a guy who has crazy daydreams. It is about a guy who is trying to get in touch with himself. I liked the idea of the guy stepping out into the world and actually trying to make a change."

Walter (Stiller), a photo editor at Life magazine, took on the responsibility of being the man of the house after his father died when he was just a teenager. While he enjoys his current job, Walter longs for something more, especially a relationship with a colleague, Cheryl (Kristen Wiig). So he dreams about a life in which he is the greatest hero Cheryl would know.

However, his comfortable bubble faces real jeopardy when the magazine is bought over and is going digital. Walter is tasked with developing the negative of the photo taken by the magazine's most famous photographer (Sean Penn) who thinks it should be the cover of the last issue of Life.

Only problem is, the negative is missing, leaving him with no other option but to travel to the ends of the world to find the photographer and get the negative. Hence, begins Walter's amazing journey for real.

The clear message in the film is to live in the moment and appreciate it – something 48-year-old Stiller has come to realise is true. "It's one of life's biggest challenges. First of all it's challenging to become aware of it. I think most of us go through our lives not even aware that we're not in the moment.

"I think maybe I relate to Walter's story at this point in my life because I'm getting to an age where I'm becoming more aware of those things. As you get older you start to think more about time and how short life is and you start wanting to take advantage of the moment."

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty opens in cinemas nationwide tomorrow.

A rewrite for 'The Magnificent Seven' remake

Posted: 25 Dec 2013 06:45 PM PST

John Lee Hancock, director of Saving Mr Banks, has taken up the tast of rewriting the script.

Saving Mr Banks director John Lee Hancock has come on to rewrite MGM's remake of The Magnificent Seven, which Tom Cruise is no longer involved with, TheWrap has learned.

True Detective scribe Nic Pizzolatto wrote the initial draft of the script. John Sturges directed the original 1960 Western, which itself was based on Akira Kurosawa's 1954 classic Seven Samurai.

Magnificent Seven starred Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter and Horst Buchholz as a group of American gunmen hired to protect a small Mexican village from a group of savage bandits led by Calvera (Eli Wallach). The film was followed by three sequels and remade as a CBS series in 1998-2000.

Cruise first became interested in Magnificent Seven back in May 2012, when MGM began developing a remake of its library title, though with his busy schedule, the project was never in his immediate plans. Pizzolatto was hired in August 2012 thanks to heat generated by HBO's upcoming miniseries True Detective, which stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.

MGM remains focused on mining its library titles to generate new profits. In addition to upcoming reboots of the RoboCop and Poltergeist franchises, the studio is also developing remakes of Death Wish and WarGames.

Hancock is no stranger to the Western genre, having co-written and directed The Alamo for Disney, which has maintained faith in the filmmaker despite that film's disappointing box office performance. Not only did the studio entrust him with its own Walt Disney movie Saving Mr. Banks, which is currently in the awards conversation, but it also turned to Hancock to fix its upcoming tentpole Maleficent. Hancock wrote several new scenes and helped oversee reshoots on the US$200mil-budgeted Angelina Jolie movie.

Hancock directed Sandra Bullock to an Oscar nomination for The Blind Side, which was a surprise Best Picture nominee. His other feature writing credits include Clint Eastwood's A Perfect World and Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil, and Hancock was also among a trio of scribes credited on Snow White And The Huntsman. — Reuters

Martin Scorsese lambasted for his film

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 07:50 PM PST

The director's Wolf Of Wall Street is definitely not for everyone.

Martin Scorsese knows that The Wolf Of Wall Street is not for everyone, but he probably didn't expect to be lambasted by an Academy Of Motion Pictures and Sciences (AMPAS) member when he arrived for the official members screening of his film last weekend.

But according to a Facebook post from actress Hope Holiday, that's what happened.

Referring to the graphic three-hour film about the sex-and-drug-filled lifestyle of stockbroker Jordan Belfort, and then to the arrival of Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Los Angeles, she wrote: "Last night was torture at the Academy – The Wolf Of Wall Street – three hours of torture – same disgusting crap over and over again – after the film they had a discussion which a lot of us did not stay for – the elevator doors opened and Leonardo D. Martin S. and a few others got out then a screen writer ran over to them and started screaming – shame on you – disgusting..."

Martin Scorsese's The Wolf Of Wall Street is getting mixed reactions from viewers.

A Paramount rep who was with Scorsese said that no one screamed at the director, but admitted that one person offered "a negative comment". The film's talent didn't stop to respond, because they were hurrying into the theatre for a post-screening Q&A with Scorsese, DiCaprio, Jonah Hill and writer Terrence Winter.

When asked for additional details by TheWrap, Holiday declined to identify the screenwriter who confronted Scorsese as he exited the elevator on the second floor. But she said that the screenwriter's criticism of Scorsese was "a shocker", and "very awkward and embarrassing" for others waiting for the elevator. Some people at the screening, she added, did applaud the film, while others ("including myself") hated it.

Others report healthy applause for the film, and for the panelists at the Q&A. The screening was reportedly very well attended, despite it being a three-hour film screening on the Saturday night before Christmas. "It's brutal," admitted Scorsese in a conversation with TheWrap last week. "I've seen it with audiences, and I think it plays. I don't know if it will be to everyone's taste – I don't think it will. It's not made for 14 year olds."

To be fair, the Facebook post and its subsequent comments showed that Holiday and her friends clearly aren't the target audience for Scorsese's film, either. The 75-year-old actress, who appeared in The Apartment and Irma la Douce, among others, and her friends bashed current films, including Inside Llewyn Davis, and praised White Christmas, When Harry Met Sally, As Good As It Gets and The Wizard Of Oz.

Holiday did say that she "liked" David O. Russell's American Hustle, but found it "confusing". Saturday's incident was not the first time that a Scorsese film has been rudely greeted by someone in an AMPAS audience. One longtime Academy member told TheWrap that at the members' screening of Scorsese's Casino in 1995, one man stood up in the middle of the film and screamed, "Disgusting! Pornography! Crap!" at the screen. That film received one Oscar nomination for Sharon Stone's lead performance. — Reuters

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The Marrying Of Chani Kaufman
The Dogs Of Littlefield
Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China

The Marrying Of Chani Kaufman

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 03:00 PM PST

EVE Harris's first book, longlisted for the Man Booker prize this year, lies between comedic and serious. The serious subject at its core – the semi-arranged marriage of two young Haredi Jews – is belied by the warmth of the writing. There are demons here, but they do not terrify.

Twenty-year-old Baruch Levy sets his heart on 19-year-old Chani Kaufman but the pair are from starkly contrasting backgrounds, even within their narrow Hasidic world: Chani is one of eight daughters growing up in a shabby home in Hendon, north London; Baruch is the elder son of a dubiously wealthy landlord in neighbouring Golders Green, their luxurious house presided over by his social climber of a mother. What Baruch and Chani share, though, is spiritedness and stubbornness. Each has rejected the various suitors offered up to this point. As denoted by the title, Harris's premise is that this union is not just a binding agreement between two people – it affects families, friends, the wider society.

As the novel opens the bride is waiting in the sequestered bedeken room, where the groom will verify that she is the right woman, sweating in a wedding dress worn by so many generations it is rotting at the armpits. Harris captures Chani's combination of anxiety, sexual curiosity, teenage boredom and deep pride in tradition. She also sets up a figure of comic but serious opposition in Baruch's mother – her crude attempts to bully Chani provide enjoyably icy stand-offs.

Humour abounds, but so do pathos and anger. Chani despairs that she will become an exhausted shell like her endlessly childbearing mother, and frets that her parents will bankrupt themselves with the task of marrying off eight girls. Baruch, destined to train as a rabbi, secretly yearns to study at university.

Harris's eye for suburban social mores is wickedly acute, as is her evident relish in describing both the sensual life and its absence.While perhaps too breezily written to have taken it further in the Booker stakes, her book has the potential to be that rare thing – a crowd-pleaser about Orthodox Judaism. – Guardian News & Media

The Dogs Of Littlefield

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 03:00 PM PST

Our reviewer admires a cross between a comedy of manners and a whodunnit.

LITTLEFIELD is a lovely place to live, especially if you like being part of a soccer carpool or book group, or knowing the names of your neighbours, or strolling down the road to get a cup of coffee in the Forge Cafe – a bit more of a hit-and-miss affair than the Starbucks opposite, but with its own hand-cut doughnuts and wicker basket filled with plastic daisies.

In fact, the compact Massachusetts town is, according to a (fictional) list in the Wall Street Journal, the sixth best place to live in America, which is precisely what has attracted the scrutiny of sociologist Clarice Watkins. Dr Watkins, whose previous work on "the effects of global destabilisation on urban matriarchal structures" based on fieldwork in inner-city Detroit and Mexico City has been much admired, has decided her next study should be into the far more mysterious business of equilibrium. What, in other words, do the contented find to talk about?

But Dr Watkins' project is somewhat scuppered before it begins, because Littlefield has come under what one resident, George Wechsler, calls "a domestic fear campaign"; he might be forgiven the slight grandiosity given that its first target was his bull mastiff, Feldman, whose poisoned body, "almost too big to be believable", has just been found in meadows adjacent to a local park.

Unlucky for Feldman, but also for his discoverer, Margaret Downing, a woman so attuned to potential catastrophe that she often sets off to buy milk with the words, "Well, wish me luck." Margaret, who provides the novel with its primary point of view, is contending not only with her natural melancholy but with her husband Bill's sudden detachment from their marriage. A canine corpse is not really what she needs.

Dog deaths continue, grotesque, menacing and unexplained. Is the pooch-poisoner simply a mistaken do-gooder, trying to free the community from troublesome coyotes but catching beloved pets in the crossfire?

Is he or she enraged by proposals for a new dog park, which contentiously seeks to formalise dog-walking practices that have existed without causing commotion for years?

Or is there a more sinister threat afoot to Littlefield's dog-owners and their companions – to Emily (Boris the old English sheepdog), Naomi (Skittles the labradoodle), Sharon (Lucky the basset hound) et al?

The scene is set for a cross between a comedy of manners and a whodunnit, and there are elements of both in Berne's tale of suburban shenanigans; as the author of the Orange prize-winning A Crime In The Neighbourhood, she has a track record for this kind of nuanced, darkened but thoroughly enjoyable small-canvas writing.

There are excellent set-pieces including a raucous town hall meeting ("Do dogs pay taxes?") and a horribly claustrophobic and disastrous Christmas dinner, complete with ersatz mashed potato and a ham decorated with pineapple rings and maraschino cherries, "as if it were covered in tiny archery targets".

There is gossip, much of it centring on Wechsler, who is a recently separated novelist: "Last week Naomi had spotted him in Starbucks with his arm around a blonde in biking shorts and a white Spandex top with no bra." There is even a seductive graduate student named Willa Clamage (it rhymes with damage).

Much is also made of Littlefield's egregiously welcoming attitude towards the outsider Dr Watkins, who is first described as "a small fat black woman in an orange turban" and later as looking like a fortune-teller who may even be a friend of the Obamas.

She is invited to a Celebrate Your Heritage Day and prevailed upon to bring some examples of her favourite "tribal cuisine". Meanwhile, Margaret dutifully instructs her teenage daughter to use the phrase "person of colour". "But who says that?" retorts Julia. "Who says: 'Hey, guess what, today I met a person of colour'?"

Dr Watkins herself is both fascinated and mildly repelled by Littlefield; she is also prone to writing summary sketches that, even allowing for academic jargon, seem harshly reductive of her objects of study. At the same time, despite knowing her profession, the town's residents continue unaware, and perhaps wilfully so, that she may be looking in their direction.

Would their lives ever seem worthy of examination to them? Or would they simply feel that they are human beings trying to get by in an increasingly unstable world, where even a magazine listing doesn't inure your blissful surroundings to divorce, disease, depression?

The dogs of Littlefield do, eventually, stop keeling over; the fraught apprehension and the appalling mystery lifts. Temporary inhabitants move on; people die; children grow up.

Meanwhile, Berne has created an intriguing portrait of the kind of loneliness that can only exist in a crowd, and given the lie to all those surveys that suggest a place or its community can be summed up by its house prices, crime statistics and performance indicators. – Guardian News & Media

Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China

Posted: 21 Dec 2013 08:00 AM PST

Historians might not agree with the conclusions of this book but its author has done a fine job of ensuring that they will now certainly discuss this lesser known historical figure.

HISTORY, it is well known, is written by the victors: the vanquished are rarely in a position to write anything at all. So it is always interesting when a historian goes back to hitherto unknown or untapped source material and puts together a picture which is completely at odds with the received view.

It appears that, up until now, the Empress Dowager Cixi has had pretty poor press. Words like tyrant, dictator, poisoner, traitor, self-interested, immoral and incompetent seem to crop up regularly in traditional accounts of her rise and exercise of power. Jung Chang's book changes all that. In her hands, Cixi becomes a skilled and far-sighted ruler who has been much maligned but who, in fact, guided a reluctant nation towards the modern world. It makes for an interesting argument.

Chang is, of course, best known for her international blockbuster, Wild Swans, published originally in 1991. It became one of the best non-fiction sellers of all time, some 10 million copies and counting, and was translated into 37 languages.

It told in unflinching terms the story of three generations of Chinese women: her grandmother, her mother and herself. For most of those who read it, the book was a gripping eye-opener: so this was what China was really like in those years when little reliable information leaked out. It read like the nightmare those years really were for ordinary people and it made Chang the voice of China in the West. Needless to say, it was banned in her mother country.

It is unlikely, I think, that Empress Dowager Cixi will enjoy the popular acclaim accorded to Chang's previous two books. While Wild Swans reads like a gripping novel, this is much more of a history book – a brief look at the sources and index at the back of the book confirm the amount of scholarly research that has gone into its writing. This becomes increasingly evident as the book progresses.

As Cixi begins to wield power, the demand on the reader to recall names, factions and political deals significantly increases. These were clearly complex and difficult times for China as a nation and as if that wasn't enough, there were the additional complications caused by court factions, not a few of whom initially had very considerable difficulties in accepting that a woman should exercise any power at all.

That she did so was due to her delivery of a first male child to the Xianfeng Emperor in 1856. That maternal act gave her status and influence, and after the Emperor's death her route to real power opened up, helped along the way by Cixi's skilled and effective, some might argue devious, manoeuvring. She was to remain a key player from that time on, albeit frequently from behind the scenes.

Chang presents Cixi as a far-sighted reformer. The China she "inherited" was militarily weak and falling rapidly behind the times. Its traditions and practices were locked in centuries old beliefs and traditions. Foreigners were almost xenophobically distrusted.

But China had no means of defending itself against incursions into its territories. The bullying tactics adopted by European powers in search of trading ports make for shocking reading. There was nothing noble about their territorial and trading demands – they were motivated by pure and simple greed.

Cixi recognised that China needed to be much stronger and to have much better relations with the outside world if it was to retain its political and geographical integrity and although she was not always successful, she did effect a distinct change in attitude and diplomatic practice.

Chang concludes that, "In terms of groundbreaking achievements, political sincerity and personal courage, Empress Dowager Cixi set a standard that has barely been matched. She brought in modernity to replace decrepitude, poverty, savagery and absolute power, and she introduced hitherto untasted humaneness, open-mindedness and freedom. And she had a conscience. Looking back over the many horrific decades after Cixi's demise one cannot help but admire this amazing stateswoman, flawed though she was."

Historians, of whom I am not one, will doubtless argue over this verdict and point to significant flaws in both judgement, such as her misguided support for the Boxer rebellion, and to her ruthlessness in, for instance, poisoning Emperor Guangxu to ensure that he should not succeed her. But, of course, the ongoing debate it stimulates is both the interest and the fun of revisionist history. And Jung Chang is a very fine proponent.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Jumaat, 27 Disember 2013