Selasa, 11 Februari 2014

The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

0 ulasan 11:29 PTG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

CPF rates for older workers 'may go up'
'Staycations' a popular choice this Valentine's
North, South Korea hold rare high-level talks

CPF rates for older workers 'may go up'

Posted: 11 Feb 2014 08:00 AM PST

Older Singaporean workers face the pleasant prospect of seeing a rise in their Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions.

The labour movement has called on the government to raise the CPF rates of those aged above 50 to 55 so that they are on par with younger workers.

But it need not be done "in one go", said labour chief Lim Swee Say, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.

Union leaders, he said, are not pushing for the 3.5% gap to be closed "in one go, because we do understand it should be done progressively", he told reporters after an official visit to restaurant chain Eighteen Chefs.

The CPF rate of these older workers is 32.5% compared to 36% for younger workers.

It had been cut in 2003, along with other tweaks to the CPF scheme, when Singapore suffered a recession because of Sars.

But during Budget 2012, it was partially restored to the current level.

At the same time, the Government had promised to give this group the same CPF contributions as younger workers.

"However, we cannot make this major move in one step," Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who is also the Finance Minister, had said then.

On Monday, Lim gave a broad hint that another step towards parity could be taken as early as next week, on Budget Day.

Tharman is scheduled to present the national Budget in Parliament on Feb 21 and Lim said these older workers hope to hear "some good news from the Finance Minister".

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is also expected to make known this week its plans to push for CPF rates to be tweaked to help Singaporeans save for medical and other financial commitments in their old age. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

'Staycations' a popular choice this Valentine's

Posted: 11 Feb 2014 08:00 AM PST

Instead of the usual wine-and-dine formula for Valentine's Day, more couples are opting for "staycations" instead this year.

Celeste Chan, a corporate marketing manager at Naumi Hotel in Seah Street, said: "Why stop at a dinner?

"A staycation can provide a totally different experience and getaway for couples."

For couples seeking a romantic getaway but cannot find time for an overseas trip, staycations are a practical alternative.

Ivan Lim, business development director of Link Hotel, agreed. "Staycations are more affordable than overseas trips and also spare people the hassle of travelling on flights or coaches which could be tiring."

As Valentine's Day falls on a Friday this year, Link Hotel, a boutique hotel in Tiong Bahru, has seen a 15% increase in weekend room bookings for two nights.

It helps that Valentine's Day this year falls on the same day as chap goh mei, also known as the Chinese Valentine's Day.

Wang Zhiling, marketing and communication manager of Wangz Hotel, foresees a higher occupancy level than last year.

"The convenience and ease of booking a staycation makes it a preferred choice for guests who do not have the time to plan ahead," said Tan Chew Yen, a public relations and marketing communications manager at the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore.

Room bookings for Valentine's Day at the Ritz-Carlton are almost full, according to Tan.

Indeed, staycations have become bigger and better, with hotels trotting out Valentine's Day packages that do not stop at simply offering a room.

In addition to a one-night stay at a suite, The Ritz-Carlton's Valentine's Day package includes a romantic butler-drawn bath alongside champagne and strawberries.

For the first time, it is also organising Movies under the Stars, where hotel guests will enjoy classic romance films while sipping drinks with their Valentine under the moonlit sky.

Over at the Fullerton Hotel, their My Sweet Valentine package includes a four-course in-room dinner for the couple, Guided Heritage tours and shuttle services to the Orchard Road and City Hall shopping belts.

The exclusive Capella Resort's Be My Valentine: Moonlight Sonata package – it is only available for seven couples – comes with an in-villa spa treatment, a champagne breakfast and a photoshoot. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

North, South Korea hold rare high-level talks

Posted: 11 Feb 2014 07:46 PM PST

SEOUL (AFP) - North and South Korean officials sat down for their highest level talks for years Wednesday, marking a potential upswing in cooperation ahead of a reunion for families divided by the Korean War.

The discussions in the border truce village of Panmunjom had no fixed agenda, but were to cover a range of "major" issues, including the planned February 20-25 reunion event, the South's Unification Ministry said.

The South's delegation was led by top National Security Council official Kim Kyou-Hyun, who said Seoul's focus was on ensuring the meeting of separated families goes ahead as scheduled.

The North side is likely to make another push for South Korea to cancel annual military exercises with the United States, which are scheduled to begin February 24.

Kim said he was entering the talks, which kicked off at 10:00am (0100 GMT), with "an open attitude to explore the chance of opening a new chapter on the Korean peninsula".

He did not mention whether North Korea's nuclear programme would be discussed.

It was the first such high-level sit-down between the two sides since 2007, and came a day before US Secretary of State John Kerry's arrival in Seoul for a brief visit focused on North Korea.

The North wants to resume talks with Seoul and Washington on nuclear matters, but both have insisted that Pyongyang must first make a tangible commitment to abandoning nuclear weapons.

According to Seoul, the Panmunjom meet was requested by Pyongyang, whose delegation was headed by Wong Ton-Yong - deputy head of a ruling party organisation that handles inter-Korean ties.

North Korea state media made no mention of the talks, which were held on the South side of the border village where the armistice ending the 1950-53 Korean conflict 60 years ago was signed.

Kim Yong-Hyun, a North Korean expert at Dongguk University in Seoul, said Pyongyang was keen to make a public display of its diplomatic credentials.

"It wants to demonstrate a willingness to improve ties with the South in order to obtain concessions from Seoul and others," said Kim, who warned it was premature to expect any major breakthrough.

The North is also likely to push for a resumption of regular South Korea tours to its Mount Kumgang resort.

The South suspended the tours after a tourist was shot and killed by North Korean soldiers in 2008, and Pyongyang is keen to see the return of what was a lucrative source of hard currency.

The success of the upcoming family reunion event would be key to Seoul considering starting up the tours again.

"If the first step goes well, it can move to the next level, expanding the scope of inter-Korean cooperation at a faster speed," the South's Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-Jae said on Tuesday.

There are fears the North might cancel the reunion event in protest at South Korea and the United States pushing ahead with their joint military exercises.

Pyongyang views the drills as rehearsals for invasion and has repeatedly demanded Seoul call them off, warning at one point of an "unimaginable holocaust" if they went ahead.

Last year's exercises fuelled an unusually sharp and protracted surge in military tensions, with Pyongyang threatening a pre-emptive nuclear strike, and nuclear-capable US stealth bombers making dummy runs over the Korean peninsula.

Seoul and Washington have made it clear there is no question of this year's drills being cancelled, but US officials have indicated they will be toned down, with no aircraft carrier and no strategic bombers.

Because the Korean War ended with a ceasefire rather than a peace treaty, North and South Korea technically remain at war.

President Park Geun-Hye, who came to office a year ago, had promised greater engagement with Pyongyang and held out the possibility of a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

Substantive dialogue between the two sides mostly dried up under Park's presidential predecessor, Lee Myung-Bak, who took a tough line with Pyongyang.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

0 ulasan 9:38 PTG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

Chris Pratt on the way up

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 08:00 AM PST

Chris Pratt is a leading actor in the making.

IT is not often that you hear a Hollywood hunk talking about his embarrassing problem with "boob sweat".

Then again, Chris Pratt, the 34-year-old actor best known for playing goofballs and sidekicks, is not your typical hunk, even as he positions himself to become one of Hollywood's newest leading men with a string of high-profile movie roles.

Still, he spends much of a recent press conference for The Lego Movie, his biggest project to date, cracking jokes about how thoroughly average he is and being a bit of a class clown – hence the unprompted confession about boob sweat. And this despite the fact that he gets more than his fair share of admiring glances when he walks in.

In the animated feature, Pratt is the voice of Emmet, a Lego construction-worker minifigurine who realises just how unremarkable he is when he is suddenly called on to save the world.

The actor, best known for his role on the Golden Globe- and Emmy-nominated television comedy Parks And Recreation, is asked whether it is hard to play a character who is supposed to be utterly bland.

"Well, maybe for someone else, it would be difficult playing someone completely average. It was not much of a stretch for me," he says, deadpan. "There's this guy who's very average, very dim, but given the opportunity to do something extraordinary. I felt like they couldn't have cast a better person."

He points good-naturedly to directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. "I think when they were creating this guy, they were like, 'Who's kind of totally forgettable and the least likely person to be a hero', and went, 'What about Chris?'"

Miller quickly jumps in to say that "we picked Chris because he's super funny, charming, hilarious and warm".

Yet in his career, Pratt has not exactly stood out from the crowd thus far. He has had a series of supporting roles in films such as Her (2013) and The Five-Year Engagement (2012), as well as the television drama Everwood (2002-2006), in which he played variations on the same character - the dumb jock or lovable idiot.

But the actor - who is married to The House Bunny star Anna Faris, 37, and has a one-year-old son with her - is slowly breaking out of that mould with more dramatic roles, playing a washed-up baseball player in the 2011 sports drama Moneyball and a Navy Seal in the 2012 Osama-hunt thriller Zero Dark Thirty.

And he has landed a plum part in this year's upcoming Marvel superhero movie, Guardians Of The Galaxy, in which he gets top billing, ahead of Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper. He was also announced as the lead in 2015's Jurassic World, the long-awaited fourth instalment of the Jurassic Park franchise.

Still, while these seem to be teeing him up as the next chiselled action hero, Pratt says one of the things he enjoyed most about doing The Lego Movie is that he did not have to worry about how he looked on camera.

"You're allowed to shed all your vanity," says the actor, who lost weight and buffed up for his role as Star-Lord in Guardians Of The Galaxy. "You probably shouldn't care about how you look, but if you're making these big faces and sounds on camera, I'd be like, 'I think I'm overdoing it; reel it in.'"

Alone in a sound booth pretending to be a Lego action hero, Pratt could get as animated as he wanted. "You get to go as big as you want, you get to be drenched in sweat, and there's not somebody embarrassingly mopping all your sweat off.

"Because that's the first thing that will start ringing that bell of insecurity in me - I don't look right, my hair's messed up or I have, like, boob sweat."

Pratt has fellow cast members Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks and Morgan Freeman in stitches by this point, but presses on with even more lurid details.

"I have two 'smiles' of boob sweat on my T-shirt, and now someone has to give me a new T-shirt, and take a hairdryer to my boobs, and I have to do another scene.

"It's very embarrassing, you know, acting. So to not have anyone recording what you look like when you're making sounds is very helpful." – The Straits Times, Singapore/Asia News Network

> The Lego Movie is currently playing in cinemas nationwide.

'Grandmaster' leads race at Hong Kong Film Awards

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 08:00 AM PST

The Grandmaster leads with 14 nominations, followed by Unbeatable and Rigor Mortis.

THE Hong Kong Film Awards will be a three-way fight among dapper pugilistic masters, buff mixed martial arts fighters and zombies.

In nominations announced on Wednesday, Wong Kar Wai's lush actioner The Grandmaster led with 14 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director for Wong, Best Actor for Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Best Actress for Zhang Ziyi and Best Supporting Actor for Zhang Jin, said Ming Pao Daily News.

Dante Lam's gritty boxing drama Unbeatable followed with 11 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director for Lam and Best Actor for Nick Cheung. Close behind, Juno Mak's unexpected horror hit Rigor Mortis had nine nominations, but none for Best Film. However, Mak, a singer turned writer and director, was named for Best New Director.

Besides The Grandmaster and Unbeatable, the Best Film nominees were Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons, Stephen Chow's epic return to his 1994 cult classic A Chinese Odyssey; The White Storm, Benny Chan's thriller about an anti-narcotics operation; and The Way We Dance, a little movie about street dance.

The Best Director nominees included Johnnie To for Drug War, a Hong Kong-China crime drama starring Louis Koo and Sun Honglei, and Derek Kwok for As The Light Goes Out, a firefighting drama starring Hu Jun and Nicholas Tse.

It has been a big year for action and, once again, Ip Man movies. Ip Man, the film starring Donnie Yen in the title role, had dominated the box office and the 2009 Hong Kong Film Awards.

This year, there are two actors playing Ip, Bruce Lee's teacher, in the Best Actor category: Leung in The Grandmaster and Anthony Wong in Ip Man - The Final Fight. They will fight for the prize with Cheung for Unbeatable, and Louis Koo and Lau Ching Wan for The White Storm.

Besides Zhang, the Best Actress nominees are Tang Wei for Finding Mr Right, Cherry Ngan for The Way We Dance, Sammi Cheng for The Blind Detective and Paw Hee Ching for Rigor Mortis.

The awards will be handed out on April 14. – The Straits Times, Singapore/Asia News Network

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: World Updates

0 ulasan 9:26 PTG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Star Online: World Updates

Barack and Francois in show of 'bonhomie' at White House
North and South Korea seek better ties at rare high-level talks
China names errant law enforcement officials for the first time

Barack and Francois in show of 'bonhomie' at White House

Posted: 11 Feb 2014 09:00 PM PST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - There were no "freedom fries" or any other remembrances from strained Franco-American ties in the past. Instead, it was dry-aged beef and plenty of "bonhomie" as President Barack Obama gave a lavish welcome to French President Francois Hollande.

Obama went out of his way to welcome Hollande at the White House on Tuesday, saying a few words in passable French, teasing the Frenchman for his formality and toying with the notion that U.S. ties with France are as close as they are with old ally Britain.

"It is always a pleasure to host Francois," Obama said at a joint news conference after wishing reporters good afternoon in French.

At a G8 summit at Camp David two years ago, Obama noted with a smile, "I was trying to make the summit casual, and Francois in true French style showed up in a necktie. We tried to get him to take it off."

Hollande was equally effusive, referring to "Mr. President, dear Barack."

The chumminess was not unexpected coming from two leaders who tend to see issues from the same leftward view. Obama went so far as to say that the U.S.-French alliance dating back more than two centuries "has never been stronger."

Still, it was a noted difference from a decade ago when the Iraq war strained relations between the two countries, a time when "freedom fries" replaced French fries as a popular side dish in some American eateries.

"Let's just say that we've come a long way from 'freedom fries,'" said a senior Obama administration official.

Indeed, the menu for the state dinner featuring 350 guests in a heated tent on the White House South Lawn later on Tuesday included dry-aged rib eye beef and American wines.

During his toast before the meal, Hollande joked about the two countries' affection for each other.

"We love Americans, although we don't always say so. And you love the French, but you're sometimes too shy to say so," he quipped.

Obama lavished some praise on a favourite French import.

"Now, it is true that we Americans have grown to love all things French - the films, the food, the wine. Especially the wine," he said in his toast.

ALL ALONE AND VEEP MEETS VEEP

That Hollande showed up "tout seul," or all alone, was not talked about publicly.

Hollande, 59, split with long-time partner Valerie Trierweiler last month after he was photographed on a motor scooter outside the Paris apartment of actress Julie Gayet, 41.

Hollande's personal drama briefly caused some confusion at the White House. Would he bring Gayet to the Tuesday night state dinner? But all this was quickly moot when the French delegation list sent to the White House showed that Hollande would be stag.

His singleness seemed to affect Michelle Obama more than anyone else. Before the dinner the U.S. first lady, wearing a flowing blue dress, came down the grand stair case at the White House by herself, behind her husband and the French president, who walked together.

Business leaders, administration officials, and Hollywood stars were among the guests at the event, which was held in a lavish tent on the White House grounds.

Vice President Joe Biden was seated next to actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who plays a U.S. vice president in the HBO television series "Veep."

The real veep was overheard telling the TV show veep that he had requested that they be seated next to each other.

"Look who I'm sitting next to," Louis-Dreyfus told nearby reporters. "That's my favourite part of the dinner right there."

The fact that Hollande was granted the privilege of making the first state visit to the White House of Obama's second term was not lost on French reporters, who asked at the press conference whether this was a sign that France was supplanting traditional U.S. ally Britain.

Obama's answer represented a delicate diplomatic dance.

"I have two daughters," he said. "And they are both gorgeous and wonderful. And I would never choose between them. And that's how I feel about my outstanding European partners. All of them are wonderful in their own ways."

Hollande could not resist the urge to join this line of conversation when it was his turn to speak.

"Well, "I have four children," he said. "So that makes it even more difficult for me to make any choice at all. But we're not trying to be anyone's favourite."

(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Eric Walsh)

North and South Korea seek better ties at rare high-level talks

Posted: 11 Feb 2014 08:15 PM PST

SEOUL (Reuters) - North and South Korea held their first high-level talks in seven years on their armed border on Wednesday, exploring ways to improve ties while the South and the United States geared up for large-scale military drills that have angered Pyongyang.

The meeting was set up with unusual speed and great secrecy at the North's suggestion last week, the latest example of conflicting signals coming from Pyongyang that included an abrupt cancellation of an invitation for a U.S. envoy to visit.

The North is likely to repeat its demand for the South and the United States to scrap the military drills, due to start later this month, but both sides have plenty of incentives to seek a deal that could break their long stalemate.

"For the North, if it comes back with an accomplishment in terms of improved South-North ties, it will mean a better atmosphere for Kim Jong Un to visit China and a justification to pursue high-level talks with the United States," said Cheong Seong-chang, an expert at the Sejong Institute outside Seoul.

Kim is believed to be seeking a visit to China, Pyongyang's greatest ally and main benefactor, to reinforce his legitimacy as leader. In his early 30s, Kim took power when his father died suddenly in 2010,

The South Korean delegation is led by President Park Geun-hye's deputy national security adviser. North Korea has sent the second-highest ranking official in the ruling Workers' Party department charged with ties with the South.

The two sides wrapped up a morning session but there was no word on what was discussed in the closed-door meeting at the Panmunjom truce village on the border.

The meeting comes a week before the two sides are scheduled to hold reunions of family members separated since the 1950-53 Korean War at the Mount Kumgang resort just inside the North, which is considered a major humanitarian event by the South.

However, the North has threatened to cancel the reunions, citing a sortie last week by a nuclear-capable U.S. B-52 bomber near the Korean peninsula.

The North has also called for the cancellation of the annual military drills by the South and the United States, calling them a rehearsal for war despite repeated assertions by Seoul and Washington that the drills are routine and defensive.

North Korea has cancelled an invitation for U.S. human rights envoy Robert King to visit Pyongyang to discuss the release of imprisoned U.S. missionary Kenneth Bae, which had been expected to come as early as this week.

South Korea halted all trade and most investment with the impoverished North Korea in May 2010 after the sinking of one of its warships, which it blamed on Pyongyang.

A joint factory project in the North's border city of Kaesong is the last remaining symbol of economic cooperation between the two Koreas.

(Reporting by Jack Kim and Ju-min Park; Editing by Paul Tait)

China names errant law enforcement officials for the first time

Posted: 11 Feb 2014 07:45 PM PST

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has publicly identified for the first time police officers, judges and prosecutors who violate disciplinary rules in a bid to address widespread discontent over officials that undermine the rule of law, state media said.

The move comes as President Xi Jinping wages a war on corruption to win back public confidence in the face of a seemingly endless stream of embarrassing scandals.

A police officer in eastern Shandong province who drove a police vehicle after drinking and a judge in the central province of Hubei who "had an affair and maintained improper sexual relations with a female lawyer as well as received bribes" were among the first 10 people named by state news agency Xinhua late on Tuesday.

The Communist Party's Commission for Political and Legal Affairs Central Committee said that "all staff of the political and legal system ... must take a zero tolerance attitude toward disciplinary and legal violations", Xinhua reported.

Xinhua also cited the commission as saying that it would publicise typical cases throughout the year and welcomed supervision by the public.

"Law enforcement staff usually break the rules while they are fully aware that they have done wrong, and the negative impact of such cases on society is much greater," Zhou Hanhua, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was quoted as saying.

These cases damage the image of governments and law enforcement organs, posing a grave threat to justice, Zhou said.

The government is trying to reform the legal system, in which rule of law and independence of the police and judiciary are given mere lip service and courts answer to party authorities.

The government has sought to curtail everything from bribery and gift-giving to lavish banquets, aiming to assuage public anger over graft and extravagance by some officials.

(Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee; Editing by Ron Popeski)

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews

0 ulasan 9:15 PTG Dicatat oleh blog2