Wednesday, February 11, 2015 – edition no. 2248

sjm wants smoking rooms
to continue
paradise expands casinos as
chinese pack halls
Ambrose So argues that
casinos should be allowed to
install smoking rooms despite
the ban
South Korea’s largest operator of
casinos for foreigners is increasing
gambling space to cater for
Chinese visitors
P4 GAMING
hk woman
guilty
in maid
torture
case
P6
P11
WED.11
Feb 2015
T. 12º/ 18º C
H. 50/ 85%
N.º 2248
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FOUNDER & PUBLISHER Kowie Geldenhuys
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Paulo Coutinho
“ THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’ ”
CE hints legal action an
option to solve LRT disputes
ad
P3
WORLD BRIEFS
AP PHOTO
TAIWAN’s mainland affairs
chief Wang Yu-chi announced
his resignation yesterday,
taking responsibility for
forcing his former deputy to
quit in August last year over
allegations that he had leaked
official secrets.
CHINA’s inflation fell below
1 percent in January as the
country headed toward the
Lunar New Year holiday.
Government data showed
yesterday that consumer
prices rose 0.8 percent, down
from December’s 1.5 percent
gain. Food prices, a big
concern for many families,
rose by a modest 1.1 percent.
INDIA An upstart anticorruption party wins a
smashing victory in elections
to install a state government
in India’s capital, dealing a
huge blow to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s Hindu
nationalist party. More on p12
BANGLADESH Ten infants
and young children died
in a single night in an
overcrowded state-run
hospital in northeastern
Bangladesh, prompting
authorities to investigate
whether staff negligence was
involved, officials say.
More on backpage
Frank Stallone’s
inaugural performance
in Macau
P18 PHOTOSHOP
MACAU
2
11.02.2015 wed
th Anniversary
澳聞
Zonta Club of Macau calls for
action to combat domestic violence
Catarina Pinto
T
HE Zonta Club of Macau
is calling for increased
awareness of domestic violence. “Domestic violence is a
crime which is associated with
grave implications for society
as a whole, and the damage is
far from [just] personal suffering. It can happen to anyone
regardless of age, gender, socio-economic background and
education level. There are in
fact many hidden cases in Macau. There are sufferers [whose lives are under threat]. We
need immediate action,” said
the organization’s chartered
president Christiana Ieong.
The Zonta Club of Macau was
established last year and aims
to advance women’s economic
and social status. They have
organized numerous charity
activities since their establishment; chartered patron Ms
Pansy Ho is the club’s primary
sponsor.
Still developing its strategy,
the Zonta Club of Macau came
to prominence earlier than its
members had expected, with
their response to lawmaker
Fong Chi Keong’s controversial statements on domestic
violence last month. Mr Fong
said he did not agree with the
Secretary for Social Affairs
and Culture’s zero-tolerance
approach to domestic violence: “I really disagree [with]
the secretary’s advocacy for
zero-tolerance. You cannot
clap with only one hand.
It always takes two hands.
[In cases where] the wife is
chewing the husband’s ear off,
if the wife did not talk back
when the husband reprimanded her, the husband would
not have beaten her,” he said
at the Legislative Assembly
plenary meeting, when the domestic violence bill passed its
first reading.
The club issued an open letter
criticizing his views on domestic violence. Ms Ieong recalled
that the club reacted strongly
against the lawmaker’s statements, particularly because
they felt that – in a way – his
words reflected the mindset of
some perpetrators. Mr Fong
Chi Keong’s words triggered
“irreparable damage to the
Christiana Ieong
values promoted [in] Macau
society,” the club wrote.
“Culturally, we have to understand that in Asian and
Chinese societies, women
tend to be more submissive. Inside, we think we don’t
Zonta Club
of Macau was
established last
year and aims
to advance
women’s
economic and
social status
want to create problems. So
that’s why - when someone
said that there’s domestic violence because women provoke
the incidents - we had to react
strongly [against this idea].
Also, we can’t forget that there
are actually male victims who
usually feel more embarrassed
to speak out. Children may
think it is the victim’s [their
mother’s] fault and it was all
right to resolve problem with
violence. This is wrong,” she
recalled.
“We are pleased to see the
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recent legislative development of the domestic violence
prevention bill. The government sees it as very important
for Macau. The new secretary
even came to advocate it: zero
tolerance on domestic violence. We are fully in support of
that,” Ieong emphasized.
“The current version provides stronger protection and
preventative measures. Yet,
there is a need to clearly define the crimes to ensure a more
efficient and effective implementation and execution of
the law,” she added.
“However, the law alone is
far from enough to combat domestic violence,” Ieong recalled, “it is happening every day
and to women and men of different social levels. They desperately need help. It is the
mindset of the people, mostly
of the perpetrators, that we
have to change. Some of them
are due to mental illness.
They need medical help.”
Ieong particularly wants
to raise awareness for women in underprivileged households who might be afraid of
speaking out, especially when
they’re financially dependent
on the other party.
“We must continue to raise
public awareness regarding
domestic violence, as society
needs to realize that we have
many cases of domestic violence, and in different social
levels,” she stressed.
Ieong continued, “I’ve got
friends who are financially
independent professional women who have suffered from
domestic violence. They still
live in horror with occasional
nightmares after years. It is
worse when there are children
involved or for those underprivileged women who are
usually financially dependent
on the other party. They may
not even know where to seek
help. When the situation drags for too long, it might even
represent a life threat for
them,” she acknowledged.
Ms Ieong called for the proper training of professionals
dealing with victims and perpetrators. “We are going to
have a new law; the appropriate handling of domestic
violence cases by competent
authorities, such as the police force or other stakeholders
like social workers, is crucial
(…) Proper training and sufficient guidance are needed
to empower the police force.
Just two weeks ago in Portugal, where anti-domestic violence law has been in effect
for so long, the first death case
was reported five hours after a
call to authorities. The police
just simply didn’t consider it a
DIRECTOR AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF_Paulo Coutinho [email protected]
MANAGING EDITOR_Paulo Barbosa [email protected]
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS_Eric Sautedé, Leanda Lee, Severo Portela
CHINA & FOREIGN EDITOR_Vanessa Moore [email protected]
DESIGN EDITOR_João Jorge Magalhães [email protected] | NEWSROOM AND CONTRIBUTORS_Albano
Martins, António Espadinha Soares, Brook Yang, Catarina Pinto, Cyril Law, Emilie Tran, Grace Yu, Irene Sam, Jacky I.F. Cheong, Jenny
Philips, João Pedro Lau, Joseph Cheung, Juliet Risdon, Keith Ip, Renato Marques (photographer), Richard Whitfield, Robert Carroll
(Hong Kong correspondent), Rodrigo de Matos (cartoonist), Ruan Du Toit Bester, Sandra Norte (designer), Sum Choi, Viviana Seguí
| ASSOCIATE CONTRIBUTORS_JML Property, MacauHR, MdME Lawyers, PokerStars | NEWS AGENCIES_ Associated Press,
Bloomberg, Lusa News Agency, MacauHub, MacauNews, Xinhua | SECRETARY_Yang Dongxiao [email protected]
risk,” she reiterated.
Given their current situation,
the Zonta Club is focusing on
social issues related to women
and children. As a professional woman struggling to balance her work and personal
life for the last 20 years, and
mother of a recently adopted
baby girl, Ieong empathizes
more with women and children. “They are more vulnerable to problems. The women have to juggle careers
with families, while the children have the [least heard]
voice,” she clarified. “We need
to scale up efforts across a
range of sectors to combat
domestic violence with determination, to prevent this kind
of criminal act from happening in the first place, and to
provide necessary services for
affected individuals. We will
closely monitor the progress
of the subsequent legislation
process,” Ieong added.
Ieong said she was pleased
to see that Macau’s society, as
a whole, has grown more “mature,” especially in respect to
upholding the right social and
cultural values. She sees that
Macau people are more united,
more socially responsible and
politically sensitive. Attention
was also drawn to reconsider
the expectations of the conduct
standards and the performance of legislators, she stressed.
In concluding the interview,
Ieong reiterated that “the Zonta Club of Macau has received
increasing support, with nearly 60 members, volunteers
and supporters of both sexes.
“I’ve got members from different nationalities in different
professional sectors: lawyers,
accountants, engineers, medical doctors, pharmacists,
academics, executives of the
government, major hotels
and retailers (…) Some of our
members were encouraged to
join by their husbands or boyfriends, who also come to support our activities.”.
Ieong concluded by saying
that, “Men have been very supportive of our club. We all
share the same beliefs and
approach. Mutual respect is
the foundation of harmony:
‘Do what we have to do and do
it right!’ – this is our motto.”
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wed 11.02.2015
th Anniversary
澳聞
3
Chui considers renegotiation
of LRT contracts
João Pedro Lau
BLOOMBERG
C
HIEF Executive Chui
Sai On said yesterday
that the Macau government will continue to
discuss the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) construction project
with contractors, and will resolve disputes through legal measures if the two parties cannot
reach a consensus.
Mr Chui made the comment
on the sidelines of the Central
Government Liaison Office Chinese New Year cocktail party at
the Macau Tower. He said that
based on the report he received
from Raimundo do Rosário, Secretary for Transportation and
Public Works, he understands
that out of the five major LRT
constructions in Taipa, the authorities are more confident of
resolving issues with four of
them.
As for the construction of the
LRT depot, the CE said that the
government will continue to
discuss it with the contractor.
He also pointed out that authorities have fined the contractor before: “If [the contractor]
really cannot [achieve a consensus with the government],
we must resolve the issue legally since Macau is a place
that upholds the rule of law,” he
said.
The CE recognized that residents are mostly concerned
with the traffic issue in Macau.
He said that the government
will continue to push forward
LRT construction and will roll
out new measures, apart from
prioritizing public transportation, to resolve the traffic problems in the SAR. He believes
that the progress of construction on the Macau LRT section
will be back on track once the
authorities can come up with
the route plan.
LRT construction delays made
headlines again following a report by the Commission of Audit issued in January, predicting a massive budget blowout
and delay of the project.
After attending a meeting of
the Legislative Assembly (AL)
Land and Public Concession
Affairs Committee on Monday,
Secretary Raimundo do Rosário said that the administration
still couldn’t provide any esti-
MACAU
Traffic passes construction of an elevated LRT track, left, and the Wynn Palace project, right
mation for the final budget of
the LRT project. He also said
that while the authorities were
able to resolve issues in the
construction of three segments
and a transportation interchange in the LRT Taipa section, the
building of the LRT depot is
behind schedule. The Secretary
warned that the delay in the depot’s construction might even
affect the delivery of the LRT
trucks.
In terms of the LRT Macau section, for which the government
still did not provide a concrete
route plan, Mr Rosário said that
the progress was stalled among
disputes regarding the NAPE
area segment. He predicts that
the administration will be able
to publish the consultation report on the route plan within
the first half of this year.
However, the Secretary said
that the government still cannot provide any predictions
Anti-graft measures applauded
C
HIEF Executive Chui Sai On attended the Central Government Liaison
Office Chinese New Year cocktail party
yesterday at the Macau Tower.
In his speech, the CE said that China
is calmly facing the new normality of its
economy under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping. He also said
that the anti-corruption measures have
achieved some clear results and, through
high integrity, have helped unite Chinese
citizens.
He then suggested that 2015 will be a
year for MSAR to carry forward past successes and to follow the central government’s orders to be vigilant, as well as to
gain social consensus and to plan for the
future.
“The MSAR economic development has
been cautiously optimistic. We will continue to strengthen our management of
the macro economy (…) to vigorously
promote the increase in non-gaming elements, to foster new growing factors of
the economy while maintaining the employment of residents and help the resi-
on the budget or construction
period of the Macau section.
He also claimed that problems
are to be expected in projects
as enormous as the LRT construction, and sometimes it is
inevitable for the authorities to
disagree with the contractors.
He said that the government
would not evade responsibility
and that he would try his best to
find any possible solutions and
measures for the LRT project.
Meanwhile, after listening to
the briefing by the Transportation Infrastructure Office, AL
committee president Ho Ion
Sang said that he was certain the
LRT Taipa section will not be finished and ready for operation
in 2016. He said the LRT depot
construction is in a de-facto suspension stage. If the depot cannot catch up to the schedule, it
is impossible to accommodate
or maintain the LRT trucks scheduled for delivery to Macau from
Japan this year. He said that it is
possible for the trucks to first be
stored in Japan, but noted that
the government officials did not
mention the storage cost. He also
revealed that officials said the
depot contractor’s attitude was
“passive” and that they did not
provide sufficient personnel and
machinery for the construction.
dents to improve their skills, to support
small and medium-sized enterprises and
to speed up the diversification of the economic development,” he said.
Meanwhile, the head of the Liaison Office, Li Gang, said in his speech that Macau has to be aware of the new changes
in its internal and external environment,
and to face and resolve conflicts with
courage. He also said that the MSAR government should start preparing to review the gaming industry’s development
and to make plans on the development of
Macau into ‘one center’ (a world center
for leisure tourism) and ‘one platform’ (a
regional trade and business service platform).
Credit cards in circulation rise by 10 pct year-on-year
T
HE number of credit cards
in circulation rose by 10.1
percent year-on-year, reaching
830,791, as revealed by data from
the Monetary Authority of Macau. The number of credit cards
increased 1.3 percent over the
quarter earlier in September.
Figures show that 18.5 percent
of the 153,960 credit cards issued
last year in Macau were denominated in RMB.
The total number of credit cards
in circulation reached 830,791 by
the end of December 2014. MOP
cards and RMB cards saw a respective growth of 2.6 percent and
2.3 percent quarter-to-quarter,
while HKD cards recorded a drop
of 9.1 percent due to adjustments
of credit card business by individual banks, the Monetary Authority said.
Compared to one year ago, MOP
and RMB cards rose 12 percent
and 9.9 percent respectively, while
HKD cards declined 2.4 percent.
By the end of December, credit
card’s credit limits on cards set by
banks in Macau reached MOP17.3
billion, up by 5 percent over September 2014. In the fourth quarter of 2014, credit card turnover
increased 12.9 percent quarterto-quarter, reaching MOP4.6
billion. Cash advance turnover
was MOP214.8 million, accounting for 4.7 percent of total credit
card turnover.
MACAU
th Anniversary
澳聞
Application for IC grants
open next month
Application for the Cultural Affairs Bureau’s
Academic Research Grant will open next month,
with a new version of regulations taking effect in
February. The bureau stated in a press release
that the goal of the new rules is to encourage
original academic research into the culture of
Macau, as well as the exchange between Macau,
mainland China and other countries. According
to the new regulations, selected applicants
will be granted either MOP 280,000 or MOP
250,000 based on their academic background
and the content of the project.
Messe Düsseldorf
coming to Macau
A media exhibition is scheduled to open in Macau
in the third quarter of next year. Chief Executive
Chui Sai On said that the government would fully
support the exhibition, and hopes it will become
one of Macau’s signature events. The event will
be co-organized by German company Messe
Düsseldorf and the key operators of Macau’s
MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and
exhibitions) industry. During a meeting with
the company’s president Werner Dornscheidt
on Monday, Chui stressed that co-organizing a
major exhibition with a renowned industry player
would not only boost the development of Macau’s
MICE industry, but also further diversify Macau’s
economic structure.
DSI launches online
ticketing service
The Identification Services Bureau (DSI)
has introduced an online ticketing service,
allowing residents to book an appointment for
the same day. Citizens can now make their
bookings through the bureau’s website after
7am on a working day, without having to go
directly to DSI’s office. Those who obtain a tag
number through the online service will receive
a confirmation SMS from DSI; they will then
need to arrive at DSI 15 minutes before the time
of their appointment. DSI recalled that citizens
can make advance appointments through DSI’s
website, the appointment hotline, the ticketing
and service counter, or the self-service kiosks
at DSI. Citizens who have booked an advance
appointment will receive an SMS reminder from
DSI one day before the scheduled date. “DSI will
continue to conduct studies on the provision of
more convenient electronic services to Macau
citizens,” the bureau said.
ad
A
MBROSE So said that
SJM supports the continued presence of smoking
rooms in casinos, despite
government officials’ determination to impose a full
smoking ban. The CEO of
casino operator SJM also believes that the new measures
by the mainland authorities,
which seek to deter Chinese
citizens from gambling overseas, will not have any impact
on the company.
“SJM does not oppose a
full smoking ban. We think
that casinos can still install
smoking rooms, which is not
in conflict with a smoking
ban,” he said. “It is just like the
smoking rooms in the airports in Hong Kong and Macau,
where a full smoking ban is
in place. We are only respecting the habits of smokers and
they would not affect nonsmokers [when smoking] in a
smoking room.”
Mr So said that SJM supports the installation of smoking
rooms in casinos, but he said
that the matter has yet to be
determined by government
policies and the opinions of
residents and casino workers.
In terms of the impact of a
full smoking ban, he said that
there are many factors affec-
SJM wants smoking
rooms to continue
BLOOMBERG
4
11.02.2015 wed
Ambrose So
ting gaming revenue, and the
smoking ban is not the most
significant. “There are various
factors [affecting gaming revenue]. Even if there was not
a smoking ban, the revenue of
the VIP room would still have
dropped. It is very difficult to
calculate how much the revenue will drop if a full smoking
ban [is implemented],” he said.
When facing a decline in
revenue, So said that it is up
to the casino operators to
improve their operational ef-
ficiency and to control costs.
However, he said that cost
control does not necessarily
involve employee layoffs.
Instead, he said that casinos
can reduce unnecessary promotional measures, which he
said accounts for a considerable portion of their expenses.
Moreover, SJM’s CEO commented that while there has
been a drop in the VIP revenue and an increase in mass
market revenue, it is still difficult for the mass market gain
INVESTMENT
Partnership to create media network
for public transport system
L
OCAL bus commuters may have
noticed video programs played on
some local buses, produced by a Macau media and marketing group and
creative digital content provider called
Mome.
It was announced in a press release
this week that Mome and Show Media,
a provider of interactive digital taxi
media platforms founded in Las Vegas, will join together to create a long-term strategic partnership in producing and delivering interactive video
content through Macau’s taxi and bus
networks.
Show Media is the primary provider
of digital interactive television in Macau taxis; and Mome, a Macau-based
company, is the largest provider of digital television in Macau’s public buses. It is suggested that collective video
networks of the two companies in taxis
and buses currently reach the majority
of Macau’s visitors and residents.
“We are delighted to partner with
Mome to pursue the future of Macau
video content provision and nextgeneration technology platforms. Together with our cutting-edge US technology, and thanks to Mome’s fan-
to compensate for the decrease in VIP business.
He predicted that Macau’s
gaming revenue will continue to decline in the first half
of the year, and expressed
hopes for a more stable trend
or a gradual gain starting in
the second half of 2015. Nevertheless, he said that the
revenue adjustment will not
affect Macau’s economy.
He also claimed that the
mainland authorities’ recent
announcement that they will
tackle overseas casinos’ promotional activities in mainland China, which has allegedly lured Chinese citizens to
gamble overseas, is not affecting SJM. He said that SJM
has never placed any advertisements in mainland China.
“I don’t know whether other
concessionaires advertised
themselves in the mainland
or have set up agencies there, but [SJM] has never had
any,” he said. JPL
tastic vision, and strong leadership
and team, we can now jointly ensure a
great impression for tens of millions of
annual visitors, as well as for the people of Macau,” said Mitchell Presnick,
director of Show Media.
Meanwhile, Mome’s director, Joe
Liu, said that their new partner brings global leadership and international experience to the sector. He also
believes that Mome is a leader “in
up-and-coming, one-stop marketing
solution provision, and rich, relevant
content production, with a reach and
influence throughout Macau and Southern China. Macau has evolved into a
world-class entertainment center serving both locals and visitors. The partnership is a great way to address the
enormous common opportunities for
Mome, Show Media and our clients,”
he said.
wed 11.02.2015
th Anniversary
澳聞
Catarina Pinto
T
HE Rui Cunha Foundation and the University of
Macau (UM) have joined
forces to launch a series
of “Philosophy Cafés” intended
to bring discussion and critical
thinking to the table, while addressing current affairs. The inaugural
“Philosophy Café,” to be held today
at 7pm, will be moderated by UM
professor of philosophy William
Franke, with a focus on “Philosophical Universalism and the Role
of China in the World Today.”
The first cafe is an effort to address philosophy in a particular local context, said professor William
Franke. He told The Times that in
addition to a geographic parameter, there’s a historical parameter
to the topic.
“China is one of the countries in
which philosophy has a world historical origin. We think of Greece
first when thinking of the birth of
philosophy in the 5th century, with
the pre-Socratic philosophers. But
simultaneously with that development in Greece there is a new kind
CASIL LAO
‘Philosophy Cafés’ to
spur critical thinking
William Franke
of intellectual ferment and discourse in China, with Confucius in
particular,” he recalled.
Prof Franke will be making an introduction about the particularity
of philosophical knowledge before
opening the floor to the discussion
of philosophical universalism, and
the kind of contributions to philosophy that China makes today.
“It’s an even broader question
than simply philosophical discussion. Philosophy - as a way of in-
forming - has a role in the world; a
political-social role; there are a lot
of questions that are crucial for the
world and China – because of its
increasing economic power – and
in every way; it’s important to the
world, it has a key role,” he acknowledged.
Prof Franke will also reflect upon
which Chinese heritage traditions
are relevant “as a resource for guiding China as a major player now
on the world stage.”
MACAU
“This is not a lecture. I am hoping
to learn from members of the public [about] some of the resources
and challenges facing China today.
My role is to try to direct our thoughts collectively toward what philosophy has to offer to public debate and policy,” he reiterated.
The professor intends to urge those attending the event to also reflect
upon Macau and its relationship
with philosophy. The relationship
might not be too apparent, but he
recalled that because of the casino
industry, “Macau is an especially
apt place for philosophy,” although
this tends to be forgotten.
He stressed that, for instance, in
Greece, philosophy did not emerge
in Athens but rather in other places
such as seaports and trading cities,
because these were places for the
exchange of ideas, and “that is crucial for the life of philosophy.”
“It’s our mission, in the university
and particularly in our program of
philosophy and religious studies,
to bring out this potential, which
really does belong to the resources
that are special to Macau. That’s
why I think it’s important that the
‘Philosophy Cafés’ give an important public profile to philosophy,”
he stated.
The Rui Cunha Foundation intends to organize other “Philosophy Cafés” in the upcoming months, moderated by different scholars. Today’s café runs between
7pm and 10pm and the talk will be
conducted in English.
5
MGTO
expands
promotion
in Indian
market
The Macau Government
Tourist Office (MGTO)
has inaugurated its
representation office in
New Delhi and plans to
open another office in
Mumbai. The bureau’s
India Head Arzan
Khambatta said that
Delhi and Mumbai, along
with Bangalore, Chennai,
and Ahmedabad, would
be Macau tourism’s
target cities in the Indian
market this year. MGTO’s
deputy director Cecilia
Tse revealed that they
will roll out customized
travel packages for Indian
tourists with the bureau’s
new Indian representative
VFS Global. “Leisure,
MICE, and especially the
wedding segments are
our key focus areas for
this year. We are keen on
hosting gala Bollywood
events in Macau,” she
said. Moreover, a Macau
Symposium will be
hosted in India, aimed at
connecting Macautour
operators with key trade
partners of MGTO.
ad
6
MACAU
11.02.2015 wed
th Anniversary
澳聞
GAMING
P
ARADISE Co., South Korea’s largest operator of casinos for foreigners, is increasing
gambling space to cater for a
boom in Chinese visitors, even
as China cracks down on foreign
casinos marketing to its citizens.
Paradise will expand floor
space at three of its five foreigner-only casinos including doubling the size of gaming areas
at its casino on Jeju Island, as
Chinese gamblers who comprise
more than two-thirds of its visitors pack its halls, Vice Chairman Lee Hyuk-Byung said in an
interview.
China announced on Feb. 6
it would stop foreign casinos
from luring its citizens to gamble overseas including through
offices set up in the country, the
latest in a slew of policies linked
to an anti-corruption campaign
that has hit gambling revenues
in Macau. Seoul-based Paradise
doesn’t market directly to gamblers in China as that is illegal,
and it mainly relies on word of
mouth, Lee said on Feb. 5, prior
to China’s announcement.
There isn’t enough information about the latest policy and
Paradise hasn’t seen any impact
on its operations, said Hyejeong
Shim, an investor relations official at the company after China’s
announcement.
Casino operators such as Australia’s Echo Entertainment
Group Ltd. and Nagacorp Ltd.
are trying to woo Chinese gamblers as the anti-graft campaign
and stricter visa rules to Macau
drove bettors to seek out alternative gaming markets. There
BLOOMBERG
Paradise expands casinos as
Chinese pack halls amid curbs
Chinese tourists enter Paradise Casino inside the Jeju Grand Hotel in Jeju, South Korea
Mainland
gamblers
formed 67
percent of
Paradise’s high
rollers last year,
growing from
46 percent in
2010
has been a surge in the number
of visitors from China to South
Korea over the past two years ,
Lee said.
“If you visit our casinos, it isn’t
full on the weekdays, but on the
SUNCITY CHAIRMAN
VIPs irreplaceable,
full-smoking ban to
cause 16 pct drop
Although the closure of some VIP rooms
in Macau was to be “expected,” the mass
market will not be able to replace the VIP
sector, according to Suncity Group owner and
Chairman Alvin Chau Cheok Wa. “If there
are no VIP rooms, [despite] the proportion
of the mass market getting bigger, the drop
in gaming revenue will remain serious,”
Chau said in an interview with local Chinese
media outlet Macau Asia Satellite Television.
Stressing that the VIP sector remains crucial
for the whole gaming industry, with VIP
business revenue forming the majority of total
gaming revenue, Chau anticipates that the VIP
sector will see a revenue drop of 15 percent
or more when the recently announced full
smoking ban is implemented in 2016. “Even
Singapore, with its strict government, let
gaming operators build indoor smoking rooms
inside the casino when it opened the gaming
market, [so that there are] smoking areas and
non-smoking areas,” he said.
weekends from Friday afternoon
to Sundays, it’s fully packed and
very crowded,” Lee said. “This
means we cannot provide all the
gaming needs of our visitors. By
expanding, we can.”
Paradise shares broke its threeday losing streak to rebound
from Monday’s 17-month low,
rising 2.3 percent to 22,300 won
at the close of trading in South
Korea. Rival Grand Korea Leisure Co. closed up 0.8 percent,
while the benchmark Kospi index fell 0.6 percent.
While sentiment for Paradise
and Grand Korea Leisure will
probably suffer in the short
term, China’s clampdown is unlikely to seriously impact casino
markets targeting Chinese gamblers, Ilwoo Yang, an analyst at
Samsung Securities Co., wrote
in a note this week.
“Korean casinos may actually
benefit, as their success at attracting Chinese punters appears to
be due to Korea’s proximity to
China, not marketing capabilities,” he wrote.
Paradise will spend $26 million
on the expansion, Lee said. The
operator will add 26 gambling
tables at its casinos, mostly for
baccarat card games, bringing
the total to 252, according to the
company. Baccarat games are a
favorite of China’s gamblers,
The expansion by the South
Korean operator comes as Macau’s casino revenue slumped
for an eighth straight month in
January, for the longest losing
streak on record. Paradise in
2014 posted its first profit decline in three years, according to
data compiled by Bloomberg.
Chinese tourists to Korea are
increasing as Korean pop culture gains popularity and travel restrictions between the
two countries ease, Lee said.
Mainland gamblers formed 67
percent of the company’s high
rollers last year, growing from
46 percent in 2010, the Seoul-based company said. Chinese
accounted for 77 percent of the
total mass gamblers last year, up
from 50 percent in 2010, it said.
About 6.1 million mainland
travelers went to the North
Asian country last year, an increase of 42 percent, according
to data from the Korea Tourism
Organization.
South Korea last year approved construction of its first foreign-owned casino as Asia’s
fourth-largest economy tries to
emulate Macau and Singapore in attracting more tourism
spending from China.
Paradise is Korea’s largest foreigners-only casino operator
with almost 50 percent market
share, the company said, citing
data from the Korean Casino
Association. Grand Korea Leisure, a state-run casino operator,
ranked second with a 42 percent
share.
Kangwon Land Inc., which
operates South Korea’s only casino that allows local gamblers,
is the country’s largest operator
overall by sales, followed by Paradise, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Paradise plans to focus on
bringing in mass market gamblers, especially with its 1.3
trillion won (USD1.2 billion)
integrated resort Paradise City
project, Seoul-based Shim said.
Paradise is teaming up with
Japanese video-game and pachinko operator Sega Sammy
Holdings Inc. to build a foreigners-only casino resort, which
will have Korean-style spas,
restaurant and K-pop entertainment, Lee said. Bloomberg
GAMING | VIETNAM
Van Don casino-resort to be licensed
soon, Macau investors may be interested
T
HE selection of investors
for the Van Don airport
and an integrated casino
and resort complex in the
northern province of Quang
Ninh is nearing its conclusion, as the local people’s
committee will shortly make
a final decision to allow the
construction of both landmark projects in April, the
Vietnam Investment Review
(VIR) reported yesterday.
“We haven’t decided who
will be the investor in those projects. But whoever
is chosen will have to start
construction in April,” said
Nguyen Van Doc, Chairman
of the Quang Ninh Provincial
People’s Committee (quoted
by VIR) indicating that permission to develop the projects would need to be agreed
upon by March.
The Van Don airport would “play a vital role in bolstering the zone’s investment
in climate and tourism development” as Quang Ninh
is also home to the World
Natural Heritage site of Ha
Long Bay. “While the airport is a crucial infrastructure project, the integrated
casino and resort complex
is apparently supposed to
be attractive to tourists,”
the report stated.
South Korea’s Joinus Company Ltd has continuously
expressed interest in investing into Van Don airport,
while the integrated casino
and resort complex appears
to have attracted several interested parties, particularly
following the Vietnamese government’s indication that it
may change the law to allow
local citizens to enter casinos.
According to VIR, Las Vegas Sands, Phoenix Macau
Tailoi and Casinos Austria
have all visited the province and studied the invest-
ment opportunities. Vietnam’s Tuan Chau Group, in
association with Australia’s
ISC Corporation, is among
the most active investors,
having submitted a specific plan including a USD7
billion commitment to developing the project.
In its latest report, the
Quang Ninh Provincial Economic Zone Management
Authority revealed that domestic Sun Group, owner of
luxury resorts in Danang,
also submitted a plan for investing in both the airport
and the integrated casino
and resort complex. PC
wed 11.02.2015
th Anniversary
分析
C
HINA fined chipmaker
Qualcomm 6 billion
yuan (USD975 million)
in the biggest of a wave
of anti-monopoly penalties that
have rattled foreign companies.
Qualcomm Inc. abused its dominance in wireless technology
to charge manufacturers “unfairly high” licensing fees, a Cabinet agency announced yesterday. China is the world’s biggest
producer of mobile phones and
other wireless devices, and Beijing has complained about the
high cost of technology licenses.
China has launched a series of
anti-monopoly investigations
over the past two years against
foreign automakers, technology
suppliers and other companies
in an apparent effort to force
down prices. Business groups
say the secretive way the investigations are conducted is
alienating companies, but regulators deny they are treated
unfairly.
Qualcomm, one of the biggest
makers of chips used in mobile phones, said Monday it also
agreed to change some of its
practices for licensing technology to Chinese companies.
San Diego-based Qualcomm
expressed disappointment with
the findings by the Chinese Cabinet’s National Development and
Reform Commission, but said it
will not contest the matter.
. It was twice the size of the 3
billion yuan ($492 million) fine
for GlaxoSmithKline, a British
pharmaceutical company, in
September in a bribery case.
The NDRC said Qualcomm
improperly bundled unrelated
licenses with mobile phone technology, forcing Chinese customers to pay for licenses they
didn’t need.
“Qualcomm’s acts to eliminate
or restrict market competition,
hinder and inhibit technological innovation and development and harm the interests of
consumers violate China’s anti-
The fine was
the highest
imposed
to date by
Chinese
authorities
on a foreign
company
The corporate sign of Qualcomm Inc. is seen in front of its office in Santa Clara, Calif.
monopoly law,” the agency said
in a statement.
Qualcomm said it will offer
licenses for its current 3G and
4G Chinese patents separately
from licenses to its other patents. It also will give existing
licensees in China an opportunity to adopt the new terms for
sales of branded devices for use
in China going back to Jan. 1.
“We are pleased that the investigation has concluded and
believe that our licensing business is now well positioned to
fully participate in China’s rapidly accelerating adoption of
our 3G/4G technology,” said
Derek Aberle, president of
Qualcomm, in a statement.
Qualcomm makes most of
its profit from licensing fees
paid by companies that use its
chips. China accounts for about
half the company’s revenue.
The NDRC said the fine was
calculated on the basis of 8 percent of Qualcomm’s 2013 revenue in China.
Business groups welcomed
the enactment of China’s anti-monopoly law in 2008 as a
step toward clarifying operating conditions. Since then,
they have said it is enforced
more actively against foreign
companies than against local rivals. That has fueled sentiment
among foreign companies that
they are less welcome in China.
Almost half of companies that
responded to a survey by the
American Chamber of Commerce in China in September
said they believed they were
targeted for “selective and
subjective enforcement” of anti-monopoly, food safety and
other rules. The chamber warned China risked damaging its
status as an attractive place to
invest.
Business groups complain
Chinese regulators pressure
foreign companies to attend
regulatory proceedings without
bringing lawyers and to refrain
from challenging penalties.
Last year, 12 Japanese auto
parts suppliers were fined a total of $202 million after regulators said they colluded to raise
prices. Audi and Chrysler were
fined for enforcing minimum
prices dealers could charge for
vehicles and service. A regulator cited by state media said
Daimler AG’s Mercedes Benz
unit violated the law but no penalty was announced.
In 2013, five foreign dairy companies and one from Hong Kong
were fined for enforcing minimum prices for distributors.
Among
technology
companies, the government also
is looking at Microsoft Corp.’s
Windows operating system and
how it handles compatibility,
bundling and publication of documentation.
Qualcomm said Monday the
fine will reduce its earnings for
the fiscal year ending Sept. 27.
Qualcomm Inc. now forecasts earnings per share between
$3.56 and $3.76, down from its
previous estimate of $4.04 to
$4.34.
But its adjusted earnings,
which exclude charges related
to the settlement, are now expected to range from $4.85 to
$5.05 per share, up from its
prior range of $4.75 to $5.05
per share, partly due to higher
revenue.
For investors, the Chinese
ruling resolves significant uncertainty about the future of
Qualcomm’s business in China. Its stock added $1.93, or
almost 3 percent, to $69.04 in
after-hours trading on Monday.
It had ended regular trading up
76 cents to $67.11. AP
corporate bits
ponte16 macau 3d museum grand
opening in mid 2015
Co-organized by Hong
Kong 3D Museum and Ponte
16 Resort, Macau, the first
7
China fines Qualcomm record
USD975M in anti-monopoly case AP PHOTO
Joe McDonald
Business Writer, Beijing
BUSINESS
large-scale 3D museum in
Macau – Ponte 16 Macau 3D
Museum will open to the public in mid 2015.
Located at Ponte 16 Resort
in Macau, the approximately
18,000 square feet museum
has over 150 photography
points in six theme zones,
offering visitors a chance to
pose for interesting photos
with the various exhibits and
3D paintings.
Ponte 16 3D Museum is
Macau’s first 3D Museum
and also the world’s first
museum with 4D paintings.
The Museum brings visitors
new sensory expea brand
rience through 4D elements
such as lighting effects, analog sound and props.
ctm launches “local data usage
auto alert service”
With an objective of meeting the growing trend of
mobile data usage, starting
from today onwards, CTM
will implement the “Local
Data Usage Auto Alert Service” for its mobile monthly
plan customers, with two
default ceiling levels at 70%
and 90%. When customers’
data usage exceeds 70%
and 90% of total free local
mobile data entitlement, an
alert notification SMS will be
sent out to remind customers
to be aware of the status so
that they can manage their
data, so as to avoid unexpected mobile service charges. CTM mobile customers
are automatically entitled to
use the “Local Data Usage
Auto Alert Service” for free
without any application. In
addition, customers may
change the above default
ceiling levels through CTM
Buddy’s “Data Usage Alert
Setting”.
mandarin oriental bangkok’s
bamboo bar reopens
The Bamboo Bar at Mandarin
Oriental,
Bangkok
reopened its doors in December 2014 following extensive refurbishment. The
establishment now has a
more contemporary look but
retains its character. Originally opened in a tiny room
in the hotel’s Authors’ Wing
in 1953, hanging on the wall
are historical images of the
hotel and bar, and pictures
of former patrons, including
Louis Armstrong, Mick Jagger, and Audrey Hepburn.
Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok’s General Manager,
Amanda Hyndman, said,
“Our objective was to weave
the past into the future. Old
friends will recognize fami-
liar pieces throughout the
space that create a real sense of place. The new design
better meets the changing
needs of our sophisticated
clientele, offering more intimate seating and comfort,
and clever integration of the
outdoor space and the adjacent Cigar Divan.”
8
ADVERTISEMENT
11.02.2015 wed
th Anniversary
廣告
wed 11.02.2015
th Anniversary
published in partnership with macauhub.com.mo
中葡論壇
Mozambique could adopt Chinese
model of Special Economic Zones
M
OZAMBIQUE has the necessary conditions to successfully adopt the Chinese model
of Special Economic Zones, which
helped to boost the Chinese economy, according to researchers
Fernanda Ilhéu and Hao Zhang.
In the study “The Role of Special
Economic Zones in Developing
African Countries and Chinese
Foreign Direct Investment,” researchers from the Lisbon School
of Economics and Management
noted that over 35 years, the Special Economic Zones have had “a
decisive role in the development of
places like Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Xiamen, Shantou, Hainan and Shanghai, and that African countries
can leverage this experience.
In 2006, the Forum on ChinaAfrica Cooperation gave “significant priority” to creating up to 50
SEZs abroad, which are being implemented, with USD700 million
invested by Chinese companies in
16 EEZ, according to information
from China’s Trade Ministry.
Increasingly focused on business
abroad, China needs raw materials
and African markets to export its
products to, but can also benefit
Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi
(front)
from shifting some of its industries
to Africa, as the cost of Chinese labor increases.
The approach to Africa has involved through loans and financing
for the construction of infrastructure, and “the development of
African countries requires China’s
increasing involvement,” including
“collaborating in the development
of SEZs,” the authors argue.
Regarding Portuguese-speaking
countries, the average annual
growth of trade between 2002 and
2012 totals 37 percent, turning
China into the largest trading partner and largest export market for
those countries.
The relationship has proved to
be “dynamic in both directions,”
they added, with hundreds of companies from Portuguese-speaking
countries operating in China and
Chinese investment in those countries of around US$30 billion, according to China’s Trade Ministry.
As for the SEZ, the two researchers focused their attention on
the Mozambican Manga-Mungassa (Beira, Sofala province) SEZ,
established in May 2012, under
the management of China’s Dingsheng International Investment
Company (Sogecoa Group), which
has plans to invest close to US$500
million.
Nearing completion, the first
phase includes the construction of
warehouse units, followed by the
“operational” phase, with construction of additional infrastructure such as hotels and housing,
and finally the free industrial zone,
where high tech units will be installed.
“In terms of knowledge transfer, Mozambique has made active
steps in learning from the experience of Chinese SEZs and using
this model to attract foreign investment,” they said.
In 2012 the Mozambican government created the Office for Economic Areas with Accelerated Development (Gazeda) that in addition
to Manga-Mungassa, is responsible for the projects of the Belulane
Industrial Park, the Locone and
Minheuene Free Industrial Zones
and the Crusse and Jamali integrated park.
On 6 May, 2014 the Mozambican
government approved the establishment of the Mocuba SEZ, a
sign of the “determination to create more conditions and to look for
more opportunities and economic
measures to create jobs and generate wealth,” in the country, the
study said.
According to the authors, Mozambique has a strategic location,
the ability to attract investment
through the diaspora, as well as its
model of economic growth and development in its favour, although
there remain difficulties in infrastructure and technological development.
“The Chinese SEZ model can be
successfully applied to the MangaMungassa area,” they concluded.
MDT/Macauhub
FORUM
9
ANGOLA
Credit to the
economy
remains
sound
Lending to the economy
has remained “solid” since
the beginning of the year,
despite budget restrictions,
due to the economic
diversification program,
Angola’s Minister for the
Economy said in Luanda.
Abraão Gourgel, who made
this statement at the end of
a cabinet meeting, said the
economic diversification
program included adoption
of procedures that do not
require extensive resources
and will eventually lead to
a substantial improvement
in access to credit. “This
program includes actions
such as promotion of
access to internal and
external credit for projects
that are accelerating
the diversification of
the economy,” said the
Economy Minister cited
by state newspaper Jornal
de Angola. The minister
said a ministerial technical
was developing a model to
support the financing of the
non-oil industry, a model that
is due to be ready this year.
ad
CHINA
th Anniversary
中國
Swiss leaks show deposit
by ex-premier’s daughter
L
I Xiaolin, daughter of a
former Chinese premier
known for his support of the
bloody military crackdown
on the 1989 democracy movement, held as much as
USD2.48 million in a secret
HSBC account in Switzerland,
the International Consortium
of Investigative Journalists
has found.
The
revelation,
gleaned
from a cache of leaked files
that have been dubbed “Swiss
Leaks,” adds to the list of families of Chinese senior politicians who amassed huge
wealth in the past couple of
decades and stashed some of
it in overseas accounts that
can help them avoid detection
by authorities back home.
Li did not respond to requests by the ICIJ for comments.
People who answered phones
yesterday at a state-owned
utility where she is chairman
declined to forward calls to
her or give information about
how to reach her.
Despite the Chinese Communist Party’s roots in socialism,
party officials have leveraged
their power to place family and
friends in key positions of major industries such as energy,
communications and banking,
providing tremendous payoffs in what critics say comes at
the expense of improving lives
of the working masses.
In 2012, Bloomberg reported
that the relatives of Chinese
President Xi Jinping held investments in companies with
total assets of $376 million,
an 18 percent indirect stake
in a rare-earths company with
$1.73 billion in assets, and a
$20.2 million holding in a publicly traded technology company, although no assets were
traced to Xi himself, his wife
or their daughter.
Also in 2012, The New York
Times reported that relatives
of former Chinese Premier
Wen Jiabao had controlled assets worth at least $2.7 billion.
Last year, the ICIJ found
through leaked documents
that children of Chinese senior officials, known as the
princelings or the Red Aristocracy, had stashed away
wealth in offshore companies
and accounts. Among them,
Li Xiaolin was the director
of two British Virgin Islands
companies registered in 2005,
according to the ICIJ.
The ruling party’s own anti-corruption campaign launched by Xi after he took control of the party in late 2012
has uncovered numerous
T
AP PHOTO
Didi Tang, Beijing
What animal
to worship this
New Year?
In this March 4, 2011 photo, Li Xiaolin, chairwoman of the state-owned electricity
giant China Power International Development Ltd., attends the Chinese People’s
Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing
cases involving millions of
dollars by party officials, their
family members and associates. Allegedly corrupt cadres
have been charged with taking
bribes as well as using their
positions to seek huge benefits
for others.
Li Xiaolin, the only daughter
of Li Peng, China’s premier
between 1987 and 1998, is
the chairwoman of the state
-owned electricity giant China Power International Development Ltd. She is widely
known among the Chinese public by the nickname “Power
Queen.”
She has asserted that her family background has had no
bearing on her success.
Li had a reputation for expensive tastes in luxury clothes, though she has switched
to more modest attire and has
even been seen using a reusable shopping bag since Xi took
office.
In 2013, The Telegraph reported that Li brokered secret
deals to help Zurich Insurance
gain a major stake in the private insurer New China Life,
before foreign investment
in the insurance sector was
allowed in China. Li denied
the allegation, saying she had
had no personal relationship
with any insurance company.
On Monday, the ICIJ said Li
and her husband were beneficial owners of a client account
linked to five bank accounts
that held as much as $2.48
million in 2006 and 2007. The
accounts were held under the
name of Metralco Overseas
S.A., a Panama-registered
company that was dissolved in
2012, the ICIJ said. AP
HE zodiac animal of
China’s coming Lunar
New Year has caused much
confusion in the English
world, as its translation results in at least two candidates: sheep or goat.
Chinese folklorists say the
animal symbol can be either
a sheep or a goat but more
likely goat, given the latter’s
popularity as a farm animal
among Han Chinese.
The Chinese lunar calendar assigns an animal symbol to each year in every
12-year cycle. Yet the Chinese character for the eighth zodiac animal is “Yang”,
which can refer to either of
the two when used without
attributes.
Huang Yang, a prominent
researcher on the role of
sheep/goats in Chinese culture, says tracing the origin
of the zodiacal Yang could
be difficult, as the Chinese zodiac first appeared
after the Shang Dynasty
(1600-1046 BC), when the
Chinese people did not differentiate between sheep
and goats in language or in
sacrificial offerings.
“But if we judge from the
fact that the Chinese zodiac
is a Han tradition, Yang are
more likely goats, which
are more common livestock for the Han Chinese,”
he tells Xinhua in a phone
interview.
Shaggy sheep are a common sight in north China’s
prairies and were domesticated by Chinese earlier
than goats, but goats are
more commonly raised in
areas populated by Han
Chinese, Huang says.
Images on China’s zodiac
stamps and paper-cuttings are often bearded goats. The replica of the Yang
bronze statue that once
formed part of a zodiac
fountain in the looted Old
Summer Palace also has a
goat head.
Fang Binggui, a folklorist
XINHUA
10
11.02.2015 wed
based in southeast China’s Fuzhou City, says the
image of the zodiac Yang
is open to regional interpretation. “People depict
the zodiac animal based on
the most common Yang in
their region. So it’s often
sheep in the north while
goats in the south.”
Few ordinary Chinese are
troubled by the sheep/goat
distinction.
“I’ve never thought about
that question before. Do we
have to tell them apart?”
asks Chen Xufeng, an office clerk in Beijing. “I’ve
seen more goats in zodiac
images, but I prefer to buy
a sheep mascot, as sheep
are more fluffy and lovely,”
he says.
However, the ambiguity
has whipped up discussion
in the West. A story run by
the Associated Press said
this year’s animal “is subject to interpretation”.
“We just had this discussion a few weeks ago. What
exactly is it?” AP quoted a
worker in Brooklyn Chinatown as saying. “It can be
a ram, sheep or goat - any
ruminant mountain animal
with horns.”
In England, the Manchester Evening News also
posed the question: “Later
this month, we will enter
the Chinese Year of the
Ram. Or should that be
sheep? Or even Goat?”
Other media outlets, including Bloomberg, have
described the coming Lunar New Year as the Year of
the Sheep, Goat or Ram.
Xiang Daohua, a teacher
of Chinese language and
culture at China Foreign
Affairs University, believes cultural connotations
should be taken into consideration in translation.
“The English word ‘sheep’
better fits the Yang image in
traditional Chinese cultures, which is meek and even
a bit weak,” he says. Xinhua
wed 11.02.2015
th Anniversary
中國
C
Beijing finds sizable natural
gas field in South China Sea China’s placing of the rig in
contested waters off Vietnam
two months earlier triggered a
wave of violent protests among
Vietnamese, leaving at least two
Chinese workers dead and 140
injured.
The gas field has a depth of
about 1,500 meters, which is
at the extreme cusp of what the
industry considers a deep-water
field, or those from 400 to 1,500
meters. Greater than 1,500 meters would be ultra-deep, where
extraordinary pressures make
the building of facilities extremely difficult. AP
philippines protests china land reclamation at another reef
THE PHILIPPINES has protested Chinese land reclamation
at a disputed reef in the South
China Sea, saying it violates Manila’s exclusive economic zone.
Foreign Affairs Department
spokesman Charles Jose said yesterday a diplomatic protest was
handed to a Chinese Embassy representative on Feb. 4 urging Beijing to stop the land reclamation
at Panganiban Reef, also called
Mischief Reef.
China occupied the reef in 1995,
and later expanded stilt structures into a concrete building
several stories high. The Philippines protested both moves at the
time. Jose said it appears China is
constructing an artificial island at
the reef.
Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines have separately protested
Chinese land reclamation at a
number of reefs in the Spratly Islands, fearing they could be used
HONG KONG
A
Hong Kong woman
who was accused of
torturing her Indonesian maid in a case that
sparked outrage for the
scale of its brutality was
convicted of a slew of assault and other charges
yesterday.
A judge found Law Wantung guilty of 18 charges
including grievous bodily
harm, criminal intimidation and failure to pay wages or give time off work to
Erwiana Sulistyaningsih.
Her case highlighted the
vulnerabilities of migrants working as domestic
staff across Asia and the
Middle East.
It gained widespread at-
AP PHOTO
Employer found guilty in
Indonesian maid torture case
Kelvin Chan, Hong Kong
11
BLOOMBERG
HINA said it recent
gas discovery in the politically volatile South
China Sea could yield
100 billion cubic meters of natural gas, underlining Beijing’s
determination to extract resources from waters claimed by
several nations.
The Lingshui 17-2 gas field was
discovered 150 kilometers south
of China’s southernmost island
of Hainan, and the Ministry of
Land and Resources has approved it as a large-scale find, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
It cited the country’s main offshore oil and gas producer, China National Offshore Oil Corp.
Calls to the company’s press office rang unanswered yesterday.
Xizhou Zhou, senior director
and head of China for IHS Energy, said that 100 billion cubic
meters was a “decent amount but
not that substantial,” and equivalent to about six to seven months
of Chinese gas supply currently.
“In addition, new discoveries
often take years to develop, so
by the time this gas starts to
flow, the Chinese gas market
could be much bigger than it is
today,” he said.
Petroleum reserves and fisheries are among the resources at
stake in disputes over the South
China Sea, which is one of the
world’s busiest shipping routes
and a patchwork of overlapping
claims by governments including
China, the Philippines, Malaysia,
Vietnam and Taiwan.
China claims virtually all of the
South China Sea.
China National Offshore Oil
Corp.’s exploration rig made
the discovery about a month
after it withdrew in July from
a tense maritime standoff with
Vietnam in the latter’s exclusive
economic zone.
CHINA
Indonesian maid Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, center, waves to her supporters as she arrives at court in Hong Kong
for air, naval or logistic bases to
bolster China’s territorial claims
far from its mainland.
Two other diplomatic protests
made on Feb. 4 were earlier announced. They involved the alleged ramming of three Philippine
fishing boats by a Chinese coast
guard ship at Scarborough Shoal
and the reported collection of endangered giant clams by Chinese
fishermen which also destroyed
coral outcrops at the shoal.
tention about a year ago
after photos of her injuries circulated among
Indonesians in Hong
Kong. They showed her
face, hands and legs covered with scabs and lacerations, and blackened,
peeling skin around her
feet.
District Court Judge
Amanda Woodcock said
that based on the testimony by the maid and
other witnesses, “I am
sure the defendant did
assault, wound and threaten (Sulistyaningsih) as
charged.”
Court heard that Law
punched Sulistyaningsih
in the mouth, fracturing
some teeth; jammed a
metal vacuum cleaner
tube in her mouth, cutting her lip; and hit her
on the back with a feather duster when she was
sleeping. Law also forced
Sulistyaningsih to stand
naked in the bathroom
during winter while she
splashed water on and
pointed a fan at her.
Sulistyaningsih,
who
worked for Law for about
eight months starting in
June 2013, also wasn’t
allowed any days off and
was not paid her salary.
Law was found not guilty of two other charges.
She was ordered to pay
about 28,800 Hong Kong
dollars (USD3,700) in
outstanding wages to Sulistyaningsih. Law was remanded into custody and
is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 27.
After the verdict, supporters applauded the
diminutive Sulistyaningsih, who was in court.
She told reporters outside
that she was happy “because I will get the justice
from Hong Kong.”
There are about 330,000
foreign domestic helpers
working in Hong Kong,
almost all female and
most from the Philippines or Indonesia, earning
a minimum wage of about
$500 a month. AP
12
ASIA-PACIFIC
11.02.2015 wed
th Anniversary
亞太版
INDIA
Upstart party wins big in Delhi,
in blow for Modi
A
N upstart anti-corruption party has
won a smashing victory in elections to
install a state government in
India’s capital, officials said
yesterday, dealing a huge blow
to Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s Hindu nationalist party.
While the results from this
past weekend’s elections will
not have any bearing on the
structure of the federal government, they send a clear
message to Modi that he is not
invincible despite his party’s
strong showing in state elections since it swept to power
last year. They also are an indication of how fed up Indians
are with endemic corruption.
Thousands of jubilant supporters of former tax collector Arvind Kejriwal and his
Aam Admi Party, or Common
Man’s Party, beat drums and
danced in celebration after
India’s Election Commission
announced results showing
an overwhelming win for the
AAP.
“Such a big mandate is very
scary, and we should live up
to people’s expectations,” Kejriwal told his cheering supporters, who yelled “Five
years, Kejriwal!” and showered rose petals on him outside the party’s headquarters
in New Delhi.
Analysts said the scale of the
Bharatiya Janata Party’s defeat was a wake-up call for the
government.
“Modi came to power in May
making promises to people.
But he has nothing to show
on the ground even though ei-
ad
May, with many attributing
its success to Modi’s charisma, his promises of economic
growth and voters’ fury over
endemic corruption.
During
a
brief
stint
as New Delhi’s leader last
year, Kejriwal impressed people with tough action against
police officers and officials
caught accepting bribes. He
encouraged people to carry
out sting operations and film
officials accepting bribes.
AP PHOTO
Ashok Sharma, New Delhi
Thousands
supporters
of former
tax collector
Arvind Kejriwal
and his Aam
Admi Party,
or Common
Man’s Party,
beat drums
and danced in
celebration
Leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Man’s Party, Arvind Kejriwal waves to
the crowd as his party looks set for a landslide party in New Delhi
ght months have passed,” said
Zoya Hasan, a political analyst
with New Delhi’s Jawarhalal
Nehru University.
Kejriwal, who will become New Delhi’s chief minis-
ter, said the arrogance of leaders in Modi’s party led to the
BJP’s poor showing. The party
had been on a winning streak
since demolishing the competition in national elections in
Modi said he spoke with Kejriwal yesterday, congratulating him and assuring the federal government’s support in
developing the capital.
“The AAP is going to write a
chapter in history, in the history of politics,” party supporter Nandidi, a homemaker
who goes by one name, said
while celebrating outside party headquarters.
With most votes counted,
India’s Election Commission
said the AAP already had won
58 out of 61 seats, with the
BJP winning just three. The
AAP was racing ahead in the
nine remaining constituencies
in the 70-seat assembly.
“Something dramatic has
happened,” a dejected BJP
spokesman Nalin Kohli said.
The Congress party, which
governed the capital for 15
years until its defeat in 2013,
was nowhere on the radar.
One Congress party leader,
Rita Bahuguna, said the vote
amounted to “a referendum
on Modi’s arrogant style of
functioning, communalizing
politics in the country.” She
suggested the BJP’s profile as
a Hindu nationalist party had
exacerbated communal tensions, leading to Hindu-Muslim clashes earlier this year
in northern India, as well as
encouraging a series of attacks
on New Delhi churches.
Kejriwal, a graduate from the
prestigious Indian Institute of
Technology and a former income tax official, became hugely
popular during his 2013 election campaign, which honed
in on corruption as the country’s greatest menace. While
no party in 2013 won an outright majority of at least 36
assembly seats, Kejriwal led
a minority government for
49 days before resigning, leaving New Delhi under temporary federal government control.
But he has drawn support
from the working class with
promises of subsidized electricity, and offered a measure
of hope to those who have suffered from corruption by opening a New Delhi complaint
hotline. The focus on cleaning
up government galvanized
India’s middle and working
classes against a culture of endemic corruption throughout
the nation of 1.2 billion.
“Democracy is winning today
... because an honest man is
standing for us,” 22-year-old
student Pradeep Kumar said
yesterday. AP
wed 11.02.2015
th Anniversary
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13
14
ASIA-PACIFIC
11.02.2015 wed
th Anniversary
亞太版
MALAYSIA
AP PHOTO
Top court upholds Anwar
Ibrahim’s sodomy conviction
Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, center, arrives at court in Putrajaya
Eileen Ng, Putrajaya
M
ALAYSIA’S top court
yesterday upheld opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s
sodomy conviction and sentenced him to five years in
prison, a verdict he slammed
— while standing in the dock
— as the “murder of judicial
independence” and the result
of a political conspiracy.
The case was widely seen at
home and abroad as politically
motivated to eliminate any
threats to the ruling coalition
whose popularity has slowly
been eroding since 2008 after
more than five decades of unquestioned dominance. Anwar
is the most popular, vocal and
visible symbol of the opposition’s resurgence and had become a potent political threat
to Prime Minister Najib Razak.
This was Anwar’s final
appeal, and once the proceedings ended he was led by
police out of the court, presumably to immediately start
serving time on charges of sodomizing a then 23-year-old
aide who worked in his office.
“I have to go. Time’s up,”
the 67-year-old politician
told his supporters inside the
court. “I will miss you all,” he
said bowing to them before
walking out.
Anwar was accused of sodomizing Saiful Bukhari Azlan,
who was working as a lowly
functionary in the opposition
election campaign office, in
2008. Anwar was acquitted
by the High Court in 2012 but
the Appeals Court overturned
the acquittal in March last
year and sentenced him to five
years in prison.
[Anwar was]
sentenced to
five years in
prison, a verdict
he slammed —
while standing
in the dock —
as the “murder
of judicial
independence”
Anwar appealed in Federal Court, which in its ruling yesterday said there was
“overwhelming evidence” to
support the conviction. “It is
beyond reasonable doubt that
(Saiful) was sodomized by the
appellant. The appeal is dis-
missed,” said Justice Arifin
Zakat, who read the verdict
for two hours on behalf of the
five-judge panel.
The court also sentenced him
to five years imprisonment,
even though the prosecutor
had asked for more than six
years. Sodomy, even consensual, is a crime in Muslim
-majority Malaysia and is punishable by up to 20 years in
prison. Saiful maintained that
he submitted to it because he
was afraid of Anwar.
Now 30, Saiful has since got
married and has a son. He
said on his blog yesterday he
is thankful for the judgment,
which proves the court found him a credible witness.
“What is important is that I
and my family can now move
forward,” he wrote.
The Federal Court said
Anwar’s allegations that the
case was a political conspiracy “remains an allegation,
unsubstantiated by any facts
whatsoever.” It also rejected
the defense argument that the
semen samples taken from
Saiful’s body were tampered
with by the police.
Addressing the judges from
the dock after the verdict,
Anwar said: “You have become
partners in crime in the murder of judicial independence,”
prompting them to get up and
walk out of the room, with
Justice Arifin heard saying “I
don’t need to hear all this.”
Anwar, however, continued
speaking from the dock. “Allah
be my witness. I pledge that I
will not be silenced. I will fight
on for freedom and justice. I
will never surrender.”
“I maintain my innocence.
This to me is a fabrication
coming from a political conspiracy to stop my political career,” Anwar said.
As the last words of the verdict were read out, Anwar’s
wife, Wan Azizah, burst into
tears. Anwar hugged and consoled her before turning to his
children and grandchildren.
He smiled and hugged them
too.
Watched by about 300 policemen, hundreds of his supporters gathered peacefully
outside the imposing court
building in Putrajaya, the administrative capital of Malaysia. The supporters are “definitely disappointed,” said
Edmund Teoh, 29, calling the
court partial and unjust.
The verdict is the “death of
justice. We will keep on fighting for a better Malaysia. We
won’t give up,” said another
supporter, Tey Khang Fai, 33.
In an apparently pre-written
statement released minutes after the verdict, the Prime Minister’s Office said Anwar’s case
has gone through an exhaustive
legal process, and that the case
was brought by an individual,
not the government.
“The process is now complete and we call on all parties to
respect the legal process and
judgment ... Malaysia has an
independent judiciary, and
there have been many rulings
against senior government figures,” it said.
Anwar previously was imprisoned for six years after being
ousted as deputy prime minister in 1998 on earlier charges
of sodomizing his former family driver and abusing his
power. He was freed in 2004
after Malaysia’s top court
quashed that sodomy conviction. That case was also widely
seen as politically motivated,
as it came at a time when he
was locked in a power struggle with then Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad.
The latest verdict brought
forth a torrent of criticism
from local and international
human rights groups including Amnesty International,
Human Rights Watch and International Federation for Human Rights. They called the
verdict “disgraceful,” a “black
day” and “totally unjust.”
Malaysian human rights
group Suaram pointed out that
that the political nature of the
trial was apparent from the
fact that Saiful had met with
the prime minister and senior officials before making a
police complaint; medical records had shown no penetration; one of Anwar’s lawyers
was charged twice with sedition for criticizing the Appeals
Court judgment.
“The Federal Court’s verdict
is the disgraceful conclusion
of a relentless judicial campaign against Anwar Ibrahim.
Malaysia’s judiciary failed to
demonstrate its independence
from the executive branch in
a trial that had clear political
motivations,” said FIDH President Karim Lahidji.
Anwar said his jailing for a
second time would be toughest on his family, but that
they were all very supportive.
Instead of breaking up his
three-party alliance, he warned Najib that jailing him could backfire and galvanize more
support for the opposition.
“They will continue with or
without Anwar,” Anwar said.
“Authoritarian leaders always
believe the best way to deal
with dissidents is to jail them,
but throughout history, it has
always backfired,” he said.
Anwar led his alliance to
unprecedented gains in 2008
elections and made further
inroads in 2013 polls. Najib’s
National Front coalition won
with a slimmer majority and
lost the popular vote to the
opposition. AP
wed 11.02.2015
th Anniversary
分析
Assad: We get messages from
US-led coalition battling IS
emirates launches
airstrikes from
jordan on is targets
Syrian President Bashar Assad gestures during an interview with the BBC, in Damascus
The barrel bombs, which cannot be precisely targeted, have
killed thousands of civilians, according to Syrian activists.
“I know about the army,
they use bullets, missiles, and
bombs. I haven’t heard of the
army using barrels, or maybe,
cooking pots,” Assad said,
apparently making light of the
allegations.
Pressed again about their use,
he replied: “They’re called bombs.... There is no barrel bombs,
we don’t have barrels.” AP
THE UNITED Arab Emirates’ state news agency says the
country has launched a series
of airstrikes on Islamic State
militants from an air base in
Jordan. The official WAM news
agency quoted the General
Command of the UAE Armed
Forces saying that the Emirati
F-16s carried out the strikes
yesterday morning. It says the
fighters returned safely back
to base after striking their targets, without elaborating. The
Emirates is one of the most
prominent members of the
U.S.-led coalition against the
Islamic State group. American
officials say it halted air strikes
in December, and yesterday’s
statement was the first confirmation it had restarted combat
operations.
Gov’t reports artillery attack
on eastern town
Topless protesters converge
on Strauss-Kahn trial
Peter Leonard, Sartana
Philippe Sotto and
Gerg Keller, Lille
IGHTING in eastern Ukraine intensified yesterday ahead of much-anticipated peace talks, with both sides claiming significant advances and the government accusing the rebels of shelling a
town far behind the front lines.
The intense fighting, which the U.N.
says has killed more than 5,300 people since April, comes ahead of a crucial
summit involving Western leaders today.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko
told Parliament that Russian-backed rebels conducted an artillery strike on the
town of Kramatorsk, which is more than
50 kilometers away from the front line.
Kramatorsk was the site of major fighting until July when pro-Russian separatists retreated from it.
Local website Donetskiye Novosti posted photos from the scene, showing an
artillery shell stuck in the ground next
to a residential building and two bodies
lying nearby.
The volunteer Azov battalion, loyal to
Kiev, said on social media yesterday that
it captured several villages northeast of
the strategic port of Mariupol, pushing
the rebels closer to the border with Russia. However, rebel military spokesman
Eduard Basurin said in a televised news
conference that the rebels have not retreated.
The Azov said rebels shelled the village
of Kominternove, east of Mariupol, causing unspecified civilian casualties. An
AP PHOTO
FRANCE
AP PHOTO
UKRAINE
F
15
SYRIA
AP PHOTO
S
YRIA’S President
Bashar Assad said in
comments
published
yesterday that his government has been receiving general messages from the American
military about airstrikes targeting the Islamic State group
inside Syria but that there is no
direct cooperation.
In an interview with the BBC,
Assad said the messages are
conveyed through third parties,
such as Iraq.
“Sometimes they convey message, general message, but there’s nothing tactical,” he said.
A U.S.-led coalition that includes four Arab countries is conducting airstrikes in Syria as
part of an international campaign against Islamic State extremists. They share the skies
with Assad’s air force, which
also targets the militants.
Syrian officials have maintained that they have not been
consulted about the airstrikes
since they started in September
— only informed through third
parties in the beginning.
In the interview, Assad also denied his forces have used barrel
bombs. The government’s use
of the crude explosive devices,
usually dropped by helicopters,
has been widely documented
by international human rights
organizations and residents of
opposition-held areas in Syria.
WORLD
D
A Pro-Russian rebel walks past a car destroyed
by a rocket during recent shelling in Donetsk
Associated Press reporter at a government check-point between there and government-controlled Mariupol was told
of ongoing fighting several miles away.
Two ambulances and four pick-up trucks
carrying Ukrainian troops were seen coming from the direction of Kominternove
toward Mariupol.
The rebels reported advances, too. Basurin said late Monday that they have
surrounded the railway hub of Debaltseve, the focus of fierce fighting in the
past weeks, cutting it off from a major
highway. A video posted online by a rebel-sympathizing website showed the separatists moving along the highway while
the bloodied bodies of Ukrainian soldiers
lay on the side of the road.
At least seven Ukrainian troops were
killed overnight in the east, Ukrainian
military spokesman Anatoliy Matyukhin
said yesterday. In the rebel stronghold
of Donetsk, which comes under constant
shelling, two civilians were killed and 12
injured. AP
ISGRACED former International
Monetary Fund boss
Dominique
Strauss-Kahn told a French
court yesterday that he
was unaware that women who participated in
orgies at luxury hotels in
Paris and Washington
D.C. were prostitutes.
65-year-old
Strauss
-Kahn and 13 co-defendants are on trial in this
northern French city,
accused of aggravated
pimping in connection
with a sex ring centered
on the Hotel Carlton in
Lille.
In his first testimony
since the trial began
Feb. 2, Strauss-Kahn
reaffirmed his long-standing defense that he
ignored the “prostitutional character” of the
women who took part in
his orgies.
Strauss-Kahn’s
arrival at the courthouse
was disrupted by three
topless protesters from
the provocative group
A Femen activist is led
away by police officers as
she protests in front of Lille
courthouse in Lille
Femen, who were detained by police.
Strauss-Kahn’s chances of becoming French
president were ruined
over an unrelated sex
scandal in New York.
The economist, known
widely as DSK, faces
up to 10 years in prison
and a 1.5 million-euro
(USD1.7 million) fine if
convicted.
Strauss-Kahn is on
trial with 13 other defendants accused of
operating a prostitution
ring out of luxury hotels
in Paris, Washington
D.C., Lille and Brussels.
The trial began Feb.
2. The court has so far
heard testimony from
some of Strauss-Kahn’s
fellow defendants, who
include a Belgian brothel owner, local businessmen, a police officer
and hotel staff accused
of organizing sex parties
for Strauss-Kahn’s benefit.
Investigators
have
compiled hundreds of
pages of testimony from
prostitutes describing
the orgies.
It’s not illegal to pay
for sex in France, but it’s
against the law to solicit
or to run a prostitution
business.
Prostitutes questioned
in the case said that between 2009 and 2011 —
when the IMF chief was
dealing with a global financial crisis — Strauss-Kahn was organizing
orgies at luxury hotels in
Paris, at a restaurant in
the French capital and
also in Washington.
Hundreds of reporters
are covering the trial. AP
16
INFOTAINMENT
what’s ON
...
Cookin’ NANTA
Time: 8pm (Tuesdays to Fridays)
5pm & 8pm (Saturdays & Sunday)
8pm (March 22, 2015)
Until: March 22, 2015
Venue: Sands Theatre at the Sands Macau/
No.203, Largo de Monte Carlo, Macau
Admission: MOP280 up
Exhibition “Foam Tip by Arlinda Frota
and Transmutation by Carol Kwok”
Time: 12pm-8pm (Closed on Tuesdays)
Until: March 31, 2015
Venue: SIGNUM Living Store, Rua do Almirante
Sérgio, no. 285, R/C, Macau
Admission: Free
Enquiries: (853) 2896 8925
Apaixonado Passionate Cuba - Marco
Szeto & 10 Cuban Artists Joint Exhibition
Time: 10am-7pm
11.02.2015 wed
th Anniversary
資訊／娛樂
TV canal macau
13:00
TDM News (Repeated)
13:30
News (RTPi) Delayed Broadcast
14:30
RTPi Live
18:00
Brazil Avenue (Repeated)
18:00
TDM Interview (Repeated)
19:30
Soap Opera
20:30
Main News, Financial & Weather Report
21:00
Montra do Lilau
21:40
Miscellaneous
22:10
Brazil Avenue
23:00
TDM News
23:30
Documentary Series
23:55
Main News, Finalcial & Weather Report (Repeated)
cinema
cineteatro
5 Feb - 11 Feb
Until: February 18, 2015
Venue: Dare to Dream flagship store and
art gallery, Calçada da Barra No.16 A,
Edificio San Chak, Macau
Admission: Free
Enquiries: (853) 2830 2012
“One Hundred Photographers Focus
on Macau” Exhibition
Time: 24 hours
Until: March 22, 2015
Venue: Level 2 Showcase, MGM Macau
Admission: Free
Enquiries: (853) 8802 8888
Fantasy is my Poem
- Mixed Media Exhibition by Yolanda Kog
Time: 3pm-8pm (Close on Mondays)
Until: February 15, 2015
Venue: P.M &salon Creative Store,
1990 Freedom for
Nelson Mandela
JUPITER ASCENDING_
room 1
(2D) 2.30, 4.45, 9.45 pm
(3D) 7.15 pm
Director: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Starring: Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Eddie
Redmayne
Language: English (Chinese)
Duration: 127min
EDF. WO FAT Rua das Estalagens 37A
Admission: Free
Enquiries: (853) 6371 5152
Macau Grand Prix Museum
& Wine Museum
Time: 10am-8pm (Closed on Tuesdays)
Venue: Rua Luis Gonzaga Gomes, 431, basement
(Tourism Activities Centre-CAT)
Admission: Free Enquiries: (853) 8798 4108 / 2833 3000
GANGNAM BLUES_
room 2
2.00, 4.30, 7.00, 9.30 pm
Director: Yoo Ha
Starring:Lee Min-ho, Kim Rae-won
Language: Korean (Chinese/English)
Duration: 135min
Offbeat
Gaffe: Romania’s foreign ministry
summons diplomat after rude notes
Romanian foreign ministry has summoned a diplomat
to Bucharest after its embassy in Paris sent out invitations to a reception containing rude remarks about
the guests.
The embassy had emailed invitations to a reception
to mark yesterday’s visit by President Klaus Iohannis,
but inadvertently attached a spreadsheet that described some of the guests as “undesirable” and another
as “ghastly.”
Last week the ministry said the embassy had apologized, saying the annotations were personal remarks,
but the furor did not go away.
In a second statement Monday, the ministry said one
diplomat had been summoned to Bucharest and another had been given a warning.
Ambassador to France Bogdan Mazuru wrote a letter
of apology to the Romanian writer who exposed the
gaffe but did not personally have a rude description.
this day in history
Leading anti-apartheid campaigner Nelson Mandela has been freed from prison in South Africa after
27 years.
His release follows the relaxation of apartheid laws including lifting the ban on leading black rights party
the African National Congress (ANC) - by South African President FW de Klerk.
Mr Mandela appeared at the gates of Victor-Verster
Prison in Paarl at 1614 local time - an hour late - with
his wife Winnie.
Holding her hand and dressed in a light brown suit
and tie he smiled at the ecstatic crowds and punched
the air in a victory salute before taking a silver BMW
sedan to Cape Town, 40 miles away.
People danced in the streets across the country and
thousands clamoured to see him at a rally in Cape
Town.
Doctors treated over a hundred people as police
clashed with youths looting shops in various cities
and townships and several people were reported
shot dead.
Mr Mandela, the deputy-president of the ANC,
appeared on the balcony of Cape Town’s City Hall
to speak to the 50,000 people assembled outside at
2000 local time.
He acknowledged Mr de Klerk was a man of integrity, but said: “Our struggle has reached a decisive
moment. Our march to freedom is irreversible.”
“Now is the time to intensify the struggle on all fronts. To relax now would be a mistake which future
generations would not forgive,” he continued.
As he addressed the crowd South African state television broadcast a profile of Mr Mandela - including
a BBC interview from 1961 - which was the first time
he had been shown speaking on TV.
Now 71, the lawyer from the Transkei homeland was
convicted of treason and sabotage in June 1964 and
sentenced to life imprisonment.
He spent most of his sentence on Robben Island,
off Cape Town, doing hard labour.
Since the 1980s he has refused numerous offers for
early release from the government in Pretoria because of the conditions attached.
THE CON ARTIST_
room 3
2.30, 4.45, 7.15, 9.30 pm
Director: Kim Hong-sun
Starring: Kim Woo-bin, Lee Hyun-woo, Ko Chang-seok
Language: Korean (Chinese/English)
Duration: 116min
macau tower
5 Feb - 18 Feb
JUPITER ASCENDING_
2.30, 4.30, 7.00, 9.30 pm
Director: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Starring: Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Eddie
Redmayne
Language: English (Chinese)
Duration: 127min
Courtesy BBC News
In context
Nelson Mandela succeeded Oliver Tambo as president of the
ANC later in 1991.
He divorced Winnie the next year following her convictions
for kidnapping and being accessory to an assault.
Mr Mandela and FW de Klerk shared the Nobel Peace Prize in
1993 for their efforts to transform South African society.
In the first multi-racial elections in the country’s history he
was elected president and the ANC gained 252 of the 400
seats in the national assembly.
He was succeeded as ANC president by Thabo Mbeki in 1997
and stepped down in favour of Mr Mbeki as national president
after the 1999 elections.
Mr Mandela re-married in 1998 and was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2001, aged 83. He died on December 5, 2013
(aged 95).
wed 11.02.2015
th Anniversary
資訊／娛樂
Mar. 21-Apr. 19
Taurus
April 20-May 20
You need to start something new
today — even if you feel totally
satisfied (or even overwhelmed)
with your current workload. You
should have just the right partner
this time around.
You’re getting along well with
your people at work or elsewhere
— so take on a new project or just
find a way to bond together. It’s
easier than you may realize to get
ahead!
Gemini
Cancer
May 21-Jun. 21
Jun. 22-Jul. 22
Your latest plan needs action right
away — so get busy! Things may
not make much sense until you
start to make some progress, so set
aside your plans and just see how
things move.
You need to take care of your
home life today — things just
aren’t quite as aligned as you’d
like them. You should be able to
make small but profound changes
that make you much happier.
Leo
Virgo
Jul. 23-Aug. 22
Aug. 23-Sept. 22
You need to speak out today —
the world is waiting for your
pronouncement. It could be at a
work meeting or online, but once
you’ve said your piece, things start
to change for the better.
A friend or colleague brings up an
uncomfortable conversation — but
it’s one you both need to have,
Things are starting to gel, and once
you get past this obstacle, you should
feel a lot better.
Libra
SUDOKU
WEATHER
MIN
Easy
Sep.23-Oct. 22
Oct. 23 - Nov. 21
You’re not quite able to make sense
of today’s squirrelly ideas — but try
to catch up! It may take all day and
part of tomorrow, but once you’ve
got the basics, the rest comes
naturally.
Sagittarius
Capricorn
Nov. 22-Dec. 21
Dec. 22-Jan. 19
Your perspective shifts and widens
considerably — things just seem
to make more sense today. It’s a
good time for you to step back and
rethink your plans in light of this
new information.
A small challenge turns out to be
an opportunity — so make sure that
you’re ready for anything! You may
find it easier to enlist support ahead
of time, but that’s not essential to
victory.
Medium
Hard
Feb.19-Mar. 20
You need to experiment with
something new today — though you
should try to keep it small-scale.
Your energy is best spent on arts
and culture, so it may be a good
time to get out your pencils.
A tiny improvement turns out to be
a much bigger deal than you had
anticipated — so go with it! Your
ability to challenge perceptions is
enhanced, so expect to change a
few minds along the way.
Crossword puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com
DOWN: 1- Sandy bathing beach; 2- Make less tense; 3- Charge too high a price; 4Coloring material; 5- Bear witness; 6- Coconut-husk fiber; 7- Up and ___!; 8- Rate;
9- Stretch; 10- Bridal paths; 11- Bananas;
12- Festoon; 13- Like Cheerios; 21Yesterday’s solution
Cookbook amts.; 22- Estimator’s phrase;
24- Hard to hold; 27- Old Testament
book; 28- No-nos; 30- Travellers; 31- Fifth
Avenue store; 32- It transforms carbon
dioxide into oxygen; 33- Mongolian
desert; 34- Crude cartel; 36- Jump;
39- Form of glucose; 40- Of the highest
quality; 42- Sotto ___; 43- Takes to court;
45- Financed; 47- Kitchen utensil; 49Religious offshoots; 51- Actress Verdugo;
52- Divulge; 53- Equinox mo.; 54- Sweet
sandwich; 55- Rub the wrong way; 56- Go
after; 57- Cut-price retail event; 61- Small
battery size
Beijing
-1
8
cloudy/clear
Harbin
-20
-8
cloudy/snow shower
Tianjin
0
7
cloudy/clear
Urumqi
-8
4
clear
Xi’an
-1
14
clear
Lhasa
-6
8
clear/cloudy
Chengdu
2
16
cloudy
overcast/cloudy
Chongqing
7
15
Kunming
5
15
cloudy
Nanjing
1
16
clear/cloudy
Shanghai
4
15
clear/cloudy
Wuhan
1
17
clear
Hangzhou
1
14
cloudy/clear
Taipei
8
18
cloudy
Guangzhou
9
20
cloudy
Hong Kong
14
18
cloudy
-2
0
flurry
Frankfurt
0
4
sleet/drizzle
Paris
-2
3
sleet/drizzle
London
1
4
drizzle
New York
-4
1
flurry/overcast
Moscow
CROSSWORDS
ACROSS: 1- Goad; 5- Without ___ in the world; 10- Furthermore; 14- Impose, as a
tax; 15- Bottom line; 16- Caucus state; 17- Away from the wind; 18- Connect with;
19- Beat it!; 20- Needlefish; 21- Nomenclature; 23- Immoderation; 25- Fiend; 26Group of seven; 29- Help; 33- Scores; 35- Very, to Verdi; 37- Pitch; 38- Grand Ole
___; 39- Recipient; 40- Bicycle; 41- Implore; 42- Roman goddess of the hearth; 43Have a feeling about; 44- Refrigerator; 46- One’s husband or wife; 48- After John in
the NT; 50- Diving seabird; 53- Witches; 58- Malt beverage; 59- Actor Estrada; 60Body of salt water; 61- Work without ___; 62- Soccer legend; 63- Inscribed pillar;
64- ___ extra cost; 65- Nailed obliquely; 66- Glacial ridge; 67- Slippery ___ eel;
CONDITION
WORLD
Pisces
Jan. 20-Feb. 18
MAX
CHINA
Easy+
Scorpio
Art and culture are making life
sweet today — so make sure that
you’re soaking it up! You should get
a free pass from anyone expecting
anything from you. Live it up and
share your joy with the world.
Aquarius
17
THE BORN LOSER by Chip Sansom
YOUR STARS
Aries
INFOTAINMENT
USEFUL TELEPHONE NUMBERS
Emergency calls 999
Taxi 28 939 939 / 2828 3283
Fire department 28 572 222
Water Supply – Report 1990 992
PJ (Open line) 993
Telephone – Report 1000
PJ (Picket) 28 557 775
Electricity – Report 28 339 922
PSP 28 573 333
Macau Daily Times 28 716 081
Customs 28 559 944
S. J. Hospital 28 313 731
Kiang Wu Hospital 28 371 333
Commission Against
Corruption (CCAC) 28326 300
IACM 28 387 333
Tourism 28 333 000
Airport 59 888 88
ad
18
PHOTO SHOP
11.02.2015 wed
th Anniversary
影廊
Frank Stallone entertains
Bellini Lounge audience
AMERICAN singer-songwriter and Grammy and
Golden Globe nominee Frank Stallone performed in
Macau for the first time yesterday, entertaining an
audience at The Venetian’s Bellini Lounge.
The brother of Hollywood action superstar Sylvester Stallone reinterpreted some of his timeless hits such as “Far From
Over,” “Take You Back” and “Music is My Life, It’s What I
Know and What I Love.”
Frank Stallone, who was praised by the late Frank Sinatra,
previously told the Times that he was excited by the opportunity to play in Macau.
“We have a pretty high-energy show. We do a lot of things –
big band, acoustic, all different genres. We are known for
our diversity,” he said. “It’s an ebb and flow, anywhere from
90 minutes to two hours. I need to feel the audience. Sometimes there will be a bit of chit-chat, sometimes we just play.
Every night is a different vibe, we gotta always change it up.
I play a lot of guitar,” the singer added.
“Frank Stallone Live in Concert” is playing at the Bellini Lounge until Saturday.
wed 11.02.2015
th Anniversary
體育
SPORTS
19
Brook Yang, Bangkok*
Z
OU Shiming is not the
only boxer hoping to
defend a nation’s pride
with a pair of fists. His
old acquaintance and upcoming
opponent, International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight
titleholder Amnat Ruenroeng, is
also expecting to bring a worldclass matchup between China
and Thailand come March 7 at
The Venetian’s Cotai Arena.
At a university sports center
outside Bangkok city, Ruenrong told visiting reporters that
his confidence in boxing originated from an unexpected victory over the then high profile
Zou, in the amateur ranks back
in 2007.
Now, to face off against the
same contender on the professional stage, he is not only
reaffirming his champion status, but also seizing a chance to
earn glory and recognition for
his country.
“When I started boxing, I didn’t
think I’d become a good boxer.
But when I beat Zou Shiming, he
told me that I was a good boxer.
That was the inspiration for me
to feel good about boxing in my
heart and continue,” said Ruenroeng, recalling his first international tournament – the 2007
King’s Cup in Thailand, where he
confronted Zou as a replacement
boxer on his team.
The Thai fighter said that boxing changed his life, as he was
also chosen to represent Thailand in the 2008 Olympics. Before all that happened, he was a
convicted felon who couldn’t see
a way out of prison.
“He [stole] a lady’s bag and
he couldn’t pay the [fine] of
USD2,000 himself, thus he was
sentenced for 15 years based
on the calculation of the value
he robbed. But he was very lucky,” said Ruenroeng’s manager Jimmy Chaichotchuang.
“He participated in the prison
boxing program and won the
national championship. They
saw the talent in him and wanted him to join the Thailand national team. Someone paid the
ransom for him.”
Before going to jail, Ruenroeng
had claimed the national championship in Muay Thai. However, “he got lazy after that, so his
coach threw him into the street
and he didn’t have a home,” said
the manager.
Comparing Muay Thai and boxing, Ruenroeng said that the
Amnat Ruenroeng
THE SHOWDOWN AT SANDS
Thai fighter confident
against Zou Shiming in
March 7 title defense
For skills, Zou
is very good;
we are at the
same level. This
fight will test
my limits, as
I’ve trained very
hard to beat
him
RUENROENG
biggest difference is that Muay
Thai allows fighters to use any
part of their body as a weapon
besides the fists, which requires greater stamina and harder
training. More importantly, bo-
xing brought him bigger recognition and glory as well as a happy
family.
“By winning the world [championship] in boxing, I could also
make Thailand more known in
the world,” he stressed. “This
[upcoming] fight with Zou Shiming is a fight between two boxers who represent Thailand and
China. It’s a good match, good
promotion for Thailand and for
China. People in Macau and people in Thailand want to watch it,”
he added.
Despitet having won more
than twice the number of pro
bouts as Zou, the champion denied that the matchup will be
easy for him.
“For skills, Zou is very good; we
are at the same level. This fight
will test my limits, as I’ve trained very hard to beat him,” he
told the media. “I’m confident to
defeat Shiming and keep my tit-
le. I came to professional boxing
earlier; he just started. And I’ve
had three 12-round fights, but he
only fought a 12-rounder once,”
he added.
The two boxers had two more
encounters in the amateur ranks,
with Zou winning both bouts in
the 2007 Asian Championships
in Ulan Bator, Mongolia and the
2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. When asked to comment
on his rival, Ruenroeng said he
had watched two of Zou Shiming’s fights in Macau and that
he fought well against those Thai
opponents.
“Since turning professional,
Zou Shiming has developed very
fast,” he said, adding that he was
also impressed by Chinese boxers’ performances at a boxing
event in Shanghai last December. “Boxing in China has a big
development. It just opened up,
but [has grown] very fast.”
The 34-year old Thai fighter
said he is used to hard training
because of Muay Thai; but to
maintain a strong body and
further enhance his stamina,
he needed support from the
sport science department of
the Srinakharinwirot University.
Every day, he travels 6 hours
between his home and the university’s sports center. He trains
for 6 hours there. Despite the
commute, he avoids going to the
noisy and polluted training site
that he used to frequent near the
airport.
“For a boxer to be a champion
at the age of 34 in Thailand is
very old, thus he needs to get
good support from the physicians, nutrition scientists and
psychologists. After he became
the world champion, for every
fight, he’d come here to train,”
added his manager.
Another Thai boxer under the
same trainer, Patomsuk Pathompothong, also told reporters that
boxing had changed his life. Coming from a family with a strong
Muay Thai tradition, he acknowledged that boxing is more of an
international stage for Thai fighters. “I’m confident in winning
the match with Ik Yang,” he said.
“A strong fighter doesn’t have a
weak point in his body and nothing will scare him.”
*The reporter was in Bangkok at the
invitation of The Venetian Macao
THE
BUZZ dance at meetings
SIX NATIONS
William Pesek
World Rugby accepts Wales
did not see North concussed
AP PHOTO
More stimulus isn’t the
answer to China problems
W
ORLD Rugby has
exonerated Wales for
missing George North’s second knock to the head and
allowing the winger to play
out the Six Nations loss to
England.
Rugby’s governing body
launched a review of North’s medical treatment after
watching video on Saturday,
a day after the match in Cardiff. He accidentally banged
heads with a teammate in
a second-half tackle and
appeared to lose consciousness.
World Rugby said in a statement yesterday that North
should not have stayed on
the field, but believed the
Wales medical team did not
see the incident before attending to him.
The statement adds, “World Rugby accepts the WRU’s
explanation that neither the
team medical staff nor the
independent doctor had sight of the incident, and understands that the medics
acted within the framework
of information they had at
the time, and would have
taken a different course of
action had they had direct
pitch-side visibility or access
to the same broadcast footage seen by those watching on
television.”
Meanwhile, Wales will
have instant video replays
available to its medical staff for the remainder of the
Six Nations tournament to
avoid a repeat of an incident
where one of its players continued playing after losing
consciousness on the field.
Wales has come under criticism after winger George
North played on following
a clash of heads with a
teammate in the second half
of the 21-16 loss to England
in Cardiff on Friday. He did
not undergo a mandatory
test for concussion.
In an interview posted on
the Welsh Rugby Union’s
website on Monday, the national medical officer, Prav
Mathema, said team doctors did not see the incident
involving North and that he
was lucid when they arrived
to treat him.
“Having seen it since, obviously, there is no doubt
that he looks like he has a
momentary loss of consciousness,” Mathema said, “and
in that case he should definitely be removed from the
field of play.”
Mathema said the incident
has made his medical team
look at where its protocols
need to improve.
“For the next four games of
the Six Nations, we are certainly going to have instant
video replay for both our
home and away matches,”
he said. “We’ve also had this
discussion with World Rugby, and we are hopeful that
our discussions will spark
some form of global intervention as well with regards
to this.”
North was also accidentally kicked in the head by
an opponent in the first half
of the match at Millennium
Stadium. He was temporarily
replaced while he underwent
concussion assessment.
Mathema says North
is “symptom-free” after
concussion evaluation on
Monday, and has been since Friday. He has started
his return-to-play protocol and could be available
for Sunday’s match against
Scotland in Round 2 of the
Six Nations. MDT/AP
High
Density
90-120
Residental Moderate
Area
SOURCE: DSMG
manager 100,000 reals ($36,000).
The statement says the woman was forced to wear
costumes and perform “objectionable dances of a
sensual and pejorative nature” during annual sales promotion events. The court did not reveal the
name of the woman. The ruling can be appealed.
Avon did not immediately respond to an email
request for comment.
Ambient
80-110
Moderate
WORLD BRIEFS
AFGHANISTAN Taliban
suicide attackers assault
an Afghan police station,
killing one officer as
a separate roadside
bombing targeted
a prominent female
politician in the country’s
east, authorities say.
JAPAN A man who
slashed two teenage
singers in the popular
Japanese female pop
group AKB48 last year is
sentenced to six years in
prison, reports say.
JAPAN-MONGOLIA
Japan and Mongolia
signed a free trade
agreement yesterday
that is expected to
open the landlocked
frontier market to more
Japanese auto exports
and strengthen Tokyo’s
leverage with a key
partner in its dealings
with North Korea.
THAILAND’s junta
leader says the military
will return to the
barracks once a civilian
government is chosen,
but stops short of ruling
out another coup “if
something cannot be
solved” by the new
government.
THE
DECISIVE MOMENT
90-120
Moderate
AP PHOTO
World Views
th Anniversary
Roadside
AP PHOTO
The Brazilian subsidiary of the Avon cosmetics company has been ordered to pay more than
USD30,000 in damages to a former employee
who was allegedly forced to perform sensual dances at sales meetings.
The Regional Labor Court in the northeastern state
of Ceara says in a statement posted yesterday on its
website that the company must pay the former sales
opinion
Few buzz phrases scare economists more than
“new paradigm.” If such things existed, Japan would still dominate the world economy, risk would have
been eliminated from Wall Street, and the euro would have spread boundless prosperity from Berlin to
Athens. So why do so many market observers continue to
insist that basic principles of growth and stability don’t
apply to China? News that January exports fell 3.3
percent year on year in January, while imports fell
19.9 percent – the most in more than five years - don’t
seem to have fazed many analysts. Bloomberg China
economist Tom Orlik points out that the numbers may
have been skewed by pre-Lunar New Year buying last
year and a crackdown on mis-invoicing of exports to
Hong Kong. More broadly, though, optimists are simply convinced that President Xi Jinping will soon introduce more stimulus measures to keep growth ticking
above 7 percent.
The idea that China can borrow indefinitely in order
to prop up growth simply doesn’t wash. In a new report
on the world’s growing debt glut, McKinsey highlights three huge risks: unsustainably high government
borrowing, households in over their heads and China.
The mainland earns its singular position because of
another trio of concerns: too much debt concentrated
in real estate; the scale and complexity of its shadowbanking entities; and rampant off-balance sheet borrowing by local governments.
Driven by the vast shadow-banking sector (which
contains at least USD6.5 trillion of debt) and a construction boom fueled by local officials, China’s debt
buildup accounted for a third of all borrowing globally
since 2007. In that period, total Chinese debt quadrupled to USD28 trillion by mid-2014 from $7 trillion. China’s public debt now stands at 282 percent of gross
domestic product – a far higher debt ratio than that
of advanced economies like the U.S., Germany and
Australia.
Why does that matter? When investors scrutinize
China’s balance sheet, they’re looking for immediate
threats – what might trigger a true financial meltdown.
One could make the case that with almost $4 trillion
of currency reserves, vast state wealth and a controlled financial system, China can head off any crisis by
bailing out developers and propping up stocks.
Yet, as McKinsey notes, high debt levels don’t just raise the risk of a dramatic crash: They “have historically
placed a drag on growth.” The problem is diminishing
returns. As Japan proved over the past two decades
and Europe confirms, highly- indebted nations require
ever-bigger stimulus injections to lift GDP. Economists
at the International Monetary Fund generally put the
drag-on-growth threshold at about 96 percent of GDP –
a line China long ago blew past.
For an advanced economy like Japan, this poses
a difficult problem. For China, which has yet to reach middle-income status and must still lift tens of
millions of citizens out of poverty, it’s hard to distinguish from a crisis. Expanding public debt risks
suffocating a private sector that’s still in its infancy.
The cost of servicing that debt will hog resources
that could otherwise be invested in education, healthcare and productivity- increasing technologies.
New airports, six-lane highways and skyscrapers
will produce more overcapacity than household demand.
What’s the answer? The most obvious is to
allow growth to decelerate to the 4 percent to 5 percent range needed to wean China off excessive investment and debt. That would help purge Beijing’s
excesses, including the rampant corruption Xi has
pledged to eliminate. It also would give the government room to rein in state-owned giants, which live
off of easy credit.
Barring such shock therapy, the government could develop, as McKinsey writes, “a broader range of
tools to avoid excessive borrowing and efficiently restructure debt.” Half the loans made since 2007 are
linked to the cooling real-estate sector. A wider range
of financial products, a broader pool of intermediaries
and tax incentives to issue non-property debt would
reduce risks. Beijing should clamp down on non-bank
lending, America’s downfall in the late 2000s. A broader array of debt- restructuring mechanisms – like
stronger investor-rights clauses – would curb irresponsible borrowing.
China should also employ more so-called macroprudential tools to deflate bubbles. The government
could impose tight limits on loan-to-value ratios and
ban risky mortgages like interest-only loans.
Finally, Beijing must get serious about improving
transparency. Debt reporting is dangerously lax. The
list of things we don’t know is daunting: the breadth
of shadow-bank lending; how much local-government
financing is off the books; the scale of intra-local-government borrowing; the state of unfunded pension
and health-care liabilities; the fitness of household
finances. The first step to fixing China’s problems is
admitting just how bad they really are.
Air quality
Station
11.02.2015
wed
AP Photo/Bill Sikes
AP PHOTO
20
Avon Brazil fined for making woman
Snow state. A man walks on snow-covered Route 20 in Marlborough, Mass. New England and portions
of New York state awoke this week to a fresh blanket of snow as a storm threatening to bring up to 1 to
2 feet to some areas churned across the Northeast, making for a slippery, tedious commute to start the
workweek. That is, in the USA.
CAMEROON Nigeria’s
Boko Haram Islamic
extremists have abducted
about 30 people including
eight Cameroonian girls
and killed seven hostages
in two bus hijackings in
Cameroon and Nigeria,
Cameroon residents and
a Nigerian intelligence
officer said yesterday.