Korea looks for the perfect recipe to globalise its cuisine

Transcription

CHANGING ASIA:
TRAVEL BITES:
Defying
ingrained myths
Pick your next
destination
POPDOM:
Learn the ABCs of
Asian pop music
JANUARY 29-FEBRUARY 1 1 , 2010
Korea looks for
the perfect recipe
to globalise its
cuisine
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Editorial Page
The Next
Wave
G
et ready for another Korean wave, this
time for food. The South Korean government is embarking on a campaign
to popularise Hansik, or Korean cuisine, to the rest of the world.
Other Asian cuisine like Thai and Japanese are
already enjoying wide popularity and the
Koreans want their cooking to be recognised in
the same way.
Korean food has become increasingly popular
especially in recent years thanks to its exposure
through dramas, specifically Daejanggeum that
showcased the cuisine in its most colourful and
intricate.
The Korean government is launching a Korean
cuisine foundation next month. So get ready for
the next Korean wave.
In China, a gay couple tied the knot early this
month even if same-sex marriages are not
officially recognised in the country. Don’t expect
others to follow suit though since homosexuality
remains taboo in China even if there is an
estimated 30 million homosexuals living there.
In Viet Nam, a different wave is taking place
where hit songs are propelling unknowns to
stardom. In India, some sons in the entertainment business are riding the crest of success and
achieving what their fathers have failed to
achieve.
All these show that as swift as the tide turns,
trends, phenomenon and even social and cultural
attitudes can change quickly. So what’s going to
be the next wave? Keep an eye on it.
Asia News Network
[email protected]
JANUARY 29-FEBRU A R Y 1 1 , 2 0 1 0 • V o l 5 N o 2
CONTENTS
SPECIAL REPORT
P13
Dancing In Shackles
China’s investigative
journalists keep pushing the
envelope
ENVIRONMENT
P18
Planet In The Deep Sea
Discover the unknown
world of Celebes Sea
CHANGING ASIA
P22
Kicking The Myths
Many Asians defy
superstitions ingrained in
their societies
F E AT U R E S
POPDOM
P34
The Alphabet of Pop
Learn the ABCs of Asia’s
pop music. Are you a C, J, K
or M fan?
ENTERTAINMENT
P40
The Son Also Rises
In Bollywood, every star
father expects his son to be
more famous
COVER STORY
P28
PH OTO by AF P
Globalising ‘Bibimbap’
Food is now
Korea’s
ambassador
of culture
THE VIEW
P5
PEOPLE
42
JAL’s Failure
The flag-carrier’s dependence on government
invited bankruptcy
Mrs Balbir
The Lady, The Teacher,
The Chef
QUIRKY ASIA
TRAVEL BITES
P8
Just Got Lucky
A maid who drives a Jaguar and a socialite in a
luxury jail
P44
Where Do You Wanna Go?
Definitely Asia. Start with
Bangkok then head south
until you reach Cambodia
and Viet Nam
COV E R I M AG E | korean signature dis h b i bim bap/t he nation ( t hail and )
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The View
The Yomiuri Shimbun
What Caused JAL’s Failure?
The flag-carrier’s dependence on government
invited bankruptcy
v Tokyo
J
January 29-February 11, 2010
JAL’s largest shareholder, providing
more than 300 billion yen ($3.2 billion). Financial institutions will forgive debts of more than 350 billion
yen ($3.8 billion) and provide bridging loans of a maximum 600 billion
yen ($6.6 billion) to assist JAL’s reconstruction. The amount of public
funds to be injected may reach 1 trillion yen ($11.08 billion).
Meanwhile, JAL is to proceed with
streamlining, cutting 30 per cent of
its employees and withdrawing from
a significant number of unprofitable
routes. The turnaround body predicts
that the airline will return to profitability in the 2011 business year
through such assistance and restructuring.
However, it is indispensable to secure new sources of revenue for rebuilding the company. The turnaround body says that JAL’s ability to
earn profits will be recovered through
having efficient international flight
schedules. But many observers argue
that the reconstruction scheme is too
optimistic.
There has been no clear explanation of why JAL is being bailed out by
pouring a massive sum of public
funds into it or why the nation’s airline industry’s two-carrier structure
with All Nippon Airways should be
maintained.
If JAL’s reconstruction efforts do not proceed as initially
scheduled, the turnaround
body should examine further
strict measures, such as transferring JAL’s international
routes to other airlines.
It is also indispensable to resolve a long-pending labourmanagement issue in order to
gain public backing for the airline’s reconstruction.
Even after its full privatisation in November 1987, the
airline was unable to refuse demands from lawmakers and
influential local figures and so
was forced to launch services
on unprofitable routes. The responsibility for driving JAL
into bankruptcy also lies with
the government. The air transportation administration must
start afresh at the same time as
JAL’s reconstruction.
The circumstances in the nation’s
skies have been drastically changing
because of an increase in the departure and arrival slots at Narita and
Haneda airports as well as the full
liberalisation of the civil aviation
markets in Japan and the United
States.
The Japanese government should
reconstruct the administration of
air transportation, by reexamining
the special account for airport improvement and by opening up more
international flight slots at Haneda
Airport.
•5
PH OTO by TO S HI FU MI KI TA MURA /A F P
apan Airlines, which has
been suffering serious financial difficulties, at last
filed for bankruptcy protection under the Corporate
Rehabilitation Law last week.
This is a corporate failure of the
once-proud Japan’s flagship carrier
that led the country’s air transportation industry. Now, under the supervision of the Tokyo District
Court, JAL sets out to reconstruct itself with assistance
from the state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative
Corporation of Japan. However, it has a tough road ahead.
It is necessary to immediately shape the company’s new
senior management to support
Kazuo Inamori, founder and
honorary chairman of Kyocera
Corp who assumes the post of
chief executive officer, and for
labour and management to
work cooperatively to rebuild
the company.
To rid itself of the ingrained
management culture that has
been far too dependent on the
government, it was unavoidable for the company to declare
bankruptcy. However, the
company and its core subsidiaries have liabilities of more
than 2 trillion yen (US$32.9 billion)—the most ever left by a failed
business outside the financial industry since World War II—and does
business with 3,000 companies in
Japan alone.
Although credit will be guaranteed
for payments of commercial transactions and user mileage points will be
safeguarded, unexpected problems
may come up as this is the failure of a
giant corporation. Relevant parties
must do their best to prevent confusion and secure passenger safety.
The turnaround body will become
The View
The Nation (Thailand)
Issues Of Identity
The ethnocentric attitude adopted by Thailand and Malaysia
is threatening peace and testing religious tolerance
Bangkok
IN SEARCH OF PEACE: Thai Muslim villagers wait for the arrival of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in the Rosok district of Thailand’s
restive southern province of Narathiwat on January 7.
P hoto by MA DA RE E TOHL ALA /AF P
T
hey might not realise it,
but Thailand and Malaysia have a lot in common when it comes to
nation-state building.
Both have adopted a deeply ethnocentric attitude and don’t seem to
realise how this has become problematic.
And at this juncture in their development, both countries are choking
on it. Neither has shown a willingness to address the root of the issue
and instead continue to dish out the
usual wishful-thinking rhetoric
about how all of us should co-exist
peacefully and that the state is not
going to tolerate any sort of violence.
But if the Thai and Malaysian governments and bureaucracies take a
good look at themselves, perhaps
6•
they will come to the realisation that
they are the problem, and the problem stems from the requirements
they place on citizens in their attempt to construct a nation.
For Malaysia, closely associating
the Malay identity with Islam has
helped certain stakeholders, such as
the ruling Umno Party, which bills
itself as the party of the Malays. But
as the recent spate of religious violence has shown, this foundation
rests on shaky ground.
While the Malaysian government
has institutionalised the link between Malay nationality and Islam,
Thailand makes it harder for nonBuddhists to identify themselves as
being “fully Thai”. State ceremonies
and functions are always associated
with Buddhism or Brahminism, but
never other religions.
Since January 8, Malaysia has
been rocked by a series of firebomb
attacks against nearly a dozen
churches and one Sikh temple. The
attacks come amid a dispute over the
use of the word ‘Allah’ by Christians.
Last week, vandals tried to torch a
Muslim prayer room, perhaps in response to the earlier attacks. The
tension began after a court ruled on
December 31 that non-Muslims
were entitled to use the word ‘Allah’
as a translation for ‘God’ in the Malay language.
The dispute centres on a court ruling that favoured the Herald, the
newspaper of the Catholic Church in
Malaysia, which argued that it had
the right to use the word ‘Allah’ in its
Malay-language edition because the
KEEPING THE FAITH: Malaysian Christians attend a Sunday service inside a church in Petaling Jaya near Kuala Lumpur on January 10. Christians and Catholics in Malaysia have not been shaken by a series of firebomb attacks on churches that has heightened ethnic tensions, as they turn
up in thousands to attend Sunday service.
narrative in which the heroes and
heroines are spelled out to them.
And in a region such as Patani—
the Malay historical homeland that
once was an important commercial,
cultural and religious centre until annexation reduced it to a mere province of Thailand—kwam pen Thai
has a tendency to rub locals the wrong
way. And the armed insurgency has
its roots in this discontent.
But this is not rocket science.
Surely Thailand and Malaysia know
that their ‘racist’ policies have to give
way to something that allows ‘others’
to be part of the nation.
In spite of the insurgency—which
seems to have no end in sight—there
is nothing to suggest that the Malays
of Patani want to separate from the
Thai state.
General election turnout in the
deep south remains the highest in
the country compared to other regions. Even in football matches, Malay Muslims cheer on the Thai national team with the same
enthusiasm as the rest of the country’s people, who may call themselves Thai but in actuality may be
descendants of Chinese, Lao, Mon,
Khmer, Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi immigrants. And let’s not
forget the stateless hilltribes who become Thai only on the postcards we
sell to foreign visitors.
Confine them to the hills so we
have something to show the tourists,
seems to be the bureaucracy’s stance.
Unfortunately, the state doesn’t understand that zoos are for animals,
not humans.
•7
Ph oto by Saeed KHA N/A FP
word predates Islam and is commonly used by Christians in other
predominantly Muslim countries
such as Egypt, Indonesia and Syria.
Many ethnic Malay Muslims in
Malaysia believe the word should be
exclusive to them because, in their
country’s context, Islam is inseparable from Malay ethnicity. If you are
Malay, you are a Muslim.
Likewise, Thailand’s state apparatus permits little room for the Patani
Malays in the deep South to feel part
of the Thai nation. The only common
ground is citizenship, which is not
enough because the state has made
‘Thai’ such a loaded word. Besides
dressing a certain way or embracing
certain ideas and values, such as
kwam pen Thai, or ‘Thainess’, the
Thai identity comes with a historical
Quirky
AS I A
Ph oto Courtesy of kitc h entigress. blogsp ot.com
Ph oto by A FP
l Artalyta Suryani in prison cell in Pondok
Bambu Women’s Penitentiary in East Jakarta.
Blogger tests cake ad
S I N GA PORE A woman with a cheeky sense of
humour and a point to prove walked into an
OCBC Bank branch in Marine Parade in Singapore and asked for a birthday cake because the
bank’s TV commercial shows the staff throwing a
surprise birthday party for a customer.
The staff told her that she had mistaken the
intent of the commercial and that she had
taken too literally the advertisement demonstrating the personalised service of the bank.
But the woman continued nagging the bank
employees and “after five eternities”, according
to the blogger, a manager bought her a “miserable” 7.6cm cake from a nearby shop, which
was “topped with a heap of artificial cream—
the kind that doesn’t melt in Singapore’s
tropical heat and I never eat”.
The woman, who goes by the name of
Kitchen Tigress on her food blog, later went on
to become a mini celebrity on the Internet for
the time being. She received 400 comments—100
times more than usual—on her website soon
after she posted the description of her visit to
the bank.
Her supporters hailed her as a consumer
hero and a critic of warm and fuzzy commercials that promise more than they can deliver.
But others called her arrogant, ill-mannered
and naive to have taken an advertisement at
face value.
—John Lui /The Straits Times
8•
Luxury behind bars
JA KA RTA We hear all kind of stories about life behind
bars, mostly unpleasant or horrific. But some days ago,
Indonesians were told a totally different kind of life in
prison—courtesy of an impromptu inspection by a
special team commissioned by President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono.
The team found that some of the convicts in a Jakarta
prison were leading a privileged life behind bars.
Socialite and lobbyist Artalyta Suryani, according to
the reports, had a spacious 64-square-metre room all
to herself, complete with amenities one might usually
find in a five-star hotel—air-conditioning, leather
couch, work desk and a desktop computer—in the
Pondok Bambu Women’s Penitentiary in East Jakarta.
When the team visited her, she was being treated by a
beautician. Another inmate had karaoke equipment in
her room. Given the facilities these rooms come with,
you could hardly call them cells.
What was most amazing about Artalyta’s story is the
fact that despite serving a five-year sentence for bribing
a senior prosecutor at the Attorney General’s Office,
she apparently had not given up her old habit and was
paying off the prison guards to ensure she had
the amenities she was used to outside.
What more, she was even allowed to run her
business from the inside, with not only her
employees visiting and reporting to her
on a daily basis, but business clients also
meeting her in jail.
The justice and human rights ministry
defended its decision saying “she employs
85,000 people”.
—THE JAKARTA POST
Divorce closes mango
shaved ice store
TA I P E I Looking to visit the famous shaved ice
mounted with big chunks of mangoes on Taipei’s
Yong Kang Street? You might be disappointed.
The dessert shop, Ice Monster, has been shut
down—allegedly the result of a divorce settlement between the owners
The registered store owner Lo Chun-hua has
reportedly closed down the business without any
public announcements, to avoid paying a huge
divorce settlement to his ex-wife Chang Chiehmei, family members of Chang said.
The 15-year old Ice Monster flourished 13 years
ago when it began selling the huge portion of
mango shaved ice that now rings up at NT$160
(US$5) a plate. It has been a major tourism spot
that had boosted businesses in the restaurantfilled Yong Kang Street in Taipei’s Daan District.
Store manager Chang Chiu-ping, the ex-wife’s
older sister, said the couple started the business
together shortly after their marriage in 1994.
According to her, Lo’s constant flirtation with
female customers drove the two into a divorce
three years ago. She claimed that Lo closed down
the store to shed the responsibility of paying a
NT$35 million (US$1 million) in divorce settlement that was agreed on the divorce paper.
—THE CHINA POST
S I N GA PO R E Strutting down the stairs in designer heels and
handbag, Zion makes her way towards the silver 7-seater
MPV donning a pink tube top, a short brown skirt and a
Calvin Klein cap.
One look at her and you would easily dismiss the
possibility of her being a domestic helper. But she is!
Meet 38-year-old Filipino domestic helper Zion Paras. She
cooks, she cleans and she drives her employers’ four-wheelers
on grocery-shopping trips.
At times, she even gets behind her employers’ sports car
and makes her way to the market, turning heads.
While most domestic helpers would make their way to
the market on foot, it’s not the same for Zion.
What makes Zion stand out from the 190,000 maids in
Singapore is that she’s got a driver’s licence. She is allowed
to drive her employers’ cars including a Jaguar so she can go
to the market and go shopping without taking the taxi.
“It takes a year to learn driving because it’s very hard to
get a licence here,” Zion says explaining after she passed the
written exam, she failed the practical exam thrice.
Now that she has a Singapore drivers’ licence, she is free
to use her employers’ cars even on work-unrelated trips like
bringing her sisters to nearby malls or touring around her
visiting parents.
Zion set foot in Singapore 16 years ago and has been
working with the Ang family ever since. The family leaves
all the household matters to Zion and her two sisters.
Used to driving a car, Zion says she doesn’t even know
now how to use the metro.
Zion gained the trust of her employers because of the
attitude she has shown. In return, she says she owes so much
to her employers because of their kindness and if there’s an
award for best employers, Zion would definitely nominate
her bosses. Watch Zion’s interview at www.razor.tv/site/
servlet/segment/main/news/42336.html.
—RAZOR TV/THE STRAITS TIMES
•9
Pict ure grab from Razor T V/ The Straits Times
Ice Monster has constantly been featured in both
local and international tourism magazines and was
listed as a must-visit spot in Taiwan by the New
York Times. Famous celebrities who have sampled
its dessert dishes include Hollywood star Cameron
Diaz, local model and actress Lin Chi Ling and
many more. During the summer season, Ice
Monster had sold 10,000-plus of dishes
daily and had a monthly
turnover of as much as
NT$40 million-50
million (US$1.25
million-1.56
million).
My maid drives
my Jaguar!
BUSINESS
By Marcus Schulz
China Daily
Building Green
The latest trend in building architecture in China is
being driven more by the urgency of sustainability
than by the desire for sublimity
W
v Beijing
P hoto by C hina Daily
hen the Olympics
began in 2008, the
curtain opened on
many new architectural wonders in
Beijing. Now, architects continue to
bring innovation to China’s stage by
designing environmentally sustainable buildings.
Building green is becoming “trendy”
in China, according to William Wong,
associate director at the Hong Kong
office of Arup, a global firm of independent designers, engineers and consultants that helped build the Bird’s
10 •
Nest, Water Cube, Beijing International Airport’s Terminal Three and
the new CCTV tower.
“A few years ago, sustainable design was not quite focused and was
not seriously considered in most developments,” Wong says. “However,
development in China is so quick that
all levels of government, designers,
and even the general public are becoming more aware of environmental
issues and how bad the consequences
could be due to ignorance of sustainable design.”
Environmental concerns are no
longer being overlooked by many de-
velopers, who have begun to take advantage of the politically correct, socially responsible image that being
green provides, especially to attract
multinational tenants. To prove their
buildings are environmentally friendly,
design professionals are beginning to
adopt standards from the United
States for green buildings, such as
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification,
an internationally recognised rating
system designed by the US Green
Building Council. LEED certification
is meant to verify that buildings are
energy and water efficient, have low
Green Airport: Beijing International
Airport’s Terminal Three is one of the
architectural wonders of the capital city.
Environmental concerns have become one
of the priorities for Chinese designers.
CO2 emissions, and utilise local resources that use smaller amounts of
energy to create and transport.
Having just completed the Linked
Hybrid in Beijing, Steven Holl Architects has established itself among the
top of this ground-breaking pack.
Their eight-tower structure, attached
by floating walkways, received this
year’s award by the International
Council on Tall Buildings and Urban
Habitat for the best new tall building
in Asia and Australasia and was also
designed to qualify for a LEED Gold
certification, the second-highest
LEED rating obtainable.
The Linked Hybrid has one of the
largest geothermal cooling and heating systems in the world, exemplifying energy efficiency in new Chinese
developments. With the geothermal
system, water pipes running through
the apartments’ floors flow 100m below the basement in 660 wells, cooling the water in summer and heating
it in the winter. The buildings, thus,
maintain a natural temperature between 16 and 21°C without electric
air conditioners or water boilers.
The buildings also recycle all of
their “gray” water by filtering used
water from sinks and bathtubs and
reusing it to flush toilets, irrigate roof
gardens and fill the structure’s outdoor ponds. This reduces water use
by more than 40 per cent.
However, being energy efficient is
not the only aspect to becoming
LEED certified, says Li Hu, the partner of Steven Holl Architects and director of projects in China. The production of building materials,
managing construction sites to avoid
pollution and dealing with construction waste also count when earning
points for certification.
“LEED is a rating system of comprehensive factors, not only limited
• 11
BUSINESS
12 •
Environmental model: Award-winning
‘Linked Hybrid’ in Beijing is a good example of
Chinese ‘green’ architecture.
under construction seeking approval,
yet none has received the prestigious
Platinum award. However, the Vanke
Centre, which is scheduled to be finished by 2010, may not be the first in
China to achieve LEED Platinum
certification.
Beijing Parkview Green, designed
by Integrated Design Associates
(IDA), is also aiming to be certified
LEED Platinum. With plans to finish
construction this year, it may beat the
Vanke Centre to the punch.
“Competition is good,” says Winston Shu, the founder and director of
IDA. “And it’s good for China to have
two platinum projects, if not more.”
Beijing Parkview Green, a group of
four towers including a hotel, a shopping centre and a commercial hub, is
completely encased in a transparent
“envelope” that protects the buildings
from outside weather. The casing has
a ventilation system to release hot air
in the summer and replace it with
cooler air from the ground, and during
the winter it acts as a greenhouse to
keep warm air around the buildings.
Parkview Green is the first building
in Beijing to make use of this ‘microclimate’ with the purpose of minimising energy consumption. A landmark
project in environmentally sustainable design, Shu says the building was
only possible because of the developers’, architects’ and engineers’ ambition to benefit the community.
“Architecturally, its distinctive
form is generated by environmental
concerns, not a form created willfully
like so many other signature buildings in Beijing,” Shu says. “The call
for an environmentally sustainable
design comes from our collective motivation to create a building that is a
legacy for future generations.”
Ph oto by C hina Daily
to energy issues,” Li says. “It’s a
process, beginning with where
the material comes from, how
it’s being made, how it’s done
and how you monitor the indoor
quality.”
Steven Holl Architects is currently working on two other
buildings in China that aim for
LEED certification, the Raffles
City in Chengdu, Sichuan province, designed for a Gold rating,
and the Shenzhen Vanke Center in Guangdong province,
which is pursuing a LEED Platinum certification, the highest
rating by the US Green Building Council.
Standing on eight legs, the
Vanke Centre contains a hotel,
apartments, office space and
the China Vanke Company
headquarters. Underneath the
floating, horizontal structure
and out of reach of the tropical
Shenzhen sun lies a free public
park and ponds filled with recycled water, much like the
Linked Hybrid.
The design for the Vanke
Headquarters takes care to use
renewable and recyclable materials. All the doors, floors
and furniture are made from bamboo, which is easily available in the
area and quickly renewable, and
the carpets throughout the building
are made from completely recycled
material.
Special windows are designed to
keep the building cool by blocking solar heat while still allowing plenty of
sunlight, lowering the cost of air conditioning. In addition, the Vanke
Headquarters’ roof is covered by solar panels, which will provide up to 15
per cent of the office’s electricity.
And, in preparation for the future,
the building provides electric car
parking and charging stations.
“I think we design for the future;
we cannot design for the past,” Li
says. “A good building always provides opportunities for the future.”
China already has many LEED certified buildings and more than 100
SPECIAL REPORT
By Sim Chi Yin
The Straits Times
VICTIMS: This handout photo taken on Feb 18, 2002 shows China’s most outspoken AIDS campaigner Gao Yaojie (C) having lunch with AIDS patients in Zhengzhou, Henan province. Gao had exposed the plight of poor farmers who had contracted AIDS from selling blood in unsanitary government-approved collection schemes.
Dancing In
Shackles
P hoto by AF P
China’s investigative
journalists keep
pushing the envelope
• 13
SPECIAL REPORT
P
v Beijing
oor farmers getting AIDS
from selling blood to illegal collectors. Teenage
slaves in underground
brick factories. Shoddy
‘tofu’ schools collapsing like a pack of
cards in an earthquake.
These eye-popping stories from
China’s underbelly were widely reported in the international press in
recent years. But behind each of these
world headlines is a small army of
Chinese investigative journalists who
first unearthed the dirt.
While China is still better known
for a largely propagandist press and
strict censorship, a school of tough
homegrown investigative journalists
has emerged in the past 10 years or
so, documenting scandals, corruption and abuse of power—occasionally toppling officials but sometimes
paying a personal price for their
efforts. It may not quite be the Fourth
Estate as in the Western press but
a form of ‘watchdog journalism’ exists in China.
David Bandurski, an expert on Chinese media at the University of Hong
Kong, notes: “At its very best, Chinese investigative journalism is no
different from the best watchdog
journalism in the West... though China is one of the toughest social and
political environments for investigative reporting one could imagine.”
IN LOVING MEMORY: A mother of Zhong shuyan, a 14-year-old student who died in the May
2008 earthquake, holds a photograph of her near Juyuan middle school in Juyuan, in China’s
southwestern province of Sichuan on June 4, 2008.
14 •
‘Haven’ for journalism
“There are more stories than we
have time to write about. There are
many contradictions in our rapidly transforming society. Whatever kind of story you can think of,
it can happen in China,” says Wang
Keqin, 45, the doyen among China’s
muckrakers.
“Twenty-first century China is a
haven for investigative journalism,”
declares the lead investigative reporter at the China Economic Times who
also teaches investigative journalism
at three universities in Beijing.
However, journalism professor
Zhan Jiang of the Beijing Foreign
Studies University says it is not a
heaven for investigative journalists.
He points out that although no journalist in China has been killed for his
work, stories often get canned and
editors and journalists get punished
for pieces that irk their political masters. The penalties range from getting
sacked or suspended, or in milder
cases getting “sentenced” to months
of study of “Marxist news ideology”.
Still, among the thousands of journalists working for large and small outfits around the country, there are now
200 to 300 who specialise in investigative reporting, Zhan estimates.
All publications and broadcasters
in China have, on paper, an official
governing organisation. But with
growing competition for advertising
and eyeballs, the media landscape is
nothing like its staid past. Still, the
watchdog remains on a leash—which
seems to be getting shorter.
Ph otos by A FP
Often outpacing the censors, many
of these dirt-digging stories air on
state broadcaster China Central Television’s weekly News Probe programme or see print in more commercially driven publications like
Caijing magazine, the Guangdongbased Southern Metropolis Daily
and Southern Weekend, or others
with a tradition of in-depth reporting
like the China Youth Daily and Oriental Outlook magazine.
The Henan AIDS scandal, in which
hundreds of thousands of farmers in
the central Chinese province were
infected with HIV after selling their
blood in a government-backed donation programme in the 1990s, for
instance, was first reported by local
journalist Zhang Jicheng in a Sichuan
metropolitan newspaper in January
2000. Eight months and several
other Chinese reports later, Hong
Kong and international
media picked up the story.
Similarly, in mid-2007,
the tale of trafficked teenagers working as slaves in
Shanxi’s ‘black’ brick kilns
was sparked by a report on
Henan TV’s Metro Channel.
Last August, Southern
Weekend ran a graphic account of a young petitioner being raped by a
guard in a ‘black jail’ in
Beijing, leading the government to finally acknowlEXPOSED: A group of rescued workers stand outside a edge the existence of such
police station after being saved from a brick kiln in Linfen, illegal detention facilities
Shanxi province on May 27, 2007.
in the capital.
3 International
Holcim Forum
for Sustainable
Construction
Universidad
Iberoamericana
Mexico City
April 14 – 17, 2010
rd
Speakers include Marc Angélil, ETH Zurich, Switzerland; Alejandro Aravena, Elemental, Chile; Ray Cole, University of
British Columbia, Canada; Keller Easterling, Yale University, USA; Arab Hoballah, UNEP, France; Yolanda Kakabadse,
WWF International, Ecuador; Kazuhiro Kojima, Coelacanth and Associates, Japan; Sheila Kennedy, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, USA; Ashok Lall, GGSIU, India; Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute, USA; Thom Mayne,
Morphosis, USA; Enrique Norten, TEN Arquitectos, Mexico/USA; Menghao Qin, Nanjing University, China; Jeremy Rifkin,
Foundation on Economic Trends, USA; Michel Rojkind, Rojkind Arquitectos, Mexico; Mike Schlaich, TU Berlin, Germany;
Masanori Shukuya, Musashi Institute of Technology, Japan; Werner Sobek, University of Stuttgart, Germany; Michael Sorkin,
City College of New York, USA; Klaus Töpfer, UNEP, Germany; Simon Upton, OECD Round Table on Sustainable Development,
New Zealand; Jean-Philippe Vassal, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, France; Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank, Bangladesh.
How can approaches to the design,
fabrication and use of built structures be aligned with the principles of sustainable development?
Re-inventing construction
Reduce CO2
With technology to zero emissions
Play with complexity
With integral solutions to an
economy of means
Mine the city
With logistics to circular
metabolism
Stimulate stakeholders
With incentives to implementation
The Holcim Forum is a three-day
conference including workshops
and site visits. It is open to
academics and professionals from
architecture, civil engineering,
urban planning, natural and social
sciences, as well as representatives from business, politics,
administration and civil society.
Program details and registration:
www.holcimforum.org
SPECIAL REPORT
In its original incarnation, Chinese muckraking was officially endorsed as a form of what the ruling
Chinese Communist Party termed
yulun jiandu (literally translated as
supervision by public opinion)—or
having the press act as a check on
the rampant corruption that came
with China’s economic take-off.
University of Hong Kong academic Cho Li-Fung, who researches China’s watchdog journalism, explains:
“With the blessing of the CCP, a
channel was created for the press to
expose wrongs in society and to reflect the views of the public.”
But with a growing sense of vocation from the 1990s onwards, some
Chinese journalists have pursued
cases of official corruption and power abuse beyond what the CCP had
cautiously intended. What have
worked in their favour are the sheer
size of China’s bureaucracy and Beijing’s campaign against corruption
at the lower levels of government.
But investigative journalism remains a hit-and-miss affair.
An unspoken understanding
within the watchdog journalists’
ranks: No scandal involving an offi c i a l a b o v e p r o v i n c i a l l e v e l i s
likely to see print.
Voice for social conscience
Some observers have disparaged
Chinese journalists’ work as “swatting
at flies and letting the tigers run free”,
since they “generally went after small
potatoes like corrupt business people
or grassroots officials”, says University
of Hong Kong’s Bandurski, who has
edited a book on China’s investigative
journalism due out in April.
But those who want change must
work for it, say Wang and other practitioners interviewed. “We dance with
shackles around our ankles. But working hard is better than not working at
all. Even if nothing changes, at least
we work hard trying,” says Wang.
While corrupt journalists who accept hush money are not uncommon
in the poorly paid profession, where
even top-notch investigative report16 •
ers earn only 3,000 yuan (US$440)
a month, Wang is da ge, or elder
brother, to a core group that lives
out the Chinese tradition of intellectuals being a voice for society’s conscience.
He says: “Right now, ordinary
Chinese see the media as the strongest force in monitoring the powerful... Those of us with ideals ultimately want to push for progress
within the system.”
Recent roadblocks
But over the past three to four
years, the screws have been tightened on “negative news”, spanning
critical commentaries and investigative pieces, say journalists and
academics.
While some 30 per cent of investigative stories were spiked in the
past, the figure these days is closer
to 50 per cent, estimates Wang.
The clearest sign of a clampdown:
In 2005, Beijing issued a ban on the
practice of journalists reporting
stories in a province other than
their own. The ban has given the
authorities yet more ammunition
against journalists but many media
groups have ploughed on.
Jiang Xue, 35, an investigative
journalist for the Hua Shang Daily
in the city of Xi’an: says: “The authorities cannot possibly monitor
every event, so it really boils down
to the news organisation’s persistence. Our worst fear is ‘self-castration’— the media giving up its own
rightful responsibility.”
But in this Internet age, spiked
stories are finding rebirth online.
When Wang collected stories and
pictures of victims of the massive
Sichuan earthquake who had been
chased out of hospitals with injuries
unhealed, some material did not see
print. So he simply posted them on
his blog.
“Even if they clamp down on us,
we must continue to do what we
need to do. Fear comes from within
your own heart,” he says.—Additional research by Lina Miao
Pang Jiaoming, 26,
Southern Metropolis Daily
The Muckraker
T
he guards surrounding
them started to pull on
white gloves and placed
their hands on batons.
Journalist Pang Jiaoming knew
then he and his colleagues had
to make a run for it.
He quickly pushed away the
envelope containing ‘hush money’ that the staff of the illegal
coal mine they were at had been
thrusting at them.
With four colleagues in tow,
he dashed up a hill and jumped
into a waiting car. After a highspeed chase along treacherous
mountain roads and into the
next town, they finally lost their
pursuers—and lived to write
about the underground ‘black’
mines they had spent 50 days reporting on in China’s coal mining heartland of Shanxi.
That was the closest shave
Hero To The
Downtrodden
A
t the height of the SARS panic in spring 2003, when outof-towners avoided hard-hit
Beijing like the plague, journalist
Wang Keqin had a surprise visitor.
The man, a taxi driver from the far
western region of Xinjiang, had taken a 40-hour train ride to Beijing,
just to give Wang a bag of herbs believed to offer immunity against the
virus.
He was a total stranger who had
read Wang’s stinging exposé of how
Beijing’s taxi drivers were being exploited by their companies. Moved
that the journalist had spoken up for
all cabbies near and far, he risked the
journey to deliver the ‘thank you’ gift.
“Why did he do that? What did I
do to deserve that?” says Wang, 45,
recalling how touched he was.
An inspiration and an elder brother to China’s band of mostly younger
investigative journalists, the veteran
muckraker is used to having people
fall to their knees, begging him to tell
their stories.
A Communist Party member, he
sees no conflict in loyalties. A deep
humanitarianism and a sense of purpose in speaking up for the man in
the street have driven him to take
risks that many others would not,
digging up stories over the past 10
years to expose corruption and
abuse of power.
Wang, who lives with his wife and
teenage son in an apartment provided by his newspaper, spends weeks
and months doing shoe-leather reporting for his stories.
His mighty pen has sent some 160
people to jail—most of them through
a piece he wrote in 2003 on a stock
scam in the north-western city of
Lanzhou.
The article was about how fraudu-
Wang Keqin, 45,
China Economic Times
lent companies cheated investors of
hundreds of millions of yuan, driving some of them to suicide.
Angry phone calls or death threats
from those he offends are “common”
but just part and parcel of the job, he
says.
“The people I write about often
say they will protect me because as
long as I live, I can write more stories about the ordinary people,” he
says with a chuckle.
Getting rapped on the knuckles by
the authorities is also “normal”, he
says, but unlike some Chinese journalists, he has never been hauled to
court.
“That’s because I’m a stupid reporter—I check and I check and I
check. Like a surgeon, the more operations you have performed, the
more problems you have faced, the
more careful you are,” he says.
He takes pains to have his informants sign statements they make and
thumbprint them using a red inkpad
he carries around in his satchel all
the time.
• 17
Photos by THE STRAITS TI ME S
Pang, 26, one of China’s top
young investigative journalists,
has had in his four-year career.
But, for the most part, the
constant race he runs is against
government gag orders—which
often come flying right after a
scandal or disaster is reported
in the local press.
Known among his peers as a
Speedy Gonzalez for often being the first with the news,
Pang thrives on the thrill of being a pen-wielding modern-day
Zorro.
He has faced censure and even
death threats because of his stories, but he sees himself as just
“a playful big kid” who likes to
expose what powers-that-be
want to keep covered up.
Pang, who writes for the
Guangdong-based Southern Metropolis Daily, one of China’s
most daring newspapers known
for its investigative stories, was
famously suspended from his
previous newspaper, the statebacked China Economic Times,
in late 2007 after penning two
front-page stories on substandard coal ash being used for the
high-speed Wuhan-Guangzhou
railway, which eventually
opened in December 2009.
His stories, based on extensive interviews with whistleblowers and in-field investigation, sounded the alarm on the
dangers of using ‘fake’ ash—a
staple component of the concrete used to build tunnels,
roads and bridges.
It also led Beijing’s publicity
authorities to issue an order to
his newspaper to remove him
from the front lines of reporting. He was eventually rehabilitated and continues his race
against the authorities at his
current job.
“I’m not a ‘dangerous man’.
I’m just a good man,” he declares with a laugh.
ENVIRONMENT
By Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Planet
In The
Deep
Sea
• A 0.5 cm-long juvenile
squid collected with a
Bongo net off Celebes
Sea in southern
Philippines.
Philippines
Celebes
Sea
Malaysia
Indonesia
18 •
For many scientists,
explorers and divers,
the Celebes Sea, off
southern Philippines,
is an unknown world.
Until more than
a couple of years ago
U
v Manila
from the Inner Space Speciation
Project, which premiered at the 8th
Celebrate the Sea Festival at the Manila Ocean Park last year, captured
diverse coral species, colourful
schools of fish, luminous invertebrates and deep-sea creatures previously unknown to scientists.
Michael Aw, the photographer of
the expedition, said he was awed by
what he witnessed underwater.
He said the waters off southern Philippines and much of the country, for
that matter, had been “underrated”.
In the 1990s, Aw, an experienced
diver and director of the Ocean Geographic, said his first dive in the Philippines in the early 1990s left him
unimpressed.
But two years ago, a series of diving
expeditions in the country’s famous
sites, including the Tubbataha Reef
in the Sulu Sea, encouraged him to
write a book.
“In the 1990s, I went to Tubbataha
and I saw dynamite fishing activities
there. I went back two years ago and
so much has changed and many coral
places have recovered. I was very,
very impressed,” he said.
The 2007 exploration, Aw said, revealed the uniqueness of the Coral
Triangle and cemented its reputation
as the last oceanic frontier.
“We found many new species,
worms, jellyfish. We did a lot of research in the open sea and the deep
waters. There were many animals that
were never seen before,” he said.
The exploration of the basins of the
• 19
Photos by MIC HA E L AW/O cean G eogra ph ic Magaz ine/ W HO I/ ISSP/AF P
• A jellyfish, a lanternfish, a snipe
eel, two orange shrimps and a
pyrosome (bioluminescent).
nder the waters off southern Philippines, there’s a
planet waiting to be discovered.
For many scientists,
explorers and divers, the Celebes Sea
is an unknown world. Until more
than a couple of years ago, its basins
were unexplored and its inhabitants
in the deeper parts unseen.
The Celebes Sea, located between
the Philippines and Indonesia, is
considered the heart of the Coral Triangle, that watery region that spans
the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia,
Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea and
the Solomon Islands.
Covering 5.7 million square kilometres—more than half the size of
the United States, the Celebes Sea
has the world’s highest concentration
of corals, marine plants, fish and other sea creatures.
Its Tubbataha Reef, which is within Philippine jurisdiction, is also
home to massive coral reef formations that sustain the surface marine
life that is the source of livelihood of
millions of fishermen and canning
companies.
In 2007, Emory Kristof, who found
the ‘Titanic’ wreck, along with a band
of like-minded explorers, scientists
and divers plunged into the depths of
the sea to conduct the first-ever survey of its ecosystem from surface to
bottom. They were aided by custommade cameras and video recorders.
The documentary and the photos
ENVIRONMENT
20 •
l Deep sea jelly
fish found and
photographed by
a US-Philippines
underwater
expedition in the
Celebes Sea
Southern
Philippines.
l A juvenile
boxfish 1cm
long.
U n d e r t h r e a t
E
xplorers hope that
their findings about
the Coral Triangle
would encourage preservation efforts. Because of
its richness and diversity,
the regional waters serve
as a major fishing ground
in Southeast Asia and are
constantly under threat of
overfishing and pollution.
“This area also supports
the largest tuna fisheries
in the world, which
generate billions of
dollars in the
global economy
each year. Sadly,
these precious
marine resources
are now threatened by climate
change,
overfishing,
illegal fishing,
unsustainable
coastal development
and pollution,” underwater photographer Michael
Aw said.
The diversity and the
importance of the Celebes
Sea were underlined last
year when Philippine
President Gloria Arroyo
and other heads of state of
neighbouring countries
signed an agreement last
month to protect the
Coral Triangle, an important food source for
Southeast Asia.
Aw said the agreement
was a step in the right
direction. In the future,
he said he hoped that
more research would be
done on the Coral
Triangle. He noted that
the 2007 expedition was
unprecedented.
“Before, we were just
scratching the surface,” he
said. “We need to spend
more time and resources.
We know more about the
surface of the moon than
the ocean.”
From to p to Bottom : Ph otos by RUSS HAP CROF T/U NIVERSIT Y OF A LA SK A /A FP, MIC H A EL AW/O cean G eogra ph ic Maga z ine/ W H OI / ISS P/A FP
Celebes Sea yielded new and
rich discoveries. In a span of 10
days, the expedition discovered
1,600 specimens, most of it new
species, Aw said.
Many of the invertebrates
found in its deeper, darker waters were virtually unchanged
from their ancestors millions of
years ago, scientists believed.
An example of a newly found
creature is Enypniastes eximia,
a relative of sorts of the sea cucumber, Aw said.
The creature’s head is covered
with a transparent, luminous
bubble, which sits on top of an
orange disk.
Against the dark background,
Enypniastes eximia does not
look like a marine creature. Instead, it evokes the image of an
unidentified flying object in
deep space.
Indeed, for many participants
of the exploration, the voyage
down the waters off Sulu Sea was
not just a visit to another world.
It was also a trip back in time.
The sheer depth of the canyons
of the Celebes Sea—the deepest
of which can be found in the Sulu
Sea—arguably makes its waters
most isolated and ancient in the
world, according to Aw.
“Because of their locations
near the equator, and lack of
Antarctic water, they have the
warmest water left on the planet. A Miocene-like relic, they
could be thought of as incubators or perhaps the ancient heart
of the ocean,” he said in the prologue of his book of photographs
from the expedition.
Descriptions of life in the midwaters of the sea were also recorded and sent to experts
around the world.
The explorers hope that their
findings would enrich the understanding of evolution, the behavior of certain marine species,
and the ecosystem of the region.
By Tsuyoshi Ito
Yomiuri Shimbun
Textbooks and Cookbooks
Tank-bred tuna sets tongues wagging
T
v TOKYO
Kinki University is just one of a
One of their more unusual culigrowing number of high schools and nary creations is gotochi aisu (ice
universities that have been producing cream unique to our locality). The
their own brand-name foods as part ice cream contains sake dregs left
of their regular education activities. when making narazuke pickles, and
Although they are
is surprisingly tasty.
usually only produced
Other schools tryin small quantities,
ing their hands at the
they are winning over
brand-food market
customers’ taste buds.
include Utsunomiya
Kakiyasu Honten, a
University’s pickles
meat shop of long
mixed with mozzarelstanding in Mie Prela and canned
fecture, has been sellsteamed sea urchin at
ing pork from BerkHachinohe Fisheries
shire pigs, known as
High School in Aokurobuta (black pigs),
mori Prefecture.
raised by students at
Production is often
the Kagoshima prerestricted to small
fectural governmentbatches since they are
run Kanoya High
made as part of educaSchool.
tional activities. Many
The meat is only
are sold at university
SCHOOL-BRED: Cuts of kindai
available on week- tuna from Kinki University fly off and high school festiends, but its quality is the shelves after the fish was sliced vals, although people
on par with other in front of customers at the Mitsu- craving the delicacies
brand-name products koshi department store chain’s have been known to
due to the meticulous main store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo.
contact the schools dicare the students derectly.
vote to their small herd of pigs, a
Some foods have even been used as
Kakiyasu Honten representative said. centrepieces of sales promotions at
Nara Women’s University has department stores and shops set up
teamed up with companies in the re- by prefectural governments in big citgion to develop new food items to re- ies to promote their marine and farm
invigorate the local economy.
produce.
• 21
Photos by THE YO MIU RI S HI MBUN
he fish section on the basement level of the main
store of Mitsukoshi department store chain in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, heaves with
customers every Friday. The section
sells many treats from the ocean, but
one in particular has been setting
tongues recently—fillets of tuna
farmed by Kinki University.
Known as kindai tuna (kindai is a
portmanteau of Kinki Daigaku, the
university’s Japanese name), the
meat comes from bluefin tuna raised
from birth by the university. In 2002,
Kinki University succeeded for the
first time in the world in farming
tuna over their entire life span, including the hatching of eggs.
Medium fatty flesh, or chutoro, of
kindai tuna is priced at about 2,000
yen (US$22) per 100 grams—half the
price of tuna caught in the wild, but
more expensive than chutoro of other
cultured tuna.
Masaaki Kagoshima, a buyer of
Mitsukoshi’s purchasing department,
said the tuna appeal to customers because “it’s fatty and juicy, and also
very traceable since the fish have
been raised since hatching”.
“The high traceability has struck a
chord with consumers, who are strongly interested in food safety,” he said.
CHANGING ASIA
By Rupak D Sharma
Asia News Network
Superstition And Asia
Many Asians are defying the myths
ingrained in their societies
ROAR: Tourists walk past a statue of a tiger displayed in front of a shopping mall in Bangkok on
January 4. As the year of the tiger approaches, the myths surrounding it are being heard louder
than before.
L
Ph oto by A FP
v Bangkok
ast December, the South
Korean government found
itself walking a tightrope
while planning to join the
international troops in
Afghanistan.
It was a complexity created by a
number—number “4” to be precise.
As it happened, South Korea was
the 44th member to join the
NATO-led International Security
Assistance Force fighting the
insurgents in Afghanistan. The
number “44” bothered the government.
Like the Chinese, Koreans dread
the digit “4” as its phonetic sound
is similar to that of the word
22 •
“death”. And South Korea simply
didn’t want that number labelled
on its troops, fearing recurrence of
the 2007 incident, when Taliban
militants brutally murdered two
Korean missionaries.
“We’re tiptoeing around the
issue, and we don’t need complications, especially those that could
possibly aggravate public sentiment,” The Korea Herald quoted
one foreign ministry official. “We’re
keeping our fingers crossed so that
the other two countries (that have
applied along with us), or even just
one of them, gets the nod first.”
Like in South Korea, superstition
has been deeply ingrained in most
of Asian societies. Every culture
has its own list of ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’
based on the beliefs that have been
passed on by ancestors.
You may have noticed that in
many countries in the region, most
of the elevators simply do not have
numbers “4” or “13”. There are also
countries where people just stop
driving or walking when a black cat
crosses their path; they only
continue after others have overtaken them first. And there are
societies in the region that believe
sweeping floors or cutting nails at
night bring bad luck.
Lately, a new trend is catching
up among young girls in China:
matching horoscopes before
jumping into a relationship. All
they’d do is flip through the pages
of books on zodiac signs or do
some research in the internet to
find out their perfect match.
Well, looks like, fewer and fewer
people are willing to go through
all the Mr Wrongs to finally find a
Mr Right, Wang Chao recently
wrote in herChina Daily column.
Or probably, they’ve learnt how to
use their time efficiently and do
not want to waste considerable
number of days on a wrong guy,
while the spark of their beauty
fades, she reckoned.
But Wang herself believes happy
relationships always take time to
build and maintain, and asks
everyone to “have some faith and
trust your heart”.
Will her message be heard in a
fairly superstitious country like
China is not known, but few other
developments indicate that many
Chinese have started defying the
myths impregnated in their
societies.
One example is preparations
Chinese couples are making to tie
the knots in the Year of the Tiger,
despite knowing it is a “widow’s
year”.
According to the Chinese belief,
a widow’s year is a year that does
not have a first day of spring—like
the upcoming Tiger Year, which
National University of Singapore
Chinese studies professor Lee
Cheuk Yin recently told The Straits
Times: “We cannot conclusively
trace the origins of the beliefs that
people take after the characteristics
of their zodiac signs.”
Nevertheless, the belief is so
behaviour. If you want to train your
child to be demure and ladylike,
you have to train her from young,”
says Amanda Khan, a catering
manager, who is five months
pregnant.
Khan and her husband Kevin
Wong, assistant director at Mari-
AGE-OLD BELIEF: A Pakistani woman buries her paralysed child up to his neck on the bank of
the river Indus during a solar eclipse in Hyderabad on July 22, 2009, believing that a total eclipse
of the sun would cure his disease.
deeply entrenched in many parents’
mind they either postpone their
plans of having a child or induce
births one to two weeks earlier,
especially if their child is a girl.
In the last Tiger Year in 1998, for
instance, Dr Beh Suan Tiong,
consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Beh’s Clinic for Women
at Thomson Medical Centre in
Singapore, had received about five
birth induction requests.
But so far this year he has only
received one such request – an
indication that many are skeptic
about the relationship between
children’s personality vis-a-vis the
year they are born.
“It is the children’s upbringing
and education that determine their
time and Port Authority of Singapore Vessel Traffic Management,
are not worried that their first
child, a girl due in May, might grow
up to be a fierce, rebellious and
ill-tempered woman.
The voices of Khan, Wong,
Wang and Tan, may not be
powerful enough to create a
ripple effect in Asia but they
certainly bear some substance.
And people like them are gradually changing our societies.
By the way, as for the South
Korean government, it decided to
deploy the troops in Afghanistan
disregarding the belief associated
with “deadly” number. With reports
from China Daily, The Korea Herald
and The Straits Times
• 23
Photo by A FP
begins on February 14 (The lunar
spring begins on February 4.)
“(So 2010) is believed to lack
yang or masculine energy to
balance the feminine yin. And to
Chinese women, no yang means no
husband, which makes a woman a
widow,” China Daily reported.
But surprisingly, many Chinese
are not willing to buy the age-old
dictum—at least not this time. And
one of them is 24-year-old Tan
Jinjin, who has been in a relationship for five years and doesn’t mind
getting married this year.
Tan recently told China Daily: “If
no one wants to get married in
widow’s year, I may get cheaper
cars, cheaper hotels and a cheaper
ceremony, so why not?”
Now, take a look at these
statistics. Wang Haoyuan, manager
of Qianyijia, a wedding service
company in China, said his company, so far, has only seen less
than 10 per cent of wedding
bookings being cancelled this year
because of the myth associated
with the widow. The case is the
same with another Chinese
wedding organising company, Red
Lily. It saw around 20 per cent of
wedding ceremonies planned for
this year being postponed.
“I don’t think the widow’s year
will ruin my business. I’ve already
got some wedding ceremony
bookings for next April and May,”
says Wang Jiahua, boss of Red Lily.
But this story doesn’t end here as
the Year of the Tiger is opening its
door with another caveat. This
one’s related with the birth of a
female child.
Girls born in the Tiger Year are
believed to be fierce, rebellious,
ill-tempered and unpredictable,
The Straits Times recently quoted
geomancers as saying.
This belief is expected to affect
the birthrate even in a modern and
cosmopolitan city state like
Singapore, where almost 80 per
cent of the population comprise
people of Chinese origin.
GENDER
CHINA
By Huang Zhiling and Zhang Ao
China Daily
A High-stakes
Union
China’s ‘first’ publicly
married gay couple
begins a long and
arduous journey
Ph oto by C hina Daily
HITCHED: Zeng Anquan
(left) holds his partner Pan
Wenjie during their wedding
at a bar in China’s Sichuan
province on January 3.
24 •
A
v Chengdu
fter mustering up some
courage, Zeng Anquan and
Pan Wenjie finally announced the date of their
wedding: January 3.
Both of them knew that the stakes
were high in this marriage, as their
family members and many people they
knew were totally against the union.
But the ceremony went ahead as scheduled and the couple took the ‘I-do’ oath
in front of more than 200 friends who
supported them.
The union of Zeng and Pan marked
the ‘first gay marriage’ in China—although same-sex marriages are not officially recognised in the country.
“The wedding is our happiest and
most precious moment,” Zeng, 45, told
China Daily in an interview. “We don’t
care how others consider us, as long as
we are together…. We are deeply in love
and will never desert each other.”
But even before Zeng and Pan could
start a new life, they have come under
verbal attacks and criticisms from family
and friends.
“All the capital in my company has
been frozen by my younger brother,”
Zeng said in a dimly lit teahouse in
Chengdu, capital of China’s Sichuan
province.
“My sister warned me she would
never call me her brother unless I
break up with Pan; and I have answered hundreds of phone calls from
friends and relatives, who say they
feel ashamed of me.”
The topic of homosexuality is still a
taboo in China, although the country has
roughly 30 million homosexuals—20
million gay men and the remaining, lesbians, according to estimates by Zhang
Beichuan, a professor at Qingdao University and an expert on homosexuality
and HIV/AIDS prevention.
Most of these sexual minorities reJanuary 29-February 11, 2010
main in their closets without disclosing their sexual orientation—not
even to family members or friends—
for fears of being discriminated.
The professor found in a survey of
1,259 homosexuals that 8.7 per cent
were fired or forced to resign after revealing their sexual orientation, and
4.7 per cent felt their salary and career advancement were affected.
Some 62 per cent keep their sexual
orientation a secret in the workplace.
Zeng, an architect in Chengdu, said
he discovered that he was not interested in people of the opposite sex
when he was about 20. “What could I
do at that time? I felt embarrassed to
think of that tendency,” he said.
He married a dance instructor in
1983 and they had a daughter three
MR GAYS: This handout photo provided by
Gayographic in Beijing shows a promotional
flyer with the contestants taking part in the
Mr Gay China competition, which was later
blocked by Chinese police.
• 25
COURTE SY O F GAY NO G RA PHIC
years later.
But despite trying he could never
get attracted by his wife. “I felt I was
embracing a lifeless tree while holding a woman,” Zeng said.
So he deliberately found a job far
from home the day after marriage
and came back just once or twice a
month. He said he felt sorry for his
wife whom he described as “dedicated” and “loyal”.
When their daughter grew up and
found a decent job, Zeng confessed to
his wife. “She was shocked and kept
crying for several days. Finally, she
agreed to set me free.”
The couple divorced last February.
Zeng met Pan, 27, a demobilised
soldier last November at a bar. They
fell in love with each other at first
sight, he said.
“His bright and enchanting smile
almost blinded me. And I am so addicted to his gentle and soft voice.”
The 1.8-m-tall Pan is robust and
masculine, he added.
The two met frequently and quickly forged a relationship. One month
after their first date, Pan broke up
with his girlfriend and moved to
Zeng’s apartment.
However, they faced pressure and
prejudice. “Sometimes, I even had to
tell others that Pan was my adopted
son. We finally moved back to my
hometown of Luodai, a remote town
in eastern Chengdu, where nobody
knew us.”
The couple finally made their
choice—to get married in a bar frequented by male homosexuals, which
was unprecedented in the city.
The only thing they regret is that
they could not get a marriage certificate in line with Chinese law.
Zhang from Qingdao University
and some other scholars, including
well-known sociologist Li Yinhe,
have called on the government to recognise and legalise same-sex marriage in China.
There has been no response from the
government and critics argue the idea
is too radical for present-day China.
Worldwide, same-sex marriages
are legal in a handful of countries including Sweden, the Netherlands,
Canada and South Africa.
The couple said they hoped gays
could become legitimate couples,
which would be a “dream come true”.
Although no family member attended their wedding, the attitude of
their parents and some friends has
switched from “opposition” to “it’s
OK”. Pan’s former girlfriend, surnamed Li, even volunteered to be
Pan’s bridesmaid at the wedding.
“The journey is long and arduous. But we’ll never give up trying
to be recognised as husband and
wife,” Zeng said.—With reports
from Shan Juan
LIFESTYLE
M A L AY S I A
By Wong Li Za
The Star
All that glitters: Gold- and rhodium-plated
jewellery by premium lifestyle gift company Risis.
Ph otos by Th e Star
Golden
Blooms
The beauty
of the orchid
is forever
preserved
in a special
plating
process
26 •
A
v Kuala Lumpur
wife’s whimsical wish for
orchids to last forever
gave birth to a unique gift
idea, and subsequently a
premium gift company,
over 30 years ago.
It all started when the late Dr Lee
Kum Tatt, then chairman of Sisir (Singapore Institute of Standards and Industrial Research now known as
Spring, or Standards, Productivity and
Innovation for Growth) was having a
stroll at the Singapore Botanic Gardens with his wife Engeline one day.
When she mentioned immortalising the flower, Lee thought up a novel
idea to preserve the orchid.
Together with a team of people at
Sisir, a patented process that plates
fresh orchids in 24-carat gold was developed. Lee then presented his wife
a gold-plated bloom he named after
her—Oncidium Engeline Lee.
In 1976, the first four Risis (Sisir
spelt backwards) outlets opened in
Singapore.
Today, Risis is a premium lifestyle
gift company, plating a wide range of
jewellery and ornaments in 24-carat
gold, rhodium and precious metals.
It has won several awards that include the Certificate of Award for
Good Manufacturing Practice by Sisir, the Singapore Design Award and
Best Tourism Souvenir award presented by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board.
Besides Singapore, Risis has a
presence in the United States, France,
Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and China.
There are generally five product
categories—natural plated products,
business gifts, figurines and collectibles, home and living, and personal
accessories.
Designs are inspired by Asian heritage and also reflect a contemporary feel.
“We create products with a n
Asian story, some of which may not
have anything to do with orchids.
However, our best-selling products
are still orchid-based,” said Wee
Swee Poh, chief executive officer
of Risis, during an interview with
Malaysian media who were invited
to Singapore recently.
The most popular jewellery product
is the orchid slider, a chain with a single bloom that can be worn as a choker, short or long chain, or waist belt.
“Our products are also unique
because they have a rich texture,”
said Wee, adding that some Risis
p r o d u c t s a r e e m b ellished with
semi-precious stones, crystals and
fine enamel.
The company obtains fresh blooms
for plating from a commercial nursery in Singapore that grows special hybrids specifically for Risis.
These hybrids blooms are
smaller in size than commercial varieties.
“We want to create delicate jewellery with thinner
petals which can still withstand the plating process,”
said Wee.
Currently, 15 of these
special hybrids are being
plated. Besides that, Risis
also plates full species like
the Vanda Miss Joaquim,
which is Singapore’s national flower.
“We have to anticipate what customers want. If a certain hybrid and design
is not popular, we have to create another hybrid,” said Wee, adding that
the company also plates other natural
products like eggs, leaves and roses.
Risis also produces customised
jewellery, such as for weddings, upon
request. In addition, its products are
commissioned as gifts for dignitaries
and state gifts to world leaders.
For example, an orchid hybrid
called Dendrobium Elizabeth was
named after Queen Elizabeth II on
the occasion of Her Majesty’s visit to
Singapore in 1972.
A spray of the hybrid was then plated in 24-carat gold by Risis and presented to her as a state gift in honour
of the golden jubilee of her ascension
to the throne.
Another orchid spray called the
Arachnopsis Hun Sen ‘Bun Rany’,
named after the wife of Cambodian
Prime Minister Hun Sen, was also
plated in 24-carat gold and rhodium
and presented to Hun Sen by then
Singapore President S.R. Nathan during the premier’s visit to Singapore in
2003.
A special orchid hybrid created by
Mardi (Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute)
named the Mokara Datin Seri Endon
was plated by Risis and presented to
Nori Abullah in 2006 in memory of
her mother, the late Tun Endon Mah-
flowers’ surface and retain their texture.
Next, the flower is dipped into a
copper ‘bath’ or copper solution for
three hours to give it a strong coating.
“The texture and veins of the flower
can still be seen after this stage,” said
Kam.
The coated flower is then shaped
manually before going through a second copper bath for another five
hours. Next, it is polished, and finishing touches are applied before it goes
through a nickel bath for five to 10
minutes to prevent corrosion and to
‘Authority’,
from the
zodiac tiger
collection.
‘Courage’ (stylised), one of eight figurines in the
Zodiac Tiger Collection 2010.
mood, for her contribution to local
arts.
Risis’ production plant is located in
Batam, Indonesia. The entire plating
process takes three days to complete.
Before plating, each bloom is handpicked and checked for symmetric features and similar-shaped petals.
“We are very particular about choosing each bloom. From a single stalk,
we may use only one or two blooms
because we need a nice, balanced
shape,” said Kam Chong Phoh, senior
manager of development and production, as he showed the media a simplified version of the plating process at
Risis’ headquarters.
Before the start of the process, each
flower is gently shaped by hand for
evenness before being attached to a
thin wire. It is then dipped into gold
paint, which is a copper alloy specially
formulated for orchids to protect the
protect its colour.
The final dipping is into the gold
bath, a clear, chemical solution which
contains pure, melted 24-carat gold.
The flower is then left to dry for
three to five days before being lacquered.
The entire plating process is done
by hand, including the dipping stages.
About 60 per cent of Risis’ customers are Singaporeans, with the rest being tourists. Wearables like jewellery
are the most popular items, while
framed orchids are sought after as
business gifts.
Risis also features special collections for Christmas (Keepsakes Collection 2009) and Chinese New Year
(the 2010 Zodiac Tiger Collection
comprises eight different tiger figurines).
Prices of products start from S$22
(US$16) for a pair of earrings.
• 27
COVER STORY SOUTH KOREA
Globalising
‘Bibimbap’
Korea looks for the
right recipe to introduce
its rich cuisine to the
world
A
v Seoul
mid the government and business campaign to promote the “globalisation of
Korean food”, some interesting chats are
being exchanged on- and off-line over
the qualification of bibimbap as a representative Korean dish.
A Japanese newspaper correspondent in Seoul
argued in a column that bibimbap—steamed rice
mixed with a dozen kinds of raw and cooked
vegetables, minced beef and fried egg, flavoured
with chili paste and sesame oil—could be disappointing to foreign diners. The beautifully arranged ingredients have to be mixed beyond
28 •
eth Paltrow and the late Michael
Jackson, bibimbap was included in
the in-flight menus of Korean airlines. It is on the culture-tourismsports ministry’s list of Korean food
for international promotion, along
with kimchi, bulgogi and others. Yet,
we doubt that it can really be a “representative” item for globalisation,
although it may be recommended as
a fine diet menu for its low calories.
Food experts assert that global
propagation of Korean food needs a
more systematic approach, such as
classifying menus for the luxury royal
tables, general restaurants and fast
food eateries. Bibimbap is basically a
fast food item, and is not included in
the traditional royal course.
Korean food has an inherent disadvantage; it uses many side dishes,
some of which require instant cooking on the table, the reason why many
top-class have closed their Korean
restaurants. Patient development efforts are needed to make it universally appealing, as there are many
more resources aside from bibimbap.
• 29
Ph otos by TH E NATIO N ( THA ILA ND)
recognition to eat, he pointed out.
Quoted by Korean papers, this supposedly derogatory comment on Korean food incurred angry reactions
from netizens. A popular novelist
blogger retorted that bibimpap is better qualified for global enjoyment than
Japanese sushi which he determined
as a savage food. In his sequel column,
the Japanese journalist said he even
received a “death threat” for what was
originally intended as a little sarcastic
vindication of his favourite “bibinpa”.
Rumoured to be enjoyed by Gwyn-
By Samia Mounts
The Korea Herald
‘Hansik’
Revolution
E
v Seoul
very country has its own line-up
of great dishes; some have been
modified over the years because
of the popularity of the dish and
the desire to make it more interesting and exciting. Countries like Italy
and France, are rich in foods that have
been developed and improved for centuries, and are now internationally popular
as a result. Written history is what gives
certain cultures an edge. France and Italy
both have extensive written histories, with
enough cookbooks to fill Seoul’s Olympic
Stadium. Partly due to this, their cuisines
are well known around the world. The
same can be said for the cuisines of Russia,
China and Britain.
Korea has a long history as well, but the
devastation of wars, occupation by other
nations, and lack of industrialisation kept it
in a depressed state for a long time. Korea
remained unknown to many other countries until only a few decades ago. The 1988
Olympic Games put Korea firmly in the
limelight and it has been growing as an international power ever since. Today, Korea
is a strong presence in the global community, thanks to its focus on education and
rapid technological development.
Korea also deserves to be recognised for its
food—more than the easily accessible Korean
barbecue—which has made such an impact
on American pop culture. Korean food is
complex and textured, with a variety of exciting flavour combinations—but how do we get
it out into the international community?
Korean food could spread to other countries just as its cars, electronics and films
haveWill Koreean cuisine, or hansik, spur
the next Korean wave?
After living in Seoul for many years, I’ve
developed a deep appreciation for the many
fine dishes Korea has to offer. But of course,
this doesn’t stop me from experimenting
with Korean ingredients and traditional
dishes to create new taste sensations. Fusion
cuisine, in addition to being fun to develop,
carries the added benefit of creating new
ways to introduce foreigners to Korean food.
With the advent of modern fusion cuisine,
many traditional ingredients are now used to
prepare an array of richly varied dishes, combining the best of international cuisine to
create dazzling new culinary experiences.
30 •
TOKYO >>
By Lee Yong-sung
The Korea Herald
Fusion has greatly enriched international cuisines. Being able to add exotic ingredients that were not available in the past has moved Korean
society into a new exciting era.
Korean food also has an edge because of its nutritional makeup. Koreans believe that eating many vegetables makes for a healthy nutritional
balance and good health. They’re absolutely right! Koreans also believe that
food in the right combination brings
harmony to the soul and body. The
concept of yin and yang is a Taoist
principle that is based on the idea of
opposites set in balance. For example, in a dish made up of bok choy
and ginger, bok choy is the yin and
ginger is the yang, offering harmony
both in the body and on the table.
Cooking methods are also classified
into yin and yang. Steaming, poaching and boiling are yin; frying, stirfrying, pan-frying, and roasting are
yang. To that end, when Koreans
prepare a traditional meal, the rule of
the five flavours is followed. The five
flavours are sweet (like sweet potatoes), salty (like soy sauce), sour (like
vinegar), hot (like chili peppers) and
bitter (like ginger). Food is also arranged into the five traditional colours: black, red, green, yellow and
white. (Black is not easy to find in nature, so you’ll find a lot of black sesame seeds and foods such as dried
cloud-ear mushrooms in Korean
food.) Following these flavour and
colour guidelines leads to dishes that
are never boring.
Obviously, Korean food has a lot
going for it.
In summary, there are three strategies that can be used to bring Korean
cuisine into the international spotlight. First, we can take traditional
Korean ingredients and feature them
in Western recipes. Second, we can
take traditional Korean recipes and
modify them slightly to appease the
foreign palate. And third, we can be
sensitive to the preferences and desires of foreigners when designing
and writing menus for Korean restaurants in other countries.
I
t was a rainy Saturday evening
in early December when I made
an unscheduled visit to Daejanggeum, a Korean restaurant
located near Shin-Okubo Station in downtown Tokyo. Considering the location of the restaurant—
situated just one station away from
Shinjuku, Shin-Okubo houses one of
the biggest ‘Korea towns’ in Japan—
it was surprising to see the restaurant
full of happy Japanese diners at
around half past eight.
Upon seeing the restaurant’s sign, I
presumed it must be one of many Korean restaurants in Japan, that have
opened in recent years jumping on
the bandwagon of the popularity of
Korean pop culture in Japan. A hit
2003 MBC television series, Daejanggeum (Jewel In the Palace) is one
of the flagship Korean dramas that
swept Asia over the past several years.
“Not-very-spicy Korean dishes
such as dolsot bibimbap (bibimbap
served in a very hot stone bowl, 850
yen or US$9), haemul jijimi (seafood
and vegetable pancake, 1,500 yen or
$16) and samgyetang (chicken and
ginseng soup, 2,500 yen or $27) are
highly looked upon by Japanese cus-
tomers,” Shim Jae-dong, the 34-yearold owner of the restaurant, said.
It is hard to deny that the popularity of Korean entertainers in Japan
has played a part in the restaurant’s
success and Shim found no reason
not to use it to attract customers. In
one corner of the restaurant is a bigscreen TV playing episodes of the hit
culinary drama set in Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). Also hung on
each of the walls are the pictures of
actress Lee Young-ae in her Daejanggeum costume.
Certainly, not all Korean restaurants in Tokyo’s ‘little Korea’ that
opened since the Korean pop culture
boom of the early 2000s have been
successful in winning the hearts of
locals. In fact, a good portion of Korean restaurants in Shin-Okubo depend largely on Korean customers for
revenue.
Shim says that one key ingredient
to Daejanggeum’s success is localisation in service style.
“Food items are served as original
as possible to traditional Korean recipes, but in terms of service style, we
are closer to Japanese style, tailored
more to the requirements of an indi• 31
PA R I S > >
By Lee Yong-sung
The Korea Herald
vidual customer,” he added.
When serving dolsot bibimbap, for
example, servers at the restaurant
mix the ingredients in the pot for
Japanese customers who are not accustomed to the Korean-style “bibim”
(mixing) culture of food.
“Some Japanese customers, mostly
strangers to Korean culinary culture,
prefer to eat vegetables and steamed
rice separately. We kindly explain
how Koreans eat bibimbap but we
never force our customers to do anything against their will,” he said. “We
never say ‘no’ to any trivial request of
our customers.”
It was initially the popularity of
Korean pop culture that upgraded
the status of Korean cuisine in the
Japanese culinary world, but with or
without such cultural trends, Korean
food is now making big strides rapidly in the mainstream Japanese dining experience.
“Korean food has such huge growth
potential in overseas markets, as huge
as the variety of cooking methods used
for it,” said Kim Mi-hoe, manager of
Gosire Korean restaurant.
Owned and run by Bae Yong-joon,
who is affectionately called ‘Yonsama’ by Japanese fans, the restaurant
located in Tokyo’s Shirogane area is
said to be a “must see” among Japanese celebrities.
Its VIP room, Sarangchae, is fully
booked for many months to come
and the price of its luxury Korean
courses are from 20,000 yen-30,000
yen or $200-300 (up to 50,000 yen
or $500 for special orders).
“It is pretty expensive, but considering the quality of food and service,
I think the price is reasonable,” Kazuko Yamamoto, a 56-year-old regular customer of the restaurant, said.
“I first came here as a fan of Yonsama, but these days I come here to enjoy authentic Korean-style dishes
more than anything else. My only
complaint about Korean food is that
it is much harder to see smiles on the
faces of employees at Korean restaurants than other ethnic restaurants
in Tokyo.”
32 •
T
he early-morning air of the French
capital was cold, but the last thing
you want to do is waste time seeking
shelter during a visit to this romantic
city.
For efficiency’s sake, I decided to get on the
first ‘hop-on hop-off’ tour bus I saw—the easiest way to get around in most major tourist
cities of the world.
Sightseeing for a good half-day on an openair double-decker bus was rewarding, but the
chill seeped into my bones, kicking in an urge to
have hot, steamy kimchi jjigae.
Quickly I changed buses to reach the Opera
Garnier, the neo-baroque-style opera house
at the heart of the city. A five-minute walk
from the landmark is a collection of Asian
restaurants. Without hesitation, I walked into
the first Korean restaurant I found and ordered
kimchi jjigae.
The smell of properly fermented kimchi soon
pervaded the small yet cozy restaurant, which
was named Sa Lang, or love. The spiciness from
the stew melted the coldness from my body.
I wondered if French people have ever
known this feeling. Probably not. (Spicy Korean stews are popular among Chinese and Japanese diners, not so much among Westerners.)
NEW YORK >>
By An Ji-yoon
The Korea Herald
But as I found out, Korean cuisine, or
hansik, is gaining in popularity—
even in the world’s culinary capital.
Gilles Eeckhoudt, a designer who
came to enjoy dinner with his friend
at the restaurant, said that he loves
Korean cuisine because of the wide
range of tastes it contains.
“Korean dishes have so many different tastes: sweetness, saltiness
and spiciness. Compared to Korean
food, Japanese food is too simple in
taste and flavour,” he said.
According to Jeon Pyeong-hwa, a
waitress at Sa Lang, over 80 per cent
of the restaurant’s customers are
non-Koreans.
“Many of the restaurant’s French
customers are office workers from
nearby banks, travel agencies and department stores, but recently we have
had an increasing number of college
students studying the Korean language as well,” said Jeon, a student of
Ecole Ferrandi, one of France’s most
prestigious cooking schools.
She said two of the most popular
items on the menu at Sa Lang are bulgogi ($25) and bibimbap ($20). “We
serve soy sauce mixed with sesame oil
for bibimbap. A bowl of gochujang or
hot pepper paste is served alongside
the dish for those who don’t mind authentic Korean spiciness.”
Its bulgogi was closer to
Gwangyang-style Korean barbecue,
for which beef slices are dipped into
sauce before being grilled, than
Seoul-style bulgogi, which is on the
border between barbecue and stew.
Because average French diners often spend two hours eating, one can
hardly expect to be successful in Paris
with a high-volume, low margin approach, said Lim Nam-hi, the owner
of the restaurant.
“There are over 100 Korean restaurants in Paris, but only about 10
hire Korean food experts as chefs,”said
Bae Sang-heum, the owner and chef
of Guibine, another popular Korean restaurant in the area. “The
rest are mostly run by students who
have chosen the restaurant business
to make some money,” he said.
M
embers of Korea’s MBC TV
reality show Infinite Challenge
have placed a
full-page advertisement for
bibimbap in the New York
Times.
Their action follows an episode promoting Korean food
in New York and was done
jointly with national publicity
specialist Seo Kyoung-duk—
an honourary professor at
Sungshin Women’s University.
Under the heading “How
about bibimbap for lunch today?” the adver tisement
shows a picture and summarised description of the representative dish, with information on Korean restaurants in
Manhattan at the bottom. It
was published in section A of
the Dec 21, 2009 edition.
“During the shooting of the
episode in New York, we realised how little New Yorkers
knew about Korea and Korean
food,” Kim Tae-ho, producer of
Infinite Challenge said.
“Rather than simply advertising Korean restaurants, we
felt a more strategic approach—creating enticement
through a particular dish—
would be more appropriate.
Seo said “the best way to create awareness of Korea without actually visiting is through
experiencing Korean food”,
thus explaining the logic behind the advertisement. With
a webpage dedicated to Korean cuisine currently underway
and another advertisement
for the New York Times in
line, Seo alluded to future
plans of furthering this path
for national publicity.
TELL THE WORLD:
The ad that ran in the
New York Times.
• 33
POPDOM
By Yasmin Lee Arpon
Asia News Network
TYPHOON
GENERATION:
Japan’s Arashi, which
means ‘storm’,
dominated the 2009
Oricon charts and
continue to climb the
popularity ladder.
Alphabet of Pop
It no longer matters if you
don’t speak the language,
you can sing the song
A
v Bangkok
friend listens to K-pop while another
prefers J-pop. Many others, like me,
started out with Mandopop while there
are some that grew up with Cantopop.
No, this is not all about the latest
cola brand in the market but the ABCs of Asia’s
pop music. Are you a C, J, K or M fan? We can
also add an F, T or V, even a B for Bollywood.
In the 1980s, Cantonese pop, also known as HK
pop, led the music revolution with singers like the
late Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung. In the 1990s, the
so-called Heavenly Kings—Andy Lau, Jacky
Cheung, Leon Lai and Aaron Kwok—lorded it over.
It was also in the ‘90s that Japanese pop, or
J-pop, was coined and some of those artists who
became popular during that period continue to
make hits today. They include Namie Amuro, Glay
and L’Arc-en-Ciel, names that still figure in Japan’s
Oricon charts.
34 •
FUSION: Taiwan’s Wang
Lee Hom plays traditional
Chinese instruments like
the pipa.
But in the early 2000s, a Taiwanese
drama called Meteor Garden broke
into the scene together with a
catchy theme song, Qing Fei De Yi
(roughly translated as Can’t Help
Falling In Love).
For the non-Chinese audience,
the fact that Qing Fei De Yi was a
Mandarin song did not stop them
from learning the lyrics and singing
Harlem Yu’s hit. Yu may not have
become as big a star in the region
but his song was the first step to
many in discovering Mandopop.
Meteor Garden was not a
trailblazer in the drama department
alone; it also turned its lead
stars—Jerry Yan, Vanness Wu, Ken
Zhu and Vic Zhou, known as
F4— into singers with two hit
albums under their belt.
It would also be the beginning of
a new trend in Asia’s pop culture
where pretty boys, not necessarily
gifted in singing, making young
fans’ hearts swoon with their
bubblegum music.
It was during the last decade that
Mandopop edged out Cantopop
from the charts. Taiwan, where F4
originated, became the ‘Cradle of
Mandopop’ and talents like Jay
Chou, Wang Lee Hom, Fahrenheit,
S.H.E. etc continue to make the
genre reach a wider audience
beyond the Chinese world.
Artists like Chou and Wang have
also turned Mandopop into a
platform to showcase traditional
Chinese instruments, which they
play in some of their
arrangements.
Also in the early 2000s,
Korean pop music—with
R&B and hip-hop
influences—started
winning fans with
groups like H.O.T.,
Shinhwa and g.o.d.
Although there were
solo acts like Rain,
Se7en and BoA,
K-pop seems to be
dominated by boy
and girl groups.
Currently,
the most famous are Wonder Girls,
2ne1, Big Bang, 2pm and Super
Junior.
J-pop, which used to be the
trendsetter in the ‘90s, has made a
comeback too. Singers like Hikaru
Utada and Ayumi Hamasaki set
new records. Utada’s Flavour of Life
released in 2007 had over 10 million
digital downloads, the first artist in
the world to have done so.
Japan also produced its own
version of ‘idols’, with talent
company Johnny & Associates
creating boy bands like SMAP,
Tokio, V6, KinKi Kids and Arashi.
If you ask young fans today what
J-pop is to them, they won’t say X
Japan. Most likely, they’ll say
Arashi, perhaps the biggest act last
year, topping four categories in the
2009 Oricon charts for top sales in
singles, album, concert DVD and
total sales.
As to which pop genre dominates—
whether it’s C, J, K or M—it is
very hard to tell. Fans no longer
consciously distinguish their
musical preference according to
whether it’s Cantonese, Mandarin,
Korean, Japanese, Western or other
forms. They make their choices
based on what’s the current hit or
most popular act. This is undoubt-
edly the effect of modern technology. In the ‘90s, the choices were
limited so perhaps musical tastes
were more distinct.
It has also been common for
artists to collaborate, like in the
case of Taiwan’s Vanness Wu and
Korea’s Kangta; or Super Junior-M
whose members are from Korean
and Chinese descent.
At the same time, while language
barriers have been taken down,
artists also realise that it would
boost their music more if they are
able to incorporate other languages
into their songs. Thus, Jay Chou
throws in a Thai word in his rap,
Rainie Yang records a Japanese
version of the Mando hit Ai Mei,
Arashi performs in Mandarin and
Korean during concerts in Shanghai
and Seoul, and Wonder Girls sings
Nobody in English.
In a world of iPods, cable TV
and YouTube, a more diverse
choice is allowed. One can even be
a fan of all letters in the world of
pop music.
[email protected]
SOMEBODY:
Korea’s Wonder
Girls was last
year’s biggest
breakthrough
act, performing
before US
audiences.
• 35
E N T E R TA I N M E N T
By Foong Woei Wan
The Straits Times
Drama
Grows
Taiwanese idol
dramas, which
grew out of girls’
comics and once
had its head
buried in first
crushes and first
boyfriends, has
become more adult
in the past decade
FATE PLAYS:
You’re My Destiny
tackles the
consequences of a
one-night stand.
36 •
T
v Singapore
hey don’t do it in Meteor Garden. Nor do
they in It Started With A Kiss, at least not
till the sequel They Kiss Again.
In Devil Beside You, they don’t wait,
however, and in You’re My Destiny and
most recently, Autumn’s Concerto, they jump right
into it.
I’m talking about sex in Taiwanese idol dramas.
The genre, which grew out of girls’ comics and once
had its head buried in first crushes and first boyfriends, has become more adult in the past decade.
The heroine Shancai of the first idol drama,
Meteor Garden, would sooner slap the hero Si, the
love of her life, than sleep with him. But by Queen Of
No Marriage last year, good girls can and do have
sex lives and great boyfriends go out and get contraceptives in the middle of the night in the middle of
nowhere.
In the buttoned-down universe of the idol drama,
however, lust can still have serious, and acutely
dramatic, consequences. A one-night stand in You’re
My Destiny results in a shotgun marriage of convenience, among other complications.
Then there is Autumn’s Concerto, the current
ratings champion in Taiwan, which looks with tears
in its eyes at the consequences of
having sex with a hottie diagnosed
with brain tumour.
It begins innocently enough
when two headstrong people (Van
Ness Wu and Ady An) meet in the
usual idol-drama manner of a
road accident and tumble headlong into a romance.
But before long, he starts
fainting, his high-handed mother
manoeuvres the lovers into
breaking up, and the melodrama
rears its head.
Six years later in the story, An is
the single mum of a diabetic
moppet (Little Bin, the son of
MELODRAMA: Van Ness Wu of Meteor Garden fame shows he has grown
up wonderfully in the current hit Autumn’s Concert.
1980s child star Bin Bin), who
believes that his daddy is in outer
space and forlornly radios him over his cassette
bimbo logic.
player: Mi xiu, mi xiup (Mandarin child-speak
The former are more intense and the latter,
for “Miss you, miss you”).
still more interested in swooning: See how hot
When a stranger driving a car as sparkly as a
Wu is (he is, indeed—nine years since Meteor
spaceship crashes into the child’s life, who should Garden, he appears to have aged better than the
it be but Wu, suffering from amnesia after brain
other F4 dudes). See how sweet Little Bin is (he
surgery?
is acting, but less affectedly than most child
Single mum, sick child, extremely forgetful
stars). Aw, aren’t they cute together?
ex-boyfriend. Yes, it brings a strong sense of
Also adorable, if much older, is Lin Mei-hsiu,
Korean-drama deja vu and Winter Sonata and
the Hokkien earth mother of You’re My Destiny
Partner, in particular, spring to mind.
and Queen Of No Marriage, who is back as a
There is a difference, however, between
country mama with a bizarre VietnameseKorean melodramas and Taiwanese idol meloTaiwanese accent and more homespun wisdom.
dramas, which have acquired voluptuous
Autumn’s Concerto has hit a milestone, and it
narrative twists and turns but lost none of their
is as much about the show’s sex appeal as the
trio’s cross-generational cuteness.
In Hi My Sweetheart, pop star Show Luo has
to be cute on his own, more or less. The idol
drama has a go at being grown-up, putting Luo
and Rainie Yang on a collision course at a radio
station years after their break-up at university.
Yang was a goth girl and now a broadcast
sweetheart. Luo, the bitter ex-boyfriend who
buys her station in revenge, was a dork a la
Crowd Lu and now a hunk a la, well, Luo, but
with a coldness in his eyes.
The ghost of his old self still lingers on,
however, and the star gives a pitch-perfect
performance, toggling between the two personae
without a glitch.
The show doesn’t seem to know what to do with
him, though. It gives him flatulence gags, inserts
cartoony effects all around him, and gets him to
race in cars and boats against a romantic rival.
TABOO: Devil Beside You made stepsiblings
It is all a little adolescent, I’m afraid, and
not only fall in love but jump into bed too.
doesn’t do much for me.
• 37
By Thu Anh
Viet Nam News
Viet
Pop
Pop singers in Viet Nam are now
smarter and business savvy
Y
v Ha Noi
oung Vietnamese pop
stars are proving you
don’t have to be the Jonas
Brothers to take a generation by storm.
In fact, one hit song can propel
many virtual unknowns to stardom.
Teenage heart throb Ung Hoang
Phuc, for example, became an overnight sensation with the hit Nguoi Ta
Noi (Don’t Believe in Gossip), a love
song composed by writer-musician
Ngo Quang Huy.
Now the young girls go crazy at his
shows.
“One day my friends and I heard a
Ung Hoang Phuc song in a CD music
38 •
shop, and I fell for him immediately,”
says Nguyen Thi Thao, a high school
student who lives in Dong Nai Province’s Dinh Quan District. “We became
his fans and now buy all his albums.”
Phuc is not alone. Thuy Tien, now
24, is finally tasting the delights of
stardom after years of hard work.
Three years ago, while Tien’s colleagues like Quang Vinh were achieving pop fame, she was an unknown
singer with little appeal.
Many of her friends warned she
would never make it since critics said
her voice was weak.
Though she worked hard every day,
she received little attention from audiences.
But everyone in the country soon
knew her as the beautiful girl who allegedly was having a special relationship with her much older teacher,
well-known musician Quoc Bao.
The gossip and rumours gained her
renown, but not the kind she wanted.
It was a difficult time for her.
But soon she defied the naysayers
when Quoc Bao helped ensure Tien’s
rise to fame by penning the hit single
Giac Mo Tuyet Trang (Dreaming of
White Snow).
The song turned the rural youth
into the pop star she had always
dreamed of being at a time when she
was on the verge of giving up the music business altogether.
Thuy Tien
Ung Hoang Phuc (L)
Tien’s voice, with its raw, powerful
quality, helped the song become popular.
Thousands of new fans, mostly
teenagers, loved Giac Mo Tuyet Trang,
and made it one of the biggest hit
songs of 2007. HCM City fans wrote
to music magazines, radio and TV stations about Tien and her hit single.
The song was also selected as part of
the soundtrack of Tuyet Nhiet Doi
(Tropical Snow), the 30 part-series,
aired on HTV9 and produced by M&T
Picture, one of the city’s leading film
producers.
“We’re tired of hearing young singers who’re paid to cry for love,” one fan
wrote in a music forum. “With Giac
Mo Tuyet Trang, Thuy Tien tells a
love story with pure images and a happy end. The singer and her song have
become a phenomenon in the local
music scene.”
Other singers have followed in her
footsteps. Younger than Tien, singer
Khanh Phuong recently became a new
idol after performing Nguyen Van
Chung’s Chiec Khan Gio Am (Warm
Scarf).
But with such a fickle market, it is
difficult to discern whether people like
a song because of its singer’s fame, lyrics or melody.
Many people disliked the song Noi Toi
(My Paternal Grandmother), written by
veteran songwriter-singer Dinh Van.
But when it was sung by pop star
Dan Truong, who changed the style, it
became a hit.
Truong’s fame helped, but the new
style also appealed to listeners.
With singers rocketing to fame from
one hit song, some young singers are
learning that it can be profitable to
pay a composer copyright fees to perform their songs exclusively.
Singer Khanh Ngoc’s manager,
Nhac Xanh Studio, signed a copyright
deal with partner, well-known composer Nguyen Van Chung, to have the
exclusive use of Ngoc’s latest song
Vang Trang Khoc (Crying Moon).
Thanks to the deal, Ngoc faced little
competition when her song was voted
by listeners of HCM City’s radio FM
station Wave as the top single of 2008.
That success brought her big contracts in advertising spots and performances with leading entertainment organisers.
Many of these artists are undeniably talented singers, and it must be
acknowledged that the creative efforts
of composers and singers have done
much to help transform the local music scene.
Their hits, along with quality recordings, have fostered the development of Viet Nam’s music and CD industry. However, music critics warn
against producing the same old instant hits.
“Young singers must be encouraged
to perform songs with
high artistic value. It’s
wrong to think you can
be the best singer with
only a ballad,” said
composer-music critic
Pham Dang Khuong.
Nguyen Van Chung,
who composed the top
hit Crying Moon, said
he would not sell exclusive rights to his
songs to only one
singer.
“Music is a creative
art. By singing, performers can help fans
feel the song in different ways. I think that’s
great,” he said.
• 39
By Devraj Singh Kalsi
The Statesman
The Son
Also
Rises
Every father expects
his son to be more
successful, more
famous, more
powerful. Celebrities
are no exception
I
Photos by A FP
v Kolkata
Shahid Kapoor
40 •
n the Hindi film world, there
have been several instances of
star sons disappointing their
dads. There have also been sons
who somehow managed to
reach the level of success attained by
their parents.
Real showstoppers have been some
sons who achieved what their dads
couldn’t garner in a lifetime—be it
moolah, fan-following or simply
awards—as they had grown up in an
environment where success was elusive and therefore the passionate, almost obsessive, drive to outshine and
outsmart kept them focused on claying up a bright future.
With a rich, baritone voice, one expected swashbuckling Indian actor
Suresh Oberoi to carve a niche for
himself. Unable to sustain himself as
a lead actor, he managed to survive in
the industry by accepting small supporting, stereotypical roles that did
not quite give him the latitude to
showcase his potential.
The rise of the next generation
was all set to turn the tide and translate his unfulfilled dreams of being a
matinee idol into eagerly anticipated
reality.
Suresh’s son Vivek Oberoi, an arriviste with a no-nonsense attitude,
made a splash in the industry as top-
Hrithik Roshan
notch film directors like Subhash
Ghai and Ram Gopal Verma roped
him in for projects like Kisna, Company, Dum. It couldn’t have possibly
gotten better than this for a rank
newcomer who did not have a powerful lineage or cognomen to boast of or
bank on. Shaad Ali’s Saathiya opposite Rani Mukherjee became a runaway hit and the parvenu was propelled into the big league of star sons.
Dizzy with success, he considered
himself the most eligible bachelor in
town who had beauty queens turned
heroines drooling over him. He was
engaged in wooing one such leading
starlet and his focus shifted from the
professional field to winning the lady
love first.
It grew into a sort of obsession and
he started taking his fledgling career
a little too easily with the inevitable
result that producers started looking
for substitutes when his films did not
set the box office on fire.
Vivek Oberoi
Mismanaging his career and taking
himself very seriously as a star cost
him dearly. Bad press and PR machinery made matters worse as he could
not prioritise issues and wanted everything a tad too fast. His success was
short-lived though he can claim that
he dazzled like a meteor and made his
father proud of achieving so much in
such a short span of time.
Shootout at Lokhandwala, a multistarrer, did help Vivek in breaking the
jinx, in regaining some of the lost
ground but he is still widely known as
one actor who messed up his personal
life and ruined his career, unable to
keep these two poles apart. He erred
by thinking that he had already built a
huge cult following that would not
desert him irrespective of whatever he
did—good, bad—in reel or real life.
Pankaj Kapoor cannot be dubbed
an unsuccessful actor but if one applies the parameters of commercial
success then it can be said that he deJanuary 29-February 11, 2010
served more what actually came his
way. An actor par excellence, he
proved himself aeons ago with Tapan
Sinha’s Ek Doctor ki Maut.
His recent films like Bhavna Talwar’s Dharm, Raj Kumar Santoshi’s
Halla Bol, Vishal Bharadwaj’s Maqbool and The Blue Umbrella reaffirm
that he is an under-rated, under-utilised actor who should not be belittled on the basis of sitcoms like Office
Office or Zabaan Sambhalke. He has
great comic timing as seen in Kundan
Shah’s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron.
His son Shahid Kapoor has given
him reasons to cheer and thump his
back by achieving a lot so early in his
career. Trendy, teenybopper flicks like
Dil Maange More, Ishq Vishq made
him a cool favourite with the school
and college-going crowds. Rajshri
banner family drama, Vivah was a
moderate success, which made him a
household name.
Like Vivek, he began an affair to
remember with another Kapoor girl.
When they broke off, Shahid’s legions
of fans and admirers, especially
young girls, were relieved that he had
left his past behind.
This personal setback, for a change,
was not allowed to bear any negative
impact on the professional front and
he did not go overboard with allegations like how he was jilted or exploited. He maintained a stoic silence by
not trading attacks or launching a
slanderous blame-game to tarnish
the image of his ex-beau. He was able
to channel all that was probably negative into positivity by concentrating
more on his work.
This helped him to emerge as a mature actor in Jab We Met and Kaminey though his career graph also
has dampeners like Kismat Connection to be ashamed of.
Surpassing all expectations arrived
a Greek God who was glorified by
various sections of the media. His father had acted in many light-hearted
comedies like Khatta Meetha, Kaamchor, Hamari Bahu Alka, Jhoothi.
But he did not click as a hero though
many blame it on his moustache
rather than his acting abilities. His
films did not get massive openings
yet he continued to get work. His
brother was a more successful personality as a music director and he,
too, tasted success as a film director
with Khudgarz. Yes, we are talking of
the Roshan clan.
Hrithik Roshan—with a sculpted
torso and Adonis looks—created box
office history not seen since the heady
days of Amitabh Bachchan. Rakesh
Roshan launched him in Kaho na...
Pyaar Hai. The film ran very successfully and went on to win almost every
award. Hrithik Roshan was not ready
to be dismissed as a star son who performed only when his father wielded
the microphone. There was no dearth
of offers after the initial brush with
success. He went on to work with reputed directors like Vidhu Chopra in
Mission Kashmir and Subhash Ghai
in Yaadein.
He became meticulous and choosy
with the scripts and cut down on the
projects he embarked on in order to
give his hundred per cent instead of
cashing on the hysterical craze and
fizzling out in a few years. It’s been a
decade since he hit the marquee, and
he has already stabilised his career
with clearly set goals.
Jodhaa Akbar and Krish have been
other landmark films and his forthcoming venture, Kites, currently doing the festival rounds, is tipped to
make him the Brad Pitt of India. As a
top bracket star, having several national and international brands to
endorse, with a tremendous fan-following among the youth, he has delivered octane performances as well
as maintained a lean, muscular look
that suggests he is going to stay at the
top for decades to come.
In this very first decade of the career they have washed away the stigma attached to their fathers, and given them reason to celebrate this
hard-earned success. Certainly it’s no
longer about being successful. It’s
more about staying successful and
managing to wear the crown of success lightly.
• 41
PEOPLE
By Rupak D Sharma
Asia News Network
The Ambassador
Of Indian Food
Vinder Balbir Thakral,
aka Mrs Balbir, has
overcome all the
traumas in her life to
become one of the
best Indian cuisine
chefs in Thailand
O
Photos Cou rtesy of V inder Ba lb ir Thakral
v Bangkok
n a recent Saturday
morning, Vinder Balbir
Thakral got off the motorcycle taxi and
rushed into her restaurant in Bangkok’s tourist hub of Nana
apologising.
“I’m so sorry, I completely forgot
about the appointment,” the moderately built 53-year-old said smiling in
the most engaging fashion.
She was supposed to appear for
this interview at 11am but by the time
she had reached the restaurant it was
almost 11:30.
“You know, we had a party last
night. Then some of my friends
suggested we go and watch this
movie Avatar. So I went to bed
quite late,” the owner of one of the
most famous and oldest Indian
restaurants in the Thai capital said,
explaining the delay.
Running a restaurant can take a
toll on personal life, especially if it is
in cases like that of Vinder’s where
people she knows on a personal basis
form the core of her clientele. Cer42 •
THE LADY: Vinder Balbir Thakral,
the owner of Mrs Balbir restaurant in
Thailand.
tainly, the quality of food matters the
most but you also need to learn how
to frame your life around entertaining guests till the end of the day. Failing to do so may translate into losing
customers’ support.
“It’s a tough work, you know, and
you need lots of patience,” said
Vinder, a Malaysian who has been
living in Thailand for more than 30
years now.
Born Harvinder Kaur, Vinder’s life
has revolved around her restaurant –
Mrs Balbir—for almost three decades
now. To her this is home and school. It
is a place where she learnt how to cook
Indian food. This is a place where her
toddler turned into a man and her love
and respect for her husband grew even
stronger. And it is also the place where
she transformed herself from an ‘ignorant girl’ in the restaurant sector to a
‘star-like figure’, who now goes
around advising people how to create
menus and run businesses.
Looking back Vinder feels contented, as the time and efforts she has put
into her venture has paid off. Today,
she proudly claims she has a follow-
ing of more than 5,000 loyal customers, and north Indian cuisines, such
as butter chicken masala, tandoori
(clay oven) items, thalis and even
masala milk tea, made in her kitchen
are considered as among the best in
Thailand.
But like in the case of many successful entrepreneurs, her journey to
the top has not been an easy one.
“When we first opened up, Indian
food was not popular in Thailand,”
Vinder said. “Thais hated the smell of
the spices that we used.”
The only people who used to visit
her restaurant were expatriates and
“very few Thais mostly educated in
England”. “Although there were
many Indians living around in Bangkok at that time they lived a very frugal life and the culture of eating out
was not there,” she said.
There were times when she thought
she had made a wrong decision by
opening up an Indian cuisine restaurant in a country where Indian dishes
were abhorred. “In such times, I just
wanted to close down for good and
look for alternatives,” she said.
Mrs Balbir, an Indian
cuisine restaurant located
in Sukumvit Soi 11/1 in
Bangkok, Thailand.
But Vinder had an obsessive zeal, like that of a
crusader, which provided
her the fodder to fight.
Nonetheless, her resoluteness was always challenged and life didn’t
stop testing her. She felt
this when her 11-year-old
daughter who was suffering from kidney disease
died after three months
in coma.
“That was the lowest
moment in my life,” she
said. “Having spent almost all of our money on
her treatment, I had
nothing left to give to my
staff, and payments of
utility bills and rents
were pending.”
Vinder was now left THE TEACHER: Vinder conducts cooking class.
with no other choice than
closing down the restaurant. And she Malacca—by her grandfather and
did.
uncles, who were her only guardians.
“I felt as if life had closed all its
“I lived an awful life there,” Vinder
doors on me,” she said. But instead of said. “The nuns were very cold and
asking why the doors were closed she strict and we were allowed to go
asked what she could do to reopen home only once a year.” But she acthem. And within a month she sprung knowledged it was at this school in
back into action and managed to ar- Malacca where she was first introrange some loans to reopen the res- duced to the art of cooking – begintaurant. Her staff members were sup- ning with pastries and pizza.
portive as well, which made things a
After she graduated from high
lot easier for her. This was a new be- school, her grandfather sent her off to
ginning for her and since then she Bangkok to get married. She was only
has never had those impulse of 17 then but there was no way she
switching profession.
could disobey her grandfather since
“By then I had learnt how to over- shooing off the girls from the homes
come all my fear. I knew I had to face at an early age was a very common
the devil to solve problems rather practice among Indian families in
than run away from it,” she said in a those days.
resolute voice.
Her husband, Balbir Thakral, who
It so happens that for most of her life, was around 26 then, was “doing odd
what Vinder knew best were fear and a jobs to make ends meet”. Though she
feeling of devils pounding on her.
fell in love with him in their first
Born in Kuala Lumpur to parents meeting, he didn’t have a career then.
of Indian origin, Vinder had lost both “In fact, he had nothing—not even a
her parents during the 1969 racial ri- bank account,” said Vinder chuckling
ots in Malaysia, which took lives of like a teenager.
196 people. As an orphan, she was
But together they did everything to
then sent to Catholic boarding keep the household running—from
schools—first in Pahang and later in teaching English to Thais for 50 baht
(US$1.5 according to
current exchange rate)
an hour to making pizzas at home, which her
husband used to deliver
to homes on his motorcycle—until they opened
their own restaurant
which bears her husband’s name, Balbir.
“One thing that I’ve
learnt from life is that
it does not matter what
has happened to you.
What matters is how
you come out of it. That
makes you a champion,” said Vinder, who
is a vegetarian and
likes to meditate and
perform yoga. And
considering how she
has emerged unscathed
from life’s bullying, she
is a champion.
Today she not only handles her restaurant but creates her own food recipe, designs menu for restaurants and
hotels and travels around the world
as a visiting Indian chef. She also has
a cooking studio where she or chefs
invited from hotels around the world
conduct cooking classes not only on
Indian dishes but Moroccan, Brazilian and Italian dishes. On top of that
she also provides consultancy service
to Thai Airways on in-flight catering,
particularly on Indian dishes.
Vinder also wears the hat of television hostess and she successfully ran
her own cooking show Bangkok Spice
with Mrs Balbir for 16 years on Channel 21. She also had a stint on Star
Plus’ Travel Asia show.
“Now, I’m planning to write a cook
book with my life story in it,” Vinder,
who likes to travel and read lots of
self-improvement books, said.
What about retirement plans?
“I don’t believe in the word called
retirement,” she said. “I believe in
growing and moving on even if you
are 60, 70 or 80. Because the day you
stop, you die.”
• 43
TRAVEL BITES
By Jofelle P Tesorio
Asia News Network
1
2
Where Do You Wanna Go?
Definitely Asia. As more airlines offer diverse destinations at
competitive prices, heading to Asian cities is becoming the
norm among travellers
T
PH OTO S BY J O F E LL E TE S O RI O/A SI A NEWS NE T WO RK
v Bangkok
he allure of the region is
undeniably apparent when
travel sites and magazines
recommend best cities.
Early this year, Conde Nast
magazine listed Ubud, an art and culture enclave in Indonesia’s Bali island, as its top Asian city ahead of
Bangkok and Hong Kong.
But if you check most of the travel
lists, Bangkok always figures for firsttimers in the region because of its cemented reputation—shopping, food,
night life, temples, souvenirs—everything is value for money.
After a much needed, over-extended stopover in Bangkok, it’s time to
head south where the sun and white
sand beaches collide. South means
Phuket or Krabi. If time permits, seeing both places is worth it but if you
get to choose only one, Krabi is a
notch higher.
It is not only famous for Maya, a
secluded island discovered by Leon44 •
ardo di Caprio’s character in the
movie The Beach, but Krabi has its
own charm. Although a bit pricey
compared to Pattaya or Phuket, Krabi has not yet reached a point where
you hate being in the beach because
everyone is there just like in Pattaya
or Phuket’s Patong Beach. Here, seclusion and relaxation are almost
synonymous.
The better part of Krabi town is Ao
Nang because it is closer to everything—24/7 shops, massage centres,
bars, restaurants, travel agencies and
of course, hotels. Here, you can easily
get a day tour to the islands with different itineraries to choose from. Get an
island package tour with less people on
the boat. Make sure the itinerary
doesn’t cramp all islands in one day.
It’s a waste of time taking just snaps of
photos of these beautiful islands without actually enjoying them. It means
enough time to bathe in the sun or appreciate colourful fishes and corals
without having to rush back because
your 30 minutes is up or the boat will
leave you floating on the Andaman sea.
Krabi has direct flights to Bangkok
and other Thai provinces. It also has
regular bus trips to many destinations.
If you don’t mind an overnight bus ride
then taking the land route can be pretty exciting and it costs just a third of a
plane ticket. There are first-class tourist buses with reclining seats and toilets on board. They also stop at restaurants where dinner is usually part of
the package.
When it comes to availability and
ease of transportation, be it land, air
or sea, Thailand is way ahead of its
neighbours. That is why Cambodia
and Viet Nam have imitated the way
this Mekong country manages tourism. Although taking tourist buses
are a bit cheaper in Cambodia or Viet
Nam, the ease of travel is different.
For example, if you come from Sihanoukville, a long stretch of beaches in
the Gulf of Thailand by the Cambodian side, to the Thai border of Hat
3
4
1
Lek, you can take a tourist bus for just
US$25 compared to $30 in Thailand
for the same distance. It includes pickup from hotel and a fast-lane treatment at the border control.
At the border, passengers have to
transfer to a small van depending on
the number of passengers going back
to Bangkok, Pattaya or Phuket. This
is where scams happen. The guide
from the Cambodian side would always check passengers’ tickets before
the Thai-registered van leaves. If
you’re the unlucky one who happens
to misplace or lose the bus ticket issued at Sihanoukville, you have to
pay the entire $25 even if your travel
buddy or the rest of the passengers
vouched that you were with them at
the start of the trip. It is plain scam
because the Cambodian guide doesn’t
issue a new ticket or even listen to
reasons or common logic.
Different scams to trick tourists also
happen in Thailand but these are more
prevalent in Cambodia and Viet Nam.
& 2 Krabi, Thailand
You always have to exercise caution.
By the way, Sihanoukville is not a
bad place to stay. It has white sand
beaches, crystal clear waters and
cheap hotels and cottages. Fresh seafoods also abound here. A seafood
platter only costs $3 while a bottle of
beer is $1. No wonder many backpackers find this a paradise, extend
their stay and attempt to set-up their
own restaurant business. Some succeed but majority fail, packing their
bags after reality sinks in. Setting up
a business in a foreign country doesn’t
happen with just a whim.
Many don’t know that the beach
town Sihanoukville exists because
Cambodia is better known for Angkor
Wat. Two-thirds of the country’s tourists come to Siam Reap to see one of
Asia’s oldest civilisation.
The easiest way to go to Siam Reap
is via an hour flight on Bangkok Airways. It seems like a domestic flight
but its costs a fortune because of the
airline’s monopoly in the destination.
3
Angkor Wat, Cambodia
4
Phuket, Thailand
The cheaper way is by land from
Bangkok. There are travel agencies
offering package tours or bus trips to
Siam Reap. But another word of caution: beware of scams. Make sure
that the bus arrives at the border during office hours and there won’t be
unnecessary stopovers in the middle
of nowhere.
Other neighbouring countries such
as Laos, Viet Nam, Malaysia and even
China (Yunnan) are reachable and affordable if you start with Thailand.
Those who have at least a month to
spend in the region take the slow
route by taking trains, buses and
boats. Others with limited time take
Thai Airways or other budget airlines. Thailand’s flag-carrier has impeccable in-flight service and its domestic tickets are reasonable.
The next time you fly to Asia, it’s
also worthwhile to visit not-so-popular or even unheard of destinations
and you will be surprised that there is
more to sun and beaches.
• 45
TRAVEL
By Rose Yasmin Karim
The Star
proper training or equipment and
diving in spite of medical illnesses.
“Good scuba divers don’t dive beyond the limits of what their training
has taught them. They regularly practise and improve upon scuba diving
skills. They also stay in shape to avoid
accidents caused by being unable to
swim for an extended period. Finally,
they always plan their trips in safe locations and keep an eye on weather
reports in order to avoid storms or
choppy water,” says Lee Boon Leong,
34 of Dolphin Sport Adventure (www.
dolphinsportadventure.com).”
P re-dive precautions
Scuba Do’s And Don’ts
It is the smart diver who knows himself best.
Precautions are always adviced to ensure
maximum safely under the sea
Y
v Kuala Lumpur
ou’ve survived the confined water shame, perfected the art of clearing
water from your mask by
snorting through your
nostrils, mastered the underwater
signs and packed your head with lifesaving acronyms such as BCD (buoyancy control device),
AAS (alternative air
source) and BWRAF
(buoyancy, weights, releases, air, final check—
the Padi buddy gear
checks), and now you’re
ready for the real thing.
The sun is shining on
your spanking new fins
as you rinse the toothpaste off your mask and
46 •
adjust it to settle nicely on your face.
Rolling back off the edge of the boat,
you plunge into the belly of the sea,
raring to go.
But remember this: there is no
guarantee that you will return safely
to the water’s surface.
Divers Alert Network (www.diversalertnetwork.org), a US non-profit
scuba diving and dive
safety association, reported 138 diving deaths
worldwide in 2006, with
the recorded incidents
mostly self-inflicted due
to recklessness or ignorance—diving deeper or
longer than called for,
entering overhead environments (like wrecks
and caves) without
One of the best things you can do is
to get in shape.
“Scuba diving equipment is heavy,
especially if you have it on out of water. Although water takes the weight,
scuba diving still requires a strong
body to cope with the waves and current,” says Jessica Tan, 30 of Ocean
Runner (www.oceanrunner.my), a
one-stop scuba centre.
Some countries require a doctor’s
medical before you’re allowed to start
the diving course but most rely on a
self-certification principle whereby
you can simply sign it yourself if you
don’t have any of the conditions listed
on the form.
“Some medical conditions are serious enough to disqualify a person
from scuba diving, like respiratory
problems, coronary disease, epilepsy
and asthma. Don’t dive if you have a
cold, allergy or any other kind of
medical condition that affects your
breathing, says Dr Muhd Yusof Abu
Bakar, a dive physician from Malaysia’s Institute of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine.
In the deep end
It’s important to remember that
scuba diving isn’t a solo sport.
“The most enjoyable dives are sometimes when you have a good buddy
who shares with you the sights he
comes across and paces well with you
throughout the dive,” says Ujang, 43,
an Ocean Runner Padi instructor.
This relaxing activity, however, can
turn stressful if you have to chase a
pair of fins disappearing into the blue.
“Your dive buddy should always be
within arm’s length on the same
depth to allow the two of you to share
air while you surface. Don’t be tempted to swim off on your own when you
spot something interesting. Point it
out to your guide and dive buddy and
head towards it together.
“If you do lose each other underwater, look around for no more than one
to two minutes. If you still cannot
find your buddy, slowly ascend to the
surface where they should have done
the same.”
A number of scuba diving mishaps
are also a result of nitrogen narcosis,
a condition that produces a state similar to alcohol intoxication when diving at depths beyond 30m.
Alcohol and diving is a complete
cocktail for disaster.
“Don’t drink and dive,” Yusof cautions. “Drinking can also cause you to
dehydrate quickly and make nitrogen
narcosis more likely.”
Dehydration, he states, can also be
a serious problem. “Breathing the dry
air of scuba tanks, combined with exertion and warm-climate exposure,
Th e b a d b o y s o f d iving
As you ascend you are ridding your
body of nitrogen in the tissues and
bloodstream. If you rise too quickly, the
nitrogen doesn’t get enough time to
work its way out and you risk decompression sickness (DCS) or the bends.
“DCS gets a lot of bad rep, but the
good news is that it is well understood, and can be easily prevented by
following dive tables and computers,
properly ascending at a slow rate, and
performing the standard safety stop,”
says Yusof.
“There are many factors that contribute to DCS, including dehydration, fitness level, amount of sleep,
alcohol, drugs and stress. The bends
can result in symptoms ranging from
a mild skin rash and, in severe cases,
neurological and cardiovascular
damage. If you begin to exhibit symptoms of DCS, you should take it seriously and seek treatment right away,”
he explains.
Along with the bends, arterial gas
embolism (AGE) is another dangerous condition to affect a diver.
“AGE is a blockage of an artery.
Usually, this occurs when a diver
holds his breath while ascending
(the number one rule in scuba diving is to breathe normally at all
times). This causes air inside the
lungs to expand when the pressure
drops and can lead to serious damage to the lungs,” he says.
go up a few feet to reduce the pressure, then try clearing them again until you have cleared your ears successfully, rinse and repeat. If it’s not
working, abort the dive. Or you risk a
permanent ear injury,” says Lee.
Then there are threats from some
species of fish and coral that while
extremely attractive can also be extremely dangerous.
Many coral and marine animals
pack a nasty sting to the unwary diver
who accidentally bump into them or
try to handle them.
“Fold your arms loosely up by the
chest to stop them from flapping
around. Perfect your buoyancy so you
can hover over delicate reefs. Try not
to move at a pace, which makes you
out of breath. When your heart is
drumming, you’ll start to suck air
greedily. After all, the slower you go,
the more you’ll see,” says Ujang.
Having some knowledge of the marine life, he adds, can also make the
diver aware of animals which may become aggressive when approached.
D iving for women
tends to dry out the body, which
makes you tire easy, so drink plenty of
water,” he says.
But the most common injury from
scuba diving, he says, is ear barotrauma when a diver has problems equalising. “The pain in your ears when
you descend is an indication that this
could be happening.”
Equalising problems, Lee points
out, are not all that uncommon and
there are some things you can do to
help you descend safely.
“Begin equalising as soon as your
head is submerged underwater and
continue equalising every few feet. If
your ears are not clearing properly,
One area of concern for women is
diving during their menstrual cycle.
“Obviously, any woman who suffers severe menstrual cramps, headaches or other symptoms related to
her period should refrain from diving
until fully recovered.”
Also keep in mind—while you can
scuba dive right after flying, you can’t
fly too soon after scuba diving.
“Due to the excess nitrogen in your
system, it’s important not to fly until
at least 24 hours after your last dive,”
says Yusof, who doesn’t see the appeal of scuba diving.
“If I wanted to see fishes, I’d visit
aquarium displays,” he laughs.
Before going airborne, you’ll want
to schedule a day off at the end of the
dive for lounging on the beach and
trading stories about who saw the
biggest what.
Better still, discuss how the dive
went and ask yourself what can be
done better next time to ensure maximum fun and safety.
• 47
EXPLORE
TA I W A N
Tricia Chen
The China Post
In Penghu
Waters
Ph otos by James To pley/ Th e C hina Post
Taiwan is surrounded
by large bodies of
water and offers a
culture that features
ocean life, beaches
and bridges
48 •
B
v Baisha
eing an island enveloped
in large bodies of water,
Taiwan naturally comes
with a culture that features aspects related to
the sea, such as ocean life, beach culture or even bridge building.
A 50-minute flight from Taipei
brings you to the Baisha Township,
situated on the northern part of the
main, most populated Penghu Island
called Makong. The town is home to
the aquatic-heavy side of
Taiwanese culture.
The name of the township, Baisha, means “white
sand” in Chinese and derives from the white beaches
running several kilometres
along that part of the island’s north and east coast.
Offshore from Baisha
Township is Little Baisha Island, where extensive coral
reefs can be found. It’s famous as a paradise for sunbathing, swimming and snorkeling.
Even though many people mainly
visit the area for its beautiful, soft
white sand and bright sunny weather
(the tourist season tends to be be-
tween April and August), Penghu
possesses much more to entice visitors any time of the year.
The first must-visit site in town,
the Penghu Aquarium, proves the
point.
Set up by the Fisheries Research Institute, Penghu Aquarium was opened
to the public in 1997, occupying an
area of 2.5 hectares. The area of the
neat two-storey building adds up to
approximately 4,600 square metres,
and can admit up to 500 people.
The aquarium is divided up into
three exhibition zones, each with a
theme in the order of seashore, coral
reefs, and the ocean—leading visitors
from the shallow to the deep.
All aquatic creatures in the aquarium originated from the waters in an
800-kilometre radius from Baisha
town, which includes the Taiwan
Strait and South China Sea, reflecting
the varied marine world of the Penghu region.
Not far past the entrance of the
aquarium brings visitors to the
Reef Tank, where three green sea
turtles swim and swirl in circles,
not far removed from the old sea
turtles that appeared onscreen in
Pixar’s Finding Nemo. I never got
tired of watching them.
Note: Feeding is strictly prohibited
(even if you sincerely believe they’re
asking for food).
Several cases display different live
corals up close, fascinating visitors
with the wide range of life in the waters surrounding Penghu Islands.
My favourite part of the delightful
aquarium is the transparent semicircular underwater tunnel that has a
2.8-metre diameter and is 14 metres
long. Built under the big Ocean Tank,
the tunnel provides visitors with a
180-degree view. It puts forward a
convincing impression of floating
through water alongside the underwater creatures—I jumped when a
guitarfish swam by.
Other local animals living in the
Ocean Tank include salt-water fish
and some shark species. Feeding
shows take place in the big fish tank
and are available for public viewing
twice a day, at 11am and 3pm.
Note: Feeding session times are
subject to change, depending on the
season and water temperature.
Once through the glass tunnel, visitors arrive at a corner of the aquarium with long benches facing the other side of the Ocean Tank. It is
perhaps the most calming spot of the
building where you can sit back and
embrace the underwater beauty.
Rare ocean creatures and a discussion of marine issues, such as frequent sea fishing and ocean ecology,
are displayed on the second floor. A
touch pool, designed for children, allows visitors to feel some sea creatures, such as the cute starfish.
The open space outside the building is creatively designed with beautiful gardens and gigantic eye-catching
statues of various sea animals, including a huge shark’s jaw and amiable-looking dolphins. A kid’s playground lightens up the atmosphere
while a few big sculptures of lobsters
and crabs animate the parking lot.
Even though the aquarium is not
the biggest in the country, the assortment of marine life there makes up
for its small size.
The aquarium is open from 9am to
5pm daily. Admission is NT$200
lights on the bridge twinkle, you see
from a distance a sea of shining stars.
Note: It gets very windy here at
night (even in summer), so make sure
you bring a light jacket!
The next stop is back on Penghu
land in an old village of Baisha
Township.
Not a forest, but a tree
(US$6) for adults, NT$150
(US$4.70) for students, and free for
children under 110cm tall.
After seeing what’s underwater,
let’s go take a look at what’s on top.
A never-ending bridge?
Over the water, connecting the islands of Baisha and Siyu is Penghu’s
Cross-Sea Bridge, also known as the
Trans-Oceanic Bridge. Locals have
often referred to it as ‘the Great
Bridge’ as well, for its magnificent
combination of form and function.
Not only does the
bridge make one of the
prettiest Penghu Islands accessible, the
2.5-km long span is
also, impressively,
one of the longest
trans-ocean bridges
in East Asia.
The bridge crosses
Houmen Channel,
which the locals consider
dangerous due to its depth and
rapid tides; many ships were wrecked
here before the bridge was built.
At the entrance of the bridge sits a
graceful arch that has long held symbolic meaning. Whilst travelling on
the bridge, I was overwhelmed by the
amazing ocean view on both sides.
Locals said the most romantic sunset views are often being captured
here; the view of a golden yellow sky
merging with a dark blue sea is astonishing.
In the evenings, when the caution
Tongliang Village, situated south
of town, is a 5-minute drive from the
Great Bridge. The village is a popular
destination because of Bao An Temple, but even more so because of the
300-plus-year-old Great Banyan located in front of the temple.
The Great Banyan’s 90- something
aerial roots have, over time, penetrated the ground and grown into many
trunks, covering approximately 660
square metres of the area—visitors
often mistaken the place as a miniature forest with dozens of trees.
Standing in the garden, I felt like I
was under a massive green umbrella,
keeping me in the shade and away
from the strong wind.
This giant tree is the largest and
oldest in Penghu County. Locals apparently began to
respect the temple a lot
more because they believed the gods made
the Banyan strong,
healthy and long
lasting. The magnificent tree adds
value to Penghu
County, making it
another good reason
to visit Baisha.
Getting there
By air: Flights are available from Taipei,
Taichung, Tainan, Chiayi and Kaohsiung. A
return ticket for the 50-minute journey is
approximately NT$3,200 (US$100) per
person from Taipei.
By sea: Four-hour ship rides are
available from Chiayi and Kaohsiung. A
return journey costs about NT$1,500
(US$47) from Kaohsiung.
• 49
DATEBOOK
CHINESE
NEW
YEAR
S I N GA PO R E
Into its 24th year since 1987,
River Hongbao has been
Singapore’s annual signature
event to usher in the CNY.
Visitors can look forward to
majestic, large-scale displays
of popular Chinese mythical
characters such as the
God-of-Fortune, 12 Chinese
zodiac animals and many
other lighting installations
which would provide numerous
photo opportunities. All these
against the specular Marina
Bayfront view with firing of
firecrackers and fireworks, a
visit to the River Hongbao will
be a trip to be remembered.
O
therwise known
as the Spring
Festival or Lunar
New Year, this is the
most important of the
traditional Chinese
holidays.
The festival traditionally begins on the first
day of the first month in
the Chinese calendar and
ends on the 15th.
Outside China, Hong
Kong, Macau and
Taiwan, CNY is also
celebrated in countries
with significant Han
Chinese populations,
such as Singapore,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, and
Thailand.
When: February 12-20
Where: Marina Bay Floating
Stage
Info: www.riverhongbao.sg
PENANG
B E I J I N G/ SHANGHAI
There’s a plethora of
lantern shows, dragon
dances, outdoor bazaars and
spectacular incessant
firework displays. The best
way to enjoy the festivities is
to head to a miaohui (temple
fair) for all manner of
entertainment, from folk
dances and martial arts
performances to historical
re-enactments. There’s great
food on offer with the typical
jiaozi (dumplings that
represent good fortune in the
coming year) being devoured
at the beginning of the
two-week festivities. Crimson
lanterns fill the streets for the
magnificent Lantern Festival.
Info: http://www1.
chinaculture.org
H ong Kong
The New Year Night Parade
hits Tsim Sha Tsui East on the
Kowloon peninsula with a
cavalcade of colourful floats,
dragon dancers and performers from all over the world.
On Chinese New Year’s Day
the decorated floats, performers, street entertainers, music
and dance make their way
through the Tsim Sha Tsui
district, festooned in its finest
garb, against the striking
backdrop of Victoria Harbour.
Skyscrapers are bedecked in
thousands of glittering lights
and you’ll see a spectacular
variety of seasonal symbols
which confer good fortune and
happiness, while the sounds of
Kung Hei Fat Choy and other
warm wishes reverberate
through the streets.
The next day, glittering
fireworks over Victoria
Harbour welcome the new
year. There are also amazing
flower displays all over the
city at this time. Don’t miss
the vivid Flower Markets in
Victoria and Fa Hui parks,
where kumquat trees, peach
blossoms and tangerine
plants fill the air with sweet
scents.
When: February 8-21;
8pm-9:30pm
Where: Tsim Sha Tsui
Info: www.discoverhongkong.com/cny
The main celebrations
centre on the first two days of
the festival.
In Malaysia, Penang is the
place to celebrate CNY. With
the oldest Chinese community in the country, the
celebrations here are
everything you’d expect, with
Chinese dragon displays and
plenty of firecrackers.
Spectacles such as the
lion dance, are also featured.
Two light-footed dancers,
wearing lion outfits and
painted red masks with
clackety-clack jaws, take to
the streets mesmerising
passers-by with their nimble
steps and spectacular
costumes. Huge sticks of
incense are burnt and
firecrackers here are
definitely legal! Celebrations
centre on the first two days
of the new year but parties
take place for around 15
days in total.
HGRS_AsiaNewsAdvtv2_080807.qxp:Layout 1
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Seite 11
Global
competition
Building
Asia together.2009:
Two Holcim Awards for Asia
Encouraging
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Korea looks for the perfect recipe to globalise its cuisine

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