asia`s transgenders challenge tradition

POLITICS
The next big
power playground
LIFESTYLE
Buddhism’s new
appeal
M AY 18-31, 2012
Not Born
This Way
ASIA’S TRANSGENDERS
CHALLENGE TRADITION
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COVER STORY
Not Born This Way  8
The growing
presence of
transgender
people in the
community is
seen by many
as building a
more inclusive
society
VIEW  7
On Pakistani Soil
Pakistan faces varied
challenges in defeating
threats to its security
SPECIAL REPORT  16
Power Of The Purse
Many Asian wives now
hold the purse strings in
many households
TECHNOLOGY  18
The Cloud Factor
Across the world, governments like Thailand are
adopting an uber cool
technology called cloud
ENVIRONMENT  20
SOCIETY  28
A Delta Of Droughts And Floods
In the Mekong Basin, Laos
and Cambodia face most
risks wrought by climate
change
Conspiracy Of Silence
A year after Osama’s death,
Pakistan has yet to reveal
details surrounding the US
attack
POLITICS  24
ECONOMY  30
The Next Big Power Playground
Much like the Balkan states
in the last century, when big
countries fought proxy wars
in the region, many fear that
the sea could become a
conflict zone again
Asia’s Rising Star
Amid challenges, Vietnam’s
economy soars
BUSINESS  32
Rewiring For Retirement
Is the Philippines ready to
be a top retirement hub?
F E AT U R E S
LIFESTYLE  36
Buddhism’s New Appeal
Monks and temple staff are
branching out from
traditional duties to
encourage people to become
involved in the religion
ENTERTAINMENT  38
The Reign Of K-pop
Korean stars are all too
eager to promote themselves and willing to go
anywhere in the world for
the right price
COVE R IM AG E | by s h i l ei/s p ecial to t he as ia n ews net work
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The View
RUSSIA
By Kavi Chongkittavorn
The Nation
Putin’s Return
With Putin back, Asean sees stronger ties with Russia
❖❖ Moscow
P hoto by AF P
R
ussian President Vladimir
Putin’s return
will impact on
the Asia-Pacific region, in particular
Asean, more than ever before. With the regional obsession of rising China and
US pivot to Asia, it is imperative to dwell on what
Russia has in store for
Southeast Asia amid intensified power competition.
For China and US, it is about the
rebalancing of their power while
Russia moves towards the redistribution of power.
For the past 12 years, Russia has
been successful in keeping the country together and staying afloat,
thanks to the strong-willed Putin’s
vision of united Russia and the gigantic amount of revenues from energy
exports, especially with the current
high oil price. Moscow also has maintained its active international profile,
as a member of UN Security Council.
Although the Soviet Union collapsed
in 1990, residues of its empire continue to pose security challenges
throughout the world that both Moscow and international communities
have to manage.
When former Soviet president
Mikhail Gorbachev announced its
first major foreign policy on the Asia
Pacific in 1986, no Asean members
predicted that it would subsequently lead to a dramatic Soviet pullout
from the existing support from Indochinese countries. A year later,
during his visit to Bangkok, former
foreign minister Eduard Shervardnaze reconfirmed the dwindling
down of Soviet presence and economic assistance to the region in
order to concentrate on domestic
reforms. That laid the groundwork
for establishing the present Asean6•
up the Asean Centre in
2010 at the Moscow State
University of International
Relations to promote Asean-Russia relation. Interestingly, Moscow has been
more enthusiastic than
Washington in backing the
region-initiated commuRussias newly
nity building process initiinaugurated
ated by Asean. But somePresident
how, Russia’s key policy
Vladimir Putin
initiatives often lost out
through bureaucratic red
Russia relations.
tapes and no follow-ups.
After the fall of Berlin Wall in
At the moment, almost all political
1990, a year later Russia was invited and security dialogue and cooperaalong with China as a guest of the tion have been under the Asean-led
Asean chair, Malaysia, to attend the frameworks. Throughout the 1990’s,
annual foreign ministers’ meeting in Russia did come up with few ideas
Kuala Lumpur. Thanks to the strong of collective security for the Asiabacking from Malaysia under prime Pacific region with Asean as the
minister Mahathir Mohammad, Rus- centre. On hindsight, without any
sia intensified overall diplomatic follow-up and consultations, these
engagement with Asean hoping it proposals did not go very far.
would attain a respectable status in
Russia, too, can play a leading role
the overall scheme of things in Asean. in ensuring energy and food secuIn 1996, Russia became a full dia- rity in the region with its abundant
logue partner of Asean that strength- oil and gas as agricultural products.
ened the bilateral relations further. Trade between Russia and Asean
The grouping’s desire to counter- members are small in comparison
balance the influence of US and with China and the US. In 2010, the
China also came into play but not as overall Asean-Russia trade was a
intense and visible as it is now.
little bit over US$10 billion while
During the two-decade old rela- investment in Asean up to last year
tions, Russia has been trying to forge was under $200 million.
all around relations, particularly on
It is an open secret that Russia
political and security cooperation, would like to attract foreign investwith Asean. But Moscow was not ment, especially from Asean and its
successful albeit enthusiastic in sup- dialogue partners, to the country’s
porting Asean’s no-nuke zone of remote Siberia and the Far East
peace and security. It was also among Region.
the first to express the intention to
Like the US, Russia considered
sign the protocol to Southeast Asia itself as a Asia-Pacific power with its
Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (1995). own version of pivot on Asia. Putin
In 2004, Russia became the sec- knows Russia needs to be prudent in
ond member of the UN Security redistributing its powers and influCouncil to accede to the Treaty of ence beyond its immediate neighAmity and Cooperation, which the bouring countries, especially in the
US followed in 2009. Russia also set region it once reigned supreme.
May 18-31, 2012
PAKISTAN
By Munir Akram
Dawn
On Pakistani Soil
Pakistan faces varied challenges in defeating threats to its
security
❖❖ Islamabad
R
May 18-31, 2012
Pakistan seeks
to address
unabated
violence and
unrest and
restore peace
in the country.
Afghanistan, India’s conventional
arms build-up, and the preservation
of Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence
capabilities.
Considerable progress has been
made, largely due to Pakistan’s contribution and collaboration with the
US, to destroy the leadership and
command structures of the “original” al-Qaeda initially located in
Afghanistan and evidently pushed
into Pakistan after the post-9/11 US
intervention in Afghanistan. Despite
frequent US insinuations, there is a
broad consensus in Pakistan to
eliminate these foreign terrorists
from Pakistani soil. Unless, due to
the current estrangement with Pakistan, US-Pakistan cooperation is
terminated, the goal of defeating
al- Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan is achievable.
Combating the TTP and the BLA
will be more challenging. While the
grievances that led to the emergence
of the two groups were domestic,
there is compelling evidence that
these groups are being utilised by
Pakistan’s adversaries—the Afghan
and Indian intelligence. Some in
Pakistan are convinced that these
groups have the benediction of the
US and some other Western countries also. Success against both
groups will involve military operations, political negotiations and
adroit diplomacy.
The threat posed to Pakistan
by the US-Nato military intervention in Afghanistan was
inherent but initially blurred
by the initial successes of
counterterrorist cooperation.
Pakistan has been significantly destabilised by this 11year Afghan conflict.
In accordance with the Pakistan parliament’s guidelines,
measures can be taken to enhance border security, such as
no-fly zones and border fencing. The
larger danger arises from the likelihood that a continued US military
presence in Afghanistan will prolong
and exacerbate a civil war; effectively divide the country along
north-south ethnic lines, and spread
the threat of ethnic division to Pakistan.
It is thus in Pakistan’s interest,
when resuming engagement with
the US, to bring about the orderly,
honourable but full withdrawal of
US-Nato forces from Afghanistan as
soon as possible. Simultaneously,
Pakistan should secure the cooperation of Iran, China and Russia to
help evolve an inter-Afghan political
solution which could end the civil
war and enable complete US-Nato
withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the traditional threat
from India’s conventional military
capabilities is also growing. The current improvement in Indo-Pakistan
atmospherics should not lead Islamabad to forget that India is now
the world’s largest arms importer.
Last, but not least, Pakistan needs
to preserve the credibility of nuclear
deterrence. There is no more vital
national security objective than
safeguarding this capability from
destruction, sabotage or hostile
takeover.
The writer is a former Pakistan ambassador
to the UN.
•7
P hoto by AF P
eportedly, in the
1960s, while reviewing arrangements for the
protection of
China’s nascent nuclear arsenal, Mao Zedong observed:
“Security must be 100 per
cent; it cannot be 99 per cent.”
Obviously, as the events of
2011 illustrated, Pakistan cannot pretend to even remotely
enjoy such complete security
postulated by Chairman Mao.
The undetected Abbottabad incursion, the Salala border attack, as well
as the regular terrorist toll, are vivid
indications of the tattered state of
Pakistan’s security. This steady deterioration is no doubt demoralising
for Pakistani civilians and soldiers,
yet it is not entirely surprising.
For 60 years, Pakistan’s military
capabilities and deployments were
designed to deter and repel the
threat from India. Today, largely as
a result of our own tactical and strategic mistakes, the threats to Pakistan’s security have become multidimensional and complex, internal
and external, emanating from foe
and friend, east and west.
The gaps in Pakistan’s security
cannot be addressed or overcome
solely by the armed forces. National
security is the business of the entire
nation. What is required is the formulation and implementation of a
comprehensive and multifaceted
military, political, diplomatic and
economic strategy to provide 100
per cent security to Pakistan. This
strategy should address the five categories of threats facing Pakistan:
al-Qaeda and affiliated terrorism,
the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
and the Baloch Liberation Army
(BLA) insurgencies, the threat emanating from the US-Nato military
presence and the predicament in
COVER STORY
AF P PH OTO/Sta n Honda
By Feng Zengkun
The Straits Times
VARIOUS ROLES:
Leona Lo is a
transgender woman
from Singapore. Lo is
also entrepreneur and
activist.
Not Born This Way
Transgenders are still looking for acceptance in Asia and
the rest of the world, but discrimination is not stopping
them from reaching for their dreams
8•
May 18-31, 2012
❖❖ Singapore
I
t is an event designed to celebrate Singapore’s most beautiful women.
But next year’s Miss Universe
Singapore could be won by
somebody born a man, after organisers revealed that they are considering accepting contestants who have
had a sex change.
A spokesman for Derrol Stepenny
Promotions, which runs Singapore’s
edition of the international beauty
pageant, said it is waiting for in-
May 18-31, 2012
structions on the move from the
parent organisation.
News of the impending change
drew mixed reactions from Singaporeans, with some saying that it
would make the competition more
relevant and others warning that
transgender contestants might have
an unfair advantage because they
would definitely have gone under
the knife.
Traditionally, only natural-born
women aged between 18 and 27 are
allowed to compete in the contest,
which is co-owned by United States
real estate mogul Donald Trump and
television network NBC. Hopefuls
compete in national editions before
taking part in an international pageant.
Organisers of the global edition
said earlier this month that they
were working on the language of the
official rule change and would announce it soon.
It is not clear whether contestants
who have undergone a sex change
would have to declare their status.
The policy change comes on the
back of an international outcry after
a Canadian transgender woman was
disqualified from her country’s competition last month.
Jenna Talackova, 23, was eventually allowed to return to the contest
after she hinted she would file a
discrimination lawsuit against the
organisers.
Organisers of Singapore’s other
major beauty pageant, Miss Singapore World, said they were not
aware of any similar plans to change
the rules.
Lionnel Lim, a fashion publicist
who has worked with transgender
models, said the move would improve the battered image of beauty
pageants here. The industry has
been plagued by accusations of
sleaze behind the scenes and sinking
popularity in recent years.
“Having transgendered contestants would make the competition
more socially conscious,” said Lim.
Transgender people who spoke to
The Straits Times also lauded the
move, saying it would add to the
government’s goal of building a
more inclusive society.
“Of course, I would rather have a
transgendered member of parliament than a beauty contestant, but
it’s a step in the right direction,” said
public relations consultant Leona
Lo, 36.
Student Marla Bendini, 26, said
transgender contestants could lead
to a more positive representation of
the community in society.
“A few weeks ago I was approached by a television crew to play
a transsexual sex worker who had
fallen to her death out of a hotel
room,” she said.
“There’s a fascination with
transgendered people but we tend to
be portrayed in a negative light.”
But both women added that few
among them are likely to step forward. “Transsexuals have to deal
with discrimination in the workplace, in society and even from their
families,” said Lo. “Joining a beauty
pageant is likely to be the last thing
on their minds.”
Last year’s Miss Universe Singapore, 26-year-old Valerie Lim,
added that transgender contestants
might benefit unduly from having
gone under the knife. While cosmetic surgery is not prohibited in
the contest, “the international organisers could help by providing
guidelines as to how much reconstruction is allowed”, she said.
But she added that the move
would benefit Singapore. “The competition is also about personality
and conduct. I think having
transgender contestants would
widen people’s minds.”
Engineer Leslie Wong, 29, said the
rule change was unlikely to alienate
fans of the competition. “If you’re in
a beauty pageant, you probably look
like a beautiful woman,” he said.
“I’m not sure I would even be able to
tell who is transgendered.”
Bendini said society should also
make room for pre-operative transsexuals, but the rule change was a
good first step. “It’s a beauty pageant, not a glorification of genitals,”
she said.
•9
COVER STORY
By Masanori Tonegawa
The Yomiuri Shimbun
A Private
Battle Of
The Sexes
❖❖ Tokyo
PH OTO by Yo s h ika zu TSUN O/A FP
A
i Haruna sometimes
shows her “manly” side
on TV variety programmes by speaking in
a loud, hoarse voice,
drawing laughter from the audience.
“I might have taken the long way
in coming to terms with my more
manly side, which—as much as I
hate to admit it—is my attractive
feature,” Haruna said.
Born anatomically male, Haruna
wanted clothes and toys for girls as
a child. When playing house, she
always played the role of the mother.
“I believed that I would naturally be
able to become a woman when I
grew up,” she said.
But upon entering primary school,
things quickly changed. Students
were separated by sex for physical
examinations. She wanted to wear
bloomers for female students in gym
class, but had to wear shorts for
male students. “I despaired and
wondered whether I would gradually become different from the other
friendly female students. I felt my
identity was threatened,” she said.
“Why can’t I become a woman?”
Haruna thought this to herself all
day long and was unable to concentrate on studying.
During reading time, Haruna always chose the Hans Christian Andersen tale “The Little Mermaid”
because she could identify with the
main character, who could not be10 •
come a perfect woman unless she
gave up something important. During that time, Haruna covered her
face with the book to hide a flood of
tears.
Before attending kindergarten,
Haruna had dreams of becoming an
idol singer, aching to be like pop
music duo Pink Lady. Beginning in
primary school, Haruna frequently
appeared on amateur impersonation
TV programmes.
“As I hid my feminine side at
school, I felt liberated [on the programmes],” she said. Without confiding in anyone, she graduated from
primary school and advanced to
middle school.
Since childhood, Haruna had worried about the incompatibility between her mental and physical
genders. When entering middle
school, she wore a male school uniform with a stand-up collar and
tried to act manly. “I had a tough
time not being true to myself, but I
had decided to present a fictitious
self at school,” she said.
On the impersonation TV progr a mmes, H aruna appe are d in
women’s costumes even after becoming a middle school student. As
a result, she was bullied at school.
She even thought of suicide.
When she was a second-year middle school student, Haruna had a
life-changing event. A customer at
her mother’s restaurant took her to
a club where “newhalfs” (transsexuals and male transvestites) enter-
Ai Haruna
tained customers. It was the first
time she learned there were many
people just like her.
Haruna asked the club manager
for a job and started the next day,
living a double life as a male middle
school student by day, and a newhalf
at night.
As she had found a place where
she could be her true self, Haruna
had no problems acting like a man
both at home and at school.
“I used to hold a grudge against
my parents for not making me a
baby girl. But when I was considering suicide, pleasant memories of my
family dissuaded me from doing so.
So I’m really grateful to my family,”
she said.
Just three months after entering
high school, Haruna dropped out.
She confessed to her parents that she
was suffering from gender identity
disorder and was determined to live
as a newhalf.
While working at a club, Haruna
sang and danced on stage to entertain customers, becoming a show
business professional.
One day, a TV crew came to the
club to cover Haruna. “I felt like I
was closer to my dream. I wanted to
become cute so I could look like a
May 18-31, 2012
young woman in every way, and that
way, more TV stations would come
to run stories about me,” she said.
Haruna then underwent a sexchange operation. “I couldn’t tell my
parents about the operation. But
right before the surgery, I called my
mother to hear her voice. Then I
went into the operation room shedding tears,” she said.
Once she became a woman in
body, Haruna felt as if a great weight
had been lifted from her shoulders.
The happiest thing was that she
could now wear clothes and swimsuits for women, as well as enter
female bathhouses.
Nevertheless, those around her
sometimes do not acknowledge
Haruna as a woman. At the time, she
was in a steady relationship with a
man, but his family pressed her to
break up with him on the grounds
that Haruna is a newhalf.
“I understood that after I had the
operation, I wouldn’t be able to have
a period or become pregnant. It was
a tough operation, but I noticed that
only one of my many worries was
resolved,” she said.
After the operation, Haruna continued to work at the newhalfs club.
When she turned 20, opportunities
May 18-31, 2012
to appear on impersonation TV programmes suddenly increased. One
day, she was scouted by a Tokyo
entertainment agency. She then left
her hometown in Osaka Prefecture
for Tokyo.
However, there wasn’t as much
work in Tokyo as Haruna expected,
and she quit the agency about one
year later. After that, she worked at
various places, including a restaurant in Tokyo, and opened her own
small bar about 10 years ago.
Soon after, Haruna developed a
polyp on her throat and could not
speak. She would write messages to
communicate with customers at the
bar when taking orders and settling
bills, but could not entertain them
with conversation.
“My earnings from the bar were an
important way to make a living. I felt
pressed—if customers didn’t visit my
bar, I would be in financial trouble,”
she said.
But Haruna’s struggle helped
change things for the better. In the
bar, she began lip-syncing and
shadowing TV performances of
singers Aya Matsuura and Seiko
Matsuda, which was a hit with the
bar’s patrons.
“At first, I didn’t know whether my
impersonation would be something
people laughed at, but I dared to try
anyway. In the end, it became my
trademark,” she said.
Her voice returned about six
months later, and she polished her
techniques for lip-syncing and mimicking Matsuura’s performances.
When she demonstrated her technique at a party, she caught the eye
of a man working in the entertainment industry. Since then, she has
received an increasing amount of
work and fulfilled a dream in 2008
when she released her first single as
a singer.
Haruna didn’t want to admit that
she was a man. But now, she’s come
to think it’s her individual character
to combine feminine and masculine
attributes.
“I became a woman physically, but
sometimes I want to speak in a deep
voice. I won’t change my sex to female on my family register either,”
she said.
In 2010, Haruna tried to run a
24-hour ultramarathon for charity
on a TV programme for the NTV
network. She received encouragement and support from people along
the marathon route and in faxes sent
to the programme.
She then realised that she was
supported by people all over Japan.
In April, Haruna released her
fourth single, “Motto Ai o”. She said,
“I put my heart into that song, thinking that if the entire world is tied
together with deep love, people will
be happy.”
Looking to the future, Haruna
intends to increase her international appeal. In 2009, she won
the Miss International Queen
transsexual beauty pageant held in
Thailand.
“If I can make an impression on
people, I don’t care if they think
I’m an odd person. If people are
interested in me, I don’t care if it’s
just for fun,” Haruna said. “I’d like
to make myself known to other
people and take on activities to
encourage people with gender
identity disorder or people struggling with diseases.”
• 11
COVER STORY
By Hou Weiping
Asia News Network
sh i lei special to th e asia news net work
Colour
Their
Dreams
❖❖ Pattaya
N
isamanee Lertworapong
smiles and poses for photographs in the big
make-up room backstage. She is a secondyear college student majoring in
fashion design. For the beauty contest that will start in an hour, she is
wearing a self-designed white dress.
It has a pale hue more like moonlight than snow, decorated with
hundreds of translucent sequins,
giving viewers a pleasant illusion
that the 21-year-old is wearing a
gown of raindrops.
“I will take care of my family for
my father who has gone. Even
though I’m not a man, I will still do
it,” she writes in a slim, slightly
masculine style of handwriting
when she is invited to choose a coloured pen and write down her future endeavours. Four colours are
12 •
available for her—red, green, blue
and pink. She picks green.
Facing the same challenge, one of
her rivals, 22-year-old Kanyapach
Jareonthamasuk, chooses pink. “My
dream is to be a good girl who has a
good job. It will be like that after I
get crowned,” she writes.
Lertworapong (who chooses
green) and Jareonthamsuk (who
goes for pink) are among the 30
finalists in this year’s Miss Tiffany’s
Universe, Thailand’s best-known
annual beauty pageant open to preand post-op transgenders. It is
dusk on May 4. The coast city of
Pattaya is seeing scattered rainshowers as the sun sets. The sky
over Pattaya embraces both the
rain and sunshine.
“Transgender people belong to a
‘created’ sex. We can be both gentle
like a woman and strong like a man.
So we can create everything we
want,” Lertworapong says, grasping
the green coloured pen in her hand.
Born as boys but choosing to be
women, Lertworapong and her fellow contestants determine to shine
like a queen. Tonight.
Lertworapong felt like a girl before she chose to be one. At the age
of three, she wanted to wear highheels like her mother. The same
applies to Jareonthamasuk, who
likes the colour pink. “When I was
a kid, I didn’t want to play with
boys. I asked my grandma to buy me
a Barbie as a birthday gift,” she says.
This year’s Miss Tiffany’s Universe
competition has the theme “Freedom
Avant-garde”, which heralds a more
tolerant society respecting “freedom
of choices”, according to professor
Seri Wongmonta, the organiser and
top judge of the pageant.
“We believe in freedom of choice,
[which means] you can make the
choices for your life, your career,
your sexual tendency and everyMay 18-31, 2012
Obstacles Still
Exist
May 18-31, 2012
breath and smile for a long time. She
steps forward to receive her prizes,
including a diamond crown; 120,000
baht (US$3,849) in cash; a Honda
Jazz car and the use of a luxury Pattaya hotel apartment for one year.
Joined backstage by family, friends
and reporters, Mongkol says she will
dedicate the next few years to promoting Miss Tiffany’s pageant. But after
that, she has another goal to achieve.
A smaller dream maybe, she says,
compared to other people’s.
“I want to open a pet clinic and
take care of animals, because I am a
pet-lover. I saw many dogs and cats
get hurt, which is so mean and sad.
If I have a pet care centre to take
care of them, it can be proof that
humans can share their love with
animals.”
The first runner-up is Nicha Chaiyapreuk, a 24-year-old masters degree student who distinguishes herself by darker, honey-coloured skin
and bigger, less nervous smile.
“I would like to be a university lecturer so that I can be a role model for
youth transgenders,” Nicha Chaiyapreuk writes in a blue coloured pen
just before she steps onto the stage. “I
don’t think gender matters when it
comes to how people think of
you. The most important thing
is your behaviour and attitude,” says Chaiyapreuk.
Sirapatsorn Attayakorn,
last year’s Miss Tiffany
Universe, agrees.
“People choose
their way of life,”
she is quoted
saying. “It’s not
for others to force
their views or values on them and
everyone should learn
to accept people for
who they really are,
not what they perceive them to be.
Look at their heart.
I’m a ladyboy, a
transgender, a
transsexual… and
I am so beautiful.”
“T
hey let you live
in the country.
They don’t kill
you. They don’t hurt you.
But do they accept you?
Not really. They are not so
open-minded about it.”
Restaurant-owner
Jasmine Scolly, a
transgender who returned
to Thailand after 12 years
living in New York, says in
her newly-launched Kao
Pra-Karn restaurant in
Hua Hin: “Thai people are
not harmful or hurt other
people. They just smile.
But behind that smile,
they’re like ‘I don’t like
you.’ They still look down
upon transgenders. When
I go to the mall, looking at
some expensive make-up,
they will come to tell me
the price right away. It
makes me feel like they are
telling me ‘it’s too
expensive for you to
afford.’”
To make things worse,
transgenders in Thailand
still aren’t able to change
their gender on their
identity cards or passports.
“It’s kind of hard for you
to be a transgender here,
having long hair, dressed
like a woman, but your ID
still says you are a male.
So the thing is, when you
go hunting for a job, say, a
good job, working in a
company, when they look
at you: long hair, have
breasts. No. Sorry. They
don’t take you, even if you
are so smart. But if you are
gay, short hair, look like a
man, OK, no problem. You
still can work.
“That’s why a lot of
transgenders work in show
business; because they
don’t get hired by many
people or many
companies,” says Scolly.
• 13
PH OTO COURTE SY OF MI SS TI FFA NY’S UN I VE R SE
thing,” says the professor.
Behind him, buzzing around, are
crowds of tourists who have flocked
to Pattaya to see the kingdom’s
best-looking girls who used to be
boys. Music plays loudly in the theatre. It’s the Senegalese-American
singer Akon’s “Freedom”. “Everything I have, everything I own, all
my mistakes man you already know,
I wanna be free, I wanna be free,” it
plays on and on.
No different from previous years,
tickets for the 1,000-seat Tiffany’s
pageant sell out. Part of the money
raised will be donated to a Thai Red
Cross AIDS research programme.
The audience fall quiet as the
huge, silky theatre curtain ripples.
Purple lights pour down onto the
curtain, dancing on it in flowery and
graceful waves. All at once the curtain falls away.
There stand the 30 finalists, their
arms bent outward with hands on
their waists, and their lips curved into
hopeful smiles.
The music turns softer. Violinists
join the gala. Dancers glide towards
the centre of the stage to welcome potential queens, who
include business owners, an
engineer, a master degree student,
and Japanese scholars.
But suddenly the music disappears. Violinists seem confused.
Dancers’ movements turn pointless
and look backstage for help. Faulty
audio equipment brings everything to
a standstill.
The audience remains calm. No one
laughs. No one screams. No one
makes a fuss. Everybody sits in darkness and patiently waits. The standstill lasts for a minute before the
performance starts all over again.
People start applauding.
Then there are longer rounds of
waiting as the judging panel deliberates. When the verdict is finally
announced, Panvilas Mongkol, a
21-year-old business owner, releases her tension and bends
down, covering her mouth with
her palms. She has been
holding both her
COVER STORY
By Mayuree Sukyingcharoenwong
The Nation
❖❖ Bangkok
A
Challenging
Traditional
Politics
14 •
beautiful transgender
is challenging politics
in Thailand.
Yonlada ‘Kirkkong’
Suanyos, 30, has
caused a stir by registering as an
election candidate for the Nan
Provincial Administration Organisation.
“I’m confident that my experience and ability will be useful in
the development of Nan,” Yonlanda said.
This is the first time a transgender has run for a political post at
the provincial level. Although she
is a new face in politics, she is famous as president of the Trans
Female Association of Thailand.
For many years, she has campaigned for the rights of transfemales. The PhD candidate owns
a jewellery business and runs a
satellite television station.
Last year, she was named by
a media organisation as one of
the most influential women in
Thai society.
“I believe transgenders and
homosexuals will support me,”
she said.
After undergoing a sex-change
operation at the age of 16, she is
physically a woman but her official
documents give her title as “Mr”.
Some entertainment personalities have encouraged Yonlada’s campaign for the Nan
councillor post.
Pongthorn Chalearn, a project
coordinator for the M Plus Foundation, said Yonlada’s presence in
the Nan poll would enhance political diversity.
“Men have long dominated the
country’s politics,” he said.
She would have a good chance
of winning because she has solid
support in the northern province,
he said. Her mother used to be the
head of the Ban Suan Tan community.
Yonlada is contesting as candidate “No. 1” in Constituency 1 in
Tambon Nai Wiang. Her rivals are
both men.
May 18-31, 2012
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SPECIAL REPORT
By Paul Zach
The Straits Times
Power Of
The Purse
Many Asian wives now hold the purse strings
in many households
❖❖ Singapore
A FP PH OTO S
I
smail Giu no longer pockets the
money he earns as the man in
charge of protocol for the government of Gorontalo in Indonesia. It all goes straight into
his wife’s bank account.
In yet another sign that times are
changing in parts of Asia such as
Gorontalo, a predominantly Muslim
province in Sulawesi, more and
more wives control the purse strings.
A new ruling that went into effect
there last month requires all married men who are civil servants to
hand over their monthly salaries to
their wives.
While admitting it is “out of the
16 •
ordinary”, Ismail, 26, does not have
a problem letting his wife manage
the money. The couple have a fivemonth-old infant and he used to
worry that his salary might run out
before the next pay cheque came in.
“It’s easier this way for me,” he
says. “Now, it’s her task to manage
and to ensure we make ends meet
every month.”
In other Asian countries, such as
Japan and even China, wives already
control their family’s internal affairs.
At the end of each month, in fact,
convention bureau employee Toru
Yamaishi, 53, hands over his entire
salary to his wife, Yuriko, even
though there is no law requiring him
to do so.
It is a ritual he has observed since
they got married 27 years ago. The
couple, who have two sons, aged 22
and 25, live in Matsumoto city,
nearly three hours north-west of
Tokyo by train.
With the money, his wife buys the
groceries, pays the utility and other
bills, gives him 50,000 yen (US$612)
a month in pocket money and still
has some to spare.
“I sometimes ask her what the balance is. If she thinks we will have
some money left over that month, I
might suggest going out for Hida beef
that night,” said Yamaishi, referring
to a major breed of wagyu in Japan
that is considered a luxury food.
Travel agent Shogo Murata, 52,
thinks the practice is common in
Japan.
“Because of this, my wife does not
complain,” he says. “I know that if I
were to take charge of our domestic
finances, expenses would go up and
we would not be able to save any
money. My wife is good at keeping a
lid on spending, so I feel at ease.”
In neighbouring China, an HSBC
report released in November last
year revealed that 63 per cent of
Chinese women play the dominant
role in money matters at home.
This is well above the interna tional average of 53 per cent, the
bank found in a survey.
In fact, a survey of 3,375 households by a women’s federation in
Jiangsu province showed that about
88 per cent of the women—aged
between 18 and 64—felt very satisfied with their position in the family
and handle all the daily expenses.
At least seven in 10 also handle all
the decisions or make joint decisions
with their husband on the children’s
education, buying or renovating
their homes, and the family’s investments or loans.
These statistics were a “significant
improvement”—a rise of as much as
15 percentage points—from 10 years
ago, the federation noted.
Beijing housewife Liu Chen, 40,
gives her husband an allowance.
“I give him some cash—say a few
May 18-31, 2012
By Kwan Weng Kin
The Straits Times
thousand yuan—for taxi fare
or meals from time to time so
that he doesn’t need to go to
the ATM,” says Liu, who has
been married for 12 years. The
couple have a 10-year-old
daughter.
Professor Zhao Fanyi of the
Southern Development Research Centre told Yangcheng
Evening News that it is a tradition that Chinese women
are in charge of family finances.
In addition, as Chinese
women become more highly
educated, their investment
and financial capabilities improve and so they become
more adept at this traditional
task, she said.
In India, however, financial
decisions generally remain
with the men, especially
among the lower classes. This
often leaves women having to
stretch the last rupee for the
household.
But now that Indian women
are increasingly entering the
workforce, some are playing a
bigger role in the family’s financial matters.
“Generally, women who
make more money or the same
amount as their husbands also
May 18-31, 2012
have a bigger or equal say,”
said sociologist Ranjana Kumari, the director of the Centre for Social Research, a
Delhi-based non-governmental organisation.
“When it comes to household-related expenses, then
women do have a say.”
Pirida Mohan, a 28-yearold schoolteacher who earns
15,000 rupees ($276) a
month, is a good example.
Early in her marriage, she
handed her entire salary to
her husband who then decided how much of the money
should be spent on clothing
and food for them and their
four-year-old son.
Now that she is making
more money than her husband, she has managed to
gain some financial independence and gets to keep a part of
her salary for herself.
“My priority is to pay for
my son’s education. Then
comes the household,” she
said. “It’s not easy. Every
month is a struggle but we
are managing.”
— Reporting by Kwan Weng Kin in
Tokyo, Grace Ng in Beijing, Nirmala
Ganapathy in New Delhi, and Wahyudi
Soeriaatmadja in Jakarta
Decisions
and secret
savings
❖❖ Tokyo
A
t least one woman in Japan would
rather not be responsible for holding her family’s purse strings.
Takaomi Koyano, who runs a small shop
that sells cans of petrol to households and
restaurants in Saitama prefecture, north of
Tokyo, gives his wife Momi only enough for
their monthly groceries and her pocket
money—with her blessing.
“I think there is no harm in giving her
my entire wages. But my wife balks at the
thought of having to manage our household finances on her own,” said Koyano,
28. She is a housewife and they have a
one-year-old boy.
Many working couples in Japan opt to
share the household expenses in some fashion, with neither side being solely responsible for managing the money.
The wife of advertising agency worker
Tomohiro Nakayama, 43, does not even
know how much he earns.
“I don’t know how much she earns either,” he said.
When he and his wife Kaoru got married
eight years ago, they decided that he would
take care of the rent while she would pay
the utility and food bills.
“But when it comes to big purchases like
clothes, we might both chip in, depending
on our cash position at the time,” he said.
The Nakayamas have no children.
Some Japanese men who trust their
wives with their money, however, might
not have the favour returned—at least
not completely.
According to a survey by Orix Bank released in February, married Japanese
women have ‘secret savings’ of 2.1 million
yen ($26,300) each on average.
Some 69 per cent of the women surveyed
said their spouses were not aware that they
were putting away money for a rainy day.
In contrast, the survey found that
married men stash away only about
600,000 yen on average—less than a
third what their wives do.
Some 64 per cent of the men said their
wives did not know of the existence of their
secret savings.
• 17
TECHNOLOGY
THAILAND
By Avigail M. Olarte
Asia News Network
The Cloud Factor
Across the world,
governments adopt an uber
cool technology called
cloud
❖❖ Bangkok
C
utting through red tape
could be tough, but as they
say, there are more ways of
killing a cat than choking
it with cream. These days,
governments rid of it via a platform
called cloud.
Imagine having to go through a
mountain of paperwork that would
probably take months before the
request for a piece of hardware like
a PC for a server gets a nod because
of some excessive bureaucratic regulation. With cloud, or specifically,
cloud computing, it cuts it down to
five minutes, or at most to a day.
By definition, cloud computing is
seen as the “next stage in the Internet’s evolution”. It’s a kind of a
service that virtualises virtually
everything—from hardware, network, storage, software and other
services—and could be accessed
from anywhere, anytime. For governments, this could be the next best
thing, if they’re thinking of efficiency in delivering services and
securing and storing important data.
“The government’s objectives
while migrating to the cloud are to
meet its operational needs, while
reducing costs and increasing agility and efficiency,” says the global
consulting firm, Frost & Sullivan, in
its 2011 study, “State of cloud computing in the public sector: A strategic analysis of the business case
and overview of initiatives across
Asia Pacific”.
“The increasing buzz around cloud
computing has prompted the gov18 •
ernments to assess the new delivery
model. With the governments of
major countries, especially the
United States, encouraging cloud
adoption, governments of AsiaPacific countries, too ,are gaining
confidence and increasingly evaluating cloud computing,” adds Frost
& Sullivan.
In the region, Japan takes the
lead. In Asia Cloud Computing Association’s (ACCA) Cloud Readiness
Index for Asia in 2011, Japan’s huge
score was mainly because of its mature IT market, and the regulations
and conditions that encourage cloud
computing in the world’s third largest economy. Hong Kong comes in
second with South Korea and Singapore following close.
But countries like Thailand are
being bullish, and it is starting to
beat the pack with recent innovations in cloud computing. While the
index gave it a score of only 51.0 for
its cloud readiness—due to series of
political unrest in the past years that
limited technological progress—it
says cloud computing is likely to play
a significant role in the kingdom.
The fact, too, that Thailand’s Global
Innovation Index in 2011 jumped 12
points up from the previous year and
ranked 9th in the East Asia Region
shows Thailand is ready for cloud
growth.
∞∞Cheaper by far
“By adopting cloud computing,
government agencies can create a
central pool of shared resources—
software and infrastructure. The fact
that cloud computing is more cost-
effective, leads to reduction in ICT
spending,” says Frost & Sullivan.
In Thailand, the government’s IT
spending is expected to be reduced
by 30 per cent with the new cloud
service that it has launched this
January. Each year, Thailand spends
about 50 billion baht or US$1.6 billion on hardware and software, and
government units end up buying
“old but pricey technology”, says the
ICT department.
Which is why the Electronic Government Agency (EGA), Thailand’s
technology adviser and state agencies, adopted the cloud technology.
“Cloud computing services make
the government more efficient. It’s
making IT implementation (for
agencies) easier, more convenient,”
says EGA Director Dr Sak Segkhoonthod, in an interview with
AsiaNews.
He says that in Thailand, buying
a server could take about six to nine
months, as the request needs to go
through the budget process and the
approval of several committees. But
with cloud service, which EGA currently provides to 10 agencies for
free, one can get it with top speed
within a day.
By virtualising everything, an
agency need not worry about purchasing hardware, or what hosting
service to get and how to store data.
Once they’ve availed of the service
from EGA, and the servers are up,
the agency can develop its own
cloud-based application—a computer software designed to help the
user perform specific tasks like accounting or building databases. The
May 18-31, 2012
beauty of it is once cloud is set up,
an agency can use it for any service
it wants.
∞∞Efficiency, speed
EGA is currently pilot-testing the
cloud with 10 government agencies
(see box). The entire system runs on
a private cloud, which operates
solely for the Thai government and
hosted within the country. The vendors involved in the project are
NetApp, Cisco, VMware, Microsoft
and CAT Telecom.
During its three-month run, agencies reported an overall 69 per cent
satisfaction of the cloud service,
with 78 per cent of the respondents
saying they put premium on its convenience and speed. This was the
result of the survey released this
month, which the EGA used to assess the efficiency of its cloud. If all
10 will be successful within the year,
more government agencies will be
involved in the project until all 35
will be covered.
The National Science and Technology Development Agency, the
leader in testing new technologies in
Thailand, is one of the agencies that
joined the pilot phase. “The service
is important to them because they
want to know how cloud works.
They’re testing the cloud too,” says
Nantawan Wongkachonkitti, EGA’s
director for IT intelligence. Another
agency, the Department of Disaster
Prevention and Mitigation, went for
EGA’s services because it wanted to
move the database on flood relief to
the cloud.
One of the reasons why agencies
are warming up to the idea of migrating to the cloud is because electronic data stored in hardware were
damaged during last year’s flood, the
worst to have ever hit Thailand in
decades.
“We planned this project before
the floods. But it seems that now,
government agencies have to think
about back-up. Cloud would be the
ideal solution for them,” says Segkhoonthod.
Nantawan adds that at the end of
the day, what matters are the clients,
May 18-31, 2012
in this case, the citizens. “The citizen
will benefit from speedy work. It’s
changing the way they utilise services (from the government).”
∞∞Better, secure services
EGA says in the future, it plans to
build two or three data centres—a
centralised system of storage and
connectivity for the entire Thai government—where all agencies and
local governments can share and use
the facility, instead of each agency
having its own. “It would be more
cost effective...and make the government more efficient,” says Segkhoonthod.
Thailand also plans to put in the
cloud the national ID system. EGA
is about to sign in June an MOU
with the Ministry of Interior, the
agency that holds the database for
the smart cards. “If put on the cloud,
imagine if all government agencies
have access to that—they can authenticate the ID and do services
easily,” he shares.
But one major challenge for
Thailand would be data migration.
As with other governments having
to deal with legacy issues, EGA is
now finding ways to fit systems
that ran in old technology into its
new cloud platform. “Some of the
applications are not written to be
on cloud. So migration is key,”
explains Nantawan.
But in terms of security, Nantawan says there’s nothing to worry
over. He says EGA has set a standard
of security by employing a firewall,
anti-virus, intrusion detection, intrusion prevention and such mechanisms to guarantee security. Before
using cloud for an agency, EGA does
a risk assessment of information. It
helps an agency determine if a certain information is sensitive, highly
sensitive, secret or top secret. From
there, EGA customises a security
package for them.
In other Asian countries like India, one of the things that hamper
the cloud technology growth is security. During last month’s NetEvents
APAC Press and Analyst Summit in
Hong Kong, Nanotel CEO Pranay
Misra says a country like India must
find a business model that would
ensure security when it comes to, for
instance, sharing data of telecom
firms on a cloud.
“Security is paramount to government adoption. Governments will
adopt cloud computing only if they
are convinced that their data will
remain secure and available,” says
Frost & Sullivan.
For EGA, cloud computing is all
about trust, especially since it’s a
fairly new technology. Says Segkhoonthod: “Agencies need to trust
us. Everything they will be doing
will be on the cloud. How can we
ensure it’s okay, secure and up and
running all the time? The trust issue
is the first concern.”
∞∞10 pilot cloud projects of
Thailand
1. Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation; Ministry of
Interior
2. Promotion and Development ICT
Usage Bureau; Ministry of Information and Communication Technology
3. Geo-Informatics and Space
Technology Development Agency
(Public Organisation)
4. National Institute of Metrology
(Thailand)
5. Electronic Transactions Development Agency (Public Organisation)
6. Deposit Protection Agency
7. The Secretariat of the Cabinet
8. Office of Election Commission
of Thailand
9. The Treasury Department
10. National Science and Technology Development Agency
Source: EGA
• 19
ENVIRONMENT
LAOS
By Phoonsab Thevongsa
Vientiane Times
Photo by Rob E lliot/A F P
er such as temperature, rainfall and
river flow. In recent years these
have led to widespread flooding
and drought, especially in the Mekong Basin countries.
∞∞Poor most vulnerable
A Cambodian mother and daughter use a scoop-net to catch small fish on a flood plain
east of Phnom Penh that have overflowed from the rivers due to recent flooding. Floodings
in Cambodia had left thousands of people homeless.
A Delta Of Droughts
And Floods
In the Mekong Basin, Laos and Cambodia
face most risks wrought by climate change
❖❖ Vientiane
W
hen we refer to climate change, we
immediately think
of the impact it has
on the livelihood of
large numbers of people, and the
habitats of aquatic species on all
continents.
Chanthone, a 57-year-old fisherwoman living on Khone Island in
Champassak province, says that
in the past she could catch more
than 30-40 kilogram of fish per
day, but now it’s hard to catch just
20 •
7 or 8kg per day.
“I don’t know what ‘climate
change’ means, but I do realise
that the weather is getting hotter
every day and the rain sometimes
comes at the wrong time. The
level of the Mekong is falling rapidly, especially in the dry season,
which is affecting fish breeding
because fewer fish can migrate
upstream to the places where they
traditionally breed.”
As climate change intensifies, so
do the threats to the environment
and ecosystems because they are
affected by variations in the weath-
Among the lower Mekong Basin
countries, Laos and Cambodia have
been identified as the most vulnerable, in part because of their limited capacity to cope with climaterelated risks.
Climate change is affecting the
sustainable development of most
developing countries in Asia. It
compounds the pressures on natural resources and the environment,
which in turn have profound effects on people’s health, safety and
livelihoods—especially where
poor people are concerned.
“Recently, researchers have told
us that the most noticeable changes in the weather have been the
increasing number of hot days,
with higher temperatures, whereas
the numbers of cold days have
been decreasing. This will have an
effect on ecosystems, especially
the lives of animals and plants, as
well as leading to an increase in
disease,” says Dr Robert Mather of
the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Southeast Asia.
He also says that while Laos is
considered to be vulnerable to the
impacts of climate change, the
situation here is not as serious as
in coastal countries like Thailand,
Vietnam and Cambodia.
∞∞Assessing risks
The IUCN runs a project to
strengthen the ability of local
governments and communities to
prepare for and adapt to future
climate risks in some coastal provinces, especially in the Mekong
Delta region, which is one of the
areas of the world that is predicted to be most affected by the
rising sea level.
According to the National Disaster Management Off ice, for
decades Laos has been experiencMay 18-31, 2012
P hoto by Hoa ng Dinh Nam/A F P
ing small-scale weather extremes,
which affect over 10 per cent of
the population. Recurrent floods
and droughts are considered to be
the main natural hazards in addition to fires, landslides, erosion,
tropical storms and disease epidemics while floods mostly occur
during the monsoon season from
May to September.
People became especially aware
of the impacts of climate change
in 2008 when the Mekong River
rose and Vientiane suffered flooding not experienced since the city
was inundated in 1966. In the dry
season, the Mekong was so low it
was easy to cross the border to
Thailand.
∞∞Depleting fish stock
In 2009-2011, several typhoons
struck Laos, notably Ketsana,
Haima and Nock-ten. They
brought torrential rain, high
winds and widespread flooding,
which took the lives of many people. Furthermore, thousands of
people were left homeless and
large numbers of livestock died,
while many hectares of crops
were severely damaged.
This has led the government and
nongovernment organisations to
set up projects that address planning, coping and raising awareness
among local communities, to help
them adapt to climate change.
One of the major ongoing projects in Vientiane is riverbank
protection. Sand is being taken
from the exposed Mekong riverbed
to build up the riverbank along Fa
Ngum Road, to prevent further
flooding of the city.
According to the World Fish
Centre, climate change is directly
affecting fishery production along
many pathways. Fish reproduction,
growth and migration patterns are
all affected by temperature, rainfall
and hydrology. Changes in these
parameters will therefore shift patterns of species abundance and
availability.
Sitthisone, who works on a fish
farm in Sikhay village, SikhottaMay 18-31, 2012
Severe droughts due to climate change in southeast Asia
has caused the Mekong River to drop to a 50-year low,
affecting farmers and fishermen living along it.
bong district in Vientiane, has
similar concerns about the fluctuating level of the Mekong, because
the poor quality of the water is
causing fish to die.
∞∞More flooding, drought
Just across the border, Cambodia
is considered to be more affected
by climate change than Laos, because it has a coastline. According
to the Cambodian Ministry of the
Environment, the direct impact of
climate change is reflected in
changes to the natural rainfall pattern, higher temperatures and the
rising sea level, which result in
flooding or drought.
Extreme weather conditions can
harm fish production in Cambodia
by depleting stocks, and destroying
fishery and aquaculture infrastructure. Changes in fishery production are likely to have the greatest
impact on the people who depend
on fishing because it is their primary livelihood activity.
As these people are often poorer
and more marginal than those who
own land and have other primary
sources of income, the effects of
climate change on fisheries can
harm those who are least equipped
to cope.
Two boatmen named Bmoby and
Vanna said they grew up in the
Chong Kneas floating village, just
20 minutes from central Siem
Reap. They can clearly see environmental changes in the floating
village on Tonle Sap. In the past
the water in this huge lake was
fresh and there were plenty of fish
that they could easily catch.
However, the water level has
now fallen, which makes it difficult
for larger boats to cross the lake.
The dirty water results in smaller
fish stocks, and the larger species
are increasingly difficult to catch.
The men said that rising temperatures made the lives of people
in the floating village harder, since
they depended on the lake for their
livelihood.
With these challenges, the future
impact of climate change in Laos
and Cambodia will depend on the
readiness of the two countries to
adapt, including reducing vulnerability and building their capacity
to cope with the risks.
• 21
POLITICS
P hoto by A F P
By Thanong Khanthong
The Nation
An Agni-IV missile is
displayed during the
Republic Day parade
in New Delhi on
January 26, 2012.
A World In War Mode
Asia’s escalating arms race is putting everyone on edge
❖❖ Bangkok
G
lobal tension is reaching fever pitch.
India displayed its
de fence prowess by
successfully test firing
a new long-range missile on April
19. It demonstrated that the country
has joined the league of nuclear
powerhouses.
“This launch has given a message
to the entire world that India has the
capability to design, develop, build
and manufacture missiles of this
class, and we are today a missile
power,” said VK Saraswat, head of
22 •
India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation.
Most international news agencies
reported that India’s new missile is
capable of delivering a one-tonne
nuclear warhead to anywhere in rival China.
But would China be a real target
of India’s missiles in the event of
wider regional or global conflict?
China sought to play down the missile threat from India. Liu Weimin,
a spokesman from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said China and India
are not rivals but cooperative partners. China believes the two countries should “cherish the hard-won
momentum of sound bilateral relations” and “make active contributions to regional peace and security”,
Liu said in a briefing in Beijing.
India and China might be facing
off as traditional rivals in this region, but it does not necessarily follow that they would go to war
against each other in any future
global conflict. Both India and
China have populations of more
than 1.2 billion each. In the event of
a conflict in the Middle East between Iran and Israel, China is certain to back Iran, as judged by its
political stance so far.
So is Russia, another global nuMay 18-31, 2012
clear power, which has warned Nato
over its possible war plan against
Iran. India’s position on the IsraelIran conflict is ambiguous, but it is
more likely that it would want to join
the Sino-Russian “alliance” to support Iran should the diplomatic
conflict degenerate into a war. If this
were the case, India’s missiles would
not be aimed at targets in China, as
widely reported by the international
wire services.
Iran’s survival depends on whether
it can rally support from the Arab
world. Iran might not have nuclear
capability as yet, but its long-range
missiles could cause damage in Israel.
In the meantime, Israel has been
stepping up its preparations for a
possible miitary conflict with Iran
via its formidable air force. Israel
has no doubt already devised plans
to attack alleged nuclear facilities in
Iran in a pre-emptive strike. Iran,
which is suffering under international sanctions, has threatened to
retaliate if it is attacked first.
May 18-31, 2012
Nato’s strategy, which supports
Israel, is to split the alliances within
the Arab world, whose total population is about the same as India’s and
China’s 1.2 billion.
The question is who would strike
first?
China has also beefed up its defences. On April 19 it announced a
plan to hold a joint military exercise
with Russia. “The joint exercises will
strengthen the naval forces’ ability
to jointly confront new regional
threats and demonstrate their confidence to maintain peace and stability in the region and world,” Chen
Bingde, chief of staff of the People’s
Liberation Army, said in a statement
on the Defence Ministry website.
The drills will focus on joint maritime defence and protection of navigation, and will involve 16 Chinese
ships and two submarines, and four
vessels from Russia’s Pacific Fleet, as
well as Russian warplanes and naval
infantry, the statement said.
Apparently, China’s joint military
exercise with Russia is a response to
the Philippines’ military cooperation
with the US and Vietnam. The US is
hoping to contain China by installing a base in Australia, and by
strengthening naval cooperation
with the Philippines and Vietnam.
North Korea is a wild card in this
global conflict. Its recent rocket/
long-range missile test was a failure,
though it caused widespread concern among countries in the region,
particularly South Korea and Japan.
Though the US and United Nations
have condemned North Korea’s actions, the pariah state has vowed to
carry out similar tests again.
Meantime, Thailand is too busy
with pornography in parliament,
another round of constitutional
amendments, Thaksin Shinawatra’s
singing of “Let It Be” in Siem Riep,
an earthquake scare in Phuket, the
300 baht (US$9.7) minimum wage
hike and the rising cost of living to
really understand what is going on
around the world.
• 23
P hoto by Defe nce Ministry of Ind ia /A F P
India on April 19, 2012
successfully tested a new
long-range Agni V missile
capable of delivering a
one-tonne nuclear warhead
anywhere in regional
military rival China, and
countries outside Asia.
POLITICS
A F P PH OTO
By Kor Kian Beng
The Straits Times
The Next
Big Power
Playground
Much like the Balkan states in the
last century, when big countries
fought proxy wars in the region,
many fear that the sea could become
a conflict zone
❖❖ Beijing
D
espite strenuous efforts by China to keep
other global powers
out of the South China
Sea, recent movements suggest that Beijing has
failed.
The United States, whom China is
most keen to block, has boosted its
presence there in the last month. It
is holding military exercises with the
Philippines and having a naval exchange with Vietnam.
As if that is not irritating enough
for Beijing, even Russia has muscled
in. Its state gas giant Gazprom
signed a deal this month with Vietnam to explore reserves in the resource-rich sea.
It mirrored a similar exploration
pact that India signed with Hanoi
last year, and comes on the back of
Japan’s long-held influence in the
region through years of infrastruc24 •
ture investments in Asean.
The waters China regards as its
backyard are fast becoming the
world’s “next big power playground”,
say observers.
And much like the Balkan states
in the last century, when big countries fought proxy wars in the region,
many fear that the sea could become
a conflict zone.
Singapore’s Institute of Southeast
Asian Studies senior fellow Ian Storey calls it a potential ‘focal point’ of
great power competition.
The big boys hunger for control
over the sea lanes where one-third
of the world’s shipping trade
passes through.
“As tensions continue to simmer in
the South China Sea, and the waters
become increasingly crowded with
new warships, I think it’s just a question of time before we see a clash at
sea leading to fatalities,” he added.
None of the global giants wants to
give China free rein over such a pre-
cious piece of watery real estate.
They have the support of smaller
Asean countries that are contesting
China’s claims and seeking to bolster
their claims by internationalising
the situation, say observers.
Foreign policy expert Yang Cheng
from the East China Normal University said some claimants see merits
in playing one major power against
another.
Doing so could help the smaller
players glean some benefits from the
major powers clamouring for their
support, he added.
“It seems like the tragedy of great
power politics is now the smaller
countries’ comedy,” said Yang.
He said claimants could also beMay 18-31, 2012
come bolder in challenging China,
believing that its army, the world’s
largest, would be restrained in its
response so as to avoid conflicts with
major powers.
This could be why Manila took a
more hardline approach in the twoweek stand-off with China over the
Scarborough Shoal, which lies north
of the Spratly Islands claimed by
China, the Philippines and Vietnam,
among others.
“But such mindsets could be dangerous. There is a limit to China’s
tolerance, especially as the solution
to the territorial issues directly relates to the legitimacy of the authorities and many Chinese want the
government to be more hardline
May 18-31, 2012
now that the country is stronger,”
said Yang.
Also, conflicts may occur if major
powers misread conflicting signals
and inconsistent policies emanating
from China—a possible result of a
struggle for money and power between agencies and local governments, said the International Crisis
Group in a report this week.
Said its Northeast Asia project director Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt:
“Some agencies are acting assertively
to compete for a slice of the budget
pie, while others such as local governments are focused on economic
growth, leading them to expand their
activities into disputed waters.
“Their motivations are domestic in
nature, but the impact of their actions is increasingly international.”
To assert its primacy, Beijing has
been on a public relations drive to
win more Asean friends.
Thai Premier Yingluck Shinawatra
recently met top-ranked Chinese
leaders in Beijing, while China’s
fourth-ranked leader Jia Qinglin
visited Brunei.
Analyst Li Mingjiang of the S.
Rajaratnam School of International
Studies believes the visits are examples of China reassuring its neighbours of its “benign and cooperative
intention”.
He added: “These efforts will
partly be helpful in stabilising the
South China Sea contention.”
• 25
LIFE
THE PHILIPPINES
By News Desk
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Fish Tales Of
Brotherhood
At disputed shoal, Filipinos fish, laugh, eat,
drink with foreign fisherfolks
❖❖ Masinloc, Zambales
I
n a place 12 hours away by
motorised outrigger from this
town’s coastline, which locals
call “ Karburo”, f ishermen
from the Philippines, China,
Vietnam and Taiwan peacefully
coexist and share the bounties of
the sea.
On several occasions, Mario
Frones, 54, said he and his fellow
Filipino fishermen, after a hard day
at sea, would board foreign fishing
vessels to share stories, food and
even a drink or two with the foreigners.
“We have no problems with
t h e m . S o m e t i m e s we eve n go
aboard each other’s boats to drink
and have a little fun,” Frones said
in Filipino.
Karburo is internationally
known as Scarborough Shoal, a
group of half-submerged rock formations 124 nautical miles (223
kilometres) west of Zambales
province that both China and the
Philippines claim is part of their
territory.
The Philippines calls the area
Panatag Shoal. China refers to it as
Huangyan Island.
On April 14, Frones, as he had
done in the last 12 years, set out to
sea with fellow fishermen. They
steered their boats toward Karburo, the place nearest to the coast
that abound with fish.
∞∞It’s only money
But the following day, at about
noon, they were greeted at the
shoal by a small flotilla of boats
26 •
carrying Philippine Coast Guard
troops.
“They said we shouldn’t stay
there anymore. They said there was
going to be trouble with the Chinese,” Frones said. “Tensions with
the Chinese had happened before,
but this was different,” he said.
Frones owned three of the fishing boats in the shoal. He ordered
them to go home.
“I didn’t want to risk drawing the
ire of the Chinese, or be caught in
the crossfire,” Frones said. “Besides, it is only money. We’ll just
go back later, when things return
to normal.”
Frones’ boats and the others left
the area without any catch, forgoing tens of thousands of pesos, and
returned to their village here.
“It was like a procession,” Frones
said. “There were nine of us, with
about 70 fishermen on board. Nobody stayed behind, except the
foreign fishermen.”
Asked why his group chose the
12-hour run to Scarborough, risking
being blocked by Chinese patrol
vessels in the area, Frones said: “It’s
the only place around where you
can catch tonnes of fish. And that’s
for sure, so long as the weather is
good. If we stay around Masinloc
Bay, we won’t catch much.”
∞∞Sharing sea’s bounty
Frones said proof of the shoal’s
richness as a fishing ground was
the catch of two to three tonnes of
different varieties of fish for each
boat on trips that would last for at
least a week. On good days, the
boats would unload large talakitok
(jacks), tanigue (Spanish mackerel), maya-maya (red snapper),
lobster and a fish known here as
taringan.
From January to April, Frones
said, fishermen from Zambales,
Bataan and Pangasinan provinces
converge on Scarborough Shoal,
along with fishermen from China,
Vietnam and Taiwan, to share the
sea’s bounty.
But from May to December, only
a few risk going there. “That’s
when there are storms, and the
weather is generally bad,” Frones
explained. “You won’t catch much.”
He said Filipino fishermen used
spears to catch fish and compressors to breathe under water.
“We put the fish in ice during
transport. We have people who
stay there for weeks on end, and
the others transport the fish haul
back to Masinloc,” he said.
“This has been our way of life for
a long time. I’ve been doing this for
more than 12 years, but some of my
men have been doing this all their
lives,” he said.
The trip back to Masinloc, when
their boats are heavy with the
catch, takes 15 to 18 hours, he said.
∞∞No animosity
No Filipino fishermen have gone
May 18-31, 2012
was measured, they used Palauig as
a reference. Palauig was still part of
Masinloc then,” she said.
∞∞Historic claim
to Scarborough since the standoff
between Chinese and Philippine
vessels began nearly a month ago,
Frones said.
“My men say the Chinese marine
surveillance vessels are around
most of the time. In the past, they
rarely, if ever, came near Karburo
or stayed long,” he said.
“They just usually made their
rounds and then left. They never
interfered with our fishing there
before,” he said.
Frones said he believed Scarborough Shoal belonged to the Philippines, but he and his men felt no
animosity toward foreign fishermen coming to the area.
“We hope this will be resolved
soon because our families rely on
Karburo to make a living. We have
done so for a very long time,” he
said.
∞∞Cyanide fishing
Dario Diaz, 58, head of Masinloc’s Bantay Dagat (sea patrol),
said the only problem with some
foreigners fishing in the shoal is
their use of sodium cyanide.
“Fishermen who have been there
say that some foreigners use drums
of this stuff to stun the fish, and
then haul them out when they
float,” Diaz said.
May 18-31, 2012
“This is harmful to the environment. The corals are destroyed; the
cyanide bleaches them,” he said.
“Our fishermen only use spears,
but they come back with tonnes of
fish every time,” he said.
Diaz said Masinloc fishermen,
who have been prohibited from
returning to the shoal until the
standoff is resolved, had to be satisfied with fishing in Masinloc Bay.
∞∞‘Bajo de Masinloc’
Masinloc councilor Helen Ebilane said old maps and documents
show that Scarborough Shoal belongs to the Philippines.
“It was named Bajo de Masinloc
by the Spaniards, and in Madrid,
they have maps showing that place
within Philippine territory,” she
said.
Ebilane said the shoal is only 120
nautical miles from the town of
Palauig. “Batanes is even farther
out to sea than Scarborough, so
how can the Chinese claim that it
belongs to them?” she said.
Masinloc, she said, was one of
the earliest towns of Zambales.
Th e tow n s of Ca n d e l a r i a a n d
Palauig were former villages of
Masinloc.
“That’s why when the distance
between Zambales and Scarborough
A resolution passed by the town
council in March last year stated
that Masinloc has a “historic claim”
to Scarborough Shoal, which was
cited in Republic Act No. 9522, the
law that defines the archipelagic
base lines of the Philippines.
The Masinloc resolution, which
the Zambales provincial government has endorsed, read: “Scarborough Shoal/Reef, or Panatag Shoal
(its Philippine name), more correctly described as a group of islands and reefs, is an atoll shape
than a shoal, which is located between the Macclesfield Bank and
Luzon, Philippines, in the [West
Philippine Sea] and as with most
of the landforms in this sea, sovereignty over the area is disputed.
“Most references exclude this
atoll from inclusion in the Spratly
Islands, of which the closest is
350km to the southwest,” the resolution said.
The resolution described the
shoal as “a triangle shaped chain
of reefs and islands (but mostly
rocks) 55km around with an area of
150km. It has a lagoon with [an]
area of 130sqkm and depth of about
15 metres.”
It said many of the reefs are “just
below water at high tide, while
near the mouth of the lagoon are
ruins of an iron tower, 8.3 meters
high.”
∞∞Support from Zambales
Vice governor Ramon Lacbain II
said the people of Zambales and
Masinloc supported the claim of
the Philippine government that
Scarborough Shoal is part of the
Philippines.
Lacbain said the dispute should
be settled through diplomacy and
not through arms.
If China and the Philippines
cannot settle the dispute by themselves, then the best solution is
to go the international court,
Lacbain said.
• 27
Photo by T E D A LJ IB E /A F P
ROUGH WATERS: Philippine
fishermen sail past Philippine and
US marines aboard rubber boats
(back) conducting joint military
execises along Ulugan Bay, facing
south China sea, in Puerto
Princesa, Palawan island, south of
Manila, on April 25, 2012.
PAKISTAN
By Arifa Noor
Dawn
Conspiracy
Of Silence
A year after Osama’s
death, Pakistan has
yet to reveal details
surrounding the US
attack
❖❖ Abbottabad
I
t’s now an island of white concrete in the midst of green
f ields dotted with smaller
houses. A clear patch to one
side of the plot has been
turned into a cricket pitch.
The children playing there run
through puddles of water and
crushed and broken concrete as
they field.
When one of them is asked if he
knew who once lived here, he hurriedly says, “Osama”, his eyes chasing the ball just outside of his
reach.
Who was he?
He hesitates, then mutters “He
was from Saudi” and runs off.
Surrounded by greenery, the
whispering of the pine trees and
the picturesque mountains all
around, at first glance this idyllic
scene does not seem an appropriate hideout of the world’s most
wanted man which then also witnessed US Navy Seals in action a
mere year ago.
∞∞Remembering that night
But a second glance reveals the
28 •
P hoto by A amir Qure s hi /A F P
Society
This photograph taken on April 25, 2012,
shows a Pakistani labourer working at a
house in front of the demolished
compound of slain al-Qaeda leader Osama
bin Laden in northern Abbottabad. A year
after Osama bin Laden died in a US raid,
al-Qaeda keeps spreading its message of
terror in Pakistan with splinter groups
threatening the country’s fragile stability.
tell-tale signs—the demolished
concrete; the discreet but unknown men who stand around
staring and whispering to each
other; and the journalists who are
walking up to shoot the remains for
the anniversary story.
A year ago on May 2, the residents of this small town called
Bilal Town woke up with the sound
of an explosion, only to discover a
few hours later that the noise was
from a helicopter crashing during
an operation carried out by US
Navy Seals inside a high walled
compound to eliminate Osama bin
Laden, the head of al-Qaeda and
the world’s most wanted man.
Some of those local residents
who woke up that night sit a little
apart, wary and tired.
An old man sitting on a grassy
patch is not happy to be accosted.
Reluctant to talk, he then just
erupts and says that Osama did not
live there.
“There were ordinary people,
families who were killed by them.
But there was no Osama,” he says,
as he gazes ahead, not willing to
make eye contact.
But there is not just anger. There
is fear too in his words and actions.
He stops one journalist from taking
a photograph and tells him to go
shoot the “strangers” standing near
the compound.
Later it emerges that he too
was “picked up” for questioning
a year ago. His sin? He lived in a
small house opposite the famous
O BL c o m p o u n d , a h o u s e t h e
walls of which seem to have collapsed at some point for a number of the bricks are just stacked
and not bound together. He came
back within days, but his son’s
interrogation is said to have continued for weeks.
∞∞Conspiracy theories
A younger man, with a whisper
of a beard, is more forthcoming.
When asked if he too thought OBL
never lived there, he launches into
a long exposition on world politics
which he first summarises with a
few words: “Osama, Obama, money
and drama.”
This is not the view of an extremist or right winger. In his exposition he dismisses “the soMay 18-31, 2012
into—the “violation” of Pakistan’s
sovereignty by the Americans or to
hold accountable someone because
the world’s most famous terrorist
was caught from a house in an urban centre.
Such is the vacuum of news that
it proves impossible to even find
out who ordered the demolition of
arguably Pakistan’s most famous
but underwhelming house.
∞∞A reminder
called jihad” and points out that he
did not consider OBL as anything
more than a “fighter” of some kind.
But some of his views are shared
by many Pakistanis across the
northwestern swathe. And it reflects less on their extremism and
more on the gap between them and
the rulers. Conspiracy theories
flourish in the absence of information and this is why Pakistan is a
hotbed of whispers, rumours and
conspiracies.
Be it the mysterious deaths of
Pakistani leaders or of wanted men
such as OBL or events in Balochistan or Fata, the information
provided by the state is so hazy,
confusing and incomplete that only
gossip can fill the gaps.
OBL’s death is a case in point.
∞∞Stony silence
A year later, there is little or no
information on the May 2 action
and the compound in Abbottabad.
The only solid information has
come via his Yemeni wife’s account. She said that he changed
houses five times and fathered
three children while on the run in
various cities of Pakistan. This too
May 18-31, 2012
was leaked. The authorities have
maintained a stony silence.
This has been the situation from
the start in Pakistan when the
Americans announced the news of
his death.
Except for unseemly bickering
among the military and the politicians and the avalanche of rhetoric
about sovereignty and its violation,
there was little else.
Saeed Shah, a freelance journalist who works for foreign publications and spent days camped out
in Abbottabad, reminisces: “There
was great pressure for news from
the Western outlets, but there was
a vacuum of information on the
Pakistani side.”
He adds that within a day or two
of being there in Abbottabad even
the neighbours of OBL were averse
to sharing any tidbits because they
had been warned off by the agency.
“All the information was coming
out of Washington.”
But in Pakistan, there is an embarrassing silence.
The Abbottabad Commission is
getting nowhere after months of
meetings, trips and interviews. We
are not even sure what it is looking
One local journalist says it was
the army. Another says it was the
Abbottabad Commission. A call to
t h e c o m m i s s i o n e r o f H a za ra ,
Khalid Khan Umerzai, provides an
interesting insight. When asked
who ordered it, he chuckles—
deeply and long—before saying:
“The government.” But which government?
“The government of the day,” he
says, and the amusement in his
voice does not encourage more
questions.
He then does explain that the
piece of land will be used to build
housing for government officials.
A p l o t o f l a n d wh i c h i s a p proached by a dirt track rather
than a road will be used to address
the housing woes of government
officials at a time when the federal
government is trying to get vacated
houses inhabited by its employees
and provide them a monetary compensation instead. Is there any
logic to this?
A resident of Abbottabad has
asked why the government could
not use the land to build a library
for children. People elsewhere
have argued that the house be
maintained as a reminder of a dark
part of our history.
But such options remain unheard.
“A state that does not realise the
importance of informing those it
is accountable to does not bother
to heed voices that are trying to
initiate a debate on what the compound signified,” says a security
analyst.
• 29
ECONOMY
VIETNAM
By Veeramalla Anjaiah
The Jakarta Post
Photos by A F P
Asia’s
Rising
Star
Amid challenges,
Vietnam’s
economy soars
❖❖ Hanoi
I
A street vendor walks past
a national flag hung up in
front of a shop in downtown
Hanoi. Vietnam’s inflation
slowed for an eighth
consecutive month in April
with consumer prices rising
10.54 per cent year-on-year.
30 •
t may not yet be a tiger
but it certainly is the
new rising star in Asia.
Vietnam is an emerging
country with an average
of above 7 per cent economic
growth in the first decade of the
21st century, despite facing major economic and security challenges.
Even at the height of the current global financial crisis, Vietnam’s gross domestic product
grew 5.89 per cent in 2011,
slightly lower than the 6.8 per
cent in 2010.
“This growth level can be seen
as relatively positive and high.
It was quite close to the government’s adjusted target,” Vietnam’s Foreign Affairs Ministry
states in its Special Economic
Bulletin 2012.
Economically, Vietnam
shares similarities with Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest
May 18-31, 2012
economy. The two countries
have so many similarities and
work closely at regional and
international levels. Both
countries face same problems
related to development, produce the same products and
also compete for markets and
foreign investment. Yet the
relations between the two
countries are rapidly growing.
Both countries’ businesspeople are investing in each other’s economies.
“Indonesia’s Ciputra group
built a luxurious city on the
outskirts of Hanoi. All the
houses were sold out. Now
they want to build a big shopping mall and a hotel in the
centre of Hanoi,” says Long
Nguyen, who used to work at
the Vietnamese embassy.
In 2011, bilateral trade
surged to US$4.73 billion, a
remarkable increase of 53.38
per cent from $3.08 billion.
Starting from 2012, bilateral
trade will grow much faster
because Vietnam is going to
buy Indonesia’s coal for power
generation purposes.
“We used to have coal but
now our reserves are not
enough. We are building so
many new coal-fired power
plants. We will buy coal in
large quantity from Indonesia,” Tong Van Tuan, a major
coal importer and owner of
Dong Son Group, told The
Jakarta Post.
∞∞Open policy
Under its 1991 “Friendship
with everyone” foreign policy,
Vietnam opened its arms to
friendships with even old enemies like the US, France and
China.
Today, the US is not only
one of the biggest investors in
Vietnam but also the biggest
buyer of its products. In 2011,
the trade between Vietnam
and the US reached $21 billion, a slight increase from the
May 18-31, 2012
$18.6 billion in 2010 due to
the global financial crisis.
Like China, Vietnam also
realised that socialist economic policies didn’t bring
prosperity and adopted market-friendly policies under Doi
Moi in 1986. It opened doors
for foreign investors, offered
incentives and relaxed rules.
In 2011, foreign direct investment (FDI) capital flow
into Vietnam reached $11.6
billion, much less than $19.7
billion. The decrease was
mainly due to the global financial crisis.
But on the negative side,
Vietnam’s biggest enemy is
inflation, which reached 18.58
per cent on average in 2011. It
is the single biggest problem
the Vietnamese economy faces
today. The country also faces
problems like unemployment,
poverty, lack of infrastructure
and corruption.
∞∞Defence arsenal
Above all, Vietnam’s claim
to a portion of South China
Sea, an area rich in oil and gas
and fishery resources, has led
to ten sio n s with it s g iant
neighbour China and forging
of new links with countries
like the US, Russia, India,
Japan, Korea, Australia,
France, the UK and Taiwan.
Vietnam also recently
modernised its military
programme with upgrades in
naval, air and electronic
fighting capabilities. Hanoi
recently ordered $1.8 billion
worth of six diesel-powered
Kilo-class submarines from its
traditional supplier, Russia.
It is also planning to buy
four Sigma-class corvettes
from the Netherlands. Indonesia also owns the Sigmaclass corvettes, the most
modern warships. Russianmade Su-30MK2 fighter
planes are also on its shopping
list this year.
Vietnam’s Economy At
A Glance
V
ietnam’s membership in the
Asean Free Trade Area and
entry into force of the US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement
in December 2001 have led to
even more rapid changes in
Vietnam’s trade and economic
regime.
Vietnam joined the WTO in
January 2007, following over a
decade long negotiation process.
WTO membership has provided
Vietnam an anchor to the global
market and reinforced the
domestic economic reform
process. Among other benefits,
accession allows Vietnam to take
advantage of the phase-out of the
Agreement on Textiles and
Clothing, which eliminated
quotas on textiles and clothing
for WTO partners in 2005.
Deep poverty, defined as a per
cent of the population living
under $1 per day, has declined
significantly and is now smaller
than that of China, India and the
Philippines.
Vietnam is working to create
jobs to meet the challenge of a
labour force that is growing by
more than one-and-a-half million
people every year.
In an effort to stem high
inflation which took off in 2007,
early in 2008 Vietnamese
authorities began to raise benchmark interest rates and reserve
requirements.
Hanoi is targeting an economic
growth rate of 7.5-8 per cent in
the next few years.
Source: Northeast Chamber of Commerce
• 31
BUSINESS
THE PHILIPPINES
By Tessa R. Salazar
Philippine Daily Inquirer
The home should have adequate
facilities and amenities to serve
the needs of the aged.
An example of a retirement village, which has housing
structures in earth colours that deflect heat, and designed to
consume minimal electricity.
Rewiring
For Retirement
Is the Philippines ready to be a top retirement hub?
❖❖ Manila
Photo s by Phi lipp ine Daily Inquirer
A
nyhow one looks at it,
retirement is a serious
matter. The person
retiring not only
brings with him or her
the accumulated financial savings
earned from decades of being a productive member of society. The retiree is also laden with the wisdom
of having lived life to the fullest.
It would be perfectly understandable, then, why retirees sometimes
take a lifetime to ponder over where
to spend the next chapter of their
lives. And there has been a lot of
pondering, lately, as the elderly
population steadily increases. There
has been discernible growth in the
Philippines’ retirement sector for
the last several years.
Elderly spending, particularly on
the property sector, has been on the
32 •
rise, fuelled mostly by maturing life
savings and retirement benefits.
But the retirement demographic
doesn’t even involve merely the elderly. There have been also younger individuals who plan to retire
soon and invest in properties at the
same time.
These retirees, whether of “retirable age” or still in the peak of their
productive years, are meticulously
choosing the places they want to
settle into and invest in. This is most
evident among the first and second
generation of Filipino-American
professionals or active retirees who
have decided to come home to the
Philippines for good.
It is a phenomenon, however, that
is not exclusive to the Philippines.
The over-60 population worldwide
is expected to triple by 2050, according to projections by the UN Population Division.
∞∞Retirement warp
Enrique M. Soriano III, Ateneo
programme director for real estate
and senior adviser for
Wong+Bernstein Business Advisory, says, “The aging population is
in a retirement warp.”
Soriano, formerly marketing committee chair of the Philippine Retirement Inc. (PRI) , also says this
demographic shift will not only
provide vast opportunities to capitalise on the talents and skills of
older persons, but also create challenges in maintaining financial security for the aging populations.
While a markedly increased aging
population is a nearly universal
phenomenon, countries are at
varying stages in the process.
Soriano says the Philippines, along
with other countries, struggle to
prepare for the growth spurt of the
May 18-31, 2012
How Big Is The Retirement
Phenomenon?
elderly population.
Ironically, the Philippines
has been positioning itself to
become the major retirement
haven in Southeast Asia for
foreigners. But before any massive retiree migration is to take
place, infrastructures and services that cater to this sensitive
sector need to be either established or fine tuned.
The Philippines has accreditation standards for the design
and structure of buildings for
nursing homes. These standards require provisions for disability access in line with relevant building codes. It was
stressed that communal areas
would have to be easily accessible by persons with disability
and with comprehensive programmes that cater to elderly
patients who cannot live on
their own. The basic structures
to be followed cover primary
facilities and amenities, among
others. Some of those mentioned are:
∫∫ Big space and wide alleys to
allow wheelchairs and beds to
move around
∫∫ Floorings must be made
with resilient, nonslip tiles
∫∫ Gradual access elevation
for wheelchairs for a two-story
facility. Beyond two storeys, an
elevator must be available
∫∫ Mechanised equipment for
bedridden retirees
∫∫ Grab or handle bars in necessary locations like toilets and
bathrooms
∞∞Priorities
Paul Vincent Chua, Colliers
International’s associate director for valuation and advisory
services, and the head of consultancy and research, enumerates the priorities of the retirement sector:
∫∫ The weather or climate of
the location
∫∫ Accessibility to healthcare
∫∫ Distance or accessibility to
May 18-31, 2012
central locations (i.e. airports,
opportunities for work)
∫∫ Accommodations
Claro G. Cordero Jr., head of
research, consulting and valuation of Jones Lang LaSalle
Leechiu, says the ideal place for
retirement facilities should
have the following elements:
∫∫ Sustainable communitytype developments; the facility
should have adequate facilities
and amenities to serve the
needs of the retirees, such as
recreational and retail facilities,
and oftentimes, the presence of
limited right to be employed
locally
∫∫ Presence and availability of
superior and advanced healthrelated facilities
∫∫ Highly developed
infrastructure (that are wellconnected with major cities
through direct flights) and
telecommunications facilities
as well as reliable supply of
utilities (water and electricity)
∫∫ Safety and security
∫∫ Adaptability of the community to the culture of the
retirees—e.g., presence of welltrained personnel fluent in the
native language of retirees
∫∫ Support and assistance of
the local government
National Real Estate Association chair Alejandro S. Manalac
notes that considering the basic
needs of typical retirees—
whether middle-aged active or
even medically assisted—there
are a few places which he believes would qualify. He says
aside from several required
specific designs of retirement
homes, it also has to be near
reputable hospitals with adequate and modern medical facilities. A healthy environment
is a must, free from both noise
and air pollution. It should also
be near places of entertainment
and exercise.
R
eal estate advisor Enrique M.
Soriano III says Japan already
has a top-heavy population
structure, and its government is now
concerned with providing income
security for its older citizens.
Singapore, which had a relatively
young population only 40 years ago, is
now rapidly following Japan’s population pattern. China’s population structure, Soriano adds, resembles almost a
cube, so the goal has been to maximise
the value of its large, but soon-to-beshrinking, workforce.
India, for its part, is experiencing the
opposite of Japan. Its predominantly
young population is presenting daunting
challenges to the socioeconomic and
political structure. The current challenge there is how to provide enough
jobs and housing. In the United States,
10,000 people are now retiring each day.
“All of these countries, including the
Philippines, are not prepared to manage
a growing population of older people
who will be experiencing increasing
longevity due to the wonders of science,”
Soriano observes.
“In 20 years, the Philippines is
expected to shift from the current
triangle of Gen X and Y-dominant
population to a mid-heavy 50 and older
population. In this lifetime, we will see
the formation of a belly-shaped population,” Soriano quipped.
“Is the Philippines ready to absorb the
so-called retirement exodus? Do we have
a very clear retirement policy for Asians,
Americans, Europeans? Have we defined
our target markets very well? Do we
have a powerful and distinct value that
will compel these retirees to skip
Malaysia and make the Philippines their
second home?”
Soriano urges, “We must rethink the
changing perceptions about retirement,
employment and aging as it requires a
sustained, concerted effort from all
stakeholders. Government, business,
labour, NGOs, the media and individuals all have a role to play, and if we want
to exploit this retirement warp, we must
move fast as this universal market is
driving countries to rethink outdated
retirement systems.”
— By Tessa R. Salazar, PDI
• 33
BUSINESS
CHINA
F RA NKO LE E /A F P PHOTO
By Aw Cheng Wei
The Straits Times
Drowning In Debt
China’s new credit card users
are findING out the perils of
using plastic money
34 •
May 18-31, 2012
❖❖ Beijing
W
ei Kai, a bartender, racked
up a total of 30,000 yuan
(US$4,700) on six different credit cards in the
space of two months last
year.
“It’s the first time I am in debt. I did not
know there was such a thing as late fees,”
said the 27-year-old who moonlights as a
musician in Beijing.
Wei, like many first-time credit card
users in China, are learning the hard way
that easy credit can come with sky-high
charges.
As the first generation of their country
to carry plastic, numerous young Chinese
are struggling to understand the concept
of overdue payments, compound interest
and credit card debts.
A teacher in southern Guangzhou, for
instance, did not bother to pay 0.60 yuan,
on his credit card bill. He was stunned
when he was slapped with an interest of
about 100 yuan, the local media reported
last month.
“What an expensive lesson for such a
small amount,” said a microblog user with
the username hyz.
Wei, from north-eastern Heilongjiang
province, did not bother to pay his 12,000
yuan ($1,900) bill by the due date. He had
no clue he would incur late charges. “I
thought I would just wait until the wages
from my gig came in before paying,” he
said.
The next month, his bill shot up to
about 18,000 yuan ($2,800). Fresh
spending made up about 2,000 yuan
($316)—the rest of it was late charges and
interest.
Debit card users are also unaware that
they will end up in debt when banks continue to approve their expenditures even
after they have no money in their accounts.
Make-up artist Jiang Qingyun, 24, from
Beijing, is one such example.
“I was shocked when the bank sent me
letters warning me to pay my debt immediately. I did not even know I was in
debt,” she said.
Such problems are likely to get
worse because China’s increasingly
a ff l u e n t m i d d l e c l a s s i s t a k i n g u p
May 18-31, 2012
more cards than ever.
The first credit card was issued in China
in 1985. Chinese banks dominate the
market, as foreign banks are allowed to
issue credit cards only in collaboration
with local companies.
At least 268 million credit cards were
issued last year, up 20 per cent compared
with the year before and five times the
number in 2006, according to central
bank data.
This number is set to increase, as Citibank, one of the world’s biggest issuers of
credit cards, was allowed last month to
issue personal and commercial credit
cards to the increasingly mobile Chinese
from later this year.
China is set to overtake the United
States as the world’s largest credit card
market by 2020, reported international
payment network MasterCard Worldwide.
This charge card-toting population,
which has been dubbed the yue guang zu,
or “tribe with no savings at the end of
every month”, is known for spending beyond its means.
About 11 per cent of Chinese parents
have paid credit card debts for their children, who are 22 to 27 years old, according to a survey by the Beijing Youth Daily
in 2008.
The total amount of credit card debts
that were overdue for at least six months
was 10.65 billion yuan ($1.69 billion) by
the end of September last year, with the
amount owed up about 7 per cent from
three months ago, said the central bank.
Banks have set up special collection
teams for bad loans, and have been showing up at debtors’ homes and offices to
demand payment.
A bank in Guangzhou even took out
newspaper advertisements publishing the
identities of delinquent borrowers, hoping
to shame them into paying.
But with the Chinese government actively encouraging domestic consumption
to offset the country’s reliance on exports,
credit cards are likely to become more,
and not less, accessible.
Competition between banks is also expected to heat up this year, making it
easier for ill-qualified candidates to obtain credit. As Wei shared: “I did not apply for some of those cards. They just
came in the mail.”
• 35
LIFESTYLE
JAPAN
By Masanori Tonegawa
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Buddhism’s
New Appeal
❖❖ Tokyo
M
onks and temple
staff are branching
out from traditional
duties such as giving
sermons by looking
for exciting ways to
encourage people to
become involved in Buddhism.
They are creating a place to relax
on a temple veranda, holding
concerts and yoga classes, and
even organising festivals outside
their temple grounds.
Temple staff are taking advantage of a recent trend of casual
interaction with Buddhism that is
especially prevalent among
younger people, by creating
events aimed at helping people
become more familiar with the
religion and its teachings.
A company employee in her
40s who lives in Tokyo likes to
spend her weekends visiting
temples.
36 •
“There is a lot of beautiful
architecture and Buddha statues.
It’s just as interesting as visiting
a museum,” she said.
Sometimes, she transcribes
sutras at temples because using a
calligraphy brush to write lines
of kanji clears her mind.
At a temple in Tokyo in early
March, she listened to a sermon
about “goen” (links of fate) and
“kizuna” (bonds).
“I’m a shy person, but I learned
through the teaching that I
should put more value on interacting with people,” she said.
Hiromi Tanaka, who has
written numerous books about
Buddhist statues, said she feels
that there has been a recent
increase in the number of
people who are eager to find
opportunities to interact with
Buddhist culture.
“Like when foreigners encounter Japan’s traditional culture,
young people today may be
feeling a sentiment of excitement
[when they come in contact with
Buddhist culture],” Tanaka said.
She chairs a Buddhism circle
called Marunouchi Hannyakai.
There were only 10 members
about five years ago when the
group was established. This has
increased to about 650 members,
mainly women in their 30s. They
enjoy visiting temples, practicing
May 18-31, 2012
Monk Keisuke Matsumoto, centre, speaks with
people visiting the terrace in front of Komyoji
temple’s main hall in Minato Ward, Tokyo.
zazen (seated meditation) and
takigyo (waterfall meditation).
◊ A meeting place
At around noon in Komyoji
temple in Minato Ward, Tokyo,
workers from nearby areas gather
at a terrace in the main hall.
They bring bento boxes and
have lunch in the temple, which
overlooks a cemetery and has a
view of Tokyo Tower.
In 2005, Komyoji placed chairs,
tables and magazines in the hall’s
open terrace to welcome visitors.
Anyone can hang out at the
café-style temple where, if a
reservation is made, tea and some
confectionery can be ordered.
When monks recite sutras in
the main hall, visitors can join in
as well. A monk will provide
people with advice and answers
about Buddhism if they make a
reservation.
Keisuke Matsumoto, a 32-yearold monk at the temple said, “In
times past, people used to come
and gather at the temple, and
Buddhism offered moral support
for them.
“Buddhism offers kizuki [awareness] to find a way to resolve
problems and worries. We want
to give people today an opportunity to experience kizuki. That’s
why we opened the terrace [to
the public],” he said.
The temple also organises
concerts and yoga classes. Some
people visit the temple so frequently that they become friends
with others who often go there.
“Buddhism has three treasures
called ‘Bup-po-so’ [the Buddha,
the teachings and the spiritual
community]. ‘So’ means a
community of friends with a
common goal. I want this temple
to become a place where likeminded people can meet,”
Matsumoto said.
◊ Learn religion outside temple
In Shingyoji temple in Tama
Ward, Kawasaki, monks and nuns
May 18-31, 2012
venture beyond the temple
grounds to give people an opportunity to become more familiar
with Buddhism.
In late January, they held a
festival called Tera-Café (temple
cafe) in the Marunouchi Building
in Tokyo. This involved creating
a café, making a place to transcribe sutras and giving a gagaku
concert. They also organised a
“joshikai” event for women to
interact with nuns. About 10,000
people attended the 10-day event.
They are now thinking of
organising an event where
participants spend the night at a
hotel, in order to eat vegetarian
food called shojin ryori, and listen
to sermons. They are also planning to open a café in town.
Shingyoji head priest Koki
Asano, 59, said: “People have
diverse worries and problems
amid today’s bad economy and
natural disasters. I want Buddhism to help relieve people from
these worries.”
◊ Monks turn to the Web
Matsumoto and several young
monks operate Higanji (www.
higan.net/). Monks from various
schools write columns that are
put up on the website. The site
also includes information about
events, sermons and other
Buddhism-related information.
• 37
ENTERTAINMENT
By Melissa Kok
The Straits Times
The Reign Of
K-pop
Korean stars are all too eager to promote
themselves and willing to go anywhere in the
world for even the opening of an envelope, as
long as it is an opportunity for more publicity
and the price is right
❖❖ Singapore
ph oto by Da l e d e la R ey/A F P
B
efore Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, washed over
Singapore, there was
Japanese mania.
It hit Singapore hard in
the 1980s and 1990s, first with singers and actors such as Seiko Matsuda and Momoe Yamaguchi, foll o w e d b y t h e l i k e s o f S M A P,
X-Japan, Speed and Namie Amuro.
Their posters and laminated photos
sold briskly at retail outlets catering
to idol-loving hormonal teens and
young adults.
These days, from Girls’ Generation to Lee Min Ho and Kim Hyun
Joong, it is almost all about Korean
pop culture with Singaporeans—and
it has taken only a decade for K-pop
to not only erase Japanese pop culture’s 20-year headstart, but surpass
it considerably.
What happened?
Part of the answer lies in the
example of Japanese rock band
L’Arc-En-Ciel holding their firstever concert in Singapore recently
only after 20 years and selling 40
million records.
The quartet—among Japan’s biggest bands—said they never came to
38 •
Singapore before simply because
they had no idea they had a following here. And it is quite a sizeable
following too.
According to Warner Music marketing director James Kang, the fact
that J-pop stars have always been
more ‘distant’ and insular compared
to K-pop stars played a part in the
Korean takeover.
He says even at the height of their
popularity, girl group Speed, boyband SM A P, pop queen Namie
Amuro, visual rock group Glay and
current hot group Arashi gave Singapore shores a miss—so no fan
meets, no concerts, no showcases.
Japanese rock music fan Fabian
Soh, 22, has also noticed that bigname Japanese singers and groups
do not tour here as often as as their
Korean counterparts—a probable
reason why they are not as popular.
The library office administrator says:
“You can definitely find people in Singapore who are crazy about J-pop now,
but it’s not easy as finding people who
are very vocal about K-pop.”
A fan of underg round J-rock
bands such as Tokyo Pinsalocks and
Sakanaction, Soh says he would
probably have to travel to Japan if
he ever wanted to see them live
Members of South
Korean boy band
‘2PM’ perform
during a concert.
because there is “pretty much no
chance of them ever coming here”.
In contrast, K-pop stars are less
shy about stepping out of their country. To be frank, they are all too
eager to promote themselves. Sometimes, it seems they are willing to
go anywhere in the world for even
the opening of an envelope, as long
as it is an opportunity for more
publicity and the price is right.
Indeed, K-pop acts tour Singapore
more often than the Japanese, with
popular groups such as Girls’ Generation, FTIsland and Beast having
recently performed here.
Not enough material for a fulllength concert? No worry, there is
always this thing called a ticketed
fan meet. Last December, K-pop
boyband TVXQ were in town for a
two-hour fan party at the Singapore
Indoor Stadium, where they sang a
few songs, autographed merchandise and took photos with fans.
Korean idol Kim Hyun Joon, who
played the princely Yoon Ji Hoo in
the idol drama Boys Over Flowers
(2009), was also in town for a fan
meet at the Indoor Stadium.
More recently, the Mnet Asian
Music Awards, one of the biggest
star-studded annual K-pop awards
May 18-31, 2012
events, was held here last November. It is still the clearest sign that
the K-pop market has a strong foothold in Singapore.
Assistant professor Liew Kai Khiun of Nanyang Technological University, whose research areas include
television dramas and popular music
in Southeast Asia, partly attributes
the Hallyu revolution to the Korean
government’s push to promote all
things Korean abroad.
He says: “Unlike their Japanese
counterparts, the Korean government and the media industry invest
significantly in promoting the Kwave in the world as part of the
efforts in strengthening the republic’s soft power.”
In Singapore, the Korean government has previously organised and
co-funded Korean pop concerts, and
has supported the Korean Film Festival.
In 2006, a website was even set
up by the Korea Tourism Organisation which combined cast details of
popular Korean dramas with information about filming locations to
attract visitors.
Industr y veterans say there is
another reason why the Korean
Wave eclipsed the Japanese mania
in the early to mid-2000s: the high
May 18-31, 2012
cost of bringing Japanese content
into Singapore.
When Man Shu Sum was the
executive director of the Taiwan
office of Television Corporation of
Singapore (now MediaCorp), he
brought in Korean dramas for local
television in the late 1990s because
they were a cheaper alternative to
titles from Japan.
According to him, Korean drama
serials back then cost around
US$800 an episode, compared to up
to US$15,000 an episode for a Japanese drama.
“We decided to acquire Korean
drama, which looked very primitive
in production value but the faces
were refreshing and the story lines
were quite engaging,” he says.
It worked. Singaporeans became
hooked on K-drama. Popular shows
would easily attract a viewership of
more than 200,000, notes Man, who
is now managing director of Raintree Pictures. Some of the memorable Korean dramas that emerged
from that time include the love
stor y Winter Sonata (2002), which
starred Korean television heartthrob Bae, and the weepie TV series
Autumn In My Heart (2001).
Currently, at least 24 Korean dra-
mas are airing weekly in Singapore
on several cable TV channels such
as VV Drama, KBS World, ONE, E
City and tvN.
Asst Liew says of the appeal of
Korean dramas to Singaporeans:
“With the melodramatic familyfriendly scripts in both historical
and contemporary soap operas, Kdramas seem to be more universally
appealing to local audiences. J-dramas, on the other hand, are more
realistic of the portrayal of small
family households, and in recent
years, seemed to place less emphasis
on historical dramas that regional
audiences enjoy watching.”
Even in music, Korean materia l s e e m s m o r e a t t r a c t ive , s ay s
Warner’s Kang.
He says Japanese content “was
getting stagnant” while K-pop “was
starting to evolve with a fresher
young pop sound”.
“ Their music videos started to
be striking and creative, and the
stars are more exciting in image
and music.”
Indeed, the Korean stars do not
just perform watered-down versions
of their concerts back home. When
Girls’ Generation and Super Junior
staged their concerts here at the
Indoor Stadium, they were grand,
lengthy affairs with elaborate stage
designs—even if the bigger stages
meant selling fewer tickets.
Kang adds: “Unfortunately, J-pop
has been slow in its growth to produce fresh sounds and superstar
idols. Ever since the peak popularity of Ayumi Hamasaki and Utada
Hikaru in the early 2000s, we have
not seen bigger stars with ‘idol influence’ emerge from the land of the
rising sun.”
But die-hard J-pop fans such as
National University of Singapore
law student Alan Koh, 22, is optimistic that J-mania will survive the
test of time.
He says: “The interest in K-pop
is just a passing phase. I think Kpop will always have its devotees,
and the J-pop fan base has relatively lost its strength, but it’s okay
when everyone’s not fighting with
you for tickets to a J-pop concert.”
• 39
BAN GLADESH
P hoto s by A mirul Rajiv
MOVIE
By Naimul Karim
The Daily Star
In Search of
a Revival
Dogged by crises, efforts to revive the
cinema remain inadequate
❖❖ Dhaka
S
creens marked with ageold stains, weak projections comparable to a
clumsy classroom
presentation, sound
systems resembling loudspeakers
used at village weddings and
rickety seats that give you the
feeling of sitting on unreliable
rocking chairs—these common
features best portray the sorry
state of Bangladesh’s cinema halls.
Financial constraints have forced
over half of the country’s halls
either to shut down or to convert
into marketplaces. The state-run
Film Development Corporation
(FDC) has reported a three-fold
decrease in the number of cinema
halls, with the figure currently
hovering around 350.
“The last time I went to a
cinema was by the end of 2009
when Third Person Singular Number
40 •
was released,” says Iffath R.
Pritomi, a private university
student. “Honestly speaking, there
are a very few cinema halls worth
going to.”
● HAUNTING PROBLEMS
Pointing out the pathetic state
of technology and equipment in
most of the cinema halls, several
filmmakers and producers note
that ordinary sound systems and
absence of digital projection are
keeping people away from halls.
Saying that standard of cinema
halls are the key to attracting the
public, renowned director Morshedul Islam points out that most
cinema halls do not have digital
projection, latest film-related
technology, air-conditioning
system, generators and proper
washrooms.
“Screens in most of the halls
don’t have clarity and the sound
isn’t good either,” Shahidul Islam
Khokon, another filmmaker,
laments, adding that few owners
are interested to renovate or
upgrade their halls.
Power crisis in most areas has
also forced halls to cut number of
shows.
Ticket sales have decreased
drastically over the last 10 years.
An official of Anondo cinema hall
in Dhaka says they have around
2,000 seats but only get around
180 people for each show.
Not only audience, number of
films produced by the FDC also
has reduced for want of standard
halls.
The new areas in Dhaka—Banani, Gulshan, Baridhara and
Uttara—offer no room for the
movie-goers, Khokon wonders.
“What are the authorities doing?
How do you expect development
of the industry if the government
doesn’t plan to encourage it?”
Dearth of good halls is directly
affecting quality of films. “Our
cinema and cinema halls are
interdependent and both are in a
bad shape,” notes Giasuddin
Selim, whose first film Monpura
received critics’ acclamation.
Despite all these problems, the
last couple of years saw a rise in a
number of movies made by
independent filmmakers. But these
filmmakers need good cinema
halls to project their movies.
● VIDEO PIRACY
Video piracy has become a
haunting problem for filmmakers
and hall owners. With VCDs
being sold everywhere at extremely cheap rates, halls end up losing
a large part of their audience.
“You will get the pirated copy
of a movie in about one week into
its release,” says Iftekharuddin
Naushad, owner of the Modhumita Cinema Hall, one of the
most successful cinema halls in
Bangladesh. “Ticket-sales plunge
once pirated copies reach the
market.”
To recover their money, producers launch premiers of their
May 18-31, 2012
movies on private television
channels shortly after releasing
those at halls.
Asking the government to take a
strong stand against piracy,
Kokhon suggests introducing
mobile courts to punish those
involved in piracy and raising
jail-term for the offence to five
years.
An excessive ticket tax, close to
100 per cent, on their business
and separate tax during import of
cinema-related equipment appear
as a burden for hall owners in
times like this.
“Should the government levy
taxes at such a high rate when the
industry is on the verge of
collapse?” says actor-turned-producer Masud Parvez, popularly
known as Sohel Rana.
At least 600 cinema halls have shut down
since Bangladesh’s independence.
A ticket tax close to 100 per cent proves to
be a burden for hall owners.
or be replaced with multiplexes.”
government to give hall owners
tax holidays and other incentives.
Citing Indian example of offering
the hall owners a five-year tax
exemption, says Farooki: “Why
can’t we do the same in Bangladesh?”
● INDIAN MOVIES TO RESCUE?
To improve their sales, some
hall owners approached government officials to allow them to
screen Indian movies. As the
prohibition was temporarily lifted
in 2010, Bangladesh Motion
Pictures Exhibitors Association
managed to import 12 Indian
films. One of those was shown
last year and the rest will be
screened in coming months.
“Since pirated Indian movies are
● MULTIPLEX DAY’S NEED
Since cinema halls are
incurring losses, owners
have to pump extra
money earned from other
sources, some hall owners
said, opining that it is no
wonder that some of them
would break down their
halls and start profit-making businesses instead.
“The government
should ask such hall
owners to build at least
one or two screens along
with the markets,” Parvez
suggests.
The recent trend of the middleclass people’s going to the halls
like the Star Cineplex and Modhumita, the ones having latest
technologies, marks the need for
switching to latest technology.
Multiplexes took cinema to a
different height in countries like
India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
over the last two years. Bangladesh has only one multiplex, Star
Cineplex, which was set up in
2002 in Dhaka.
The government should encourage private investors to build
multiplexes, Morshedul Islam says.
“Halls either need to be renovated
May 18-31, 2012
flooding markets, why doesn’t the
government legalise it and benefit
by imposing higher taxes on
Indian movies?” suggests Naushad.
However, many filmmakers
disagree with him. “Young filmmakers are now coming up with
original and quite compelling
stories. If authorities open our
market to Indian films, our art
movies are going to suffer,” opines
Mostafa Sorowar Farooki, director
of Bachelor and Third Person Singular
Number. Local filmmakers need at
least 10 to 15 years to build an
audience, and the market can be
opened later, he adds.
Industry insiders urge the
● CENSOR BOARD A BARRIER, FDC
INDIFFERENT
To filmmakers and hall owners,
the censor board is a stumbling
block. Films are being banned
randomly right before their
release, which is unacceptable,
says Masud Parvez.
Filmmakers are not
allowed to make films on
political or any kind of
sensitive issues, he points
out. “We can’t even make
romantic films which are a
little different.”
Filmmakers have urged
the FDC to take a number
of steps but to no avail.
“Over the last 40 years,
we’ve seen around 30
heads of the FDC, most of
who are from political
parties and lack knowledge about the industry.
Many don’t even know the
difference between television and
cinema,” laments Parvez.
Admitting that FDC is responsible for the sorry state of the
country’s cinema, Sajjad Zahir,
an FDC member, says they have
sent several proposals to the
government “which would
improve the scenario”. One of
them is building at least one
screen in places where cinema
halls have been broken down.
Pointing out that cinema is seen a
“lower caste art” in Bangladesh,
renowned filmmaker Catherine
Masud says, “It’s high time that the
nation gives cinema its due respect.”
• 41
MOVIE
INDON ESI A
By Duncan Graham
The Jakarta Post
Have Mouse, Will Travel
An animator’s world thrives in risks,
fresh ideas and an open mind
❖❖ Jakarta
F
ancy a Tinsel Town
career? What could be
finer than glamour and
glitz from sun up to sun
up? Wherever you go red
carpets wait, cameras flash, fans
swoon, bubbly flows, limos glide.
If that’s your fantasy, avoid the
technical end of filmmaking.
Here you’ll probably get paid
reasonably well, travel to exotic
lands and see your name on the
big screen.
But by the time the credits roll,
the lights are on and the cleaners
are sweeping you and spilt
popcorn towards the exit signs.
Consider this a metaphor for a
tough job in an exciting industry,
provided they are risk-takers.
“This is a business of hard
work and long hours,” says
animation artist Rini Sugianto.
“It’s not for those who aren’t fully
dedicated. I don’t want to be rude
but newcomers have to learn the
basics, to animate bouncing balls
before tackling facial features.
“Unfortunately many Indonesian
would-be animators look for
shortcuts. I’m happy to help
young people who don’t wait for
me to send them something. For
others that’s a problem and I’m
trying to get my head around it
now.”
42 •
● Animation magic
Rini is currently working in the
Weta Digital visual effects studios
in Wellington, New Zealand, on
The Hobbit. The film, produced by
Sir Peter Jackson who directed the
The Lord of the Rings trilogy, is due
out in December.
Along with other non-celebs,
Rini and her colleagues will buy
their own tickets to see the film.
They’ll sit through to the end
hoping their names are spelled
correctly then party—and wonder
what next, and where. Their
photos won’t gloss the social pages
and no teen screamers will crave
autographs.
Yet the film could not have been
made if around 80 animators
hadn’t spent 50 hours a week or
more bonding like soulmates to
their computers, finessing each
shot, 24 frames every second long
after the stars have soared back to
their penthouses.
Animators make the production
absolutely believable, so keen
observation skills are another
required quality. With nimble
fingers, sharp eyes and fertile
minds their mice slowly nibble
away the barriers between fantasy
and reality letting viewers slump
deeper into their seats and another world.
Cartoon films using thousands
of drawings, each one slightly
different from its predecessor,
were being made 100 years ago.
Computer film animation is one
of the new transforming jobs that
hardly existed last century.
An animator’s village is the
world. With show reels of their
work online, a passport in their
jeans and English on their tongues
the digital generation is young,
keen, smart and ready to roll.
This is an informal industry
where what you’ve done and can
do overpower qualifications or the
way you dress. Many now work
at home. Hazards include burnout,
fractured marriages and repetitive
strain injuries.
● Animator’s story
Rini, 32, was one of the few
Indonesians who saw the possibilities while at school in Lampung
and Bogor. While her friends
chased boys, fashion and fun, the
teenager was chasing a cursor
across a screen. Her childhood,
dominated by sport, computers
and comics, including Tintin, had
“different priorities”.
When she entered Bandung’s
Parahyangan University, the best fit
for her talents was architecture.
But when she graduated the
Indonesian economy had been
crimped by the Asian economic
crisis.
May 18-31, 2012
Rini Sugianto
travels and seeks
new experiences to
enrich her work as
an animator.
Working for a Jakarta company
eering. Her plan is to scale the
producing 3D images of furniture
Seven Summits—the highest
wasn’t going to meet Rini’s
mountains on every continent.
surging ambitions. Instead of
Already underfoot is Kilimanwaiting for times to change, she
jaro, the 5,895-metre mountain in
took an animation course, sadly
Africa and New Zealand’s
discovering local directors were
Ngauruhoe, Mount Doom in The
“squeezing production time and
Lord of the Rings.
sacrificing quality”.
Next stop, San Francisco, for
● An open mind
further study, followed by animat“Like airline pilots, the animaing games and small films. She
tion industry uses English,” says
spent five years
Rini, whose
working in the
advanced lanUS, her last as a
guage masks her
supervisor,
origins. “A
before heading to
Jakarta animator
New Zealand in
with excellent
2010 with her
abilities and
Australian
wanted by Weta
Shepherd Kali.
had to be turned
An “opendown because
minded family”
his language was
that didn’t try to
limited. The
restrain their
business is
independent
highly competiThe Hobbit, due to be out this year, is
daughter
tive and global.
one of the many films involving
smoothed
I’m with people
Indonesian animators.
passage for the
from New
overseas advenZealand, Australia, the US, Britain and Gerturess. Rini arrived in the US
many. Most are men. Five Indonethrew herself into the culture,
sians are working on The Hobbit,
making local friends, avoiding
but I’m the only animator.
expats.
She adds: “It’s not just the
Her adaptability is so complete
artists who are mobile. US compathat this month she’ll marry an
nies are moving to Canada. Others
American special effects expert
are going to Singapore. The new
who shares her love of mountainMay 18-31, 2012
centre for animation is India
where they’re really hard workers.
I wish Indonesia could be there
but the bureaucracy involved in
setting up a company would be
too difficult. High-speed Internet
access is essential.
The feature-film industry is
project-based. I was offered a job
with Weta on The Adventures of
Tintin, directed by Steven Spielberg who I’ve never met, then
given the chance on The Hobbit.
Other projects are around but
these are secret.
“People come from all over the
world to work at Weta [the
company has employees from 35
nations]. They’d do anything to
work here. “Graduates will be
stuck if they accept Indonesian
standards. They need to put their
work out there, let people bash it.
Once you get comfortable you’re
in danger. There are so many
resources available, including
courses online. You can learn by
yourself if you’re artistic and
technically literate. You must be
multi-skilled but really skilled in
one area. [Rini is also a photographer and sculptor].”
“My father, who works in real
estate in Indonesia, always says
that he didn’t worry about me
because I’m independent. He
knew I’d always figure out a way
to get ahead.”
• 43
EXPLORE
MALAYSIA
When in Taman
Negara, the
canopy walk is a
must-do.
By Christina Chin
The Star
Traversing
Taman Negara
when city slickers brave open
jungle and come out wiser
p hoto s by C hri sti na C hin
❖❖ Taman Negara
W
hen we, three city
slickers, attempted
to be Janes of the
Jungle for a week at
Taman Negara, we
weren’t sure what to expect.
Yes, everyone who’s friends with
Google knows that Taman Negara
is Malaysia’s largest national park
and at the heart of Peninsula Malaysia, covering some 4,343 square
kilometres of primary virgin forest
stretching across the states of Pa44 •
hang, Kelantan and Terengganu.
But what the Internet doesn’t tell
you is how frighteningly insignificant the dense, virtually impenet ra b l e fo re s t m a ke s yo u fe e l .
Dwarfed by the towering trees in
the 130-million-year-old jungle, my
friends and I ventured forth with
romanticised visions of a Rudyard
Kipling tale coming to life.
We were excited by the prospect
of encountering majestic elephants, roaring tigers and their
other endangered buddies. Though
we did see two friendly tapirs
(they come for nightly feeding at
the resort), wild boars, snakes and
deers, the closest we came to an
elephant was stumbling upon its
tracks in the muddy ground.
Apparently, we nearly crossed
paths with a sun bear but, alas,
were not destined to meet.
Taman Negara is a birdwatcher’s
haven but not being much of a fan
of our feathered friends, we came
sans binoculars.
What else does Taman Negara
have to offer?
A whole new world — as Disney’s Aladdin and Princess Jasmine sang. While animal sightings are a highlight, they aren’t
guaranteed. So instead of obsessing over what you could see and
missing out on what’s actually
there, why not just enjoy the diverse flora and different shades
of emerald green leaves swaying
in the wind?
There are some 10,000 species
of flora and fauna in Taman Negara. The insects, ants and termites are huge — and apparently
some are quite nutritious.
Even breathing in the virgin
jungle is an invigorating experience — the air is crisp throughout
the day and, as cliched as it may
sound, really makes you feel alive.
While we didn’t attempt to scale
Gunung Tahan — the highest peak
in the peninsula — we did sign up
for a 16-kilometre hike that took
us into the inner jungle. The twoday hike included spending the
night in Gua Kepayang Besar.
On a dry day, the trek is relatively easy but when we went, it
was a mud fest. It was a struggle
to keep on our feet when lugging
bottles of water and an overnight
bag over mushy, shin-deep mud.
Frustration set in when our
shoes kept getting stuck in the
soft ground. Leeches hell-bent on
literally sucking the life out of us
throughout the trail didn’t help.
But sleeping in a cave is definitely worth the effort — even if
your lavatory is just a small sandy
May 18-31, 2012
patch a few metres away from
where you sleep.
Gua Kepayang Besar is big and
can accommodate some 300 hikers.
Porcupines come in for a peep at
night, and at dawn, bats swoop
home, indicating that it’s time for
their human guests to take leave.
After the hike, we took an hourand-a-half boat-ride back to Kuala
Tahan.
En route, river rapid shooting
and rafting promised a wet and
wild adventure as the boat navigated through the seven rapids of
Sungai Tembeling.
A quick stop at the Orang Asli
village can be arranged. The park
is home to the nomadic Batek people, one of Malaysia’s aboriginal
Gua Ketayang where hikers can
spend the night.
the night walk was a leisurely stroll.
Like the night walk, the night
safari through the palm oil plantation that bordered the jungle was
among the least strenuous activities there. The best seat on the
four-wheel-drive was definitely on
the roof where four could enjoy a
nice cool ride.
Oh, and the
canopy walk is a
must-do. The
45-metre high
walkway on the
top layer of the
forest’s vegetation, is 510-metre
long.
If you are not
afraid of heights
a n d i s n o t to o
busy hanging on
for dear life,
you’ll enjoy the
world’s longest
An orang asli child plays at the
Guide Ajai prepares a lunch
hanging bridge
settlement along the river bank.
of instant noodles.
canopy walkway
for the magnifitribes. There are several Batek vil- cent bird’s eye view of the plants
lages in the park, our guide, Ajai, (and sometimes animals) below.
informed.
Another noteworthy attraction is
They move everytime there’s a Lata Berkoh, where cascading wadeath in the village.
terfalls make for a nice picnic spot
“The headman and another vil- and swim. The river flows from
lager will take the body and leave Gunung Tahan. On the boat ride
it in a tree for a week or two before and guided trek to Gua Telingga,
returning to the secret location.
visitors can see limestone out“If the body has not fallen down crops, termite colonies, bats and
from the tree, it is a good omen,” snake racers.
he said.
The concrete jungle beckoned.
The night walk on a specially
The best time to visit the park
constructed platform offered us a is during the dry season from
glimpse of creatures like the scor- February to September. But even
pion, tree frogs, spiders and ser- then, rain is always a possibility.
pents. Unlike the inner jungle trek, The peak tourist season is from
May 18-31, 2012
April to August.
Now, some cardinal rules before you “go green” : travel light,
invest in a good pair of trekking
shoes, pack a flashlight, insect
repellent, rain coat, cash and,
most importantly of all, medicated oil for the leeches.
While I did bump into a few hikers who swear by their rubber
sport shoes, I’d strongly advice
against them unless you have the
agility of a prowling panther.
When it rains, the leech-infested
mud takes on a life of its own and,
if you are vertically-challenged like
this writer, ploughing through the
orange-brown goo is treacherous
indeed. The most crucial of all
these must-brings is definitely the
medicated oil—especially if you are
squeamish about pulling slippery
bloodsuckers off your limbs.
A few drops, and the icky vermin leaves the “buffet” — a trick
Ajai shared with us. Even a little
rain the night before will bring
these slimy vampires out, so be
warned: you are not alone, even
if you can’t see them.
Getting to Taman Negara is relatively fuss-free, with quite a number of tour operators offering packages that include accommodation,
food, activities and transportation.
While there are a few entry
points, the most popular is from
Kuala Tahan via the sleepy town
of Jerantut and the Kuala Tembeling Jetty. The three-hour boat ride
itself is an adventure through time
as you cruise along the yellow teh
tarik river, passing trees that wave
their lush green foliage as you
slowly doze off under the gaze of
a warm tropical sun.
Arriving at Kuala Tahan, you
will be greeted by a row of floating restaurants. After docking at
the nearby jetty, you acquire your
entry permit (1 ringgit or about 32
US cents) and photography license (5 ringgit or $1.62) from the
park headquarters, and you are
good to go.
* 3.07 ringgit = US$ 1
• 45
DATEBOOK
S EOU L
Hi Seoul Festival
The Hi Seoul Festival annually
presents themed live cultural and
artistic performances at Yeouido
Hangang Park and the capital’s urban
squares. The event features street
theatre, live music and parades at
venues including the Seoul Square.
When: May
Info: http://hiseoulfest.org
S I N GA PO RE
N EW DEL H I
Arts Festival
Birth of Buddha
The hottest ticket for performing
arts in the Far East, the Singapore
Arts Festival juxtaposes glittering
names of Asian and Western dance,
theatre and music. More traditional
artists prevail, but the experimental,
innovative types are gaining more
exposure each year.
The festival offers an international
programme covering all possible
areas of performing arts—many at the
same time.
Buddha Jayanti celebrates the birth,
enlightenment and death of Gautam
Buddha in different years. Buddhist
sites in Delhi, most notably the
Buddha Jayanti Park, celebrate with
prayer meetings and colourful events.
When: May
When: May 18 to June 2
Info: http://singaporeartsfest.com
T I AN JI N
Great Wall Marathon
H ONG KO NG
International Art Fair
At the Hong Kong International Art
Fair, galleries from across the world
bring their finest contemporary pieces
to the Convention and Exhibition
Centre for visitors to browse and buy.
46 •
Guided tours and talks teach people
about the art on sale.
The “Art Futures” section focuses on
new galleries and emerging talent.
When: May 17 to 20
Info: http://hongkongartfair.com
First held in 2000, the Great Wall
Marathon is a race with a difference.
Part of the course takes in the
challenging slopes and steps of the
world’s largest man-made edifice, the
Great Wall of China.
The fastest times are usually well
over an hour more than a flat-run
marathon, but it’s not the time that is
important, but the exhilaration of
taking part.
When: May 19
Info: http://great-wall-marathon.
com
May 18-31, 2012
HGRS_AsiaNewsAdvtv2_080807.qxp:Layout 1
8/31/07
9:29 AM
Page 1
Congratulations to 12 prize winning projects to be realized in
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Strength. Performance. Passion.