How much is your money worth today?

Transcription

special report pakistan after musharraf
AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2008
How much
is your money
worth today?
US$2.50 / Bt100
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BROUGHT TO YOU BY ASIA’S TOP PAPERS
AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 • Vol 3 No 35
AFP
Special
report
Pakistan’s Blues
The duo who brought
Pervez Musharraf ‘s
resignation has gone
separate ways
16
AFP
ASIANOLOGY 6
Cover Story 10
Inflation Contagion
They Ain’t Got Gold
With inflation hitting through the roofs in Asia, governments across the
region are looking for ways to stop runaway prices
Find out who among the
Asian countries still suffer
from the gold medal spell
AFP
BEIJING OLYMPICS 20
People 32
The Games is a “party that
took a long time coming
but was over in a jiffy’’
Japan’s respected female
‘mangaka’ has turned 30
in the business while 32year-old Paula Malai Ali is
making waves in maledominated sportscasting
CHINA DAILY
Thanks For The Memories
POLITICS 22
VIEWPOINT 9
Gloom Over Graft In
Taiwan
Former president Chen
Shui-bian admits his
family has wired US$20
million to overseas bank
accounts
PHOTO ESSAY 18
LIFE 28
China has proven that the
Olympics is not just a
coming-out-party
Singaporeans desperate
for a child turn to
surrogate mums overseas
The Curtain Drops
Wombs For Hire
A Tale Of Two Terrorists
Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger
supremo, Prabhakaran,
should learn a thing or two
from Nepali Maoist leader
Prachanda
Business 26
The Boob Tube Takes A
Second Job
Broadcast stations
in Japan are finding
alternative ways—like
themed wedding
parties—to stabilise
their falling profits
state-controlled rates in Lahore. AFP PHOTO
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THE STAR
COVER IMAGE | Pakistanis struggle to buy flour at
They’ve Got Spunk
New forum
focusing on the
diasporas in
Commonwealth
countries
How do diasporas inﬂuence
the economic development
of their new settlement
countries and the old home
nations?
How can we ensure that the
many immigrant diasporas
are included, engaged and
integrated?
How do we best realise
people’s potential in the
diasporas in the
Commonwealth?
The 5th Diversity Matters forum is organised
by the Australian Multicultural Foundation,
in partnership with the Monash Institute
for the Study of Global Movements, the
Commonwealth Foundation, Monash
University Campus Malaysia, The Statesman
of India and the Asian Strategy and
Leadership Institute
The forthcoming Fifth Diversity Matters forum
will be held in Malaysia on 19-20 November 2008.
It will examine a rarely-considered topic: the role of diasporas in
helping achieve the Commonwealth’s vision and mandates, and the
part diasporas can play in shaping and implementing Commonwealth
programmes.
The two-day intensive conference will examine the size, scale and
location of the many diasporas in the Commonwealth and how they
are constructed, the faith connections and the education imperatives.
This important new conference offers an exciting program of
international speakers, allows for the interchange of ideas and
experiences, and provides a timely opportunity to inﬂuence the
Commonwealth’s agenda.
For more information on the program, speakers and registration,
please visit www.diversitymatters2008.com
Vietnam Economic Forum 2
SUSTAINING
GROWTH
September 19-20, 2008
Hanoi Horison Hotel
F
inance,
infrastructure
and human
resources are key
factors in sustaining
the growth of Vietnam
and the region. Issues
in developing them
will be discussed
at this high-level
regional conference
for regional
business leaders.
Speakers include:
H.E. Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister, Vietnam
H.E. Dr Supachai Panichpakdi, Secretary-General, UNCTD
H.E. Nguyen Thien Nhan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Training, Vietnam
H.E. Vo Hong Phuc, Minister for Planning and Investment, Vietnam
H.E. Vu Van Ninh, Minister for Finance, Vietnam
H.E. Ho Nghia Dung, Minister of Transport, Vietnam
Mr Tran Bac Ha, CEO, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam
Mr Kan Trakulhoon, President and Chief Executive Officer, Siam Cement Group, Thailand
Dr Jorg Schneppendahl, CEO, Siemens Railway Infrastructure Turnkey Business, Germany
Mr William Lean, Managing Director, Infrastructure Fund, Vina Capital
(Business tour and meetings will be arranged for participants on September 20)
For information and reservation please email: jittima@nationgroup.com
Organized by
Ministry of Planning and Investment
Vietnam News
Asia News Network
ASIANOLOGY
They Ain’t Got Gold
A
but ...
t least 38 nations have yet to win a gold medal since the modern Olympics
started in 1896 in Athens, Greece. A number of countries that are in the
non-winners list are in Asia:
GOLDEN BOY: Mongolia’s Tuvshinbayar Naidan (in
white) throws Kazakhstan’s Askhat Zhitkeyev to
win the gold in men’s 100kg judo match in the Beijing Olympic Games.
MONGOLIA came to Beijing with
no gold medals but Tuvshinbayar
Naidan won the first in judo and bantamweight boxer Badar-Uugan Enkhbat beat Cuba’s Yankiel Leon for
the second.
THE PHILIPPINES, which debuted
in the Olympics in 1924 in Paris, has
nine medals—two of which are silver
and seven bronze medals. But, it is still
dreaming of that elusive gold.
VALERY HACHE/AFP
Since MALAYSIA first participated
in the Games in 1956 (competing as
Malaya and then as Malaysia at the
1964 Summer Olympics) it has not
struck gold. In the Beijing Olympics,
its biggest hope for the elusive medal
rested on the shoulder of Lee Chong
Wei, badminton’s world No 2. Unfortunately, Lee lost to China’s Lin Dan
in the men’s singles finals.
TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP
ISSOUF SANOGO
IMPORTED: Li Jia Wei of Singapore (upper) plays
against Wang Chen of the US during their women’s
table tennis single quarter finals match at the
2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
SINGAPORE broke the dry Olympic medal spell of 48 years with
a team silver through the table
tennis trio of Li Jiawei, Wang
Yuegu and Feng Tianwei—
former Chinese, now Singaporeans. Much cynicism still hangs in
the air—at coffee shops and on online
forums—that Singapore didn’t really
win at the Olympics since all three paddlers were China-born. But Singapore
argued that without its foreign sports
talent scheme, introduced in 1993 to
fast-track promising foreign athletes
to Singapore citizenship, the three new
Olympic silver medallists would quite
likely never have had the opportunity to
take part in any Games.
Indranil MUKHERJEE/AFP
BANGLADESH has competed in six
Summer Olympic Games and it sent
five athletes to the Beijing Games to
compete in athletics, shooting and
swimming. None of its athletes has
ever qualified for the finals.
Other Asian countries still without
a gold are SRI LANKA, VIET NAM,
LAOS, NEPAL, PAKISTAN, CAMBODIA and BRUNEI.
NOT GOOD ENOUGH: Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia reacts after failing to return a shot against Lin Dan of
China in the men’s badminton singles finals at the
Beijing Olympic Games. Lin defeated Lee by 21-12,
21-8 to claim the gold medal.
Outside Asia, the following countries have not won any gold: Liechstenstein, Iceland, Saudi Arabia, Iraq
Kuwait, Namibia, Lebanon, Moldova,
Serbia and Montenegro, Tanzania,
Bohemia, Ghana, Haiti, Zambia, Cote
d’Ivoire, Netherland Antilles, Senegal,
Tonga, Virgin Islands, British West
Indies, Qatar, Barbados, Bermuda,
Djobouti, Eritrea, Guyana, Kyrgizstan,
FYR Macedonia and Niger.
Sources: Wikipedia, beijingmedaltally.com, abc.net.au/olympics/2008, The Straits Times
GOLD SHOOTER: Abhinav Bindra of India celebrates
after winning the men’s 10m air rifle shooting title.
INDIA , an emerging Asian superpower with its billion people, broke
the gold medal spell in individual categories this year courtesy of Bhinav
Bindra in the 10m air rifle event.
AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 • ASIANEWS
Across Asia
AFP
The initial per i o d o f t h i s fi r s t
large-scale trial was
completed in three
months, and volunteers exhibited no
side effects.
Viet Nam has
produced a safe
vaccine, according
to colonel Doan
Huy Hau, the head
FIGHTING BIRD FLU: A farmer unloads chickens at a local poultry
of the epidemiology
market in northern Viet Nam. The country has successfully tested a
department of the
locally-made bird flu vaccine.
Military Medical
Locally-made bird flu vaccine
Institute (MMI).
Blood samples of volunteers were
HA NOI: The first human group test of collected over time for testing, and
the locally-produced H5N1 influenza results showed effective immunisavaccine, Fluvax, was successful.
tion against the H5N1 avian influMalaysian still missing in US park
WEST GLACIER (Montana): The
search has continued for a Malaysian
who was four days overdue from a
long backcountry hike in the Glacier
National Park.
Reports said rescuers have found no
sign of the 27-year-old Malaysian residing in the United States.
Hwa Yi-Jien was last seen at the St
Mary Visitors Centre on Aug 11, the
first day of a hike that he planned to
end a week later at Kintla Lake.
It is believed he was hiking alone.
—ASIA NEWS NETWORK
Say hello to ‘made in Brunei’ mobile
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Expect
to see mobile phones which bear
the label ‘made in Brunei Darussalam’ in the near future.
By January 2009, a factory to introduce and assemble GSM mobile
phones in Brunei will become fully
operational through a partnership
between Dina Brunei and Christel
Technologies Singapore.
Dina Brunei president Azlan
Yussuf said the factory would
commence production with the
i n t r o d u c t i o n o f i t s fi r s t l i n e o f
PDA mobile phones as well as
‘everyday’ handphones.
Azlan said the new industry was
in line with Brunei’s aim of diversifying its economy and reducing its
dependency on oil and gas.
—Ubaidillah Masli/the Brunei Times
Fire destroys World Heritage site
KYOTO: The Juntei Kannondo hall of
Daigoji temple, a Unesco World Heritage Site in Japan, was destroyed in a
fire early August 24, police said.
A Buddhist statue believed to be
from the Edo period (1603-1867) that
was enshrined at the hall was also dePakistan’s ruling coalition splits
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N) on August
25 quit the ruling coalition over differences on the reinstatement of judges
and decided to be in the opposition.
“We have taken this decision after
we failed to find any ray of hope and
none of the commitments made to us
were fulfilled by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari,”
PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif said.
“This situation has forced us to with-
ASIANEWS • AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2008
enza virus, said Hau.
Thirty students of the MMI voluntarily received their first shots of
the locally-produced H5N1 influenza
vaccine on April 19 and the second
shots 28 days later.
The Fluvax vaccine was produced
by Vaccine and Bio-technology Products Company No 1 (Vabiotech) of
the National Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute. The vaccine was
developed by Vabiotech starting in
mid-2004 and was produced from
monkey kidney cells, the latest biotechnology applied in Viet Nam.
If the final steps of the test are successful, the avian influenza H5N1
vaccine will be produced en masse in
2009 at around US$2 per dose.
—VIET NAM NEWS
stroyed in the fire.
The Juntei hall in
the Kami-Daigo area
situated at the top of
Mt Daigo was reconstructed in 1968. It
was the 11th stop on
a pilgrimage route of
33 temples in western Japan.
The temple is described by Unesco as
part of the Historic
Monuments of Ancient Kyoto.
According to the
temple’s website, the temple was originally built in 874 and the temple buildings in the two precincts were completed during the reigns of Emperors
Daigo, Suzaku and Murakami in the
Heian period (794-1192).
The temple’s precincts cover an area
of about 6.6 million sqm.
—THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN
draw our support and sit on the opposition benches.”
Sharif said his party had joined
the coalition with full sincerity but
promises were made and broken repeatedly.
PPP leader and Benazir Bhutto’s
widower Zardari together with Sharif
have been instrumental in the impeachment move against Pakistani
president Pervez Musharraf before the
latter decided to resign from his post.
—MAQBOOL MALIK/
THE NATION (PAKISTAN)
•Vie w poi n t•
A Tough Balancing Act
China maintains double digit growth and keeps prices down
Han Baojiang in Beijing
China Daily
I
TEH Eng Koon/AFP
n the context of the global economic slowdown rural economy have initially produced effects.
and a possible negative economic growth in quite
A well-run economy of the country has also been reflected
a few developed countries, there have also arisen by its effective curb on the high-perching prices and its conwidespread worries about China’s economic per- tinuing momentum of favourable trade balance, as well as by
formances in this Olympic year.
its success in stimulating people’s consumption.
Can the country be independent of the world’s economFacing a widespread global inflation and its unic recession and continue to maintain a rapid and healthy avoidable influences on domestic prices, the central
economic growth momentum in the post-Olympics era? government has come up with a series of macro-control
Whether or not will the country get stuck in a stagflation pre- measures, helping cool the ever-rising domestic investdicament of both economic recession and inflation? Can the ment mania, lower down the prices of commodities
government effectively control the flying prices and ensure and reduce favourable balance of trade.
people a stable and improving living conditions?
Certainly, it is impossible to expect there exist no ecoThe main macro-economic
nomic problems in a big country
indices and data in the first
like China. Over the past three
seven months of the year, redecades, the country has gone
leased by the National Bureau
through the process of industriof Statistics, have best answered
alisation, urbanisation, marketiall these questions.
sation and internationalisation
Against the backdrop of the
that Western developed counglobal economic slowdown, Chitries had gone through for more
na’s economy has still witnessed a
than 100 years.
sizzling growth of 10.4 per cent in
Especially, without much
the first half of this year, and the
experience on steering the
figure is expected to reach 10.2
market economy, it is very
per cent in the third quarter.
normal for China to encounter
The two-digit economic
some problems in its economic
BOOM: Chinese workers clean the steps in front of commercial
growth rate, although a little buildings in Beijing. Property prices in the Chinese capital jumped development. In this situalower than in the same period by 11.4 per cent in 2007, compared with an average rise of 7.6 per tion, what we should do is to
of last year, will be in stark cent in 70 major cities across the country.
go all out to strengthen the
contrast with this year’s 1.8
country’s ability to endure
per cent growth rate of the global economy estimated and solve these problems.
by the United Nations.
At the critical juncture of its economic development,
Such a good economic performance should be at- the country should try to find the balancing point among
tributed to its accelerated process of industrialisation, its measures to prevent economic landslide and inurbanisation and information-based growth, which has tractable inflation, thus achieving both in stimulating
resulted in economic transformation, industrial upgrade economic growth and curbing inflation.
and technological advancement. And the enormous
Given that the rise of prices is essentially caused by insufconsumption demand from people’s income increase ficient commodity supply other than by the superficial excesand the upgrade of their consumption structure has siveness of currency issuance, the solution to inflation should
also contributed much to its economic growth.
focus on promoting production speed and ensuring an effecAs a result of the dividend brought by the country’s go-for- tive supply of products, especially those in great demand.
ward economy, residents, enterprises and the government
In so doing, the country should straighten out the prices of
have all enjoyed a proportionate income growth. In the first these products and rare resources and let the price lever play
half of this year, the per capita disposable income of urban its part in balancing supply and demand. As a result of such
residents reached 8,065 yuan (US$1,178) or an increase of practice, the prices of certain commodities would possibly
6.3 per cent from the same period of last year, and the money rise. It is a normal phenomenon in the process of economic
income of people in rural areas reached 2,528 yuan ($369), development and we should not take it as a sign of inflation.
or an increase of 10.3 per cent.
The government should give up the purely administrative
The tangible income increase of rural residents has means as the main tool to maintain the low prices of comfully demonstrated that a series of preferential policies modities. What it should do is to increase subsidy to loweron agriculture and farmers by the central government income groups and improve their ability to deal with a reahave worked very well, and its measures aimed at sonable price rise of some commodities.
narrowing the income gap between urban and rural
(The author is a professor with the Party School of the Cenresidents and pushing for the integration of urban and tral Committee of the Communist Party of China)
•Vie w poi n t•
Gloom Over Graft In Taiwan
Former president Chen Shui-bian admits his family had wired US$20 million to
overseas bank accounts but denies he is involved in any graft
Goh Sui Noi in Taipei
The Straits Times
T
PATRICK LIN/afp
he irony is not lost on Taiwanese: The leader they the alleged embezzlement of special state funds.
voted into office to clean up corruption has allegHis sending money out of Taiwan has hurt his coledly turned out to be corrupt himself.
leagues in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Wrote a disappointed supporter of former presi- The party is in the red and has been retrenching staff
dent Chen Shui-bian in the Taipei Times: Since the to cut costs. But it has not condemned or broken with
scandal broke, “I have felt like a bird with broken wings fall- Chen. Instead, the party issued a statement praising
ing into a deep valley”.
him for courageously confessing his wrongdoing.
Chen, 57, who stepped down in May after two terms in
The reason is clear: Too many DPP leaders have benefited
office, has admitted that his family had wired US$20 mil- from Chen’s largesse. As a political star, he was able to raise
lion to overseas bank
huge sums of money,
accounts. He made the
which he disbursed as
confession on August
personal gifts to party
14 after news broke
colleagues.
that the Swiss authoriMany analysts beties had requested help
lieve that if the DPP
from Taiwan to invesdoes not make a clean
tigate a possible monbreak with Chen, it will
ey-laundering case. It
be weakened for many
has also been alleged
years to come. Foundthat $31 million was
ed in 1986, the party
deposited into the
rose very quickly, with
Swiss bank accounts of
its pro-environment,
Chen’s son Chen Chihpro-democracy and
chung and his wife
anti-corruption stands
Huang Jui-ching.
finding resonance with
The elder Chen has
the Taiwanese. But its
insisted that he has not
eight years in power
been involved in any
have seen its credentials
graft and that the monseverely damaged beey came from surplus
cause of inept rule and
campaign funds from MARKET REACTION: An investor stares at a TV wall in a brokerage which, shows the complicity in Chen’s
local stock market suffering heavy losses in Taipei on August 18 in the wake of money scandals.
four elections that he laundering
allegations implicating former president Chen Shui-bian and his family.
had contested. TaiwanAll this has led to a
ese law allows politimood of pessimism
cians to keep campaign donations for themselves.
among the Taiwanese. One netizen asked if the Taiwanese
Chen denied having any knowledge of the accounts lacked the ability to govern themselves, with each new leaduntil early this year, claiming his wife Wu Shu-chen er more corrupt than the next. But some political analysts
took care of their finances. He also pointed out that see a silver lining in the gathering gloom.
ruling Kuomintang (KMT) politicians had done the
“This is a good thing,” said political science professor
same, naming several of his political rivals.
Huang Cheng of the Chen scandals. “His prosecuThe finger-pointing riled his own supporters. After all, tion... will give a warning to public functionaries” to
they had voted for him in part because of his promise to behave themselves. The scandal, the first of its kind
clean up political corruption, particularly the KMT’s. A involving a former president, would speed up the
China Times poll showed only 8.3 per cent of Taiwanese be- legislation of ‘sunshine laws’, he said.
lieved him, while an overwhelming 67.8 per cent disbelieved
Not all are so optimistic. A Taipei Times editorial noted
him. Many Taiwanese believe the former president has salt- that sunshine law proposals have been languishing in the
ed away more money than has been revealed thus far.
legislature for years. There were calls for reforms too after
Said political analyst Chen Mumin: “We do not believe current President Ma Ying-jeou was indicted last year for althese are only campaign funds.” He noted rumours that the legedly embezzling a special allowance when he was mayor
former president had accepted bribes from some banks to of Taipei. But a year later, nothing has been done.
ensure their survival after financial reforms were introduced
The real test of the maturation of Taiwan’s democracy
in 2004. Chen is also alleged to have sold government posts. will be whether anti-corruption laws are put in place in the
He is already under investigation, together with his wife, for aftermath of Chen’s money laundering scandal.
Cover Story
Inflation Contagion
Even Singapore, the wealthiest in Asia, has been feeling the effects
of inflation and governments across the region are devising
measures to cushion the impact on their population
Noel Adlai O Velasco in Bangkok
Asia News Network
W
10
ith inflation hitting
through the roofs in
Asia, governments
across the region are
frantically looking for
ways to stop runaway
prices and devising measures to cushion the impact on their restive population who have been forced into austerity to survive.
Prices are also on an upswing in
the United States and Europe, but
the biggest increases are being felt in
Asia with countries like Viet Nam, Sri
Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
the Philippines and Indonesia already
reeling from double-digit inflation.
Viet Nam, with an overheating
economy after years of successive
high growths, recorded the highest
inflation rate in the region at 27 per
cent, followed by Sri Lanka at 26.6
per cent, while Singapore saw the
largest jump in inflation from 1.3 per
Arif ALI/AFP
FLOUR STRUGGLE: Pakistanis strug-
gle to buy flour at state-controlled rates
at the Sunday Bazaar in Lahore.
In Asia
cent in 2007 to 7.5 per cent this year.
From Dhaka in Bangladesh to
wealthy Singapore, people are now
scrimping with their budgets, limiting their travel and cutting down on
unnecessary spending to cope with
spiralling prices which have reached
heights not seen in decades.
“I’ve been spending less and I don’t
eat out so much,” said cabbie Loy
Chee Hun, 70, of Singapore. The
same sentiment reverberates across
Asia which is home to two-thirds of
the world’s poor.
Angry protests over soaring prices
have prompted Asian governments
to come up with various measures
to allevate the plight of their citizens
trapped in the eye of the intensifying
inflation storm that is ravaging the
entire region.
“The epicentre of the inflationary
storm is really in Asia,” an analyst said.
Inflation in Asia, which stemmed
from high food and fuel prices,
has become a ‘major worry’ for the
Asian Development Bank since it
could threaten economic growth
in the region.
ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda
said Asia was facing its most serious
inflation in modern times, potentially
undoing 20 years of progress in the
war on poverty.
“Inflation is really serious. It is accelerating everywhere,” Kuroda said,
pointing out the fact that inflation
this time was concentrated in food
and fuel prices made it more serious
than in the 1970s.
“This inflation disproportionately
affects poor people, because poor
people spend a higher proportion of
their income on food and energy,” the
ADB chief said.”Our estimate is that
the 1.2 billion poorest people in Asia
spend about 60 per cent of their income on food and 15 per cent on energy. It’s really huge, and those prices
went up sharply. This inflation has
seriously affected poor people.”
In a recent report, the ADB noted
that sharp increases in global food
and oil prices were spilling over into
wages and other broader measures of
inflation across Asia.
With prices cutting deeper into
their pockets, Asian workers are
now demanding higher wages to
cover their rising cost of living while
companies are pricing their goods
higher to make up for higher production cost.
But the recent decline in oil and
commodity prices suggest that inflation rates could be nearing their
peaks. World oil prices have tumbled
by more than 20 per cent after hitting
a record of $147.27 a barrel in July
while rice and wheat are down 29 per
cent and 35 per cent from their peaks.
But analysts said the effects may not
be felt before the end of the year.
Faced with the prospects of civil
unrest, governments across Asia have
come up with stop-gap measures—
from cash doleouts, food coupons to
subsidies on utilities—to shield the
poorer segments of their population
from the onslaught of surging prices.
I
n the Philippines, the government
has provided food, diesel and electricity subsidies to deal with high
prices. It has distributed monthly
cash subsidies and ‘rice passes’ to
poor Filipino households.
The country’s inflation hit a 17-year
high of 12.2 per cent in July, the highest annual inflation rate since December 1991 when consumer prices rose
13.2 per cent.
Manila provided a 500-peso
(US$10.96) subsidy to small consumers of electricity and released about 1
billion pesos ($21.9 million) for lending to public transport operators who
want to convert their vehicles’ engines
from gasoline/diesel to LPG or compressed natural gas.
The government also exempted
minimum wage earners from income
taxes and raised the tax exemptions of
other salaried employees. Wages were
likewise increased.
To avert another rice crisis, the
government launched a 43.7-billionpeso ($956.5 million) agriculture
programme in April to ensure rice
sufficiency.
In January, Philippine President
Gloria Arroyo approved a 75-billionpeso ($1.65 billion) economic stimulus package to pump the economy
and shield it from an economic slowdown in the United States.
The package includes income tax
relief for middle-class working families, power rate cuts, food-for-school
programme, college scholarships and
technical and vocational training and
free health services.
Despite these measures, there are
already clear indications that most
Filipinos, regardless of their income
level, have been forced to make drastic changes in their consumption behaviour and lifestyles.
Former Philippine economic planning secretary Cielito Habito said
the recent surge in oil and food
prices worldwide was largely to
blame for all these.
In July, a poll by Pulse Asia showed
that more Filipinos felt poorer this
year than in 2007. The survey indicated that 75 per cent believed they
were living a more difficult life now
than a year ago.
11
AFP PHOTOS
Cover Story
BEATING INFLATION: (L-R) A customer walks past vegetables for sale at a market in Manila; Indian vendors wait for customers
at a vegetable market in Mumbai; a vendor arranges baskets of fresh chilli at a local market in downtown Ha Noi.
I
n India, the government unveiled
a $15 billion debt relief package for
poor farmers and announced a major wage hike for civil servants.
The government also subsidised
crucial imports, including fuel, edible
oils and lentils as prices rise but these
subsidies have put tremendous stress
on the country’s fiscal position.
“For imported inflation, there’s
little you can do other than subsidise,” India’s commerce minister
Kamal Nath explained.
“No consumer wants prices to
rise,” Nath said, adding: “That will
lead to further inflation. If there
were no subsidies, the real inflation, what would it be?”
India’s inflation raced to a 13-year
high of 12.44 per cent for the week
ending August 2, up from 12.01 percent the week before despite monetary
and fiscal measures put in place. A year
ago, inflation was only 4.39 per cent.
But there are fears inflation could be
pushed even higher after Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet
approved a 21 per cent average salary
increase for the country’s five million
government employees.
India’s finance ministry, however,
said the impact of the higher pay scales
for government employees on inflation
had been “factored in”.
R
12
ising prices in neighbouring Pakistan have sparked protests in recent weeks, increasing the pres-
sure on a government already facing
militancy and political discord.
While the government has
launched schemes to help the poor,
many people have committed suicide
in despair. A non-government organisation has recorded 11 suicides
by heads of family since May 1. A
widowed mother poisoned her three
children before killing herself.
Pakistan’s annual inflation rate hit
a record high of 24.3 per cent in July,
its fastest pace in 30 years, from 21.5
per cent in June. Inflation was at 6.37
per cent a year ago.
The Pakistani government has
launched the 340-billion-rupee ($4.5
billion) Benazir Income Programme
for those living below the poverty line
who would be issued cards named after the assassinated Pakistani leader
so they can buy food items at discounted prices.
In Punjab province, the provincial
government launched a food stamp
scheme costing 20 billion rupees
($265 million). It is expected to benefit 1.8 to 2 million families living below the poverty line.
S
ri Lanka’s annual inflation rate
dropped for the first time in
seven months to 26.6 per cent in
July from 28.2 per cent in June.
But the rate fell after the government scrapped the official price index
when inflation hit an all-time high of
29.9 per cent in April. This has been
adjusted to 26.2 per cent.
Unable to cope with rising
prices, Sri Lankans are skipping
or reducing meals, and some are
facing starvation.
In June, widespread protests
were held in Sri Lanka against the
sharp rise in petrol prices and in
the cost of living.
A recent World Food Programme
(WFP) report said Sri Lanka was
among the countries most affected by
high staple food prices since households spend an average of 63 per cent
of their income on food.
Sri Lankans are angry at their government for spending millions in its
war against the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, but doing nothing to control price increases.
A plantation worker echoes the
sentiments of Sri Lankans: “In my
whole life I never faced this kind of
crisis. The cost of living is simply unbearable. I have to pay double for the
same things I bought just five months
ago. Every month, prices are going up
but our wages remain the same.”
I
n Bangladesh, the inflation rate
rose to 10.04 per cent in June
from 9.99 per cent in May due
to soaring food prices.
Finance ministry officials, however, expect inflation to ease to
9 per cent, as the government is
providing higher subsidies to boost
farm production.
T
hailand announced a 47-billion-baht ($1.37 billion) comprehensive economic stimulus
package in July to help low income
households and businesses cope with
rising prices.
Under the package, the government
will pay for the water and electricity
consumption of low income households over a period of six months
from July 25.
It will also provide free public
transport on about 800 non airconditioned buses plying Bangkok
streets as well as third-class train
seats to all destinations.
The government has maintained the
subsidy on cooking gas and reduced
the taxes on diesel. It also exempted
low-income earners and small enterprises from income taxes.
Thailand’s Cabinet also approved
a 570-billion-baht ($16.7 billion)
stimulus package for mid-to-low income families and those at the grassroots level.
The package includes a three-year
debt moratorium for over 300,000
Thai farmers and interest rate reduction for small borrowers.
The Thai government will make
available 10 billion baht ($293.7 million) for lending to potential homeowners with a monthly income below
15,000 baht ($440).
Thai finance minister Surapong
Suebwonglee said the package is expected to help the poor deal with higher
food and transport costs after inflation
hit a decade-high last month.
Thailand’s inflation rate surged
to a new 10-year high of 9.2 per
cent in July due to soaring oil and
food prices.
To ensure stable prices, the government has clamped down on any
price increase.
Thailand’s commerce minister
Chaiya Sasomsap said prices of more
than 1,000 consumer goods would be
maintained. This will help cap inflation at around 7 per cent to 8 per cent
this year, he said.
The Thai minister met in mid-August with Thai manufacturers who
agreed to freeze prices of their goods
until the end of the year.
E
ven Singaporeans, Southeast
Asia’s wealthiest people, are also
reeling from the city state’s worst
inflation in 26 years.
For several years, Singaporeans
have been accustomed to an inflation
rate of around 2 per cent. But it spiked
this year to 7.5 per cent, the highest
since 1982.
With prices going up rapidly, many
Singaporeans suddenly found themselves going out or eating out less,
buying fewer luxuries and reducing
the use of taxis. To cut down their water bills, some take a shower only once
a day.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong acknowledged that
many Singaporeans are feeling the
pinch of the rising costs of living
which he blamed on global inflation.
But he said that while the government cannot prevent prices from going up, it is trying to lighten the burden on Singaporeans through schemes
like Workfare and ComCare.
“We are doing the next best
t h i n g : t o p u t i n p l a c e e ff e c t i v e
relief measures, and provide the
poor and the needy with the help
they need,” he said.
The government has set aside $3
billion Singapore dollars (US$2.1 billion) this year to help Singaporeans
cope with the hard times.
In October, the government will
give out the second installment of
growth dividend, or cash payouts
to Singaporeans from the nation’s
budget surpluses.
The government also set up a website where food stalls offering cheap
food are listed and doled out cash averaging S$1,000-S$2,000 (US$7061,412) to each family, depending on
its size, age and poverty level.
Singapore has ruled out raising
wages, but called on private sector
employers to try to pay a once-off bonus to their lower-income employees.
W
ith inflation at its highest level
in 17 years, Asia’s second fastest
growing economy, Viet Nam,
has adopted various measures to curb
the rise in prices.
13
Viet Nam’s inflation rate skyrocketed in July to 27 per cent, the highest in Asia, due to sharp increases in
food, housing and fuel from a year ago.
It was the highest since inflation hit 67
per cent in 1991.
Compared with July last year,
food prices were up 72.7 per cent
in July while fuel costs rose 46 per
cent, according to Viet Nam’s general statistics office.
Viet Nam has been struggling to
curb double-digit inflation since November. The government repeatedly
tightened credit rules for banks and
raised interest rate to 14 per cent. In
March, it froze the prices of key commodities, including gasoline.
The Vietnamese government also
postponed or delayed more than
5,000 projects with total investments
of 35 trillion dong ($2 billion).
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen
Tan Dung has asked officials across
Viet Nam to implement the government’s strategies to push down the
inflation rate to a single digit by the
end of next year.
To minimise the impact of inflation on poor and low-income people, particularly ethnic minorities,
fishermen and those living in areas
affected by natural disasters, the
Vietnamese government has directed
authorities to carry out many social
security policies.
Viet Nam has also asked ministries
and localities to continue offering
subsidies especially to ethnic minorities, war invalids and families
of fallen soldiers.
With household budgets tightening, the Vietnamese are switching to
cheaper alternatives. Many now opt to
travel by bus than by motorbikes while
some are rediscovering bicycles.
Most of those shopping said they
now buy less often.
But still many are discontented. In
August, more than 5,800 workers at
footwear and garment companies in
southern Viet Nam went on strike to
demand higher salaries so they could
cope with inflation.
M
alaysia’s annual inflation rate
rose to a 26-year high of 7.7 per
cent in June following a deeply unpopular 41 per cent hike in fuel
prices which triggered protests in the
capital, Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia’s central bank, however,
14
ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP
Cover Story
A DOLLAR’S WORTH: A dealer displays
Singapore dollar notes at a money
changer in Singapore. Singapore’s de
facto central bank said it had further
tightened monetary policy in a bid to address a sharp rise in inflation.
expects inflation to moderate in the
second half of 2009 as economic
growth is likely to slow down.
“The moderation in growth... will
have some dampening effect on inflation and in the current environment
we have seen commodity prices retracking,” Bank Negara governor Zeti
Akhtar Aziz said.
Malaysians have relied heavily on
government subsidies for many years
and were stunned to wake up to a new
reality of high prices. Many questioned why Malaysia—an oil-producing country—cannot continue the fuel
subsidies amid soaring prices and a
slowing economy.
In July, electricity tariffs rose 18 per
cent for households and 26 per cent
for commercial and industrial users.
I
n Indonesia, where 30 per cent of
the people still live below the poverty line, the annual inflation rate
jumped to a higher-than-expected
11.9 per cent in July.
Indonesian finance minister Sri
Mulyani said the government had
undertaken measures to reduce the
pressure on fuel prices by intro-
ducing some waiver of the import
duty temporarily.
The government, he said, was doing
its best to reduce transport cost and
the distribution cost of goods and services to alleviate the burden on both
businesses as well as the people.
Indonesia has subsidised fuel and
electricity to control prices, but this
move has been strongly criticised.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called on Indonesians to conserve electricity and water to stem a trend of rising demand
and prices and to ease the burden on
the state budget.
In May, Yudhoyono ordered government offices to cut energy consumption and in August asked industries to
shift operational hours to weekends.
S
outh Korea’s consumer prices
jumped 5.9 per cent in July, the
steepest increase in almost 10
years, breaching the central bank’s
target range of 2.5-3.5 per cent for the
eighth straight month.
Despite declining oil and commodity prices, South Korea finance
minister Kang Man-soo said that
inflation would remain high at least
until September.
“Planned hikes in public utility
charges will also likely increase inflationary pressure and cause inflation
expectations to build up,” said Lee
Keun-tae, an economist at the LG
Economic Research Institute.
Only China, Asia’s fastest growing
economy, has weathered so far the inflation contagion that hit the region.
In fact, China’s inflation rate
has been declining in the last three
months. After peaking at 8.7 per
cent in February, it dropped to 7.1
per cent in June.
China’s consumer price index (CPI)
fell further to a 10-month low of 6.3
per cent in July.
With inflation on a downtrend,
China’s leaders are now considering
an economic stimulus package of at
least 200-400 billion yuan ($29-58
billion) which would include tax cuts
and other measures to stabilise the
capital markets as it shifts focus from
taming inflation to promoting economic growth.
China also plans to ease monetary policy by the end of the year
to help labour-intensive small
firms, which are having difficulties as a result of the government’s
credit tightening, a rising yuan
and the soaring costs of raw materials and energy.
To ensure domestic prices remained stable, the government
has increased subsidies to farmers
to make up for rising fertiliser
and seed prices.
The fall in CPI “should give
the government greater room to
ease its price control measures
and focus more on growth than
inflation”, Lehman Brothers’
economist Sun Mingchun said.
I
n Japan, which for a long time
suffered from deflation, consumer prices rose in June to 1.9 per
cent, the fastest pace in a decade.
Consumer sentiment plunged in
June to the lowest level in at least
26 years because prices of basic
necessities were rising three times
faster than wages.
The Japanese government is
readying an economic stimulus
package to help businesses and individuals cope with higher prices.
The package includes measures
such as a discount on expressway tolls
and financial support for small and
midsize firms suffering from a credit
crunch and for industries that have
been hit hard by rising fuel costs, such
as farming and fishing.
Japan plans to include 8 trillion yen
($72.764 billion) worth of fiscal stimulus measures in the economic package to be finalised by end-August.
The package also includes employment assistance measures, including
steps to help job-hopping part-time
workers become regular employees,
and measures to improve medical
care for the elderly.
But as Asian governments battle inflation, the prospects of an economic
slowdown across the region are looming in the horizon.
Already, governments are scaling
down their growth targets in the near
term as monetary authorities raise interest rates and tighten credit to keep
inflation in check and avoid stagflation, a deadly combination of eco-
nomic stagnation and high prices.
Countries across the region are,
however, grappling with the problem
of taming inflation without sacrificing
economic growth.
This is a dilemma that finance
ministers and central bankers face
since policy decisions most often
carry unwanted and even painful
repercussions.
“It’s tightrope walking,” said India’s
commerce minister Kamal Nath.
But for the ADB, a slower growth
would do less damage in most of Asia
than rising inflation.
“The economic slowdown? Yes,
it’s significant, but a slowdown of
1 per cent, 2 per cent, from 8.5 per
cent last year—it’s not so serious,
it’s not a recession,” said ADB’s
Kuroda. “Inflation is the number
one challenge for many countries,
and it’s difficult.”
Central banks across Asia have
been combating inflation by increasing interest rates.
India, Pakistan, South Korea and
the Philippines have raised key interest rates to keep inflation at bay.
INFLATION STORM
But Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, MaINFLATION RATES OF SELECTED
laysia,
China and Japan have opted
ASIAN COUNTRIES
to leave policy rates unchanged.
(Latest available figures in percentage)
After a record 7.2 per cent
growth
last year, the Philippines
Viet Nam
27
has cut its 2008 growth target for
Sri Lanka
the second time this year. From
26.6
an earlier forecast of 6.6 per cent,
Pakistan
24.3
the government has scaled down
its target to between 5.5 to 6.4 per
India
12.44 cent this year.
Singapore has revised downPhilippines
12.2
wards its growth forecast to a
narrower range of 4 to 5 per
Indonesia
11.9
cent from an earlier estimate
of between 4 to 6 per cent.
Bangladesh
10.4
Japan also reduced its growth
forecast
for this fiscal year to 1.2
Thailand
9.2
per cent from 1.5 per cent. Its
Malaysia
economy shrank by 2.4 per cent
7.7
in the second quarter, putting it
Singapore
7.5
on the brink of a recession.
India cut its growth target this
China
6.3
financial year to 7.7 per cent from
8.8 per cent last year.
Taiwan
5.92
But Sri Lanka expects the economy to grow by 7 per cent this
South Korea
5.9
year, up from 6.8 per cent in 2007.
Growth slowed to 6.2 per cent in
Japan
1.9
the first quarter from 7.6 per cent
in the previous period.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
With reports from ANN members
Source: News Reports/Inquirer Research
and Inquirer Research
15
Special Report
Pakistan’s Blues
Many in Pakistan celebrated after president Pervez Musharraf
resigned from his post. But for a country, which is in a mess,
this is not a resounding victory
Amina Jilani in Islamabad
The Nation (Pakistan)
W
ell, in terms of the democratic psyche, ethos, genius, or what have you, the
country called Pakistan
has not evolved in any way
other than to project increasing immaturity coupled with a latent violence.
Mass unthinking street jollity at the
fall of a national leader has become
the order of the day since 1977, when
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was booted out by
general Ziaul Haq. Widespread rejoicing was the reaction, with uninhibited
dancing in the streets and the distribution and mutual feeding of local sweets
such as ludoos and gulab jamans.
This was repeated in 1988 when Zia’s
C-130 and its crate of mangoes blew
itself to smithereens, then in 1990,
with the turfing out of the first of the
Benazir Bhutto governments. Come
1993, and the demise of Nawaz Sharif’s first stint in power and the exercise
was repeated. And again, in 1996 with
Benazir’s second fall, and again in 1999
when general Pervez Musharraf came
marching in on the wings of Sharif’s
inanity, the sweetmeat merchants did
a roaring trade for a couple of days.
Once more we have demonstrated the
same childish behaviour, with the addition of the mass aerial firing of thousands of Kalashnikovs at the departure
of general Musharraf.
Not only is there something horribly wonky in this public display
of immaturity and ignorance, it is
dangerous; it smacks of violence, and
it is totally lacking in any democratic
dignity, particularly when members
of our elected assemblies form part
of these distorted celebrations.
There is little to celebrate with the
departure of Musharraf. What has
he left behind? For certain, it is not
a resounding victory for the forces of
16
democracy, as claimed by the political classes. The country is in a mess, as
it has been for so long, leading many
to believe that it is doomed. It is now
totally at the mercy of dynastic forces,
and drawing room politics. The parliament has so far shown itself to be
irrelevant. It is in the vulgarly gilded
plush and plummy lounge rooms
where the fate of the country is
decided. And to enforce the dynastic side of things, the 19-year
old son of Benazir Bhutto has
been dragged into the seamy
side of political bargaining and
manipulation. Is his father using him as some sort of weapon,
putting words into his mouth about
the presidential appointment?
This is not only shameful
and ridiculous but
highly unfair to the
youth.
Recently, the
seven-monthlong alliance
between the
Pakistan
People’s
Party (PPP)
and the
Pakistan
Muslim
LeagueNawaz
(PML-N)
came to an
end. What
is needed
now is to
avoid reverting to
the type of
unseemly
struggles
that characterised the
relations between the two
parties during the 1988-99 period.
But with both the leaders remaining
adamant on their demands can they
work as responsible adversaries?
All they have in common is that both
have had two turns in power, both
have fleeced the country, both
have enriched themselves
at our expense, both
are untrustworthy,
both are relics of
the failed politics
of the 1990s—
Sharif being more
of a relic as he has
been around on our
political map since
the days of Ziaul
Haq firstly
as finance minister of the Punjab and
then its chief minister. The dismal
performance of the two demeaned
democracy has gone a long way towards blowing Pakistan’s chances of
maturing into a decently governed
country (Musharraf was just not up to
the massive transformation needed).
As to who is more culpable of the two
is a moot point, but the scales would
probably tip towards Nawaz Sharif who
in 1997 had a majority huge enough
to have been able to use his power for
good rather than for ill.
Firstly, as is the case with Zardari, Sharif fostered corruption, in
which they were both allegedly deeply
implicated. Corruption there has
to be in politics, democratic or dynastic or
military, but if it is
kept in check it does
less damage. With
accountability nowhere, corruption
undermines not just
the polity but also
the economy.
Sharif and Zardari are well known
for using their
powers
to attack not just political opponents
but also the institutions of state essential to the functioning of any form of
democracy. How can we believe that
a decade later, with vengeance deep
in their hearts, they have in any way
changed?
They have rid themselves of their
nemesis— Musharraf—with Zardari
delivering him to Sharif. Musharraf
did the right and proper thing both for
the country and himself and went before the situation grew more fraught.
As concluded an editorial in London’s
Guardian, “He was not a military
dictator in the classical sense.” This
may partially explain his failure. Also,
“his main project, the construction
of a modern enlightened state, was
doomed to failure because he tried
to do so on the back of a feudal,
patronage-driven political machine”.
Whatever be our political
fate, executive control of the
army is still a far cry. The army
remains the pivotal point of any
form of governance and though
it is now showing great patience,
in the face of political paralysis
and its involvement in the
un-checkable Taliban advances
up north,
it can still
wield its
stick.
FRIENDLY FOES:
Aamir Qureshi/AFP
Asif Ali Zardari (L),
widower of slain
former premier
Benazir Bhutto and
co-chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party
and Nawaz Sharif
(R), former premier
and leader of the
Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz.
Why Zardari
Wants To Be
President
A
fter the exit of president Pervez Musharraf, the most contentious issue in Pakistan’s
politics is the restoration of judges
sacked by the former general. Nawaz
Sharif, chief of Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan’s
second largest political party, recently pulled out his party from the
government over this issue.
“We have taken this decision
after we failed to find any ray of
hope and none of the commitments
made to us were fulfilled by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari,” Sharif said
after quitting the coalition.
PPP insiders say that Zardari has
not been able to make up his mind on
the issue as he fears that the judges,
once restored, would rush to revoke
the National Reconciliation Ordinance under which he was given clean
slate by the National Accountability
Bureau in about a dozen corruption
cases (which most of his party leaders
term as politically motivated).
However, party leaders say that
Zardari is a staunch supporter of the
independence of judiciary. But at the
same time he does not want to see judicial activism, the sources say. And
that is the reason he wants restoration
of the judges through a constitutional
package comprising a structural reforms package for the judicial system.
In this regard, PPP has devised a
strategy that it hopes can end the state
of uncertainty, marring both the fate of
the coalition and the working of their
five months old government.
It was under this new game plan,
Zardari was nominated the party
candidate for the slot of president
of Pakistan. Once he becomes the
president, he will restore the deposed
judges as demanded by Sharif. By doing so, his party will regain the pride
it had lost in the public’s eye. At the
same time, the president’s post will
also give him immunity against any
sort of legal proceedings.
With reports from Abrar Saeed/The
Nation (Pakistan)
17
Photo Essay
The Curtain Drops
P h o t o s by C h i n a Da i ly
T e x t by A s i a N e w s N e t wo r k
T
he Beijing Games may be over but host China
has proven that the Olympics is not just a coming-out-party. It’s a proof that China—which
grabbed 51 gold medals, eclipsing the 36 won by the
US—is ready to take on the world stage.
China became the first Asian nation since the modern Olympics began in 1896, to win the unofficial
crown as the world’s greatest Olympic power.
The closing ceremony is as spectacular as the opening with director Zhang Yimou making sure that everything is executed the Chinese way.
18
19
Beijing Olympics
Thanks For The Memories
The Beijing Games is a “party that took a long time coming but was over
in a jiffy”. It also leaves behind memories of world class performances,
endurance and triumph of the human spirit
OP Rana in Beijing
China Daily
E
ven the skies couldn’t hold
back their tears—but they
made sure to cry in silence as
the last dawn broke over the
Beijing Games. They realised
immediately, though, that it’s not in
the right spirit to say goodbye with
tears in the eyes, and saved the rest for
some other day.
Tears are natural at the end of a
grand get-together. But the people
who have gathered in Beijing from all
over the world to enjoy the 17 days deserved to be seen off with a smile.
That is exactly what the closing ceremony, with its bright fireworks display
and mixture of Eastern and Western
elements, did. It brought to an end
what a journalist who spent the past 17
days in the Olympics Village described
as “a party that took a long time coming but was over in a jiffy”.
The village was still bubbling with
faces, of athletes and officials and journalists before the closing ceremony.
Jerseys and country colours were exchanged, messages of love and affection shared and goodbyes said with the
hope of meeting again.
The footfalls on the Olympic Green
and in the Olympic Village will not
cease, but sadly something will be
missing. The ground, the stadiums and
the buildings, nevertheless, will keep
20
singing the song of the Olympic spirit,
the spirit of participation, the spirit to
help improve people’s lives, the spirit
to make a difference to the world.
The Games also leaves behind
memories of packed stadiums, world
class performances, human endurance
and triumph of the human spirit.
The Games is usually celebrated for
the triumphs, but is as much about
failures, for as John Milton says: They
also serve who only stand and wait.
So this is the time to hail the spectators and the viewers across the world
whose enthusiasm made this a “truly
exceptional Games”, as IOC President
Jacques Rogge put it.
This is also the time to salute the
workers and officials who sweated it
out for seven years to give the world
this 17-day wonder.
This is also the time to honour the
volunteers who worked day and night
to make the Games a grand success,
and the torchbearers who carried the
flame as much in their hands as they
did in their hearts. And this is also the
time to thank the athletes, sports officials and journalists for making China’s dream come true.
Salute is also due to the thousands of
performers who gave shape to the dazzling opening and closing ceremonies,
under the direction of Zhang Yimou,
and to all the artists from home and
abroad who contributed to its success.
But the highest tribute is due to
the human spirit,
so beautifully pre-
sented in the opening and closing
ceremonies. The human element was
everywhere: in the typefaces and
painting scrolls and canvases on the
opening day, and in the colourful,
myriad geometric formations at the
closing ceremony.
This is the time to remember, too,
that Beijing had Tianjin, Shenyang,
Qingdao, Qinhuangdao,
Shanghai and Hong
Kong to share the
Olympic glory.
Beijing has done
everything it could
to enrich the spirit
of the Olympics.
It passed on the
Olympic torch to
London, with hope
that the legacy will
be carried forward.
And it is with this
spirit that the sacred flame seemed to
say: “So long, Bird’s
Nest, Water Cube,
Chaoyang Park and
Tian’anmen Square.
Hello, Wembley,
Wimbledon, Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square.”
AFP PHOTOS
Clean Air
To Stay
Zhu Zhe and Wang Ying
in Beijing
China Daily
S
ome temporary measures
brought in to tackle pollution
in Beijing during the Olympic
Games are set to become permanent,
in a bid to address continuing environmental challenges, despite the
recent improvement in air quality.
The removal and treatment of
heavy-polluting vehicles will be accelerated and plans to reduce construction site dust will be stepped
up, Du Shaozhong, deputy director
of the Beijing environmental protection bureau, said.
The city will also require heavily-polluting companies to address
their pollution problems as a prerequisite to resuming operations
after the Games, he said.
“If they can’t resolve the pollution
problems, they must stop or limit
their production,” he said.
But Wang Li, deputy director of
the city’s traffic administrative bureau, told a press conference that as
of yet there are no plans to continue
with the odd-even license plate restriction once the Olympics has finished, despite its success in cutting
pollution and calls for the continuation of the measure.
“The rule is closely related to everyone’s daily life. We want to hear
more public opinion on the whether,
or how, to keep the rule,” she said.
B u r e a u fi g u r e s s h o w e d t h a t
since the opening of the Games
on August 8, the city’s air quality
has ranged from between excellent
and fairly good on the pollution
index, the cleanest for any summer
period in the past 10 years.
The average daily air pollution
index (API) in August was 56, far
below 81 reported last year. Major
air pollutants on average dropped
40 per cent over the same period last
year, with nitrogen oxide emissions
directly related to vehicles down by
61 per cent, according to the bureau.
Foreign experts have also spoken
highly of Beijing’s improvement
in air quality, such as Ivo Allegrini,
head of the air pollution department
at the Italian National Research
Centre, and a member of the Beijing
environment protection bureau’s 12member expert panel on air quality
assessment during the Games.
“The city’s air quality was highly
satisfactory during the Games in
the past two weeks. Pollutant data
were no higher than that in most
developed Western urban cites,”
Allegrini said.
Another expert, Andreas Wahner,
director of the Institutes for Chemistry of Germany, said: “Beijing’s
air quality control measures have
received a remarkable improvement
as major pollutant concentration has
declined to reach WHO guidance.”
However, Du was also realistic
about the challenges in the future.
He said although the Olympics is
over, “the environmental challenges
we face are by no means over”.
He has also called for public
involvement in pollution control.
He said the city would draw experience from the Olympics to organise volunteers to get involved in
the daily environment protection
administration, and continue to
reward those who report illegal
pollution activities.
21
AFP
Politics
POLES APART: Nepal’s former rebel leader Prachanda
(L) and Sri Lanka’s LTTE
leader Prabhakaran (R).
A Tale Of Two Terrorists
Nepal’s former rebel leader Prachanda’s transformation into
a democrat as well as the subsequent cessation of mindless bloodletting
should serve as a lesson for Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger leader Prabhakaran
Colombo
The Island
N
epal’s former rebel leader,
Pushpa Kamal Dahal, has
shifted from the Prachandapath, ideological line
of the Communist Party
of Nepal (Maoist), to the
democratic path. He was sworn in as
Nepal’s prime minister on August 18.
Better known as Prachanda (the fierce
one), Dahal waged a protracted bloody
22
war for a decade in a bid to create a
communist state. He was responsible
for turning a ragtag band of rebels into
a fully equipped military outfit capable
of bringing a government to its knees.
Prachandra was a terrorist with
a difference, though. He was aware
of the limits of his violent campaign
and knew it could not drag on forever. He was wise enough to choose the
path of peace in 2006 and to win the
hearts and minds of the people. The
transition of the Maoist movement to
mainstream politics was, by and large,
smooth and in April, Prachanda secured the largest number of seats in
the constituent assembly elections. He,
backed by several political parties, became the choice of the governing constituent assembly for premiership.
The personality, ideology as well
as the goals of Prachanda and Sri
Lanka’s rebel leader, Prabhakaran,
are poles apart. And their movements
are as different as chalk and cheese.
But Prachanda’s transformation into
a democrat as well as the subsequent
cessation of mindless bloodletting
should serve as a lesson for Prabhakaran and others embroiled in
prolonged violent campaigns.
The success of the Maoist military
campaign was mainly due to Prachanda’s ability to separate the so-called
end from the means. But, in the case of
Prabhakaran, the end and the means
have become one and the same—terrorism. If he unleashed violence to live
at the inception of his struggle, today
he is living to unleash violence.
Prachanda cautiously avoided being
a prisoner of his own violence. He was
amenable to change and compromise.
Prabhakaran has no escape from his
violence and remains intransigent.
A common mistake that many make
when comparing Prabhakaran’s organisation, Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE), with other terrorist
groups that have eschewed violence—
like the Irish Republican Army—is to
ignore the absence of a political track
in the LTTE’s strategy. Its political
wing is only a facade.
The LTTE has gained a tremendous
boost for its terrorist cause by shutting
out a political option. Prabhakaran
has carefully seen to it that the energies of his outfit are not spent on political work for fear that it would create conditions for the emergence of an
alternative leadership, which is anathema to Prabhakaran. In his thinking,
he is the LTTE and the LTTE he.
Therefore, he has eliminated even his
trusted lieutenants like Mahattaya
and systematically aborted all peace
efforts, at the first sign of a political
settlement being negotiated, as was
seen from the fate of the Oslo Declaration envisaging federalism, which he
scuttled in the face of opposition even
from the US and the EU.
Prabhakaran also makes it a point to
remind his cadres, from time to time,
of his order that he be shot dead if he
accepts anything less than Eelam, the
independent state which the LTTE
aspire for in the northern and eastern
parts of Sri Lanka. This kind of unwavering commitment to a cause is, however, a prerequisite for creating and
maintaining a suicidal cult.
Paradoxically, the absence of a
political arm has also been Prabhakaran’s biggest weakness. He is like
an acrobat performing on the flying trapeze without a safety net. He
may be admired by his combatants
and sympathisers for his ‘bravery’,
but the risks he runs are huge.
No outfit can go on marketing
terrorism. It may be able to do so for
sometime but when it comes under
international pressure to negotiate
a solution, it must be able to shift to
the political track. Else, it is doomed
to collapse under the weight of its
own terror project.
If the LTTE had a formidable political wing with a popular appeal,
no political vacuum would have been
created in the north and the east for
others like Devananda, Karuna and
Chandrakanthan to fill.
In 1987, India could justify its direct
interference to take the LTTE off the
hook as it had a political solution to
force down Sri Lanka’s throat by way
of an alternative to war against terrorism. The LTTE had initially indicated
its willingness to accept it. Before long
India realised that the LTTE was not
for any political solution and resorted
to war to crush it, but in vain.
Today, neither India nor any other
country wants to step in to try to stop
war here, as the LTTE has demonstrated beyond any doubt that it is too
intransigent to accept a reasonable solution. Nor can Prabhakaran accept,
at this juncture, any of the solutions,
offered to him including federalism,
without being killed by his brainwashed men and women blindly fighting for Eelam. His attempt to gain a respite by offering a unilateral truce also
failed and he must be a rather worried
man confined to his bunker.
While Prachanda is trying his hand
at democratic governance, Prabhakaran, who refused to be the chief minister of two merged provinces and contemptuously rejected federalism, has
his empire crumbling with the army
closing in on him.
For his predicament, Prabhakaran
has no one to blame but himself.
23
Business
Of Cloth
And Gold
Getting decent jobs for women
in Cambodia is a challenge
Andrew Nette in Phnom Penh
Inter Press Service
“W
omen are cloth,
men are gold.”
This traditional
Khmer saying is
quoted by many
studies on gender in Cambodia as
emblematic of the different value
accorded to men and women in this
country of 14 million.
But it takes on a different perspective in Cham Choa district and other
areas of Phnom Penh, the heart of the
country’s garment industry.
Rooming houses, shacks and apartment blocks intermingle with large
nondescript factory buildings. Legions of mainly young female workers
mill around stalls selling produce,
toiletries and clothing.
These women are part of a major
shift in the Cambodian economy over
the last decade as employment opportunities slowly move from agriculture
to new industries such as services, garment export and construction.
Cambodia’s women are at the forefront of this transition.
According to the soon to be released
Cambodia Gender Assessment (CGA),
produced by the ministry of women affairs, Cambodia’s female labour force
participation rate is high by regional
standards, at 71 per cent of the working
age population over 15 years of age.
This is compared to 64 per cent in
Thailand, 56 per cent in Laos and 87
per cent in Viet Nam.
“More than 50 per cent of the active
female population contribute to the
economy of their country,” said Dr Ing
Kantha Phavi, minister for women’s
24
Affairs, in an interview with IPS. “The
problem is that this (contribution) is
still mainly in the informal sector.”
“The challenge Cambodian
women face is not just to access
employment, but decent, better
paying employment.”
While the majority—83 per cent —
remain self-employed or unpaid family workers, new employment opportunities for women have opened up,
particularly in the garment industry,
which accounted for 1.4 percent of total female employment in 1998, rising
to 5.5 per cent in 2004.
This is part of what many believe
has been a gradual positive shift in
the situation of Cambodian women
over the last decade.
“Positive trends towards greater
equality include increasing girls
enrolment in primary education
(and resulting rises in female literacy) and expanded employment
opportunities,” the World Bank’s
2007 Cambodia Report noted.
Observers believe much of this
progress is the result of sustained,
if highly uneven, economic growth
over the last few years. Poverty levels
fell, according to the Bank, by 47– 5
per cent between 1994 and 2004.
At the same time, years of war and
civil conflict have left Cambodia’s
health, social and economic indicators
among the worst in Southeast Asia.
As part of this, women continue to
face serious economic, legal and social
barriers, which the Bank says are part
of a broader institutional bias against
the poor and marginalised.
“Significant traditional inequalities
persist and new ones are emerging,”
said the Bank, reinforced by lower
GENDER BIAS: Women are
largely confined to the informal
sector of Cambodia’s economy.
standards of education and prevailing
attitudes regarding what are ‘appropriate’ occupations for women.
The plight of the garment sector illustrates the broader challenge in creating sufficient employment for Cambodia’s rapidly growing labour force.
According to the CGA, approximately 62 per cent of the total population
and 44 per cent of the labour force is
under 25 years of age. Of this group 55
per cent are women.
It also demonstrates the difficulties of safeguarding the economic
gains made by Cambodian women,
which remain fragile.
Approximately 90 per cent of
employees in the garment industry are women.
Andrew Nette
Despite maturing since the 1990s,
the sector remains plagued by lower
levels of productivity than its key competitors. The largely untrained female
workforce is overseen by mainly foreign middle managers.
The recession in the US—the market
for 70 per cent of Cambodia’s garment
exports—is only one of many problems. Others include skyrocketing
power prices, poor infrastructure and
high compliance costs.
In developing countries like Cambodia, the garment sector often kickstarts industrialisation and is the
precursor to the arrival of other manufacturing such as food processing, before itself relocating to other, lowercost countries.
Even a minor downturn would have
major economic implications.
“If textiles goes, you’ll have
300,000 people employed today
on the road tomorrow, not to mention supporting businesses large and
small, including mine, that would
also be in trouble,” said Paul Thomas,
director of the freight company, Flow
Forwarding Cambodia.
Some estimate up to a million
people are either directly employed
in the industry or depend on the pay
packets of those who are.
Despite generating billions in foreign investment, Cambodia’s weak
regulatory and legal frameworks and
corruption are significant barriers to
long-term sustainable growth.
According to Thomas, the government has given little thought to investment in alternative industry in
Cambodia beyond garments and agriculture that could provide sustainable
employment opportunities.
“The attitude is very much ‘let foreign businesses come and do it’, but
no work has been done on paving
the way and targeting what investment they want,” he said.
“To raise their participation in formal employment and decision-making
institutions, women need skills and information about how markets and the
law function,” said Phavi.
“When you talk about increasing
women’s participation in the labour
force, you have to be very specific
about what kind of participation
you are talking about,” said Chea
Vannath, a regular commentator on
social and political affairs.
“Are you talking about the informal
sector where women are already heavily represented? Or 8am to 5pm professional jobs?”
“We are not going to increase
women’s participation in professional jobs until we have things like
adequate child care facilities, care
for older people and salaries that
keep up with the cost of living.”
Two of the most significant barriers
to increasing women’s participation
in the workforce are their education
and health status.
While Phavi maintained the government had made progress, the
Cambodian Gender Assessment
said Cambodia continues to have
some of the weakest health indicators in the region.
“In order to participate in economic
activity and contribute to the economy
you have to be healthy,” she said.
“The high rate of maternal mortality, while declining, is a real
concern and a real challenge. We
need to look at why, with all the
aid we have received, this has not
decreased more in the past.”
“This is also a cultural problem. The
woman is the last to get medical attention after the children and the father.
They are in bad shape by the time they
come (to the doctor).”
More immediate and obvious implications for the future employment
and earning capacity of women is their
educational status.
While the CGA noted progress at attaining gender parity at the primary
school level, overall levels of education
remain low for the nation generally
and women in particular.
Although enrolment rates and gender parity “have improved at all levels
of education … the female share of enrolment drops at each higher level of
education”, it said.
Approximately 40 per cent of women aged 25-44 are illiterate (vs 22 per
cent for men). Although improving
in younger age groups, 23 percent of
young women aged 15-24 are illiterate
(vs 16 percent of young men).
“The Cambodian government is
committed to increasing education opportunities for women at
all levels, from primary school to
university, during the next five year
mandate,” said Phavi.
A particular focus is on increasing
access to vocational education.
“We have some vocational training
centres now but not enough and they
are not responding to demand. This
is important in the context of the garment industry, which we not only want
to stay (in Cambodia), but to value add
and not just use labour.”
In the absence of job opportunities
in Cambodia, increasing numbers of
Khmer women are choosing to work
overseas, mainly in Thailand, Malaysia
and South Korea.
“We are not sure about the exact
numbers but they are significant,”
said Phavi. “Although we are concerned about the conditions some of
these women face overseas, we (the
government) encourage labour migration due to the level of local unemployment.”
25
Business
High-Pitch
Yoichiro Kagawa in Tokyo
Yomiuri Shimbun
NEW CONCEPT: Japan’s Fuji TV offers wedding videos and reception coordination as part of its
alternative revenue-generating measures outside advertising.
The Boob Tube
Takes A Second Job
As advertising income shrinks, broadcast stations in Japan are
finding alternative ways—like themed wedding parties—to stay afloat
Takanori Yamamoto and
Shigeaki Ishii in Tokyo
The Yomiuri Shimbun
C
ommercial broadcasters
in Japan are racking their
brains to find new and unusual content and services to
stabilise their falling profits
as their advertising income shrinks.
Fuji TV offers wedding videos
and reception coordination, while
TBS and NTV have begun selling
their own products, often on home
shopping programmes.
On August 2, one couple held their
betrothal ceremony at Fuji TV’s studio
in Minato Ward, Tokyo. The planner
and organiser of the event was Storia, a
Fuji subsidiary established in July.
The reception featured a female
emcee from Fuji’s talent pool and
TV drama-style video footage of the
couple talking about how the groom
proposed on a Ferris wheel.
Storia’s president is the producer of Fuji’s popular drama
Wedding Planner.
The company is aiming to turn
in a profit within three years and
to boost its sales to 6 billion yen
(US$54.7 million) by 2014.
At the end of July, TBS broke into
the retail business by subsidising a
company that runs retailer Sony Plaza.
26
TBS will begin airing a home-shopping channel to sell Sony Plaza’s products and also plans to launch a new ecommerce site.
NTV, Seven & i Holdings Co and
Dentsu Inc have set up a joint management company to run an online
shopping site. From next January, the
broadcaster will air a nighttime program selling bags and pillows designed
and produced by the company.
Commercial broadcasters are now
struggling to find non-broadcasting-related content because many
companies are limiting their TV advertising budgets as the economy
becomes more uncertain.
The total number of ad spots aired
between programmes on Tokyo’s five
key commercial stations between April
and June decreased by 10 per cent
from the same time the previous year.
Even advertising slots during the Beijing Olympics were not the hot ticket
they were expected to be.
Non-TV-related business accounts for between 10 per cent and
20 per cent of total profit for each
broadcaster except Fuji, whose
non-TV profits account for 40 per
cent of its total business.
W i t h o u t a d v e r t i s i n g , T V s t ations must explore possible niche
markets that add to their existing
broadcasting business.
A
kira Takata is renowned for
his high-pitched voice and
persuasive sales talk on infomercials for Japanet Takata
Co, the company he heads.
The firm based in Sasebo in Nagasaki,
Japan is one of largest mail-order
companies in the country. It sells
consumer products on TV, radio,
Internet and through fliers inserted
into newspapers.
At of the end of December 2007,
Japanet Takata, which has 345 employees, had chalked up 116.1 billion
yen (US$1.08 billion) in sales since the
company’s inception.
The company broadcasts li v e
shopping programmes from its
own TV studios, featuring Takata
explaining home electrical appliances and other products.
Takata graduated from a university
in Osaka in 1971 and worked at a machine manufacturer before returning
to Hirado, Nagasaki, to join his father’s
small photo studio in 1974. Takata
started his own retail business in 1986.
The Yomiuri Shimbun interviewed
him about his path to success.
The Yomiuri Shimbun: You worked
as a salaryman for three years before
returning to your hometown to help in
your family’s (photography) business.
Akira Takata: That’s right. We used
to take photographs of groups of tourists. We’d visit hotels at night and photograph the tourists, and then develop
the films and print the photos overnight. We’d then go back to the hotels
the following morning and sell the
prints to them.
We had to try to sell as many
photographs as possible, but at
the same time we had to be careful
not to make too many prints, which
would end up not being sold.
After a while, I started to notice certain characteristics of tourists from different areas. For example, people from
certain prefectures were more likely
to buy lots of pictures than those from
other places. I also saw there were some
common traits among people in different occupations.
hed Sales
I guess it was like market research,
and what I learned back then still
helps me a lot today.
And it was a local radio programme
that opened the door for your mail-order business?
That’s right. A reporter from a local
radio station visited different shopping
streets and invited local store owners to
advertise their products.
When I appeared in the programme,
I sold 50 video cameras priced at
19,800 yen ($180). I only talked for
about five minutes, but earned about
1 million yen ($9,331).
I couldn’t believe it. One small retail
store I represented could only manage
about 3 million yen ($27,992) a month
in sales at that time.
After that experience, I started
getting involved in radio shopping
programmes. I tried to have the programmes broadcast in other areas
such as Fukuoka, Okinawa and Miyazaki prefectures.
After three years, our company’s
shopping programmes were even being
aired in Hokkaido.
But it was a while before I had any
call centres or toll-free numbers, so calls
from customers were automatically
transferred to my home telephone after
7pm Because my wife had to handle the
calls until about 9pm, our three children couldn’t have dinner before then.
This went on until my company’s sales
hit 1 billion yen ($9.12 million).
When I appear in shopping programmes now, I don’t prepare any
scripts or practice beforehand.
People often tell me they think I deliberately speak in a high-pitched voice,
but this isn’t the case. It just happens
naturally when I’m trying hard to per-
suade viewers to make a purchase.
I used to have to deal with broadcasters who had very strict rules on
what and how things could be said in
a programme and I was told I had to
follow prepared scripts exactly.
Some nitpicking people were involved in my programme and they’d
complain about the way I deviated
from the script. Once I got really mad
during an argument and threw coffee at someone. I ended up leaving
five minutes before a programme was
scheduled to start!
I came back to the studio about 30
seconds before the programme was to
air and just ad-libbed.
In 2004, just when everything
seemed to be going smoothly and
the company was expanding, the
personal information of 510,000
customers was leaked by Japanet
Takata employees. The company then
halted operations for about 50 days
and introduced measures to prevent
employees stealing customer information. Your firm’s swift response
received a lot of praise, didn’t it?
When I learned about the information leak, I knew I had to take
it seriously.
I was willing to go back and start
from scratch, so I decided to voluntarily
suspend the business for a while.
We even cancelled a special
programme celebrating the 10th
anniversary of our TV shopping
business. I thought it important
to always keep in mind the trouble
we’d caused our customers.
I don’t want to cover up our failures.
And I also don’t evaluate a company’s
performance just by its sales.
In fact, there were two years when
I deliberately didn’t increase company sales over the previous year.
A company can start to show signs
of strain, such as failing to secure
enough orders or not delivering
products to customers on time if it
expands too quickly. That’s why I
deliberately held back on expanding the firm, so we could focus on
increasing customer satisfaction.
Some people have asked me whether
I’ve been trying to achieve annual sales
of 1 trillion yen ($9.3 billion).
That’s ridiculous. I don’t think we
should be looking that far ahead to
achieve our dreams. Realising your
dreams is possible just by going one
step at a time.
Instead of just trying to boost sales, I
believe a company should try to express
its social value.
I’ll be turning 60 in November and
plan to let someone younger take over.
Matsushita Electric Industry Co, for
example, was founded by Konosuke
Matsushita, but his spirit has been
passed on to others.
At the moment, I only appear in
my company’s shopping programmes
about once every three weeks.
I also plan to change the company’s
name from Japanet Takata to just
Japanet in the near future.
HE’S THE MAN: Japan’s king of home TV shopping Akira Takata.
27
Life
Wombs
For
Hire
Singaporeans
desperate
for a child turning
to surrogate
mums overseas
Jamie Ee Wen Wei in Singapore
The Straits Times
F
or some Singaporean couples
desperate to have a baby,
surrogacy is the answer if all
else fails.
Because renting a womb
is illegal here, they turn to countries
like Malaysia, the Philippines and India to find a surrogate mother to carry
their child.
At least two Singaporean couples
are known to have successfully become
parents through this method.
In the first case, a couple was reported to have approached the Dr
LH Hiranandani Centre for Human
Reproduction in Mumbai, India,
in 2005. It supplied a surrogate
mother who delivered a baby boy
for them in May 2006.
Low Soo Meng, 50, who runs
Greenhouse Adoption Agency which
matched couples with surrogate mothers in China, said he has also helped a
28
couple become parents.
He started the service in 2006, but
added that he stopped it last year because the surrogacy process became
“too long and complicated”.
For the last three years, another
company has also been providing renta-womb services to childless couples
here and abroad.
Michael Ho, who declined to reveal
his age, offers this service under Asian
Surrogates, which he set up with his
wife. It has a website which is advertised on Google.
For S$45,000 (US$31,800), they
find a suitable surrogate mother overseas, arrange for the medical procedures and take care of the financial and
legal issues involved.
He said that he receives about two
to three inquiries from couples here
every month. Three of his clients have
followed up. In the first case, the surrogate mother miscarried, while in the
second case, a woman is now bearing a
child for the couple. He did not want to
elaborate on the third case.
“I found out that there were a lot
of people with fertility problems who
needed help,” said Ho, who also runs
an employment agency.
Indeed, more couples here are
seeking help in the baby-making department.
The Straits Times earlier reported
that there are at least 2,000 women
seeking in-vitro fertilisation (IVF)
each year.
Singapore has been plagued by the
baby blues for more than 20 years.
Its fertility rate of 1.29 last year is
far below the 2.1 replacement rate,
which explains why the government
will roll out a slew of measures to
boost birth rates.
Those thinking of surrogacy head
overseas because renting a womb is
forbidden here.
While no official figures on surrogacy are available here, a check with several fertility doctors here and overseas
revealed that such cases, though rare,
are not uncommon.
Dr Ann Tan, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Women
& Fetal Centre, saw two patients last
year who asked about it. One eventually went ahead with the procedure in
the United States, where surrogacy is
allowed, she said.
Another popular destination is
India, dubbed the world’s fertility
hub. Doctors there have reported
seeing more Singaporean couples
seeking egg donations and surrogate
mothers over the years.
Dr Sunita Tandulwadkar, head of
the department of obstetrics & gynaecology at Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune, India, is one of them.
Last year, a Singaporean Chinese
couple flew to the city in western India to search for a surrogate mother to
carry their baby, she said.
They were desperate as the wife
could not conceive despite undergo-
ing four cycles of IVF. But after three
weeks and several advertisements
placed in newspapers there, they still
could not find a willing woman. They
left the country heartbroken.
Couples who approach Ho will
apparently not have such prob lems. He claimed to have a pool
of eight women who are willing to
carry a baby for a fee.
These women hail from rural villages in the Philippines and have been
carefully screened, he said. All are under 30, married with at least one child,
of good health and have at least a high
school education.
“We have contacts in the Philippines
who helped us to find these women,”
he said. The women are “educated and
they know what they are getting themselves into”, he added.
But finding a surrogate mother is
just one part of the picture.
Once the couple and surrogate
mother enter into a surrogacy contract,
they face a potentially risky procedure
that will stretch over almost a year.
Ho said the couple will fly to the
Philippines to choose the surrogate
mother and harvest the eggs and
sperm for IVF treatment. After that,
the embryo will be implanted into the
surrogate mother.
During the pregnancy, the surrogate
mother will be taken care of by a ‘coordinator’, usually a neighbour or relative, who will be paid by Ho.
The next time the couple meet the
surrogate mother will be when the
baby is born. For the nine months of
labour, the surrogate mother is paid
about S$20,000 (US$14,000) — half
of the entire fee.
But surrogacy is no panacea for
childless couples. As with all fertility treatments, there is no guarantee of a baby.
This was the case for a Singaporean
couple in their 50s. According to Ho,
the surrogate mother suffered a miscarriage during the term and so the
couple remain childless today.
The other case he is handling involves two couples from Thailand. One
couple have found a Filipino surrogate
mother who is carrying their child.
Doctors interviewed said surrogacy
is fraught with medical risks.
First, there are risks in IVF,
said Dr Surinder Singh, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the TMC Fertility Centre in
Johor Baru. About 30 per cent of
its clients are Singaporeans.
The common risks include ovarian
hyperstimulation (when the ovaries
produce too many eggs in response
to the hormone injections) and
high-order multiple pregnancies
(triplets or more, as they may deliver
prematurely).
Second, the surrogate mother may
also face complications during the
pregnancy and labour.
Legal and medical experts also
warned of the legal and ethical issues
involved in the procedure.
It becomes especially complicated
when the eggs of the surrogate mother
is used. This is known as natural surrogacy or the straight method.
Lawyer Alvin Chang from the M&A
Law Corporation here said: “How do
you declare that the child is yours when
the birth is by another woman?”
Dr Singh said: “It is not as easy as
you think. My feel is that couples who
go for surrogacy don’t know enough
about it. If they understand what they
are in for, I think many of them will
find that it’s not worth their while.”
Two Methods
T
he term surrogacy is used
when a woman carries a pregnancy and gives birth to a baby for
another woman. There are two
methods:
l IVF surrogacy (gestational
carrier): This is where a woman
carries a child created by the egg
and sperm of the genetic couple.
It is done through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). Eggs from the
mother is mixed with the father’s
sperm in the laboratory before it
is transferred into the surrogate
mother’s body.
l Natural surrogacy (traditional/
straight surrogate): Here, the surrogate mum’s egg is inseminated
with sperm from a couple’s male
partner. The child that results is
genetically related to the surrogate
and to the male partner but not the
female partner. Insemination is
easier and the process is also less
expensive than IVF. Success rates
are higher if the surrogate mother
has given birth before.
29
DAILY XPRESS/Ekkarat Sukpetch
Arts & Culture
The Mirror Shatters
says the Silpakorn University art lecturer. “Rather than uniting, Thais are
dividing into different groups and factions. It’s sad to see Thais attacking
each other with flagpoles carrying the
national flag. What’s wrong with this
nation? Hopefully, the mirrored tiles
will provoke people to see themselves
as a reflection of the country.”
In late 2000, Kanya displayed eight
pillows, each printed with the image of
a patongo and the words ‘born to be a
couple’. The idea was to lift the gloom
of 1997’s economic crash with a reminder of romance. The year after, her
painting of a ripe durian titled ‘King
of Fruit’ was hung at Suvarnabhumi
Airport as a welcoming image of a rich
and prosperous nation.
This time round, the patongo has
lost its romantic meaning and the durian its rich glow. In stark monoprints,
these two symbols now reflect the eco-
Thai artist Kanya Charoensupkul’s symbols reflected a
land of hope and riches a decade ago. They’re back, with
darker vision of today’s Thailand, in her new show
Khetsirin Pholdhampalit
in Bangkok
Daily Xpress
K
anya Charoensupkul has
reincarnated symbols from
her work dating back to
1992—the pigeon, the dove,
durian and patongo (pastry
turnovers)—for some fresh comments
on today’s changing, chaotic society,
in a show called ‘Kanya Dialoguing
with Kanya’ at the OCAC Art Gallery in Bangkok.
She first used the pigeon in ‘White
Pigeons’, exhibited as part of a group
show called the ‘Bangkok Art Project’
in 1998. Over 200 white plaster-cast
pigeons were installed on and
around the base of the Giant
Swing in Bangkok in reference to an order from local
authorities that the birds be
poisoned as pests.
The flock has been recreated in the new installation
work ‘Thai Pigeons 2008—
when will you ever be free
from having to express your
sorrow’. This time they stand
on a base shaped like Sanam
Luang—a huge park in Bangkok where public protests are
30
usually held. Scattered around them
are hundreds of mirrored tiles in the
colours of the national flag.
In this work, Kanya plays with the
homophones pirab
(pigeon or dove)—a
symbol of peace—and
pilab (sorrow). The
new white pigeons are
the symbol of an ideal
world where people,
no longer starve or
without hope, have
equal rights.
“The social changes we see today are
making things worse
rather than better,”
nomic crisis that’s
spreading to every
corner of the country.
“Patongo is a local, street-side
business while durian—an export
product—reflects
the macro scale. I’m
questioning whether
patongo today is still
nice and crispy and
whether Thai durian
exports are growing. Can we still call this
blessed country a golden
land? What’s the leader of
this country doing?”
The show continues until
Sept 5. The OCAC art gallery is on the first floor of
the TPI Tower on Narathiwasrajchanajkarin
Road, Bangkok. It’s open
Tuesday to Sunday, from
10am-7pm. Visit www.
OcacArtGallery.com.
fingers were dancing all
over sitar—a stringed
instrument. Together,
the Sri Lankan duo had
taken an audience of
around 60 on an acoustic tour of South Asian
classical music.
The concert began
with a north Indian classical piece and moved
to and fro between Sri
Lankan folk music and
other Indian classical
numbers. This went on
for almost half an hour
and came an end with
The Journey, a South
Asian classical number
with a tinge of jazz.
Sound Of
South Asia
South Asian classical music usually reflects
the mood and emotions of performers
Rupak D Sharma in Bangkok
Asia News Network
B
ack from the stage, after
enthralling the audience in
Bangkok, Ravi Bandhu was
still on high. “I loved playing to this crowd. It was
small but it was great,” he said with a
big smile on his face, referring to the
audience comprising South Asian and
European diplomats.
Couple of minutes ago, the 49year-old’s fingers were working magic
on tabla and katabura, south Asian
percussion instruments. Besides
him, on the stage, was 45-year-old
Pradeep Ratnayake, whose nimble
Throughout this concert, the only
thing most of the audience did was
gaze at the two with a feeling of awe. In
between, those in the back row would
crane their necks, especially when the
tempo of music was raised, as if to say
they were not willing to miss a single
moment of the show. Then they’d
show their gratitude to the musicians
through their applauses, which were
getting louder and louder after each
passing number.
“Although South Asian music is not
as worldly and fancy as the Western
orchestra, most of the people appreciate it because it is spiritual,” said
Bandhu, who has been playing tabla
and other traditional Sri Lankan
drums since the age of 10.
The music is based on melody and
rhythm, which usually reflects the
mood and emotions of players. “Most
of the time, artists let his/her manodharma or imagination flow out of their
bodies in forms of music and they exchange these feelings and expressions
on the spot,” Bandhu said.
This is one of the reasons why lots of
improvisation takes place on stage during the performances of South Asian
classical music. “This is to respond to
the musical ideas or expressions of the
fellow performer,” he explained.
This live exchange of musical expressions between the players, according to Bandhu, reveals the true identity of the musician while on the other
generates a curiosity in the audience
on how the other
performer would react next. “This also
keeps the audience
engaged,” he added.
Probably because
of these characteristics, South Asian
classical music has
been gaining popularity throughout the
world in recent years.
Thanks to maestros
like Ravi Shankar
and Talvin Singh,
whose international
performances have
helped promote the
music in the international arena.
These players have
also partnered with
various famous international artists
and fused the music with Western music, creating a new genre of music and
making South Asian music a part of
Western music.
Despite its international popularity and recognition, there is no
dearth of people who call South
Asian music ‘boring’. This is when
Bandhu frowned.
But he laid some suggestion: Next
time you attend a South Asian musical
concert, don’t go with a preset mind.
To demystify South Asian classical
music you have to learn to flow with
the music, Bandhu said.
Well if you love jazz and blues,
you’d definitely start liking South
Asian classical music.
31
People
The Manga Guru
Kanta Ishida in Tokyo
The Daily Yomiuri
T
he time-travelling, supernatural adventures of middle school
student Kagome Higure recently came to an end. In the manga
series Inuyasha, Kagome slips
back in time to the Warring States period of the late 15th to late 16th centuries. There, she teams up with allies
including the series’ title character, a
hanyo (a being who is half human and
half yokai fairy), to confront an evil enemy called Naraku.
In its original manga form and in its
TV series animé adaptation, Inuyasha
has won popularity both in Japan and
abroad. But after a 12-year run, the
manga saw its final episode published
in mid-June in the boys’ manga weekly
Shonen Sunday, which had carried the
series since the beginning.
Shortly before this milestone was
reached, I visited Inuyasha’s creator,
Rumiko Takahashi, at her studio.
Takahashi, also renowned for the
hit manga series Urusei Yatsura and
Maison Ikkoku, marks the 30th anniversary of her debut as a mangaka
(manga or animé artist) this year.
Her work has had a profound influence not only on the world of manga
but also animation and other parts of
the culture from the 1980s onward.
For instance, Inuyasha is basically a
piquant swashbuckler, but Takahashi
broke new ground with it by clearly
depicting serious love-hate dramas
32
THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN
Nowadays, female ‘mangaka’ working for boys’ manga
magazines are not uncommon. But Rumiko Takahashi
has set trends in the manga industry
demon’s horns from outer space.
“I didn’t think the depiction was too
racy. I just made it. I sketched about
10 kinds of hairstyles and costumes,
and finally decided on
what I thought best,”
Takahashi said.
“I first regarded Lum
as a guest character. I
didn’t think she would
be so popular,” she said.
Ataru Moroboshi, the
protagonist, was originally slated to marry his
classmate, Shinobu Miyake, but Lum became
popular enough to wrest Shinobu’s
position from her.
Takahashi’s works stood out for
their reversal of power relationships
between men and women. Her heroines are strong and tough, and men are
masochistically at their beck and call.
The 1980s were also an era of romantic comedy in manga but Takahashi’s works might have helped
young male readers discover their
inner ‘girl’s mind’.
Nowadays, female mangaka working
for boys’ manga magazines are not
uncommon. But Takahashi’s contribution to them is beyond comparison.
The serialisations of Urusei Yatsura
and Ranma1/2 lasted for nine years
each, while that of Inuyasha continued for 12 years.Even manga giant
Osamu Tezuka, best known for his
Astro Boy, did not accomplish the feat
of working at the manga forefront
for as long as 30 years.
Her studio is filled with ambiguous or mysterious items. It was like
an ennichi fair—a collection of food
stands and carnival game booths—
from a different world. The world
of Takahashi is basically upbeat and
filled with childlike innocence and
wonder, making you want to go back
there repeatedly.
and the darker aspects
of humanity.
“It took me some
time to make readers
realise I wasn’t making a comedy manga
this time,” Takahashi said. “I always
wanted to create a manga with a fateful story or with emotional scenes.”
Takahashi said she also wanted
readers to focus on male characters
in Inuyasha as it had always been
her female characters who drew a
lot of attention.
But perhaps the most striking
character is Naraku, an invulnerable
monster who repeatedly transforms
itself in grotesque ways. It is a truly
insidious manifestation of evil, which
is rather unusual for a character
found in Takahashi’s work.
“Things like ‘world conquest’ do not
mean very much to me. Isn’t a desire
to tenaciously pick on a romantic rival
easier to understand?”
“It is the character of Naraku that
he prefers destruction to control and
wants everybody dead. Although, he
might have just wanted to be loved by
someone at heart,” she said.
Takahashi’s debut with Urusei Yatsura while she was still a university
student was shocking. I was fascinated with the manga’s surrealistic,
knockabout, strong science-fiction
flavour and rapid-fire comic dialogue. Moreover, I got a major kick
out of heroine Lum, a fantastically
sexy bikini-clad princess with petite
She’s Got Spunk
She was featured in Oprah as one of the successful Asians in
their 30s and is the hottest female sportscaster in Star Sports
Sobrina Rosli
in Bandar Seri Begawan
Brunei Times
W
Malaysia not only opened a lot of
opportunities for her to pursue her
dreams as an actress but also brought
her to different fields within the industry where today she is now a key addition to ESPN Star Sports’ strong group
of presenters. “Malaysia is a great
place, I eventually did radio work and
my first television show and then more
things on magazine covers
and all that snowballed
and created a name
for myself. I’ve always known what
I wanted to do, I
followed my gut
instincts and
went to places
where I thought
I would be happy
doing,” she says.
Today, Paula is
well-known and
sought after
in the entertain-
THE STAR
ith talent and determination, beauty
shouldn’t confine a
woman to fields of
endeavour typically
associated with the fairer sex.
Take it from Paula Malai Ali,
who has excelled in a career in
a male-dominated industry.
She strode into the sportscasting arena equipped with experience and a healthy dash of spunk. But
32-year-old Paula, a top Bruneian
talent known to sports fans in the
region, did not rise to where she is
overnight. The journey began about
15 years ago. Born to Bruneian and
English parents, she left Brunei at the
age of 18 to venture into the glittery
world of showbiz. She began in theatre
before moving on to different areas like television hosting, radio
deejaying and modelling.
“I left high school at 18 and
moved to Singapore. I worked
with a theatre company for
about two years and when I
was 20 I was back in Brunei. I’ve always had itchy
feet and get quite restless being in Brunei,”
she says, recalling her
early days testing the
waters of entertainment. Six months later
she went to Malaysia
to continue pursuing her dreams in
show business.
“I did not want
to move too far
away from Brunei, so I went to
Malaysia with the
view of becoming
a theatre actress.
I did a lot of plays
at a lot of theatres
for about a year and
a half.”
ment industry in Malaysia as well as
in the region. “I confirm 110 per cent
that being overseas helped me achieve
my dreams. Right now I reach millions
and millions of households in Asia
whereby if I were in Brunei I would not
reach even half a million people. It is a
big job which comes with a lot of pressure but as long as you do your
best, you can make it.”
Between 2002 and 2007,
Paula was the face of the cosmetics line Silky Girl to which
she lent her popularity and fan
base for brand expansion in
Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore markets.
Paula also became the ‘national ambassador’ in Malaysia
for Longines, a Swiss high-end
watch manufacturer which is
also a member of the Swatch
Group. She has also graced the covers of glossy magazines such as FHM,
Men’s Review, He, New Man Marie
Claire, Her World and Female.
She has graced various networks
like Channel [V] for four years. During her stint there she covered the
Grammy’s and interviewed high flying
artists including Sting, Janet Jackson,
Alicia Keys, Russel Crowe, Halle Berry
and Robin Williams.
She also hosted shows like Remote Control, The Ticket, Billboard
Charts,Videoscope, (V)Countdown, The
Inter(V)iew and Men In Music. Shifting away from entertainment hosting
to sportscasting was a new learning
curve for her.
Paula is a presenter for the
Formula One pre- and post-race
show—Race Day and Chequered
Flag with Steve Dawson—and the
weekly sports highlights show Seven@Seven as well as STAR Sports’
news programme, Score Tonight.
“I think I have always been fairly
confident in my abilities, I think there
is a fine line between being confident
and knowing that you still want to
learn in every new job. You cannot be
too proud. When you come to an interview, screening or audition with the
conviction you are as good as or better than the next girl, you are already
half way in,” she says. Her lengthy list
of achievements includes being a VJ on
Nescafe Hot Ones as well as being featured in a special episode on the Oprah
Winfrey Show which profiled successful women in their 30s.
33
MACAU
Horse Racing
M
acau is renowned for its casinos. For a flutter on the
horses, head to the Macau Jockey Club on Taipa Island.
Horse racing season runs from August to September and race
meetings are held most Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
MUMBAI
When: Aug 30-Sept 30
Where: Macau Jockey Club, Taipa Island
Opening Hours: 2pm and 7:15pm
Ganesh Chaturthi
T
housands of processions converge on the beaches of
Mumbai to immerse holy idols in the sea, accompanied
by drum beats, devotional songs and dancing. Ganesh, the
elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, is worshipped
as the supreme god of wisdom across India’s Maharashtra,
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh regions.
When: Sept 3
TAK, THAILAND
International Mountain Bike Championship
T
he fantastic landscape of Bhumibol Dam provides the
background for Thailand’s International Mountain Bike
Championship. The race has various categories, according to
standard, sex and age.
When: Aug 30-31
Where: Bhumibol Dam, Tak Province
TOKYO
Asakusa Samba Carnival
T
his is Japan’s version of the Rio Carnival where the streets
of Tokyo’s Asakusa district come alive with dancing girls,
fabulous costumes and Latin sounds. Since 1981, the Samba
Carnival takes over Asakusa with a joyful mix of colour, rhythm
and carnival frenzy.
When: Aug 30
Where: Asakusa District
34
YEONGDONG, SOUTH KOREA
Nangye Traditional Music Festival
T
he Nangye Traditional Music Festival has been held every year since 1967, commemorating one of the three
great masters of traditional music, Nangye Park Yeon, who
made the traditional Korean string, wind and percussion
instrument.
When: Aug-Sept
We Know Asia Better
Members Profile
Since 1981, the first and only national English language newspaper in China
Both English and Japanese language dailies are the highest circulated newspapers
in Japan
The largest English language daily in Sri Lanka
South Korea’s number 1 English language newspaper
Since 1845, Singapore’s most widely read English language newspaper
Thailand’s best read English language newspaper since 1971
Since 1991, Viet Nam’s national English language daily
Since 1991, Bangladesh’s most widely circulated English language daily
The English language daily with the highest readership in the Philippines
Indonesia’s premiere English language daily since 1983
Since 1929, Malaysia’s most read Chinese newspaper
India’s oldest newspaper founded in 1875 based out of Kolkata
Malaysia’s most widely read English language daily
Since 1994, the leading English language newspaper in the Lao DPR
Since 1993, the largest selling English language daily in Nepal
Building Asia together.
Whether you’re building or investing in factories, homes, bridges,
schoolhouses or shopping malls we’re the perfect partner to make
your project happen. As the No. 1 supplier of building materials in
Asia we can deliver the right solutions when and where it counts.
Holcim in Asia-Pacific:
Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, New Caledonia,
New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam
www.holcim.com
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