Online shopping spree Jay Chou`s era Avoiding travel hassles

CHANGING ASIA
POPLAND
Online shopping
spree
Jay Chou’s era
TRAVEL BITES
Avoiding travel
hassles
M ARCH 11-24, 2011
JAPAN’S
MORAL
STRUGGLE
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Where To Japan?
J
apan is similar to a man
facing a mid-life crisis.
Formerly the world’s
No. 2 economy until
China surpassed it this
year, the Land of the Rising Sun is
facing one crisis after another,
ranging from politics to economy,
business and sports—with all
these threatening its culture and
moral fibre.
This week, foreign minister Seiji
Maehara resigned over illegal
political donations from a foreign
national. This has dealt another
blow to Prime Minister Naoto
Kan’s faltering government, which
has been losing public support.
According to a recent survey by
The Yomiuri Shimbun, Kan’s
Cabinet’s approval rating has
dropped further to 24 per cent, the
lowest figure since the inauguration of his administration in June.
As much as 51 per cent of respondents wanted Kan “to step down at
an early time”. If this happens,
Japan will once more be thrown
into a political spin, creating a
pattern of changing prime ministers every year since 2006 when
Junichiro Koizumi stepped down.
It would seem that the problems
that its various sectors are facing—
from corruption in its revered
sumo world, cheating in school
exams, illegal donation of foreign
nationals—are but symptoms of a
far deeper problem that plagues
Japan, not only its government but
its people in general. A lot of
things in the country are still
trapped in tradition, like sumo—its
national sport. There is nothing
wrong with tradition but time
waits for no one and the world is
changing. Japan cannot rest on its
previous achievements nor can it
allow itself to wallow on its
failures. It has not entirely lost its
power and position on the global
stage.
But it needs to revitalise itself
and just like anyone going through
a mid-life crisis, now is the time
for reflection and reassessment in
order to put itself back on track.
Asia News Network
asianewsnet@gmail.com
MARCH 1 1 -24, 201 1 • V o l 6 N o 5
COVER STORY
Japan’s Moral Struggle P8
PH OTO by AFP
From sumo
match-rigging
to exam
cheating—
Japan is
plagued by
scandals.
Restoring
the tainted
image of its
institutions
is becoming
difficult
THE VIEW P7
CHANGING ASIA P24
POPLAND P36
TRAVEL BITES P44
Never Say Never
Will Southeast Asia
make a repeat of its past
revolutions?
Online Shopping Spree
More Asians are picking up
goods from online stores
Avoid Travel Hassles
A few points to remember
before hitting the road
F E AT U R E S
Jay Chou’s Era
The Taiwanese superstar
marks 10 years of his music
with a $15-million-world
tour
SPECIAL REPORT P16
MUSIC P30
ENTERTAINMENT P38
Walking A Tightrope
Indonesia is faced with
rising religious intolerance
Time To K-pop
Western artists, producers
turn to K-pop to expand
overseas markets
Protean Actors
Only a handful Indian actors
can shuttle between action
and comedy
POLITICS P20
PEOPLE P34
TRAVEL P42
Asean On The Rise
The bloc has set a precedent
by tackling the border
dispute between Thailand
and Cambodia
Advice For A Rising Star
Mentor Oprah Winfrey
advises Charice not to fall in
love yet
Riding High
Money is not an issue for
China’s wealthy who opt for
over-the-top travel packages
EXPLORE P48
Abode Of The Gods
Nepal’s Annapurna
mountain range is nothing
short of magical
Copyright © 2006 of Asia News Network. All rights reserved. AsiaNews (ISSN 1905-2650) is a weekly magazine. Printed by WPS (Thailand) Co, Ltd Subsidiary of Nation Multimedia Group Plc.
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PH OTO by china daily
COVE R IM AG E | afp photo
The View
By Philippine Daily Inquirer
By Karim Raslan
Citizens Vs Corruption
Never Say Never
v Manila
v Kuala Lumpur
The Star
The task may seem daunting, but it can be done
6•
NO CORRUPTION: Philippine President
Benigno Aquino III has vowed to stamp out
corruption that has plagued the country into
poverty for decades. He recently called on the
new military chief to cleanse the corrupt
image of the institution.
product. A more recent estimate put
it at close to 20 per cent of the national budget. This is money that taxpayers have remitted to government
and that is supposed to go back to
them in the form of services and public works, but which is going into the
pockets of corrupt government officials and employees.
“As a comparison, 16 per cent goes
to education and 4 per cent goes to
health. With this 20-per cent figure
in mind, let’s think how many schools,
hospitals, barangay (village) clinics
could have been built, how many kilometres of roads could have been
built,” Meyer said.
About a week ago, the education
department signed an integrity pact
with business partners, suppliers and
nongovernment organisations to do
away with “old habits” and encourage
strict adherence to good governance.
We hope that other departments and
offices of the government would conclude similar agreements with their
business partners to ensure the strictest transparency in all their dealings.
Education secretary Armin Luistro, who signed the agreement said:
“We must acknowledge that corruption erodes the moral fibre and im-
pedes economic growth and we must
act responsibly by leading by example.” It would be well if the wellknown “centres of corruption” in government, such as the tax and customs
bureaus, and public works and highways department, would follow the
example and conclude similar integrity pacts.
But the campaign against corruption should be conducted not just by
the government alone. More importantly, it should be conducted without let-up by civil society groups and
the average citizen.
The citizens’ campaign could start
small, as suggested by the Public
Transparency Reporting Project. It
could be as simple as protesting and
stopping the practice of politicians
putting their names and faces on
publicly funded projects and services.
Government officials and politicians who do this are essentially misappropriating public funds for their
private gain (getting publicity for
their reelection campaign at the next
elections).
Another easily doable project
would be to monitor the lifestyle of
public officials and civil servants.
Public Transparency Reporting Project is writing the relevant agencies
and institutions to access the statements of assets and liabilities with
net worth of government officials.
The people should also pressure
President Aquino to certify as urgent the Whistleblowers’ Act and
the Freedom of Information bill
and ensure that Congress will pass
these two measures in the current
regular session. These two measures would greatly help in the campaign against corruption.
The term of the anti-corruption
Aquino is an auspicious time to
campaign all-out against corruption. The task may seem daunting,
but it can be done.
March 11-24, 2011
I
n 2010, liberals all over the
world (including myself) were
worried about how democracy
appeared to be in retreat.
China’s rise along with the
US and Europe’s decline seemed to
herald an age of authoritarianism as
politicians looked on admiringly at Beijing’s startling prosperity.
Indeed, even the bastion of liberal
thought, The Economist produced a
lavish ‘Democracy in Retreat’ special
for all those hand-wringers out there.
Well, 2011 has reversed the gloom.
Suddenly, democracy with all its irrationality and craziness is back in
vogue—a young man’s act of selfimmolation in Tunisia has engendered demonstrations and regime
change across the Arab world—literally like wildfire.
As I’ve said before, I don’t think
Southeast Asia will be experiencing the
same exuberant democratic adrenalinrush this time around. We’ve been
there before.
In 1998, we experienced a similar inflationary spike in oil and food prices
(caused by the currency crisis).
The moment has passed but that
doesn’t mean we don’t wonder at what
might have happened or regret our failure to seize the moment.
Indeed, Southeast Asian history is
littered with mixed-results revolutions—like the Reformasi movements of Malaysia and Indonesia, the
Filipino EDSAs and the 1992 Thai
democracy protests—all of which
were ultimately futile or requiring
arduous consolidation.
If anything, Malaysia (and Singapore) are quietly tightening the noose
on civil liberties and media freedom.
Still, the sense of relative deprivation and frustration is by no
means comparable—yet—with the
Middle East.
Nevertheless, as I look at the wave of
unrest rippling through the Arab world
March 11-24, 2011
today, I’m reminded of the saying:
Never Say Never, which also happens
to be the title of a Justin Bieber song—
but let’s not go there.
It would be very foolish to think that
our region is completely insulated from
turmoil in the Middle East.
Firstly, we could well be hit economically as higher oil prices threaten the US and Europe’s recovery and
lead to a “double-dip” recession,
something that would impact our
export-led economies.
Secondly, we’re still not sure how the
Gulf’s various monarchies will weather
CLASHES: Libyan rebel fighters flash the
‘victory’ sign as they gather at a checkpoint
on the outskirts of the oil town of Ras Lanuf
on March 7.
the storm. Will they manage better
than their republican counterparts?
Evidence from Bahrain shows that
princes can and do make horrendous
errors of judgment.
Is this “democratic wave” the political equivalent of the contagious bird
flu? Certainly, it’s hard to envisage how
kingdoms like Saudi Arabia or Jordan
will escape the turmoil.
Autocratic rule has failed to deliver either employment or prosperity and resentment simmers just
below the surface.
Indeed, Saudi Arabia seems particularly vulnerable. The Kingdom is surrounded by political upheaval.
The predominantly-Shiite uprising
in Bahrain may well spread via the
King Fahd Causeway, to the extensive
oil-producing Eastern Province—
which also happens to be largely Shiite.
Major disruptions to the oil supply
aside, any political dislocation in Saudi
Arabia would also have a seismic impact on the Islamic world.
The core cause of the demonstrations is essentially the breakdown of
the Middle East’s authoritarian consensus. Like our own, it is founded
upon the notion that its populace
would accept a lack of democracy and
civil rights in return for stability plus
economic development.
The regimes of Ben Ali, Mubarak
and Gaddafi provided neither; and so
their people have risen albeit after decades of cowering in fear.
What has made the anger on the
ground all the more palpable is the
hypocritical use those dictators made
of Islam and Arab nationalism to disguise their corruption, venality and dynastic ambitions.
Arab leaders have failed to deal with
their people in a dignified, decent and
intelligent manner.
As I said earlier, there has lately been
a momentum towards conservative reform in Southeast Asia.
If Southeast Asian leaders wish to
avoid the fate of the now-teetering
Arab states, then they cannot allow
their plans for transformation to be
sidetracked.
Above all, a willingness to open
up the political space must go handin-hand with economic development. Southeast Asia must also listen to its young.
Our politics have for too long been
dominated by unaccountable gerontocrats sniping from behind the curtain.
Asean leaders must have the vision and
foresight to respond to these challenges, or see their governments swept
away with the same fury that now
stalks the Arab streets.
As I said: ‘never say never’...
•7
photo by RO B ERTO S C HMIDT/afp
PH OTO BY JAY DI RE CTO/A F P
L
ast week the Philippine finance department forged
an agreement with business groups and civil society to encourage citizens’
participation in denouncing corrupt
government officials, smugglers and
tax cheats. For starters, the anti-corruption group is composed of six big
business and civic organisations but
we believe more will join it as the
campaign goes on.
The formation of a citizens’ group
to help in the campaign against corruption is an encouraging development. It can certainly help the
Aquino administration, which is
focused on an anti-corruption
drive, attain its goal.
Cleansing the government of corruption will be like cleaning the Augean stables. The Philippines is considered one of the most corrupt
countries in the world. Transparency
International’s latest Corruption Perception Index (October 2010) ranked
the Philippines 134th among 178
countries surveyed.
In 2009 Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer
asked 1,000 Filipinos to grade civil
servants and the average score was 4
out of 5, with 5 being extremely corrupt. Seventy-seven per cent said
government actions to counter corruption were ineffectual, according to
Samantha Grant, programme coordinator for TI-Southeast Asia.
A huge amount of public money
which could otherwise be used to fund
public services and infrastructure goes
to corruption. Renaud Meyer, United
Nations Development Programme
country director, said the Philippines
loses about 1.92 billion pesos
(US$44.2 million) to corruption every
year. Over a 20-year period, that’s
close to half a trillion.
In 2000, the cost of corruption was
10 per cent of the gross national
Southeast Asia will never have the same exuberant democratic
adrenalin-rush this time around
COVER STORY
By Ken Marantz
The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Writing
On Sumo’s Wall
THE PROBLEMS THAT FACE SUMO MAY
BE A SYMPTOM OF WHAT TRADITIONAL
JAPAN NEEDS TO CHANGE
T
❖ Tokyo
he revelations of gambling and links with
gangsters in Japan’s
sumo world have pushed
sumo to the edge of the
ring, one shove from oblivion.
The Japan Sumo Association
(JSA) is already likely to lose 1.4
billion yen (US$17 million) in
the wake of the sumo matchrigging scandal, following the
body’s decision to cancel one of
its regular tournaments that
make up the association’s main
sources of revenue.
This is just the beginning of greater
financial repercussions on the sumo
world as several Japanese organisations that cancelled regional tournaments due to the scandal are seeking
compensation for expenses used in
preparing for the tournaments.
8•
Some companies have stopped
airing TV commercials starring sumo
wrestlers or are considering withdrawing sponsorships from the
regular tournaments, moves that are
expected to hurt the JSA and wrestlers in the pockets, observers said.
Most of the JSA’s operating
revenue comes from the six regular
sumo tournaments held each year.
Of the JSA’s 10.41 billion yen
($127 million) in recurring revenue,
or predicted continuing annual
revenue, the association registered
9.59 billion yen in operating revenue
in the 2009 accounting year.
Income from regular tournaments in that year was 8.6 billion
yen, more than 80 per cent of
operating revenue.
Simple calculations show that one
regular tournament accounts for about
1.4 billion yen in operating revenue for
March 11-24, 2011
the JSA, more than 10 per cent of the
association’s annual total.
For its 2011 budget, the JSA
estimated that operating profit from
all regular tournaments would total
7.84 billion yen of the 8.75 billion
yen full-year figure.
The JSA decided last month to
cancel the Spring Grand Sumo
Tournament scheduled this month
in Osaka. If the JSA cancels other
regular tournaments, it would suffer
an even greater financial blow,
observers said.
The JSA’s decision to cancel
regional sumo tournaments caused
repercussions across Japan.
A citizens’ voluntary organisation in Hokota, Ibaraki Prefecture,
which was preparing for a regional
sumo tournament that was to have
taken place April 10 but later
cancelled, is seeking compensation
March 11-24, 2011
for damages from the JSA.
The organisation claimed it has
spent more than 5 million yen to
make 700 posters and 45,000
leaflets and purchase 10 tons of sand
for the sumo ring.
Shigeo Mogami, 61, a promoter of
the Fujisawa Tournament that was
scheduled to be held April 9 in
Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, said
damages caused by the cancellation
of that tournament were estimated
to range from 15 million yen to 20
million yen.
The JSA’s sponsors have
weighed in, using their financial
leverage to register displeasure,
including companies that have
stopped airing TV commercials
starring sumo wrestlers as the
match-fixing scandal unfolded.
In February, Fuji Xerox Co
stopped airing a TV commercial
•9
A F P PHOTO/ Japan P ool via Jiji Press
AFP P H O TO / J IJ I P RE S S
COVER STORY
TAINTED SPORT: Japan Sumo Association chairman Hanaregoma (2nd L) and executives of the
association bow their heads as they announce the cancellation of the spring tournament scheduled
in March over a match-fixing scandal.
staring yokozuna Hakuho for its
combination copier-fax machine—
the day after the JSA decided to
cancel the spring sumo tournament.
Fuji Xerox stopped airing the
Hakuho commercial only 16 days
after it began. “All we can say is it
(the scandal) is just unfortunate,” a
Fuji Xerox PR official said.
Sumitomo Forestry Co also halted
airing a TV commercial staring
Hakuho and other wrestlers.
Hakata Salt Mfg Inc, which has
sold salt sprinkled by wrestlers to
purify the sumo ring at regular
tournaments held at the Ryogoku
Kokugikan sumo arena in Tokyo,
said it received an anonymous e-mail
that said, “Stop providing the salt (to
the sumo arena).”
Snack maker Natori Co., whose
company name has been featured on
10 •
costumes worn at sumo tournaments
for about 50 years, withdrew from
participation at July’s Nagoya Grand
Sumo Tournament when the sumo
world was rocked by a scandal over
illegal betting on professional
baseball games.
End of the game?
At this point, the JSA is on its
tip-toes, desperately balancing on
the straw. The question is whether it
will fall over the edge, or regroup
and get back into the fight.
Enacting sweeping reforms seems
to be the obvious solution. But what
exactly does that mean?
To crack down on illegal gambling
in the stables, just like they have
allegedly cracked down on beating
up junior wrestlers or assured there
are no thrown bouts, doesn’t get to
the root of the problem.
APOLOGIES: Mongolian-born sumo grand champion, Hakuho (R), bows at the beginning of a
press conference at his stable in Tokyo in February. Japan’s only sumo grand champion
apologised in chagrin over a match-fixing scandal which has hit the ancient sport.
The much bigger issue is that the
sumo association must realise it
cannot continue functioning as a
modern-day sport while maintaining
feudal customs under the guise of
traditions.
This is not about getting rid of
those traditions that occur on the
dohyo, like the throwing of salt or
the ring-entering ceremony. Those
give sumo its allure and should never
be changed—although it’s about time
to dump the one about women not
being allowed to step onto the raised
ring. As if the ring is not defiled
enough.
Instead it’s the culture of sumo
wrestlers as infallable supermen,
under the leadership of ex-wrestlers
carrying out their duties with the
mentality of a college fraternity, that
needs a swift kick in the mawashi.
March 11-24, 2011
The JSA has promulgated the
image of these very mortal men as
the essence of purity in spirit and
action. Of course, when a few are
shown to not be anything of the sort,
the reaction will be outrage.
Now is the time for the JSA to get
with the times, get out from behind
its veil of secrecy as an old boys’ club
and to get out from under the thumb
of Japan’s education ministry. It
should reincorporate itself as an
independent, professional sport,
with a nonpartisan commissioner
equipped with a written rulebook
establishing fines and penalties for
specific, errant behaviour—instead
of the vague “acts unbecoming of a
wrestler”.
Drop this ‘dignity’ facade. Like pro
athletes around the world, the young
men in the upper ranks make vast
March 11-24, 2011
sums of money—with very few living
expenses. There are going to be
dalliances, and they have to be
subject to the same laws as everyone
else, but not be expected to live up to
a Mother Teresa-like standard.
The fact that Murayama was
standing in for JSA chairman
Musashigawa, one of numerous
officials and wrestlers currently
under suspension, spoke volumes.
As a sport, sumo offers an exciting
product. The influx of foreign wrestlers only shows its worldwide appeal.
It’s when it’s regarded as a lifestyle
that the wheels come off the cart.
The virus has spread to every level
of the sport. It’s too late for preventive medicine; all that’s left is to cure
the patient and get him back on his
feet. What’s most needed is a change
of medication.
◊ Sumo Survey
TOKYO: More than half, or 57
per cent of Japanese, in a recent
Yomiuri Shimbun survey said
they did not think the Japan
Sumo Association’s reform
efforts would do any good.
Only 35 per cent said they
had faith the JSA would be able
to achieve its reform goals,
according to the survey.
The general sports survey was
conducted on January 29 and
30, and covered 3,000 people
nationwide, just a few days
before the latest match-throwing allegations broke, with
1,234 people giving valid
responses.
With a majority of the public
expressing little hope the
scandal-prone sumo community can get back on track, it is
highly likely the recent fracas
over thrown bouts has made the
public even more critical
toward the sumo world.
Asked what they would like
to see from grand sumo, 64 per
cent of respondents said they
want “Japanese wrestlers to
succeed”, and 40 per cent said
“criminal gangs should be
eradicated and bad tendencies
should be corrected”.
Thirty-six per cent wanted
“wrestlers to have more dignity”, and 31 per cent hoped
“the quality of the instructors
can be improved”. Multiple
answers were allowed.
Asked what sport they liked
to watch, 44 per cent chose
professional baseball as their
favourite—winning first place
for the 17th consecutive year.
Professional football came in
second with 36 per cent,
drastically higher than the
ninth spot it held last year,
likely due to the achievements
of the national team at the
recent Asian Cup in Qatar.
Sumo came in sixth at 23 per
cent.
— The Yomiuri Shimbun
• 11
COVER STORY
By The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Bottom
Of The Exam
Cheating
Universities To Blame?
J
❖ Tokyo
apan’s university
authorities came under
attack for not doing
enough to prevent
wrongdoing during
their entrance examinations,
after a 19-year-old preparatory school student was
arrested on suspicion of
posting entrance exam
questions from four universities on the Internet.
Kyoto prefectural police
said the Sendai student
posted a question on Yahoo
Japan’s Chiebukuro (pearls of
wisdom) question-and-answer service during an
English exam for Kyoto
University on February 26.
He is also suspected of
checking the reply on the site
during the test.
The student reportedly said
he sought the answer online
by himself, meaning that
supervisors may have turned
a blind eye to his suspicious
intermittent use of his
cellphone during the exam.
Kyoto University said it had
taken all possible measures to
prevent such wrongdoing, but
the university’s public relations office was flooded with
calls criticising supervisors’
failure to carefully monitor
test-takers.
Kyoto University deployed
about 400 supervisors to
monitor about 8,000 examinees, saying that was sufficient to oversee the test.
However, according to a
former professor of a staterun university in his 60s,
“Simply having many supervisors in the exam room won’t
ARRESTED: A car believed to be carrying a 19-year-old
Japanese student who was arrested last week in relation to
suspected exam fraud leaves a police station.
The attempt of a 19-year-old college-bound student to
cheat could shake the very foundations of the Japanese
university entrance exam system
A
TH E YO MI URI SHI MB U N P HOTO
❖ Tokyo
19-year-old preparatory
school student was
arrested early this month
in connection with a case
in which entrance exam
questions from Kyoto University
and three other universities were
posted on an Internet bulletin board
site during the exam.
The male student, who was
arrested on a charge of fraudulently
interfering with Kyoto University’s
operations, reportedly told police
that he acted alone and he “just
wanted to pass” the exams.
How could the student use a
cellphone to post exam questions on
Yahoo Japan’s Chiebukuro website—and see the answers sent back
during the exams—without being
detected by proctors? How did he
come up with the idea of illicitly
using the Internet during the
exams? We hope the police will get
to the bottom of this case and the
student’s motives.
Chiebukuro (pearls of wisdom)
is a question-and-answer site. A
user posts a question on the site,
and then other users post answers. Replies often come in a
short time; this usability has
made the site very popular. The
arrested student allegedly had
12 •
used Chiebukuro previously.
The student is of a generation
who are Internet-savvy and skilled
at using cellphones. He may have
turned to the Internet to make up
for his own lack of knowledge. But
his actions trampled all over the
sincere efforts being made by other
examinees.
His attempt to cheat could shake
the very foundations of the university entrance exam system, which is
supposed to be fair for everyone.
There are, however, no laws that
penalise the act of cheating in an
exam itself. Because of this, the
police investigation is being conducted on the charge applied to
crimes listed in the Penal Code as
obstructing someone’s business
through fraudulent acts such as
deceiving others.
It is important that by learning
lessons from the latest incident,
steps be taken to ensure similar
misconduct is not repeated.
Universities have instructed
examinees to switch off their mobile
phones and put them in their bags
during exams. The latest case
apparently caught them completely
unaware.
After the latest incident came to
light, some universities began
keeping test-takers’ cellphones
during the test or having examinees
turn off their phones and place
them in clear view on their desks.
Some universities will even hold
their exams in smaller venues than
originally planned so examinees can
be more easily watched. The
possibility of test rooms being fitted
with a device that jams mobile
communications and prevents the
use of cellphones has received
increasing attention.
In South Korea, a large group of
students used cellphones in an
organised attempt to cheat on a
university entrance exam in 2004.
Since then, examinees have been
prohibited from bringing cellphones
and digital cameras to exam venues.
Anyone who violates this rule can
face punishments including disqualification for one year from
taking the exam.
Such precedents may be helpful
guidelines as Japan tries to prevent
a recurrence of unfair use of the
Internet by test-takers.
Misusing information devices to
cheat in entrance exams could
happen again. With that assumption in mind, the education, culture,
sports, science and technology
ministry needs to consider countermeasures while seeking advice from
experts in a broad range of fields.
March 11-24, 2011
March 11-24, 2011
solve the problem. Many
university staffers describe
supervising entrance examinations as a ‘mindless chore’
and do it half-heartedly.”
Two or more professors are
allocated to supervise venues
where the National Centre
Test for University Admissions is held. But the former
professor said some supervisors grade exams from their
own classes while others
snore through the tests.
The former professor also
heard complaints from
students who said supervisors
chatted noisily.
A former Waseda University official said it is difficult
for supervisors to single out
exam-takers even if they
notice what appears to be a
wrongdoing. The Tokyobased university established a
rule that two or more supervisors need to confirm the
suspicious activity before they
can warn suspected cheaters.
The 19-year-old student is
also suspected of posting
online an English question
from an entrance exam for
Waseda University’s school of
culture, media and society.
The former Waseda staffer
said: “If two or more supervisors come over (to confirm
suspected cheating), the
test-taker will notice them and
stop cheating. Maybe we’ve
missed a number of cheating
incidents in the past because
we were too cautious.”
Experts said most university authorities have yet to
take any effective measures to
deal with cell phones and
other mobile electronic
devices.
In South Korea, a huge
scandal erupted in 2004 over
mass cheating using cellphones on the college
scholastic ability test—that
country’s equivalent of the
centre test.
Since then, test-takers in
South Korea have been
obliged to leave all electronic
devices, including DVD
players and cellphones, in a
separate room during exam
hours. If examinees are found
to have such devices during a
test, they are forced to leave
the room and in serious cases
are even questioned by police.
However, the four universities at which the preparatory
school student is suspected of
cheating only asked testtakers to turn off their mobile
phones and put them in their
bags during the exams.
Lawyer Takayuki Asami, an
expert on corporate risk
management, said university
authorities have overlooked
cheating because they do not
see the need for crisis
management.
“Universities should first
change their idea that ‘there
probably isn’t any wrongdoing.’ When I took the bar
exam, we were told that any
dubious conduct would
receive an immediate warning. I actually saw someone
get warned during the test,”
Asami said.
“Just telling examinees that
a warning is possible is a
deterrent. University authorities should thoroughly train
supervisors, not just compile
manuals,” he said.
• 13
COVER STORY
“An ingenious intervention of considerable and
strategic significance.”
By The Korea Herald
Japan Politics
C
PH OTO BY A FP
❖ Seoul
ontroversy over illegal
political donations of
200,000 yen (2.7 million
won or US$2,400) over
four years has further
shaken the fragile administration of
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan
with the resignation of foreign
minister Seiji Maehara.
As the donor happens to be a
Korean restaurant owner in Kyoto
named Jang, who says she did not
know foreigners were banned from
political donations, some may be
seeing a pattern of xenophobic
discrimination in the island
country. Yet it also exposes an
absence of tolerance that has kept
Japan’s politics from moving ahead
all these years.
Seiji Maehara made a series of
apologies at the Diet last week. He
acknowledged that his staff received
the contributions from a 72-year-old
woman resident of Korean nationality between 2005 and 2008. He had
earlier apologised for a mistaken
identity of a donor and for receiving
contribution from a tax-evading
firm.
The donation constituted a
violation of the Japanese Law on
Control of Political Funds, which
prohibits lawmakers from receiving donations from foreign
nationals or organisations controlled by foreigners.
Shoji Nishida, a member of the
House of Councilors from the
opposition Liberal Democratic Party,
made the disclosure in a budget
committee session. As Maehara
acknowledged the illegal donation,
the opposition lawmaker told Kan:
“The foreign minister is a person
who has received donations from a
foreigner. You should immediately
dismiss him.”
Maehara and Jang were neighbours for 38 years. The Korean
restaurateur made the donation in
14 •
her Japanese name, suspecting no
legal problem in doing so, and
Maehara did not know she was
making the annual donations. In the
opposition offensive based on
microscopic scrutiny of political
funds, these circumstances were not
given any consideration.
Surprisingly, Japan’s conservative
media and opposition politicians
non-Japanese citizens to influence
the selection of the prime minister.
“The nation’s foundation will be
damaged if they (DPJ leaders)
compete among themselves with
promises to pass a pending foreign
suffrage bill to garner votes of DPJ
members and supporters in the
party’s presidential election,” a
recent Yomiuri editorial asserted.
The 600,000 Korean residents in
Japan, the legacy of Japan’s colonisation of Korea, cannot accept it
when Japan put them into the general category of “foreign residents” to
restrict their civil rights. Like Jang in
Kyoto, they find it unfair to be
BOWING OUT: Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara bows his head as he announces his
resignation at his office in Tokyo on March 6.
tended to link the Korean woman’s
donation to Korean residents’ moves
to win voting rights in Japanese
elections, a matter that was favourably considered by leaders of the
ruling DPJ. Some newspapers
pointed out that Korean foreign
minister Kim Sung-hwan had
reminded Maehara of Seoul’s
continuing concerns about the issue
when they met in Tokyo last month.
The DPJ and its supporting groups
have opened their memberships to
foreign nationals.
The Yomiuri Shimbun, for one,
strongly criticised the DPJ’s membership system, which the conservative daily feared would in effect allow
prohibited from making even small
donations to Japanese politicians
after living in the country for
generations.
Maehara called Jang to convey his
regret for the controversy over her
donations and the Korean resident
woman said she was deeply sorry for
having caused him such serious
trouble. The political career of one of
the future leaders of Japan has come
to a halt, at least for now, but many
more will share Maehara’s fate as
long as the self-consumptive,
cleaner-than-thou contests continue
in Tokyo party politics, sometimes
sprinkled with xenophobia as in the
latest episode.
March 11-24, 2011
Charles Correa, Architect in India, Professor at the MIT in Cambridge (USA)
and Head of the Global Holcim Awards jury 2009, on the prize-winning
River remediation and urban development scheme, Fez, Morocco.
Develop new perspectives for our
future: 3 rd International Holcim
Awards competition for projects
in sustainable construction. Prize
money totals USD 2 million.
www.holcimawards.org
In partnership with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
(ETH Zurich), Switzerland; the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Cambridge, USA; Tongji University, Shanghai, China;
Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City; and the Ecole Supérieure
d’Architecture de Casablanca, Morocco. The universities lead the
independent juries in five regions of the world. Entries at
www.holcimawards.org close March 23, 2011.
The Holcim Awards competition is an initiative of the Holcim
Foundation for Sustainable Construction. Based in Switzerland,
the foundation is supported by Holcim Ltd and its Group companies
and affiliates in more than 70 countries. Holcim is one of the
world’s leading suppliers of cement and aggregates as well
as further activities such as ready-mix concrete and asphalt
including services.
SPECIAL REPORT
By Salim Osman
The Straits Times
Walking
A Tightrope
The Indonesian government is in
a dilemma over how to tackle
the Ahmadiyah issue
∫ A protester shouts
slogans as he holds a
placard reading “We want
Islamic revolution” during
a rally against the minority
Muslim Ahmadiyah sect in
Jakarta on February 18.
A
❖ Jakarta
Photo by A FP
frenzied Muslim mob
went berserk in February, killing three followers of the Ahmadiyah faith and leaving
Indonesia’s image as a moderate
Muslim- majority nation in tatters.
The attack at a village in Banten
was captured in horrific detail on
video, with footage showing the
battered bodies of the three victims
being stabbed and clobbered in
broad daylight as hundreds of onlookers cheered and several policemen stood by.
16 •
Two days later, another marauding
mob went on a rampage, this time attacking churches and torching vehicles in Temanggung, Central Java,
angry that a man found guilty of blaspheming Islam had been given a fiveyear jail sentence, instead of the
death penalty.
Indonesian President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono condemned
the violence as “intolerable” and
vowed a full-scale investigation,
while many Muslim leaders also
voiced their abhorrence.
The Ahmadis have been an age-old
problem for the state ever since the
March 11-24, 2011
arrival of the first Ahmadi missionary from India in 1925 to preach the
teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad,
the founder of the 19th-century
movement. Contrary to claims that
the Ahmadis had been living in
peace with mainstream Muslims till
recently, there has always been tension between the two groups.
One of the Ahmadi teachings
deemed heretical by most Muslims
is the belief that its founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a prophet
after Prophet Muhammad. The
Indonesian Council of Ulema issued a fatwa in 1980 declaring
March 11-24, 2011
Ahmadiyah deviant.
But it was only recently that
the problem became acute,
with a series of attacks on the
Ahmadiyah community in
West Java and Nusa Tenggara
Barat. Has the Yudhoyono administration done enough to
solve the problem?
To answer that question, we
need to go back to 2005, when
a unit of the Attorney-General’s Office that monitors religion, Bakorpakem, recommended that the government
ban Ahmadiyah, as represented by the Jemaah Ahmadiyah
Indonesia (JAI) and the Gerakan Ahmadiyah Indonesia.
When the call went unheeded, the Attorney-General suggested a dialogue with JAI
leaders, which took place in
September 2007. The JAI was
told it had several options, including dissolution by the government or by the courts, categorisation as non-Muslim, or
acceptance of Ahmadiyah as
one stream of Islam within the
broader Muslim community.
Not surprisingly, in January
2008, the Ahmadis submitted
a statement saying they wanted to be part of the Muslim
community and promised to
adhere to 12 points—among
them, that Muhammad was
the last prophet and that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was only a
teacher and mentor.
Three months later, Bakorpakem issued a statement saying
the Ahmadis had not implemented
the 12 points in a consistent and
responsible fashion and had engaged in activities that deviated
from the key tenets of Islam. It
recommended a decree warning the
JAI to cease its activities or face
dissolution. On June 9, 2008, the
Ahmadis were told not to preach
their beliefs to others, although
they could continue to worship.
On the one hand, the Yudhoyono
government does not want to be
seen as bowing to the pressure of the
hardliners by proscribing Ahmadi-
yah. On the other, it wants to soothe
mainstream Muslims.
Because of this dilemma, the government has not taken a firm stand
on the issue. It recognises the right
of Ahmadis to practise their faith
but cautions that “every person is
banned from speaking about or supporting interpretations of a religion
which deviate from the central
teachings of that religion”.
Human rights groups saw the decree as a rights violation. The hardliners felt the decree did not go far
enough. How should the government proceed?
It should consider revising its decree to make it clear that the Ahmadis belong to a separate sect that
is not part of the broader Islamic
community. This would mean that
the constitutional recognition of
only six religions—Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism,
Buddhism and Confucianism—will
have to be amended to include Ahmadiyah as a sub-group. By being
declared separate from Islam, Ahmadis would be spared prosecution
under the blasphemy laws.
This would be the best option, for
it would be futile to insist that Ahmadis are part of the broader Muslim community. But declaring them
as separate would not necessarily
free them from harassment by the
fanatics. Christians, who are members of a recognised religion, have
also been attacked. The government
must therefore provide Ahmadis
with firm guarantees for them to
practise their faith without fear.
The police should end the practice
of standing by as Ahmadi mosques
and homes are raided. It should disband violent hardline groups and remove thugs and hooligans—an impor tant source of recruits for
sectarian violence—from the street.
Ahmadiyah followers are the country’s citizens and deserve to be treated as such.
The Yudhoyono administration
has to be firm in resolving the Ahmadiyah question and not allow the
problem to fester. Its reluctance to
be firm is causing the violence
against the Ahmadiyah to escalate.
• 17
SPECIAL REPORT
By Zubaidah Nazeer
The Straits Times
Rising
Intolerance
Indonesia’s anti-terror work may
be undone by a trend of radical
groups uniting
∫ This video grab (left) made available on February 7 by Human Rights Watch shows villagers attacking members of minority Ahmadiyah Islamic
sect in Pandeglang, Banten province, on February 6. A burned car (right and bottom) is abandoned outside the damaged house of the Ahmadiyah
Islamic sect leader.
∫ Members of the Ahmadiyah
Islamic sect pray before the biers
bearing the two bodies of their
fellow members ahead of the
burial ceremony in Tangerang in
Banten province on February 8.
I
❖ Jakarta
Photo S by A FP
ndonesia has had some success countering the terrorism
threat, but the government’s
work looks set to be undone
by rising intolerance, said terrorism experts, as the country is
gripped by a string of religiously motivated violence.
The analysts note a trend of groups
with different ideological and tactical
makeup banding together over a
common fear of Christianisation, and
a dislike of sects like Ahmadiyah,
which have now faced bans in several
provinces in Indonesia.
Noor Huda Ismail of Jakarta’s
Institute of International Peace
18 •
Building said: “Ahmadiyah is now
a rallying cry to cement different
Islamists, resulting in a new configuration of groups.”
He gave this assessment during a
discussion on radicalisation in Indonesia recently organised by the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club.
Such coalitions can help the
weakened jihadi groups survive,
said analysts.
Another terrorism analyst, Sidney
Jones of the International Crisis
Group, cited an example of how modernist group Muhammadiyah, the
second-largest Islamic group in Indonesia, is also a member of an umbrella group called Bekasi Islamic ConMarch 11-24, 2011
gress, which was set up to safeguard
Islam from perceived threats.
Other members include the Islamic Defenders Front which has
launched attacks on churches and
Ahmadiyah worshippers, and Jemaah Ansharut Tauhid, a group led
by cleric Abu Bakar Bashir who is undergoing a terrorism trial.
“There used to be a division and
clear lines between the jihadis and
the moralist thugs who have a more
local agenda,” said Jones. Failure to
address the intolerance issue, she
added, would “undermine the government’s counter-terrorism efforts”.
The other worrying trend is the
emergence of groups of individuals
from different extremist organisations working together for an immediate aim, but staying on for longerterm collaborations.
These are men from weakened radical groups who managed to form cells
by relying on smaller networks and
strengthening personal relationships
with like-minded men in prison.
Bonar Tigor Naipospos from the
Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, a group advocating religious tolerance, said fundamentalists may have a more sinister plan
in forming coalitions with the morMarch 11-24, 2011
ally conservative.
Fundamentalists are
“looking to create
another war zone in
hopes that more people will be drawn towards jihad”, he said.
Net-savvy radicals
are also tapping into
popular social media
tools like Twitter
and blogs to lobby for their causes.
During Bashir’s trial, spokesmen
for radical movements were quick
with tweets of their opinions, said
Noor Huda.
Such extremist actions remain
unchecked largely due to the government’s lack of tough measures,
said analysts.
There seems to be a widespread
public perception that while radical
groups are using the wrong tactics,
some of their goals—like preserving
the good name of Islam by banning
such sects—are right.
Police fear that cracking down on
such groups with good local community networks will meet with a
violent backlash.
There may also be a political
twist. Jones said: “There is a growing political campaign against Pres-
ident (Susilo Bambang) Yudhoyono
by his enemies... There is a worry
among civil society groups that any
demonstrations against hardliners
will be hijacked and manipulated
(against him).”
But some things can be helped.
For a start, Bonar said radical
preachers should be banned from
leading Friday prayers in some
outlying districts.
The government also needs to take
strong measures to sack officials
who encourage extremist or intolerant organisations.
Said Jones: “At the school level, the
government has to examine (content
in) school textbooks and use them to
highlight different groups of people
living together within a community
and talking to one another to show
that all Indonesians are equal.”
• 19
POLITICS
By Kavi Chongkittavorn
The Nation (Thailand)
READY FOR
WAR: Thai troops
deploy more tanks
to reinforce their
bases at Kantharalak
district of Si Sa Ket
province near the
Thai-Cambodian
border last month.
Asean
On The Rise
Asean has set a precedent by
coming up with a resolution for
the border dispute between
Thailand and Cambodia
B
Photos by A FP
❖ Bangkok
y hosting the informal
meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations
(Asean) in February, the
Asean chair, Indonesia, gave a historical lead that could gradually
and tangibly transform the grouping into a true political and secure
community.
It was a small step “with a giant
leap of faith” as the credibility of Asean will now hinge on the outcome of
bilateral talks between Thailand and
20 •
Cambodia. The 90-minute meeting
was brief—a rubber stamp of prior
discussion and agreements the chair
mapped out with both sides. It was
contrary to the high-stake power
games played out by the two protagonists—Thailand and Cambodia—in
the previous weeks.
Thailand and Cambodia have been
at loggerheads over the Preah Vihear
Temple since last century, and even
though the case was taken to the International Court of Justice (ICJ),
Thailand has been resisting the verdict since 1962.
Violence has erupted
from time to time near the
borders of the two countries, with the latest skirmish from February 4 to 7
claiming at least 10 lives,
including three civilians on
both sides.
Cambodia, referring to
the 1962 ICJ ruling that
“the temple is situated in
the territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia”,
handed the case over to
United Nations Security
Council claiming that Thailand was invading its territory. Phnom Penh obviously
hoped that the UN would
enforce the ICJ ruling and
keep Thai soldiers away
from the areas surrounding
the Hindu temple.
Thailand, on the other
hand, has been arguing
that the ICJ ruling only
gave Cambodia the sandstone temple, not the surrounding areas.
However, common sense
says that a temple cannot
stand on Cambodian territory unless its surrounding
land is also Cambodian.
Yet Bangkok has been
maintaining its argument
for nearly half a century
now and wants to exercise its power and get
Phnom Penh to accept it.
This was the core reason
behind the skirmishes
near the Thai-Cambodian
border lastmonth.
The clashes at the border, however,
have given a much-needed impetus for
Asean to take up once a taboo issue—
an intra-Asean conflict—in a more
open way, even though the role of the
Asean chair is strictly confined to that
of a facilitator.
One of the biggest weaknesses of
Asean, like other regional organisations such as the African Union or
Mercosur, has been its inability to
cope with intra-Asean conflict in a
forthright manner. This stems from
the reticent culture of Southeast Asia
March 11-24, 2011
and the ingrained fear of failure—a working out a viable modality. Expe- its status within Asean, and Laos in
truly family psyche.
rience and good practices from vari- particular, will be greatly augmented.
The Asean foreign ministers often ous peacekeeping operations in East
It remains to be seen how this
used the word ‘retreat’ to discuss Timor (1999-2000) and the cessation dynamics will play out in the end.
over-sensitive issues, particularly of hostilities monitoring mission in Initially, it is not difficult to predict
when members had not reached a Aceh (2003) are useful references. A that Indonesia will encounter a
solid consensus. In that sense, the few Asean members, including Thai- peaceful environment befitting the
Burmese political crisis has occupied land, joined individually in both mis- Asean spirit of cooperation as stated
the retreat’s agenda for the longest sions or financed their participation.
in the chairman’s statement. In the
period of time, spanning nearly two
This is an important step as the similar vein, Thailand and Cambodia
decades. Therefore, it is no surprise Asean chair is performing this func- have demonstrated their readiness
that Asean member
countries still prefer
discreet and informal
ways to deal with their
internal squabbling
minus the media fanfares. Just look back,
almost all Asean disagreements in the past
four decades—though,
not as serious as the
Thai-Cambodian territorial dispute—were
settled through casual
and less structured
meetings. In short,
Asean does not want to
“Aseanise” its disagreements.
But with the Asean
Charter in place over
the past two years, the
member countries are
becoming more responsive towards the
charter’s mandates and
FAMILY GATHERING: Asean foreign ministers hold an informal meeting in Jakarta on February 22.
objectives. By all
means, nobody should
get bogged down with the so-called tion—known as the “enhanced role of and determination to defend their
“informal” or “retreat” framework. the Asean chair”—for the first time sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Whenever Asean leaders can draw up over an intra-Asean conflict. During At issue is: can the cessation of hosgood results from these gatherings, it the East Timor crisis, former Thai tilities be sustained as the two sides
could be made official in no time.
foreign minister Dr Surin Pitsuwan, work out their common solutions?
Thailand and Cambodia know fully acted as the chair of Asean and the After all, Indonesia has just another
well the onus is on them to honour Asean Regional Forum when he re- 10 months to serve in the capacity of
and respect the Asean principles and sponded to Indonesia’s appeal for Asean chair. What would happen
norms enshrined in the Treaty of peacekeeping assistance. Any mis- next? Cambodia will succeed IndoAmity and Cooperation and the Ase- step could send a wrong signal to nesia as the Asean chair next year—
an Charter. They also know the Asean hesitant Asean members and impact the year when Cambodia will go to
mantra that members—in this case on the grouping’s future political and the polls. Will Indonesia continue
after a few days of armed skirmish- security cooperation. Truth be told, its current role beyond its chairmanes—should not go to war or declare a Indonesia is extremely mindful of the ship? In that case, would Jakarta
state of war perpetually. Thanks to presence of only two foreign minis- take on a mediating role?
Indonesia’s leadership, the two mem- ters from Laos and Singapore at the
Indonesia’s great leap of faith is
bers agreed to station the Indonesian meeting, apart from the concerned also linked to its global agenda. Jaobservers at their respective borders. countries. If the chair’s new adven- karta’s desire and vision to prepare
The tripartite group is currently still ture achieves its intended purposes, Asean as a single community with
March 11-24, 2011
• 21
PHOTO BY A F P
POLITICS
By Nirmal Ghosh
The Straits Times
common vision and identity after
2015 and to engage it with the larger
world, notably old and new major
powers, is extremely ambitious. As a
tangible step towards this noble object, Asean under the Indonesian
chair must demonstrate its ability to
contain and manage efficiently any
intra-Asean conflict without resorting to bigger international bodies.
Otherwise, the credibility of entire
Asean could be at stake.
Over a decade ago, Indonesia
showed the way. Jakarta had the courage to wash its dirty linen in East
Timor for all to see and indeed set
forth an unheralded political precedence in Asean—balancing international maneouvrability with regional
solidarity and limited leadership
found in individual Asean members.
That left behind a good legacy in East
Timor and Aceh. In the process, Indonesia’s confidence and international
profile was also promoted. Somehow,
Jakarta was not able to jump-start
such an effort to inculcate this noble
approach. The expanded Bali Concord II was the compromise that the
Asean members would concur with—
obviously commensurate to Indonesia’s overall status at the time.
The next 10 months will be crucial
for two reasons. First and foremost, it
has to do with the rise of Indonesia—
a far cry from 2003—as a regional
power with global influence. Any resumption of Thai-Cambodian hostilities could immediately undermine
Jakarta’s unique position. Second, it
will demonstrate if Asean really has
the mettle to deal with internal conflict. One caveat is in order: whatever
the outcome, in the long-run it would
also have a ripple effect on succeeding chairs. If there was a precedence
set forth at the Jakarta meeting, it
was essentially the ability of family
members to settle their own conflicts
themselves. If the UN Security Council has to take up the Thai-Cambodian border issue again, it would deal a
big slap in Asean’s face and further
hamper the realisation of Asean as a
political and secure community.
With a report from Supalak Ganjanakhundee/The Nation (Thailand)
22 •
The China
Factor
Growth of the dragon brings
changes in Southeast Asia
W
❖ Bangkok
hat has China got to
do with recent
bloody clashes over
a 900-year-old
temple in South-
east Asia?
Beijing is not a party to the conflict, nor has it any stake in the territorial dispute between Cambodia and Thailand.
And yet China, with its growing
presence and influence in Indochina, is changing the power dynamics in the region.
One key result has been the
weakening of Thailand’s traditional economic domination in
the neighbourhood as China steps
up trade and investment in countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion, which besides Thailand
includes Laos, Burma, Viet Nam
and Cambodia.
With Cambodia less reliant on
the Thai growth engine, its Prime
Minister, Hun Sen, has become
emboldened to put up a tough
fight against Thailand in its border dispute, some analysts say.
The border clashes early February
left at least three Thais and eight
Cambodians dead.
Given its proximity and longstanding ties, Thailand no doubt
still plays a big role in Cambodia’s economy. Two-way trade
last year was valued at about 81
billion baht (US$2.63 billion),
up 20 per cent from the previous
year. Thai businessmen have
over 80 projects worth over
$363 million in the country.
But the Chinese presence in
Cambodia has grown rapidly in
recent years. In a paper last December, Australian academic
Geoff Wade, currently with Singapore’s Institute of South East
Asian Studies (Iseas), noted that
there were 360 Chinese investment projects in Cambodia totalling $80 billion by the middle
of last year.
China recently waived $400
million worth of Cambodian debt.
One of the largest Chinese-language schools in Southeast Asia is
located in Phnom Penh. China
also provides much of the Cambodian army’s equipment, say observers who have seen Cambodia’s
military deployments at the disputed Preah Vihear temple site.
In turn, Cambodia has cooperated with Beijing politically,
sending 20 ethnic Uyghur asylum seekers back to China in
2009, for instance.
Thai historian Thongchai Winichakul, in a recent talk in Bangkok, noted China’s neutrality on
the Thai-Cambodian conflict, but
acknowledged that “Cambodia is
less dependent on Thailand than
the Thais think”.
At one time during the booming
1980s, Bangkok was the “logical
centre” of the region, says Professor Michael Montesano of Iseas.
Now, “Cambodia certainly, and
Laos to a degree, have other opMarch 11-24, 2011
ALLIES: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) shakes hands with Chinese President Hu
Jintao at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Dec 15, 2010.
tions. Cambodia is more sophisticated now; they can pick and choose. In
addition to China, with its huge demand and ability to penetrate markets, Singapore also comes into play.”
Cambodia also has strong economic ties with Viet Nam as well
as other countries like South Korea
and Japan as it forges ahead with
its growing network of international linkages.
China’s rising profile in Indochina
is not restricted to Cambodia. It is
the same in Laos, where it has
stepped up investments in agriculture and infrastructure.
Its investment in infrastructure in
Burma includes laying strategic gas
and oil pipelines and port development. The Burmese-language Weekly
Eleven reported recently that China
poured more than $3 billion into the
country from last November through
March 11-24, 2011
January this year, bringing its cumulative investment since 1988 to $9.6
billion, above Thailand’s $9.56 billion.
As for Thailand, its officials have
described their country’s relationship
with China as one between siblings.
Bangkok is also positioning itself as a
partner to China in the hopes of mutually benefiting from its growth.
One example is the 45 billion baht
($1.4 billion) China City trading complex on the outskirts of Bangkok.
When completed in two years,
thousands of Chinese traders will operate from there, re-exporting Chinese-made goods from Thailand to
avoid costly tariffs. The trading centre is expected to create an estimated
70,000 new jobs.
“The economic might of China imposes a compelling calculation,” said
an Asian diplomat of its burgeoning
ties in mainland Southeast Asia.
“With all these countries, because of
proximity and land links, it is very
difficult to ignore China.”
But that is not to say there are no
limits to China’s influence.
In Thailand, the Chinese community has for generations been seamlessly integrated into the rest of Thai
society. But in Burma, distrust of
China among the older intellectual
and military elites remains, and Burmese nationalism will be a brake on
Chinese influence.
And there is competition too.
American officials have been open
about the fact that the recent re-engagement of the United States, in the
shape of a development initiative for
lower Mekong countries, is an attempt to balance China’s surging economic influence.
Viet Nam too has its own ambitions in the neighbourhood, along
with historical baggage, having
fought a ferocious border war with
China in 1979.
“They can’t ignore China. But because of their status as a new tiger
and with a more self-confident and
outward-oriented approach, Vietnamese officials often speak against
China on issues,” said the Asian diplomat. This includes voicing concerns
about Chinese claims to the South
China Sea.
Wade also noted in his paper that
“Viet Nam is competing with China
to bring both Laos and Cambodia
within its own sphere of influence
through increased trade, investments
and political interaction.”
Pragmatic self-interest and a fear
of over-dependence can also act as
a check on China’s influence. As
Chan Sophal, president of the Cambodian Economic Association, told
The Straits Times: “With more regional integration, there’s more open
trade. Who you do business with
depends on competitiveness. Different economies have different
comparative advantages.”
Or as Wade puts it, while Cambodia may have a widely held but rarely
expressed reputation as a “client
state” of China, “that doesn’t mean
Prime Minister Hun Sen does whatever China wants”.
• 23
CHANGING ASIA
By Rupak D. Sharma
Asia News Network
LOOKING FOR DEALS: A
woman in Beijing shops online
at the Taobao website.
Online
Shopping
Spree
DELIVERYMAN: Cui Yunliang
waits for clients to pick up packages
near the gate of Beijing Foreign
Studies University in Beijing, China.
As e-commerce booms in China,
deliverymen like Cui are running
around in their bicycles loaded with
packages.
More Asians are
picking up goods
from online stores
I
ndian businessman Paby Khatra
loves shopping. But the small
town of Mansa in Punjab, from
where he comes, does not have
many shopping complexes
where he can indulge in his favourite
pastime. To fulfill his urge, he used
to visit New Delhi. Nowadays, the
39-year-old turns to his computer.
And with the click of the mouse
purchases everything—available in
the stores of the Indian capital—sitting at home or office.
“Since I started buying online, I
haven’t gone to a mall to buy a
cologne,” he recently told The
Straits Times. “You get good brands
on low discounts which are not
available elsewhere.”
Indians, like Khatra, are finally
getting the hang of online shopping,
which was earlier limited to purchasing air and train tickets or
books. The volume is still lower
than in countries like the US, where
the trend had become popular more
than a decade ago, but looking at
the growth in the number of people
rushing to online stores, it gives a
feeling that the market may take
24 •
lesser time to mature than expected.
For instance, Brandmile, an
‘invitation only’ online shopping
club, has been able to gather 50,000
members since it started operation
last April. Another online store,
Bazaar.com, launched in October
2010, sees 50,000 hits per day. No
wonder, India’s e-commerce market
has swelled to around US$4.5
billion and is growing at an annual
rate of 30-35 per cent.
A look into other Asian markets
shows similar growth trends.
Singapore-based customers, for
instance, spent nearly S$690
million (US$531 million) online last
year, 15 times more than they did a
decade ago. In Taiwan, sales in
online marketplace is expected to
jump to NT$358 billion ($12.1
billion) this year from NT$134
billion ($4.5 billion) in 2006. And
in South Korea, online market is
expected to grow by more than 20
per cent to 33.5 billion won ($29.8
million) this year.
One of the reasons why many
Asians are turning to online stores
is convenience.
MK How, 21, from Petaling Jaya
in Malaysia, who spends about
40-100 ringgit ($13-$33) on online
shopping a month, recently told The
Star that she preferred online
shopping “because it’s easier to
survey different websites and there’s
no sales person to harass me”.
“Sometimes, I get a cheaper deal on
the product of the same style found
in branded stores,” she said.
But 30-year-old shipping executive Amy Lee from the Malaysian
state of Sarawak has a completely
different reason for picking up
goods online. She said she visits
online shops because shopping at
retail stores in her town is quite
limited. In other words, online
stores provides her access to local
and international brands that are
not available in her town. And this
group of people is motivating many
to set up online shops.
Central, Thailand’s largest chain
shopping complex, opened an
online store three months ago,
primarily to cater to this group, as it
cannot set up real stores in rural
areas due to small size of market,
it’s vice president for e-business and
customer service recently told The
March 11-24, 2011
Nation (Thailand).
It is the same in India, where
smaller cities and towns contribute
to around 40 per cent of the total
online shopping sales.
eBay India, which tracked its
transactions through 2009 and last
year, found that users from Delhi,
Mumbai, Jaipur, Chennai and
Bangalore were on top but a third of
their 2.5 million users came from
rural areas. Most of these rural
users bought entry-level phones,
desktops and clothes, according to
eBay India.
It is believed more people from
India’s less developed areas will hit
online stores in the coming days as
Internet penetration is expected to
rise to 237 million by 2015 from the
present 81 million.
According to the ‘2011 Outlook
for the Retail & Consumer Products
Sector in Asia’ by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, online commerce represents the next major area for retail
growth in Asia.
The report said that the growth in
Asia will be fuelled by China as
“online shopping in the country
seems set to skyrocket”.
March 11-24, 2011
Last year, the number of online
shoppers in the country, which has
the world’s largest number of
Internet users, went up by almost
50 per cent to 160 million. Analysys
International, a research company,
said these people bought goods
worth 520 billion yuan ($78.79
billion)—up 370 per cent.
“The electronic device and
garment sectors are the key drivers
of the boom, while many exportoriented companies have shifted
their business to the online market
after the 2008 economic downturn,”
Chen Shousong, an analyst from
Analysys International, was quoted
by China Daily as saying.
South Korea’s large retailers are
also all set to intensify competition
online as more and more online
stores open up due to high Internet
penetration in the country and
popularity of smartphones.
Lotte Shopping, Shinsegae
Group and Hyundai Department
Store are strengthening their
Internet and mobile business
operations with plans to open
new shops, broaden partnerships
and improve user services such as
in-store pickup options.
Stores in other countries are also
jumping in this bandwagon to make
shopping more convenient for
people. However, there are some
unscrupulous retailers who are
turning online shopping into
nightmares for some shoppers.
Complaints from users usually
entail late or non-delivery of
purchases, sales of defective goods
and delay in issuing refunds.
But on the flip side, sometimes it’s
also the customers, who become
nightmares for online store operators. Many of them have complained that some customers
suddenly go missing after placing
the order, while others keep delaying payment especially on cash-ondelivery purchases.
Yet experts say, people who
complain about their online shopping experiences form a minority
and has not become a big scourge
for the sector itself. Still, everyone
must practice caution.
• 25
P hoto by China Daily
Photo by A FP
v Bangkok
LIFESTYLE
SINGAPORE
By Cara Van Miriah
The Straits Times
DANCING THE NIGHT
AWAY: Youngsters dance at
Phuture R&B Club in Singapore.
LAU FOOK KONG / The Straits Times
The Night
Is Young
Singapore’s
youngsters have
plenty to splash
out on regular
clubbing
here is nothing like
youthful spirits. Young
clubbers splurging on
bottles of spirits, that is.
Meet the new highrollers on the nightlife scene in
Singapore who have got club
operators rubbing their hands in glee
at the profits.
Forget the old type of big spenders—the 40- and 50-something
karaoke-loving uncles who favour
cognac on-the-rocks. The new guard
are tertiary students, young working
adults and national servicemen aged
between 18 and 25.
The cashed-up club kids, sporting
the latest trendy looks, flood dance
floors on Wednesdays—ladies’
nights—and Fridays and Saturdays,
dropping hundreds of dollars a visit.
Instead of individual glasses of
drinks, their tables are crammed
with bottles of spirits and even
champagne, each costing between
S$150 (US$117) and S$200 (US$156).
And naturally, clubs are going all
out to woo them with theme parties,
music gigs and drink deals.
Kelvin Tan, 35, who runs Home
Club at The Riverwalk, says: “Five
years ago, only a handful were
prepared to blow a couple of
hundred dollars a night, but that is
commonplace today. Youth are a lot
savvier now, in terms of taste and
finding ways to make extra cash.”
Living at home with mum and
dad and with no financial commitments, they have plenty to splash
out on regular clubbing, thanks to
earnings from part-time jobs and a
monthly allowance from parents.
Their motto: Got money, must
party. Take Julius Lim, 23, a polytechnic student. Mum and dad, both
office managers, give him a monthly
allowance of S$650 (US$510).
The younger of two children, who
March 11-24, 2011
This age group’s expenditure is fast
catching up with those aged 27 to 30.
However, the main bulk of spenders
are still professionals in their 30s and
40s, say operators.
Still, when the youngsters hit
the clubs, they show up in
groups of four to five people—or
more. That is how the nightspots
make the big bucks.
Powerhouse, for example, attracts
up to 6,000 youth over three nights a
week. That alone translates to at least
S$90,000 (US$70,566) in door takings
based on the lowest cover-charge of
S$15 (US$11).
The young people also stay longer,
which translates to spending more
on drinks.
St James’ marketing manager
GETTING THE GROOVE: Young girls
party at The Butter Factory in Singapore.
CASHED-UP KIDS: Brandon Phua (third
from left), 24, a business management
student, clubs with three friends thrice a week
at Powerhouse dance club in St James Power
Station in Singapore.
increased pocket money and wages
over the years. Spending is also made
easier with credit cards.
There are 215,605 credit card-holders in the 21 to 29 age group, who
each has an average balance or
amount spent of S$2,146 (US$1,682), as
of December last year, according to
the Credit Bureau Singapore.
Industry observers estimate the
18- to 25-year-old segment contributes
one-third, or about S$200 million
(US$156.8 million), of the annual
revenue in the lucrative nightlife
industry here. There are more than
1,200 entertainment venues.
March 11-24, 2011
Stephen Davies notes: “ The
youth revenue accounts for 30
per cent of our group’s turnover.
The 18 to 25 segment provides a
renewable market, with many
turning 18—the legal drinking
age—every year. They represent a
sizeable consumer market.”
Those aged between 20 and 24
make up about 5 per cent, or 247,000
people, of the population here,
according to demographic figures
ending in June last year from the
Department of Statistics Singapore.
To woo them, Zouk organised
more than 50 youth-centric events
last year—a 20 per cent spike
compared to 2009.
Its sister outlet Phuture R&B Club
will soon launch another new
hip-hop night, ‘Tease’, as well as
dazzle with a new look.
The S$50,000 (US$39,200) revamp
will see new podiums built near the
dance floor and a DJ console to
accommodate live acts.
Instead of hiring young party
promoters to bring in the crowd,
many nightspots such as Zouk work
with student bodies to offer discounted venue rates for student
bashes and sometimes sponsor
tertiary events held at the club.
Fashion-centric events are usually a
hit. For example, Zouk’s ‘Wardrobe’,
where young designers showcase
their works, and The Butter Factory’s ‘Fash Mob’, where fashion, arts
and design students enjoy free entry,
draw the trendy set.
At ‘Fash Mob’, students create
outrageous party wear and accessories, says marketing manager Adrian
Wee, adding that the 18 to
25 segment accounts for 60
per cent of the club’s
patronage.
The hipsters are a
discerning bunch who
know a cheesy Europop
track and a cutting-edge
dance tune when they
hear them.
Tan of Home Club
observes that even young
clubbers appreciate
established acts way before
their time, such as drum
‘n’ bass Brit jocks Goldie
and LTJ Bukem.
They, too, know where the good
drink deals are and are brand-conscious, say liquor suppliers.
Alfred Goh, brand manager of
alcohol distributor Pernod Ricard
Singapore, says: “Young adult
drinkers generally consume more
white spirits such as tequila and
vodka. Brands such as Absolut
vodka are popular as they are
associated with fashion and
glamour. Young drinkers like to
experiment with their drinks and
vodka is a mixable spirit.”
Liquor companies, however, are
careful about being seen ‘pushing’
alcohol to impressionable young
adults. Pernod Ricard, for example,
has a global campaign, ‘Stomp On
Drink Driving’, targeted at youth
through events at clubbing precincts
to drink responsibly.
• 27
Photos by D E SM ON D W E E / The Straits T imes
26 •
T
❖ Singapore
lives in a three-room flat, says:
“Going clubbing is a lot more fun
than going to the movies. The vibe
at the clubs is energetic, you get to
check out the DJs and socialise,
dance and drink.
“If I can afford it, why stay home
and miss out on the fun?”
He visits nightspots Zirca and
Rebel in Clarke Quay and Zouk off
River Valley Road twice a week.
Asked what his parents think
of his lifestyle, he replies:
“ T hey are cool with it so long I
do well in school.”
Compared with five years ago, the
average expenditure for each person
in the 18- to 25-year-old segment has
doubled from S$30 (US$23) to S$60
(US$47) a visit, say club owners.
This is also due to higher allowances for national servicemen and
LIFESTYLE
J A PA N
By Chiyono Sugiyama
The Daily Yomiuri
Monster
Hit
Monster Hunter, one of the most popular video game series
in Japan, has attracted not only boys but girls as well
“I
(C )CA P CO M CO. , LTD. 20 10 A LL RI GH TS R E S E RV E D
❖ Tokyo
sn’t this cute,” Rie Kusunoki says, gesturing
to a feline-shaped accessory hanging from
her handbag.
Many people likely mistake the cat
for just another cartoon character. But
those in the know will immediately
recognise it as a Felyne, one of the
hunter companions in Monster Hunter, one of the most popular video
game series in Japan.
PlayStation Portables (PSPs) seem
to have become more ubiquitous during the morning train commute ever
since Monster Hunter Portable 3rd
(MHP3) went on sale late last year. In
fact, many of the commuters seem to
be busy hunting monsters on their
way to work. Even at dinnertime, it’s
not unusual to see young men pulling
out their PSPs.
The game has become the fastestselling title in PSP history, with 4 million units shipped in a single month—
while total sales of video games in the
country dropped below the 500-billion-yen (US$6.1 billion) mark last
year, according to video game industry rag Enterbrain Inc.
It has also become a social phenomenon and “let’s go hunting” has become a catchphrase among the gamers. Because of this craze, PSP devices,
which have been on the market for
about six years, are much harder to
28 •
find these days as many people are
buying them to play the new Monster
Hunter game.
In this game, gamers play the role
of a hunter, who traverses mountain
streams, tundra and desert planes on
a variety of quests. These missions
include not only killing, capturing
and carving up monsters, but also collecting mushrooms, insects, nuts,
honey and metals from the playing
fields. The player can use these items
to create a large variety of weapons,
armour and potions.
The game’s producer, Capcom’s
Ryozo Tsujimoto, was pleased but not
surprised at how well the title has
been selling. “We set out to create a
video game that would exceed what
we had done with Monster Hunter
Portable 2nd G.” Four million units of
these games—including a discounted
edition—have been shipped since it
was released two years ago.
Generally, the hardest part about
creating a new video game is making
it approachable for new gamers.
“Just because somebody thinks a
game looks like fun, he or she may be
a bit reluctant to start so late into a
series,” he says.
“For MHP3, however, there is very
little carried over from its predecessor.
So, regardless whether you’ve played
the earlier titles, everybody starts
from scratch on this one.”
This certainly made it easier for
me to enter this world. I had been
curious about the title—in no small
part because some of my favourite
celebrities frequently blogged about
it—and picked it up without ever
hav ing played any of the other
games in the series.
Other women, such as Hiromi
Kaneko, were introduced to the game
through friends who were already fanatics. She first heard about the game
through the Felyne-loving Kusunoki,
who has logged upward of 780 hours
on MHP2G. “I had never really been
interested in action games before,”
Kaneko says.
Their friends Rieko Takenaka and
Natsumi Yoshida also have been playing since since Kusunoki got them
hooked on to MHP2G.
In fact, the number of female
“hunters” may come as a bit of a
surprise: Capcom’s Tsujimoto estimates that 15 to 20 per cent of the
game’s followers are women and
many of them had come to know
about it through friends.
For these four women, it is now the
main topic of conversation. They discuss where and when they should
meet up to play and recent finds on
the gaming field.
It is this sort of communication
and cooperative gameplay that may
be the real attraction for female
gamers. Takenaka and Yoshida think
of the game as a kind of communiMarch 11-24, 2011
cation tool because they have to
cooperate with each other whenever they go hunting as a group.
Kaneko remembers feeling a bit put
off by the blood splatters whenever
she killed a monster. “But now,” she
says, “I realise the monsters are useful
for creating armour and potions. Plus,
the game is based on the idea of selfsufficiency, so my hunter will starve
to death if I don’t hunt.”
I, too, had the same reaction to the
gore. But now that I’m used to it, I
find my “hunter’s spirit” aroused
whenever I watch the opening scenes
of the game—especially looking at the
formidable boss monster, Jinouga—
and the nostalgic base camp at Yuku-
For example, pacifist Felynes focus
on gathering items from the fields in
lieu of attacking the monsters; other
Felynes act as a decoy to distract
monsters trying to attack their master.
T h e Fe l y n e C o m r a d e s w e r e
introduced in MHP2G in an attempt to e xpand g amepl ay, according to Tsujimoto.
“People playing by themselves
tend to play at a much slower pace
than gamers using multiplay mode,”
he says. “But when it comes to
training the Felynes, it is much
better to play on your own. This
is because you are only allowed
one Felyne Comrade when playing
with two hunters, and none when
about 1,300 years ago—was decorated
in MHP3 paraphernalia.
“We saw a lot of young visitors at
the hot spring during the event; some
were there for the day, some spent the
night,” says Noboru Seki, head of the
Shibu hot spring hotel association.
Capcom coined the idea of organising the promotional event,
and the association decided to go
ahead with it at the request of the
younger members, who were familiar with the series.
“Actually, a lot of the people coming here for the Monster Hunter event
had never heard of our hot springs
before. So, we were also successful in
getting our name known among peo-
mo Village, a fictitious village modelled on a traditional Japanese
hot-spring resort.
While I have come to enjoy the
hunt, I also love to explore the fields,
finding and collecting a large variety
of useful items. Sometimes I even ignore my prey in favour of picking up
some honey or metal ore.
For many female gamers, the initial
attraction may simply come down to
the Felyne Comrade (known in Japanese as Otomo Airu).
These cute cats help the hunters
out on a quest, but also soften the
game’s stark imagery, according to
Takenaka and Yoshida.
A player can select two Felyne
companions to accompany them on
their hunt. The cats’ equipment, armour and skill level also can be upgraded. Each of the characters has a
distinctive personality and are a lot of
fun to watch.
playing with three or more.”
MHP3 also allows gamers to exchange their Felynes with other players. It’s almost as if the companions
somehow reflect their former owner’s
personalities.
To add to the fun, celebrity-trained
Felynes are being made available
via the Internet for a limited time.
Their appeal lies not only in the
fame of the creator, but also his or
her hard-earned skill. Currently
available are Felynes trained by
comedian Satoshi Inoue from Jicho
Kacho and former Morning Musume
member Maki Goto. Both celebrities
claim to have spent at least 2,000
hours on the series.
Although Yukumo Village does not
exist in the real world, the Shibu hot
spring in Yamanouchimachi, Nagano
Prefecture, does exist.
From December 23 to January 10,
the hot spring—which was discovered
ple who weren’t all that interested in
hot springs,” he says.
Although the event is over, Seki
says, MHP3 fans are still visiting the
hot spring town.
In March, six Japanese cities will
play host to the Monster Hunter
Festa 2011 event, providing a good
opportunity for lone hunters to
gather with others for a great multiplay ing experience. If you go,
don’t forget to bring your own
PSP—they may still be hard to find.
March 11-24, 2011
(Monster Hunter Festa ‘11 will be held on
March 13 at West Japan General Exhibition
Centre in Fukuoka; on March 19 at Port
Messe Nagoya in Nagoya; on March 21 at
Makuhari Messe in Chiba; on March 27 at
Sunfesta in Sendai; on April 3 at Sapporo
Convention Centre in Sapporo; and on April
10 at Intex Osaka in Osaka. Admission is
free. For information, visit www.capcom.
co.jp/monsterhunter/P3rd/)
• 29
MUSIC
By Jean Oh
The Korea Herald
hen footage of The
B l a c k Eye d Pe a s’
w il l.i.am work ing
with girl group 2NE1
hit national television
last year, it was a defining moment for
the K-pop industry.
Though the domestic industry had
been enlisting the talent of overseas
producers and composers for years,
this collaboration took the whole situation to another level, not just in
terms of exposure but also in terms of
star power.
“Our side had an opportunity to
meet will.i.am,” Hwang Min-hee—PR
Team Leader for 2NE1’s YG Entertainment—said in a phone interview. “He
saw music videos (of the girls) and
said he wanted to work with us.”
The artiste of the Grammy Awardwinning hip-hop group met with the
girls for three recording sessions in
London and Los Angeles and churned
out 10 tracks. Then, in early February,
Black Eyed Peas tour DJ-and-co-producer Poet flew into Seoul with DJ
Josh One to lay down some more
tracks for 2NE1.
“ This was my first time in Korea
to work on K-pop,” DJ Josh One
said via e-mail. “I was ver y impressed. YG’s sound and vibe seems
to definitely stand out from eve30 •
K-pop girl group SISTAR, whose single ‘I Don’t Like Weak Men’
was produced in collaboration with Grammy Award-winning
producer Eliot Kennedy.
rything else I have heard in Korea.”
Since the late 1990s, the K-pop industry has rapidly grown, bulging out
of its domestic market, spreading
through Asia and entering European
and American markets.
Such rapid expansion has also
spurred overseas interest from major
producers and composers.
Take Xperimental Entertainment for
instance. The Los Angeles-based company founded by William Pyon and
Kim Young-hu currently counts South
Korean music goliath S.M. Entertainment as one of its biggest clients and
has also worked with YG Entertainment, the company behind major Kpop acts BIGBANG and 2NE1.
According to Xperimental CEO
William Pyon, the amount of business based on hooking overseas composers and producers up with K-pop
artistes has grown over the years. If
before, it accounted for about 5 to 10
per cent of their business, now it
takes up 50 per cent.
Park So-young, assistant manager for the South Korean publishing arm of Xperimental, agreed
that there has been an increase in
such collaborations.
“If there are 12 tracks then at least
one of them is an overseas single,” she
told The Korea Herald.
“We get a lot of requests from en-
tertainment companies for overseas
composers these days,” she added.
An increase in the number of
prominent international producers
and composers working with Korean entertainment companies, in
turn, seems to be fostering even
more interest in South Korean pop
music abroad.
Lars Halvor Jensen, whose Denmark-based company DEEKAY Music
worked on Girls’ Generation’s Hoot,
believes there is “massive potential for
K-pop worldwide”.
“Lots of people are tired of the
‘taking yourself so serious’ that a lot
of Western artistes seem to have,”
said Jensen, explaining the selling
power of SM’s nine-member girl
band via e-mail. “In a world marked
by natural disasters and financial recession people need the positive energy that comes from listening to
K-pop artistes’ records and seeing
them perform.”
DEEKAY first made contact with
SM through a mutual acquaintance
that pitched their song Holla to the
South Korean entertainment company. The song became boy band
SHINee’s single Hello.
Then, DEEKAY and songwriter
Alex James co-wrote Hoot, which Universal Music Publishing Group European artistes and repertoire executive
March 11-24, 2011
Korean boy band SHINee also
worked with DEEKAY on the
single ‘Hello’.
Pelle Liddell says he pitched to SM.
Aside from writing and programming for SM’s Girls’ Generation
and SHINee, DEEKAY, which was
f o u n d e d by Je n s e n a n d M a r t i n
Michael Larsson in 1998 and currently has studios in Copenhagen
and Los Angeles, has also written
and produced for major artistes
like Diddy, Lil Wayne, Mis-Teeq
and Ashley Tisdale.
Though DEEKAY could easily
stick to high profile Western acts,
Jensen said “because of our fantastic
experience with Asian artistes, we
will focus a lot more on K-pop and
J-pop markets” this year.
Xperimental CEO Pyon, whose
company also has branches in Seoul
and Tokyo, believes that one of the
reasons more overseas producers and
composers are looking to South Korea is because “the music industry
really took a slump”.
“I think that has a lot do with
a lot of interest now from foreign
writers as well as American writers to break into the Asian market,”
he said over the phone.
Pyon, who not only worked with
SM and YG but also on projects
featuring major artistes like the
late 2Pac, attributes the industr y
downturn to technolog y.
The Internet fostered digital downMarch 11-24, 2011
loads which led to decreased album
sales. Also, says Pyon, the advent of
technology narrowed the gap between
home and professional recordings.
For now, domestic composers and
producers still dominate the K-pop
industry. There is no denying the
increased presence, however, or at
the least increased publicity, of overseas collaborations.
Indeed, Starship Entertainment’s
collaboration with Grammy Awardwinning producer Eliot Kennedy on
SISTAR’s single I Don’t Like Weak Men
represents one of the company’s first
forays into working with foreign talent. The positive experience, according to Seo, has left the company
wanting to continue such explorations in the future.
Kennedy, in turn, is also interested
in working with more Korean artistes.
“I will be heading out to Korea in
the next couple of months to hopefully work with some artistes and
local writers and producers,” he said
via e-mail.
As for high profile collaborations,
will.i.am’s work with 2NE1 may be
the most televised of the day but it is
certainly not the first.
YG’s Se7en worked with female
rap artiste Lil’ Kim for his US single
Girls and BIGBANG hotties G-Dragon and T.O.P. with American DJ
Photo by YG E ntertainment
W
❖ Seoul
Girls’ Generation worked with
Lars Halvor Jensen, from the
Denmark-based company
DEEKAY Music, on ‘Hoot’.
Photo courtesy of S M E ntertainment
Western artistEs, producers
turn to K-pop to expand
overseas markets
Photo courtesy of Starship E ntertainment
K-POP
Photo courtesy of S M E ntertainment
TIME TO
Girl group 2NE1 made waves last year when
footage of them working with Black Eyed Peas’
will.i.am hit national television.
Diplo for Knock Out.
JYJ—the boy band formed by three
TVXQ idols-gone-independent—collaborated with famed rapper-and-record producer Kanye West on their
first album The Beginning last year.
Not everyone, however, is looking
specifically to work with famous acts.
“Yes and no,” Pyon said about
whether or not he feels the pressure
to orchestrate more headline-grabbing collaborations. “If you want
publicity or if you’re looking into
publicity, then, yeah, it’s definitely
worthwhile to do that.”
An SM Entertainment artistes and
repertoire publishing representative
said that they were “open to the possibility” of working with famous artistes but that they are more focused
on the quality of the “song” itself.
One thing is for certain, collaborations like that of will.i.am and 2NE1
point to the increasing international
influence of K-pop.
“Nowadays a lot of producers, they
know who these artistes are,” Pyon
said about overseas recognition of
SM and other K-pop acts. “It’s telling
me that the K-pop scene has really
evolved into almost a mainstream aspect of the industry.”
“A lot of American producers know
as much about or even more about Jpop and K-pop than even me.
• 31
BOOK
BANGKOK
By Manote Tripathi
The Nation (Thailand)
In one elegantly
crafted bowl,
bencharong serves
Sino-Siamese
diplomacy,
palace intrigue,
even a civil
servant’s murder
32 •
T
❖ Bangkok
he five-colour porcelain
known as bencharong represents the glory of Siamese
culture. It was made in
China—but exclusively for
Siamese royalty
It came to symbolise the opulence
of the Chakri Dynasty court, as well
as Bangkok’s prosperity.
You won’t see many of the original
pieces in our museums, however, or
even in the palaces open to the public.
They’re in the private collections of
well-to-do citizens.
“These pieces are expensive—a bencharong bowl can fetch 500,000 baht
(US$16,323)—so you can’t expect to see
them in public,” says Pim Prapai Bisalputra, who, with Jeffery Sng, has
produced a book that finally offers a
broad accounting of these treasures.
Sng and Pim spent three years writing
“Bencharong & Chinaware in the Court of
Siam: The Surat Osathanugrah Collection”,
the most comprehensive coffee-table
book on the subject in English to date.
Surat—a politician who was also an
acclaimed photographer—owned what
was arguably the largest collection in
the Kingdom. Before he died he commissioned the authors to write specifically about his bencharong rather
than his blue-and-white chinaware, a
better-known subject.
Pim, whose great grandfather,
Phraya Bisanpholpanich, imported
Chinese porcelain to Bangkok, says
she and Sng set out to share the whole
story of bencharong, to “tell the world
that how successful the Chakri Dynasty was in running the country”.
“We wanted to write about bencharong because it represents the
art of the Siamese royal court.
Bencharong was originally made
only for the royal court of Siam,
and not many people know this.”
Their research led to Ayutthaya in
the 15th century, when the kings had
blue-and-white Ming porcel ain
adorned with Siamese motifs.
These pieces were the original “colourware” and the precursors to bencharong—the name literally means
“five colours”. The royal court of
Ayutthaya placed customised orders
for bencharong from China.
March 11-24, 2011
PHOTO S COU RTE SY OF JEFFERY SNG & PI M PRAPAI BI SALP U TRA
History In Five Colours
Technology improved during the
Qing D ynasty in the 1800s that
enabled more colours to be applied
to the ceramics, and bencharong was
coming to Siam by the late Ayutthaya
Period.The decoration is intricate,
and the multi-coloured glaze tends
to be opaque, with extensive use of
white enamel.
The Surat collection includes fine
examples of late-Ayutthaya bencharong in both green and pink—famille
verte and famille rose.
Precious few pieces survived the
Burmese army’s destruction of the old
capital in 1767. The best were probably smashed in the bombardment or
carried off by looters.
What did survive
was
handed
down through
calling the prince
glazing, colour“ t h e d o ye n o f
ing and enamelThai culture and
ling began to
music”.
take on different
“After 1932 evecharacteristics.
rybody sold their
T here was
heirlooms.”
nothing more
It’s
been
luxurious than
claimed that it
the Chakri Dytook the prince’s
nasty tea sets, ∫ Authors Pim Prapai Bisalputra and Jeffery
aide a full month
Pim says.
Sng during their book’s launch.
to liquidate the
Siam’s tribute
millions of baht
trade came to an
abruptend in 1851 when a diplomatic worth of porcelain. Many of these pieces
mission dispatched there by King ended up on sale in the Werng Makhon
Rama IV was robbed between Canton Kasem Market.
Royal interest in the once-coveted
and Beijing and an interpreter was
ceramics declined with the advent of
murdered.
Siam began importing porcelain capitalism. At the same time, with the
from Europe instead, regarding it as easing of restrictions on design, common people found they could now
higher quality anyway, Pim says.
the generations as family heirlooms.
The most commonly seen bencharong
came from rural temples where it was
hidden in the midst of war and the
subsequent raids of profiteers.
Sng points out that Bangkok was
bigger and more prosperous than any
previous Siamese capital. Trade relations were early on established with
the Qing court, and with them the
resumption of custom orders for chinaware for the royal household.
“Colourware became the signature
porcelain of the Qing court,” Pim
says. “Thai tastes switched from blue
and white to colourware, which led
to the creation of bencharong for the
Siamese court.”
The bencharong sent to Bangkok
was of higher quality than anything
seen in Ayutthaya or T honburi,
she adds. T he patterns, motifs,
“After 1851,” Sng points out, “no
court officials were sent to China to
oversee the production of bencharong
as they’d done during the early Bangkok period. They had always gone to
make sure the designs and motifs conformed to the royal specifications.”
Nevertheless, later in Rama V’s
reign, he pursued an enthusiasm
for collecting Chinese porcelain,
especially tea sets.
The story of Siam’s chinaware and
benjarong is full of intrigue. Pim laments that, after Siam’s 1932 shift
from absolute to constitution monarchy, much of the royal porcelain collection went missing, especially the
vast array owned by the Prince of
Nakhon Sawan, who fled into exile
in Indonesia.
“He had only one day to collect his
belongings before leaving,” Pim says,
March 11-24, 2011
afford pricey tea sets - bearing illustrations from old folktales rather than
the delicate motifs of old.
The authors credit royalty for Bangkok’s runaway economic success.
“Ayutthaya was 400 years old.
Bangkok is 200 years old,” says Sng.
“We know we live better in Bangkok
than they did in Ayutthaya—the economic prosperity is obvious today.
“But we’ll need to wait another 200
years for a final judgement as to
which dynasty was more solid,” says
Sng, noting that Ayutthaya has more
dynasties than Bangkok.
‘Bencharong & Chinaware in
the Court of Siam: The Surat
Osathanugrah Collection’ is
available at Asia Books in
Thailand for 2,200 baht ($72).
• 33
PEOPLE
By Pocholo Concepcion
Philippine Daily Inquirer
By Pocholo Concepcion
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Advice For
A Rising Star
Ranked as one of five richest Filipinos in the
international scene, Charice has been advised
by mentor Oprah Winfrey not to fall in love yet
W
❖ Manila
hatever Oprah Winfrey says, Filipino
pop sensation Charice Pempengco follows.
“The last time we talked, she told
me not to fall in love or have a boyfriend yet,” the 18-year-old Filipino
international pop star said, referring to her benefactor and main career adviser.
“I agree with her because I myself
am not ready for that. In Miss Oprah’s eyes, I’m still a baby.”
The petite Pinay admitted she did
have a crush on Justin Timberlake,
whom she met in 2009. “I sang for
him at an event and my knees
started shaking when he
smiled at me. I nearly forgot the lyrics,” she recalled, laughing.
But has she
ever fallen in
l o v e ?
“There
are guys
who are
hovering...
but that’s about it,”
she replied, adding
that her mom has even
allowed her to entertain suitors.
Charice pointed
out that Winfrey—
who topped the list
of godparents during her church
baptism last
year—plays a key
role in her US
management’s
34 •
decisions: “Miss Oprah is part of
the Charice team. We seek her
permission for every project that
I do, like Glee. When I went to a
number of auditions, including
some movie projects, there were
a few of them that Miss Oprah
didn’t like. She’s very strict. She
doesn’t like kissing scenes.”
It was actually US TV host Ellen
DeGeneres who gave Charice her
break on American television by inviting her to guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Dec 19, 2007. Winfrey took the singer under her wing
the following year, after Charice
made a series of guest stints on The
Oprah Winfrey Show.
A powerful and influential
media mogul named by Forbes
magazine as the richest
African- American of the
20th century, Winfrey
made one phone call to record producer/songwriter
David Foster and asked
what he could do for
Charice. Foster responded by putting Charice on
his concert tour
lineup. Then he
signed her to a record deal with
Warner USA.
Foster likewise
tapped his (and
Josh Groban’s)
m a n a g e r, M a r c
Johnston, to handle
Charice’s international
business deals.
The last time she
performed in Manila,
on January 8, local media men were
miffed. Reporters who had regularly
covered her arrivals and concerts
wondered why, suddenly, she had
too many bodyguards and couldn’t
give interviews.
“My US management is superstrict and I just follow,” Charice
explained.
As for other criticisms—for instance, a tabloid columnist wrote
that her new signature look with
oversized eyeglasses as a recurring
character on the hit US TV show
Glee didn’t quite fit her—Charice
said: “I don’t take negative comments badly. That’s an opinion, and
I consider it as an advice.”
She recalled that she tried putting
on the glasses while preparing for
her role as exchange student Sunshine Corazon in Glee. She was
afraid the producers wouldn’t like
it, she recounted, “But they did. I
actually told them that I had worn
reading glasses as a student in the
Philippines.”
Using Wayfarers, she said, was a
personal choice. No, RayBan is not
sponsoring it. “How I wish!” Charice quipped.
The rigors of a busy schedule requires Charice to observe a strict
diet now. “Less rice and no fried
foods,” she disclosed.
She has also started a training
programme in an LA gym. “My
trainer wants me to develop my
abs. The things I have to do are
difficult because I’m quite heavy,”
she complained.
Asked how it felt to be ranked
among the Top 5 richest Filipinos
who have made it in the international scene, Charice said: “I don’t know
that I’m rich. I’m able to provide for
my family. I bought my mom a
house; and my brother, a car. As for
me, I’m happy that I can buy all the
gadgets that I want.”
The website celebritynetworth.
com estimates Charice’s current
worth at US$12 million.
She recently bought a Blackberry Torch and an iPhone G4, she
said, adding, “I also collect GShock watches. What I want to
buy next is a van.”
March 11-24, 2011
New Star
On The Tube
After impressing American
singer Lady Gaga, will Maria
Aragon follow in Charice’s
footsteps?
N
❖ Manila
ew YouTube sensation
Maria Aragon is only 10
years old but has enough
confidence to say she
“loves to entertain”.
The dusky Filipino-Canadian, a
resident of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is
also given to saying, “Music is me”,
and that she got into singing because of Beyonce.
These and other information,
posted on the YouTube channel that
her older sister created for
her, had gone pretty much
unnoticed—until last
month, when Lady Gaga got
into the picture.
On February 16, Aragon
posted a video of herself
singing, while playing on
the piano, Lady Gaga’s latest
No. 1 single, Born This Way.
Entertainment blogger
Perez Hilton forwarded the
video to Lady Gaga, who not
only gave glowing comments, but also invited
Aragon to sing with her onstage in a
Toronto concert early this month.
Aragon also went on The Ellen
DeGeneres Show, recounting to the
host the amazing turn of events that
led to the outspoken Isaac Brock
School fifth grader breaking into
tears while talking on the phone
with the US singer-songwriter.
That was during a guesting at Toronto’s Virgin Radio 99.9 FM.
Aragon told DeGeneres, “She
(Lady Gaga) said she was having a
bad day (and that) I made her day.
March 11-24, 2011
It’s really overwhelming.”
DeGeneres was obviously impressed, noting that the video had
so far generated over 11 million hits.
What was it about Aragon’s
video that bowled over a top performer famous worldwide for
theatrical stunts?
It was simple—and yet different.
While the hit song’s original studio
version is a full-on dance track,
Aragon’s cover is a ballad, the better
to underscore the lyrics about em-
powerment: “My mama told me
when I was young/ We are all born
superstars …”
Aside from the young Filipina’s
youth and verve, what charmed
Lady Gaga was that the slower version gave the song a whole new dimension, and somehow diverted
early comparison with Madonna’s
Express Yourself.
Reviewing Born This Way on
rollingstone.com, Rob Sheffield
had previously written: “Despite
the obvious tip of the cap to Ma-
donna’s Express Yourself (which
was just Madge’s knock-off of the
Staple Singers’ Respect Yourself), it’s
steeped in decades of gay disco tradition—it sounds a lot like Patrick
Hernandez’s 1978 classic Born To Be
Alive. Born This Way sums up all the
complex Gaga mythos, all her politics and Catholic angst and smeared
lipstick, in one brilliant pop blast.”
It may unsettle conservative
folks to hear a kid like Aragon
mouthing the song’s pro-gay/lesbian sentiment (“Don’t be
a drag/Just be a queen/…
You’re black, white, beige,
c h o l a d e s c e n t / Yo u ’ r e
L e b a n e s e, yo u’ r e O r i ent!”). But, as Aragon says
on her YouTube channel:
“I’m using this to share
(with) everyone my gift of
music and the talent that
God gave me. I sing, I giggle, I laugh …”
She adds that, although
she’s never been to the
Philippines, she considers
herself a Filipina, having been raised
by Filipino parents in Canada. She
lives with her dad Bienvenido and
mom Mitchilin and two siblings.
Also on YouTube, the budding
musician reveals that she has not
taken formal music lessons: “There
are no music sheets, I figured the
chords out myself and it’s all by ear.”
After Arnel Pineda and Charice
Pempengco, this new Filipino YouTube star is not only younger—she
also seems poised to explore everything that the world can offer.
• 35
POPLAND
By Yasminka Lee
Asia News Network
Jay Chou’s
Era
The Taiwanese superstar marks 10 years of his
music through a $15-million-world tour that
showcases 3D technology
M
❖ Kuala Lumpur
PH OTO S BY TH E STAR
ore than 10 years ago, a
21-year-old young man
with looks unlikely to
qualify him into
Taiwan’s idol-obsessed
entertainment industry released an
album. The album was made up of
songs he wrote but were rejected by
established singers. It became a surprise hit and a new star was born:
Jay Chou.
A decade later, Chou is Taiwan’s
biggest marquee not only in the music
world but even in the movies; he has
recently stepped into Hollywood. His
debut as Kato in The Green Hornet was
received positively by the internation-
36 •
al audience even if the movie itself
was not that popular with the critics.
Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh and Chow
Yun Fat aside, his is the only successful foray into Hollywood by an Asian
star of his age so far.
But it is Chou’s brand of music that
brought him fame. He is not the ordinary pop star who only knows how
to dance and has a passable singing
voice. He has been trained in classical
music since he was three years old
and considers Chopin his favourite
composer.
This musical ingenuity is still very
evident a decade later. It’s one thing to
listen to his CDs or watch DVDs of his
concerts, but it’s an entirely different
March 11-24, 2011
experience watching him perform live.
At his recent concert at the national
stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Chou
wowed not only the young crowd but
even the more discerning ones including the editor-in-chief of The Star
newspaper who tweeted that he got
“dragged” into watching it but ending
up being so impressed he described
the concert as “amazing”.
Chou’s current concert tour, dubbed
The Era, marks his 10 years in the industry. He opened it in his hometown, Taipei, last year, and has since
brought it to China, Hong Kong, Singapore, the US, Canada, and last
weekend, Malaysia.
For non-fans, The Era concert is a
good introduction to Chou’s discography as he incorporated old hits that he
does not sing anymore in recent concerts. Usually, he would cover songs
from his recent album but since this
marks his decade in the industry, he
made sure to include old school songs
like Love Before the Century, Black Humour,
Dad I’m Back and Nunchucks, which was
featured in The Green Hornet.
In the KL leg, it was a pleasant surprise to watch Chou sing Simple Love
and Common Jasmine Orange, two of his
very popular songs from his second
and fifth albums, respectively.
Of course choosing what songs
to include in the 10th anniversary
concert was daunting considering
that Chou has released 10 original
albums to date.
“There’s too many songs, when we
were choosing songs it was vexing,”
Chou said in a previous interview
before he launched the concert tour.
The visual effects that used laser
and 3D technology cost US$15 million,
and the production team had to recreate the same stage in his overseas concerts, as well as transport the white
nouveau art piano that he uses for the
“seasons” part of the show.
On March 4 and 5, the stadium in
Malaysia’s Bukit Jalil was transformed
into a land of light sticks, majority of
them in neon pink, pink being Chou’s
favourite colour that even the concert
shirts were in pink too. The dancers
and two of the guitarists wore pink
pants and the nunchuks at the finale
were in neon pink, but of course. Obviously, Chou is one guy who is not
March 11-24, 2011
scared to go pink and his fans even
find it adorable, not feminine.
Fans have also noted that Chou—
dubbed as the ‘king of mumblers’ for
his habit to mumble through his
songs—is more relaxed now in interacting with the audience, unlike his
earlier concerts where he simply dazzled with his singing and piano-playing, aside from the occasional flash of
nel were not successful despite having
Chou behind them. Perhaps he has
money to burn or he just wants to
pay forward for the success he has
achieved in the last decade helping
out lesser known friends by featuring
them in his projects. After all, without friends who believed in him like
TV host Jacky Wu, Chou may still be
writing songs for other artistes or
UP CLOSE: Fans in KL go wild
as Chou goes down the stage
during his concert on March 5.
his dimples that was enough to send
fans into a tizzy.
Chou in fact joked with the Kuala
Lumpur crowd and if some were not
sold on him yet, totally won them
over when he sang “Malaysia wo ai ni
(I love you)” at the end of Love Before
the Century.
The KL leg almost religiously followed the set list of the Taipei one
except for a few subtraction and addition here and there. He also played
the guitar, did the beatbox and performed magic. He was joined by Lara,
Cindy Yen and the Drifters—all of
who are under his music company,
JVR. But there was no Jolin Tsai, his
ex-though-never-admitted-girlfriend,
who surprised the audience on the
third night of his Taipei concert with
a brief number with Chou.
Outside the concert venue, CDs
and DVDs of his albums, concerts
and movies were being sold. There
were even DVDs of Pandamen, a television drama that he produced and
directed, as well as Mr. J Channel, his
short-lived talk show.
However, Pandamen and Mr. J Chan-
teaching piano to students who will
never dream of becoming a Jay Chou
simply because he remains unknown.
Chou’s fans should not only thank
Wu and the others who believed in
his talent, but even those singers who
rejected his songs because that served
as an avenue to launch his career.
Or perhaps it all goes down to
“yuanfen”, a Chinese concept that
Chou himself believes in. Yuanfen
refers to the predetermined principle that dictates a person’s relationships and encounters and believes that there is a binding force
that links two persons together.
Chee, one of Chou’s Malaysian fans
said: “It’s really awesome that with
the power of Jay, we can make new
friends and know each other.”
That is one of Chou’s greatest
achievement in his decade in the entertainment business, on how he has
brought together people from all
walks of life and culture through his
music, including those who don’t
even speak nor understand Mandarin.
asianpopdom@gmail.com
• 37
ENTERTAINMENT
INDIA
By Devraj Singh Kalsi
The Straits Times
SWEET AND STRONG
SUCCESS: A-list actor
Aamir Khan is one of the most
successful Bollywood stars
who can tread from heavy
action to light-hearted
comedies. Both his films
‘3Idiots’ (left) and ‘Ghajini’ are
critically acclaimed and
certified box office hits.
Protean Actors
Bollywood actors begin with romantic roles and
then get eager to essay all kinds of characters,
even if these don’t fit them
M
❖ Mumbai
any actors in Bollywood take the romantic route to begin the
career. Once accepted
as a lover, they felt
confident of spending the entire career doing romantic roles. The reality is different now. As time flows,
they feel the urge to try out action
or comedy in order to prove their
versatility and also discover a new
strength to cash in on for some years.
They want to broaden their appeal
by exploring other categories, and are
open to the idea of doing different
kinds of roles, no matter how challenging and demanding.
Two decades ago, it was difficult to
think of Aamir Khan as an action
hero though he did try a film called
Raakh, which not many people have
heard about. In QSQST, he was such
a cute lover boy that people loved
38 •
his other films like Dil Hai Ki Maanta
Nahin. Now we have seen him as a
rowdy and brawny hero in Ghulam
and Ghajini. It is not that he realised
that he was not going to click as a
romantic dude anymore. What
triggered this decision was to reach
out to patrons all kinds of cinema
and surprise his detractors pregnant
with straitjacketed ideas of what suits
an actor. An actor is like clay, to be
moulded in any shape. But do we
see that happening very often in
Bollywood?
It is laudable that actors want to
crack one image to build a new one,
and certainly a better one. To stay
connected as a youth icon, they need
to reinvent themselves. Youngsters
will not like the lover in QSQST
because it is more than two decades
old. 3Idiots will be fresher and closer
to the heart, and the lead hero will
be able to connect as a romantic
college guy though the actor’s
biological age is fit to be Principal.
Aamir has tried breezy comedies like
Andaz Apna Apna and serious
dramatic stuff like Lagaan. He has
also done a cult film, Dil Chahta Hai,
showing how to click with the
new-age crowd. Some actors decide
to quickly mix the three main
ingredients —romance, comedy and
action—while some wait to exploit
one side completely before switching
to the next. Some also do one
romantic film and alternate it with
an action-packed one. To keep both
candy floss lovers and gun-toting
lovers happy.
In the ‘80s, India saw Sunny Deol
launching himself as a romantic hero
in Betaab. Then the lover delivered a
string of flops like Manzil Manzil,
Sohni Mahiwal and Sunny. Upset, he
went hammer and tongs in Arjun.
The film gave him a breather though
March 11-24, 2011
he did not get consistent success in
action films. Then came Dacait where
his fully-loaded horse-driven action
brought moderate success. The feisty
side of his personality was successfully portrayed in Damini, Ghayal,
Ghatak, Jeet, Narsimha, Kshatriya. He
read the writing on the wall and
concentrated on muscles, though
there were other contenders like
Sanjay Dutt who seemed to be in
love with guns all the time.
When we talk of action and
romance to kick start career, Mithun
Chakraborty stole the limelight by
deciding to put on his dancing shoes
to leave an impact. Although dance
was the highlight, there was action
and romance to pep it up. Viewers
were not quite amused by the
dancing skills of Amitabh Bachchan,
and there was a wide gap waiting to
be filled. Other actors in the ‘70s,
except Rishi Kapoor, had not tried to
March 11-24, 2011
experiment with disco. Soon, dance
staged a comeback as Jeetendra also
decided to wear white shoes and
dance away to success in the fag-end
of his career, thanks to the trend
started by Mithun. Mithun excelled
on the dance floor in Disco Dancer
and had other dance-related films to
capitalise on the craze.
Another strong contender for
malleability is Ajay Devgan who
began with action in Phool aur Kaante
and impressed that he could juggle
action and romance. He delivered
hits like Kachhe dhaage and also
crackled with comedies like Ishq and
Golmaal series.
In the early days, Akshay kumar
began with action and was known as
Khiladi. He jumped many roofs and
fired a lot, but his comic side got a
boost with Hera Pheri and he went
on to repeat it in Bhool Bhulaiyya to
emerge as a complete entertainer.
Salman Khan focused on love in
the ‘80s and ‘90s when Rajshri
productions favoured him. Romantic
hero took a back seat after Hum Dil
De Chuke Sanam when he tried to
flaunt muscles and removed his shirt.
Since then, he has focused on brawn
and has delivered hits like Wanted
whereas dramas like Yuvraaj, London
Dreams fell flat. Dabangg proved to be
the proverbial icing on the cake.
Let us not forget that Govinda
had launched himself as an action
and dancing star in Ilzaam like
Mithun, and in his early phase he
did films like Hatya, Marte Dam Tak,
Tan Badan. Similar trajectory for
Anil Kapoor who began as an
angry man in Meri Jung, Karma and
Tezaab and later switched to
mint-fresh romance in 1942—A love
story. Other hits like Ram Lakhan,
Beta and Mr India offered him some
idea that his comic side was strong.
• 39
CULTURE
CHINA
By Foong Thim Leng
The Star
they had to endure harsh
weather conditions, and fend
off attacks by wild animals
and raids by bandits.
After years of wandering,
the wear y Hakkas finally
found a valley where they
could build a new life. They
cleared the land and worked
from dawn to dusk to construct their earthen houses
with clods of earth.
T he clan elders decided
to build a home with a
large courtyard that would
allow clan members to live
closely together.
Building materials consisted
of red soil mixed with strips
of bamboo, sand and stone, a
watery glutinous rice paste,
brown sugar and egg whites.
The earliest of the extant
earthen buildings were constructed more than 1,200 years ago in
769 during the Tang dynasty (618-907).
Many of the earthen dwellings date
from the Song (960-1279) and Yuan
(1279-1368) dynasties. Structures from
the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) can be
seen everywhere. Of course, most
UFOs: The World Heritage
Tianluokeng complex in Nanjing
looks like UFOs from far.
Heritage Homes
Of Hakkas
These old houses transport
visitors to another time zone
F
Photos by Foong T him Leng / The Star
❖ Fujian
rom far, the circular-shaped
tulou or earthen buildings in
China’s Fujian province resemble grounded UFOs.
In the 1960s, they even startled American spy jet pilots who thought
that they were missile launchers.
There are over 20,000 tulou in China, and most of them are concentrated in the Yongding, Nanjing and
Hua’an counties. They are not secret
weapons of mass destruction but China’s national treasures.
The tulou crystallises the industrious lifestyle of the Hakka and their
wisdom. History records that the ancestors of the Hakka people had mi40 •
Idylic setting:
A tulou by the
riverside in Yongding.
g ra t e d s o ut hwa rd s
from the Central
Plains of China to escape the turmoil of the
Yongjia period (304-312
AD) and the wartime
ravages of the late Tang dynasty and
the Song dynasty.
The young and the elderly left their
homes behind and travelled in grief
and despair across the Yellow River
and the Yangtze with their clothing,
valuables, pots and pans, poultry,
horses and pigs, and the bones of
their ancestors kept in jars, towards
an uncertain future.
As they traversed the high mountain ranges of southwestern Fujian,
like an amphitheatre. The exotic
earthen dwellings that were unknown
for so many years had in 2008 gained
recognition as World Cultural Heritage buildings.
Our guide Siao Huang said the
Tianluokeng complex in Nanjing
was commonly referred to as “four
dishes, a soup”.
Siao said the founder of Tianluokeng was from Aoyao in Yongding on
the other side of the mountain.
According to genealogical records,
his name was Huang Baisanlang. He
chose to settle in Taxia because of its
favourable feng shui.
Huang scraped together a fortune
raising ducks to build the earthen
dwellings. Another story was that a
fairy fell in love with him and helped
him build the earthen buildings.
Welcoming: The Fuyu
tulou in Yongding which is
now a hotel.
were built between the time of Qing
dynasty’s Kangxi emperor (1661-1722)
and the 20th century.
Most of the earthen buildings are
circular, square, or phoenix-shaped
(mansion style). Others are oblong, in
the shape of the Eight Trigrams or
crescent-shaped.
Yongding, located in western Fujian
on the border with Guangdong, has
more than 4,000 tulou, some circular,
some square while others are shaped
March 11-24, 2011
The square-shaped tulou named Buyun was constructed in 1796. It has
three storeys with 26 rooms on each
floor. The circular building called
Hechang is on Buyun’s right. It also
has three storeys with 22 rooms on
each floor. In 1936, both Buyun and
Hechang were burned down by bandits and were rebuilt in 1953.
T he other c ircul ar building ,
Zhencheng, was built in 1930, while
Ruiyin was built in 1936. Both are three
storeys high with 26 rooms on each
floor. The last building, Wenchang,
was constructed in 1966. It is ovalshaped and like the others, has three
storeys with 32 rooms on each floor.
Our group made a stop at Xiaban, a
village 4km away from Tianluokeng.
Twelve earthen buildings are scattered
on both sides of the river. The most famous earthen building here is Yuchang.
March 11-24, 2011
We were surprised when our guide
pointed out to us slanting supporting
pillars in the corridor on the third
and upper floors.
Siao said the pillar with the biggest
tilt was slanted at 15 degrees. He assured us that the building was in no
danger of collapsing after surviving
the elements and even earthquakes for
more than 600 years.
Siao said construction of Yuchang
began in the middle years of the Yuan
dynasty (1271-1368) through the cooperation of the Liu, Luo, Zhang, Tang
and Fan families.
The building has five storeys with
54 rooms on each floor. It is divided
into five large units, each with its own
staircase. The ancestral hall is located
in the middle of the courtyard.
Yuchang was originally a seven-sto-
dents heard the tiger’s roar.
“The Lius interpreted the roar as a
congratulatory message from the tiger
on the completion of the building.
The next day, we visited the famous Zhencheng building in Hongkeng village in Yongding.
Zhencheng stands on 500sqm of land
and was built by a descendant of Lin
Zaiting, who was the 19th generation of
the Lin clan in Hongkeng village.
During the Taiping Rebellion (18501864) Lai Zaiing took his three sons to
seek shelter in Fushi in Yongding, and
to learn to be blacksmiths making tobacco cutters.
Later the Lin brothers returned to
Hongkeng and established the first
factory producing tobacco cutters.
They became rich and opened shops
in Guangzhou, Shanghai and other
major cities.
They first built
Fuyu, a mansionstyle square earthen
building. Later one
of the brothers, Lin
Renshan, built
Zhencheng.
The couplet on
the main door of
Zhencheng reads:
“Establish princiA hall in Fuyu tulou
Massive: The circular Yuchang
in Yongding
ples and discipline;
earthen building in Nanjing from
the outside.
bring about virtue
and talent”.
rey building. A fire broke out before
Zhencheng is shaped like the Eight
work was completed.
Trigrams, with inner and outer rings.
“A group of outsiders had come to The four storeys of the outer rings are
pay respects to their ancestors at the 16m high and have 184 rooms. The
tombs behind the building. However, two storeys of the inner ring have 32
the wind blew some of the burning rooms. The outer ring is divided into
notes into the building and set fire to eight large sections.
the pillars on the seventh floor. The
From the Zhencheng building, an
Yuchang residents considered it a bad ancient cobblestone path continues
omen, and so the sixth and seventh along the mountain stream. On either
floors were done away with,” said Siao. side of the path are earthen buildings
He said the residents later noticed scattered along the riverside and in
that the supporting pillars in the cor- the open country. Large banyan trees
ridors on the third and higher floors provided shade for people to rest on
were slanted and they became fearful the stone benches. There is also a
that the building would collapse.
small local temple dedicated to Mazu,
“However, at dusk, a tiger wandered the sea goddess.
into the building and moved along the
It is little wonder that the tulou of
corridors like a high-ranking official Fujian continue to draw in tourists,
during inspection. Then it jumped for they enable one to feel the pulse of
from a rear window and escaped into the rich Hakka culture that has surthe woods behind. That night the resi- vived the passage of time.
• 41
TRAVEL
By Alexis Hooi
China Daily
LIFETIME EXPERIENCE:
This handout photo shows
Chinese tourists trying to
board a hot air balloon in
Tuscan countryside.
VIP: Chinese tourists are
being ferried by a
helicopter from Nice in
France to Monte Carlo.
Riding High L
❖ Beijing
HA ND OU T PHOTO S/CH INA DA ILY
China’s wealthy travellers are
spending huge amount of money
on more unusual, exotic and
over-the-top travel packages
42 •
Driving speeds were generally
limited to below 120 km/h, but
there were opportunities and
stretches for the drivers to let the
cars rip and flaunt the full
capabilities of the vehicles.
“We already had agreements with
the clients over driving speed and
safety as well as compensation for
any vehicles damages incurred,” Zou
says. “But of course, we had to
remind them of such considerations
very carefully as they were rich
people and we did not want to seem
too nitpicky.”
Over the five days of driving along
a 500-km route to Rome, the party
stayed in luxury chateaus, dined in
ast summer, tour specialist Zou
Wenwen helped organise a
driving trip for a group of 10
Chinese travellers in Italy. But it
was no ordinary tour—her clients
paid 200,000 yuan (US$30,300) each for a
weeklong luxury package that centred on
driving Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati
supercars along the Italian Riviera.
“These were ultra high-end customers,”
Zou says. “They were mostly from the
real estate and investment sectors. We also
had people from the restaurant business as
well as a sculptor.”
The group was first flown by helicopter
from Nice in France to Monte Carlo, the
famous playground of the rich and
famous, for an “orientation” on handling
the supercars. They travelled in a convoy
of five cars—a Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
and F430 Spider, Lamborghini Gallardo
and Murciegalo, and a Maserati GranTurismo—headed by a local motoring expert.
The Chinese drivers would take turns
trying out the cars during the package.
March 11-24, 2011
Michelin-starred restaurants and
toured vineyards. Highlights also
included medieval-themed performances and a hot-air balloon trip to
catch the rising sun in Tuscany’s
countryside before breakfasting in a
picnic in the hills.
The driving package, offered
jointly by luxury tour operators Trip
TM and Dream Italy, was so
successful another one is being
organised this year. But the group
will be kept small to keep the trip
exclusive, Zou says.
The package itself is part of new
luxury travel options for Chinese
tourists that include custom-made
trips to exotic locations like Bhutan
and the Arctic as well as more
Epicurean experiences in top-end
European and Asian destinations.
It is a market fuel led by the
incre asing number of super
March 11-24, 2011
rich in the countr y.
According to the 2010 Hurun
Wealth Report, a major survey of
China’s rich, there are 875,000
multimillionaires and 55,000 billionaires in the country, about 6.1 per
cent more millionaires and 7.8 per
cent more billionaires than the
previous year.
The average age of those surveyed
who were worth at least 100 million
yuan ($15.2 million) was 39 and those
with at least 1 billion yuan ($152.2
million) was 43, both a year younger
than the figures of the previous year.
The main sources of wealth for these
people were real estate and manufacturing, Hurun reported.
on the North Pole, as well as
items themed on Africa and
luxury cruises.”
For most of the elite Chinese
travel clients, who often make up
a who’s who list of the country’s
rich and famous, personalised
services—and anonymity—are
essential when they vacation.
Tiffany Chen, a private agent for a
number of Chinese celebrities and
entertainers, says her clients are
always on the lookout for high-end
tour operators offering “unusual and
unforgettable” travel experiences.
TRAVELLING IN STYLE: A group of
Chinese tourists paid 200,000 yuan
(US$30,300) each for a weeklong luxury
package that centred on driving Ferrari,
Lamborghini and Maserati supercars along the
Italian Riviera.
Beijing-based Trip TM alone sells
itself as a tailor-made tour operator
for high-end customers. Its initial
100 regular clients, all “members” of
the company, are said to be millionaires including IT giant Alibaba’s
CEO Ma Yun and property giant
Vantone’s chairman Feng Lun.
Membership fees can be as high as
150,000 yuan ($22, 815). The company, set up in December 2007, has
grown to more than 20,000 clients
served by about 100 staff.
Meng Ran, the editor of the newly
launched Luxury Traveler Chinese
quarterly, says the nation’s high-end
travel market is growing significantly
and its demands are spanning the
world. Her publication introduces
top travel, hotel and lifestyle choices
for its “club members” and those
who can afford these luxuries.
“We’ve recently done articles
“My clients usually travel in small
networks that are made up of
wealthy individuals they all know
each other and money is never an
issue,” Chen says.
“But the number of Chinese
holidaymakers who can afford
luxury travel is increasing, so the
demand for more unusual, exotic
and over-the-top travel programmes
among the wealthy is definitely
growing as well.”
Still, one of the offerings by Trip
TM during the latest Spring Festival
holidays was “simple” enough—organising a two-week shopping spree
for a group of six VIPs in Paris,
Milan, Rome and Florence.
“Our clients usually want to
spend quality time with their
families during important holidays like Spring Festival, so these
trips are more toned down at
this time of the year,” Zou says.
• 43
TRAVEL BITES
By Jofelle P. Tesorio
Asia News Network
sometimes throw away cheap
promotional flights. When you check
the budget airlines, also compare
their prices with regular airlines.
forums to get updated tips.
The next thing to do is check
hotels. Do you want a low-key
accommodation or something
high-end? A quick check at sites
like agoda.com or asiarooms.com
would give you an idea of the price
range and location of different
hotels. Check hostelworld.com for
a listing of hostels in different
cities. Of late, hostels have reinvented themselves into flashy
enclaves for travellers who want
affordable and clean rooms but who
don’t mind sharing the room with
others. Hostels are actually manna
from heaven to those who cannot
stand (but have no choice) cheap,
cockroach infested, grimy rooms.
Now you have a destination, plane
ticket and hotel. Another thing to
worry about is what kind of activities you want to do. Do you want to
be laid-back or you want some
adrenalin rush? Do you want to
party all night or you want some
zipper just over the knees? For
women, light skirts are ideal. Sarong
is a must-have too because you can
use it as blanket on the beach,
wrap-around and towel. If you need
to bring a towel, get the one that is
light and easy to dry. For women,
it’s now a must to pack one little
black dress in case you want to hit
the nightlife without looking too
shabby in shorts.
➋ IDs other than passport. Bring
your driver’s licence or a standard ID
that indicates your age, blood type
and emergency numbers. Most of the
time you won’t need to carry your
passport around so just have a copy
in your bag and keep it safe somewhere. In lieu of the passport, carry
your other IDs when you go out.
➌ Minimal bathroom amenities.
Don’t bring the whole bathroom.
Many groceries now have a travel
section that sells everything in small
sizes. The small bottles of shampoo,
lotion and conditioner you get from
water, sand and dust.
➏ Extra light bag. When your
luggage is already filled, you can use
this as hand carry. This also serves
as your shopping bag when you buy
souvenirs. Refuse plastic bag as much
as possible. You can still be environment friendly while having a
vacation.
➐ Padlocks and nylon safe locks.
Buy the kind with number combination and not the ones with keys.
There’s always a tendency to lose the
keys and you will end up breaking
the bag. Just always remember the
combination. Safe nylon locks can be
found in hardware shops. They are
used to keep people from poking in
the pockets of your bag.
➑ Fully charged batteries, chargers, additional memory cards. These
days, the only place you can’t find a
shop selling memory cards are in
very remote areas. But they’re twice
as expensive. So better stack some
with you. Buy memory cards with a
With a few dollars difference, you
may want to opt for comfort, food
and entertainment onboard.
It is another thing if you want
to hop from one city to another.
That probably means taking
different modes of transportation.
Say, for example, you want to do
the Mekong trail—Thailand, Viet
Nam Cambodia and Laos. Your
ideal first stop would be Bangkok
then you continue your travel by
train or bus to Laos, to Viet Nam
and then to Cambodia. You may
reenter Thailand using land
borders from Laos or Cambodia.
There are hundreds of sites on the
Internet on how to do a combined
trip, with expert tips from seasoned
travellers. You can also join travel
quiet moment practicing yoga or
meditation? The choice is all yours.
Most of the countries in Asia have
diverse activities and interests that
suit every Jane and Joe.
On your final preparation,
there’s an issue of things to bring.
Summer is perfect to pack light.
There is really no need to bring
two pairs of jeans as you would be
wearing a lot of shorts. You also
have to leave some space in your
luggage for souvenirs and gifts for
loved ones back home.
Here are some of the bare necessities that a wise traveller should carry
around:
➊ Light clothing that easily dries
up. Bring jeans that can also double
as shorts. Remember the ones with
hotels in your past travels are ideal
to bring. Or buy the ones in sachet.
You don’t have to check-in these
because they are below 100ml.
➍ Medicines. A pack of emergency health kit is a traveller’s best
friend. Having a stock of medicines
for different unforeseen ailments
such as a bout with diarrhoea during
an 8-hour bus ride to Laos will really
do wonders. Bring enough for
headache, insect bites, motion
sickness and dysmenorrhea (for
women of course).
➎ Plastic bags or zip locks. You
will need them for your bathroom
amenities, wet clothes and other
things you don’t want mixed with
the rest of your stuff. They also
protect your precious gadgets from
maximum capacity of 2 gigabytes.
Having three to four 2-gig memory
cards distributes your pictures evenly
and lessens the risk of your cards to
get corrupted.
➒ Travel book with pictures.
Bookstores have a wide variety of
travel ideas. One of my favourites is
a wordless travel book. All you
have to do is point at the pictures
to communicate. This is very
handy in places where English is
not widely spoken.
➓ Sense of adventure and fun.
Travelling is all about trying new
things, broadening horizons and
having tonnes of fun so you go
home rejuvenated and recharged.
Photo by Jofelle P. Tesorio/A sia News Network
Avoid Travel
Hassles
A few points to remember
before hitting the road
(or the sea)
S
❖ Bangkok
ummer is already beckoning in most parts of tropical Asia. The travel bug
in you now starts to
rummage through old
travel books, the Internet and asking
people around where and how to
spend the much awaited summer
vacation. You have saved half of
your salary for the last six months
and you are ready to take the
plunge, try new experiences, learn
new cultures and meet people. But
wait... don’t go just yet. There are a
few things a traveller must do
before, during and after vacation. An
ample preparation helps ease
travelling to avoid some hassles.
For some people, preparing for a
much needed vacation, whether it
is just within one’s country or
outside, is a must. Others would
take at least six months to prep
themselves up. For a single woman,
it’s like preparing for her wedding
with details down to the last
two-piece bikini in check.
First things first. Decide which
places you want to visit according to
your budget and time-frame. You can
list down the countries you haven’t
been to or want to visit again. After
writing them down you can narrow
the list according to your preference.
You don’t want to visit a place that
44 •
really doesn’t catch your fancy or
imagination. If you have really set
your eyes on going to Bali or the
exotic Sri Lanka, then by all means
go. Don’t go to a
place just because
there is a cheap
flight going there.
After doing the
list, check the
Internet for flight
information. If
you are travelling
within Asia, look
for budget airlines
that have direct
flights and more connectivity.
AirAsia (airasia.com), Cebu Pacific
(cebupacificair.com), Tiger Airways
(tigerairways.com) and Jet Airways
(jetairways.com) are among budget
airlines that fly regularly to major
Asian destinations. AirAsia is based
in Kuala Lumpur and have subsidiaries in Thailand and Indonesia. Cebu
Pacific is Philippine-based while
Tiger Airways is based in Singapore
and Jet Airways in India. Knowing
the hubs of these airlines will give
you an idea where you can start or
end your journey.
Major airlines like Thai Airways
(thaiair.com), Philippine Airlines
(philippineairlines.com), Malaysia
Airlines (malaysiaairlines.com) and
Singapore Airlines (singaporeair.com)
March 11-24, 2011
March 11-24, 2011
travelbites.asia@gmail.com
• 45
TRAVEL
By Lee Woo-young and Moon Ye-bin
The Korea Herald
Click!
Online
gateways
to Korea
I
❖ Seoul
f you want to do a bit of
research before taking a trip to
South Korea, don’t settle for the
standard Google search or
hastily read travel books.
Here are 21 cyber destinations
covering Korean travel, history,
society and language, targeting both
tourists and expats. Non-Korean
visitors—and possibly many Koreans,
too—could find these sites surprisingly addictive as they discover
online gateways to intriguing aspects
of Korea.
∫ Culture/Travel
T
he official website for Korean
tourism, Visit Korea (visitkorea.
or.kr) proudly introduces essential
information on culture, travel, festivals
and even recipes. The site is a great
source for global citizens as the
service is available in 11 languages.
Searching for something out of the
ordinary? Adventure Korea (adven46 •
turekorea.com) offers
adrenaline junkies a range
of short trips around the
country. There are a
variety of thrilling
activities to choose from
on the tour site. These
include trips to Seoraksan
hot springs, Hangang
booze cruises, templestays and DMZ
trips. Whether it is culture, camping,
festivals or hiking, the site offers
something for everyone.
Virtual Tourist (www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/South_Korea) is a
practical site offering reviews and
comments posted by travellers
themselves about destinations they
have visited. It is a great gateway for
∫ Food
K
S
travel enthusiasts wanting to read
honest reviews and tips from people
who have been there themselves. The
site offers a chance to connect with
over a million travellers around the
world to ask questions and share
experiences.
For those who want to experience Korean rural life, a Korean
farm stay offers an unusual but
memorable experience. The Korea
WWOOF (koreawwoof.com)
arranges farm stays for people who
want to embrace the countryside
and organic farming. Farm stay
guests help with daily chores on
the farm such as harvesting,
preparing soil for planting, weeding, and seeding in exchange for
food and lodging. One can also get
to know rural life and culture while
mingling with local people.
Restaurants, bars, entertainment,
travel, shopping and fashion—you
name it, this site has it. Seoulstyle.
com (seoulstyle.com) is an offbeat
of Korean food. The Korean tour
agency’s official food site features
articles on concepts of Korean cuisine,
food columns, information on restaurants and recipes in a well organised
format with beautiful pictures of
dishes and their ingredients.
Maangchi.com invites visitors to
try cooking Korean food themselves
in a quick and easy way, with video
recipes. The recipes don’t require
lengthy preparations and the author’s
chirpy tone and witty captions in
videos never bore. Kimchi-making is
the most popular recipe, viewed over
400,000 times, prompting the site’s
author to release a Kimchi app for
the iPad in May 2010.
Do you want to know how to
make top secret Korean restaurant
recipes? Zenkimchi.com covers food
from recipes to restaurant reviews.
This is a great website for food
enthusiasts wishing to find the finest
restaurants in Korea, with articles
and reviews including coverage of
music videos, TV dramas, celebrity
gossips and photos. The site boasts the
largest fan base through fan clubs and
forums on the website, which enable
ardent K-pop fans to mingle online
and share news about their idols.
When it comes to K-pop, allkpop.
com is the fastest news breaker.
Latest celebrity gossips and news
draw over 3 million monthly readers
worldwide and takes Hallyu to
audiences beyond Asia.
Want the latest celebrity gossip?
Then kokokoreano.com is the place.
An entertaining blog for Hallyu fans
with the latest celebrity news, photos
and fashion reviews, the site also
features photo shoots from Korean
magazines, designer fashion shows
and celebrities’ street style and
performance outfits.
Korean Drama Guide (koreandrama-guide.com) is an encyclopedia
for Korean drama fans. This impressive site has a massive database on
Korean dramas, synopsis and
site for expats in Seoul or for
travellers looking for something
missing from normal travel guides.
Some of the places or activities
introduced on the site may not be
too Korean.
orea Taste (koreataste.org) takes
visitors on a comprehensive tour
March 11-24, 2011
international cuisine from Saudi
Arabia, Italy, India and France.
Ongofood.com is a website
promoting Korean food and culture
to travellers from all over the world.
Worth a visit for those interested in
attending a “Korean night dining
tour” or “Korean cooking class”.
Otherwise, take a peek at Seouleats.
com, a popular food blog run by the
chief of marketing and tours for the
O’ngo Food Communications.
∫ Hallyu
oompi.com is a home ground for
Hallyu fans worldwide with 1.4
million visitors daily, most of them
non-Koreans. It is the best organised
K-pop website covering latest albums,
March 11-24, 2011
information on TV stars. Few
websites can beat the Korean Drama
Guide index.
∫ Expat blogs
V
ideos say more than words.
Eatyourkimchi.com is run by a
Canadian couple teaching English in
Korea, recording glimpses of everyday life here. Martina and Simon
fascinate with entertaining and useful
videos on Korean culture, K-pop,
teaching and ESL lesson materials,
and everyday life.
The Marmot’s Hole (rjkoehler.com)
is serious in tone compared to other
expat blogs, but the posts dealing
with Korean history, politics, North
Korea, and US troop presence in
Korea draw a lot of readers. Run by
14-year-resident in Korea, Robert
Koehler, the blog offers some interesting insights on Korea.
Chrisinsouthkorea.com offers
extensive features on travel and life
as an expat in Korea. Chris frequently updates with event reviews,
adventurous travel articles and
helpful tips for newcomers.
∫ History, Society and Language
T
he official international broadcasting station of South Korea
KBS World Radio (world.kbs.co.kr)
won’t disappoint. The station
broadcasts news and information in
eleven languages: Korean, English,
Chinese, Japanese, Indonesia, Arabic,
Vietnamese, Russian, German,
French and Spanish. Also, the site
has great information on the
locations, people, climate, culture
and history of Korea. In addition,
the site features several recipes for
popular Korean dishes, and short
language study options are available.
Koreanhistory.info is an excellent
site on Korean history. Starting from
Paleolithic period (B.C. 5,000-8,000),
the site informs on each period of
Korea’s history. In addition, the
website provides Korean history
videos, MP3 audio and photos of old
Korea. The site has extensive
resources including timelines and
information on other major historical
events in Korea. Its only drawback is
the slightly drab and simple design.
Koreana (www.koreana.or.kr), a
quarterly journal on Korean art and
culture, helps readers better understand Korea. Sophisticated articles
and images depict Korea’s arts,
environment, literature, lifestyle and
other themes. By clicking the current
edition’s e-book, you can flip through
the journal and see fascinating and
attention-grabbing pictures.
Keen to learn Korean? Sogang
University Korean Programme
(korean.sogang.ac.kr) provides
extensive study materials for free on
its website. By following the courses
from introduction to novice and
intermediate levels, non-Koreans can
develop their Korean language skills.
The module on pronunciation of
the alphabet is available in audio
files and examples of how to
hand-write each character are also
available.
An American man passes on his
knowledge on Korean study at Learn
Korean Language (learnkoreanlanguage.com). This useful site is run
by Russell Holloway who calls
himself a “hardcore fan” of the
Korean language since he first
learned it after meeting the love of
his life, who is half-Korean.
• 47
N E PA L
By Liu Yi-ling
China Daily
ABODE OF THE GODS
Gazing at the majestic peaks of the Annapurna mountain
range in Nepal is nothing short of magical
N
❖ Kathmandu
othing is as satisfying as
watching dawn break
over Annapurna. All is
still and silent, except for
the soft crunch of snow
under thick-soled boots, as the mountains poke through the mist, bathed in
the tawny glow of the Nepali sun.
In 2010, 79,000 trekkers, mostly
from Southeast Asia, flocked to the
vast Annapurna Sanctuary, hoping to
catch a glimpse of the vast amphitheatre of Himalayan peaks. We were one
such group. Getting there, however,
was no easy feat, especially for a large
group like ours.
Of the three routes available, we
chose the 12-day Annapurna Sanctuar y trek, through forests of oak,
rhododendron and Gurung villages—
the perfect route for 23 rowdy high
school students who craved adventure yet were unwilling to relinquish
the luxury of hot showers for more
than two weeks.
And we chose the perfect time, October, late enough to escape the monsoon, but early enough to avoid the
risk of being crushed by winter avalanches.
Mount Macchapachure,
the double peaked
‘fishtail’ peak.
48 •
We began our journey well-fed,
rested and full of anticipation, making
our way from the coastal tourist city
of Pokhara in western Nepal to the
start of our trek in one of the country’s many “hippie buses”—complete
with vinyl seats and intricate Buddhist graffiti adorning its walls.
Sticking our heads out of the window, we watched throngs of tourists
threading in and out of dusty streets,
and enjoyed the scent of hot local
breads, known as chapatti, wafting
from the market stalls, revelling in the
cacophony of the civilised world before embarking on our trek.
The first days of hiking, from
Dhampus to Landrung, was surprisingly relaxed. I was expecting rugged, rocky landscapes and vigorous
uphill climbs. Instead, there were
f lat, stone paths, chestnut forests,
locals tending to their crops and
rolling hills that looked like cake
batter falling into a tin tray.
Protected within the Annapurna
Conservation Area, it felt like strolling
through a Shangri-La of lush green
and wispy cirrus clouds.
As we entered the gateway to the
Annapurna Sanctuary, the light green
hues darkened and a jagged path
dotted with suspension bridges
hanging precariously between two
cliffs appeared. The oppressive heat
and harsh incline of the slope instantly wiped off our eager grins
and killed all conversation.
While I trudged on in my shiny
Columbia hiking boots, the porters,
ranging in age from 15 to 50, bounded
up cracked stone steps with 10kg
packs strapped on their backs and
flimsy plastic sandals on their feet. As
we stepped aside to let them pass
(giving way to the porters being the
golden rule of Annapurna courtesy), I
could only muster a shame-faced nod
of admiration and disbelief.
Tourist hikers were easily distinguishable by their elaborate fanny
packs, hik ing poles, waterproof
pants and ankle-high Gortex shoes.
R e g a r d l e s s o f n a t i o n a l i t y, w e
greeted fellow hikers with a nod
and a breathless namaste, or hello,
proudly displaying the full extent
of our Nepali vocabulary.
Frequently, especially at the beginning of the trek, groups of elderly
women, approached us with bags of
handmade goods. Even the most fru-
MAJESTIC: Tourists
enjoy the sight of the
8,091m Mount Annapurna
in western Nepal.
gal among us could not but help succumb to their persuasive marketing—“300 rupees (US$4), you buy?
Very, very nice, wear this bracelet, no
more bad luck”.
Other locals worked at the many
lodges dotting the way with names
such as ‘Hungry Eye’ and ‘Sherpo
Lodge’, where we stocked up on
glass bottles of coke, melted Twix
bars and Nepali Tea.
At mealtimes, we huddled around a
rectangular table, chatting, playing
cards, and rewinding after a hard day’s
work. The food was mostly Nepali
fare, dahl (lentils), rice, curry, and
chapatti, accompanied by a variety of
American Diner-type dishes, such as
potatoes, buttered rolls and a bizarre
dessert—the Snickers roll (baked chocolate bars). Whatever the delicacy
served, we shoveled it into our mouths
with enthusiasm. The Himalayas have
a way of curing picky eaters.
Days typically started at 6am and
ended at 8:30pm, when the sky turned
pitch black. Guided by the soft glow
of our headlamps, we would then
shuffle to our rooms, and collapse on
the beds and savour the delicious
warmth of our sleeping bags.
Solar-powered hot showers in
tin huts, were a luxury. However,
if we did manage to scrape a hot
shower and enjoyed more than five
minutes of steaming bliss, we would
suffer, inevitably, from the vicious
glares of fellow hikers.
Each day of the trek, the altitude
rose, forcing us to down a white Diamox pill (to combat altitude sickness) with our breakfast. We also began to get clearer views of the
snow-capped, 7,000-metre high Mount
Macchapachure, dubbed ‘Fishtail’ after
its pointed double summit. Considered sacred to the Hindu god Shiva,
it’s off limits to hikers.
It rained on our final day toward the foot of Mount Macchapachure, an incessant, frustrating
drizzle that clung to our ponchos
and soaked our packs.
We watched our feet intently, cautious not to step on ubiquitous piles of
cow dung, wondering how on earth a
cow had managed to find its way up
all those jagged stone steps that had
taken us hours to climb. With the entire landscape encased in a thick fog,
all we could do was walk on blindly,
knowing that the majestic fishtail
loomed somewhere in the distance.
The climax of our trek, however,
was walking to Annapurna Base
Camp, waking up at 3:30am, clad
in full gear—thermals, f leeces,
goose-downs, outer ski-layers—and
making our way single file through
the darkness.
We arrived just in time to see
Annapurna wake up. T he fog
lifted and the peaks, from Annapurna I to Hintchuli, became
visible in the sunlight.
For a moment, we felt miniscule,
insignificant, dwarfed by these majestic peaks. Annapurna I, that soars
8,091m into the sky, is the 10th highest
summit in the world. The mountains,
so rugged, so white and pristine, and
so untouched by man, seemed to be
daring us to take them on.
We had reached the end of our trip
and I thought about the others,
Frenchman Maurice Herzog in the
1950s, alpinist Ian Clough in the ‘70s,
for whom reaching the base camp
was only the beginning.
Would I come back and try to join
the list of successful mountaineers?
The prospect, I must say, while I
stood at the foothills, gazing upwards
at the peaks, was tempting.
But, alas, that is for another time.
After a dozen more camera flashes
and several mugs of hot chocolate, we
began our return trek—a big relief.
We were sunburned, hungry, covered in grime and sweat and had blisters the size and shape of beetles in
between our toes—and yet we were
full of euphoria.
I was elated and feeling smug—we
h a d t re k ke d ove r 9 4 . 4 5 k m a n d
climbed 10,173m.
All I needed was a hot, steaming
shower.
Tourists sit outside Hotel Hungry Eye, one of the
many lodges scattered along the Annapurna
Sanctuary trekking route.
March 11-24, 2011
March 11-24, 2011
• 49
Photos by Laszlo Varro for C hina Daily
EXPLORE
DATEBOOK
B EI JI N G
Beijing International
Kite Festival
Brightly coloured
kites dot the sky
above Chaoyang Park during the festival. With decorative
kites shaped like dragons and acrobatic ones doing tricks,
this event is a great celebration of a 100-year-old Chinese
tradition.
When: March (annual)
Where: Chaoyang Park
Info: www.bjkite-sport.com (Chinese)
JAI PU R , RA JASTHA N
Elephant Festival
H O N G KO N G
The 35th HK International Film Festival
Held each year in Jaipur, the festival is a celebration of these
large mammals. Royal mounts from time immemorial and a symbol
of strength and wealth, the flawlessly groomed beasts take part in a
pageant around Chaugan Stadium.
Costumed, decorated and glittering in gold, visitors come across
numerous elegant elephants during this very noisy day. The event
also proves that they can move surprisingly gracefully in procession,
run races and even play polo.
When: March 19 (annual)
Where: Chaugan Stadium
S I NGA PO RE
Courtesy of Tatzu Nishi
Singapore Biennale 2011
Since its inauguration in 2006,
the Singapore Biennale has
enhanced the country’s reputation
as a leading international centre for
artistic dialogue and exchange. Featuring 63 artists from 30
countries, the biennale titled ‘Open House’, invites you to experience contemporary art from around the world—from large-scale
installations to intimate encounters—that will shed light on how
connections and exchanges among individuals, groups, cities and
nations are created.
The exhibitions are presented across four venues, each with their
own particular character drawing upon typical Singaporean spaces:
the Housing Development Board flats (Singapore Art Museum and
SAM at 8Q), shopping centres and night markets (National
Museum of Singapore), international air, sea ports (Old Kallang
Airport) and a major project amplifying individual experience in the
city (Marina Bay).
One of the most talked about works of the Singapore Biennale
2011 is the Merlion Hotel. The much revered national icon is
currently hoarded up as it undergoes restoration work and
Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi saw an opportunity to convert the site
into a hotel room. The installation gives guests a chance to spend a
night with the half-lion half-fish statue.
When: March 13-15, 10am-7pm daily
Where: Singapore Art Museum, National Museum of Singapore,
8Q, Singapore Art Museum, Old Kallang Airport
Info: www.singaporebiennale.org
50 •
From international awardwinning movies to avant-garde
indies, this annual film festival
screens hundreds of titles from
around the world making it a
must for film buffs. The two
opening films for this year are
Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, the new work by the Hong
Kong film industry’s renowned duo of Johnnie To and Wai
Ka-fai; and Quattro Hong Kong 2, jointly directed by four
award-winning filmmakers. Both films will premiere at a
star-studded opening gala on March 20.
When: March 20-April 5
Tickets: URBTIX +852-2734-9009
Info: www.hkiff.org.hk
TO KYO
International AnimÉ Fair
Tokyo, the animé capital of the world, hosts an international fair dedicated to those much-loved Japanese
cartoons. Trade stalls, exhibitions, screenings and the
Tokyo Animé Awards take over the capital’s Big Sight
centre for the four-day event.
The first two days are for trade only, when designers,
animators and amateurs hob-nob with industry moguls.
The doors open to the public on March 26-27.
When: March 24-27
Where: Tokyo Big Sight
Info: www.tokyoanime.jp/en/
March 11-24, 2011
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