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Ecclestone hopes for Nuerburgring deal this week Posted: 08 Jan 2013 07:24 AM PST LONDON, Jan 8 – The Nuerburgring is set to host this year's German Grand Prix and a deal could be agreed this week after further talks, Formula One's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone said today. The 82-year-old (picture) also said that the calendar, approved by the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) last November, would have 19 races rather than the 20 slots available. The calendar has the German race listed for July 7 at a circuit to be confirmed and another unnamed European round pencilled in for July 21 and intended for Turkey before talks stalled over money. The Nuerburgring and Hockenheim have alternated as venues for the German Grand Prix in recent years, with the former due to host this year's round. However the circuit's financial problems have led to uncertainty. "It should be the Nuerburgring and we are trying to make it happen," said Ecclestone in a telephone conversation. "I'm talking with them today." The billionaire, who has expanded the calendar to new destinations far from the sport's European heartland, played down suggestions Hockenheim could step in. Circuit owners Nuerburgring GmbH, who are 90 per cent owned by the German regional state of Rhineland-Palatinate, has run into financial trouble amid a dispute with track operator NAG over leasing fees. The state authorities are under pressure to make the track pay after pouring millions of euros into a racing-themed amusement park there. The circuit is due to be put up for auction later this year but Nuerburgring managing director Thomas Schmidt, who runs the company with an insolvency administrator, said in November that they had agreed with NAG to plan for 2013 regardless of the dispute. The race is a home one for Red Bull's triple world champion Sebastian Vettel, who has yet to win a grand prix on German soil, as well as for car maker Mercedes who now have Britain's 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton partnering Germany's Nico Rosberg in their works team. – Reuters

Modric adapting to Spain, says Real team mate Alonso Posted: 08 Jan 2013 07:06 AM PST MADRID, Jan 8 – Xabi Alonso has backed Real Madrid team mate Luka Modric to come good despite an indifferent start to the Croatia midfielder's La Liga career. Modric, 27 (picture), left Tottenham Hotspur in August and has started only eight of his new club's 18 La Liga matches and three of six Champions League games. Alonso, coach Jose Mourinho's preferred choice alongside Germany's Sami Khedira in central midfield, said he himself needed time to adjust when he returned to Spain from Tottenham's English rivals Liverpool in 2009. "There are a few of us competing for that position and he is adapting to a new club and a new league," Alonso told a news conference ahead of tomorrow's King's Cup last 16, second leg at home to Celta Vigo. "I found it difficult in my first season after coming from the Premier League but he is very well integrated, he is a fantastic lad and a great player. I have no doubt he will be important (to us)." Real need to overturn a 2-1 deficit from last month's first leg in Vigo if they are to secure a meeting with Valencia or Osasuna in the quarter-finals. Lying third in La Liga, Mourinho's side have looked ragged in defence in recent weeks and Alonso said stopping Celta scoring an away goal at the Bernabeu would be key to their progress. – Reuters

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Copying common in electronic medical records Posted: 08 Jan 2013 07:38 AM PST COLUMBUS, Jan 8 — Most doctors copy and paste old, potentially out-of-date information into patients' electronic records, according to a US study looking at a shortcut that some experts fear could lead to miscommunication and medical errors. Experts suggested that copying signifies a shift in how doctors use notes, away from being a means of communication among fellow healthcare providers and toward being a barrage of data to document billing. — AFP pic "The electronic medical record was meant to make the process of documentation easier, but I think it's perpetuated copying," said lead author Daryl Thornton, assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Electronic health records have been touted as having the potential to transform patient data from indecipherable scribbles into easy-to-read, searchable standardized documents that could be shared among hospital staffers and a patient's various other health care providers. Many electronic record keeping systems allow text to be copied and pasted from previous notes and other documents, a shortcut that could help time-crunched doctors but that could also cause mistakes to be passed along or medical records to become indecipherable, critics argue. To see how much information in patient records came from copying, Thornton's team, in a study published in Critical Care Medicine, examined 2,068 electronic patient progress reports created by 62 residents and 11 attending physicians in the intensive care unit of a Cleveland, Ohio hospital. Progress notes are typically shared among doctors, nurses and other hospital staff and are meant to document the progression of a patient's tests and treatments. Using plagiarism-detection software, the researchers analyzed five months' worth of progress notes for 135 patients. They found that 82 per cent of residents' notes and 74 per cent of attending physicians' notes included 20 per cent or more copied and pasted material from the patients' records. Thornton and his colleagues did not examine what motivated physicians and residents to copy and paste, or whether the shortcut affected patient care. But in one case, a patient left the ICU and was readmitted a couple of days later. The patient's medical record included so much copied and pasted information that the new team of doctors wasn't able to decipher the original diagnosis. In the end, the team called the physicians who originally diagnosed the patient. Experts suggested that copying signifies a shift in how doctors use notes, away from being a means of communication among fellow healthcare providers and toward being a barrage of data to document billing. "What tends to get missing is the narrative — what's the patient's story?" said Michael Barr, senior vice president in the Division of Medical Practice, Professionalism and Quality at the American College of Physicians. Barr was not involved in the study. — Reuters

Debt may influence young doctors’ career plans Posted: 08 Jan 2013 07:32 AM PST A study finds that the average paediatric resident doctor's debt increased 34 per cent between 2006 and 2010. — AFP pic NEW YORK, Jan 8— Paediatricians-in-training are more likely to plan to go into primary care, rather than a speciality field, if they have lots of debt from college and medical school, according to a US study. Researchers publishing in Pediatrics also found that the average paediatric resident doctor's debt increased 34 per cent between 2006 and 2010. That suggests financial considerations may keep young doctors out of medical specialities, they said, especially those fields that aren't known for paying well but still require extra training. "(The debt) keeps climbing, and it doesn't seem like there's an end," said Mary Pat Frintner, the study's lead author, from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). "There are multiple factors that (affect) a paediatrician's career decisions, and debt is just one part of that," she told Reuters Health. "Since there's no end in sight to the rise in debt, that relationship may become more important in the future." The findings also hint that rising debt, due to increases in medical school tuition, is not what's driving young doctors away from primary care, as many people have suggested, according to one health economist. The new data collected by the AAP are based on five years of surveys of young doctors finishing their residencies, the training that follows medical school. The study included about 2,700 pediatric residents. Close to three-quarters of the responders had debt from school. The average graduating resident's debt increased from US$104,000 (RM316,000) in 2006 to US$139,000 in 2010. Forty-three per cent of residents had career plans requiring further subspecialty training, such as in paediatric cardiology or adolescent medicine. The rest planned to go straight into primary care or hospital medicine. Frintner and her colleagues found residents with at least US$51,000 in debt were about 50 per cent more likely to be planning a primary care or hospitalist career than those who owed less or no money. Women and residents with children were also less apt to be seeking further speciality training before entering the workforce, the research team said. Peter Bach, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, said that residents with more debt may come from more disadvantaged backgrounds, which might influence the type of medicine they want to practice. So the link between debt and career plans might not be cause-and-effect, he told Reuters Health. So far, there hasn't been a spike in the number of paediatric residents pursuing primary care careers rather than becoming specialists, Frintner said. In fact, there's still concern there may be too few primary care doctors, at least in some parts of the United States. Increasing debt may create or worsen other shortages by discouraging young doctors from pursuing speciality training in fields that aren't particularly lucrative, such as adolescent medicine, the researchers said. Amitabh Chandra, an economist and health policy researcher from Harvard University, said the findings go against conventional wisdom that debt is one concern driving medical students to specialities and away from lower-paying primary care jobs - and that raising salaries for fields that need more doctors may be a more effective strategy than focusing on debt. — Reuters

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Kastam Melaka rampas rokok seludup bernilai RM3.4 juta Posted: 08 Jan 2013 07:41 AM PST MELAKA, 8 Jan — Jabatan Kastam Diraja Malaysia (JKDM) Melaka berjaya merampas rokok seludup pelbagai jenama bernilai RM3.4 juta termasuk cukai menerusi dua operasi dalam tempoh lapan hari pertama tahun ini. Pengarahnya Datuk Mohd Nasir Said berkata rampasan terbaharu ialah pada pukul 10 pagi hari ini di Km 245.7 Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan, membabitkan 3,078,400 batang rokok keretek bernilai RM1.9 juta. "Tiga buah kereta dipercayai tonto mengiringi lori berkenaan namun melarikan diri sebaik menyedari kenderaan JKDM dengan empat anggota cuba menghampiri lori itu," katanya kepada pemberita pada sidang media di sini. Pihaknya turut menahan pemandu lori berusia 39 tahun itu bagi membantu siasatan. Menurut Mohd Nasir, JKDM Melaka melakukan rampasan pertama pada Jumaat lalu selepas menahan sebuah lori, juga di Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan, berdekatan susur keluar Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. Hasil pemeriksaan ke atas lori tersebut pasukan penguat kuasa menemui 2.8 juta batang rokok bernilai RM1.5 juta termasuk cukai, katanya. Katanya pemandu lori tersebut bagaimanapun berjaya melarikan diri. Kedua-dua kes disiasat mengikut Seksyen 135(1)(e) Akta Kastam 1967 yang membawa hukuman mengikut Seksyen 135 (1)(iii)(aa) akta sama, iaitu didenda tidak kurang 10 kali ganda dan tidak lebih 20 kali nilai dagangan atau dipenjara tidak lebih tiga tahun atau kedua-duanya, jika sabit kesalahan. — Bernama

Rushdie, Amis targeted in critical maulings of 2012 Posted: 08 Jan 2013 07:40 AM PST Salman Rushdie's reputation as a literary heavyweight did not save him from the savage sarcasm of the critics. Rushdie and some of his fellow novelists were all up for critical mauling of the year in a shortlist published on Tuesday. – Reuters pic LONDON, Jan 8 – Their status as literary heavyweights could not save them from the savage sarcasm of the critics. Novelists Martin Amis and Salman Rushdie and former poet laureate Andrew Motion were all up for critical mauling of the year in a shortlist published today. "Hatchet Job of the Year", run by British literary criticism website The Omnivore, was set up to celebrate serious book reviewing which organisers said was a dying art in the age of Amazon, blogs and Twitter. Now in its second year, it is awarded to the "angriest, funniest, most trenchant book review" of the past 12 months, and this year's winner will be chosen from eight nominees. Among those with the harshest verdicts over the last year were Ron Charles of the Washington Post for his review of Amis's "Lionel Asbo", and Zoe Heller for her critique of Rushdie's memoir "Joseph Anton" in the New York Review of Books. "Critics' quills were noticeably sharper in 2012," said Anna Baddeley, The Omnivore editor. "But there is still a long way to go. Book reviews are, in the main, too fawning and dull." While the reviews do not reflect overall reaction to the works in question, Charles said Lionel Asbo served up "blanched stereotypes on the silver platter of his (Amis's) prose as though it contained enough spice to entertain or even shock. "Does any other truly great writer make us wonder whether his brilliant parts are worth the wearisome whole?" wrote Charles, the first US critic to be included. Heller took Rushdie to task for what she called his "magisterial amour propre. "Some readers may find, by the end of Joseph Anton, that the world feels rather smaller and grimmer than before. But they should not be unduly alarmed. The world is as large and as wide as it ever was; it's just Rushdie who got small." Motion, poet laureate until 2009, fell foul of the London Evening Standard's Claire Harman for his "Silver: A Return to Treasure Island", in which she described the characters "as wooden as absent Silver's leg." In the Mail on Sunday, Craig Brown accused Richard Bradford of plagiarising himself in "The Odd Couple", while Allan Massie damned Craig Raine with faint praise in the Scotsman, writing of "The Divine Comedy" that "Raine can spell. That much must be admitted." Following is a list of nominees for the Hatchet Job of the Year Award, which will be announced on Feb. 12, and the winner will receive a year's supply of potted shrimp. - Craig Brown on The Odd Couple by Richard Bradford, Mail on Sunday - Ron Charles on Lionel Asbo by Martin Amis, Washington Post - Richard Evans on Hitler: A Short Biography by A.N. Wilson, New Statesman - Claire Harman on Silver: A Return to Treasure Island by Andrew Motion, London Evening Standard - Zoe Heller on Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie, New York Review of Books - Camilla Long on Aftermath by Rachel Cusk, Sunday Times - Allan Massie on The Divine Comedy by Craig Raine, Scotsman - Suzanne Moore on Vagina by Naomi Wolf, Guardian. – Reuters

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‘Snakes on a Plane’ director David R. Ellis dies in S.Africa Posted: 08 Jan 2013 07:08 AM PST 'Snakes on a Plane' director David R. Ellis dies in S.Africa File photo of director David R. Ellis in Hollywood. — Reuters pic JOHANNESBURG, Jan 8 — David R. Ellis, the child actor and former stuntman who went on to direct gory films including "Snakes on a Plane", has been found dead in a Johannesburg hotel. Ellis, 60, was last seen alive in a restaurant on Saturday. His body was discovered in a bathroom by a hotel manager at the weekend. There was no indication of foul play or robbery, police said in a statement on Tuesday. "It is unknown what was the cause of death," South African police said. Ellis was in South Africa shooting a movie. His 2006 film "Snakes on a Plane" about reptiles slithering through a jet inflicting gruesome deaths on passengers spawned numerous parodies, massive internet hoopla and was one of the most heavily hyped films of the North American summer season. The film's star, Samuel L. Jackson, threatened to quit when the studio considered changing the title, saying he had taken the job based on the name. "So talented, so kind, such a Good Friend. He'll be missed. Gone too soon!" Jackson tweeted on Tuesday. Ellis also directed other B-list thrillers including "Shark Night" and "Cellular". — Reuters

Sarah Michelle Gellar to return in a TV comedy Posted: 08 Jan 2013 06:26 AM PST Sarah Michelle Gellar. — AFP pic LOS ANGELES, Jan 8 — American actress Sarah Michelle Gellar is linked to a currently untitled project developed by 20th Century Fox TV, reports TVLine. After attempting a failed comeback last year with "Ringer," now canceled, Gellar will reportedly return to TV in September 2013. The former star of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" will be starring in a comedy following the everyday life of two mothers when their kids are away at school. The project will be pitched to American networks in the coming weeks. "Ringer," meanwhile, was canceled last May after one season, and Gellar also appeared in "The Wonderful Maladys," a pilot HBO never picked up. — AFP-Relaxnews

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Rushdie, Amis targeted in critical maulings of 2012 Posted: 08 Jan 2013 07:40 AM PST Salman Rushdie's reputation as a literary heavyweight did not save him from the savage sarcasm of the critics. Rushdie and some of his fellow novelists were all up for critical mauling of the year in a shortlist published on Tuesday. – Reuters pic LONDON, Jan 8 – Their status as literary heavyweights could not save them from the savage sarcasm of the critics. Novelists Martin Amis and Salman Rushdie and former poet laureate Andrew Motion were all up for critical mauling of the year in a shortlist published today. "Hatchet Job of the Year", run by British literary criticism website The Omnivore, was set up to celebrate serious book reviewing which organisers said was a dying art in the age of Amazon, blogs and Twitter. Now in its second year, it is awarded to the "angriest, funniest, most trenchant book review" of the past 12 months, and this year's winner will be chosen from eight nominees. Among those with the harshest verdicts over the last year were Ron Charles of the Washington Post for his review of Amis's "Lionel Asbo", and Zoe Heller for her critique of Rushdie's memoir "Joseph Anton" in the New York Review of Books. "Critics' quills were noticeably sharper in 2012," said Anna Baddeley, The Omnivore editor. "But there is still a long way to go. Book reviews are, in the main, too fawning and dull." While the reviews do not reflect overall reaction to the works in question, Charles said Lionel Asbo served up "blanched stereotypes on the silver platter of his (Amis's) prose as though it contained enough spice to entertain or even shock. "Does any other truly great writer make us wonder whether his brilliant parts are worth the wearisome whole?" wrote Charles, the first US critic to be included. Heller took Rushdie to task for what she called his "magisterial amour propre. "Some readers may find, by the end of Joseph Anton, that the world feels rather smaller and grimmer than before. But they should not be unduly alarmed. The world is as large and as wide as it ever was; it's just Rushdie who got small." Motion, poet laureate until 2009, fell foul of the London Evening Standard's Claire Harman for his "Silver: A Return to Treasure Island", in which she described the characters "as wooden as absent Silver's leg." In the Mail on Sunday, Craig Brown accused Richard Bradford of plagiarising himself in "The Odd Couple", while Allan Massie damned Craig Raine with faint praise in the Scotsman, writing of "The Divine Comedy" that "Raine can spell. That much must be admitted." Following is a list of nominees for the Hatchet Job of the Year Award, which will be announced on Feb. 12, and the winner will receive a year's supply of potted shrimp. - Craig Brown on The Odd Couple by Richard Bradford, Mail on Sunday - Ron Charles on Lionel Asbo by Martin Amis, Washington Post - Richard Evans on Hitler: A Short Biography by A.N. Wilson, New Statesman - Claire Harman on Silver: A Return to Treasure Island by Andrew Motion, London Evening Standard - Zoe Heller on Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie, New York Review of Books - Camilla Long on Aftermath by Rachel Cusk, Sunday Times - Allan Massie on The Divine Comedy by Craig Raine, Scotsman - Suzanne Moore on Vagina by Naomi Wolf, Guardian. – Reuters

A special book on Malaysian timber Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:41 AM PST File photo shows a mother and child walking across a pile of timber. A new book on Malaysian timber has been jointly published by the Malaysian Timber Council and MPH Publishing Group. – Reuters pic KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 – The Malaysian Timber Council and MPH Publishing Group have jointly published a 215-page book entitled "Re-Think: A New Paradigm for Malaysian Timber." The book showcases on applications of Malaysian timber projects in Malaysia, Singapore and in some of the most heavenly resort islands such as Mauritius, the Maldives and Seychelles. The book invites readers to feast their eyes on stunning photographs of structures and interiors featuring Malaysian timber in properties such as private homes, luxury resorts, hotels and commercial spaces. Council Chief Executive Officer Cheah Kam Huan said architecture was an endless journey to create and re-create man's relationship with the elements around him. He said the book is about man's constant dialogue with an age-old material, timber. "Apart from building a strong case for using timber in construction, the book promotes timber as the most eco-friendly building material," he said in a statement. The book will be available at MPH and leading bookstores in Malaysia and Singapore. MPH will also be promoting the book through the Malaysian National Book Council at book fairs in Frankfurt, London and the United States. – Bernama

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Ringgit ditutup lebih tinggi berbanding dolar AS Posted: 08 Jan 2013 02:40 AM PST KUALA LUMPUR, 8 Jan — Ringgit ditutup lebih tinggi berbanding dolar AS hari ini berikutan penjualan mata wang AS itu, kata seorang peniaga. Pasaran AS berhati-hati dan menunggu komen daripada pegawai Rizab Persekutuan yang mungkin menerangkan lebih lanjut tentang pemberhentian pelonggaran monetari minggu ini. Ringgit mungkin mencecah paras 3.0260 dalam jangka masa pendek, kata peniaga itu. Pada 5 petang, ringgit disebut harga pada 3.0410/0440 berbanding dolar AS daripada 3.0415/0445 semalam. Sementara itu, ringgit menyusut berbanding lain-lain mata wang utama. Ia jatuh berbanding dolar Singapura kepada 2.4726/4770 daripada 2.4665/4710 pada Isnin dan susut berbanding yen kepada 3.4778/4816 daripada 3.4645/4691 sebelum ini. Unit tempatan merosot berbanding pound British kepada 4.8924/8975 daripada 4.8789/8846 pada Isnin dan menyusut berbanding euro kepada 3.9904/9949 daripada 3.9616/9658 semalam. — Bernama

Polis akan kawal perhimpunan 12 Januari, kata Pakatan Posted: 08 Jan 2013 02:26 AM PST Setiausaha Agung PKR Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, TImbalan Presiden PAS Mohd Sabu dan Setiausaha Agung PAS Mustafa Ali di sidang akhbar tentang perhimpunan. — Gambar oleh Saw Siow Feng KUALA LUMPUR, 8 Jan — Polis akan mengawal perhimpunan Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat yang dianjurkan Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pada 12 Januari ini dan akan memastikan ianya aman dan menjadi "peristiwa bersejarah", kata penganjur hari ini. Menurut Setiausaha Agung PKR Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, Ketua Polis Negara (KPN) Tan Sri Ismail Omar berkata perhimpunan ini akan menjadi "peristiwa bersejarah" di mana mereka belajar dari peristiwa lepas. "Ditegaskan tadi dalam perjumpaan, IGP (Ketua Polis Negara) berhasrat ini akan menjadi detik bersejarah, untuk belajar dari kelemahan dan kekurangan program-program terdahulu," kata Saifuddin selepas beliau dan penganjur bertemu dengan KPN, Timbalan KPN dan pemimpin tertinggi polis disini. "Beliau berhasrat untuk memberi servis terbaik untuk memastikan semua hak yang termaktub dalam undang-undang dan Perlembangan dihormati," katanya. Beliau mengatakan perbincangan selama satu jam di ibu pejabat Bukit Aman sebagai "kondusif", dan berkata perbincangan adalah sekitar perhimpunan dan Akta Perhimpunan Aman (PAA) 2012. Timbalan Presiden PAS Mohamad Sabu yang juga berada dalam sidang media berkata polis memberi kerjasama penuh semasa perbincangan. "Dan mereka (pihak polis) sendiri akan bersama-sama memastikan himpunan 12 Januari...akan berlangsung dalam keadaan aman dan damai. MENYUSUL LAGI

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Supreme Spain still in EPL’s shadow Posted: 07 Jan 2013 04:02 PM PST JAN 8 — If last night's FIFA Ballon d'Or awards ceremony is anything to go by, it's pretty clear that Spain is easily the dominant force in world football at the moment. The three players shortlisted for the prestigious player of the year award — Lionel Messi (winner for a record-breaking fourth consecutive year), Andres Iniesta and Cristiano Ronaldo — all play their club football in Spain. Even more impressively, every single player named in the "world 11" plays their domestic football in Spain. And finally, the nominees for the best coach are all (or were all) based in the same country — winner Vicente Del Bosque with the national team, Jose Mourinho with Real Madrid and Pep Guardiola with Barcelona. Although the latter two managers may well be taking charge of English clubs next season as the Chelsea/Manchester United/Manchester City managerial riddle slowly unravels, the overall picture is pretty clear: when it comes to football, Spain is the undisputed world number one. However, in commercial terms the Spanish game is still lagging well behind the English Premier League (EPL), which continues to dominate the global scene as by far the most-watched domestic league outside its own country. As Malaysian readers of this column will verify — indeed, you know far better than I do — there's nothing like the EPL to grab the international sporting spotlight on a week-by-week basis. Real Madrid and particularly Barcelona might have closed the gap in the last few years, with European giants like AC Milan and Bayern Munich also attracting a few followers, but they are far outnumbered by fans of the big English clubs — Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham. Even Liverpool, who haven't won the English championship since 1990, remain an enormously popular club on the global scale. Whether you're in Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Nairobi or New York, the picture is the same: the EPL remains, by a considerable distance, the most popular sporting league on the planet. And that probably won't change any time soon, even though the quality of Spanish football is considerably higher than the frantic fare on offer from England. The reason for that is the significant cultural advantage enjoyed by the EPL over its competitors.  Much of the large and lucrative Asian market — including Malaysia, of course — as well as the United States, Australasia and parts of Africa are former British colonies and therefore possess inherent indelible cultural ties with the "mother country", even though independence was achieved many years ago. Language is also significant — the populations of the former colonial nations all boast a strong understanding of English, and the proliferation of American popular culture means that English is far more prevalent than Spanish in other countries such as South Korea and Indonesia. And although it's by no means a pre-requisite to speak English to enjoy the EPL (or to speak Spanish to enjoy La Liga), it certainly helps in establishing a feeling of identity, which is essential in the creation of "fans" as opposed to simply "viewers". So Spain has some catching up to do in order to erase the inherent advantages enjoyed by the EPL in terms of a global viewing audience. It's by no means an easy process, but the quality of Spanish football certainly deserves a higher overseas audience than it currently enjoys and I believe three steps would significantly improve La Liga's international status. Firstly, and most easy to achieve, the league's authorities could schedule more games to kick off early in the afternoon, rather than the late evening kick offs that are traditional in Spain but the worst time possible for the billions of potential viewers in Asia. Secondly, television revenue should be distributed more evenly rather than vastly in favour of the big two — Barcelona and Real Madrid — as is currently the case.  The inequality of the Spanish league compared to the more equal (but still unequal) English game means that last season third-placed Valencia received roughly the same amount of TV income as Wigan, who narrowly escaped relegation. The rampant inequality in Spain between the big two and the rest is firstly creating an increasingly unbalanced league, with La Liga's 18 remaining teams finding it impossible to compete with Barca and Real Madrid.  It also means that Spanish clubs have little chance of holding onto the best players, who inevitably end up either joining one of the big two or leaving the country altogether. Michu and Santi Cazorla are two recent examples, Isco might be the next, and the consistent drain of "secondary" stars undoubtedly lessens the global appeal of La Liga. And finally, Spanish clubs need to find a way of boosting their attendances. As canny AC Milan president (not to mention Italian Prime Minister) Silvio Berlusconi noted two decades ago, the primary purpose of fans inside the stadium in the modern age is to make the sport look good on television. Even the dullest of games enjoy enhanced appeal when played in front of a raucous packed house, while end-to-end thrillers manage to lose an edge of excitement for the TV viewer when played in front of the backdrop of a half-empty stadium. Many La Liga games attract poor attendances, partly because many clubs have stubbornly insisted on big ticket price increases in recent seasons despite the country's dire economic situation.  There's also an unsophisticated approach to marketing, with most clubs simply putting the tickets on sale and waiting for people to turn up rather than the more proactive, focused approach employed by their English counterparts. So Spain is lagging behind in its global appeal, even though its players are setting new standards for technical excellence. But empires are built to fall, so the EPL should not become complacent — if the Spanish authorities ever get their act together, they could take over the sporting world. * This is the personal opinion of the columnist.

Soi Lek tak perlu berundur Posted: 07 Jan 2013 03:45 PM PST 8 JAN — Tidak perlu Dr Chua Soi Lek berundur dari pimpinan MCA sama ada DAP dapat menjadi Menteri Besar Johor atau tidak. Katakanlah DAP dapat  jadi Menteri Besar Johor, apa Soi Lek dapat jika dia mengosongkan jawatan Presiden MCA? Adakah Soi Lek mahu masuk DAP kerana partinya sudah tidak disokong lagi oleh masyarakat Cina? Mengikut bacaan politik saya, DAP sekarang tidak bercakap untuk menjadi Perdana Menteri dan Menteri Besar di mana-mana. Ia tahu ia tidak mungkin dalam jangka yang terdekat ini dapat membenuk kerajaan bersendirian selain dari Pulau Pinang tanpa bersekutu dalam Pakatan Rakyat. PAS pun demikian tidak mungkin berkuasa di Putrajaya tanpa bergabung dengan DAP dalam Pakatan Rakyat. Tekad bersama DAP dan PAS dalam Pakatan Rakyat ialah untuk ke Putrajaya, bukan untuk keuntungan parti masing-masing tetapi adalah untuk menggantikan kerajaan BN yang dilihat amat uzur dan bagi membentuk kerajaan yang bersih, tidak rasuah dan berkebajikan. DAP sudah belajar dari kesilapan Lee Kuan Yew semasa menjadi warga Malaysia bercakap tentang Perdana Menteri bukan Melayu selepas 20 tahun pembentukan Malaysia. Gara-gara suara itu Singapura dikeluarkan dari Malaysia. Dan DAP telah menunjukkan politik yang dewasa apabila ia memperoleh kerusi yang banyak di Perak, ia memberikan jawatan  Menteri Besar kepada parti lain. Keadaan itu diterima oleh semua sebagai politik yang rasional. Maka contoh di Perak itu mencerminkan politik DAP secara umum di negara ini sekarang. Apa yang Soi Lek perlu buat sekarang bukan mencabar DAP untuk menjadi Menteri Besar di sana sini, tetapi bekerja bagi menyakinkan masyarakat Cina khususnya ia adalah anti-rasuah dan anti-perkauman. Ia mesti menunjukkan ia bukan parti para tawkeh serta bukan parti yang hendak mengkkayakan pemimpin-pemimpinnya. Tidak perlu Soi Lek meletak jawatan dan meninggalkan parti atas isu Menteri Besar itu. Tetapi Soi Lek sebenarnya wajar meletakkan jawatan jika mendapati DAP menawan kerusi. Jangan jadi macam Dr Koh Tsu Koon apabila partinya Gerakan kalah semua kerusi di Pulau Pinang, ia kekal menjadi Presiden parti yang tidak disokong rakyat itu. Dengan Tsu Koon kekal sebagai Presiden Gerakan, tiada jaminan ia boleh menebus kekalahannya tahun 2008. Sepatah kata Soi Lek, "DAP hanya kukuh di Pulau Pinang." Ini bererti Gerakan dan MCA sudah serendar di Pulau Pinang. Contohilah Ong Ka Ting. Apabila sebahagian besar dari calon MCA kalah dalam PRU 2008, dia meletakkan jawatan. Ong Ka Ting tidak tunggu DAP jadi Menteri Besar di Perak, Selangor dan lain-lain atau tidak. Soi Lek kena buktikan kemenangan MCA bukan kerana sokongan pengundi Melayu dari Umno, tetapi dengan pengundi Cina saja MCA boleh menang. DAP telah membuktikan bahawa ia menang di semua kerusi yang dimenanginya tanpa sokongan undi Melayu. Kalau Soi Lek hendak meletak jawatan ialah kerana partinya tidak lagi disokong oleh pengundi Cina, bukan kerana DAP tidak dapat jadi Menteri Besar di Johor. Soi Lek dilihat bercakap macam orang merepek. * Ini adalah pandangan peribadi penulis.

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