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French Open final resumes after rain with Nadal ahead Posted: 05 Jun 2011 08:22 AM PDT The umbrellas go up at the Philippe Chatrier central court as rain stops play. — Reuters pic PARIS, June 5 — The French Open men's singles final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer resumed after a 10-minute stoppage for rain with the Spanish top seed leading 7-5, 5-4 today. Play had lasted one hour 55 minutes when rain began to fall for the first time in the two-week tournament to send the players back to the locker room, but they were soon back on court when the umbrellas were put away. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

China anoints champion Li as a legend Posted: 05 Jun 2011 07:35 AM PDT Li Na the centre of media attention in Paris, June 4, 2011. — Reuters pic BEIJING, June 5 — Chinese state media proclaimed Li Na's victory in the French Open yesterday as the stuff of legends and miracles, elevating Asia's first grand slam singles winner to near mythic status in a country where national glory and athletic feats are closely entwined. A rare front-page sports story in the Sunday edition of the ruling Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper, the People's Daily, said the "China-red" clay court at Roland Garros symbolised a miraculous victory for the country. "The girl from Hubei, Li Na, at the birthplace of the sport, has opened a new era in tennis for China and all of Asia," it said, headlines effusive in describing Li as "bravely seizing" the French title, and "writing an Asian legend". The official English-language newspaper the China Daily said Li displayed an "all-conquering maturity" in her straight-sets victory over holder Italy's Francesca Schiavone. It was a national and personal redemption for the widely adored 29-year-old after she fell in the Australian Open final to Belgian Kim Clijsters in January. By today, nearly 2.1 million people were fans of Li's twitter-like microblogging site on Sina's Weibo, and millions more were talking about her win. Xinhua news agency said 95 million viewers tuned in to watch the match on state television. "It is quite a great honour, for her and the country," said Liu Xiaolong, 34, a computer programmer from Beijing. "It will do a lot to help China break into the tennis world, which has for so long been dominated by Europe." For many young people in China, Li is a role model, partly because of her broad smile and off-court wit, but also due to her air of independence in a country where elite athletes' careers are nurtured — and largely supervised — by the state. Driving force The outspoken Li was permitted in 2009, along with four other top women players, to manage her own career and keep a greater share of her winnings after run-ins with Chinese tennis officialdom over training arrangements and pay. Li, who was identified as a potential badminton talent as a child, was steered into tennis before her teenage years, but had to be coaxed back into the game in 2004 after walking away to study media at university. As the country's sometimes reluctant standard-bearer for tennis, her success is expected to fuel the sport's rapid growth in China. China Tennis Association chief Sun Jinfang said yesterday that Li would help drive the sport forward in the country, still considered an elite game that lags behind basketball, football and table tennis in its draw on youth, Xinhua news agency reported. "Li Na's achievement today, is not only an honour for China and Asia, but will also advance China's global influence on the sport," Sun said in a statement issued after the final yesterday. "It will inevitably be a strong driving force behind the development of tennis in China, increase society's focus on and support of the sport, and attract more young people to play," Sun said, adding that the sport had already grown by leaps and bounds as a result of China's economic and social reforms. Li also recognised the impact her victory in Paris might have on the next generation of China's tennis players. "I hope that lots of kids see my performance and in their hearts they feel that one day they can be like me and do even better than me," Li said, according to Xinhua. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

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Exam-obsessed Hong Kong makes celebrity tutors rich Posted: 04 Jun 2011 06:50 PM PDT Richard Eng, a co-founder of tutorial school Beacon College, teaching an English class to secondary students in Hong Kong. — AFP pic HONG KONG, June 5 — Cut-throat competition for exam success in Hong Kong's high-pressure education system has spawned a new breed of teacher — celebrity tutors with near cult-like status and millionaire lifestyles.  With their glamorous photographs showing megawatt grins and flashy attire splashed across billboards and buses, the star teachers claim to transform failing students into A-grade pupils — and earn up to $1.5 (RM652,000) million a year.  The former British colony's tutoring industry is reportedly worth at least HK$400 million (RM173 million), with official figures showing as many as half of secondary school seniors seek private tutoring after school.  Hong Kong parents, often desperate to help their children succeed in the city's intense public-exam system, are more than willing to shell out handsome sums for extracurricular help.  "Hong Kong has a very examination-oriented school culture and tutoring is regarded as a kind of educational investment," said Kelly Mok, an English tutor who teaches at King's Glory, one of the largest tutorial schools in Hong Kong.  That focus on academic success at almost any cost has turned celebrity tutor Richard Eng into a rich man who wheels around the teeming city in a Lamborghini, wears expensive watches and lives in a multi-million dollar mansion in the city's Yuen Long district.  "Enrolment in tutorial schools is astoundingly high — we are talking about 100,000 students every year," Eng told AFP. Eng and other top tutors have successfully tapped that demand, using flashy, commercial marketing tactics to make themselves household names or academic superstars, otherwise known as "tutor kings" in Cantonese. His empire, Beacon College, employs over 100 tutors and Eng plans to take the firm public.  "There are only 20,000 degree places in Hong Kong every year, but there are 100,000 aspiring college students" Eng said.  "When you think about this keen competition, you will understand why there is this obsession with doing well in public examinations — especially college-admission ones."  Dozens of students turned up to Eng's lecture on a recent spring day to learn how to ace the city's English public exam for 16 year-olds. Glass walls separate the teenagers into groups of 45 students — the maximum class size allowed by the government.  Clad in skin-tight jeans, a shimmery grey shirt and a big-buckled Gucci belt, the 47-year-old lectured animatedly in a mix of Cantonese and English, gesturing frequently to his powerpoint slides and enthralling students with his quick-fire delivery over a headset microphone.  Mok, who has the looks of a model, concedes that her lessons are also almost as much entertainment as academics.  "I suppose it is a bit like a show," she said before a class, clutching a Louis Vuitton handbag and sporting a mini-skirt and a pair of high heels.  "But bear in mind these students are bored and tired after school," she added. "It's our job to make these extra-curricular lesson a bit more exciting for them."  Some tutors, like economics teacher Alex Lam, star in their own online soap operas. Lam has self-financed the production of about 10 hours of his own show over the years, using it as a way to draw in students. Schools also pay to have instructors' faces plastered throughout the city on giant billboards and the backs of its ubiquitous double-decker buses.  King's Glory, one of Hong Kong's leading tutorial schools, went the extra mile in its bid to attract students, awarding points to pupils that they can redeem for gifts like stationery and toy robots.  But some tutors try to boost class enrolments through unethical means, such as claiming to have access to exam questions, Lam said.  "A few bad apples in the industry tell students they have access to exam questions — it is just a way to bump up student enrolment. But so far as I know, none of it is true — no one really has had that kind of access," he told AFP.  Despite his own success, Lam warns that some parents and students may be taking educational achievement to the extreme.  "The tutoring culture is getting a little crazy," he said. "Some students are taking tutorial lessons for five to six different subjects. The truth is, students might not necessarily benefit from taking so many lessons. They're better off concentrating on one or two subjects that they're weak at."  The craze also has veterans warning that quality may be slipping. "The newcomers like to use gimmicks to attract students — telling jokes, being pretty faces," Lam said.  "They're not focusing on their teaching, which worries me as the teaching quality is dropping."  But while the big names are millionaires, the average rank-and file tutor earns much less.  "The younger tutors — they have unrealistic expectations," Lam said. "They think are they are superstars and expect to earn superstar salaries — but not all of them will."  Hong Kong's Education Bureau has shied away from endorsing the popular schools, saying in 2009 that "students receive essential education at formal schools".  But as long as parents fret about their children's scholastic success, the industry seems likely to thrive, the Lamborghini-driving Eng predicted.  "Education will always be a priority because every parent wants his or her child to be better than their own generation," he said. — AFP-Relaxnews Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

India’s pilgrim trail: a godsend for hotel chains Posted: 04 Jun 2011 05:22 PM PDT Cities like Amritsar, home to the Golden Temple pictured here, are experiencing growth in the hotel sector. — AFP pic MUMBAI, June 5 — India's pilgrimage centres are fast becoming hot-spots for hotel chains, as both domestic and international groups look to plug a gap in the market for quality accommodation. Devotees flocking to so-called "temple towns" such as Shirdi in western Maharashtra state, the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in Punjab and far-flung Haridwar have for years had to make do with basic facilities.  But a rise in disposable incomes and more Indians experiencing foreign travel — both the result of India's buoyant economy — have led to demand for more than just a bunk-bed in a community centre or floor space at a guesthouse.  "There was a time when people who were visiting these temple towns didn't have the money for quality accommodation," the associate vice-president of Best Western India, Gaurav Sarin, told AFP.  "That's changed very drastically in the past few years. The people who are now visiting are people looking for an international hospitality experience and they have the disposable income to spend on the room and other facilities."  For Best Western, temple towns and "Tier-II" cities — India's fastest-growing cities outside Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore — have become a key market and religious tourists core clients, he added. It's not hard to see why: religious pilgrimages remain an essential part of life for millions in India, from the lowest-paid manual worker to the high-flying corporate executive, cricketer or Bollywood movie star.  The latest available government figures show there were just over 650 million domestic tourist visits in 2009 — up 15.5 percent on a year earlier.  The number of foreign visitors fell 3.3 percent to 5.1 million.  "The bulk of (domestic tourists) are religious tourists wanting to visit places like Shirdi near Mumbai, Vaishnodevi in the north, Haridwar and Rishikesh in the Himalayas," said Ankur Bhatia, executive director of the Bird Group, a travel and hospitality conglomerate.  "The sector is growing tremendously. We're looking at about 10 per cent growth every year. It's from the lowest to the highest economic groups in society."  Demand for rooms outstrips supply in places like Tirupati, a temple city in southern Andhra Pradesh state which reportedly receives a staggering 50,000 to 70,000 visitors every day.  Chains see high returns, even at lower room rates and without additional revenue from hotel bars and restaurants on the pilgrim trail, where being teetotal and not eating meat are prerequisites.  "The international travel market in India is quite seasonal and fickle," said Kaushik Vardharajan, managing director of hotel sector analysts HVS Hospitality Services.  "A couple of travel advisories can see numbers drop steeply. We saw it during the downturn and after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai (in November 2008).  "The demand for these temple cities and heritage sites are pretty recession-proof. They're not seasonal in nature and if it's bad times, people are going to go to the temple more."  Vardharajan said that there are currently plans to build 90,000 to 95,000 new rooms in such places in the next five years.  Best Western, which has hotels in Amritsar and Shirdi, is looking to build in Ajmer in the northern state of Rajasthan, Puri in eastern Orissa state and Kapra in Andhra Pradesh. Sarin said they are also looking at "three or four" other religious centres for development, without elaborating.  The Bird Group is developing its existing resort near Rishikesh to cater for the top end of the market, said Bhatia. Ginger Hotels, a budget chain part of the Indian Hotels Company Limited which operates high-end hotels like Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace, is also expanding to cater for the boom in domestic business and leisure travel.  The chain's chief executive and director, Prabhat Pani, said "eight to 10" of the 40 to 50 new hotels they plan to open in the next five years will be in Tier-II cities or temple towns.  "The big story is the Indian traveller. The Indian traveller is not only travelling for business and going abroad but with disposable income going up many are travelling within the country," he said.  "All this really means is that demand for rooms is increasing and the category that's growing the fastest will really be the budget and economy sector." — AFP-Relaxnews Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

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‘Gunsmoke’ star James Arness dead at age 88 Posted: 05 Jun 2011 05:47 AM PDT LOS ANGELES, June 5 — Actor James Arness, who personified the tall, rugged lawman of the American frontier as Marshal Matt Dillon in "Gunsmoke", US television's longest-running prime-time drama, died on Friday at age 88. Arness died of natural causes at his Los Angeles home, said his business manager, Ginny Fazer. The actor was in relatively good health but had "just been fading" in recent years, Fazer told Reuters. "No disease, nothing untoward, he just got tired, I guess," she said. James Arness in this undated photograph provided by the Arness family. — Reuters pic Arness was best known for his 20 years on TV playing Matt Dillon, the US marshal in the dusty wild-west town of Dodge City, Kansas, a role for which he was recommended by his showbiz mentor and friend, the film star John Wayne. When "Gunsmoke" left the CBS airwaves in 1975, Arness had set the record for the longest-running role played by a single actor in prime time. The feat that went unmatched until Kelsey Grammer tied the record after 20 years of playing psychiatrist Frasier Crane on two NBC comedies — "Cheers" and "Frasier". "James Arness will always be remembered as one of the biggest stars in the history of television, playing an iconic role on the medium's longest-running prime-time drama ever," CBS said in a statement. "Gunsmoke", which originated on CBS radio in 1952 with William Conrad as the voice of Matt Dillon, debuted on TV as one of the first in a wave of "adult westerns" that sought to portray gunslingers and cowboys in a way that appealed to grown-up viewers, rather than youngsters. Although not an immediate hit, "Gunsmoke" climbed up the ratings chart to No. 8 in its second season and went on to become the top-rated show on US television from 1957 to 1961. The show's success helped generate a lot of competition, with network television's prime-time lineup including more than 30 westerns at one point, but "Gunsmoke" outlasted them all. Memorable ensemble cast The cast comprised one of television's most memorable ensembles of supporting characters — the good-natured but gullible deputy with a limp, Chester Goode, played by Dennis Weaver; the red-haired, whiskey-voiced saloon keeper Miss Kitty Russell; crusty old "Doc" Adams, and Louie, the town drunk. Chester, who spoke with a pronounced twang — "Meester Deellon!" — left the series in 1964 and was replaced by scruffy deputy Festus Haggen. Miss Hannah took over the Long Branch Saloon after Kitty's exit. Arness, who stood 6-feet-7-inches tall, earned three Emmy nominations for the programme over the years. Born James Aurness in Minneapolis to a family of Norwegian heritage, Arness dropped the "u" at the outset of his film career. He attributed his acting success to luck. He was severely wounded in the leg in World War Two, which left him with a life-long limp. While recuperating, his younger brother Peter — who gained fame as the actor Peter Graves in TV's "Mission: Impossible" — encouraged him to take a radio course. Arness got an announcing job, but then headed to Hollywood in hopes of a movie career. He made his film debut in "The Farmer's Daughter" in 1947 as Loretta Young's brother, and appeared four years later in the title part as a space alien in "The Thing from Another World". An agent who represented John Wayne later introduced him to Arness, and Wayne took the actor under his wing, giving him roles in several of his movies. Wayne ultimately suggested Arness for the lead part in "Gunsmoke", and even introduced the first episode for CBS. Arness returned as Matt Dillon in five "Gunsmoke" reunion specials, the last of which aired in 1994 when he was 71. He also starred in the 1977 TV mini-series "How the West Was Won", the modern police drama "McClain's Law" in 1981, and reprised John Wayne's role in a TV remake of "Red River" in 1988. Arness is survived by his second wife, Janet, two sons and six grandchildren. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

August premiere set for season four of ‘Jersey Shore’ Posted: 05 Jun 2011 05:31 AM PDT The cast of "Jersey Shore" at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, California, September 12, 2010. — Reuters pic LOS ANGELES, June 5 — MTV has set the season four premiere date for its biggest hit, "Jersey Shore", for August 4 at 10pm. The cable network, heading into a big weekend with the "MTV Movie Awards" and its "Teen Wolf" update, also announced that production on the fifth season of "Jersey Shore" would begin later this month in Seaside Heights, New Jersey — where it all began. The cast, led by Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, is now filming the fourth season in Florence, Italy, introducing an international flavour to the franchise. An hour-long special will also air on July 28 at 10pm, chronicling the rise of "Jersey Shore" from its inception. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

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Muhyiddin: Meskipun PAS terus tolak, pintu Umno masih terbuka Posted: 05 Jun 2011 03:20 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, 5 Jun — Meskipun PAS terus menolak kerjasama dengan Umno, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin hari ini mengulangi bahawa pintu komponen BN itu masih terbuka kepada parti Islam tersebut untuk membentuk kerajaan perpaduan. Timbalan presiden Umno itu berkata, idea berkenaan adalah demi Islam, bukan kerana kepentingan politik. "Demi kepentingan rakyat, kita tidak pernah menutup pintu (kepada PAS). Sama ada menerima atau tidak, itu soal lain. "Pelawaan kami bukan kerana politik, tetapi demi kepentingan politik. Dan, itu yang membezakan Umno daripada PAS, Umno melihat kepentingan rakyat secara keseluruhan manakala PAS hanya fokus pada kepentingan parti," kata beliaus selepas mengadakan kunjungan ke beberapa lokasi di ibu negara petang ini. Dalam ucapan dasarnya kelmarin, Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang mengulangi pendirian partinya akan terus bersama Pakatan Rakyat untuk menghadapi pilihan raya umum ke-13 meskipun dihujani siri pelawaan dan jemputan daripada kepimpinan Umno sepanjang tiga tahun lalu. "PAS akan bersama dengan rakan dalam Pakatan Rakyat untuk menggerakkan agenda perubahan sebagaimana yang dipersetujui dalam dokumen Dasar Bersama Pakatan Rakyat, yang sudah diperbahas dan diterima oleh PAS," kata beliau. Kata Hadi, ia melibatkan satu paradigma baru pendemokrasian, suatu islah menyeluruh dalam sistem pemerintahan dan urus tadbir negara. "Perubahan ini tidak memberi sebarang makna sekiranya tidak melibatkan reformasi spiritual dan kesejahteraan fikiran rakyat," katanya. Sejak pilihan raya umum 2008, PAS menerima pelawaan demi pelawaan sama ada secara langsung daripada Umno sendiri ataupun daripada pihak-pihak yang pro-Umno termasuk beberapa tokoh agama agar ia meninggalkan Pakatan Rakyat untuk bersama BN atau berganding dengan Umno. Idea itu termasuk membentuk kerajaan perpaduan bersama Umno. Pelawaan itu sendiri pernah dipanjangkan oleh Datuk Seri Najib Razak selaku pengerusi BN dan presiden Umno dan juga Muhyiddin sendiri. Awal tahun ini, The Malaysian Insider pernah membawa laporan bahawa empat pemimpin dari PAS dan Umno bertemu di Istana Terengganu di sini dan dilaporkan ada menyentuh soal kerjasama kedua-dua parti. Hadi menambah, "kita sama-sama sedar bahawa demokrasi sedia ada dalam negara kita sudah tempang, akibat dari kerakusan Umno-BN yang ingin mengekalkan kuasa mereka sampai bila-bila." "Pun begitu, sehingga kini kita tetap mendahulukan pendekatan damai secara demokrasi, sehingga PAS bersabar menunggu walaupun dijatuhkan secara yang tidak bermoral, beretika dan melanggar asas-asas perlembagaan," katanya. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

Presiden PAS: ‘Bukan Erdogan, tapi pasukan Nik Aziz-Hadi Awang’ Posted: 05 Jun 2011 03:14 AM PDT GOMBAK, 5 Jun — Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang menegaskan, barisan kepimpinan pusat PAS sesi 2011-2013, yang diumumkan semalam, bukan kumpulan Erdogan sebagaimana dilabel musuh-musuh politiknya ketika setiap kali diadakan pemilihan. Sebaliknya Presiden PAS itu berkata, "ini adalah pasukan (Datuk) Nik Aziz (Nik Mat) dan Abdul Hadi Awang." "PAS adalah parti Islam, parti AKP bukan parti Islam. Ini Malaysia, bukan Turki," kata beliau yang dilihat merujuk kepada label-label bahawa PAS kini dikuasai oleh kumpulan profesional atau Erdogan ekoran keputusan pemilihan pusat parti yang berlangsung kelmarin. "Ada macam-macam mengatakan tentang kepimpinan PAS yang baru, kali ini adalah kumpulan Erdogan. Saya katakan, ini bukan Erdogan tetapi pimpinan Nik Aziz dan Abdul Hadi Awang. Ini PAS, ini bukan Turki tetapi ini Malaysia. Turki haramkan parti Islam. Pemimpin mengisytiharkan mereka bukan parti Islam . . . mereka terpaksa  terpaksa ikut cara pimpinan Barat," kata beliau ketika berucapn menggulung perbahasan pada muktamar tahunan 2011. Istilah Erdogan dikaitkan dengan parti politik dari Turki dan kepimpinan mereka. Baru-baru ini, Nik Aziz yang merupakan Mursyidul Am PAS dan Menteri Besar Kelantan juga menafikan wujudnya kumpulan ulama dan profesional dalam parti itu. Sebaliknya kata beliau, label itu sengaja diadakan oleh Umno-BN menjelang pemilihan parti. Beberapa media melaporkan bahawa pemilihan kali ini menyaksikan kumpulan ulama disingkirkan dan PAS dikuasai oleh kumpulan profesional atau Erdogan. Label itu jelas merujuk ke atas persaingan timbalan presiden di mana Mohamad Sabu menewaskan Nasharudin Mat Isa dan Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, yang kedua-duanya dianggap sebagai ulama. Jawatan naib presiden dimenangi Salahuddin Ayub, Datuk Pasukan Husam Musa dan Datuk Mahfuz Omar. Dua pertiga daripada 18 ahli jawatankuasa kerja pusat dianggap sebagai kumpulan profesional berbanding sesi 2009-2011. Merujuk perkara itu, Hadi yang juga Ahli Parlimen Marang berkata, "saya mengucapkan terima kasih dan tahniah kepada perwakilan dan rakan-rakan yang terpilih walaupun media massa telah melaporkan macam-macam mengenai mereka." "Kenyataan yang tidak menyenangkan, kita maafkan sahaja kerana mereka tidak sedar kejahilan mereka," katanya lagi. "Wartawan hanya melaporkan yang benar, apa yang diucap dalam ucapan dasar tetapi disiarkan oleh mereka yang bukan berada di sini. Wartawan hanya dikongkong oleh peraturan yang sangat kuno dalam negara kita," tambah Hadi. Mengulas lanjut isu komposisi ulama dan profesional, Hadi berkata, "kalau dilihat, perwakilan telah melakukan pemilihan sangat bijak." "Saya telah membuat kiraan tetapi bukan kiraan undi pemilihan, tapi kiraan tentang mereka yang terpilih," katanya. Kata Hadi seramai lapan orang yang terpilih mempunyai latar belakang jurusan agama, dua doktor, dua jurutera, seorang peguam, enam bekas pensyarah dan dua aktivis masyarakat. Katanya, perlembagaan parti membolehkan pelantikan seramai enam ahli jawatankuasa kerja pusat, empat anggota Dewan Harian dan 14 pesuruhjaya PAS negeri yang turut akan menghadiri mesyuarat ahli jawatankuasa kerja pusat. "Walaupun pihak luar menganggap yang tidak dipilh sebagai tercorot  tetapi bukan tercorot, mereka akan memainlan peranan dalam parti. Kalau dilihat nama-nama (ahli jawatankuasa kerja pusat), dua nama dianggap baru . . . Khalid Samad, Wahid Endut," kata Hadi, merujuk kepada Ahli Parlimen Shah Alam dan Kuala Terengganu. Hadi berkata, Khalid yang juga Yang Dipertua PAS Shah Alam kembali menduduki ahli jawatankuasa kerja pusat selepas hampir dua dekad tidak berpeluang dipilih. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

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Shame the man Posted: 04 Jun 2011 04:47 PM PDT JUNE 5 — I bet we have all had experiences of neighbours (if not ourselves) carrying out illegal home renovations.  It seems harmless at first, that little bit of brick wall to top of the existing shared wall in the front porch, to ensure more privacy. Or extending the back portion of the kitchen until the end of the property.  When the unsuspecting neighbour realises what is going on, it is often too late and the offender refuses to stop work. Calling in the local authority can be a frustrating exercise, plus there is the mindset that a little financial pay-off will send them off quietly.  The result is the converse of good fences making good neighbours. The cool evening breeze that used to blow into their porch and back garden is no more, having been replaced with concrete barriers. The uninterrupted view of the city skyline? Pfft. Replaced by the rear windows of a third floor extension.  Which brings me to this week's topic — bringing justice to those who have erected illegal structures in their homes. There is some joy taking place in Hong Kong as a witch hunt of sorts is carried out among the very politicians who are supposed to uphold all that is good and legal.  Powerful people in the Cabinet have been left sputtering apologies after it came to light that their own homes had been fitted with structures that are against building regulations.  No one has been left more embarrassed than Chief Executive Donald Tsang who became to date the most high-ranking official to come under scrutiny. It was revealed that the glass windows fitted onto the balcony of his Mid-Levels flat (the Chief Executive's official residence is in Government House in the Central District) are not legal.  It was Tsang who had earlier ordered members of his Cabinet to check whether their properties were clear of illegal structures. This order followed the discovery that Education Secretary Michael Suen had ignored a government order to remove illegal extensions from his Happy Valley home five years ago — when Suen was Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands.  The chief executive and secretary for education are but the latest in a string of high profile figures who have been named and shamed in the media over the past two weeks.  For the everyday man, it is a welcome change to see action taking place. After all, some of us have been issued warnings for having flower pot holders hung from our balconies. Surely an entire glass house built on the rooftop of a three-storey house should have stronger repercussions.  The issue of illegal structures came to light recently over an Ombudsman report regarding the different standards applied to illegal structures in urban and rural areas.  Home in rural areas in the New Territories are commonly cube-like three-storey houses. The rules governing these buildings are simple: if they are no higher than 27 feet and take up no more than 700 sq ft, the buildings are exempt from requiring work and occupation permits.  Hence, a canvas tent or a glass house covering the entire roof are common sights in the New Territories. This space is usually used for clothes drying.  Rules for urban dwellings are much stricter. The Chief Executive was issued an advisory letter by Buildings Department asking for proof that the balcony's glass windows were not in breach of the rules — what one politician called a "polite and indirect way" to say the structure was illegal. Tsang immediately instructed an authorised person to remove the glass windows and to follow up with the reconstruction of the verandah in accordance with the law.  Glass windows and canvas roofing may seem like peanuts when there are more important issues to tackle but it is a levelling of the playing field. If the big guys can choose to ignore the law, what's to stop everyone else? * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

The Padfone: Innovating integration Posted: 04 Jun 2011 04:41 PM PDT JUNE 5 — A smartphone that's also a tablet? Yay!  The subject of today's exploration is the Asus Padfone. While perhaps not the sexiest name in the universe, this innovative device encapsulates the spirit I wrote about earlier when discussing the Motorola Atrix 4G — one heart, many bodies.  What I got excited about back then was the idea that a smartphone could power a laptop. I actually had a chance to finally test this device hands-on in a recent trip to the US. I still admire the concept, but I'll be the first to admit there were a number of software kinks to fix before I would certify it as a smooth user experience.  I would be lying though if I said I wasn't thrilled at having a computer-like experience powered by a little phone.  The Asus Padfone, launched on Monday at the Computex event in Taiwan, represents the next logical step — a phone that can also power a tablet!  Mobile vs. very heavy libraries  I was particularly thrilled about the news because while my beautiful Macbook Air serves all of my laptop needs (did I just out my Mac fanboy identity?), I have been considering getting a tablet very seriously.  I remember a professor of mine who taught Russian medieval history to myself and some US Army helicopter pilots. He told us one day about how he was going to vote for Ralph Nader for one reason and one reason alone: because Nader supported the legalisation of marijuana.  Similarly, I have been inclined towards getting a tablet for one reason and more or less one reason alone (one has to account for the simple desire to buy new toys) — ebooks.  Like most people, I do enjoy reading physical books. They have been a warm and faithful bathroom companion for many years (if I did not defecate, I'm not sure I would ever read, really).  I have, however, an aversion to heavy material belongings (I noticed upon my return from the US that I did not really buy a single thing back for myself) that some have attributed to a fear of commitment.  Under these circumstances, one can probably imagine how the idea of being able to have nothing less than my entire library encompassed within a little portable device has its appeal to me. The logistics are simply overwhelming -- massive stack of incredibly heavy books vs. one little electronic gadget.  Gadget overload  My aversion to lugging things around extends, however, to gadgets as well. I have never seen the point in owning an iPod, an iPod Touch, an iPhone and an iPad altogether. Granted I wouldn't own any of those unimaginatively named devices individually, but it seems even more ridiculous to own and carry them around all at once.  I believe in a unitariness of electronic devices, where one little thing serves almost all your needs.  My Macbook Air serves all my mobile needs that require a keyboard and is more comfortable to spend countless hours on than any mobile computer I have used — it's the perfect, albeit slightly costly, combination of mobility and usability. My trusty Nexus One, on the other hand, is a smartphone that meets all basic needs while being convenient to have on my person at all times.  It is only a matter of time, of course, before my phone becomes defunct. Thanks to Asus though, now instead of having to fork out tons of cash to buy both a new phone and a new tablet, I can do both at the same time.  The Padfone is a normal looking phone that has the abnormal ability to slot itself into a tablet; said tablet has no functionality on its own, but once the phone is plugged in, springs to life as a fully featured tablet — hooray!  Less bulk, less devices, less cost — more fun and convenience.  Addressing android fragmentation  What about the software? Android developers branched off from their 2.x path to create Android 3.x Honeycomb, an operating system (OS) designed specifically for tablets. Recently, they announced that Android 4.x Ice Cream Sandwich will represent a remerging of these two branches, so that there will be a single Android OS not only for phones and tablets, but for all Android based devices as well (I have heard of computers, microwaves and washing machines running Android -- bow down to your Google overlords!).  I think this is a great development, in no small part due to the fact that Ice Cream Sandwich also seeks to address the problem of fragmentation. Overzealous manufacturers like Samsung, Motorola and HTC love to make custom skins of the Android OS (Motoblur, Touchwiz and Sense respectively -- the latter I seem to find particularly irritating), making for a different user experience across users of different Android devices.  This mess is to me still preferable than the iOS experience of Apple mobile devices, which to me represents the most depressing trend of conforming uniformity — where it has traditionally been near impossible to tell one individual's device from another's from their barely customisable homescreens.  Nonetheless, it would be nice to have customisability within a more standardised starting point. Clearly, the ability to update devices with greater simultaneity than the present mess would also be a massive improvement. Where custom skins are concerned, perhaps in a compromise that keeps to the spirit of openness, manufacturers should allow the user the option to choose between using the custom user interface, or the standard no frills Android installation.  Driving innovation  The Asus Padfone has no confirmed release date, but word has it that somewhere around Christmas seems to be a possibility, coinciding with the estimated release of Android Ice Cream Sandwich.  This is a terribly long wait for the likes of myself, but I will still applaud Asus for taking this bold step.  My parents bought me an Asus EEE PC one Christmas, and I have to admit at first I did not really see the value in this little, underspeced computer. Like millions of others around the world, however, I was soon swayed by the convenience of this eminently mobile little netbook — a computer category that Asus is credited with practically inventing.  I don't use it much anymore (Windows? bleh), but their bold success with the netbook was the first of many admirable and bold innovations, which saw this Taiwanese company seek to redefine the landscape of hardware.  They also recently caught my attention with the EEE Pad Transformer, a tablet that has a separate keyboard dock — solving one of the problems I had previously associated most with tablet-based productivity. At present, it seems to be one of the best-selling Android tablets.  I think Asus mirrored Android's focus on the type of openness that breeds innovation — a true democracy of ideas, and the antithesis of a certain Cupertino-based company and its one size fits all approach to mobile devices. I'm a great believer in the idea of pursuing constant improvement, and not being needlessly shackled to boring conventions. The world will never move forward without some bold souls willing to try something radically diffferent. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

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