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Nadal wastes little time in reaching last 16 Posted: 25 Jun 2011 07:46 AM PDT LONDON, June 25 – Top seed and defending champion Rafa Nadal upped his game at the key moments to overcome the spirited challenge of wildcard Gilles Muller 7-6 7-6 6-0 and advance to the last 16 at Wimbledon today. Muller had wasted two set points yesterday's opening set before the match was called off due to rain and went toe to toe with the champion in a high-quality second set today. However, Nadal kept his composure on the big points in the tiebreak to break the spirit of the Luxembourger, who knocked the Spaniard out of the competition in 2005. Nadal then raced through the third set in top gear to complete the win. – Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

Paula the Octopus in action for women’s World Cup Posted: 25 Jun 2011 07:32 AM PDT Paula the octopus predicted a win for Canada against Germany in the opening match of the FIFA Women's World Cup in the southern German city of Konstanz on June 24, 2011. – AFP pic BERLIN, June 25 – During last year's World Cup in South Africa, Paul the Octopus shot to fame for his accurate match predictions, so for the women's competition starting in Germany on Sunday, step forward ... Paula. The tentacled tipster was put through her paces yesterday in Konstanz in southern Germany, but made the shock choice that Canada will win tomorrow's opening match against the hosts in Berlin. The octopus, whose gender is actually unknown, had to choose between two compartments in a plastic box in its tank, one with a Germany flag and one with a Canada one, with each containing a tasty morsel. The prediction is a bold one as Germany, whose women are hoping to win their third consecutive World Cup, have never lost any of their previous nine matches to Canada. Paula, however, is only one of eight salty soothsayers housed at eight different Sea Life centres in Germany competing to become the official successor to British-born Paul, who lived in an aquarium in Oberhausen. All eight will be asked to predict the outcome of all Germany's matches in the June 26-July 17 women's competition. While Paula and an eight-legged colleague in Munich both backed Canada yesterday, the fishy forecasters in Berlin, Koenigswinter and Oberhausen plumped for Germany, making the combined predictions 3-2 in the hosts' favour. But the method of enticing the underwater oracles to predict the winner proved to be far from fool-proof – three octopuses in other locations in Germany snubbed the treats on offer and ignored both boxes. This was determined by aquarium officials to mean that they expect a draw. Meanwhile one-year-old African elephant Nelly got in on the forecasting act at the Serengeti Park in Hodenhagen, near Hanover, by predicting a win for Germany after opting to kick a ball into the Canada net when given a choice. But it is all a far cry so far from last summer's performances by Paul – who has become something of an icon here – after he kept a clean sheet in the men's competition in South Africa. He correctly foretold the outcome of all Germany's games, even a defeat to Serbia in the group stage and to Spain in the semi-finals, as well as Spain's eventual victory in the final. In the process he cost bookmakers a fortune and won worldwide fame, with rolling news channels in Germany carrying live coverage when he was asked to choose – as they did with Paula yesterday. Paul died aged nearly three in October, sparking hundreds of messages of condolence from his fan club on social networking website Facebook, whose ranks have more than tripled since his death to more than 200,000. – AFP Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

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Tokyo the megacity that works Posted: 24 Jun 2011 07:48 PM PDT TOKYO, June 25 — On a satellite image of the Earth at night, there is no brighter spot. Greater Tokyo, home to an astonishing 35 million people, is by far the biggest urban area on the planet. The most amazing thing about it, say its many fans, is that it works. Although Tokyo dwarfs the other top megacities of Mumbai, Mexico City, Sao Paulo and New York, it has less air pollution, noise, traffic jams, litter or crime, lots of green space and a humming public transport system. Pedestrians cross a road in front of the Shibuya station in Tokyo on June 21, 2011. — AFP pic American writer Donald Richie, who first came to Tokyo in 1947 and recently published the coffee table book "Tokyo Megacity", has dubbed Japan's massive capital and primary city the "livable megalopolis". Many visitors marvel at the politeness and civility that, along with the nation's wealth, have helped Tokyo avoid the pitfalls of other big cities that have become polluted, noisy and dangerous urban nightmares. Amid the neon-lit street canyons, thoroughfares for millions every day, small shrines and quaint neighbourhoods survive as oases of tranquillity, largely shielded from blights such as graffiti and vandalism. Writing for the Los Angeles Times, a correspondent recently celebrated the ballet-like choreography of up to 2,500 people moving across Shibuya's massive "scramble crossing" every time the pedestrian lights turn green. In the fashion centre, and elsewhere in the pulsating megacity, "despite so much humanity inhabiting such a confined space, there's rarely a collision, sharp elbow, shoulder-brush or unkind word," wrote the correspondent, John M. Glionna. On Tokyo's noodle bowl of subways, a rapid and efficient system with a smartcard pay system, most commuters respect rules of courtesy, switch their mobile phones to silent and take their rubbish home to recycle it. Streets are rarely choked with cars because most city-dwellers don't have one, in part because they would have to own or rent a permanent parking space for it, in part because buses, trains or bicycles are viable alternatives. Despite its best-in-class sense of order, Tokyo also has a buzz and a pulse, with cutting-edge and quirky youth fashion, design, architecture and cultural offerings that keep setting trends in Asia and beyond. France's Michelin Guide has crowned Tokyo as the world's culinary capital, awarding it the highest number of stars, more than Paris. Tokyo may have had its heyday when Japan was Asia's economic top dog in the 1980s and early '90s, but much of the look has survived — as have the famously astronomical prices that keep scaring off many would-be visitors. Japan's capital, where a watermelon can famously cost US$20 (RM60) or more, was the world's most expensive city for expatriates in 2010 with the exception of exorbitant Luanda in oil-rich Angola, according to consultancy Mercer. On Mercer's Quality of Living Survey, Tokyo was number two in Asia after the city-state of Singapore — but only number 40 worldwide, beaten mostly by smaller European and American cities, from Vienna to Vancouver. However, trendy London-based current affairs, lifestyle and design magazine Monocle begs to differ — last week it ranked post-March 11 disaster Tokyo as the ninth most livable city in the world , and a few years ago it placed it at number three. "You just look at Tokyo and think it shouldn't work with so many people living together, but it does," said the magazine's Asia bureau chief Fiona Wilson. "It would be a problem everywhere else. "It's not just the great trains. It goes beyond the functionality. It's the service, the food, the restaurants, the shopping. It's all great." Another fan and Tokyoite, Colin Liddell, who writes for city magazine Metropolis, said the city works because of the "texture of Japanese culture", including a tendency to seek harmony not conflict. "Ideas that would be seen as antithetical in the West can peacefully co-exist in Japan," he said. "Someone in a mink coat may have no problems getting along with radical vegans and animal rights activists. "It's just a different intellectual ecosystem and concept of each other that magically defuses the conflicts we find unavoidable in the west." Of course, not everyone loves Tokyo. For some the endless city brings a sense of alienation and loneliness, captured, albeit from a foreigner's perspective, as the backdrop to the Sofia Coppola movie "Lost in Translation". Many abhor the over-the-horizon sprawl that spreads across the Kanto plain and its often drab "Legoland"-style residential architecture. Then there are the rivers and canals, including one at Tokyo's historic centre at Nihonbashi, that have been concreted and roofed by expressways. There is a good reason for the drabness of much of Tokyo. Over the past century, much of the city has been destroyed twice — once in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake and again in the 1944-45 firebombings. The March 11 earthquake and tsunami catastrophe that devastated northeast Japan once more badly rattled Tokyo, forcing hundreds of thousands to spend the night at work or walk home when the trains stopped. The disaster, which caused several deaths, damaged buildings, emptied convenience stores and led to power outages in Tokyo, also served as a reminder that the spectre of another "Big One" looms over the city. This summer will be steamier than most for Tokyo's residents amid a power-saving campaign that will see companies cut back on air-conditioning. Love it or hate it, almost everyone marvels at the scale of Tokyo. If it were a country, it would rank at about number 35 in population terms. At the heart of it all is the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which governs Tokyo proper with 13 million people from a skyscraper-scale town hall with an annual budget that, according to the Japan Times, equals Saudi Arabia's. With over half the world's population now living in cities, Tokyo believes it has lessons for a crowded planet. Last year Tokyo launched Asia's first carbon trading initiative, and the city government has pledged to cut Tokyo's greenhouse emissions by 25 per cent by 2020 from 2000 levels. Under a 10-year plan, Tokyo aims to create 1,000 hectares of new green area and plant one million roadside trees, improve air quality and aggressively push solar energy and hybrid and electric cars. — AFP-Relaxnews Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

Germany searches for next octopus oracle Posted: 24 Jun 2011 07:28 PM PDT Paula the octopus predicted a win for Canada against Germany in the opening match of the Women's World Cup in the German city of Konstanz on June 24, 2011. — AFP pic BERLIN, June 25 — Eight octopuses in Germany competed yesterday to replace the late oracle Paul by predicting the result of the opening match of the women's football World Cup between host Germany and Canada. The contest between aquariums around Germany will determine which cephalopod, if any, can repeat the clairvoyant feats of Paul, who shot to international fame after correctly predicting matches of the World Cup in South Africa last year. Paul died in October of natural causes at the age of almost three — a ripe old age in octopus terms. With the women's event opening tomorrow, television showed live coverage of octopuses with names like Paula and Paul II attempting to predict the outcome of the first match by plucking mussels out of containers bearing the two countries' flags. As with Paul's picks last year, which attracted worldwide media coverage, the octopuses' first choice of food is their pick to win. "Everything is based on octopus Paul," said Sandra Schmalzried, the general manager of Sea Life aquarium in Berlin. "We all remember the men's World Cup," she added, "so we had the idea of finding the octopus champion." Sea Life's eight aquariums in Germany are holding the contest. Octopus Ophira in Berlin tipped Germany to win tomorrow, as did two of her rivals. Two picked Canada and three predicted a draw. The German squad are even money to win the tournament, according to London bookmaker William Hill. Other favourites include Brazil (9/2) and the United States (6/1). Canada is a long shot at 40/1. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

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Montreal jazz fest welcomes eclectic cast Posted: 25 Jun 2011 02:21 AM PDT A woman walks past a photo of legendary jazz artist Miles Davis displayed in the exhibition 'We Want Miles' : Miles Davis vs Jazz, at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal in this file photo of April 29, 2010. Montreal's jazz festival this year promises an eclectic cast of performers ranging from Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck to Robert Plant and Prince. – Reuters pic MONTREAL, June 25 –  Montreal's jazz festival this year promises to breach the banks of its genre, with an eclectic cast of performers ranging from Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck to Robert Plant and Prince. The festival officially opens today with an open-air show from French soul singer Ben l'Oncle Soul. He was preceded yesterday evening by a sold out performance by Prince, who asked to perform late night concerts at the last minute and took the stage at 11.30pm on Friday and also today at the 2,000-seat Metropolis. Plant also performed a sold-out concert yesterday, which is a national holiday for Francophone province Quebec. The festival, the 32nd of its kind, will feature some 500 performances, around 350 of them free, and will run until July 4. Known for taking a broad view of the genre, the festival this year will welcome Diana Krall, Oliver Jones, Dee Dee Bridgewater – for an homage to jazz legend Billie Holliday – all in traditional indoor venues. But it will also feature American guitarist Marc Ribot, known for his ethereal strumming, who will give three performances, including a highly anticipated one with Los Cubanos Postizos. Tunisian oudist Anouar Brahem, with melodies inspired by Sufi Islam, will also perform with his short-necked lute on three occasions. The B-52s will headline a "grand closing event" on July 4. – AFP Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

Crowds brave rain, mud to see U2’s Glastonbury debut Posted: 24 Jun 2011 08:25 PM PDT PILTON (England), June 25 — A hundred thousand people braved rain, cold and mud to see Irish rockers U2 at Glastonbury yesterday in their first appearance at the famous music festival. The band had been due to play a headline slot on the main Pyramid stage a year ago, but lead singer Bono hurt his back putting their debut on hold. There was a small protest as promised against U2's decision several years ago to switch its operations from Ireland to the Netherlands for tax purposes. Bono, lead singer of U2, performs with The Edge (left) and Larry Mullins (right) at the Glastonbury Festival on June 24, 2011. — Reuters pic But it did little to distract the crowd, which sang along to some of the band's greatest hits including "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" to "Where the Streets Have No Name." "I'm sorry to have called in sick last year," Bono told the crowd, his dark glasses covered in rain drops. "This is a very, very great occasion for us — we don't do this very often." U2 is in the middle of a record-breaking world tour, but rarely performs at festivals and has never played Glastonbury. A pressure group called Arts Uncut had aimed to embarrass Bono and the band by highlighting their tax status, and a large white balloon covered with the words "U Pay Tax 2?" was held above the crowd. One man wore a T-shirt saying "Bono Pay Your Tax," but the gestures were barely noticed by the majority of onlookers. Critics say Bono, a leading anti-poverty campaigner, should be prepared to pay full taxes in his homeland, particularly at a time of major financial difficulty. Others argue it is the band's right to pay taxes legally wherever they wish, and that Bono works harder than most to highlight issues like poverty and disease. "It's his money, he can do what he wants with it," said Freddie Cowan of British indie band The Vaccines who were performing at Glastonbury. Earlier in the day, Radiohead was the "surprise" guest on the distant Park stage where it played songs from new album "King of Limbs" and other recent music. Blues guitar legend B.B. King warmed up the Pyramid crowd on a cool, damp afternoon with classics including "Every Day I Have the Blues." "I wanna shake my booty, but I'm a little old and a little cold," the 85-year-old called out to the crowd as he took a seat to perform with his band. Most of the Glastonbury crowd that will peak at around 175,000 people, wore rubber rainboots to cope with fields of deep, cloying mud. Bales of hay were dropped over the worst-affected areas to make walking easier, but persistent rain yesterday meant the mudbath returned. The other headline acts are Coldplay today and Beyonce with the closing show tomorrow, following in the footsteps of her husband Jay-Z who won over the Glastonbury doubters with a rousing set in 2008. Visitors have a bewildering choice of entertainment, with hundreds of bands performing across the 900-acre site. Pop pundits have singled out Tinie Tempah, Plan B, Paul Simon, Primal Scream, Mumford & Sons, The Chemical Brothers, White Lies, Queens of the Stone Age, Cee Lo Green and Ke$ha as ones to watch. Turned into a giant camping site most years, Britain's most famous music festival is now in its fifth decade. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

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Misi Gaza: Grup Malaysia pergi tanpa MP Pakatan, tidak hirau amaran Amerika Posted: 25 Jun 2011 02:57 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, 25 Jun – Rombongan Malaysia yang menyertai Flotilla Kemanusiaan Antarabangsa II ke Gaza, selama seminggu bermula minggu depan, akan meneruskan programnya meskipun tidak disertai wakil Pakatan Rakyat, malah Amerika Syarikat beri amaran agar tidak mengadakan misi seumpama  itu. Semalam, Ahli Parlimen Shah Alam Khalid Samad (gambar) membuat keputusan muktamad menarik diri daripada pasukan Malaysia misi ke Gaza kali ini atas alasan ia telah dicemari oleh politik BN dan penganjurnya. "Saya dah buat keputusan untuk tarik diri. Misi Gaza telah dicemari politiking oleh (Datuk Seri) Najib (Razak) dan penganjurnya. Saya dimaklumkan NGO yang tinggal pun hanya NGO yang pro-BN iaitu Aman Malaysia dan Ihsan (Pekida). Muslimcare, Yayasan Amal semua dah tarik diri. "Selebihnya saya akan kemas kini blog selepas kembali dari Mekah ke Jazan," kata Khalid semalam. Ketua Misi LL4G, Dr Noorazman Mohd Samsudin ketika dihubungi The Malaysian Insider hari ini berkata, "kami akan meneruskan misi kami sebagaimana telah dijadualkan, esok." Sambil mempertahankan bahawa misi kali ini tidak dipengaruhi atau dimonopoli oleh Umno-BN, Dr Noorazman berkata, pihaknya hendak menaiki kapal misi kemanusiaan atas solidariti rakyat Malaysia tetapi "nampaknya ia tidak tercapai kali ini." "Apa yang dikatakan (dimonopoli) tidak betul sepenuhnya," kata Dr Noorazman lagi sambil menambah, pihaknya tidak dimaklumkan secara rasmi mengenai keputusan wakil rakyat itu mahu menarik diri daripada menyertai misi kali ini. "Dia (Khalid) tidak beritahu (kami) secara rasmi, cuma dengar dari jauh," katanya. Menurut Dr Noorazman, kali terakhir Khalid, wakil Pakatan Rakyat, menghubunginya adalah pada Isnin lalu untuk bertanya tentang butiran perjalanan. "Kami berharap Pakatan Rakyat juga ada wakil untuk menunjukkan solidariti dalam misi ini, tetapi beliau menarik diri... itu hak dia (jika mahu menarik diri)," tambah beliau. Tempat Khalid akan digantikan oleh orang lain tetapi bukan wakil rakyat, kata Noorazman sambil menambah, "jika hendak digantikan dengan ahli Parlimen sangat sukar pada saat-saat akhir." Pengganti itu juga bukan wakil Pakatan Rakyat. Mengulas lanjut semalam, Khalid juga berkata, beliau langsung tidak tahu-menahu mengenai 10 sukarelawan Malaysia yang menyertai misi ini akan berlepas ke Athens esok. "Saya tidak menerima sebarang maklumat daripada penganjur berkenaan perkara terbaru ini. Kali terakhir saya menelefon penganjur pada 20 Jun lepas tetapi tiada kata putus berkenaan sukarelawan yang akan terlibat. "Ini yang buat saya lebih yakin ada agenda lain... bukan untuk menolong rakyat Palestin di Gaza tetapi bermotifkan politik semata-mata," ujarnya lagi. Dr Noorazman pula menjawab pihaknya sangat berharap Khalid akan menyertai misi kemanusiaan kali ini tetapi tiada respons sehinggalah "kami membaca laporan The Malaysian Insider." "Tiada respons (daripada Khalid), sepatutnya tidak ada kepincangan dalam perpaduan rakyat dalam hal ini, sebab parti-parti politik, kita ada wakil dia, oleh kerana tiada respons, kami anggap beliau tarik diri," katanya. Khalid akan kembali ke tanah air Selasa ini. Flotilla kali ini bukan hanya disertai sukarelawan negara Islam, malah dari Amerika Syarikat, Eropah dan negara Barat, termasuk mereka yang bukan beragama Islam. Semalam, media asing juga melaporkan Setiausaha Negara Amerika Syarikat Hillary Clinton menegaskan pihaknya menentang rancangan aktivis pro-Palestin termasuk 10 orang dari Malaysia yang mahu mengadakan misi kemanusiaan kedua ke Gaza minggu depan sambil menyifatkan ia satu tindakan yang hanya akan memprovokasi Israel. "Kami tidak percaya misi kemanusiaan ini perlu atau satu usaha yang berguna dalam membantu penduduk Gaza," kata beliau di Washington. Pada 31 Mei 2010, komando Israel membunuh sembilan aktivis Turki termasuk seorang rakyat Amerika Syarikat, yang menaiki kapal Turki misi kemanusiaan ke Gaza. Menjawab perkembangan itu, Dr Noorazman berkata pihaknya sedar tentang perkara tersebut termasuk pelbagai tekanan yang dikenakan sejak baru-baru ini. Justeru katanya, rancangan pihaknya tidak mengalami sebarang perubahan setakat ini. "Ya, kami sedar. Memang ada tekanan, dikenakan peraturan baru dan yang ketat termasuk ke atas kapal-kapal yang hendak digunakan. Tekanan dikenakan di Greek dan di negara-negara Eropah yang lain. "Pun begitu, setakat ini tiada perubahan dalam perjalanan kami," katanya lagi. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

Muhyiddin: Himpunan Bersih tak relevan, motifkan politik Posted: 25 Jun 2011 02:36 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, 25 Jun – Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin menyifatkan Himpunan Bersih 2.0 pada 9 Julai ini bermotifkan politik dan akan memberi ancaman kepada keselamatan negara serta reputasi negara. Polis sebelum ini menegaskan tidak akan mengeluarkan sebarang permit kepada tiga perhimpunan selain akan memanggil penganjur minggu depan. "Kami sudah buat keputusan dan kami merasakan perhimpunan ini menyalahi undang-undang dan akan memberi mesej yang bercanggah  bahawa cadangan mereka seperti mahu SPR (Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya)  melaksanakan tuntutan mereka, ada proses dan prosedur untuk melakukannya. "Oleh sebab itu, kami merasakan apa yang dikatakan Bersih (Gabungan Pilihan Raya Bersih dan Adil) untuk menganjurkan perhimpunan ini tidak relevan. Sebab itu saya katakan perhimpunan ini bermotifkan politik," kata Timbalan Perdana Menteri (gambar) kepada pemberita selepas melawat Hari Terbuka GLC 2011 di di Pusat Konvensyen Kuala Lumpur di sini. MENYUSUL LAGI Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

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Who’s the idiot? Posted: 24 Jun 2011 05:02 PM PDT JUNE 25 — When I read how Ibrahim Ali "clarified" what he said about the Chinese community, I had a vision of him in a sampan with a panic-stricken look on his face, working those oars in reverse like the devil was after him. But this time, I am not stomping my foot in anger or screaming obscenities for the things he said. Then again, I cannot make the same promise the next time he says something that once again breaks the barrier of stupid... and with his track record, that could well be tomorrow. He now says that the media, The Malaysian Insider, in particular, had sensationalised his comments on how the Chinese should stay indoors and stock up on food to avoid any trouble on the day of the Bersih rally (July 9). How many times have we seen these back-paddling politicians? Swallowing their words and blaming the media for erroneous reporting with those famous lines: "I was misunderstood." (This does not apply to politicians alone, but I'm choosing to be picky here, because, well, they are politicians.) Every time I see the phrase "I was misquoted" or "I was misunderstood", it does not even occur to me that the reporter got it wrong, I think, "Oh, regret already-lah." His attempts at "clarifying" were humorous: "...usually, when there are street protests, I do not see the Chinese participating..." And to avoid a possible clash among Malays from PAS with Malays from Umno at the rally from "spreading to the other races", he thought "it is better for the Chinese to stay back, that is all." Yet another forehead-slapping moment. But this time I laughed. Bersih is the Coalition for Clean & Fair Elections. If Ibrahim Ali was against a "Walk for Democracy" for Pete's sake, the words "Malay" and "Chinese" should never have been uttered. Instead it should have been, "I'm an independent member of Parliament who does not give a hoot about transparency or accountability in an election." Ibrahim Ali has been annoying me for months now (keyword, "crusade"), and at times when I bring him up in conversations, people tell me "forget him", "ignore him." But I can't. Because there is a section of the community who thinks he is right. And these are the ones in moments of reflection I worry about. There is a group of people being influenced by stupidity and yes, I do take it personally because they are being told I don't belong in this country. I know not every Malay person thinks like Ibrahim Ali or wants what he wants. I know this. I have read your comments and heard your voices. And I have every confidence that Malaysians know better. I have said it before and I shall say it again: How does he keep getting away with this? Why does he keep getting away with this? Finally, in the words of Dr Toh Kin Woon, member of Bersih 2.0's steering committee, on its website: "Opponents of the walk will do well to respect this basic right, failing which, all calls for the creation of a highly-developed country will come to naught." * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

The RM11 million man Posted: 24 Jun 2011 04:39 PM PDT JUNE 25 — I'm not sure if any of you readers out there have been paying attention, but last week a very notable milestone was achieved by a Malaysian film; it bagged RM11 million (and still counting) at the local box office, officially making it the highest-grossing film ever in Malaysian history, beating even Hollywood mega blockbusters like "Avatar" and "Lord Of The Rings".  As a keen follower and observer of the local film scene, this is truly a cause for celebration, even if the film in question, titled "KL Gangster" and directed by new box-office darling Syamsul Yusof, is at best only a decent action movie if we are to compare it to similar films from around the world.  If you've been regularly reading my rants here, I'm pretty sure you've noticed my very optimistic tone whenever I write about local films this year. We're still quite lacking in terms of technical (and even storytelling) quality compared to the mainstream films from our neighbours like Thailand and Indonesia, but historically they've had the similar rough patch that we've been having ever since the glory days of Malay cinema ended.  What's made me feel positive since the start of the year is that all the signs have been pointing towards us coming nearer and nearer towards that point where a crucial breakthrough is more or less certain to happen sometime this year.  Sometimes what an industry needs is simply an unexpected injection of excitement by a local box-office behemoth to kick-start an industry that's seemingly been in constant slumber. Huge box office means more people will be attracted to try their luck to invest in local films, which can only be a good thing for budding local filmmakers.  Thailand and Indonesia were quite lucky in that the breakthrough films for both countries turned out to be not only huge box-office draws but also very well produced quality entertainment. "Ada Apa Dengan Cinta" did the trick for Indonesia while "Nang Nak" did the same for Thailand, and both films undoubtedly breathed a new spark of life into their once ailing film industries. Look no further than South Korea to see what a breakthrough can do to an ailing film industry. I don't think many still remember, but the film that got the South Korean film industry roaring again was "Shiri", a record-setting box-office smash in its day (beating even "Titanic" and "Star Wars") and it was a very routine genre film, and if seen now in the light of artistic and commercial hits like "The Host" or "Memories Of Murder" will seem very unremarkable indeed. In fact, it's kind of a bad film, if you really think about it.  Whatever you may think of "Shiri" now, what it did was make Koreans excited to see Korean films in cinemas again, and that excitement led to a string of huge box-office hits from rom-coms like "My Sassy Girl" and "My Wife Is A Gangster" to war movies, horror movies, gangster movies and even a Western ("The Good, The Bad, The Weird"), making it one of the very few countries in the world where more people watch local films than imported ones. In fact, the box-office riches resulted in more money spent to make arthouse films with high production values like Cannes sensation "Old Boy" (which was also a box-office hit with more than three million admissions).  So whatever you may want to think of "KL Gangster", I'm just very happy to see a local film break the previously insurmountable-looking RM10 million barrier. With two other films this year also surpassing the RM8 million mark, and we're not even done with June yet, that's almost RM30 million in box-office takings from three local films alone, which will surely get quite a few more moneymen excited.  And it's probably only a matter of time before some filmmaker armed with a clever, quality script, that's still commercially accessible, will get the actual budget that his or her film deserves to make it a quality production that could also very well be a box-office smash. We've already beaten Hollywood, so who's to say we can't do that as well, right? * 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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