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Canadian chefs prepare meal fit for a prince Posted: 01 Jul 2011 07:25 PM PDT TORONTO, July 2 — It's a menu meant to give the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge a sampling of distinctly Canadian delicacies and regional specialties. With Quebec foie gras, Atlantic smoked salmon, yak from Alberta and raspberry cordial — a version of the beverage, anyway, from Catherine's favourite childhood story and heroine, Anne of Green Gables — the royal couple will be fed dishes that are supposed to represent the Commonwealth country from coast to coast. But aside from the iconic maple syrup and poutine — a greasy heap of fries, cheese curds and gravy from Quebec — what constitutes Canadian cuisine? The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be sampling Canadian specialties during their nine-day tour of Canada. — AFP pic As a country built on the strength of immigrants with a spotty gastronomical history, which also lies in the shadow of their American neighbours' hamburgers and pizza, what does Canada define as its epicurean heritage? Freshly-caught seafood, local cheeses and locally-raised meats. When the couple arrives in Montreal today, for instance, they will be put to work in the kitchens of the Quebec Tourism and Hotel Institute, where they will don aprons and help cook their own meals. Dishes were chosen to highlight regional specialties, fresh local ingredients and wines. To start the meal: an amuse-bouche of local foie gras on brioche toast and apple cider jelly; goat cheese from the Cantons-de-l'Est; duck confit, and mini bagels with smoked Atlantic salmon. The second course will feature lobster from the Iles-de-la Madeleine prepared two ways: as a soufflé, and served with a red pepper coulis or sauce. The main course will be a herb and cranberry-crusted lamb, with seasonal vegetables. And to cap off the meal, the couple will be presented with a cheesecake made from fromage blanc, a maple syrup caramel sauce, meringue and a light cookie crust. When they hit Prince Edward Island tomorrow for two days, the Duke and Duchess will be fed dishes that showcase that province's local agriculture, heavy on potatoes, and its fresh, local seafood. Chefs from the Culinary Institute of Canada will prepare a menu that includes new potato chowder, steamed island mussels, barbecue pork belly with homemade mustard, barbecue beef rib-eye with onion marmalade, an oyster shucking station and strawberry shortcake. Meanwhile, Catherine reportedly made a special request to visit Summerside, Prince Edward Island to see the setting of her favourite childhood book series "Anne of Green Gables". As a tribute to her favourite heroine, Cows ice-cream company in Charlottetown will serve a bottled raspberry cordial drink. In the series, Anne accidentally gets her best friend drunk when she mistakes red currant wine for raspberry cordial, one of many shenanigans the fiery redhead gets into. On their first day in Canada, the couple were also fed a meal prepared by culinary students that included sea urchin harvested by a scuba diver, spotted prawns from off the Queen Charlotte Islands, yak from Alberta, fruit wines from Saskatchewan and cheese from PEI. — AFP-Relaxnews Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

The Phoenix rises… again! Posted: 01 Jul 2011 06:13 PM PDT The mango kwayteow is one dessert you don't want to miss. — Pictures by Eu Hooi Khaw KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 — My eating history with Golden Phoenix at the Hotel Equatorial goes back a long way, when good, old-fashioned Cantonese dishes were served and when birthdays of senior relatives were regularly celebrated there. Many of those dishes are no longer on the menu. Now the restaurant has undergone a facelift, sporting softer colours in its furnishings, in a more restrained Chinese décor. The menu too has changed, including that for dimsum, and chef Yau Kim Yew has given a new twist to old favourites. The steamed prawn dumplings with pumpkin are absolutely delicious. Take the Eye of Phoenix Steamed Prawn Dumpling with Pumpkin — it's not just any "har kow" but one that highlights the sweetness of the prawn without sugar added. The dumpling tumbles a springy prawn and chopped pumpkin into your mouth. Now my test for a tasty dimsum is whether it needs a chilli sauce dip — this didn't. I liked it that the chef had thought of having a deepfried Japanese egg beancurd topped with prawn and tobiko. There's the lovely crunch of prawn sinking into soft eggy tofu — it is a marvellous combination. The Steamed Pork Dumpling with Mushroom and Crabmeat is a reverse Shanghai dumpling. Half of it is crabmeat, and the other half mushroom. But the crabmeat tasted like the frozen kind that had been thawed out, so it had a sawdust aftertaste. It would have been better with fresh crabmeat. Give me the Shanghai dumpling any time. Luscious-looking steamed beancurd with prawn meat. In between we discovered the chef is a deft hand at anything deepfried. The Harm Sui Kok or Deepfried Glutinous Skin Puff with Chicken Meat Filling was so light in its sticky sweet pastry that contrasted deliciously with the savoury almost liquid meat filling that hinted of five-spice powder. I even liked the Deepfried Beancurd Roll with Cheese, but not so the Deepfried Prawns with Cheese and Thai Sauce. The prawns had an instant noodle covering that didn't work at all. The noodles were just too thick and overwhelmed the more delicate prawn. Perhaps finer wantan noodles would have been better? The Deepfried Sesame Ball Stuffed with Shredded Coconut was simply scrumptious. You could hear the crisp sound of your bite going right through to the moist, rich, shredded coconut filling with a little custard and roasted sesame. The lovely aroma of the coconut fills your senses. It reminds me of those coconut buns I used to eat as a child in Ipoh, sold by the "ting ting" man. It was just nicely sweet. This prosperity salad is available year round... lots of crunch, colour and flavour. The Baked BBQ Pork Buns passed muster: its filling had green peas in it to make it less rich; the pastry is a little resistant to the bite. There's the Double Boiled Wantan Soup that tasted of miso, but is a perfect foil to the flavourful wantan. The lunch went back to the main menu, with the Softshell Crab Prosperity Salad. Apparently prosperity is for all seasons. It was a combination of deepfried softshell crab, dried persimmon strips (unusual!), pear, apple, cuttlefish strips, pine nuts, sesame, peanuts, lettuce and carrot, tossed with an orange honey sauce. There was lots of crunch, amidst a fruity and lightly sweet sauce. It was an interesting collage of textures and flavours. Peking Duck is now available every day at Golden Phoenix. We had a heap of crispy duck skin and prawn crackers, served with pancake, spring onion and pickles. The meat was fried with beansprouts. Dimsum chef Yau is a deft hand at anything deepfriend. The lunch hit the high note in the ending with the Durian Pancake, redolent with creamy D24 durian, and the Mango Kwayteow as the chef calls it. I slurped up the gorgeous, silky smooth, flat translucent noodles from the fragrant mango soup whipped with ice cream and loved the feel of them! How did the chef bring about this exquisite texture of the noodles? Well, it's gelatine melted in fresh full-cream milk, spread out as a super thin sheet and rolled up. Most of the dimsum is priced between RM8 and RM12. The Mango Kwayteow is RM15, Softshell Crab Prosperity Salad RM38, durian roll RM18. Dimsum is served at lunch on weekdays and from 10am to 3pm on weekends and public holidays. The restaurant has also started selling mooncakes! Golden Phoenix is in Hotel Equatorial Kuala Lumpur (Tel: 03-2161-7777). Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

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Sharapova wary of lefty Kvitova Posted: 01 Jul 2011 08:39 AM PDT Maria Sharapova of Russia trains on a practise court at the Wimbledon tennis championships on July 1, 2011. — Reuters pic LONDON, July 1 — Having brushed aside the rank and file, the stage is set for Maria Sharapova to reclaim her Wimbledon crown tomorrow but one pesky upstart still threatens to ruin her big day. Czech Petra Kvitova does not have the glamorous appeal of the ice-cool Russian, her face will probably never adorn billboards and magazine covers and advertising executives will not be clamouring for her signature but she does boast a slicing left-handed serve which is no respecter of reputations. Not that she has reached eighth in the rankings with only one shot in her armoury but, according to one of the greatest left-handers the game has known, the Kvitova serve spells danger for Sharapova's chances of winning a second Wimbledon title. "I think Petra will return better and it will be easier for her to hold serve. That lefty serve will pay off a little bit more," Czech-born American Martina Navratilova, winner of 20 Wimbledon titles in singles and doubles, told reporters. "It just opens up the court a little bit. It seems that the lefties always have a good slice serve. You could hit it in your sleep. With the serves, I think Kvitova will get on top of the rally a little bit earlier than Maria maybe." Kvitova is the first Czech to reach the women's final since Jana Novotna in 1998 and only the fourth left-hander to do so in the Open Era. After dropping just two sets so far she presents a formidable obstacle for fifth seed Sharapova. However, Sharapova has stormed into the final without dropping a set and despite 13 double-faults in her semi-final win over Sabine Lisicki has looked in her best shape since shoulder surgery threatened her career in 2008. Monotonous regularity Her thundering groundstrokes have been landing inches from the baseline with monotonous regularity and the steely look in her blue eyes suggests she is not about to let her chance of a fourth grand slam title slip from her grasp. Relaxed as she appears, though, the Kvitova serve may disturb the extra long nap she was preparing to take on today. "She's got a lot of confidence coming in here, the sense of feeling of having nothing to lose, as it's her first grand slam final," she told reporters. "Also being a lefty, I think that's quite dangerous on grass, because she's been using a lot of her strengths as a lefty and playing really well throughout. "I think on grass, with the way the spin comes out, it's a big advantage, coming from a lefty. It's a matter of seeing the ball a little bit faster and reacting." Kvitova, one of a bunch of eastern Europeans to climb the rankings over the past year but who could still stroll through most cities unnoticed, was giving precious little away as she prepared for the biggest day of her career. Hard as reporters dug for titbits of detail, Kvitova, who belongs to the same tennis club as last year's men's runner-up Tomas Berdych, was reluctant to play ball. "I didn't speak to him about the final," she said of the Berdych link. "No, nothing special..." was her response to how she will prepare for tomorrow. "It was on TV but I don't think I watched it," she shrugged about Sharapova's stunning win over Serena Williams in 2004. Kvitova is clearly letting her tennis do the talking and so far, apart from a couple of brief lapses, it has looked capable of taking her all the way to the Venus Rosewater Dish. "It's such a toss-up," Navratilova said. "It basically comes down to who serves better. Once the ball is in play, Sharapova has an edge, but not so big." — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

Djokovic beats Tsonga to reach final, to top rankings Posted: 01 Jul 2011 08:31 AM PDT Novak Djokovic of Serbia hits a return to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France during their semi-final match at the Wimbledon tennis championships on July 1, 2011. — Reuters pic LONDON, July 1 — Novak Djokovic cut down Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 6-2 6-7 6-3 today to reach his first Wimbledon final and guarantee becoming world number one next week. The Serbian second seed looked to be cruising to a straight-sets victory but Tsonga suddenly sprung to life in the third set, breaking Djokovic's serve to force a tiebreak which the 12-seeded Frenchman won 11-9. But Djokovic held his nerve to secure an early break in the fourth set and Tsonga, who fought back from two sets down to beat six-times champion Roger Federer in the quarter-finals, could not respond. Djokovic, now certain to knock Rafa Nadal off the top of the rankings, will play top seed Nadal or Briton Andy Murray in the final on Sunday. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

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‘The Hobbit’ like a family reunion for Elijah Wood Posted: 01 Jul 2011 04:24 AM PDT Wood is reprising his role as Frodo. — Reuters file pic LOS ANGELES, July 1 — Elijah Wood's return to New Zealand to shoot his part in "The Hobbit" falls on the 10th anniversary of "The Lord of the Rings," a fact not unnoticed to the actor, who likens it to a family reunion. "It's a rare opportunity to revisit a specific time in my life," Wood told The Hollywood Reporter. "It feels like I'm going back to a giant family reunion in a way; a lot of the same creative team are involved and a number of the cast are coming back." Wood is reprising his role as Frodo and will be joined by returning "Rings" cast members Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis and Cate Blanchett, among several members of the crew. While filming on the first feature, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," has begun, Wood said he won't be heading to New Zealand to film his scenes until the fall. "I read the first script and it's incredible," Wood noted. "It definitely expounds upon the book; there are already characters that are cast that are not in the book, so that indicates that it goes slightly outside the boundaries in the structure of the original novel." Despite his long-standing relationship with writer-director Jackson, Wood said he hasn't read the second script and has no idea how the big-screen adaptation of the J.R.R. Tolkien novels ends. "For a while I was excited just at the notion of going back and seeing everybody and playing the character again," Wood said. "Then sitting down and reading it I became really genuinely excited about the films they were making. I think they're going to be amazing." Wood will return to San Diego Comic-Con next month to promote his FX comedy "Wilfred," and said he's looking forward to the inevitable barrage of "Rings" and "Hobbit" questions. "It's exciting to be able to talk about two projects at the same time that are at opposite ends of the spectrum," he said. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" opens December 14, 2012. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

Janet Jackson duets with ‘virtual’ Michael in London Posted: 01 Jul 2011 03:41 AM PDT Jackson also flashed childhood pictures of the siblings on a screen while she performed "Together Again". — Reuters file pic LONDON, July 1 — Pop singer Janet Jackson has revived the spirit of her late brother Michael on stage with a virtual duet, two years after the King of Pop's death. The singer took her "Number Ones: Up Close & Personal" Tour to London's Royal Albert Hall yesterday where she served up a career-spanning set of her hits. Opening the show with the video of her 1980s electro funk "Nasty", she treated fans to a virtual collaboration with Michael on their 1995 hit "Scream". While she performed her part of the single, her older brother's vocals were played for his section of the song and a video of him was played on screen. "It's therapeutic, you know and it makes me smile inside," Jackson told British radio. "I mean the energy of the song is fierce but it makes me smile inside when I hear him, when I hear his voice." It was the two-year anniversary of the "Thriller" singer's death last Saturday. He died age 50, on June 25, 2009 at his rented mansion in Los Angeles, as he was rehearsing for a series of London concerts. Authorities said he died of a massive dose of the anesthetic propofol and a cocktail of other sedatives and painkillers. Paying tribute to her brother at the end of her show, Jackson flashed childhood pictures of the siblings on a screen while she performed her song "Together Again". In her first tour in three years, the Grammy award winner performed songs from her "Number Ones" album, featuring 35 number one hits. Known for her high energy and well-choreographed routines, she danced her way through "What Have You Done for Me Lately" "Control" and raised the heat with a live version of "Nasty". Having infamously bared a breast after a "wardrobe malfunction" at the 2004 Super Bowl, Jackson was fully covered yesterday, starting the show in a white jacket and trousers, worn with white high-heeled boots. She later changed into a vest and jeans, accessorised with diamante braces that hung below her waist. The tour, which sees her play three shows in London, will be performed in 35 cities. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

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Video catches Russian president in driving gaffe Posted: 01 Jul 2011 08:38 AM PDT Russian President Dmitry Medvedev MOSCOW, July 1 — Memo to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev: Next time you plunge into a crowd, don't forget to park your car first. Medvedev took his "Forward, Russia!" motto a bit too far in an incident captured on video, stepping from the driver's seat of an SUV and then frantically trying to hold the vehicle back as it kept moving toward a group of people waiting to greet him. Burly bodyguards swiftly came to his aid and managed to stop the car, a big black Mercedes, before it bore down on the gasping crowd on Saturday in Kazan, a city 720km east of Moscow. "Oh, Dmitry Anatolyevich," a man is heard exclaiming in an admonishing tone in the video. Nobody was reported hurt, but the gaffe drew some acerbic comments, driving tips and theories about what went wrong from a few of the 80,000 people who have watched the grainy clip posted on YouTube by user voronkov74. "He left it in drive, the rookie," user ezikmarconi wrote. "Instead of guns, his guards should be given bricks to throw under the wheels," user lqfvb80u wrote, adding a smiley face. The Kremlin declined to comment on the incident, and it was unclear exactly what caused it. State media made no mention of the incident and the YouTube video was posted on Tuesday, three days after it occurred. Auto accidents are a major cause of death and injury in Russia, where car ownership was a luxury 20 years ago but has exploded since the 1991 Soviet collapse, and driving licenses can often be bought for a bribe. Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who steered him into the presidency in 2008, appear to share the growing Russian affection for cars and have frequently taken the wheel in public appearances or when hosting foreign leaders. The clip of the incident in Kazan was the second eyebrow-raising video this year depicting Medvedev, who is widely seen to be seeking Putin's support for a second presidential term in a March 2012 election. A video posted in April showed Medvedev dancing to "American Boy," a 1990 pop hit whose lyrics about escaping with a foreigner struck a chord amid the economic hardship and uncertainty accompanying the collapse of the Soviet Union. Putin, who has said he may run for president himself in 2012, has kept his private life closely under wraps. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

Unscrambling robot circuits for the perfect scrambled eggs Posted: 01 Jul 2011 06:09 AM PDT A robot demonstrates its ability to cook, during a robot exhibition in Tokyo November 25, 2009. — Reuters pic MUNICH, July 1 — For your average robot, chess may be easy compared to simple everyday activities like frying a sausage, but that may be about to change thanks to software being developed by scientists in Germany. Researchers at the Technical University in Munich are using complex algorithms to teach robots to learn from their mistakes and perform routines humans can do in their sleep. The aim is to instil perception, manipulation and reasoning capabilities, enabling the machines to learn from their own experience and taking them a step closer to developing the self-awareness that so far has been reserved for humankind. That process "demands that ... they can foresee the consequences of their actions before they actually jump into action," Michael Beetz, professor of computer science at the university, told Reuters. "We can say that the robot is supposed to push a spatula under a pancake without damaging the pancake." Calculation models and controlling mechanisms programmed into the hardware help robot TUM-Rosie understand the nature and function of the cooking spoon it is handling, while TUM-James uses real-time sensing to do things like slice bread. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

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Excuse me, Datuk, one teh tarik please! Posted: 30 Jun 2011 04:25 PM PDT JULY 1 — There I was drinking my teh tarik and minding my own business at my friendly, neighbourhood mamak shop when the phone went off. I reached for my pocket and put the phone to my ear. There was silence. Then I heard a loud booming voice from behind. "Ha, Tok! How are you?" said the voice, almost shouting. Oh, so it wasn't my phone ringing. It was that guy's. The one with a weight problem wearing a beige long-sleeved shirt, obviously on his way back from work. No, I'm not writing about mamak shops. Neither am I writing about what a nuisance people on mobile phones are. So what has this got to do with my story, you wonder? Well, the fat guy's loud and proud voice really got to me. It was as if he wanted us to think, "Wow! That guy has friends in high places." This got me thinking that the "famous" saying is really true. Don't tell me you haven't heard of it. It goes a little something like this: "If you were to throw stones into a crowded room filled with Malaysians, not only will it hit a Datuk but it will ricochet off him and hit another Datuk". The latest statistics with regards to the number of titles given out by the Sultans and YDPs that I've managed to find happens to be a few years old (five years ago, in fact): 6,314 state honours were conferred and 531 of these carried the title Datuk. Let's break it down further. The states that gave out the most Datukships were Pahang (93), Malacca (79), Penang (56) and Perak (53). The state that dished out the least number was Johor (two). If so many of these titles are given out every year, it won't take long before there are more Datuks than there are Enciks. Then what happens to the prestige factor? Being a journalist for the people, I decided to take to the streets and see what they had to say about this. "You can sing and shake and you stand a chance of getting a Datukship, provided the Sultan likes your singing. You can sing and have moles (lots of it) and you stand a chance, provided the Sultan likes your singing. You can even sing and act and, best of all, die, and you stand a chance of being Datuk (sorry, Tan Sri), provided the Sultan likes your singing." — Shahrul Naim Rashid, 27, software engineer. "I've been swimming 10 laps a week at the sports centre for the past three years now. That would be like swimming across the Straits of Malacca 20 times. Yet, I haven't been summoned by the palace," — Chan Kok Tong, 32, mathematics lecturer. "Organise a big-time carnival that tours the country. Then you can get dual or even triple Datukships!" — Farid Rizal, media executive, 30. "It's good. You are always the first to be greeted when you arrive somewhere and have a kompang soundtrack to your life." — L. Krishnamoorthy, waiter, 24. "Did you know that you can actually buy Datukships? It's true. My company has special funds allocated for their top management staff." — Azma Kamil, 36, public relations executive. "Are you a Datuk? Hello Datuk! Come with me and I'll make you smile." — Kiki, 22, guest relations officer. "I'm a high maintenance woman and I need money. These old men have lots of it! They're willing and I'm willing. So what's the harm?" — Badariah, 35, freelance lady of leisure. So it's obvious from the reaction I got from the rakyat that this isn't really a problem. They couldn't care less. What's in a Datukship anyway? * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

Of songkoks, uniforms and managing expectations Posted: 30 Jun 2011 04:13 PM PDT JULY 1 — I must admit to feeling a tad slighted when I read the recent reports of my friends and fellow comrades turning up on the first day of the Sarawak State Assembly in lounge suits instead of the ceremonial "number one" dress with songkok that was worn by everyone else. Now, it must first and foremost be stated that no wrong was committed. The ceremonial uniform is not compulsory, and at no time did any breach of protocol occur. Neither is this issue a new one, having become a recurrent, though not persistent, occurrence at some of the legislative assemblies nationwide. What is new, however, is the political reality today and with it greater expectations that are now imposed upon the DAP as we venture pointedly into the mainstream of our nation's political consciousness. No longer are we a fringe party representing largely parochial interests, though awareness of this fact has not yet fully seeped into the minds of the party faithful. Thus, it is a toxic combination of good intentions, ignorance and misdirected rigour that has resulted in actions that are perhaps quite unnecessary given the context of the DAP's place in the Malaysian polity today. Firstly, and most prevalently, is the somewhat anti-establishment tendency that has ingrained itself into the DAP psyche. This is both the culmination of four decades of sitting incessantly in opposition benches, as well as the limited democratic space available. Hence, what has resulted is a natural disposition towards opposing for the sake of opposing and a general lack of prudence in contextualising issues from a wider and more inclusive aspect. In short, we have chaps causing controversy for the sake of it, and while this was fine when we were a party with only a handful of seats nationally, there is a discerning need for a more mature worldview in the current political climate. Another factor is the lingering siege mentality amongst leaders and cadres schooled in an era now bygone. The DAP has traditionally seen its foes as the MCA and Gerakan, and thus political reproach between both sides are usually confined to Chinese-based issues. As such, the spectre of institutionalised Islamisation and perceived cultural hegemony, both hot issues in the Eighties and Nineties, are still alive and occupying the minds of certain sections of the party, and this is perhaps more so apparent across the South China Sea. Again, the impetus is on us to move on with the times and out of our comfort zone towards a more centrist position. As a party with far more representation than both traditional rivals combined, we need to be cognisant of the fact that we have made the big leap into national relevance, while MCA and Gerakan no longer occupy the nation's imagination. Lastly, perception is the be all and end all in politics. I know for a fact that no cultural disrespect was meant by my Sarawakian colleagues, and that their rationale about saving the state some money (a full uniform apparently costs around RM2,000 to RM4,000) is not without its merits, but I think this incident also reveals an inherent lack of understanding of Malay, and by extension Malaysian, culture and sensitivities. It may seem like a straightforward toss-up between an unnecessary triviality and an opportunity to make a statement against establishment excess, but for Malays and certainly for those in Peninsular Malaysia, there is a deeper cultural connotation at play. To fully comprehend the complexities of Malay cultural psychology, one has to be appreciative of the very revealing testament that is encapsulated, in typical Malay fashion, in the old adage: "biar mati anak, jangan mati adat", which roughly translates to "better for children to perish than to lose tradition." Crude, to be sure, but a telling insight that is evident when one considers that while Chinese racial discourse usually revolves around the loss of business and education opportunities, its Malay counterpart is often centred on the primordial sentiments of culture and religion. In other words, the priorities are clearly different. Therefore, if Malays are proverbially willing to sacrifice kin to save culture, one can be assured that the argument of saving a few thousand ringgit will not hold strong. Still, I maintain that non-conformity can be a virtue, as I am certainly one to speak. Yet I also see the need to be more responsive towards the socio-cultural mores of our multi-cultural heritage, especially within the framework of a semi-feudalistic society in a constitutional monarchy. What may seem banal and costly to a few may be perceived as symbolically important and priceless to many others. We must realise this. Perhaps it was the Malay in me who felt vexed, but I do believe that like me, many other Malays and indeed Malaysians now place greater expectations on the DAP, especially in our capacity to bridge the gap between an insular past and an inclusive future. This is a crucial juncture in our party's history, and whether we emerge truly Malaysianised depends very much on how we choose to view the world inasmuch as how the world chooses to view us. * 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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Polis akan pastikan perhimpunan 9 Julai tidak jadi, kata timbalan IGP Posted: 01 Jul 2011 02:39 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, 1 Julai — Timbalan Ketua Polis Negara Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar hari ini menegaskan pihaknya menutup segala bentuk rundingan dengan mana-mana penganjur perhimpunan tidak sah yang akan diadakan pada 9 Julai ini. Jelas Khalid, keputusan itu dibuat selepas kesemua penganjur iaitu Gabungan Pilihan Raya Bersih dan Adil (Bersih), Pemuda Umno dan Perkasa tetap berkeras meneruskan perhimpunan haram itu sambil memberi amaran bersedia untuk berhadapan dengan tindakan undang-undang. "Kami sudah memberikan penjelasan kepada mereka, memberi peringatan dan amaran tetapi mereka tetap tidak peduli. Kami akan memastikan perhimpunan ini tidak akan berlaku. "Kami tidak akan mengadakan sebarang perbincangan lagi. Bersiap sedia berhadapan dengan tindakan undang-undang," katanya. Bercakap pada sidang media di Bukit Aman, Khalid berkata pihaknya tidak menolak kemungkinan akan menggunakan Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) ke atas peserta-peserta perhimpunan itu. "Kami tidak akan bertolak ansur," katanya. Semalam Bersih meminta polis sendiri mencadangkan satu laluan yang pihak berkuasa rasa sesuai untuk mereka mengadakan perarakan tanpa gangguan kepada sesiapa pun. Pengerusi Bersih Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan pasukan pemantau pilihan raya ini telah mengemukakan cadangan kepada Ketua Polis Negara Tan Sri Ismail Omar dengan harapan polis akan bersikap terbuka dan bekerjasama dengan gabungan tersebut. Bagaimanapun Ismail menolak cadangan Bersih itu. Khalid berkata Ismail telah mengadakan pertemuan dengan semua penganjur yang akan mengadakan perhimpunan minggu depan dan memberitahu kerisauan polis. "Kami sudah jelaskan kepada mereka tentang kebimbangan peniaga, pengusaha pelancong, pemandu teksi dan orang ramai yang membantah perhimpunan itu. "Tetapi mereka tetap berkeras, jadi kami akan gunakan undang-undang yang ada," katanya. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

Jangan guna demonstrasi jalanan, Najib beritahu peguam Posted: 01 Jul 2011 01:31 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, 1 Julai — Datuk Seri Najib Razak hari ini meminta para peguam agar menggunakan saluran perundangan bukannya turun ke jalan untuk mengetengahkan tuntutan dan rasa tidak puas hati mereka. Perdana Menteri (gambar) memberi pandangan ini ketika tinggal satu minggu sebelum Himpunan Bersih 2.0 — yang disokong oleh parti-parti politik dan sekumpulan 60 pertubuhan bukan kerajaan termasuk Lawyers for Liberty dan bekas presiden Majlis Peguam Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan. "Peguam-peguam yang merupakan profesional tidak perlu terlibat dalam demonstrasi kerana kita sebuah negara berdaulat dengan adanya undang-undang dan perlembagaan," kata beliau. MENYUSUL LAGI Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

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