Ahad, 4 September 2011

The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

0 ulasan 1:13 PTG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

‘Shame’ brings sex addiction tale to Venice

Posted: 04 Sep 2011 07:32 AM PDT

McQueen laughs during a photocall for "Shame" at the 68th Venice Film Festival September 4, 2011. — Reuters pic

VENICE, Sept 4 — Up-and-coming Irish actor Michael Fassbender plays a sex addict in "Shame", a movie by British video artist Steve McQueen that is vying for the top prize at the Venice film festival.

It is the second lead role for Fassbender in a competition movie at this year's festival after his portrayal of psychoanalyst Carl Jung in David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method."

In Shame, the German-born Fassbender is Brandon, a handsome, 30-something executive living in New York whose only distraction from work is seducing women, masturbating at home or in the office and looking for sex on the Internet.

The tightly controlled rhythm of his life begins to fall apart when his needy, dysfunctional sister Sissy, played by Carey Mulligan, arrives for an unannounced visit.

Her presence, and her craving for Brandon's attention, disrupt his lonely existence even further, and his only way out seems to be wandering the streets at night in search of new sexual adventures.

Fassbender, whose portrayal of Brandon was warmly applauded after a press screening today, said taking part in the film's graphic sex scenes was not easy.

"Yes (it was) uncomfortable doing the sex scenes, you just have to jump and turn really," he said.

"The most important thing I guess is that everybody involved feels as comfortable as they can. And then just go for it so you don't have to do too many takes."

McQueen, whose debut film was the widely acclaimed "Hunger" about the last months of Irish Republican Army activist Bobby Sands in Belfast's Maze prison, said he saw similarities between the two films.

Hunger also starred Fassbender in the lead role.

"Clearly Hunger was a political film but Shame is also political. That one was about a prison in northern Ireland, this one it's about how someone's freedom can actually imprison them and they need an addiction in order to numb a pain, how our lives have been changed sexually by the Internet," he said.

"I love Brandon, he's trying and it's difficult. He's not so far away from most of us at the end of the day. He is not a bad person, I think the character is not at all repulsive, maybe unfamiliar but extremely recognisable."

The title Shame was chosen after interviews with sex addicts and their experiences in preparation for the film.

"The word shame came cropping up in those interviews," McQueen said.

His career began with film-related projects, he quickly branched out to include sculpture and still photography, and his work has been displayed at the Biennale of Art in Venice.

McQueen said he saw no big differences between his artworks and his feature films.

"There are no barriers between the two. Of course in one you're going to have a bit more narrative and the other less so, but the process is the same, it's work."

Asked why Mulligan had not come to Venice to present the movie, McQueen replied: "It's out of order. She should be here." — Reuters

World Heritage site in China to host country music festival

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 05:21 PM PDT

Zhangjiajie, a Chinese town famed for its surrounding towering rock formations, its nearby caves and its lush forests, will host the Zhangjiajie International Country Music Week from September 10 to 16 this year. — Song Heming/shutterstock.com

HONG KONG, Sept 4 —The idea may take a little getting used to but a Unesco World Heritage site in the wild countryside of central China hopes to one day be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Nashville and the Grand Ole Oprey.

The connection, it seems, is a love of country music and it has this week been announced that second Zhangjiajie International Country Music Week will be held from September 10 to 16 this year in the picturesque Chinese town famed for its surrounding towering rock formations, its nearby caves and its lush forests.

Organizers are hoping to line up more than 500 musicians and more than 30 country music bands from across the globe for the event, which is being held to help "promote cultural development in all the world's regions through the medium of country music."

What's more, the festival is currently on the lookout for up to 60 international volunteers to help with translating during the week. Details can be found on the festival's official website.

Zhangjiajie first tested the country music market back in 2009, when the city's flamboyant mayor, Zhao Xiaoming, became a sensation across China by releasing a promotional video that saw him dressed up as a cowboy and singing a unique version of the John Denver hit "Take Me Home, Country Roads".

The idea, according to organisers, is to find the right balance between "culture" and "tourism" and this year's event has an animated version of the clip with Zhao but no cowboy hat. The festival is promising an eclectic mix of both international country artists and some of the homegrown variety, which will highlight the musical heritage of China's ethnic communities.

"Every effort needs to be made to turn the music festival into a regular event and to develop Zhangjiajie into an international country music venue," Ye Wenzhi, general manager of one of the event's organisers, the Huanglongdong Tourist Corp, told the China Daily newspaper.

The event also has the backing of Hunan provincial government and China's Ministry of Culture. — afprelaxnews.com

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

0 ulasan 3:38 PG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

Is it history or his-story?

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 04:22 PM PDT

SEPT 4 — I was a little apprehensive as I entered the small tutorial room. It was my first day attending class in England.

In the centre of the unassuming room was an oblong table, around which sat eight post-graduate students of various nationalities. I flashed a timid smile before taking my place amongst them.

At the far end of the table, a heavyset man in a worn tweed jacket and polka dotted bowtie cleared his throat. Pushing the thickest glasses I have ever seen up the bridge of his nose, he made a gesture to indicate that the tutorial was about to start.

"I assume you've all familiarised yourselves with the required readings for the week?" asked our tutor rhetorically, after early pleasantries and introductions had been done and dealt with. "Now then, let's start with you."

It took me a few seconds to realise that he was referring to me. "Er, yes?" I stammered in response.

"Go on. Tell us what you think about it."

After spending my entire schooling years in the Malaysian national education system, and after having earned a Bachelor's degree in a Malaysian university, I was faced with a grossly unfamiliar situation. For the first time, I was asked for an opinion rather than have one written down on the whiteboard for me to copy.

Two memories stand out from my first day at SOAS. First, I had been suddenly thrust into an entirely new concept of study, where opinions mattered, where questioning everything was encouraged and where you were marked according to how you argued a point, no matter how far-fetched it was, and where the notion of "correctness" did not exist.

The second memory that I can never forget is my introduction to a cardinal maxim that has stuck in my mind to this very day. To paraphrase the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: "There are no facts, only interpretations."

Suddenly, I was blown away. Every belief I had about everything I knew was totally and completely changed. History as taught to me by our KBSM syllabus was now nothing more than the opinion of those who wrote it. And as with every other opinion in the world, it was my choice to accept it or not.

My mind had been liberated. From that day on, everything I read or learnt would be tempered with a critical assessment of the source. I began to yearn for alternative interpretations in my hunger for choice. The world was a buffet and I had been fasting for years.

And so it is in such a spirit that I approach the recent uproar surrounding Mat Sabu's purported remarks about the Bukit Kepong tragedy. Of course, reports by the Malaysian mainstream media are necessarily suspect and have to be digested with a bagful of salt.

That said, I am convinced that there was neither any disparagement of the police nor glorification of the communist aggressors in the PAS deputy president's speech. Any contention to the contrary is merely exaggerated spin-doctoring.

More significantly, the Mat Sabu incident has brought to question the wisdom of accepting history as fact, without considering who the authors are and what their motivations may be. This is something we must never forget when we contemplate any kind of information.

Like a movie on terrestrial TV, much of our country's official history has been censored for general viewing. It is shaped and presented in such a way as to trumpet the contributions of selected personalities while conveniently snipping out or downplaying the roles of those deemed counter-productive to the political agenda of those in power.

From the gradual contraction of Yap Ah Loy's role in the development of Kuala Lumpur to the pitiful passing mention of the ancient Hindu civilisation in Bujang Valley — a historical treasure in any other country — Malaysians are slowly but surely fed a doctrine of half-truths and value judgements passed by politically-motivated authors.

And then we have the vilification of the leftist movement, nullifying decades of political and nationalist activism. By this I am talking about anti-Colonial movements such as SABERKAS (officially "Syarikat Berkerjasama Am Saiburi" and secretly "Sayang Akan Bangsa Ertinya Redha Korban Apa Segala"), of which my late father was the founding secretary; Ibrahim Yaacob's Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM); Dr Burhanuddin al-Helmy's Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM), and of course the little-known PUTERA-AMCJA, our country's first multiracial coalition.

The coalition had even gone to the lengths of preparing an alternative set of Constitutional proposals in opposition to the Malayan Union. As a result, the "People's Constitution" was adopted and presented in 1947, a good 10 years before Merdeka.

The ground-breaking document had proposed, inter alia, equal citizenship rights, protection of Malay customs and religion, as well as the adoption of the moniker "Melayu" as the designation for all citizens of Malaya.

Of course, studying and appreciating the above will by no means displace the contributions of other parties and movements such as Umno and the Alliance. Historiography is not a zero-sum game. There is room for more than one interpretation, more than one point of view and certainly more than a few heroes.

The key to opening our minds is to first remove our blinders. Thus, whenever presented with history that appears to be his-story, it is probably best that we ask ourselves: exactly whose story is this?

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

First day of school

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 04:13 PM PDT

SEPT 4 — My son has been excited about starting at his new school. To distract him from missing his friends at his previous school, I psyched him up with a trip to the barber's (they use a way cool vacuum cleaner thingy to suck off excess hair from his head and clothes) followed by an ice cream treat.

I had also showed him his new school-issued backpack, uniform, name tag, bus tag and teddy bear dressed in a school uniform identical to his. He was especially looking forward to riding the ochre-coloured public school bus, of which he has a die-cast model. We were set.

First day of school usually involves nerves about fitting in, excitement about making new friends and meeting new teachers. But here it begins with... hygiene lessons.

Disease control is given top priority in high density Hong Kong and as young children are the most susceptible, so teaching proper hygiene is seen as the way forward.

With the new school term commencing this week, school staff across the city will be spending more time on teaching Primary One pupils how to maintain personal hygiene.

My three-year-old was greeted at his new kindergarten with the sight of the head teacher carrying a low table laden with an automatic antiseptic gel dispenser and paper towels. This was placed at the entrance to the school.

Teddy gets his temperature checked before heading off to school.

Ten steps into the school foyer sat the school nurse who commanded each pupil to open their mouth into which she shone her torch. After that was a temperature check with a digital thermometer pointed at the forehead. Add to this the daily record parents have to maintain of their child's temperature taken before leaving home for school, diligently recorded in a specific "temperature book."

Next, it is a trek to the shoe-changing corner where students remove their "outdoor" shoes and replace them with their "indoor" shoes which are kept in cubby holes during the school week. The shoes are returned over the weekend to be cleaned.

Parents wishing to venture beyond the tiny foyer are required to slip disposable plastic bag covers over their footwear.

Finally there is the damp washcloth stuffed into a plastic container which parents have to place in the school bag to be used for wiping the mouth after snack time.

Do you suppose they have everything covered? I suppose it makes sense to err on the side of caution, what with the round-the-year health scares we are inundated with. It does make me feel like a hypochondriac at times though, as at the first sign of a blocked nose my brain tells me to keep Ishan out of school.

At the close of the last academic year in June, scarlet fever gripped the city as a seven-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy died while more than 600 were infected. The number of cases have dropped over the summer but isolated cases are expected with school reopening.

Then there was the Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease which saw signs put up in apartment complex elevators reminding users to disinfect their hands and maintain proper hygiene.

Now health officials are warning of increased viral respiratory infections with the peak of the flu season expected in two months.

The South China Morning Post reported that the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) tends to affect two- to three-year-olds and there is a risk of outbreaks at nurseries and kindergartens. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, sneezing and fever. Infection can lead to pneumonia, bronchitis and even death.

Medical jargon used to be so foreign to me but these days they are tossed around like the titles of the latest cartoons. Symptoms roll off my tongue like my weekly grocery list. I suppose this is all part and parcel of being a parent in these times.

The meticulous steps taken at Ishan's school to prevent disease outbreak is all new to me; I still question the logic of having a damp hanky inside a box for hours and wearing outdoor shoes halfway through the school before switching to indoor shoes but for now I'll go along with the flow.

Going to school used to be a lot easier. I suppose there were far less illnesses 30 years ago too. Back then all I had to worry about was using the stinky school toilet (I still do!).

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

The Malaysian Insider :: Bahasa

0 ulasan 3:38 PG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Bahasa

Azizan: Tiada pertemuan dengan Hadi setakat ini

Posted: 04 Sep 2011 03:30 AM PDT

Azizan berkata tidak benar laporan bahawa beliau diserang sakit jantung. — Foto fail

ALOR SETAR, 4 Sept — Menteri Besar Kedah Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak berkata tiada sebarang pertemuan antara beliau dan Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang setakat ini untuk membincangkan mengenai masalah kesihatan beliau.

Azizan ditanya sama ada beliau mengadakan pertemuan dengan Hadi untuk berbincang mengenai isu penggantiannya selepas keadaan kesihatannya terjejas kerana serangan jantung Julai lepas.

"Lepas ni saya pi (pergi) Kuala Lumpur mesyuarat parti (11 September) jumpa la dia dan siapa-siapa pun," kata beliau pada majlis rumah terbukanya di kediaman rasmi Menteri Besar di Mentaloon di sini hari ini.

Azizan juga berkata, berita mengenai dirinya diserang sakit jantung adalah tidak benar.

Sebaliknya berkata beliau ke Institut Jantung Negara (IJN) adalah untuk membuat pemeriksaan susulan kerana pernah membuat pembedahan pintasan jantung enam tahun lalu.

"Masa pergi IJN bukan sebab saya kena serangan jantung, itu tak betul. Saya pergi IJN buat pemeriksaan perubatan berkala, tiap empat bulan kena buat pemeriksaan doktor.

"Doktor kata kena buat pemeriksaan perubatan penuh, doktor tak pernah kata kena buat pembedahan, doktor suruh jaga kesihatan saja, kena rehat, tidur awal dan jaga pemakanan, itu saja," katanya dipetik Bernama Online.

Kelmarin, akhbar melaporkan bahawa kepimpinan PAS sedang mengambil tindakan untuk menggantikan Azizan disebabkan keadaan kesihatannya yang kurang baik dan Hadi dikatakan akan menghadap Sultan Kedah berhubung peralihan kepimpinan kerajaan negeri itu.

Abdul Azeez: Saya masih trauma, bagi saya masa

Posted: 04 Sep 2011 02:53 AM PDT

Azeez beramah mesra dengan kanak-kanak Palestin ketika menyampaikan bantuan kemanusiaan Ogos lalu. — Foto fail

SERDANG, 4 Sept — Ketua Kelab Putera 1 Malaysia, penganjur misi kemanusiaan ke Somalia, hari ini enggan memberi sebarang komen berhubung tragedi yang meragut nyawa jurukamera Bernama TV Noramfaizul Mohd Nor malam kelmarin.

Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, yang juga Ketua Putera Umno berkata, beliau mahu sedikit masa kerana masih trauma dengan tragedi itu.

"Nanti, nantilah... saya tengah trauma lagi," katanya.

"Mungkin nanti saya akan buat sidang media," katanya kepada The Malaysian Insider ketika ditemui selepas majlis pengebumian jenazah Noramfaizul di Tanah Perkuburan Islam Universiti Putra Malaysia di sini.

Jenazah Noramfaizul selamat dikebumikan kira-kira pukul 2.10 petang.

Dalam kejadian kelmarin, kenderaan yang dinaiki Noramfaizul, 39, dan petugas media Malaysia lain yang diiringi tentera kerajaan Somalia, ditembak ketika mereka dalam perjalanan pulang ke tempat penginapan.

Insiden itu turut menyebabkan jurukamera TV3 cedera di lengan.

Noramfaizul meninggalkan seorang isteri, Norazrina Jaafar 37, dan dua orang anak lelaki Mohd Irfan, 8 dan Mohd Naufal 3.

Sementara itu Ketua Misi Bantuan Perubatan Kelab Putera 1 Malaysia, Datuk Dr Alwi Rahman berkata Noramfaizul menerima rawatan kecemasan daripada paramedik Australia sebaik sahaja ditembak.

Jelas beliau, insiden yang menimpa Noramfaizul tidak akan dilupakan.

"Pada ketika itu, kami berada di hotel penginapan, dan dimaklumkan arwah Noramfaizul telah ditembak.

"Arwah diberikan rawatan oleh paramedik dari Australia, sebelum kami mengambil alih, namun gagal," katanya.

Dalam pada itu, keluarga Noramfaizul menyifatkan kematian Allahyarham sebagai mati syahid kerana meninggal dunia semasa berkhidmat untuk negara.

Ibunya, Naemah Abd Majid berkata, gelaran wira negara wajar diberikan kepada anak sulung daripada enam adik-beradik itu kerana khidmatnya di Somalia berbentuk misi kemanusiaan.

"Sepatutnya (dianggap wira negara), baguslah, Noramfaizul berkhidmat untuk negara dan kerana Allah. Noramfaizul amat dedikasi terhadap tugasnya sebagai jurukamera selama ini yang sanggup mengetepikan apa sahaja hata keluarganya untuk melunaskan tanggungjawabnya sebagai jurukamera.

"Walaupun (kami sekeluarga) bersedih dengan pemergiannya, kami bersyukur kerana Noramfaizul pergi dalam syahid, insya-Allah," kata Naemah kepada pemberita.

Masih bersedih, Naemah bagaimanapun berkata beliau bersyukur dengan pemergian Noramfaizul kerana masih sempat menatap wajah anaknya buat kali terakhir.

"Saya sempat menyaksikan dan mencium wajahnya walaupun Noramfaizal sejuk kaku (di situ).

"Mak cik sayang anak dan bertambah cantik wajahnya walaupun telah dikembumikan," katanya.

Sementara itu bapanya, Mohd Nor Mat Yasin berkata, Noramfaizul sempat memesan sambal ikan bilis kegemarannya untuk dibawa bersama ke misi kemanusiaan Somalia.

"Sambal ikan bilis adalah kegemarannya dan beliau memesan untuk membawanya sebagai bekalan di sana," katanya.

Mohd Nor berkata, Noramfaizul tidak menunjukkan sebarang tanda-tanda pelik sebelum berangkat ke Somalia pada 28 Ogos lalu.

"Beliau juga sempat menelefon kami sekeluarga pada malam raya dan memberitahu keadaannya yang baik semasa di sana," katanya.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Ahad, 4 September 2011