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First the beer, now Korea for Vettel Posted: 13 Oct 2011 08:28 AM PDT Red Bull Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany speaks to journalists ahead of the South Korean F1 Grand Prix at the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam October 13, 2011. The South Korean F1 Grand Prix will take place on Sunday. – Reuters pic YEONGAM, Oct 13 – Partying with Michael Schumacher gave Sebastian Vettel the hangover of champions after he clinched his second Formula One title last weekend. The 24-year-old German got together with his illustrious compatriot, who has celebrated more success than anyone in the history of the sport, after becoming the youngest double champion in Japan. "Once I found myself in the bar with the boys we enjoyed that night very much," the Red Bull driver told reporters at the Korean Grand Prix today when asked what he had got up to after the race at Suzuka. "We had a very good time, did some karaoke... it was quite special as some time in the night Michael came as well and joined us and we had a couple of drinks together. "I think after he came I felt much worse as I started mixing a little bit, which wasn't the best strategy," added Vettel with a grin. "All in all it was a fun night." Vettel, who recalled joining his mechanics for karaoke renditions of the Beatles' 'Yellow Submarine' and 'Hey Jude' plus Frank Sinatra's 'My Way', said his success had only really started to sink in once he found some private time on Tuesday. The German has made precious few strategic errors on the racetrack this season and the champion, with nine wins to his name from 15 races, left his rivals in no doubt that the hangover was long gone. He would, Vettel assured them, be just as determined and competitive as ever. ULTIMATE TARGET "The moment you come to a race thinking that it doesn't really matter where you finish, it's the moment when you should probably stay at home," he said. "Of course the championship was the ultimate target... but nevertheless we come here with pressure." "Even if people don't put pressure on us as usual or as much as usual, we put pressure on ourselves because we love racing." With four races to come, Vettel can still hope to equal Schumacher's 2004 record of 13 victories in a season. The Yeongam circuit, in the south-western tip of South Korea, is considered a 'Red Bull track' with Vettel and team mate Mark Webber sweeping the front row last year but both failing to finish. That was Vettel's last retirement and this year's race could see Red Bull add the constructors' title to the drivers' for the second year running – a double double. "We will not be happy leaving this track knowing that we could have done better," said Vettel, who had led in Korea last year until his engine blew. "The approach will remain the same... obviously I've never been on the podium (here) and I'm looking forward to a good race... we're not lacking in motivation." – Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Former heavyweight champion Haye announces retirement Posted: 13 Oct 2011 06:29 AM PDT British WBA champion David Haye (L) and his coach Adam Booth are pictured during a news conference in Hamburg June 27, 2011. Haye says he is retiring from the sport on his 31st birthday on October 13, 2011. – Reuters pic LONDON, Oct 13 – Former world heavyweight champion David Haye retired from the sport on his 31st birthday today. "As the clock struck 12 last night my boxing career came to an end," Haye said in a statement. "It has been my intention to retire from boxing on this day ever since I first laced up my gloves as a skinny 10-year-old," added Haye, who lost his WBA world title on points to Vladimir Klitschko in a unification bout in his last fight in July. The British Boxing Board of Control said on Tuesday the Briton was not renewing his licence. – Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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‘Dragon King’ marries Bhutan commoner Posted: 13 Oct 2011 02:02 AM PDT [unable to retrieve full-text content]PUNAKHA, Bhutan, Oct 13 — Bhutan’s “Dragon King” married a commoner in a Himalayan monastic fortress today, sipping a chalice of ambrosia symbolising eternal life, in a wedding that has transfixed a reclusive kingdom slowly embracing globalisation. King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck wore a crown adorned with a raven’s head during the sumptuous ...

A village of eternal bachelors Posted: 12 Oct 2011 09:51 PM PDT A picture to tell the story: it took three days to capture this snapshot of a group of mostly unmarried men Siyani. — Reuters pic SIYANI, Oct 13 — With the world's population set to hit seven billion on October 31, photographers in India have been on the move to tell stories that talk about what those numbers really mean in a country as large as India. With 1.2 billion people and counting, this is supposed to be the world's largest democracy. When you take a closer look at the statistics, you find some surprising and scary figures — the ratio of female children to males born actually declined here over the past 10 years — from 933 females for every 1,000 males in the 2001 census, to just 914 in 2011. The combination of cheap portable ultrasound technology and a decades-old preference for male babies — who are seen as breadwinners — has enabled sex-selective abortions and made worse female infanticide. In a place as wide and as vast as India, these are things that are hard to control, no matter how illegal. We had been trying to find ways to illustrate this for some time without much success — getting access to tell this story had been taking some time. Late last month, a story about a small village in Gujarat was brought to my attention. Journalists from the Thomson Reuters Foundation had visited Siyani, a small rural town of just 8,000 people (tiny by Indian standards) — where the social effect of such a low ratio of women meant that men were having a tough time finding brides. I set out to remote Gujarat to try and interpret this story with my camera. A village elder told me that he estimated some 70 per cent of the men there were unmarried. There were a variety of historical causes — lack of industrialisation, an unwillingness to marry outside caste and regional lines — and most recently, a rapidly declining supply of brides. There are over 350 unmarried men over 35. This is a remarkable figure for rural India, where people marry young, some as early as 15. There are hundreds more under 35, but there are so many that no one can confirm the numbers. I spoke to many people in the town — both those born and brought up there, and others who had settled there for work over the decades — and found a similar story among many men: "I just can't get married." Men on their own doing all the things they would traditionally do in the company of women: sleeping . . . This was a tough nut to crack. How do I take these anecdotes and make them into meaningful visual statements? I spent a lot of time thinking about what the significant pictures would be. A man alone didn't tell the story. To really tell it, I had to find a group of men who lived together, worked together, and ate together — and did all the things that women traditionally do in Indian households. I found a group of about three dozen men working on a temple in the village. All but three were not married. I photographed them sharing their work and lives. Doing the daily chores — cooking, cleaning. The lack of enough women to marry, for them, has forced them into a situation where they live communally and have to share in the daily tasks. I photographed them sharing mattress in their down time, sleeping in the way you'd expect newlywed couples to sleep. The lack of a female presence in their lives has made them turn to each other — into a sort of extended brotherhood — to look after each other. I needed to find a picture that would illustrate the dusty village and also tell the story of the large number of unmarried men there. This was going to be difficult. Organising anything in India takes a lot of effort, and almost never goes to plan. If it's bad in the cities, it's almost impossible in a little rural village. I hatched a plot with my translator and driver. We would enlist a couple of village elders to spread the word that at a certain time, when the light was good, that unmarried men who were willing should gather in the village's centre for a group picture. I tried and failed on my first day. On the second morning, no one bothered to show up. Everyone ate breakfast and went straight to work in the fields and at the temples. Fair enough, I was an interruption there. On the third day, we modified our plan to see if we could make it happen. About a half hour before the appointed time — 6.15pm with the golden light and deep blue sky — we sent a teenager on a bicycle off around the village, to round up any unmarried men that had nothing better to do. I was surprised that this actually worked, and I suddenly had in a clearing in the village, about 40 men in front of me. We were going to make a picture that I thought was central to the whole story. . . . having their lunch. — Reuters pics Sometimes, when I'm shooting a tough-to-illustrate story in remote places, the humanity, humour and absurdity of this job really hit me. There I was in a village clearing in remote Gujarat, not able to speak a word of Gujarati — speaking in Hindi to an interpreter who would shout it out to everyone else. By this time many other people in the village knew what was going on. I was standing on a ladder to do this picture — something I'd checked in and brought with me on the flight all the way from Mumbai to make this picture possible. Behind me was a group of gawking men who were having a good laugh at the whole spectacle. I finished the shoot and headed over to the local chai stall. I felt like the whole village was following me. I spent the next couple of hours entertaining a lot of questions and comments about the story I was doing. I was overwhelmed by the number of men who said they wanted to be married but just couldn't be. Some had been trying for as long as 20 years, since they were 15 years old. I'm having a laugh at the experience of trying to tell this story, but spare a thought for what happens to India if we continue to let our female children die, or be killed at such an alarming rate. Spare a thought for places like Siyani, where people just can't get married. Siyani isn't special. It's an indicator of a much wider problem. Spare a thought for places in India where there are as few as 775 girls born for every 1,000 boys. Spare a thought for the men who will never have families, and spare a moment to think of all the mothers that will never be born. Little Siyanis are popping up all over India. What becomes of our next generation, and how will it impact the world's largest democracy? — Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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Glenn Close as ‘Albert Nobbs’ Posted: 13 Oct 2011 07:50 AM PDT Aaron Johnson and Glenn Close in 'Albert Nobbs'. – Courtesy of Roadside Attractions LOS ANGELES, Oct 13 – The first trailer was released for Albert Nobbs starring Glenn Close (101 Dalmations, Fatal Attraction, Damages), a period drama that requires her transformation from a woman to a man. The film has been a pet project for the actress since 1982 after she won an Obie award for the off-Broadway theatrical production. Close co-wrote the script based on a short story by Irish writer George Moore. Telling the story of a 19th century woman who must pass as a man to survive, the footage shows her working as a fastidious butler in a Dublin hotel. Inspired by a painter who discovers her secret, Albert Nobbs breaks out of a restrained life to open a tobacco shop and consider an impossible love. Directed by Rodrigo Garcia (Mother & Child), the film co-stars Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland), Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass) and Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Mission Impossible III), and Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges). Albert Nobbs hits theatres January 27, 2012 with a limited run in December in the US to be eligible for the Oscars. Trailer: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810192757/video/26907436 – AFP Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Beyonce admits inspired by Belgian dance moves Posted: 13 Oct 2011 03:01 AM PDT US singer Beyonce (C). – AFP pic LOS ANGELES, Oct 13 – US singing superstar Beyonce acknowledged yesterday that her latest video was inspired by the work of a Belgian choreographer who has threatened to sue for plagiarism. But the singer said her "Countdown" video had other influences, and noted that it had already been viewed by 2 million people and could generate publicity for the Belgian work "Rosas danst Rosas" or "Rosas dances Rosas." Choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker has accused Beyonce of stealing routines for her "Countdown", calling it "pure plagiarism," Belgian dance troupe Rosas said Monday. On Tuesday, Beyonce issued a statement saying: "Clearly, the ballet 'Rosas danst Rosas' was one of many references for my video, 'Countdown.' It was one of the inspirations used to bring the feel and look of the song to life." But she added: "I was also paying tribute to the film, 'Funny Face' with the legendary Audrey Hepburn. My biggest inspirations were the 60's, the 70's, Brigitte Bardot, Andy Warhol, Twiggy and Diana Ross." Adria Petty, the co-director of her video, showed Beyonce the contemporary ballet from almost 30 years ago, she added in the statement issued by her publicist. "It was refreshing, interesting and timeless. I've always been fascinated by the way contemporary art uses different elements and references to produce something unique. "The video already has close to two million views so hopefully the fans will look at all the tributes and then discover Audrey Hepburn, Warhol, Bardot, 'Rosas danst Rosas' and all the works that inspired me and shaped this video." There was no immediate reaction from the Belgian dance troupe, but Rosas spokeswoman Johanne De Bie said Monday that they had discovered the Beyonce clip on Friday. "We noticed more than a few resemblances to the film that director Thierry De Mey made in 1997, 'Rosas dances Rosas',... and 1994's 'Achterland' ... We have passed the details to our lawyer to see about our rights," she said. The decor, a warehouse dance studio, plus the clothing and the dance moves in the video bear a striking resemblance to the filmed choreography "Rosas dance Rosas", as a comparative clip on YouTube entitled "Beyonce vs. Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker" clearly shows. "I was never contacted, this is pure plagiarism," the Belgian choreographer told Flemish radio. The clips can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HaWxhbhH4c – AFP Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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Please, sir, may I have some more? Posted: 12 Oct 2011 05:04 PM PDT OCT 13 — In a disquieting corridor, a bunch of 17-year-olds milled about. We were waiting for our job interviews to join the Shangri-La banquet service. I had all my certificates with me, and was worried about the competition. The interviewers were not interested in any of my certificates; they just wanted to see if I could hear right and speak intelligibly. An actual sentence was strictly optional. And they took in most of us. It does knock you down a peg or two over what you think your education was worth. The next three months were just a series of mundane but labouring days, with pay day every fortnight. Living for the adrenaline on pay day, I was not sure if it came from being paid for physical labour, or just having money. There were hours, brisk and demanding. And in a perverse way, I was expecting the work to be as such. In my mind, these people were paying RM3 an hour, and they deserved all they can muster from us. It was gratitude for the money, without a sense of what the employer gets from the worker. No class in school covered the examination of work and just pay. Today, as Malaysia is preoccupied with unemployment, employment and gainful employment, the question of compensation for work is growing ever louder. Irrespective of how issue is discussed, what people absolutely need to get by, what people believe they deserve for the "work" they produce, what management is convinced employees deserve and pay-models an economy our size deserves — at the end what prevails is the reality. I'll start by defining work so that pay becomes objective to estimate. Work, stripped In the past, when economies were dominated by physical goods, things somewhat were easier. Take the highly labour-intensive rubber industry. The rubber tapper presents a quantity of rubber milk, which is then factored to prevailing unprocessed rubber prices and a payment rate is noted. There are the supervisors, the small office operations, the transportation vendor and cost of planting and caring for the rubber trees. The owner, the person generating the capital for the estate, takes the remaining chunk as profit, after paying his pound of flesh to the government of the day in taxes. Compare that today. The trinity of globalisation, information revolution and service industry outstripping the physical goods has incontrovertibly changed all industries, therefore forcing a rethink of the value of each person in a work chain. The rubber tappers are working half-weeks in Sepang, since much of their estates have either become the administrative capital or new development. Malaysia is a net importer of rubber, while remaining a major rubber manufacturer (10 per cent of the global condoms, no less). Issues like managing raw material supply, cross-border relationships, inventory, automating processes, quality control and others dominate. At least these managements can somewhat track contribution in the product chain. It becomes exponentially complicated for new industries like Internet set-ups. What is the actual worth of design to a website? Work and its definition will be a continuing conversation, which needs to be had periodically. In Malaysia, that conversation is further clouded by the growing elitism. Some of us are shut out of the conversation. The two ominous towers These are restive times for the blue-collared workers of Malaysia. The impending Employment Act followed by rare open opposition from the national labour union, coupled with the issue of too-low wages for the lower line employees in banking only underline the obvious: Workers are not getting a fair shake in Malaysia. As I said above, they are being shut out of the discussions to rationalise the value of work in all kinds of Malaysian industries, to not fight progress, but to fight for their own place in that progress. The old development model that generated jobs and prosperity for all by keeping wage rates tolerable for manufacturing firms has long evaporated. Today, everyone has to fend for themselves. And for big business, it is Christmas daily. Banks have expectedly, like most organisations, been outsourcing their non-core functions to other organisations. Local councils don't employ that many cleaners and garbage collectors; they contract out the work. Why is work contracted out? Outsourcing companies, like garbage collection services and supplying manufacturing labour, help bigger companies or organisations lower their operation cost by reducing their wage burden. It is all a tricky, slippery slope. Before outsourcing, large companies hire, plan work, provide healthcare and other benefits, and prove incentives, all of which cost money and are challenges. Passing the concern to outsourcing companies relieves them. Plus companies are then free of unionism, which is the domain of the blue-collar worker. However, these largely fly-by-night firms that don't have the good corporate citizen manual are not trying to build a brand name. They just want to maximise profits. The labour market is squeezed as much as possible. I am not arguing for the end of outsourcing, or forcing structures to businesses. They are entitled to do what they want within the law. Outsourcing is not the only means to cutting corners for the modern company. More the reason why workers have a right to collectively pursue their common goals, should these be opposed to their employers', the business climate, the laws or the government of the day. They should be able to make their arguments consistently, broadly and loudly so that they are in the room when decisions are made. Nature of work and capitalism is shifting daily, that is something all of us have signed up for as members of a globalised world. However, that does not mean only some parties have representation in the restructuring of work and, by natural extension, pay. Right now, workers are at the mercy of government policy. The second impediment to workers gaining more equitable pay in the Malaysian workplace is the growing elitism. In the command economy that is Malaysia, most economic activity is determined by government. The large firms on Bursa are either linked to the government or have benefitted from active policies, like power producers, developers, construction companies, etc. The MRT project is a walking example. The argument, then, is an unstated equation. These companies will hire aplenty, whether they need the numbers or not. In exchange, the Malaysian government is happy to note lower unemployment. The firms wished they were trimmer, so, to mitigate the situation, they constantly keep wage rates low for the blue-collar workers. Their summary is, they are hiring so many without having to, and these people do not decide if the firm profits. Business is decided by the small community of businessmen, politicians and technocrats. Relationships — not technical knowledge, capital or skilled labour — bring new business. That means, it is these people who should be paid most, and if those at the bottom of pyramid are paid less, should they not be glad they have jobs? So those are the two towers, the Khyber Pass barring intended wage rates from rising for the lower classes in Malaysia. Businesses are given carte blanche to protect their interests, and workers are encouraged to let the unrestricted free market get them a better pay and benefits. It is getting more and more pear-shaped for the blue-collar worker in Malaysia. Then the double whammy. The worth of companies is not being determined by workers; they are homogenous factors easily replaceable. It is all about the bosses and who they know. Therefore, they make the top bucks. At this rate, in the foreseeable future, the complete emasculation of the working class in Malaysia will happen. A powerless working community is historically a low-earning community. And in that future, a fair number of Malaysian will have to live on hope, not effort. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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Pencari suaka: Tiada sokongan, PM Australia gugur pelan kerjasama Malaysia Posted: 13 Oct 2011 02:06 AM PDT CANBERRA, 13 Okt – Sebagaimana telah dijangkakan sebelum ini, kerajaan Australia telah menggugurkan urusan pertukaran suaka dengan Malaysia hari ini – kira-kira tiga bulan selepas perjanjian berkenaan dimeterai. Sehubungan itu, Canberra berkata pihaknya akan memproses urusan permohonan pencari suaka di bumi Australia sendiri – keputusan yang diambil ekoran kegagalan mendapatkan sokongan ahli-ahli Parlimen. Perdana Menteri Julia Gillard (picture) terpaksa melupakan pelan kerjasama dengan Malaysia sebab beliau tidak mempunyai sokongan yang secukupnya untuk meminda undang-undang migrasi yang membolehkan pertukaran pencari suaka, lapor Reuters petang ini. Langkah itu terpaksa diambil ekoran satu keputusan mahkamah akhir Ogos lalu. Jika Gillard meneruskan usaha mendapatkan sokongan menerusi pengundian, undang-undang itu sudah pasti akan muncul sebagai akta kerajaan yang pertama dalam 80 tahun ditolak oleh Dewan Perwakilan, sekali gus akan mengakibatkan kerajaan minoriti beliau berhadapan dengan dakwaan tidak boleh menguasai Parlimen. "Kita tidak berada dalam kedudukan untuk melaksanakan kerjasama dengan Malaysia," kata Gillard kepada pemberita tetapi berkata kerajaannya terus menyokongan pelan itu. "Nampaknya perundangan ini tidak akan diluluskan di Parlimen," kata beliau. Ini kegagalan kedua Gillard memperoleh kelulusan mengadakan pusat pemprosesan pencari suaka di luar tanah Australia. Tahun ini, Gillard mengumumkan bahawa Timor Leste akan menghos sebuah pusat tetapi gagal mendapatkan sokongan kerajaan negara baru itu ke atas rancangan itu. Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Sah, pegawai komunikasi Najib kini ketuai NSTP Posted: 13 Oct 2011 02:02 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, 13 Okt – Anggota pasukan komunikasi Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Abdul Jalil Jamid yang juga bekas wartawan Reuters sah dilantik untuk mengetuai The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd (NSTP). Jalil dilantik sebagai pengarang urusan NSTP menggantikan Datuk Zainul Ariffin Mohamd Isa. Difahamkan langkah itu diambil bagi memperkukuhkan NSTP yang menerbitkan akhbar perdana utama negara menjelang pilihan raya umum ke-13. Zainul akan kembali mengambil alih jawatan pengarang urusan e-media NSTP dan juga sebagai ketua Bahagian Media Baru Media Prima Berhad. Pagi tadi The Malaysian Insider membawa laporan mengenai perubahan di peringkat tinggi Media Prima dan anak syarikatnya NSTP. The Malaysian Insider difahamkan keputusan pelantikan baru itu dibuat pada mesyuarat lembaga semalam. Selain itu Media Prima juga mengumumkan beberapa pelantikan lain, kata satu kenyataan dikeluarkan hari ini. Mohammad Azlan Abdullah dilantik sebagai ketua pegawai operasi NSTP dan menggantikan Datuk Anthony Firdauz Bujang yang sebelum ini menyandang jawatan ketua pegawai eksekutif. Anthony akan mengakhiri tempoh perkhidmatannya di NSTP Disember ini selepas 12 tahun berkhidmat dengan Media Prima. Dalam pada itu, Datuk Mohd Ashraf Abdullah dilantik sebagai timbalan pengarang urusan rangkaian televisyen dan radio Media Prima – mengawal selia operasi editorial dan berita TV3, ntv7, 8TV, Hot FM, Fly FM dan One FM. Jeff Cheah See Hong pula dilantik sebagai ketua pegawai eksekutif  Big Tree Outdoor Sdn Bhd menggantikan Mohammad Azlan manakala Farisha Pawanteh akan meletakkan jawatan sebagai ketua pegawai operasi Primeworks Studio Sdn Bhd berkuat kuasa 31 Oktober ini, lapor Bernama memetik kenyataan itu. Ia merupakan perubahan besar dalam tempoh dua tahun ini. Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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