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An affair with a saucy Korean Posted: 08 Sep 2012 06:19 PM PDT Chung Gung's patrons are mostly Koreans living in Malaysia. – Pictures by Choo Choy May KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 —By now, most eaters in the Klang Valley are familiar with Korean staples like their  BBQ, bibimbap (mixed rice), kimchi jjigae (Kimchi stew) and samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken Soup), but what about jajangmyeon? Jajangmyeon, which translates into "Fried Sauce Noodles", is one of the national foods of Korea. It is by far the most popular delivery food in the country and every Chinese restaurant there serves this 100-year-old dish. Inspired by the Chinese zhajiangmian, jajangmyeon was first adapted to Korean tastebuds in Incheon in 1905 and it tastes different from the original Chinese fried sauce noodle. The Korean jajangmyeon uses chunjang (a salty, black-coloured paste made from roasted soybeans) and corn starch instead of salty fermented soybean paste used in the Chinese zhajiangmian. Although both dishes use thick wheat noodles, the texture is also slightly different in both. Jajangmyeon features caramelised onions in the dish, while zhajiangmian uses shredded carrots, cucumbers and minced meat. My fascination for this Korean staple began with a TV drama series I watched many years ago. In "Goong S", Korean singer Se7en plays Kang Hoo, a jajangmyeon delivery boy and there was even an "Oppa, did you order jajangmyeon?" ringtone! The black sauce is the heart and soul of Jajangmyeon. On every other episode,  I would see the actors polishing off bowls and bowls of this dish... their mouths stained by the dark sauce. Although my memory of the Korean drama series is really fuzzy (it was aired in 2007), I can still remember them enjoying the noodles like it was the most satisfying meal they had ever had.  And so I was determined to try it for myself.  I heard about Little Korea in One Ampang Avenue so that was the first place I headed to, hoping to find what I could only see and drool over on television. A lot of the signs in Little Korea are, unsurprisingly, in Korean characters so I literally went into every restaurant in that area to ask if they served jajangmyeon. Fortunately, I found a restaurant with a sign that said "Korean Chinese Restaurant." Perhaps I had hit jackpot? Climbing up the stairs hurriedly, I swung open the door and popped my head inside. "Do you serve jajangmyeon?" I asked hopefully, even though my pronunciation of the dish sounded off. Looks familiar? TangSoo Yook is the Korean version of sweet sour pork. "Welcome! Yes, we do serve jajangmyeon," said a Korean man. That was four years ago. Faithfully, over the years, I have visited the restaurant whenever I have the chance and even introduced it to my family and friends who adore it as much as I do. Chung Gung is the name of the restaurant but if you can't read Korean, you're likely to get lost in Little Korea. Today I sit by the window, the sunlight lighting up the area where I was. I wait as the owner Choi JK finishes up some business he has to tend to. It is lunchtime on a weekday and his wife, also the co-owner, will come in later to help him out. The lanky man in glasses came and sat across me. He speaks pretty good English so it wasn't that hard to communicate. "The reason I started this restaurant is because there were not many Korean Chinese restaurants in Malaysia. Back in 2007, there were many Korean BBQ places and bibimbap restaurants but Korean Chinese restaurants were rare," said Choi who works full-time as a trader. Just stir the sauce into the noodles and eat! With his flexible working hours, Choi spends a lot of time at Chung Gung. He said that when the restaurant first started, he hired a chef from Korea to cook authentic Korean Chinese dishes at the restaurant in Little Korea. Chung Gung's signature dish is jajangmyeon and after five years, he makes sure the recipe retained its original flavour even though the chef has gone back to his home country. Whenever Choi goes back to Korea, he will try other jajangmyeon places and make sure Chung Gung's jajangmyeon recipe is top-notch. "I tried jajangmyeon in Australia. It was run by Koreans but it's not as good as yours," I told Choi. Choi smiled. I asked him if he has tried the Chinese zhajiangmian. "Although jajangmyeon's origins is from the Chinese zhajiangmian, the taste is very different. It was modified to suit the Korean flavour. I tried zhajiangmian here before but it's not the same. Most Koreans will know what jajangmyeon is because we have had it since we were young," said Choi. He introduced me to another dish, Tangsoo Yook (Fried Pork with Sweet and Sour Sauce). Hmm, this sounds familiar. Look out for this sign! "I think there is a Chinese dish similar to this. But if you taste it, it's actually different," said Choi. He later told me he has lived 17 years in Malaysia. No wonder he can speak English well! Choi then left me and my friend to our meal. We ordered a set meal that consists of jajangmyeon, tangsoo yook and some drinks. He was right. The tangsoo yook has a plum flavour instead of the tomato taste of the Chinese sweet and sour pork. Also, the meat is fried in a way that it almost tastes like fried chicken. Different, but definitely a must-try. The moment the jajangmyeon was served, I could feel the joy welling up in me. How I have missed the sweet and savoury black bean paste sauce! The portion is huge and normally I can finish the whole bowl although logically speaking, it should be shared between two people. Since I already had the tangsoo yook, I decided to share the jajangmyeon with my friend as well. She has been to Korea, but has never heard of jajangmyeon. "Very delicious," she commented as she slurped the noodles. "I know," I smiled, happy to share the goodness of jajangmyeon with another person. * Chung Gung, C6-1M, C7-1M, Jalan Ampang Utama 1/1, One Ampang Avenue, 68000 Ampang Selangor DE. Telephone: 03-4251 2159 Opening Hours: 11.30am to 9.30pm. Every day except second and fourth Tuesday of the month.

Mobile wine-tasting truck hits streets of France Posted: 08 Sep 2012 04:33 PM PDT La Gramière is the first mobile wine tasting truck to hit France. — Pictures courtesy of ©La gramiere PARIS, Sept 9 — An American couple living in France is stirring things up in their sleepy town with the launch of the country's first mobile wine truck that gives a decidedly casual American-influenced twist to a venerable French institution. It wasn't intended to be a subversive move, says Amy Lillard, a Colorado native. But selling wine out of a truck presented an easy and innovative solution to a logistical problem: the fact that she and her husband Matt Kling had no space to build a tasting room for their winery La Gramière in Saint Quentin La Poterie in southeastern France. So instead, the couple came up with the idea to bring their wine to the consumer. Lillard and Kling are the latest Americans to import a cultural food phenomenon from the US to France, gourmet food and drink served out of mobile roving trucks. In Paris, American entrepreneurs have enjoyed near instant success with the launch of gourmet burger and taco trucks. "Le Camion Qui Fume" (the Smoking Truck) and Cantine California, for instance, have gained cult-like followings among the city's hipster, underground foodie types. Lillard and Kling, however, are the first to take the food truck concept and apply it to vino —   perhaps among the most sacred of French gastronomic institutions. In addition to acting as a mobile wine-tasting room, the truck —  renovated from a 1979 Citroen that used to be a horse trailer —  will also be outfitted with a working kitchen where the duo plan, along with guest chefs, to prepare small plates to accompany their wine. Amy Lillard and husband Matt Kling operate a small organic winery in southeastern France. Shaking things up It may be a strange concept for locals to swallow, Lillard admits, especially in an area where tradition is strictly upheld and there's little straying from a culinary script written from a centuries-old winemaking and gastronomic history. "We want to breathe new life and new blood here," Lillard said. "We want to shake things up a bit." Currently, the unfinished truck parks a few days a week at farmer's markets and area villages where there are no restaurants —  a deliberate strategy that makes the truck a non-threat to local businesses and a welcome addition to the community, she said. Foods served include small tapas and snacks like home-made focaccia bread. "The response to the truck has been great so far." Another way the American couple has taken a French wine tradition into the 21st century? Much of the funding for the truck renovations was achieved through crowd-sourced means after pitching the idea on start-up site Kickstarter and appealing to followers from her blog, Twitter and Facebook. In the end, 92 backers pledged US$8,206 (RM25,520) for the project, exceeding her US$7,500 goal. Investors may likewise have been swayed by the fact that La Gramière, which spans 7-hectares, is a two-person production, managed entirely by Lillard and her husband, who also holds down a full-time job working for Cisco. The winery is likewise organic producing mostly reds, and their primary label is made with 80 per cent Grenache and 20 per cent Syrah. The vineyard produces 12,000 bottles or 1,000 cases a year and exports to the US, Canada, Switzerland and Germany. Meanwhile, though La Gramière may be the first mobile wine-tasting truck in France, it's not the only traveling wine purveyor. In Paris, "La Cave Vagabonde" sells wine out of a barge that sails along the Canal Saint-Martin. Wines sold are from the l'Yonne wine growing region of Burgundy. — AFP-Relaxnews

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Bruce Willis in talks for spy thriller ‘American Assassin’ Posted: 08 Sep 2012 07:49 AM PDT LOS ANGELES, Sept 8 – Bruce Willis is currently in in talks with the producers of geopolitical thriller American Assassin, which could become the starting point for a new spy saga. According to Variety, CBS Films is looking to hire Bruce Willis (picture) for a prominent role in American Assassin, based on a Vince Flynn novel published in 2010 that delves into the origins of his character Mitch Rapp, who has been the hero of twelve books since 1999. Set in the late 80s, American Assassin focuses on the creation of a clandestine unit tasked with addressing the rise of Islamic terrorism as the Cold War comes to a close. Bruce Willis is being courted by CBS to play the man in charge of the operation, who eventually recruits Mitch Rapp out of college. The latter is fuelled by vengeance following the death of his girlfriend in the attack on Pan Am flight 103 (the real-world terrorist attack remembered as the Lockerbie bombing) in December 1988. CBS Films hopes to start production in the fall of 2013. If the film is a box-office hit, it could launch a new spy saga in the vein of Jason Bourne. Back in 2010, the studio had already taken a stab at adapting a Vince Flynn novel, Consent to Kill. Jon Hamm, Keanu Reeves, Gerard Butler, Matthew Fox and Colin Farrell were targeted at the time to play Mitch Rapp, with Antoine Fuqua as the director. – AFP/Relaxnews

Renée Zellweger to direct, star in film alongside Johnny Knoxville Posted: 08 Sep 2012 03:51 AM PDT LOS ANGELES, Sept 8 – Renée Zellweger is set to direct 4 1/2 Minutes, which will tell the story of an immature stand-up comic who grows up in the company of a single mom and her genius son, according to Variety. The film will mark the directorial debut of the 43-year-old actress (picture), who will also have a prominent role. The script was penned by Anthony Tambakis, who put himself on the map with Warrior. Set in New York, 4 1/2 Minutes is inspired by the the life of Dov Davidoff, a commitment-adverse comedian played in the film by Johnny Knoxville. His life takes an unexpected turn when he accepts a job as a caretaker for the gifted son of a single mother, played by Zellweger. Shooting is scheduled to start in February 2013 in New York City. – AFP/Relaxnews

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Leisure-oriented looks hit runways at NY Fashion Week Posted: 08 Sep 2012 04:01 AM PDT A model presents a creation from the Nicole Miller Spring/Summer 2013 collection during New York Fashion Week, September 7, 2012. — Reuters pic NEW YORK, Sept 8 — Fashion world trendwatchers were validated on Friday when collections by top designers Nicole Miller and Charlotte Ronson exhibited the predicted influences of casual, athletic and leisure wear. Miller, a favourite of professional women for her wearable, stylish and confident designs, ventured into a more playful arena for spring 2013, with a dominant theme of floral prints configured in geometric shapes, and tight leggings in stretch leather or mottled prints. The collection, which Miller dubbed "Batteries Not Included" and was meant to suggest improbable juxtapositions, 1980s surrealist art, digital nature and sci-fi, used a palette of teal, soft greys, pink, mushroom and the ubiquitous black. In keeping with another trend this season, hard met soft with Miller topping a white linen dress with a black leather biker jacket. Shorts, which suggested running or track shorts, were well represented, lapels were large and coat and jacket sleeves pushed up. The collection was also heavy on tunics, which were variously rendered in silk and organza or abstract floral silk, paired with tight striped pants or stretch leather leggings. Vests were loose, oversized and flowing, while details were evident in beaded bodices or tank tops. Texture got a nod from separates rendered in leather, and what Miller called pixilated sequin or jacquard, which she employed for tunics and dresses. The looks were decidedly more classic, if similarly leisure-oriented, at English designer Ronson's Friday evening show. The Friday shows spoke to what Ken Downing, fashion director of Neiman Marcus, called "relaxed chic." Ronson, especially popular with younger fashion mavens, showed mostly classic, highly wearable, mostly unstructured looks. Hemlines were short, and midriffs often bare in a collection rendered in shades of soft spring green and yellow, the latter which Ronson dubbed lemonade. But like Miller, Ronson's show emphasized shorts and rompers, and also played hard and soft elements off one another, as in a chain link lace mini-dress and mini-skirt. She also showed several tops dubbed bralettes, which resembled sports bras, in solid or water lily print or midnight leather. A collegiate-inspired concept of varsity vests, cardigans and jackets completed the sporty looks. There were highly feminine styles as well, many with sheer panels in gauzy chiffon. Hemlines ran short, and cutouts lent netted pullovers and draped dresses a sexy edge. Among the bolder pieces were vinyl varsity jackets turned out in electric shades of pink or blue, as well as black. Earlier on Friday, Bahrain-based label Noon by Noor made its New York Fashion Week debut, with socialites Nicky Hilton and Olivia Palermo sitting in the front row. Designers, cousins and Bahrain royalty Noor Rashid Al Khalifa and Haya Mohammed Al Khalifa showed long flowing silk chiffon skirts and dresses with thigh-high splits, neon pink pants suits, brocade biker jackets and gold metallic jacquards. "Concentrating on sleek minimalist contouring, pared back separates are realized in the most luxurious fabrics," the Noon by Noor collection notes said. "Luxe utilitarian tailoring balances structure and fluidity." Fashion Week continues through the weekend, with Saturday shows by Project Runway winner Christian Siriano, Rebecca Taylor and Alex Herkovitch. Tracy Reese, Diane Von Furstenberg and Zac Posen show their collections on Sunday. — Reuters

DNA database unlocks map to genetic disease Posted: 08 Sep 2012 12:57 AM PDT MONZA, Italy, Sept 8 ― A massive DNA database has generated a map of the genetic switches which impact everything from hair loss to cancer and opened the door to revolutionary treatments for a host of deadly diseases, researchers said this week. "This is a major step toward understanding the wiring diagram of a human being," said lead researcher Michael Snyder of Stanford University. The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements ― or ENCODE ― has enabled scientists to assign specific biological functions for 80 percent of the human genome and has helped explain how genetic variants affect a person's susceptibility to disease. It also exposed previously hidden connections between seemingly unrelated diseases such as asthma, lupus and multiple sclerosis which were found to be linked to specific genetic regulatory codes for proteins that regulate the immune system. A key insight revealed in a host of papers published in the journals Nature, Science and Cell is that many diseases result from changes in when, where and how a gene switches on or off rather than a change to the gene itself. "Genes occupy only a tiny fraction of the genome, and most efforts to map the genetic causes of disease were frustrated by signals that pointed away from genes," said co-author John Stamatoyannoupoulos, a researcher at the University of Washington. "Now we know that these efforts were not in vain, and that the signals were in fact pointing to the genome's 'operating system.'" Another significant finding is that this blueprint of genetic switches can be used to pinpoint cell types that play a role in specific diseases without needing to understand how the disease actually works. For instance, it took researchers decades to link a set of immune cells with the inflammatory bowel disease Crohn's. The ENCODE data was able to swiftly identify that the genetic variants associated with Crohn's were concentrated in that subset of cells. This in-depth map of the human genetic code has also altered scientific understanding of how DNA works. The first sketch of the human genome described DNA as a string which contained genes in isolated sections that make up just two percent of its length. The space in between was dubbed "junk DNA" and many researchers did not believe it served a function. Attention was focused on the 'coding' genes which carried instructions for making the proteins that carried out basic biological functions. ENCODE confirmed more recent theories that the bulk of this 'junk' is actually littered with switches that determine how the genes work and act as a massive control panel. "Our genome is simply alive with switches: millions of places that determine whether a gene is switched on or off," said lead analysis coordinator Ewan Birney of the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute. "We found a much bigger part of the genome ― a surprising amount, in fact ― is involved in controlling when and where proteins are produced, than in simply manufacturing the building blocks." Perhaps most importantly, the database has been made available to the scientific community ― and the general public ― as an open resource in order to facilitate research. "ENCODE gives us a set of very valuable leads to follow to discover key mechanisms at play in health and disease," said Ian Dunham of the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute, who played a key role in coordinating the analysis. "Those can be exploited to create entirely new medicines, or to repurpose existing treatments." The project combined the efforts of 442 scientists in 32 labs in the United States, Britain, Spain, Switzerland, Singapore and Japan. The researchers used about 300 years worth of computer time to study 147 tissue types and identified over four million different regulatory regions where proteins interact with the DNA. ― AFP/Relaxnews

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Finally, more signs of life in Malaysian cinema this year Posted: 07 Sep 2012 04:33 PM PDT SEPT 8 — As much as I love films and writing about them, especially Malaysian films, this year has been a particularly painful one in the search of even halfway decent local films.  The law of averages would normally dictate that the higher number of Malaysian films being released in cinemas this year should also yield a higher number of quality (or just not plain bad) films compared to last year, and maybe even more box-office hits. We're still not doing so badly in terms of box office this year, because there are still films that people flock to see like "Mael Lambong", but the higher number of films released this year also means that there will be also be a higher number of box-office flops, with some films (which shall remain unnamed, but you can check this year's figures on FINAS's website) failing to even pocket RM100,000 in the cinemas this year. We're now in September already, and I still find it very hard to single out many films from this year's faceless pack, and this from a guy who tries his hardest to catch every single Malaysian film released in the cinemas. The obvious standout is definitely "Bunohan", which did fairly well at the box office, considering the smaller amount of prints it had for distribution. Other than that, there's only "Relationship Status", "Chow Kit" and "Hoore Hoore" that deserve special mention. A bit lower on the scale, I'd give props to "3 Temujanji" for being more than a halfway decent movie, successfully doing what it wants to do, which is telling a romantic story and making Yana Samsudin look unbelievably attractive. Other than that, it's been either one unmitigated disaster after another (I'm looking at you "Jiwa Taiko" and especially "Leftwings", a disaster worthy of last year's "Datin Ghairah") or interesting failures like "Hantu Gangster" and "Sumpahan Puaka", a punishingly routine horror short story idea stretched to feature film length and embellished with director M. Subash's by now trademark fetish with slums and ghettos. It took a while, it really did, but finally more signs of life came during the Raya holidays with the release of "SAM", the debut film by 19-year-old Syafiq Yusof (son of Datuk Yusof Haslam and younger brother of RM20 million man Syamsul Yusof). In terms of storyline and content, the film is really no great shakes, because if you've seen any number of Hollywood doppelganger/schizophrenia narratives like "Fight Club" then you can already telegraph where the film's going from the get go. The true signs of life in this film can actually be found in young Syafiq's grasp of film language, especially in terms of eye-catching visuals. The film indeed feels like the work of a first-timer totally excited to be working in a medium that he loves, with the result that he almost throws everything but the kitchen sink into it as he can barely contain his excitement. The tone of the film is all over the place and there are far too many unnecessary musical montages (set to some quite awful mainstream pop songs) that last for far too long crammed in, presumably to please the mainstream crowd. But for a first film by a 19-year-old, it's already far more interesting than most other mainstream Malay films released this year, and I can't wait to see what he does next. But I think the biggest surprise might simply be the latest film from KRU Studios, "29 Februari". Anyone who knows me will know that I've yet to be impressed by a single one of their films, not the Festival Filem Malaysia (FFM) winners "Magika" nor "Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa", let alone their other films like "Karak" or the "Cicakman" films. A sort of cross between "Forrest Gump" and "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button", the film moves on the premise that the hero, Budi, who was born on February 29 is blessed (or cursed?) with ageing only on his birthday, which means that he ages one year every four years. So there's a lot of those gimmicky "Forrest Gump"-type "hero in history" moments in the movie, which is of course its main hook, but what I find particularly touching is its central inter-racial love story between Budi and a Chinese girl named Lily. I've heard reports of local audiences chortling at the sight of the still young Budi tending to the now very old Lily, but I don't think it's the fault of the film-makers at all, as I think they handled the romance beautifully, with Remy Ishak and Jojo Goh outstanding in their portrayal of Budi and Lily. The only parts that might be jarring to a normal audience would probably be the musical bits, as this is not exactly your usual jolly musical. It's a sad, tragic film and it can sometimes seem strange to see characters bursting into song (albeit a sad one) during moments of sadness. But no matter how resistant you may be to the idea of this being a sad musical, the electrifyingly orchestrated ending, which I can only describe as a showstopping setpiece, will melt even the coldest of hearts. If even the average "Magika" and "Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa" can sweep all and sundry at the FFM in the past, then what's to stop this film, comfortably the best thing that KRU Studios has produced yet, to do the same? And for once I won't find much to complain about if it does so, even if I think there are better films out there in "Songlap" and "Bunohan", to name just two. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

EXCLUSIVE! Ronaldo’s sadness explained Posted: 07 Sep 2012 04:22 PM PDT SEPT 8 — Poor old Cristiano Ronaldo. CR7, the media-shy, modest and self-effacing Real Madrid striker, has declared that he is "sad". The bombshell was dropped after last weekend's 3-0 win over Granada, which saw Ronaldo score two goals but fail to celebrate them due to his self-declared sadness. The fact that he refused to elaborate on his sorry state of mind — other than mysteriously noting that "the people in the club know why" — has led to a week-long barrage of speculation about the potential sources of his anguish. Possible explanations include disappointment over his failure to win UEFA's best player in Europe award (which went instead to Andres Iniesta), rifts with other Madrid players, a breakdown in his relationship with Jose Mourinho and a desire for a financially improved contract. However, for the very first time, it is my pleasure to exclusively reveal the shocking truth: Ronaldo spent the summer reading the complete works of Friedrich Nietzsche and is now suffering from a bout of severe existential angst. The full story? Well, it all began with his intense disappointment at Portugal's semi-final exit from this summer's European Championships. Realising that the tournament represented his best chance of winning a major international trophy, the loss against Spain sent Ronaldo spinning into a deep depression. At first he considered seeking solace in the bacchanalist Tony Adams approach — the former Arsenal defender, you may recall, went on an enormous drinking binge after England's Euro 96 semi-final defeat against Germany. But Cristiano has never been a heavy drinker, having been left mentally scarred by an unnerving session of cards-and-clothes-based drinking games with Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy shortly after joining Manchester United (let's just say he still cannot bring himself to look at a thong). So when a few small measures of vintage cognac brought back those bad memories all too vividly, he decided to decline the path of alcohol and instead throw himself into philosophy. A brief circuit through the introductory works of Descartes, Plato, Heraclitus and Mill (he particularly enjoyed excerpts of On Liberty, which vindicated his view of footballers as modern-day slaves) eventually led the new convert to Nietzsche — and the decisive moment in his plunge towards his current "sadness". The breakthrough came one tear-sodden evening in his luxurious Madrid apartment. Whilst being fed a continual supply of peeled red grapes and sun-dried tomatoes by his devoted entourage of cheerfully compliant staff, Ronaldo read the entirety of Beyond Good And Evil in one exhausting sitting, pausing only occasionally to update his Facebook status and swap a series of amusingly titillating text messages with Joao Moutinho about the relationship between Gerard Pique and Shakira. Once he had been introduced to Nietzsche, an infatuated Cristiano could not be satiated. Within a week, Ronaldo had read every word published by the 19th-century German nihilist; within two weeks, he had re-read them and moved on to Hobbes, Spinoza and Heidegger. And when he wasn't reading, he was conversing with fellow philosophy junkies; he spent many long evenings on Skype, deep in animated discussion with Joey Barton and Eric Cantona, whose devotion to the teachings of Karl Marx struck him as unrealistic in a world inhabited by competitive beings. But rather than soothe his post-Euros blues, Ronaldo's philosophical wanderings just made him feel worse. Everything he had taken for granted was shattered. If God is Dead, as Nietzsche stated, and every human life is an irrelevant speck in the greater workings of the universe, then what's the point of spending hours on the training ground, practising free-kicks and pouting? Suddenly, Ronaldo found himself engulfed by a hollow emptiness that he just couldn't shake off. True, he was no longer so concerned about Portugal's failure in the European Championships, but that was only because he could no longer rouse himself to care about anything at all. Towards the end of July, Ronaldo had to return to normal life with pre-season training at Real Madrid. He spoke to a few of his teammates about his deep personal concerns, but was soon dissuaded from entering into dressing room debates when Karim Benzema left shaving foam in one of his Nike swoosh trainers after a fierce argument about the merits of Baudelaire. Jose Mourinho — a secret devotee of Sigmund Freud — was initially sympathetic, but then infuriated Ronaldo by postulating that the ultimate cause of the striker's discontent was an unconscious envy of his father's relationship with his mother. Undeterred, Ronaldo consulted Florentino Perez, Madrid's no-nonsense president, with the idea of building a "philosophy room" at the club's training ground; a quiet space next to the press conference area for players to read and contemplate life. But the idea was immediately rejected by a baffled Perez, who cited a "lack of the necessary funds or physical space" and told Ronaldo to get back into the gym. Spurned by Perez, angered by Mourinho and left with a slippery sock by Benzema, Ronaldo could see no way forward. A re-reading of Beyond Good And Evil last weekend only deepened the gloom, resulting in his refusal to celebrate his goals against Malaga and his enigmatic post-match rant. So now, finally, I can tell the truth to the world. The source of Ronaldo's discontent is not money; it's not Messi; it's not Mourinho: it's Nietzsche. However, fear not: there is salvation! During his summer splurge, Ronaldo inexplicably omitted to read one of Nietzsche's greatest works: Also Sprach Zarathustra. He discovered his oversight on Monday (prompted by a tweet from Sergio Ramos), and has punctuated this week's training sessions with Portugal's national squad by getting to grips with the book, leading to an increasingly certain conviction that Nietzsche was taking a glimpse into the future and predicting the life of Cristiano Ronaldo. Yes, indeed. Delusional as it may be, Also Sprach Zarathustra has allowed Ronaldo to rediscover his purpose in life as the embodiment of Nietzsche's Superman. As the great man wrote: "I teach you the Superman. Man is something that should be overcome." With that one line, Cristiano's sadness has been lifted, his mojo has been restored and Superman is poised to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. Defenders beware! You shall be overcome! (Footnote: Not everything stated above is strictly true.) * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

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Guan Eng: Kaji semula undang-undang mengenai rogol, perketatkan undang-undang mandatory Posted: 08 Sep 2012 01:47 AM PDT Guan Eng: Kaji semula undang-undang mengenai rogol, perketatkan undang-undang mandatory KUALA LUMPUR, 8 Sept – Lim Guan Eng hari ini meminta agar undang-undang rogol bawah umur di negara ini dikaji semula, dengan menghentam Jabatan Peguam Negara yang berkata mangsa tidak perlu menerangkan bagaimana kejadian rogol memberi impak kepadanya jika seks suka sama suka dapat dibuktikan. Ketua menteri Pulau Pinang itu berkata tidak ada "kebenaran" dalam kes rogol bawah umur, kerana mangsa di bawah umur mempunyai hak untuk membuat "pengakuan mangsa" sebelum penghakiman dibuat ke atas penjenayah. "Ini menimbulkan satu persoalan ke atas kemampuan professional Jabatan Peguam Negara dalam memahami jenayah ini sedangkan orang kebanyakan pun mengetahui bahawa tidak wujud sebarang kebenaran dalam kes rogol bawah umur," kata Lim lagi. Akhbar berbahasa Inggeris The Star semalam telah menemubual timbalan peguambela negara II Datuk Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah yang berkata bahawa kes rogol remaja 21 tahun, Chuah Guan Jiu, yang merogol teman wanitanya yang berusia 12 tahun, bahawa mangsa tidak diberitahu tentang haknya untuk membuat keterangan. "Mangsa tidak diberitahu bahawa haknya untuk memberi keterangan bahawa tertuduh merupakan kekasihnya dan dia telah memberi kebenaran untuk mengadakan hubungan seks. "Kenyataan dari mangsa mungkin mendesak untuk hukuman yang lebih berat," kata Tun Abdul Majid dalam kenyataannya. Di Malaysia, undang-undang hanya memberikan definisi yang sempit terhadap rogol. Dibawah seksyen 375 kanun keseksaan, "seseorang yang melakukan jenayah rogol ialah dengan melakukan hubungan seks tanpa kerelaannya, atau di bawah 16 tahun." Lim berkata peguam negara Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail seharusnya mengambil pendirian yang jelas mengenai kenyataan mangsa secara mandatori. "Peguam negara seharusnya membenarkan mangsa untuk membuat kenyataan VIS supaya trauma itu dapat difahami dalam usia yang begitu muda," katanya dalam ucapannya sempena perasmian Women Centre For Change (WCC) di Pulau Pinang. Ahli parlimen Bagan itu menekankan bahawa undang-undang rogol harus dikaji semula kerana penghakiman sering kali melepaskan perogol. "Contohnya kes 18 tahun lalu, apabila saya dipenjarakan kerana mempertahankan mangsa rogol yang ditahan, bukannya perogol, dan lima orang yang mengaku melakukan hubungan seks dengan bawah umur dan didapati bersalah telah dibebaskan," kata Lim. Awal minggu ini, pemilik sebuah tadika didapati bersalah merogol kanak-kanak berusia empat tahun dibebaskan oleh Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur, dan melepaskan pertuduhannya selepas tiada bukti seksual dan kenyataan mangsa tidak diterima. Ewe Peng Lip, 49, adalah orang ketiga yang dibebaskan dari pertuduhan rogol yang hukumannya penjara dan rotan mandatori dalam masa dua bulan - yang telah menyebabkan kemarahan orang ramai. Minggu lalu, Chuah yang didapati bersalah merogol teman wanitanya berusia 12 tahun, telah dibebaskan dengan ikat jamin di mahkamah sesyen di George Town. Sebelum itu, bekas pemain bowling negara Noor Afizal Azizan, 20, juga dibebaskan dengan ikat jamin RM25,000, selepas mahkamah rayuan membebaskannya dengan alasan dia mempunyai "masa depan yang cerah".

Kalahkan BN untuk tutup tapak Lynas, kata Guan Eng Posted: 08 Sep 2012 01:25 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, 8 Sept – Lim Guan Eng memberitahu pengundi hari ini satu-satunya cara untuk menghalau keluar Lynas Corporation pulang ke Australia dan menutup kilamg pemprosesan nadir bumi di Kuantan adalah dengan mengalahkan Barisan Nasional (BN) dalam pilihan raya akan datang. Setiausaha agung DAP (gambar) memberi amaran kepada pelobi anti Lynas bahawa pemberian lesen pengoperasian sementara (TOL) kepada pelombong Australia itu adalah petunjuk jelas bahawa jika BN menang besar dalam pilihan raya umum (PRU) akan datang, syarikat tersebut akan dibenarkan beroperasi sepenuhnya tanpa sebarang halangan. "Kerajaan BN tak ada jalangan untuk memberikan TOL kepada Lynas walaupun sebelum PRU menunjukkan mereka lebih mementingkan keuntungan BN berbanding kesihatan rakyat." "Tempoh TOL dua tahun tidak memberikan rakyat Malaysia pilihan selain daripada memilih keselamatan berbanding keuntungan syarikat dan dua reaktor nuklear dengan menggantikan BN dengan Pakatan Rakyat (PR) sebagai kerajaan," katanya dalam sebuah kenyataan hari ini. Lim membangkitkan tentang ketakutan berbangkit dengan Lynas – membuang sisa dari Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) di Gebeng, Kuantan walaupun syarikat Lynas telah memberikan komitmen untuk membuang sisa tersebut di luar Malaysia. Lim membangkitkan walaupun Lynas telah menyatakan komitmen mereka, akan tetapi syarikat tersebut masih enggan memberitahu di negara mana sisa-sisa. Water Leach Purification (WLP) tersebut akan dibuang. MENYUSUL LAGI

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