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French eatery voted top restaurant in UK by ‘Zagat’ readers Posted: 10 Sep 2012 04:26 PM PDT LONDON, Sept 11 — A French restaurant that holds the bragging rights to being the longest-running restaurant to hold three Michelin stars in Britain has been voted the best London-area restaurant by Zagat readers. The Waterside Inn, helmed by second generation chef Alain Roux in Bray, unseated Notting Hill eatery The Ledbury in the 2013 London Survey Results, a restaurant which, for the last two years, held a stranglehold in the category of top food. For 40 years, the Waterside Inn has been a popular fine dining destination for its picturesque location along the River Thames and serves haute, classic, French cuisine. Zagat members used words like " magical" and "romantic" to describe the waterfront restaurant, as well as "breathtaking in every way, including the price". While menus change with the seasons, an eight-course "menu exceptionnel" clocks in at £153 (RM760) for a meal that starts with a lobster salad and is highlighted by a filet of turbot, roasted venison, duck and ends with a Mirabelle soufflé. The Ledbury, meanwhile, slipped six spots to land the seventh position in the top food category. Another noteworthy restaurant on the London Zagat survey is Barrafina which leap-frogged over its competition from the 48th spot last year to the fourth spot. According to Zagat readers, the Spanish tapas restaurant offers "sublime", "flavour-packed" dishes that are worth the mile-long queues. On offer is authentic tapas fare and small plates like marinated olives, ham croquetas, tortillas and chorizo Iberico. Meanwhile, readers of British, crowd-sourced restaurant guide Harden's named Dinner by Heston Blumenthal the best meal of the year, while The Ledbury was voted the top-rated fine dining restaurant overall. For this year's Zagat survey, nearly 2,000 restaurants were rated and reviewed by 9,583 surveyors. — Reuters

One chef, one ingredient: Alain Ducasse on the summer cep Posted: 10 Sep 2012 08:36 AM PDT PARIS, Sept 10 — If you are what you eat, then it could be said that chefs are what they cook. In an exclusive series from Relaxnews, some of the top chefs from around the world will share their favourite food ingredient to prepare and eat, every week. Whether it be peas, pumpkin, apricots or sea urchin, the answers are as varied as the chefs themselves. Alain Ducasse talks summer ceps with Relaxnews. ©Michael Vojinovitch This week, Michelin-starred French chef-titan Alain Ducasse shares his love of the summer cep. Relaxnews: Why did you choose this product? Alain Ducasse: The first reason is that it's in season. Also, the summer cep is the best cep in my opinion. Bear in mind that it's also the most fragile variety of ceps: larvae and slugs feast on it, so you have to be careful when you're picking them. R: What's your favourite memory related to the cep? AD: It goes back to my childhood. I was a country kid, specifically from the Chalosse region [in southwestern France], where good food products are widely appreciated. I knew the mushroom hunting spots. During mushroom season, I would cook up feasts of breaded slices from big ceps, which would retain the hymenium's flavours. R: When is the summer cep in season? AD: As its name suggests, it's quite precocious [for a mushroom]: in its favourite habitat, leafy forests, you'll find it as early as June, or even at the end of May. It becomes pretty scarce come September. R: What's the best way to cook it? Can we get a detailed recipe? AD: There are innumerable ways to cook it, of course. But the summer cep in chestnut leaves (le cèpe d'été en feuilles de châtaigniers) is my personal favourite: it's an extremely simple recipe that intensifies the mushroom's flavours. Place a few chestnut leaves on a dish and add oil. Add thin slices of cep stems, sprinkle with snipped shallots, salt, pepper and olive oil. Place the ceps' caps on top of that, rounded side up. Fold over the chestnut leaves and add oil. Cover, ensuring that the leaves stay in place, and cook for 30 minutes. R: What other product can you combine it with to surprise your guests? What are the most common mistakes people make when cooking it? AD: It's great with rice, a whole farm chicken, beef tenderloin, veal rib, as well as spelt. Ceps are a fragile product. There are two common pitfalls to avoid when cooking it, the first being overcooking it, because it breaks the fibres and the mushroom tends to become spongy. The second mistake is to add too much fat: the mushroom easily absorbs them, making for a disappointing outcome. R: How would you integrate it to your restaurant menu? AD: As soon as the season starts, as a risotto or riso with ceps on the menu of the Louis XV, in Monaco. R: What wine (or other type of alcohol) is best paired with it? AD: Risotto with ceps is a light dish that is full of flavours, so I'd go for a white wine that could suit its subtle bouquet. Among Burgundy wines, a Côte de Beaune d'Auxey-Duresses: le Domaine d'Auvernay 2005 would do the trick, and among Rhone Valley wines, a Hermitage: Jean-Louis Chave 2007. Red wines would include a Bordeaux de Pomerol, preferably a warm year, like the 2003 vintage, a Belle Brise 2003 Pomerol, for instance. — AFP/Relaxnews

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‘The Possession’ stays top at North America box office Posted: 10 Sep 2012 05:01 AM PDT LOS ANGELES, Sept 10 — Horror flick "The Possession" retained top spot in a slow weekend at the North American box office, industry estimates said yesterday, with Depression-era gangster tale "Lawless" still in second place. Top of the list, but down on debut week. ©All rights reserved "The Possession", a supernatural thriller starring Kyra Sedgwick, pulled in US$9.5 million (RM28.7 million), while "Lawless", based on Matt Bondurant's 2008 novel "The Wettest County in the World", took in US$6 million. Each earned less than half of their take from their debuts last week during the three-day Labour Day holiday weekend. New release "The Words", a literary drama about an author who earns fame by stealing another writer's work, opened in third place, with US$5 million in sales. Action romp "The Expendables 2", starring Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, continued its drop, finishing fourth this weekend, with US$4.8 million, but it was still ahead of "The Bourne Legacy", which earned US$4 million. "ParaNorman", an animated movie about a boy who can speak to the dead, held on to its spot just behind the two action blockbusters, earning US$3.8 million in box office receipts. In seventh place, quirky fantasy-comedy "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" brought in US$3.7 million, squeezing ahead of political spoof "The Campaign", starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, which took in US$3.5 million. Rounding out the top 10 were the latest Batman film, "The Dark Knight Rises", and political documentary "2016: Obama's America", by conservative writer and commentator Dinesh D'Souza, which were almost tied at US$3.3 million. —AFP/Relaxnews

Global superstars close Games Posted: 10 Sep 2012 03:11 AM PDT Flagbearers encircled by a ring of flame at the closing ceremony. — AFP pic LONDON, Sept 10 — Coldplay, Rihanna and Jay-Z yesterday brought the curtain down on the London Paralympics, in a celebratory mood amid claims that the Games had helped usher in a "seismic" shift in attitudes towards disability. The British band opened the planned three-hour extravaganza of song and dance, watched by 80,000 spectators at the Olympic Stadium and many of the 4,200 athletes at trackside in the shadow of the burning Paralympic flame. The show, entitled "Festival of the Flame", was a tribute to Britain's many artistic, cultural, musical and seasonal festivals and was billed as being a journey through the seasons to music and dance, artistic director Kim Gavin said. Organisers hailed the Games as the biggest and most high-profile in its 52-year history, with more media attention and a record number of athletes from more than 160 countries, including for the first time reclusive North Korea. Sebastian Coe: "Seismic effect on shifting public attitudes." — Reuters file pic London 2012 chief Sebastian Coe said that with 2.7 million tickets sold, packed venues and vocal crowds, the Games had created a global platform for elite disabled sport and also helped change perceptions of people with disabilities. "I really genuinely do think that we have had a seismic effect on shifting public attitudes," he told a news conference. "I don't think people will ever see sport in the same way again. I don't think they will ever see disability in the same way again. We have talked about what we can do rather than what we can't do." Earlier yesterday, one of the stand-out performers of the Games, British wheelchair racer David Weir, was roared to victory and his fourth gold in the men's marathon around the landmarks of central London. Australia beat Canada for "murderball" — wheelchair rugby — gold, while Russia got revenge over neighbours Ukraine for defeat in the seven-a-side football final in Beijing four years ago. The final golds ended the action, which notably saw the Games' most high-profile athlete Oscar Pistorius stripped of his 100m and 200m crowns but then conclude the track and field programme with a stunning victory in the 400m.  'Hardcore sport But new stars have been found to challenge the South African "Blade Runner", who made history last month by becoming the first double-amputee to compete at the Olympics, and the focus of the Games has shifted away from disability. "I think people are going to look back at this Paralympic Games and for the first time really, truly believe that Paralympic sport is not just inspirational, it's hardcore sport," said Pistorius. "It's full of triumph, sometimes it has disappointment, but that's what we look for in sport. We want it to be competitive and that's what it's been about." London was awarded the Olympics and Paralympics in 2005 and has had to face doubts in particular over the cost of the project, security and whether the city's creaking transport system could cope with a massive influx of visitors. But the efficient running of both events and the public response has defied naysayers who predicted chaos and a lack of enthusiasm. The president of the International Paralympic Committee, Philip Craven, said the challenge was to maintain interest between now and the next Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016 — as well as increase participation around the world. "We have to really concentrate on getting every country doing more Paralympic sport," he added. The daughter of German-Jewish neurologist Ludwig Guttmann, who organised the first recognised sporting event for disabled people in southern England in 1948, also said there was more work to do despite improvements since her father's time. "We are not there yet. There is a way to go," said Eva Loeffler, highlighting continued issues around accessibility for disabled people in society. More countries needed to send athletes to the Paralympics, she said, but added that the greater exposure afforded to Paralympians was positive. "I think that more people will realise that disabled people are people," she said. — AFP/Relaxnews

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New pill promises to make Botox last longer Posted: 10 Sep 2012 08:46 AM PDT A new pill promises to make Botox treatments last 30 per cent longer, says report. — Reuters pic LONDON, Sept 10 — A new pill promises to make the wrinkle-smoothing effects of Botox treatments last 30 per cent longer. In addition, the Zytaze pills could help the pricey injections take effect faster. The Botox business is booming — but while consumers love the wrinkle-free look, the pricey injections typically last only three months and can take as long as a week to fully take effect. According to The Daily Mail in the UK, the "new pill appears to be little more than a vitamin supplement which contains a high dose of zinc combined with an enzyme called phytase which helps the body absorb zinc." In a clinical trial of Zytaze, manufactured by Eden Aesthetics in the US, 92 per cent of patients reported that the pill prolonged the effects of their Botox treatments as well as helped the drug take effect more quickly. That study is reportedly published in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology. A pack of ten pills is priced between US$60 (RM186) to US$80, according to the Zytaze website, a price "significantly more than the price of a standard zinc supplement," adds The Daily Mail. But Eden Aesthetics say that its drug is specially formulated to work with Botox injections, and "taking a poorly absorbed form of zinc can compete with absorption with better zinc available through foods, which can be worse than taking no zinc at all." — AFP/Relaxnews

Alcohol, drugs common in fatal crashes Posted: 10 Sep 2012 06:08 AM PDT A study has found that more than half of US drivers involved in fatal car accidents had drugs or alcohol in their system at the time of the crash. — Reuters pic COLUMBIA, Sept 10 — More than half of US drivers killed in car accidents had alcohol or drugs in their system at the time of the crash, according to a study. Using data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on road deaths in 14 states, researchers also found that men and people driving at night were the most likely to have alcohol, marijuana or other illicit or prescription drugs show up on a toxicology screen after the accident. Their results appeared in the journal Addiction. "More than half of fatally injured drivers in the United States had been using alcohol or other drugs and approximately 20 per cent had been using (two or more) drugs," wrote Joanne Brady of Columbia University and her colleagues. Out of 20,150 fatally injured drivers in 2005 to 2009, 57 per cent tested positive for at least one drug, including one in five who had multiple drugs in their system. Alcohol was the most common drug, followed by marijuana and stimulants, including amphetamines. Sixty per cent of men killed while driving had drugs or alcohol in their system, compared to less than half of women. People who had an accident at night or on the weekend were also more likely to test positive than those driving on a weekday. African-Americans and whites were equally likely to test positive after a fatal accident. Asians were much less likely to have drugs or alcohol in their system, while Native Americans were much more likely, the researchers said. But the records couldn't show whether drivers had enough of a certain drug in their system to feel or act impaired or if prescription drugs were used incorrectly, experts said. The researchers also didn't have data on the amount of the drug present in blood or urine samples, and cut-offs for levels that reflect impairment at the time of an accident aren't always clear, said Brady and her colleagues. "There already is quite a bit of research that's probably going to continue to try and identify in drugs the point at which they are impairing," said Robert Voas, who studies alcohol and highway safety at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Calverton, Maryland. He was not part of the study. "With alcohol, the amount of alcohol is more or less directly related to the level of behaviour impairment. The relationship of a drug in the body to the behaviour of the driver is less direct and clear." — Reuters

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Chinese ‘blind spot’ for Western readers Posted: 10 Sep 2012 12:42 AM PDT HONG KONG, Sept 10 — A potent mix of state censorship, conservative publishing choices and scant translation means international readers are given a narrow view of contemporary China, industry critics say. There are the occasional books by Chinese authors that hit the international bestseller lists such as the blockbuster Wild Swans by Jung Chang, which has sold millions worldwide, and Adeline Yen Mah's Falling Leaves. There are the occasional books by Chinese authors that hit the international bestseller lists such as the blockbuster "Wild Swans" by Jung Chang, which has sold millions worldwide. — AFP/Relaxnews But both of those authors are based in the West — highlighting the paucity of material from China itself that reaches international markets. Hong-Kong based Harvey Thomlinson founded Make-Do Publishing in 2009 to produce quality Chinese and Asian literature in English translation, capitalising on Hong Kong's unique position as a multicultural Chinese territory where freedom of speech laws remain intact. "You can't underestimate censorship and the impact it has had on the quality of China's literary output," he said. "The effect is like a dust sheet being thrown over a piano — not only state censorship but also the self-censorship that goes with it." Chinese fiction also tends to follow a template, according to the British publisher, ignoring the realities of industrialised, modern China, which continues to grow and change at a bewildering pace. Western imprints pick out only a few genres for translation such as the Cultural Revolution memoir, along with novels by Westernised Chinese authors — who often write originally in English. And economic factors also play a major part in the drive to boost sales. "Most books have to turn a profit for publishers and this can make editors and their boards quite conservative about their choices," said London-based author and translator Julia Lovell. "It means they need to look for commercial themes, or books that seem to recapitulate styles and ideas that have worked in the past. Anything new or very literary will, of course, seem a risk." As well as being an easier sell in the West, such books are also less of a risk for the writers, who are reluctant to tackle current social issues for fear of official repercussions. In China's big state-run publishing houses "editing is not a profession any more", said Martin Merz, a Hong Kong-based translator. "Now it's more about avoiding political errors." Make-Do focuses instead on independent authors such as Murong Xuecun and Chen Xiwo, who tend to offer something different from the many government-backed writers in China who receive stipends and other incentives to encourage them to stay on-side. Murong's debut book, Leave Me Alone: A Novel of Chengdu was first published online in 2002, where it attracted several million readers before being released in print. The novel tells the darkly comic story of three young men's attempts to make their way in newly capitalist China, their lives beset by dead-end jobs and gambling debts. Chen, who was active in the student democracy movements of the 1980s, was also first recognised as an online writer. His controversial novella I Love My Mum, which has incest as a theme and is banned in China, will be published in the United States in September. Online revolution Internet fiction and short stories are two increasingly important platforms for emerging young writers in China. Lovell, who teaches modern Chinese history and literature at Birkbeck College, University of London, said Internet fiction was "enormously popular". The most prolific Internet writers produce up to 10,000 words a day and Lovell said "fast, cheap, popular genres dominate" online. The trend has broadened the range of Chinese writing, making it easier for already established authors such as Mo Yan and Yu Hua to deal with issues like sex and drugs more directly than they had done before. The Internet fiction phenomenon in the country was the result of "a perfect storm of historical and cultural factors coming together at the end of the 1990s", said Thomlinson. But even with these factors, it is difficult to make an impression outside China. Just two to three percent of books published annually in Britain and the United States are translations — although their share is slightly higher in non-Anglophone countries such as France and Germany. To grasp the new spirit of China, international readers should turn to short stories, Lovell said. "Most people have by now woken up to the idea that the politics and economy of China are worth understanding. But familiarity with Chinese culture (especially literature) still lags behind economic and political interest in the country." However, China's many literary magazines mostly carry short stories and some, such as the recently launched Pathlight and Chutzpah, are published at least partly in English translation. They showcase young, contemporary Chinese writers who, Lovell said, have "strongly individualistic, personal" approaches and "a determination to illuminate the intense strangeness of the capitalist society that the Chinese Communist party is now building". — AFP/Relaxnews

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Tentang penulis Malaysia Posted: 09 Sep 2012 04:40 PM PDT 10 SEPT ― Sewaktu saya bertemu Anas Zubedy di pejabatnya pada 29 Ogos lalu untuk menyerahkan novel "Panchayat: Edisi Khas", beliau menceritakan mengenai kempen "Say Something Nice" sempena ulang tahun Kemerdekaan dan Hari Malaysia. Beliau mencadangkan supaya saya menulis secara ringkas mengenai beberapa penulis yang saya kenali. Maka, saya memilih untuk memperkatakan tentang beberapa pengarang Malaysia yang menulis dalam Bahasa Malaysia. Sasterawan Negara Datuk A. Samad Said (Pak Samad) amat saya kagumi atas kelantangannya "bersuara" ― secara langsung dan juga menerusi penulisannya. Walaupun belakangan ini beliau dilihat sebagai individu yang bersuara lantang menentang pemerintah ― dan disiasat polis kerana membaca puisi ― apa yang sebenarnya dilakukannya sejak dahulu adalah bersuara menentang sebarang bentuk penindasan, ketidak adilan dan kezaliman yang dilakukan oleh mana-mana pihak. Pak Samad dan Rajeswari di majlis bicara buku "Mekar Bunga" pada Mac 2007. Pak Samad tidak tunduk pada tekanan dan arahan mana-mana pihak berkepentingan; sekali gus membuktikan bahawa di tengah-tengah begitu ramai "penulis" dan "organisasi penulis" yang mudah dijadikan boneka, masih ada sasterawan yang berani mengekalkan jati diri dan maruah bangsa. Allahyarham Dr Othman Puteh pula sesungguhnya memenuhi kriteria "patah tumbuh, hilang tak berganti" kerana selepas beliau meninggal dunia pada 19 Oktober 2003, belum ada penggiat sastera tanah air yang mampu menggantikan tempatnya. Sepanjang saya mengenali beliau, penulis dan penggiat sastera ini tidak mengamalkan perkauman. Sebaliknya, beliau membimbing dan menggalakkan penulis muda daripada pelbagai kaum dan latar belakang. Rata-rata kelompok penulis yang lahir pada 1980-an dan 1990-an pasti pernah menerima suntikan semangat daripada tokoh ini. Kegiatan sastera melibatkan Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) serta Gabungan Persatuan Penulis Nasional Malaysia (Gapena) juga lebih ceria serta lebih bersifat inklusif semasa beliau masih ada. Harimau mati meninggalkan belang, Dr Othman pergi meninggalkan legasi. Dalam pada itu, apabila saya mencalonkan Dr Lim Swee Tin bagi Anugerah Sastera Negara yang membawa gelaran Sasterawan Negara, ada pelbagai pihak yang mempertikaikannya. Menurut mereka, ada ramai lagi penulis sastera kebangsaan yang lebih layak dicalonkan. Reaksi saya amat mudah: Jika benar ada ramai lagi penulis yang lebih layak, mengapa tidak ada sesiapa yang tampil mencalonkan mereka. Pada masa sama, saya sekadar mencalonkan Swee Tin. Sama ada layak atau tidak, terpulang pada panel terbabit untuk menilai dan memutuskan; bukan persoalan untuk saya fikirkan. Kunjungan ke pejabat Swee Tin pada Julai 2009 untuk berkongsi pengalaman sambutan kemerdekaan. Nasib Swee Tin juga agak malang apabila seorang wartawan pada Mac 2011 sewenang-wenangnya memetik dan menyiarkan "khabar angin" yang disampaikan seorang tokoh bahawa Swee Tin kononnya membuat kempen sendiri untuk menjadi Sasterawan Negara serta kononnya ada hubungan dengan sebuah pertubuhan haram yang menentang novel Interlok. Dalam melalui segala cabaran, rintangan dan fitnah itu, Swee Tin tetap terus menjadi penulis dan penggiat sastera yang disenangi khalayak pelbagai kaum dan pelbagai peringkat di seluruh negara. Dr Mohd Faizal Musa yang lebih dikenali sebagai Faisal Tehrani pula antara penulis generasi muda yang amat wajar ditelaah pemikirannya menerusi karya-karya yang dihasilkan. Novel-novelnya sering menimbulkan kontroversi kerana "dilabel" sebagai mengangkat mazhab Syiah. Apa yang terlupa atau diabaikan oleh pengkritik adalah bahawa Faisal sesungguhnya mengkaji mazhab itu secara ilmiah dan mendalam supaya sesuai dengan watak-watak bermazhab Syiah yang muncul dalam karya. Faisal tetap aktif menulis walaupun menerima pelbagai tekanan. Bagi pembaca "Bukan Islam" seperti saya, Faisal membantu proses memahami nilai-nilai sebenar dalam agama Islam secara menyeluruh tanpa "terikat" pada mazhab-mazhab tertentu. Sekiranya Faisal cuba dihalang daripada berkarya berdasarkan kajian ilmiah dan fakta yang sahih, maknanya pengkritik menafikan "kebenaran" yang menjadi aspek penting dalam mana-mana agama. Salah seorang penulis dengan latar perundangan yang kuat di Malaysia ialah Nisah Haron. Saya selalu mengatakan bahawa para penulis di negara ini amat bertuah kerana mempunyai tempat untuk merujuk jika timbul sebarang isu berkaitan undang-undang, peraturan dan hal-hal berkaitan royalti serta hak cipta. Dalam blognya, Nisah menyebut kerjayanya sebagai peguam sivil dan peguam syarie (1998-2006) sebagai "cerita lama". Namun, pada hakikatnya, kepakaran beliau dalam bidang perundangan tetap bermanfaat kepada golongan penulis; apatah lagi kini pelbagai isu berkaitan hak cipta dan royalti berlaku di depan mata. Penulis sepenuh masa, penasihat Ujana Ilmu Enterprise dan pensyarah sambilan ini turut mengaku dirinya "lebih bahagia memperjuangkan hak cipta sahabat-sahabat pengarang". Kenyataan berani dan pendirian tegas oleh setiausaha Persatuan Penulis Negeri Sembilan (PEN) ini amat bermakna di tengah-tengah situasi pertubuhan pengarang tertentu mengeluarkan kenyataan menyokong penuh segala apa pun keputusan pemerintah dalam hal-hal berkaitan dunia penulisan dan penerbitan buku. Sekurang-kurangnya golongan penulis kecil seperti saya masih boleh menarik nafas lega kerana ada pakar bidang seperti Nisah yang sedia membantu. Sementara itu, walaupun saya mengenali Roslan Jomel sejak Ogos 1991 apabila kami sama-sama menyertai Minggu Penulis Remaja, pengarang dari Kuching, Sarawak ini masih menjadi seorang individu penuh misteri. Misalnya, banyak perkara mengenai dirinya yang tidak diketahui orang, termasuk rakan-rakan. Maka, cara mudah yang saya sendiri gunakan untuk "mencungkil" rahsia mengenai Roslan adalah dengan membaca karya-karyanya; khususnya kumpulan cerpen "Namaku Epal Kuning" (2010) dan "Selamat Datang ke Malaywood" (2012). Cerpen-cerpen yang dihasilkan oleh pengarang ini hebat dan pasti membuatkan pembaca berfikir secara mendalam mengenai kisah-kisah yang berciri di luar lingkungan (out of the box). Satu lagi keistimewaan yang sangat saya kagumi adalah bahawa Roslan sentiasa merendah diri; resmi padi ― makin tunduk, makin berisi. Idea-idea yang disajikan menerusi karya-karya beliau sebenarnya berciri radikal tetapi disampaikan secara amat halus dan bersahaja ― serta lucu ― sehingga idea yang disalurkan itu meresap masuk ke dalam minda tanpa disedari pembaca. Sastera Bahasa Malaysia turut diwarnai penulis kaum India. Pada tahun 1970-an, Joseph Selvam menyinar sebagai penulis yang sangat dikagumi atas kemampuannya menulis "sajak-sajak bertema Melayu dan Islam" dengan sangat baik. Lompong yang ditinggalkan sejak tahun 1980-an kini sudah diisi Raja Rajeswari Seetha Raman yang memulakan penulisannya antara lain dengan mengkaji sajak-sajak Joseph Selvam. Pada "Seminar Sastera Pelbagai Kaum" (7 September 2012), Siti Aisah Murad (DBP) menyifatkan pemenang Hadiah Sastera Perdana Malaysia 2006/07 itu sebagai "satu-satunya penulis yang mewakili masyarakatnya". Haji A. Rahim Abdullah (Aswara) pula menceritakan bahawa Sasterawan Negara Datuk Kemala pernah menyarankan pada Mac 2007 supaya Raja Rajeswari "masuklah Islam cepat-cepat dengan suami" berikutan kehebatannya menulis "sajak-sajak bertema Melayu dan Islam". Tentulah tidak akan ada mana-mana penulis kaum India yang menulis karya Bahasa Malaysia ― termasuk Sasterawan Kavyan ― yang mampu mengatasi kehebatan dan kepakaran Raja Rajeswari dalam hal ini. Beliau ternyata berada dalam "kelas tersendiri" dan mustahil boleh digugat oleh sesiapa. Dalam pada itu, nama Saroja Theavy Balakrishnan pula melonjak sebaik penulis kelahiran Alor Setar, Kedah ini menang tempat pertama Hadiah Cerpen Maybank-DBP 1991 menerusi cerpen "Kandasami". Bekas guru ini turut berkongsi hadiah pertama Pertandingan Menulis Cerpen Formula Malaysia 1999/2000 bersama Hizairi Othman dan Ani Mawar Abdullah. Selepas wujud semacam "kekosongan" penulis kaum India yang mewarnai sastera bahasa kebangsaan pada tahun 1980-an, kemunculan Saroja membawa sinar harapan yang amat bermakna. Penguasaan Bahasa Malaysia yang dimilikinya digunakan secara amat berkesan untuk bercerita di samping mendidik generasi muda mengenai pelbagai isu semasa. Kesibukan kerja sebagai guru dan ibu pernah membuatkan Saroja sedikit kurang menulis pada pertengahan tahun 1990-an. Bagaimanapun, hasil motivasi yang diterima ― khususnya daripada keluarga ― memungkinkan pengarang ini muncul dengan dua kumpulan cerpen iaitu "Gemerlapan" (1997) dan "Keinginan Kecil di Celah Daun" (2003). Dewasa ini, Saroja banyak mengangkat tema-tema alam sekitar menerusi karyanya. Beliau antara penulis yang menjadi kebanggaan dan sering disebut-sebut oleh Allahyarham Dr Othman Puteh yang turut menjadi pembimbingnya semasa Saroja belajar di Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Demikian antara penulis Malaysia yang segera muncul dalam fikiran apabila saya diminta menulis bagi kempen "Say Something Nice". Mungkin orang lain kurang menyukai mereka tetapi saya tetap berusaha mengenang dan memperkatakan beberapa perkara baik mengenai para penulis terbabit. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

I wrote this myself Posted: 09 Sep 2012 04:37 PM PDT SEPT 10 ― Last week, there was a bit of a drama about a newspaper columnist caught plagiarising. Apparently some of the articles that person has been writing were in fact what other people wrote! As I read about it from various news sources and blogs, my heart went out to the writers whose work had been lifted and used without proper acknowledgement. Plagiarism is a big no-no when it comes to writing. As a fellow writer remarked, "My editor would kill me if she so much as sniffs a similarity." Life stakes aside, however, it is just cruel to do such a thing to a writer. Last week I talked about how writing is often difficult. Most of the time, it takes tremendous time and effort to put together some words in a coherent manner. When you open a newspaper or magazine or browse online and read an article, you can be sure that it is probably a product of untold hours of research followed by sleepless nights of obsessive mulling over the bits and pieces of information, interspersed with a lot of torturous procrastination and sometimes uncomfortable queries from editors on when that story will be done. And sometimes, like many other things people do for a living, it gets even harder: You wake up to a day when nothings goes right as you try to write, the words just come out wrong every time and your brain refuses to co-operate. For many writers, that's how it feels like most of the time we write something. After all, William Zinssler pointed out how easy writing often means hard reading. No self-respecting writer can bear handing in substandard work knowing not enough effort went into making it as good as it can be. So when someone else does a little copy-and-paste job and then take credit for our sweat, tears and caffeine-overdosed nights, it's like having your family jewels ripped off, deep fried then served to you on a platter. A couple of years ago, in simpler days when I was more trusting, less cynical, I was asked for a fresh writing sample and I obliged. I thought hey, maybe that person wanted to be sure I could write and was not just another hack article-spinner. So imagine my shock and horror when, two years later, an acquaintance alerted me to the fact that that same sample article had been published multiple times across the Internet under someone else's byline. After getting one publisher to take it down with much effort and numerous lengthy emails, I gave up on the rest — it was a painful lesson and I decided to move on. Unfortunately, however, the inescapable fact is that there will always be this group of self-proclaimed "writers" who prefer a cop-out when things get tough and the writing gets torturous — the celebrity columnist who was exposed last week is neither the first nor last. It's a depressing thought, isn't it? So if you're thinking of doing it, don't. Stop. You're going to hurt another writer in ways you can't imagine, just because you couldn't be bothered to take the effort to express yourself honestly in your own words. Let's stop plagiarism. Oh, and by the way I wrote this myself. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

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Wanita Pakatan yakin pertambahan calon dalam PRU ke-13 Posted: 10 Sep 2012 01:44 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, 10 Sept — Ketua  Wanita PKR, Zuraida Kamaruddin, mewakili Wanita Pakatan Rakyat (PR) dalam sidang media hari ini memberi keyakinan akan lebih ramai lagi calon wanita dipilih untuk bertanding pada pilihan raya umum (PRU) ke-13 ini sekaligus membuktikan komitmen PR dalam memperjuangkan isu melibatkan wanita di Malaysia. Disamping itu Zuraida juga berkata Wanita PR akan memperkenalkan polisi untuk kaum wanita seperti yang terdapat dalam Buku Jingga dengan memperkenalkan tujuh tumpuan utama (polisi Wanita PR) sebagai manifesto menjelang PRU ke-13 nanti. Tujuh tumpu utama tersebut akan dilancarkan sempena malam "Agenda Wanita Malaysia" pada 13 September ini di Kompleks Belia dan Kebudayaan Negeri Selangor, Shah Alam. Dengan tema "Falsafah Hormat Wanita", Zuraida turut berharap agenda yang akan dibawa oleh Wanita PR ini akan dapat membantu kaum wanita menyedari bahawa mereka mempunyai hak-hak yang mungkin tidak diketahui selama ini serta membantu meningkatkan permanent mereka dalam membangunkan negara. Selain itu, Zuraida juga menegaskan pihak kerajaan menerusi agensi-agensi dan kementeriannya sudah tidak relevan dan tidak lagi memainkan peranan penting tetapi sebaliknya sudah terkebelakang dalam memperjuangkan isu wanita. "Kementerian kerajaan kini sudah tidak boleh diharap dalam memperjuangkan isu wanita, malahan tidak lagi berfungsi untuk membantu wanita," kata Zuraida. MENYUSUL LAGI

Usahawan kecil Kelantan mendapat dana Mara RM3 juta Posted: 10 Sep 2012 12:39 AM PDT GUA MUSANG, 10 Sept — Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) menyediakan dana RM3 juta memberi pinjaman kepada usahawan kecil di Kelantan tahun ini, kata ahli majlis Mara Mohamad Saufi Deraman. Beliau berakta wang tersebut adalah sebahaagian daripada RM50 juta dana disediakan kerajaan untuk usahawan kecil seluruh negara yang dilancarkan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak tiga bulan lepas. Pinjaman tanpa faedah itu bertujuan menambah modal pusingan usahawan kecil bagi mengembangkan perniagaan mereka, kata Saufi kepada pemberita selepas "Program persemukaan Mara bersama usahawan kecil dinamik daerah Gua Musang" di sini hari ini. Beliau berkata kerajaan di bawah kepimpinan perdana menteri menyediakan dana berkenaan untuk memberi peluang kepada usahawan kecil memohon pinjaman berkenaan. Saufi berkata baki RM47 juta daripada dana itu diagihkan kepada usahawan kecil negeri lain dan peruntukan terbanyak untuk Kuala Lumpur berikutan mempunyai ramai usahawan kecil bumiputra. Beliau mencadangkan kepada kerajaan menambah dana pinjaman usahawan kecil itu tahun depan supaya lebih ramai usahawan kecil di negeri-negeri dapat memohon. "Tahun ini, dana itu disediakan sedikit sahaja dan belum mampu menampung keperluan seluruh negara yang dianggarkan ada lebih 6,000 usahawan." Katanya, Mara menguruskan dana sejumlah RM28 juta untuk pinjaman kepada peniaga besar atau industri dengan kadar pinjaman sehingga RM100,000 supaya mereka dapat mengembangkan perniagaan. "Kita sedang berusaha mengalakkan usahawan di negara ini memajukan perniagaan mereka ke peringkat global," katanya. — Bernama

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