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Grant Achatz’s cocktail bar reinvents ‘drinks on ice’ Posted: 31 Oct 2012 07:22 PM PDT CHICAGO, Nov 1 — At Grant Achatz's upscale cocktail bar "The Aviary" in Chicago, there are up to 35 different types of ice. Grant Achatz's cocktail bar The Aviary in Chicago uses up to 35 different types of ice cubes. — Pic courtesy of The Aviary/YouTube. They come in all shapes, sizes and flavours and are meant to add to drinks, not dilute them. There's also one designated "Ice Guy" whose sole job is to "freeze things" all day. He's the first to arrive at the bar, and often the last to leave. These are just a few details divulged about one of the most avant-garde cocktail bars in the world in a YouTube video posted this week. At The Aviary, cocktails are invented with the same kind of fastidious attention to detail, execution and creativity as the fare at Achatz's flagship Michelin-starred restaurant Alinea and Next, a pop-up concept now in its junior year. Cocktails are finished off with flambéed orange peel, lit a-fire after squeezing the oils from the peel into an open flame. A hollowed-out ice sphere is injected delicately with the point of a needle, which fills the orb with an amber mixture, remapping the conventional notion of a drink on ice. "We look at every single cocktail as essentially a plate course," said "Aviary sous chef Micah Melton. "[We're] cooks that just happen to be cooking with liquids instead of food." Creating the best cocktail, meanwhile, starts with great ice. That means using only water filtered by reverse osmosis. "We want you to smell your drink, we want you to interact with your drink, see it boiling and watch it steeping," Melton said. Meanwhile, industry publication Drinks International recently released their picks for the "World's 50 Best Bars", giving London's "The Artesian" at The Langham Hotel top nods, followed by New York's "PDT" and "Nightjar" also in London. — AFP/Relaxnews

Heston Blumenthal taps into his inner child for latest TV series Posted: 31 Oct 2012 05:58 PM PDT LONDON, Nov 1 — In his latest TV program, celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal is given free license to unleash his fertile and childlike imagination by supersizing popular British candy bars or creating the world's largest pyramid tea bag in a show that allows the culinary maestro to play unapologetically with his food. British chef Heston Blumenthal launches his new food show 'Heston's Fantastical Food' next week in the UK. — AFP pic As its name suggests, "Heston's Fantastical Food" is a series that allows Blumenthal to indulge his every food-related whimsy and live out the fantasies of children and adults alike. Along the way, for instance, the chef spearheads ambitious projects that include creating the world's largest 99 Flake ice cream cone, a concoction that included a three-meter-tall cone, a ton of ice cream, and a five-meter chocolate flake, reports the Telegraph. Then there's the building of the world's largest pyramid tea bag, served in an equally large teapot, a project meant to bring back the ritual of the tea break in Britain's workplaces, Blumenthal told Radio Times. The new show, which airs on Channel 4 in the UK next week, is one in a string of highly anticipated food shows set to hit the airwaves soon. Reality cooking competition "The Taste" hosted by British cooking maven Nigella Lawson and popular food and travel host Anthony Bourdain is also set to air in the US on ABC. "Heston's Fantastical Food" airs November 6 on Channel 4. — AFP/Relaxnews

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Alonso gets ready to bare his teeth Posted: 31 Oct 2012 08:40 AM PDT ABU DHABI, Oct 31 – Like the Samurai warrior that he has tattooed across his back, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso goes into Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix refusing to give up and ready to fight tooth and nail for victory. "If the sword breaks, attack with the hands," the Spaniard (picture) declared on his Twitter feed after last Sunday's race in India left him 13 points behind Red Bull's Formula One championship leader Sebastian Vettel with three rounds remaining. "If they cut off your hands, push the enemy with your shoulders, even with the teeth." The Spaniard, who has long been an admirer of Japanese culture, has not won a race since Vettel's home German Grand Prix in July but has been the driver of the season for some paddock insiders. Consistent and relentless, getting the absolute utmost out of a Ferrari that is not the fastest car on the grid, he has said he feels he is battling the genius of Red Bull designer Adrian Newey as much as Vettel. That may be partly mind games, belittling his rival, but Red Bull can win the constructors' title on Sunday and become only the fourth team to do it three years in a row. Alonso needs more from Ferrari if he is to halt the seemingly unstoppable and have a chance of taking his own title. There have been reports, swiftly denied, of the driver losing his temper with the team after he finished second behind Vettel last weekend in a race that earned him considerable praise. What has become noticeable, with Vettel stringing together four wins in a row and chasing a fifth at Yas Marina, is the Spaniard's increasing use of oriental philosophy in the latter half of the season to express his state of mind. PAINFUL MEMORIES "If the enemy thinks in the mountains, attack by sea. If they think in the sea, attack by the mountains," he declared after seeing his lead over Vettel shrink at this month's Japanese Grand Prix. "Only a warrior can handle the road to become unbeatable," he had Tweeted after Singapore last month. "His life is a challenge, and challenges are not good or bad, are simply challenges." "There are no victories in the war without a scar, no rainbow without the rain," Alonso said after Frenchman Romain Grosjean shunted him out of the Belgian Grand Prix in September. If Alonso can overturn the deficit and deny Vettel a title hat-trick by taking his own third, the Ferrari driver will have shown his true warrior credentials. The alternative is to end up sounding more like the Black Knight in the comedy film 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail', a man refusing to accept he is beaten until – no more than a limbless torso – he can only impotently threaten to bite his tormentor's legs off. It will not be for want of trying but Alonso, one of the toughest and most talented drivers in the sport, needs more than luck on his side. Memories of 2010 are still painful. Alonso led the championship into the final race in Abu Dhabi only for Vettel, who had been 15 points behind, to win the race and seize his first title after a strategic error by Ferrari. Vettel has triumphed in two of the three Abu Dhabi Grands Prix to date and only he and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton have won there – as well as being the only ones to have started on the front row. The German was on pole last year, after he had already clinched his second title, but his hopes of a third Abu Dhabi win in a row ended when he had a first lap puncture that forced his first retirement in more than a year. He has a similarly remorseless momentum now that he is going for a third title but Ferrari believe they can still be the last ones standing. "We're ready to give it 120 per cent, just like Alonso. We'll fight for the Championship right to the last kilometre. I'm very confident," team president Luca Di Montezemolo told the Ferrari website on Monday. Red Bull know what they are up against. "Fernando is a quality driver and Ferrari are a quality team," team principal Christian Horner told reporters. "They are doing a strong job, he's remarkably consistent and we are going to have to perform at our very best if we are going to maintain our lead ahead of him. "We've worked hard to get into this position and there's a real determination within the team to carry this momentum into the remaining three races." – Reuters

FIFA to confirm Confederations Cup venues next week Posted: 31 Oct 2012 06:39 AM PDT ZURICH, Oct 31 – The world governing soccer body FIFA will confirm next week whether all six venues for next year's Confederations Cup in Brazil will be able to stage the event. FIFA has already announced that Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Fortaleza, Recife and Brasilia will host matches in the eight-team tournament, which is seen as a dress rehearsal for the 2014 World Cup. However, secretary general Jerome Valcke voiced doubts two weeks ago that all six stadiums would be ready for the event in June due to the slow pace of preparations. His concern was shared by Brazil Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo, who warned: "We don't have a single stadium ready for the Confederations Cup. We have deadlines. Stadiums that are on schedule will host matches, those that don't make the deadline won't." FIFA, which has contingency plans to play the matches in five or even four cities if necessary, said the announcement would be made in Sao Paulo on Nov. 8 at a media conference organised jointly by the local organising committee and soccer's governing body. Recife's Arena Pernambuco is the main concern. Only 64 per cent of the construction has been completed just eight months from the tournament, according to contractor Odebrecht Infraestructura. Valcke was briefly declared persona non grata by the Brazilian government in March for saying Brazil needed a "kick up the backside" to speed up preparations for the World Cup. His remark severely strained relations between FIFA and Brazil, though they have since improved. Spain, Italy, Mexico, Uruguay, Japan and Tahiti have qualified for next year's tournament and will be joined by the winners of the African Nations Cup to be held in South Africa in January and February. Brazil will kick off the tournament in Brasilia on June 15 and the final will be played at Maracana on June 30. – Reuters

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‘Life of Pi’ teen star lives out his own fairy tale Posted: 31 Oct 2012 07:49 AM PDT MUMBAI, Oct 31 — Suraj Sharma went from being a regular teenager growing up in New Delhi to starring in Ang Lee's big-screen adaptation of the bestselling novel "Life of Pi". The 17-year-old Sharma was picked from more than 3,000 hopefuls to play Pi, an Indian boy who finds himself stranded on a lifeboat for 227 days with a Bengal Tiger. Now 19, Sharma spoke to Reuters about the film, which opens in cinemas next month, acting with a computer-generated tiger and why "Life of Pi" may well be his first and last role. Q: How did this film come about? A: "I have been born and brought up in Delhi and my brother has acted in a couple of films. The auditions happened and the casting director was my brother's friend and he's been close to my family for a while. I went for the auditions with my brother for moral support ... I didn't really want to act, but I don't know, it happened. They kept calling me back. And then they called and said you have to come to Mumbai to meet 'Dao Yan'. I call Mr Lee Dao Yan." Q: Yes, I noticed that. What does it mean? A: "It means Mr Director in Chinese. I don't like calling him Ang, there is something not respectful about that ... Two weeks later, they said 'hey, Suraj you have to come to Taiwan'. Funnily enough even then I didn't believe I had got the role. It's very difficult to believe. You don't think things like that can happen to you." Q: What was shooting in Taiwan like? A: "I did three months of training — learnt swimming, sea skills, raft work — I even learnt how to fillet fish. I also ate raw fish, but let's not talk about that. There was weight gain and eventually weight loss. I came in very skinny, like a weak little runt (laughs). "Somehow we all went through Pi's journey together. There were many times where I felt that all of (us) together were Pi. I don't know what normal movies are like when they are made, but this can't be it." Q: What changed from the time you went for the audition to the moment when you got the role? A: "I had never acted before, but I knew I would like it. My brother and I would act to ourselves. We would walk down streets being different people and that is the only acting I have ever done. I got exposed to real movie-making and how things are done. It's a lot of people who come together, a lot of dreams that come together. For me, I just want to be on set. I don't care what I would be. If it's acting, directing, if it is props, I don't care ... Things might get better or worse, but this will always be there. A part of me will always be stuck in Taiwan, on that boat." Q: You had to shoot with a 'fake' tiger for the most part. How do you emote in front of something that isn't there? A: "Don't call him fake. He was real to me (laughs). No, but for the most part, we were shooting in a big blue tank with big blue walls around it and the blue sky above you. Everything was blue except for me and the raft. We had four tigers being trained as reference. I would watch them everyday — they would react to the water, the atmosphere, how they moved. I watched videos of tigers, I talked to the tiger trainer, etc. and so you assemble this huge picture in your head. Initially it was a very conscious attempt to imagine the tiger on the boat. But later, it became real to me. By the end of it I didn't need to imagine him. For me it was real." Q: What next? Roles for Asian actors are limited in Hollywood, aren't they? A: "I don't know whether I want to act. I might, I might not, depends on what comes my way. I want to be on set. I want to tell stories. I was really, truly possessed b y being on set. I cannot get over that feeling. It was more than an adrenaline rush, that fire. That collaborative feeling -- different people come together, and they all have their own stories — so many strings are pulled and they come together to create something which goes on to touch a million hearts. I can't get over that. I don't care what I do. It still hasn't sunk in actually. Sometimes I think about the whole thing from the third person and it seems like a blur." — Reuters

The show must go on: New York’s Broadway to reopen Posted: 31 Oct 2012 06:44 AM PDT A darkened lower Manhattan is seen from Brooklyn October 30, 2012. — AFP pic NEW YORK, Oct 31 —Most of the shows in New York's iconic Broadway theatre district are to reopen on Wednesday, after being suspended as Hurricane Sandy bore down on the city, the Broadway League said. Some of the city's most popular shows, including Jersey Boys and The Book of Mormon, were to open for either Wednesday matinee or evening performances, the official Broadway League industry group said in a statement. The shows were forced to shut their curtains on Sunday night, as Hurricane Sandy bore down on the east coast of the United States and New York City announced it was suspending city transportation services. But with the worst of the storm over, the League's executive director Charlotte St. Martin said "most shows" would go ahead on Wednesday and encouraged travellers stranded in the city to catch a performance. "It's a great time to see a show," she said in a statement. Sandy left at least 43 people dead in the United States and Canada and caused widespread damage, including mass power outages, in New York. — AFP-Relaxnews

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Ghosts said to mingle with guests at haunted Arizona hotel Posted: 31 Oct 2012 08:09 AM PDT Hotel manager Robin Brekhus recalls her first experience with a ghost in one of the hallways of the basement in the Gadsden Hotel in Douglas, Arizona, October 29, 2012. While many hotels in the United States claim ghosts, staff and guests at the Gadsden have recorded scores of supernatural encounters from the top floor right down to the maze-like basement – not just at Halloween, but year round. – Reuters pic DOUGLAS, Oct 31 – Manager Robin Brekhus was skeptical about her Arizona hotel's supernatural history until the day she went to the basement in search of candles during a power outage and glimpsed a figure in a long duster coat and cowboy hat in the beam of her flashlight. "It was like he wanted me to make eye contact with him and acknowledge that I saw him," she said, recalling how she then sprinted up the steps to the spacious lobby with its Italianate columns and Tiffany & Co. stained glass mural – a new believer. In its heyday in the early decades of the last century, the lobby of the Gadsden Hotel was known as the "living room" of the remote Arizona ranching town of Douglas, hosting cattle barons, cowboys and executives from the local copper mining industry. While many hotels in the United States claim ghosts, staff and guests at the Gadsden have recorded scores of supernatural encounters from the top floor right down to the maze-like basement – not just at Halloween, but year round. Hotel manager Robin Brekhus describes some of the ghost activities that guests have reported while in one of the many rooms of the Gadsden Hotel in Douglas, Arizona, October 29, 2012. – Reuters pic This Halloween, the hotel is embracing its haunted history as never before, with a visiting blues band from Tennessee set to play at a bash in the lobby. Guests can come dressed up or not, and ghosts are more than welcome. The 160-room Gadsden Hotel, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, opened in 1907, but was badly damaged by a fire, and reopened in 1929. Since then, little has changed. The lobby retains the original white marble steps leading to the large mezzanine, up which Mexican bandit-turned-revolutionary Pancho Villa once reportedly rode his horse. Visitors ride one of the oldest manual elevators west of the Mississippi to their rooms, many fitted out with original furnishings, aging drapes and pictures that recall the hotel's bustling heyday. SUPERNATURAL ENCOUNTERS Many of the alleged supernatural encounters have been recorded by guests themselves and are kept in two binders behind the front desk. Accounts include televisions turning on and off in Room 333, supposedly the most haunted, and mysterious knocks coming from radiators. "My heart almost came out of my chest," one guest wrote of her experience. "But then I thought 'Pray the Hail Mary,' all was fine." Hotel manager Robin Brekhus enters room 333, one of the most haunted rooms of the Gadsden Hotel in Douglas, Arizona, October 29, 2012. – Reuters pic In another testimonial, a guest reported hearing a key turning in a lock, then two figures walking into the room "as if they just finished a day of shopping." Then they were gone. One woman visitor wrote of something pulling on her hair during the night, while another said she felt someone "sit on the edge of the bed, then ... felt pressure as the person laid down next to me." "She came down the next morning and said, 'You know what? It felt like someone got in bed with me'," deputy manager Brenda Maley recalled as she stood in the spacious sunlit lobby. Maley, who said a ghost once pinned her to a bed in room 114, said she apologised and offered up a new room. But the woman happily declined. Television paranormal sleuths and amateur ghost hunters have probed the Gadsden, some toting thermal image cameras. Enthusiasts have also sent in photographs of purported paranormal phenomena, including an eerie snap of a shadowy translucent cowboy sitting on a couch in the lobby. But not all guests are believers: "The only thing haunted about Room 333 is the toilet, which won't stop running," wrote one skeptic. Some newer staff are a little uncomfortable. Ana Yanez, a server in the Cattleman's Coffee Shop, said she hears coffee spoons tinkling sometimes, and shudders at the thought of working the front desk "graveyard shift" at night. But for Maley, who has worked at the hotel for 36 years, the ghosts provide company in an isolated town. "You get used to it," she said. "You would be lonely without them." – Reuters

Georgia teacher turns plane into kindergarten Posted: 31 Oct 2012 12:30 AM PDT Children play near the Soviet-era Yakovlev Yak-42 plane that's been turned into their kindergarten. RUSTAVI (Georgia), Oct 31 — A headteacher in the Georgian city of Rustavi has found an unusual way to get children's early education off the ground — by transforming an aeroplane into a kindergarten. Gari Chapidze bought the old but fully functional Yakovlev Yak-42 from Georgian Airways and refurbished its interior with educational equipment, games and toys but left the cockpit instruments intact so they could be used as play tools. "The idea was to create a kindergarten where children go with joy," Chapidze, the rector of the Institute of Georgian-Ukrainian Social Relations that runs the kindergarten, told AFP. "Sometimes kids have difficulties in adapting to kindergarten, to a new environment. We decided to help them by making it fun," he said. There are around 1,500 buttons in the small Soviet-era plane's cockpit which the kindergarten's 15 children can play with as they imitate real pilots taking off, he said. "The children come in to the kindergarten with pleasure and cry when they have to go home. They are happy here," he added. The private play school in the impoverished Georgian industrial city charges parents around US$90 (7RM20) per month for each child, more than double what is charged by state-run institutions. — AFP/Relaxnews

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Top Canadian book prize awarded to humorist, travel writer Posted: 31 Oct 2012 08:32 AM PDT File photo shows a bookshop assistant at work. Will Ferguson's fictional tale about the inner workings of Nigerian email scams has won him Canada's most prestigious literary prize. – Reuters pic TORONTO, Oct 31 – A humorist, travel writer and novelist who penned a fictional tale about the inner workings of Nigerian email scams won Canada's most prestigious and lucrative literary prize. Will Ferguson won the C$50,000 (RM152,340) Scotiabank Giller prize for his novel "419," published by Penguin Canada. "I'd like to raise a toast to the written word," Ferguson, said in his acceptance speech as he drank from a flask at the podium. Besides the cash prize, the award will likely to lead to a sharp boost in sales for the novel that is about a woman who hunts for those she believes are responsible for her father's death. The winner was chosen from a short list that included Alix Ohlin for "Inside," Nancy Richler for "The Imposter Bride," Kim Thúy for "Ru" and Russell Wangersky for "Whirl Away." In its 19th year, this year's Giller winner was chosen by a three-member jury: the Irish author Roddy Doyle, the Canadian publisher and essayist Anna Porter and the American author Gary Shteyngart. Ferguson's book was called a "fast-paced, impeccably plotted thriller that investigates the world of Nigerian email scams," by Globe and Mail critic John Barber, who had predicted the book was the odds on favourite to win. In the run-up to the competition the Giller jury extolled Ferguson as a "true travel writer" who was attuned to detail as well as dialogue and suspense. "It is tempting to put "419" in some easy genre category, but that would only serve to deny its accomplishment and its genius," the jury said. – Reuters

Kylie Minogue releases fashion book charting 25 years in style spotlight Posted: 31 Oct 2012 04:37 AM PDT The cover of the upcoming 'Kylie / Fashion' book. – Copyright Thames & Hudson LOS ANGELES, Oct 31 – Kylie/Fashion will be published on November 19, with a preface by Jean Paul Gaultier. The book will celebrate Kylie Minogue's relationship with fashion during her 25-year music career. The Australian pop star Kylie Minogue shot to fame 25 years ago with the smash hits "Locomotion" and "I Should Be So Lucky," and has had an enduring influence on the worlds of fashion and music ever since. Minogue has released 50 hit singles and 11 Platinum studio albums and won countless industry awards. The book will feature 400 images, including iconic shoots, fashion sketches, behind-the-scene details and tour outfits, and has been called the "ultimate celebration of Kylie the fashion muse and superstar" by publishers Thames & Hudson. Minogue has written the afterword and provides commentary to the images for the book, which was curated by her creative director William Baker and which will retail for £28.00 (RM137.07) when it hits shops before Christmas. Additional insights into her relationship with the last quarter of a century of fashion will come from designers Dolce & Gabbana, John Galliano, Christopher Kane and Giles Deacon. According to Minogue: "This book charts my relationship with some of the most talented people in fashion throughout my career.... Looking through my personal archives has been a real trip down memory lane and it is the fashion that brings back moments and memories of the last twenty-five years." Read more: http://www.kylie.com/news/2012/07/kyliefashion/ – AFP/Relaxnews

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Kit Siang: Kong Cho Ha letak jawatan jika 112 ahli parlimen sokong tangguh AES Posted: 31 Oct 2012 02:49 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, 31 Okt — Menteri Pengangkutan Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha perlu meletak jawatan sekiranya 112 ahli parlimen menyokong untuk penangguhan Sistem Penguatkuasaan Automatik (AES), kata ahli parlimen Ipoh Timur, Lim Kit Siang. Menurut Lim, dua orang ahli Umno telah bersetuju untuk menyokong penangguhan ini, selepas ahli parlimen Pakatan Rakyat (PR) mengusulkan untuk menangguhkan AES untuk kesalahan jalan raya, dan memerlukan kajian yang mendalam sebelum dilaksanakan. "Hari ini, ahli parlimen Kinabatangan, Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin, yang merupakan timbalan pengerusi Kelab Penyokong Kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BNBBC) juga menyokong dasar ini ditangguhkan terlebih dahulu. "Kerajaan negeri Pakatan Rakyat (PR) di Pulau Pinang, Kelantan, Kedah dan Selangor sudah menangguh pelaksanaan AES ini sehingga kaji selidik selesai. "Persoalannya, adakah ada ahli parlimen dari MCA atau menteri atau timbalan menteri berani bersuara mengkritik pelaksanaan ini dari seorang menteri yang baru dua tahun menjawat jawatan tinggi kerajaan?" kata Lim (gambar) dalam satu kenyataan yang dihantar kepada The Malaysian Insider. Menurut Lim, apabila menteri pengangkutan tidak mahu mendengar apa kesannya terhadap AES, beliau menyeru agar ahli parlimen Barisan Nasional (BN) sama ada menteri, timbalan menteri atau ahli parlimen biasa untuk menyokong penangguhan pelaksanaan AES ini. "Ahli parlimen boleh meminta penangguhan pelaksanaan ini pada perdebatan di peringkat jawatankuasa pada 20 November ini. "Kami berharap ahli parlimen Barisan Nasional (BN) mengambil contoh ahli parlimen Kinabatangan tersebut dan ahli parlimen Rembau, Khairy Jamaluddin yang menyeru agar ditangguhkan pelaksanaan AES ini," katanya lagi. Pakatan Rakyat mempunyai 76 orang ahli parlimen dalam Dewan, dan memerlukan 36 orang undi dari BN untuk mendapat undi 112 orang, melebihi 50 peratus di dalam kerusi Dewan Rakyat yang berjumlah 222 orang, untuk memastikan majoriti ahli Dewan menolak pelaksanaan AES.

Lawan saman AES dengan tidak membayar, kata Mahfuz Posted: 31 Oct 2012 01:55 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, 31 Okt — Pemimpin PAS hari ini menggesa pengguna jalan raya supaya tidak membayar saman yang dikeluarkan Sistem Penguatkuasa Automatik (AES) sebaliknya menasihati mereka untuk membawa kes tersebut ke mahkamah. "Sekarang saya mahu tanya, jika kerajaan masih enggan menangguhkan pelaksanaan AES dan menggugurkan semua saman yang dikeluarkan, semua yang menerima saman itu tidak perlu membayar kompaun RM300 itu. Tetapi mereka perlu mengikut arahan yang diarahkan untuk ke mahkamah..." kata naib presiden PAS, Datuk Mahfuz Omar dalam satu sidang media hari ini. Beliau (gambar) turut berkata Pakatan Rakyat (PR) bersedia untuk menyediakan peguam bagi mewakili individu yang memilih untuk membawa kes ke mahkamah. Semalam, PR berkata mereka akan menangguhkan kesemua kelulusan pelaksanaan AES di empat negeri yang mereka perintah iaitu Pulau Pinang, Selangor, Kedah dan Kelantan bagi mendapatkan maklum balas orang ramai dan kajian lebih mendalam. Ketua menteri Pulau Pinang, Lim Guan Eng semalam berkata langkah yang diambil oleh PR ini bermakna sebanyak 331 daripada 831 kamera AES yang dirancang untuk dibina seluruh negara tidak akan dilaksanakan. Kamera AES tersebut yang digunakan untuk mengecam kenderaan yang laju dan melanggar lampu isyarat ketika ini masih dalam pelaksaan fasa awal yang telah diletak di sekitar Perak, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor dan Putrajaya. MENYUSUL LAGI

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The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

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Who do you call? Posted: 30 Oct 2012 04:57 PM PDT OCT 31 ― "Kami polis. Kami boleh tanya, tahan dan tangkap siapa saja." (We're policemen. We can interrogate, detain and arrest whomever.) All M (she asked I not mention her name) wanted to know was why the two policemen on motorcycles were asking for her ID. It was a rainy night, M was driving. She saw a motorcyclist in her way and honked. He might not have seen her; she just wanted to make sure. She was being careful, she thought. The next thing M knew, two men on motorcycles were flanking her car. One of them berated her for honking at him. She explained why she did so and also pointed out that she had right of way. Again, he spouted the "I'm a cop and can arrest anyone" spiel. She asked if she could call her friend, a senior police officer, for advice. "Panggilah, saya takut apa?" (Call, then, what have I got to be afraid of?) M called her friend. Her friend wanted the policemen's names and numbers. And, suddenly, the "fearless" policemen were too afraid to identify themselves. They lied to M's friend on the phone, saying they only "wanted to help" her. In the end, the policemen went away leaving a very shaken M. M was lucky. Few of us can call up a senior ranked cop for help when being harassed by rogue members of the force. Thing is, we shouldn't even have to deal with it in the first place. There are decent cops. I've met them. But at the same time, we've all heard the stories or encountered "bad cops." Cops who ask for bribes. Cops who steal. Cops who turn a blind eye to crime or pretend to be too busy with paperwork to attend to crime reports. We are afraid of our policemen, for all the wrong reasons. To be honest, they scare me too. I've gone to make a police report and was ignored by the cop on duty because he thought I was a Filipina. It took me brandishing my IC at him for him to take me seriously. Then there were the cops who wanted to solicit bribes from me or make me get in a police car, all because they mistook me for a foreign worker. The cops need to be held accountable for the rogues in their ranks. They need to make it mandatory to show their identification numbers at all times. If a cop refuses to give his name and ID numbers, it shouldn't be a crime for a Malaysian to ignore him. The reality is that there are cops who are bullies. But when a policeman asks you to pull over, don't automatically assume he intends to harass you. Maybe your signal lights died. Your bumper or identification plate fell off. Give the policeman the benefit of the doubt. But when it's clear the "policeman" you're dealing is problematic, here's what you can do: 1. If you're in a car, don't get out. Roll down the window slightly (not enough for the rogue cop to reach in and grab you) and ask for identification. Even if they furnish it and ask you to follow them, insist on driving to a nearby station. If you're a woman, there are real risks to you stepping into a policeman's car if his intentions are unclear. 2. Keep your mobile phone and call people. Tell family, friends where you are and who you're with. Take pictures. Use social media: Tweet and post pictures to Facebook, if you can. 3. If you're on foot and don't have the safety of a vehicle to retreat to, remain calm. Make calls but don't run. If you're unlucky, you might be dealing with a poorly trained, trigger-happy policeman who will use "resisting arrest" as an excuse to shoot you. It's your word against theirs and your running from policemen will be used against you. 4. Resist the urge to be flippant, rude or confrontational. Policemen are public servants but they are not your coolies. Talking down to them doesn't do you any favours and will just make the situation worse. Even in developed countries like the US and UK, they do have problems with rogue policemen who do not respect procedure. Don't assume all policemen are that way but at the same time, be prepared to deal with those who are. At the very least, every Malaysian should have some number they can call to get help if they're being bullied by cops acting questionably. Question is: Will the phone ever stop ringing? * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

Looking beyond the city Posted: 30 Oct 2012 04:52 PM PDT OCT 31 ― Indonesia is very much a Pramoedya Ananta Toer novel come to life. Jakarta may be the rich capital, the more sophisticated sister, but to experience true Indonesian life, one has to live outside of Jakarta, and in the provinces. It is through living among her people that you learn that Indonesia is like a beautiful woman who knows the power of her beauty and is cruel about it, with her admirers and enemies. "I disagree," an old friend who works as a healthcare consultant said. I have been lucky for almost every week, a friend or two flying into Java for work. My consultant friend and I were having dinner at ViaVia Café, situated in the Bangsar of Jogjakarta, Jalan Prawirotaman. Let's put it this way: Jalan Prawirotaman is the poorer version of Bangsar or Bali. It is popular among students and tourists. "I liken Indonesia to a worn, old woman. She used to be beautiful, but all the hardship she faced has worn out her children, her gardens, her wealth," he continued. It was a rough week in Java. I was already in the throes of a beast of a flu: never had I ever encountered such vileness. But I was elated as my trip to Pekalongan was a success. My friend was strung out by the work he had to face. The organisation had made very little inroads into Java, despite its escalating social problems. It had taken his bosses and him three years to crack the Javanese. It was only now that their local staff would deign to socialise with them outside of consultations. I was reminded of my cleaner's words prior to my departure. "Ha. We Surabayans and Madurese are a bit different. What you see is what you get. We are rough. If this is what we offer, this is what you get. Take it or leave it." "What about the Javanese?" I had asked. "Those from Solo and Jogja. Mereka berhalus ya, mam. Tertib. They're very cultured. But they are like pythons. Beautiful to look at, but once they have you in their grip, they will cheat you left and right. Their tongues are as smooth as the python's." "Indah khabar dari rupa?" "Ya, mam." That night, we shared a beca and toured around the city. I have always felt that Jogja's real self appeared at night. It's a quiet town, but somehow, somewhere, in a corner, life happens, and a bleak life it is. We passed by a young man leaning against a lamppost; tired or drunk? No one knew. Little warongs with canvas sheets for walls reveal three generations of a family living there. They eat, pray and made love there, in full view of their family members. I would like to think that perhaps "copulate" is a better word. To survive in this country, whether you are a national or an expatriate, is to not romanticise Indonesia. You'd be crazy to do so. So copulate it is. Jogjakarta is a city of travellers. Hundreds of years ago, it was the epicentre of Hinduism and the Javanese religion. When Islam arrived, agama kejaweng faced some resistance ― the Javanese were and still are proud of their culture. Marrying the old and a new religion, syncretism is now part of the ordinary Javanese's life. So far. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

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