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‘Saveur’ magazine teams up with YouTube food channel for new show Posted: 04 Dec 2012 04:01 PM PST Dueling Dishes premiered over the weekend. – AFP pic LOS ANGELES, Dec 5 – YouTube food channel Hungry has teamed up with Saveur magazine to create a new web series in which chefs are challenged to cooking throwdowns, duking it out in battles over macaroni and cheese and Christmas Yule log. Dueling Dishes premiered over the weekend on what could easily be described as the online version of the Food Network, especially given that it's helmed by food TV titan and former Food Network TV executive Bruce Seidel. The 10-minute segments challenge different pairs of chefs to create their version of the best latke, buche de noël or Yule log, macaroni and cheese, fried chicken, meatloaf and ice box pie. Competing chefs come from New York eateries such as Tavern on the Green, Aquavit, and Gramercy Tavern. Judging the dishes will be Saveur magazine editors, as well as food chef and personality Todd English. Other Hungry shows include "Duff's Food World", which explores fringe foodie experiences like eating sushi off naked bodies and dining in the dark. Chris Cosentino also hosts "New Pork", a show dedicated to all things porcine, while "Casserole Queen"s explores all the possibilities of one-pot dishes. Meanwhile, when it comes to YouTube food channels, the reigning celebrity is undoubtedly Epic Meal Time, a Montreal-based team that makes it its mission to create bacon-filled fast food monstrosities for shock value and entertainment. Every week, the channel's videos attract on average more than a million views. – AFP-Relaxnews

Hong Kong and Macau see flurry of Michelin stars Posted: 04 Dec 2012 03:45 PM PST HONG KONG, Dec 5 – Michelin inspectors have handed out a constellation of stars to restaurants and chefs in Hong Kong and Macau this year, inducting 19 new restaurants into the exclusive starred club and cementing the region as a growing world-class dining destination. In the fifth edition of the Michelin Guide Hong Kong Macau, six new restaurants earned two stars (five in Hong Kong, one in Macau), while 13 restaurants scored their first star (12 in Hong Kong and one in Macau). All five restaurants in Hong Kong and Macau, meanwhile, retained their three-star standing. Most notable, meanwhile, is the demotion of French chef Pierre Gagnaire's Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong outpost Pierre, which was knocked down a rung to fall from two stars to one star. The dominant cuisine among the starred restaurants? About 70 per cent of the dining destinations selected offer Chinese cuisine, including Shanghainese, Pekingese, Sichuan, Hakka, Hang Zhou, Cantonese and Chiu Chow. Other cuisines and foods which earned star recognition from inspectors include sushi, steakhouse, European contemporary, noodles, congee and Italian fare. In this year's Bib Gourmand section — a category reserved for eateries where diners can tuck into a three-course meal for HK$300 (RM118) – inspectors added 18 new addresses that provide good value for money for a total of 76 Bib Gourmand restaurants. The guide likewise provides 63 addresses for "simple shop restaurants" such as local food stalls and noodle shops which serve rustic, hearty street foods like roast meats, dim sum, Cantonese, Thai, ramen noodles, congee and Vietnamese foods. Modest food stalls and eateries make up 20 percent of the guide, some of which have been awarded stars to make them the most affordable Michelin-grade restaurants in the world, the guide says. The Michelin Guide Hong Kong Macau 2013 is available December 5 in Hong Kong and Macau for HK$198 and in mid-December in Southeast Asia. – Reuters

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Benitez confident Shakhtar can do Chelsea a favour Posted: 04 Dec 2012 07:22 AM PST LONDON, Dec 4 — Chelsea's under-fire manager Rafael Benitez believes Shakhtar Donetsk can beat Juventus tomorrow and open an escape hatch for his side to reach the last 16 of the Champions League. Benitez's side must beat Danish side Nordsjaelland at Stamford Bridge in their final Group E match and hope Juventus suffer defeat in Ukraine if they are not to become the first holders to depart the Champions League at the group stage. Benitez at the media conference at Chelsea's training ground in Cobham, south of London. — Reuters pic A draw in Ukraine would send Chelsea out but Benitez, still looking for a win three games after replacing Roberto Di Matteo, said he expected already qualified Shakhtar to go for victory. "We don't need a miracle," Benitez, who masterminded Liverpool's miraculous Champions League final victory against Milan in 2005 from a 3-0 halftime deficit, told reporters. "We just have to do our job. I'm convinced that Shakhtar can beat Juventus. The only thing we can do is win our game but I have confidence that Shakhtar will do well. "They have players that want to be seen around the world. They will want to win and I'm sure they will try." Benitez's rocky start — two 0-0 draws and Saturday's 3-1 defeat by West Ham United — has been hampered by not being able to call on the the experience of club captain John Terry or midfield stalwart Frank Lampard. Neither will be ready to face Nordsjaelland despite returning to training following knee and calf injuries. "Lampard has been training for two days with the group but it's too early for tomorrow. JT was training with the physios and it's still too early for this game," Benitez said, although both could be in contention for the weekend trip to Sunderland. Jovial mood Despite having to dealing with hostility from the home fans following his controversial appointment, Benitez was in a jovial mood at the club's training ground. "No," he replied when asked if he already felt under pressure. "If you analyse the three games we did a lot of good things. The first two clean sheets was a good point to start. "We did concede against West Ham but maybe we deserved to win that more than the others because we were much better in the first half. There are lots of positives." Benitez, the first manager in the era of club owner Roman Abramovich not to win any of his first three matches, said he would try to utilise his squad in the busy period ahead, which includes a trip to the World Club Cup in Japan next week. "They were playing too many games, a lot of minutes and you can't be fresh playing at that intensity," he said of the midfield trio of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar, who have been less effective of late after a brilliant start to the season. "I can see the quality of these three players, when we are in possession they are very dangerous," he said. "It depends on the game... sometimes you need another approach. We have to manage better against strong physical teams." Mata said the players were unaffected by the negativity surrounding the appointment of his fellow Spaniard. "I'm not deaf, so yeah we are aware fans reaction but they are free to do what they want," he said. "When you change a manager it's because things are not going good. It's not my responsibility. We have an owner and people who are working to do their best for the club and as a player you just work with the manager... we are with him." — Reuters

Romania’s Rapid Bucharest file for insolvency Posted: 04 Dec 2012 07:08 AM PST BUCHAREST, Dec 4 — Troubled Romanian football club Rapid Bucharest said today they had filed for insolvency after running up huge debts. "We opened insolvency proceedings to save the club," Rapid's majority shareholder George Copos told reporters. "We're doing everything in our power to save Rapid." Three-times Romanian champions Rapid and city rivals Dinamo, who have won the league 18 times, are among nine European clubs facing punishment from UEFA over payment arrears to other teams, their staff or tax authorities. Rapid, who played in the Romanian Cup final in May, have spent heavily in recent years but their players have not been paid for several months. "The difference between revenue and expenditure goes to €5 million (RM19.6 million) per year," said Rapid president Constantin Zotta. "It's terrible." The move could mean the end of professional football for Rapid as Romanian football regulations do not allow an insolvent club to have a first-division licence. "If they enter into any form of insolvency, they will not get a licence for next season," said Romanian Football League president Dumitru Dragomir. Yesterday, Dragomir said that seven first division clubs were on the brink of collapse due to spiralling debts. He accused the government of not supporting the sport. "We are the only country in the world that pays VAT to the players," Dragomir said. "Taxes are paid two or three times." Dragomir did not name the teams but local media said that Dinamo, Petrolul Ploiesti, Brasov, Universitatea Cluj-Napoca, Turnu Severin and Gloria Bistrita were the other clubs in danger. Many of the clubs face considerable infrastructure difficulties and are struggling to meet administrative, legal and financial conditions laid down by European football's governing body UEFA. Dragomir said he was concerned even for the top two teams in the country — league leaders Steaua Bucharest, who are playing in the Europa League, and champions CFR Cluj, who still have a slim chance of progressing to the Champions League knockout stages. "I am concerned about Steaua and CFR, there are financial problems," he said. "I don't know how it will be resolved." — Reuters

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Extra sleep may help reduce pain Posted: 04 Dec 2012 06:45 AM PST Research suggests extra sleep may play a role in curbing pain. — shutterstock.com pic NEW YORK, Dec 4 — If you suffer from chronic pain — such as headaches or backaches — a small new study finds that getting extra sleep every night could help give you some relief. "If you are already sleeping eight hours a night, you probably don't need more sleep," researcher Dr. Thomas Roth, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, told WebMD. "If you spend six hours in bed a night, spend eight — preferably nine," he says. Roth and his team recruited 18 healthy, pain-free volunteers who were randomly assigned to four nights of either maintaining their regular sleep time or extending their slumber to 10 hours. To test pain sensitivity, subjects were asked to hold their finger against a radiant heat source. The amount of time subjects could do this increased by 25 per cent in those who slept 10 hours after just four days. Previous research suggests this is similar to taking a 60-mg dose twice a day of the painkiller codeine. "We were surprised by the magnitude of the reduction in pain sensitivity, when compared to the reduction produced by taking codeine," Roth said. How does sleep help curb pain? "We think that sleep loss and pain both increase levels of inflammatory markers, but getting more sleep may help decrease this inflammation," Roth told WebMD. The study appears in the December issue of the journal Sleep. — AFP-Relaxnews

US lawmakers, car salesmen rank worst for trust Posted: 04 Dec 2012 04:34 AM PST Only 8 per cent of Americans polled thought highly of car salespeople. — shutterstock.com pic WASHINGTON, Dec 4 — US members of Congress are barely better than car salesmen when it comes to honesty and ethical standards, while senators score lower than journalists, a survey said Monday. Nurses and pharmacists were considered to have the highest standards, according to the Gallup poll. Only 10 per cent of respondents rated members of Congress very highly or highly for their integrity, while 54 per cent scored them "very low or low." At the bottom of the barrel were the car salespeople — only eight per cent thought very highly of them, while advertising people did not do much better — just 11 per cent of those surveyed rated them very highly. Nurses however were on the top of the list — 85 per cent of people gave them a very high or high mark for honesty and strong ethical values. Pharmacists (75 per cent), doctors and engineers (both 70), police officers (58), college teachers (53), and clergy (52) were the only other occupations to score above 50 per cent when it came to being given a very high or high rating. There was little joy for bankers (28 per cent) and journalists (24), though both did better than business executives (21), state governors (20), lawyers (19), and insurance salesmen (15), when it came to top marks. Some 45 per cent of those surveyed had a very low or low rating of senators, with just 14 per cent viewing their integrity as being very high or high. Gallup noted that members of the US House of Representatives have never done well in the 36 year history of the honesty and ethical standards survey. The highest honesty rating for these lawmakers came in November 2001, two months after the 9/11 attacks, when 25 percent of Americans ranked them highly. Gallup said its November 26-29 poll of 1,015 adults has a plus or minus four percentage point margin or error. — AFP-Relaxnews

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Japan’s Universal sues Reuters over Philippine payments reports Posted: 04 Dec 2012 07:48 AM PST TOKYO, Dec 4 — Japan's Universal Entertainment Corp today sued Thomson Reuters and three of its journalists for defamation over news articles relating to millions of dollars in payments Universal made to an ex-consultant to the Philippine gaming authority. Universal, majority owned by Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada and his son through a family trust, said in a statement it had filed the lawsuit with a court in Tokyo. The Reuters stories, published on November 16 and November 30, detailed a series of payments made to Rodolfo Soriano, a close associate of the former head of the gaming authority, between January and May of 2010 when Universal was lobbying for concessions for a casino resort on Manila Bay. The November 30 story said Universal channelled at least US$30 million (RM90 million) to companies controlled by Soriano, citing company records and people with knowledge of the transactions and related investigations. "We have not seen the lawsuit but we stand by our reporting," said Reuters spokeswoman Barb Burg. Soriano is now at the centre of an investigation by the Philippine Department of Justice. The payments are also being probed by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the regulator for Universal's businesses in the United States. Universal said in an earlier statement that its compliance committee had already reported on its business in the Philippines to Nevada gaming authorities and that it was "certain that the facts of this case will be brought to light in the near future". Universal has filed lawsuits against three former employees of the Universal group for US$15 million of the payments, claiming they made the transfers without proper authorisation. The company said it was seeking 200 million yen (RM7.39 million) in damages from Thomson Reuters and three of its journalists. It said it would seek 100 million yen for Universal and the remainder for Okada Holdings, the Okada family trust. — Reuters

Psy says he’s sick of ‘Style’ Posted: 03 Dec 2012 09:59 PM PST Psy played down his chances of topping that chart. – Reuters pic SEOUL, Dec 4 – South Korean pop music sensation Psy admitted on Saturday that he sometimes gets sick of his massive hit "Gangnam Style" but will continue performing the number that made him world-famous. Speaking at a news conference in Singapore ahead of a free performance for fans, the 34-year-old —clad in a black suit and his trademark sunglasses — was modest about his fame and said he was just another person doing his job. "Sometimes, honestly, yes I get tired or I get sick of it because I got so many requests to teach them, you know, like average let me say 50 requests per city, per country," said Psy, whose full name is Park Jae-Sang. "I already taught the dance to so many people, so many times but still the dance makes me here, to make a press conference in Singapore, so of course sometimes I'm tired about it, but I got to do it, it's my job," he added. He later performed the dance in front of cheering fans outside a Singapore landmark, the high-rise Marina Bay Sands casino complex. But Psy said that despite the many times he has performed the number, "I really like the dance still." The chubby K-pop veteran made his debut in South Korea in 2001 but it was only 11 years later that he shot to global fame with "Gangnam Style", which a week ago made history by becoming the most watched video on YouTube. The video has so far notched up more than 860 million views, overtaking "Baby" by Canadian teen heart-throb Justin Bieber, on more than 807 million. "Gangnam Style", which parodies the extravagant lifestyles of residents of an upmarket Seoul neighbourhood, has inspired thousands of online imitations, and flash mobs of tens of thousands in Paris, Rome and Milan. The song has also earned Psy a nomination in the "People's Choice" category of Time magazine's "Person of the Year 2012" contest together with other newsmakers such as US President Barack Obama, China's Communist Party head Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. But Psy played down his chances of topping that chart. "I feel really strange and weird why I'm there," he said. "It's not going to happen, I think, and I don't deserve that much. I just did my job." Psy is currently fourth in the online rankings out of 40 candidates. The North Korean leader was well ahead in the poll on Saturday. – AFP-Relaxnews

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Bygone era of Brickfields comes alive in book by veteran journalist Posted: 03 Dec 2012 10:11 PM PST The Vivekenanda Ashram, constructed in 1904, remains a oasis of calm in bustling Brickfields. – File pic KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 – When Franscina Zachariah (now 81) was growing up, she used to live in Brickfields, at Hundred Quarters. "Brickfields was a quaint neighbourhood then, and most of the houses were occupied by the Ceylonese, Tamils and the Chinese. I used to travel on a horse cart to the Convent of Holy Infant Jesus Bukit Nanas. Sometimes, I would take a rickshaw. "Everyone was treated with love and respect, and the elders were referred to as uncles and aunties," said Franscina.   Though she had difficulty recalling the year she got married and the year her husband passed away, the memories of her sojourn at the quarters and the life in Brickfields between the 1930s and 1950s seemed to be permanently etched in her mind. Franscina had a pet name, Fortune, and she was one of the 100 people present at the launch of the book  Brickfields and Beyond: Stories from the Past, at the Lutheran Hall in Jalan Sultan Abdul Samad. This book was written by Balan Mosses, a veteran journalist, columnist and a pastor. His first book was Brickfields: A Place, A Time, A Memory. BALAN'S RECOLLECTION OF HUNDRED QUARTERS Balan who also grew up in Hundred Quarters, during the 1950s and 1960s, immortalised the neighbourhood in his latest book. Hundred Quarters will be  demolished in 2013 to make way for commercial development. Hundred Quarters was built in 1915, and it is made up of three rows of terrace houses (two storeys), with two rows facing each other along Jalan Chan Ah Tong and Jalan Rozario. There is also a row of single storey quarters facing Lorong Chan Ah Tong.   The houses have a simple yet an elegant facade. Apart from Hundred Quarters, the adjoining football field has made way for a car park and some stalls. The area adjacent to Lorong Chan Ah Tong used to have a row of shop houses, but now, it is a panorama of never ending arches and endless festivities living up to the image of Little India. At the launch of his book, Balan revealed his feeling for Hundred Quarters. "Indeed, Hundred Quarters epitomises the neighbourhood. Brickfields has grown so much on me over the years that I am sad that the place will be torn down. It not only shaped my outlook of the world, but it was also instrumental in moulding my character and personality to a large extent," he said. Both Balan and Franscina still have great memories of Hundred Quarters. Though its occupants (the government servants) can only live there until their retirement, they have a lifetime of memories to cherish. BALAN'S NARRATIVES In his book, Balan narrates the close knit neighbourhood through an anthology of 15 short stories. In this book, Balan makes a transition from non-fiction into fiction by bringing some of the memorable characters in the neighbourhood to life. These characters include Toppeh, Sando Maniam, Sundari and Gourmand. He gives a vivid description about the life in the past, the ethos and the social order then. Nevertheless, over the years, Brickfield has evolved to a great extent. Literally, everything has changed in the last ten years. Even Franscina pointed out that during her stay, the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, as depicted in the book, was only a small chapel with vegetable farms and orchards surrounding it. She pointed out that Jalan Sultan Abdul Samad was mostly filled with  farms and coconut trees, unlike the traffic congestion and high rise buildings that are present today. She also recalled the brick kilns that were everywhere in the neighbourhood, which gave Brickfields its name. Today, the place does not have brick kilns. Franscina left the quarters and Brickfields in the 1950s, after her marriage. PRESERVING BRICKFIELDS Balan believes that today's societal dynamics are different from what they used to be in the past. There are fewer instances where people of different cultures and backgrounds interact with one another. On one side of Brickfields, there is opulence and development in every noon and corner, and on the other side, there is urban poverty, where the poor people have been pushed into one corner to make way for development. While town planners can only think of building more commercial complexes in Brickfields, Balan and other long-time residents of Brickfields are finding ways to preserve the soul of Brickfields and to help those in need.     Through the Zion Lutheran Church, Balan initiated the Hands Across Brickfields welfare programme five years ago to help the poor. All the proceeds from this book will go towards helping these people. Next year, the curtains will fall on Hundred Quarters but it will be an embodiment of an exemplary neighbourhood where people of all cultures and backgrounds enjoyed each other's company.– Bernama

An Englishman abroad and a Japanese scandal Posted: 03 Dec 2012 04:13 PM PST TOKYO, Dec 4 — The corporate execution took just eight minutes. The board of Japanese camera and endoscope maker Olympus Corp voted unanimously on October 14, 2011 to fire president and CEO Michael Woodford, one of the few foreigners ever to run a major Japanese company. There was no discussion and Woodford was not allowed to comment. His secretary had been told to leave the building so he could not say goodbye to her. He was ordered to leave his apartment within a few days, and told he must take the airport bus when leaving the country, rather than a company car. The summary justice was almost unprecedented in Japan's corporate culture. In his memoir "Exposure — Inside the Olympus Scandal: My Journey from CEO to Whistleblower," (Portfolio, $27.95/RM85), Woodford (picture) explains how his dogged attempts to find out about a series of suspicious deals had put him in direct confrontation with the board and management teams that had run the company for many years. Woodford looked like a safe choice when he was promoted to be president of the company six-and-a-half months earlier. He had started with Olympus in 1991 as a medical equipment salesman in Britain, and had steadily climbed up the corporate ladder. He regarded Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, the chairman and the previous holder of the president's job, as his mentor. But any idea that Woodford would not rock the boat dissolved after a Japanese magazine Facta published several articles reporting on "Mickey Mouse" deals Olympus had done that had nothing to do with its main businesses. These included its purchase of a maker of microwavable dishes, a cosmetics mail order firm, and a hospital waste company. There were special purpose companies based in the Cayman Islands, and payments of massive fees to advisors. Woodford called in accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers, who produced a damning report. But his attempts to get those involved in the deals to be accountable led to his ousting. He wasn't going to go quietly. He mounted a campaign to get shareholders to replace the board. He was prepared to return to run a reformed company, but it became clear that Japan Inc. was not going to let this foreigner radically transform the way things were done. Olympus' board, its Japanese shareholders and bankers closed ranks. Grew up in poverty As Woodford launches this book — which is likely to be followed by a movie — and goes on the international lecture circuit to talk about the need for corporate reform in Japan, he acknowledges his mission is very difficult. The resistance to change goes very deep. Despite all the media coverage in the past year, there is still much that hasn't been explained about the Olympus scandal. While much of the appeal of this book is in its thriller-like elements — justifiably or not, Woodford and his wife feared for their lives — it is also fascinating because of the personal elements that he introduces. We learn how Michael Woodford grew up in a harsh environment after his mother left his father at an early age and took him to live in poverty in Liverpool. His home didn't have a bath and he had to wash in a public bathhouse. He faced racial taunts as a child attending a Jewish school and possessing vaguely Asian features, which he explained without providing detail came from his father's side of family. Most relevant, Woodford writes of developing from an early age a distinct sense of justice and civic responsibility. After stealing chewing gum from a store, his conscience drove him to return it. Witnessing as a teenager a fatal crash that killed a motorcyclist led to a life-long commitment to road safety. He has been involved in more than 1,000 road-safety projects. If he sees a road danger that could be reduced he will stop to take a picture and send a report to the relevant traffic authority. We also learn how Woodford's insecurity at home helped to produce the drive to build a sales career after leaving school at the age of 16 without any major qualifications. It is a combination of that sense of right and wrong, the insecure man's determination, his sense of civic duty, and his determined nature that led him to expose wrongdoing at Olympus. Nightmares Woodford also shows how his battle with Olympus impacted his Spanish wife, Nuncy, who had not wanted him to take the job in Tokyo in the first place. At the height of the stress on the Woodfords from the scandal, she began to have nightmares in which she screamed, "They're going to get us." And at one stage things get so tense between the couple that a panel gets smashed in the front door of their home. There are also, though, surreal moments. Such as the Woodfords' decision not to call the police on their neighbour's kids when they had a rowdy party for fear that armed officers — who were on call to protect the couple — would storm the place. And at times Woodford gets carried away with his new "rock star" status as he is mobbed by the Japanese media at the airport. Perhaps the most poignant moment comes at the end of the book when Woodford has a clandestine rendezvous with the original whistleblower, an Olympus employee who had provided Facta with much of its information. The whistleblower apologises for not going straight to Woodford with the scandal — "I didn't know you weren't one of them." It may say a lot about the current state of corporate governance in Japan that this whistleblower remains anonymous. In the United States, a whistleblower in such a high-profile case might by now be featured in the media, be writing a book, and be claiming a big reward. In Japan, they live quietly, in fear. — Reuters

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Indonesia memberitahu rakyatnya tidak pilih Malaysia untuk jadi pembantu rumah Posted: 04 Dec 2012 02:41 AM PST KUALA LUMPUR, 4 Dis — Jakarta hari menasihatkan rakyatnya tidak harus bekerja sebagai pembantu rumah di Malaysia berikutan kes layanan teruk melibatkan warganya yang semakin meningkat. Jakarta hari menasihatkan rakyatnya tidak harus bekerja sebagai pembantu rumah di Malaysia berikutan kes layanan teruk melibatkan warganya yang semakin meningkat. — Gambar fail "Pihak pemerintah Malaysia harus ambil tindakan tegas, atau lebih baik pembantu rumah dari Indonesia tidak bekerja di Malaysia. "Mereka (Malaysia) mahu pembantu rumah dari Indonesia, tetapi mereka tidak boleh melindungi pembantu rumah dari negara kami," kata Suryana Sastradiredja, jurucakap kedutaan Indonesia yang dilaporkan AFP. Sabtu yang lalu, jabatan imigresen menyelamatkan 105 pekerja asing yang dikurung dalam agensi pembantu rumah di Bandar Baru Klang. 95 orang wanita, kebanyakannya warga Indonesia, telah didakwa dipaksa bekerja sebagai pembantu rumah selama enam bulan tanpa gaji. Mereka mendakwa agensi tersebut melayan mereka begitu teruk dan makanan dicatu untuk mereka. Jakarta telah meletakkan larangan kepada pembantu rumah dari negaranya pada tahun 2009 ke Malaysia, tetapi larangan tersebut dibatalkan setahun kemudian. Tetapi pembantu rumah dari Indonesia semakin berkurangan untuk ke Malaysia walaupun pembatalan larangan tersebut, dengan mengatakan kurang dari 100 orang bekerja dengan cara sah. Sastradiredja juga berkata, Indonesia bimbang ribuan pekerja warganya yang bekerja di Malaysia secara haram kerana dijanjikan bayaran lumayan sedang bekerja dalam keadaan yang berbahaya. Laporan baru menunjukkan kes terbaru melibatkan warga Indonesia bulan lalu, apabila seorang pekerja restoran mendakwa beliau dirogol oleh tiga orang polis, dan seorang lagi berusia 15 tahun dirogol oleh majikannya. Bulan lalu, menteri sumber manusia Datuk Dr S Subramaniam memberitahu bahawa Putrajaya terus mempunyai hubungan yang baik dengan Jakarta walaupun insiden itu berlaku. Beliau kemudian menyalahkan media dan badan bukan kerajaan Indonesia kerana mensensasikan insiden tersebut "dengan begitu emosi". Beliau menambah, langkah tegas akan diambil untuk menyampaikan mesej kepada pekerja asing bahawa mereka akan dilindungi melalui sistem perundangan negara. Pada Ogos, pemerhati memberitahu The Malaysian Insider bahawa tawaran gaji yang lebih tinggi dan ekonomi Indonesia yang semakin meningkat menyebabkan Malaysia menjadi tidak menarik di kalangan pembantu rumah Indonesia. Pembantu rumah Indonesia di Malaysia mendapat gaji minimum RM650, sementara gaji minimum yang dibenarkan di Singapura ialah S$450 (RM1,126) dan HK$3,740 (RM1,500) di Hong Kong. Mereka juga mendapat cuti mandatori di Singapura dan Hong Kong dimana cuti mandatori untuk mereka di sini masih lagi diperdebatkan.

Tender AES dibuat secara telus, kata Ketua Pengarah JPJ Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:48 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR, 4 Dis — Ketua Pengarah Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ), Datuk Solah Mat Hassan menafikan dakwaan sesetengah pihak perlantikan pembekal teknologi Sistem Penguatkuasaan Automatik (AES) dilaksanakan tanpa mengikut tender dan dibuat secara tergesa-gesa. Menurutnya, AES merupakan teknologi terkini bagi mendapatkan gambaran serta membuat penilaian keberkesanan sistem ini di negara-negara yang melaksanakannya. "Lawatan ke negara-negara tersebut telah dibuat oleh pegawai-pegawai kanan Kementerian Pengangkutan, Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ) dan Jabatan Keselamatan Jalan Raya (JKJR) pada tahun 2005.  "Di antara negara yang dilawati adalah Korea Selatan, Australia, Amerika Syarikat, Jerman, Sweden, Perancis, United Kingdom dan Switzerland yang menggunakan teknologi AES, dan lawatan juga dilakukan ke negara China bagi meninjau dan menilai teknologi AES di negara tersebut," kata Solah dalam satu kenyataan hari ini. Menurut Solah, hasil lawatan dimaklumkan kepada kerajaan pada Disember 2005 yang seterusnya bersetuju supaya AES dilaksanakan. Satu Jawatankuasa Pemandu ditubuhkan bagi meneliti keperluan pengguna, kaedah-kaedah perolehan dan pelaksanaan projek dengan dibantu oleh lima jawatankuasa kerja.  "Berdasarkan kepada laporan lawatan, Kerajaan pada November 2006 bersetuju untuk mempelawa sembilan buah syarikat untuk menyertai Tender JPJ. "Daripada sembilan syarikat tersebut, dua syarikat iaitu Hyundai Information Technology Co. Ltd. dan Tenix Solutions Pty Ltd tidak mengemukakan cadangan teknikal manakala tujuh pembekal teknologi telah mengemukakan cadangan teknikal melalui wakil syarikat tempatan masing-masing. "Walaubagaimanapun, hanya enam buah syarikat sahaja menyertai ujian demonstrasi yang mengambil masa lebih daripada sebulan ini dibuat di Putrajaya, Shah Alam dan Lebuhraya Guthrie dari penghujung Jun hingga akhir Julai 2007, melibatkan demontrasi keupayaan sebenar sistem yang ditawarkan oleh pembekal teknologi dalam mengesan kesalahan melanggar lampu isyarat dan memandu melebihi had laju, khususnya kadar pengesanan kesalahan dan ketepatan pengesanan. "Sebanyak 43 senario perlanggaran peraturan had laju dan lampu isyarat yang biasanya berlaku di jalan raya Malaysia telah diuji. "Sebanyak 63,640 imej telah dikeluarkan hasil daripada ujian berkenaan," katanya. Menurut Solah, kriteria terpenting dan kritikal dinilai adalah imej yang dirakam hendaklah berupaya dijadikan bahan bukti diterima di mahkamah. "Daripada penilaian ujian tersebut hanya dua buah pembekal teknologi sahaja yang melepasi kelayakan teknikal yang dinilai oleh Jawatankuasa Teknikal terdiri daripada MIROS, SIRIM, MAMPU, Jabatan Peguam Negara, KDN, KKR, PDRM, PUSPAKOM, LLM, Jabatan Kehakiman serta disaksikan oleh SPRM (BPR) dan Jabatan Audit Negara.  "Kedua-dua pembekal teknologi yang berkelayakan secara teknikal (technically qualified) adalah  Redflex Traffic Systems Pty Ltd yang diwakili oleh Beta Tegap Sdn. Bhd. dan  ROBOT Visual Systems yang diwakili oleh ATES Sdn. Bhd." Menurut Solah lagi, kerajaan melanjutkan tempoh pada bulan Februari 2008 bersetuju dengan Laporan Penilaian Teknikal dan selanjutnya kedua-dua syarikat telah diminta untuk mengemukakan Cadangan Kewangan.  "Selepas beberapa siri rundingan antara pihak kerajaan dan syarikat, termasuk persetujuan formula bayaran yuran perkhidmatan, kerajaan pada  9 Disember tahun lepas, telah menandatangani perjanjian dengan kedua-dua syarikat. Sistem ini mula beroperasi di 14 lokasi mulai 23 September tahun ini.  "Ini bermakna, pemilihan dan pelantikan kedua-dua syarikat dibuat melalui proses tender dan tidak dilakukan secara tergesa-gesa bahkan dibuat secara teliti, telus dan melibatkan pelbagai pihak sehingga mengambil masa yang begitu lama iaitu hampir lapan tahun," kata Solah lagi. Bulan lalu, ahli dewan undangan negeri (ADUN) Teja, Perak, Chang Lih Kang berkata, tender pemasangan Sistem Penguatkuasaan Automatik (AES) diberikan kepada kroni Umno. Chang mendakwa, Ketua Pengarah Eksekutif (CEO) yang juga pemegang saham terbesar Beta Tegap Sdn Bhd, Rozana Redzuan, mempunyai kaitan dengan pemimpin Umno Johor. Jelas Chang lagi, Rozana merupakan anak sulung Tan Sri Redzuan Salim dan Puan Sri Atkah Abdullah, antara tokoh pemimpin Umno yang disegani di Johor. "Tan Sri Redzuan merupakan bekas ADUN Peserai dan Ketua Umno Bahagian Parit Sulong manakala Puan Sri Atkah pernah menjadi ADUN Sri Medan selama dua penggal, Timbalan Ketua Wanita Bahagian Umno Johor, dan Exco Wanita Pusat. "Sementara itu, Rozana juga merupakan sepupu kepada ADUN Machap Datuk Abdul Hamid Abdul Rahman," kata Chang. Ekoran pendedahan yang dikemukakannya itu,  Chang mencabar Menteri Pengangkutan Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha menafikan dakwaan wujudnya unsur kronisme dalam pemberian tender pemasangan kamera AES kepada Beta Tegap Sdn Bhd. Beta Tegap merupakan salah satu daripada dua syarikat swasta mendapat tender pemasangan kamera AES daripada Kementerian Pengangkutan selain ATES Sdn Bhd. Selain itu, ahli parlimen Selayang William Leong sebelum ini mendakwa pemegang saham kedua terbesar dalam Beta Tegap, Dr Andreas Teoh mempunyai kaitan dengan MCA apabila beliau turut memiliki kontrak dengan Kementerian Kesihatan pada 2005 melalui syarikat Mediharta Sdn Bhd. Dakwaan itu bagaimanapun dinafikan Presiden MCA Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek yang juga pada ketika itu memegang portfolio Menteri Kesihatan.

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Ronaldo: Blessed and cursed Posted: 03 Dec 2012 03:44 PM PST DEC 4 — By his own extremely high standards, Cristiano Ronaldo has endured a relatively disappointing season. True, he's the second top scorer in La Liga as well as registering a hat-trick against Ajax and a last-minute winner against Manchester City in the Champions League, so his campaign has hardly been a disaster. But the Portuguese ace has rarely been able to grab hold of games and force them to follow his preferred path, as was so often the case during Real Madrid's brilliant title campaign last season. Ronaldo celebrates after scoring a goal against Atletico Madrid during their Spanish first division match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on December 1, 2012. — Reuters pic A decent number of his goals have been penalties, and many others have been scored at fairly insignificant moments in games that had already been easily won. With a few exceptions, on the occasions that Madrid have really needed their star player to step up and deliver — in the losses against Sevilla, Betis and Getafe, for example — he has failed. That all changed on Saturday. In a local derby against Atletico that Madrid absolutely had to win to preserve their slim chances of challenging for the title, Ronaldo was simply magnificent, reminding us all once again that he is a truly exceptional player. He made a quiet start as Atletico narrowly edged the tense early exchanges, but then Ronaldo single-handedly changed the course of the game: first he won a free-kick 25 yards from goal with a cheeky bit of keepy-uppy, and then he thrashed home the set-piece with one of his trademark dipping, fizzing strikes. It was unstoppable, breathtaking and sublime; a magical piece of football that very few players who have ever laced up their boots could have replicated. And there was more to follow as Ronaldo produced a majestic second-half performance, creating his team's second goal for Mesut Ozil to seal the victory and then twice hitting the woodwork as Madrid attempted to rub salt into their neighbours' wounds. By the end, Ronaldo was looking like his old self — showboating with a series of hip-wiggling stepovers to delight the Bernabeu crowd and infuriate the vanquished opposition. The old strut and swagger were back; the arrogance and unshakeable self-belief that helps set Ronaldo apart from most of his peers. But in the four words at the end of that sentence lies the inescapable problem that Ronaldo will probably never overcome: "most of his peers". Most of them, but not all... because Ronaldo is destined to spend the rest of his career living in the considerable shadow of the incredible Lionel Messi. The very same Messi who, earlier on Saturday evening, scored two more goals for Barcelona to take his personal tally for 2012 to an astonishing 84 — just one short of Gerd Muller's all-time record for a calendar year. Even on one of Ronaldo's most magical evenings, Messi had found a way to claim a share of the spotlight — and you can bet your bottom dollar that Cristiano absolutely hates it. Gary Neville, Ronaldo's former teammate at Manchester United, recently wrote in his newspaper column that the young Ronaldo, shortly after arriving at Old Trafford, regularly spoke to the other players at United about his desire to become recognised as the greatest player in the world. It was a revealing insight because players rarely leave themselves so open to the ridicule and scorn of their teammates by making such conceited boasts in the "banter"-dominated environment of the dressing room. The done thing is to show a bit more humility, even if it's fake. Even if you think you're a much better player than the other guy who's got your place in the team, you keep quiet and wait for your chance to prove it. Not Ronaldo, though: he wanted to be the best and he had no problem in telling everyone within earshot — even battle-hardened fellow professionals like Neville. His confidence in his ability was so high that he was perfectly prepared to put his neck on the line and declare exactly how good he thought he was. And in most generations, his wish would have been realised. Ronaldo is a phenomenal talent, balancing exquisite ball skills with brutal physicality and raw speed. He can shoot with force and accuracy, with either foot, from any range or angle; he heads the ball with violent accuracy (probably his most under-rated asset); he possesses an unquenchable appetite for goals and glory; and he boasts an unmatched level of fitness. If Ronaldo was living 10 years ago, or 10 years from now, he would indeed be the best player in the world. The problem is, he's not; he's living here and now, in an era that will always be remembered as belonging to Lionel Messi. When the FIFA Ballon d'Or award for the world's best player is presented in January, it will be an enormous surprise if Messi doesn't get the nod to become the first player to ever win the award for four consecutive seasons (Michel Platini won it three times in a row in the Eighties). After all, how on earth could you vote against Messi at the end of a year that will inevitably end up being the most successful 12 months of goalscoring in the history of the game? Ronaldo is great, of course — but Messi is greater still. And for a man who has so openly spoken of his desire to be acknowledged as the very best — not the second best — that's got to hurt. On Saturday night, Ronaldo produced a stupendous performance. He was the difference between the two teams and it's probably fair to say that without him, Real wouldn't have won. It was a thrilling reminder of his awesome talents. However — and time may prove this theory to be false — it's impossible to escape the conclusion that whatever Ronaldo does, Messi will always do something slightly better. Ultimately, Ronaldo is blessed because he's one of the greatest footballers in the history of the game; but he's also cursed in equal measure because he'll always be remembered for being not quite as good as Messi. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

Figuratively speaking Posted: 03 Dec 2012 03:33 PM PST DEC 4 — Reading the news about Pahang Mentri Besar Adnan Yaakob teaching Bahasa Inggeris to his fellow Malaysians, particularly his critics, made me rush to my dog-eared dictionary to check on what "figure of speech" really means because for a fleeting moment I dreadfully thought that it was also synonymous with a particular hand gesture. But, alas, it was not the case. This came about when, approached by reporters during the recent Umno general assembly, Adnan insisted that Barisan Nasional (BN) would not lose the parliamentary seat of Bentong, Pahang because of the controversial Lynas plant in the state. And it appeared that he was so cocksure that he promised to cut off his ears and jump into the Pahang River if rival DAP did win the seat in the forthcoming general election. True to his confident self, he adroitly deflected criticisms against his seemingly arrogant remark, which instantly became viral. Anyone proficient in the English language would have unconditionally concurred with him that his statement was indeed a figure of speech. Only those whose grasp of the language is weak — and there are many in our country as the Pahang gentleman would attest to it — would have missed his skilful use of English. Adnan's subsequent retort isn't really an indication of a person who's chickening out, metaphorically speaking. But given the kind of politics that prevails in our society, his detractors would predictably disagree with him till the cows come home — no conscious association with, or reference to, cows living in condos though. Students of English, be they in schools, colleges or universities, should take note of this incident as a lesson to be learnt. Clearly, Adnan has fallen victim to linguistic quibble. Surely they are aware that there are expressions in the English language where certain words cannot be taken literally. One should not see the word, I mean wood, for the trees. Take the example of the expression "going the extra mile". Adnan is correct in concluding that the long walk undertaken by the Kuantan folks to Kuala Lumpur recently, who staged a protest over the issue of the Lynas rare earth project, technically did not take place. He should know better than many of these walkers that "going the extra mile" is merely a figure of speech — and if you don't get it, you'd stick out a mile. Furthermore, the mentri besar would also understand that a miss is as good as a mile. And if one were to go the whole hog — and this is not being irreverent, am not trying to attach the pig label to anyone — the possible industrial leakage that has become the deep concern of residents of Kuantan and around it, environmentalists, social activists and politicians is surely not the same as the sort of "leakage" expressed some time ago by the present Kinabatangan MP. Neither is the Kinabatangan notion the same as the "financial leakages" that have been bleeding the country dry. Doubts about the safety of Lynas obviously have bedevilled the residents in the area notwithstanding the assessment conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This certainly isn't a case of "it's better the devil you know than the devil you don't" because, as they say, the devil is in the details (and not the one with two horns and green in colour to boot). Finger-pointing at the outsiders of Kuantan as a way of locating the cause of these doubts, as Adnan did, is as much a figure of speech as it can be a literal action. The Pahang politician, whose forte is hand gestures, would know this better than anyone who thinks that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush! And here Heaven forbid those who even ponder whether to take this proverb literally. Perhaps what is sorely needed here is for the local leaders like Adnan to have a face-to-face meeting with the local communities in the area concerned so that what is articulated by the two parties does not fall on deaf ears. It is absolutely crucial that this issue at hand be addressed adequately. And, to be sure, we haven't even started talking about body language here. Some people may still insist that this brouhaha is the price to be paid for a politician like Adnan who has purportedly become cocky. I wouldn't venture into this metaphorical area if I were you as the seasoned politician from Pahang may well spring into action yet again. You might just find yourself, consequently, losing your marbles. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

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