Ahad, 10 Februari 2013

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

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The Malaysian Insider :: Food

Turkey tapped as next big market for restaurant growth

Posted: 10 Feb 2013 09:34 PM PST

ANKARA, Feb 11 — Restaurateurs and chefs are increasingly eyeing Turkey as the next big market for growth, as popular US burger brand Shake Shack and British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver announced plans to set up their first outposts in the Eurasian country later this year.

The flagship Shake Shack in New York's Madison Square Park. — Picture courtesy of Shake Shack

New York-based burger chain Shake Shack, which enjoys a cult-like following in the US, will be opening a restaurant in Istanbul this spring, reports food blog Eater.com. The brand also has a presence in cities like Dubai, Kuwait City, Abu Dhabi and Doha, and will be opening its first London outlet later this year in Covent Garden.

The chain started out in 2004 as a "roadside" burger stand in Madison Square Park, where it draws snaking queues for their burgers and hot dogs.

Meanwhile, this week Oliver took to Twitter to announce that his flagship restaurant chain Jamie's Italian will be opening an outlet in Istanbul later this year.

The brand is already in Australia, Singapore and Dubai, and will also be opening a location in Russia.

Similarly, in the world of high gastronomy the prestigious Bocuse d'Or competition known as the culinary equivalent of the Olympic Games, will be launching a competition within Turkey this year giving chefs a chance at representing their country at the next global edition in 2015.

According to Bocuse d'Or organisers, Turkey offers an exciting opportunity as the country boasts a particularly young population of active, voracious consumers. — AFP-Relaxnews

Chocolate not yet China’s cup of tea

Posted: 10 Feb 2013 02:13 AM PST

BEIJING, Feb 10 — Michelangelo's David stands proud next to the Eiffel Tower in a Chinese display, flanked by the Great Wall and the Terracotta Army — all made of chocolate.

The edible exhibit reflects not only how badly confectionery sellers want to reach the world's most populous country, but also what tremendous effort it takes.

This picture taken on January 18, 2013 shows chocolate-made replica of famous buildings at the Chocolate Happy Land in Shanghai. — AFP pic

China's increasingly wealthy shoppers have enthusiastically embraced global trends from coffee to Hollywood films to smartphones, and become the world's largest market for goods from beer to cars.

Yet when it comes to chocolate the average Chinese — having little sweet tooth or familiarity with it — only consumes 100 grams a year, the equivalent of two Snickers bars.

By comparison the Japanese eat 11 times more chocolate, Americans 44 times, and Germans 82 times as much, market research firm Euromonitor said in a report in November.

"The chocolate market is in its infancy and it's still there even 30 years" after the country opened up to the world, said industry expert Lawrence Allen, adding that "it was totally foreign to the palate of the people at the time".

Overall retail sales in China have risen an average 17 per cent annually for the past five years and the fast-growing country's luxury market is projected to grow 20 per cent a year for the next decade.

That makes the expansion in chocolate sales — projected at 10 per cent through 2015 — look torpid by comparison.

But Allen, the author of "Chocolate Fortunes: The Battle for the Hearts, Minds and Wallets of Chinese Consumers", and others are optimistic that the treat will take root in China as exposure spreads.

Raphael Wermuth, spokesman for Swiss-based chocolate maker Barry Callebaut, cited the way China embraced the foreign habit of drinking coffee.

The trend has grown so popular — thanks largely to the cachet of coffee shops, rather than the taste of the drink — that China is set to become Starbucks' second-largest market next year.

Many companies are trying to capitalise on Chinese preferences for luxuries and gift-giving by rebranding chocolate as a premium indulgence, a classy present and a mark of taste and international flair.

The Italian brand Ferrero Rocher, which achieved fame in the West with its "ambassador's reception" advertisements, is set to enjoy the fastest jump in market share for the second year in a row in 2012, Euromonitor said in November.

It had 8.4 per cent of the Chinese market in 2012, up by almost a third in just two years.

The high-end Belgian brand Godiva said its lavish gift sets — created for specific holidays — have tapped into the tradition of exchanging presents.

"Chinese people are very much into gift-giving for all sorts of holidays and festivals," said its regional managing director John Holmberg. "We're having very, very good success with these key festivals with Chinese consumers."

For China's biggest holiday, the Lunar New Year that begins today, Godiva's best-selling 18-piece gift box — featuring tea-flavoured ganache and snake designs representing the year's zodiac animal — sells for 488 yuan (RM242).

An "Overflowing Fortune" gift basket priced at 3,980 yuan includes a bottle of wine and dark chocolate syrup.

In Shanghai, the Chocolate Happy Land exhibition boasts edible re-creations of world-renowned icons of refinement, glamour and heritage, from a giant Mona Lisa and Marilyn Monroe to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Winged Victory of Samothrace.

The rival Chocolate Wonderland fair offers a runway show featuring gowns with chocolate pieces and areas for couples to pose for photos nestled between the word "love" in English and a huge heart.

Both displays — which are fighting in court over claims of imitation — opened as temporary exhibits just in time for the prime gift-giving occasions of Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day.

At Wonderland visitors are told that chocolate serves as the perfect gift in many ways, with a pamphlet saying that different types convey different messages, much the way flowers do.

Dark chocolate, the leaflet explains, tells recipients that "I appreciate your independent spirit and hope I can become a partner worthy of your trust", while mint chocolate says: "You are the ideal lover of my dreams". — AFP-Relaxnews

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The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

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Messi strikes again as Barca crush Getafe 6-1

Posted: 10 Feb 2013 05:15 AM PST

Messi (right) shoots for a goal next to Thiago and Getafe's Sergio Escudero (left) during the league match at Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on February 10, 2013. — Reuters pic

MADRID, Feb 10 — Lionel Messi notched up his 35th league goal of the season as an understrength Barcelona strolled to a crushing 6-1 win at home over Getafe that put them 12 points clear at the top of La Liga today.

Alexis Sanchez and David Villa made the most of a rare place in the starting lineup with goals either side of Messi's strike and Andres Iniesta, Cristian Tello and Gerard Pique were also on the scoresheet as Barca racked up a 20th victory in 23 matches this term to move on to 62 points.

Atletico Madrid have 50 points in second place ahead of their game at Rayo Vallecano later today, four ahead of third-placed Real Madrid, who thrashed Sevilla 4-1 at the Bernabeu yesterday.

Barca's interim coach Jordi Roura, standing in for Tito Vilanova who is recovering from throat surgery, rested several key players for Getafe's visit to the Nou Camp, including Spain trio Pedro, Cesc Fabregas and Sergio Busquets.

Alexis struck in the sixth minute, Messi made it 2-0 seven minutes later and Villa put the game well beyond Getafe, who are 12th on 29 points, with a third just before the hour.

Messi surged forward and laid the ball off for substitute Tello to curl in a fourth 11 minutes from time before a mistake from Jordi Alba let in Alvaro Vazquez to pull a goal back for the visitors in the 83rd minute.

Iniesta picked up a loose ball and fired in from close range in the 90th and Pique rounded off the party in the second minute of added time with a tap-in from Thiago Alcantara's unselfish layoff. — Reuters

Nadal aims for double triumph at comeback tournament

Posted: 10 Feb 2013 04:44 AM PST

Nadal returns the ball to Chardy during their men's singles match at the Chilean Open tennis tournament in Vina del Mar on February 9, 2013. — Reuters pic

SANTIAGO, Feb 10 — Rafa Nadal and his troublesome knees stand two matches away from enjoying a double celebration today after the Spaniard reached the singles and doubles finals at his comeback tournament in Vina del Mar.

Seven months on the sidelines because of injury do not appear to have diminished Nadal's hunger for success as he reached the singles final at the Chilean claycourt event with a 6-2, 6-2 drubbing of third-seeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.

The seven-times French Open champion will aim to win his 37th title on the slow surface when he takes on little-known Argentine Horacio Zeballos in the final.

"I played well in the semis, better than the days before, which is important," said Nadal, who is playing his first event since losing to Czech Lukas Rosol in the second round at Wimbledon last June.

"I won't compare myself to seven months ago, it's just the first week of competition. It's a great feeling to be in a final match after so much time without playing.

"It will be a tough match against Horacio, who is playing great tennis. I hope to keep enjoying myself like I've been doing during this tournament and that my physical condition remains good."

The 26-year-old Nadal will get a chance to enjoy himself further when he joins forces with Argentine Juan Monaco in the doubles final against Italians Paolo Lorenzi and Potito Starace.

"I'm really happy with what I've been doing this week," said Nadal. "I have a good feeling on the court. So I cannot ask for anything more. I will try to play better and better every day." — Reuters

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The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

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Artist in profile: Young Dreams

Posted: 10 Feb 2013 07:26 AM PST

BERGEN, Feb 10 — Scandinavian pop collective Young Dreams are ushering in summer with their new single "First Days Of Something" and will be releasing their debut album in the coming months; the group have been described as a "young, dream combination of rustic harmonies and intricate musicianship" by the Guardian.co.uk.

Who?
Pop collective Young Dreams hail from the picturesque city of Bergen in Norway and feature up to 12 people in a shifting lineup helmed by Matias Tellez. The group are gearing up to release their debut LP "Between Places" on March 1/4/5 (AU, UK, US) via Modular. The group have just dropped "First Days Of Something," the second single to be taken from their forthcoming LP after "Fog Of War" dropped last year.

Why the buzz?
Young Dreams's latest track "First Days Of Something" has caused a massive stir across the indie music blogs. Music mag NME sums up the track as "a bit of bright optimism as winter wears on, reaching for the skies but dwelling on earthly concerns"; blog Ja Ja Ja Music calls it "a new, heavenly relatable and summer-ready single" and Stereogum describes it as "boast[ing] a catchy harmony-rich chorus and a vast sound."

What to listen to?
Check out "First Days OF Something" on Soundcloud at: https://soundcloud.com/modularpeople/young-dreams-first-days-of and stream the group's first single "Fog OF War" on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=ZUaS1_jPbkM

Where to see?
Young Dreams will be playing February 14-16 at BY:Lam festival in Oslo, Norway before heading to this year's music, tech extravaganza SXSW in Austin, Texas (March 8-17). For further news of tours and gigs check out the band's website (http://www.youngdreams.no), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/youngdreamsband) and Twitter (@youngdreamsband). — AFP-Relaxnews

Country stars share Grammy spotlight for music’s big night

Posted: 10 Feb 2013 06:19 AM PST

Host and producer of "The 55th Annual Grammy Awards" LL Cool J speaks on stage as Ehrlich and Portnow listen during 2013 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena. — Reuters pic

LOS ANGELES, Feb 10 — Country music artists will share the spotlight with rising stars and veteran performers at the Grammy Awards tonight as they take the stage for music's biggest night.

Grammy organisers want to bring the attention back to the music this year, after the death of singer Whitney Houston the night before last year's awards ceremony cast a pall over the live show.

This year's key categories are dominated by male artists, with British folk band Mumford & Sons, indie-pop trio FUN. and R&B singer Frank Ocean going into the show with six nominations each, including for the top award of album of the year.

They will be among dozens of performers including US rockers The Black Keys, who have five nods, and former White Stripes frontman Jack White, who has three nominations.

After paying tribute to electronic dance music last year, the Grammys are highlighting country music. Nominations were announced last December in a live concert from Nashville.

On Sunday, country will be represented by nominees Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood and best new artist contender Hunter Hayes. Country music veterans Tim McGraw and Faith Hill will hand out awards.

The three-hour Grammy show, broadcast live on television, has a reputation for pairing up old-timers and newcomers.

On Sunday, Mumford & Sons will perform alongside Zac Brown, Elton John, Mavis Staples and Alabama Shakes singer Brittany Howard in a tribute to blues-rock musician Levon Helm of The Band, who died last April of throat cancer

Mumford & Sons won mainstream attention in the United States after performing at the 2011 Grammy show alongside the Avett Brothers and Bob Dylan. Their sophomore album "Babel" became one of 2012's top-selling albums in the United States.

Justin Timberlake comeback

But the Grammys are not just about those competing for awards. Justin Timberlake will make his long-awaited return to the musical spotlight in his first televised performance since he released "Suit & Tie" in January, his first new song in five years.

Timberlake, whose album "The 20/20 Experience" will be released on March 19, will also be performing a show in Hollywood immediately after his turn on the Grammy stage.

R&B artist Bruno Mars and Rihanna will team up with Sting, while John and British rising star Ed Sheeran, 21, are set to perform a duet.

Country-pop darling Taylor Swift did not release an album in time for the Grammy voting eligibility period, but she still scored a record of the year nod for her hit single "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and will perform on Sunday.

Kelly Clarkson, Alicia Keys and best new artist nominees The Lumineers, an indie-folk band from Colorado, are also scheduled to perform.

The Grammy red carpet has seen some outrageous moments in previous years as stars pushed the fashion boundaries. But perennial scene-stealers such as Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj and Justin Bieber all failed to score nominations this year and are not expected at Sunday's show.

Performers have been warned by the CBS network, which airs the Grammy Awards, to keep their buttocks, nipples and genitals covered up, in a "wardrobe advisory" aimed at avoiding indecency complaints from viewers and federal authorities.

Red-carpet moments this year are likely to come from Beyonce, who wowed millions on TV at her Super Bowl half-time show last Sunday and will be a presenter as well as a nominee in the traditional R&B performance category.

Beyonce is likely to be joined by husband, rapper Jay-Z, who is nominated for six Grammys. Kanye West, who is also competing in six categories, may turn up with his pregnant reality star girlfriend, Kim Kardashian.

Adele, who swept the Grammys last year with six awards, is back this year with one nomination for pop solo performance for her single "Set Fire To The Rain."

All eyes will also be on Rihanna and Chris Brown, who are both nominated, and who recently resumed their romance four years after Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting her on the eve of the 2009 Grammy Awards show.

The 55th annual Grammy Awards show will be broadcast from the Staples Centre in Los Angeles. — Reuters

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The Malaysian Insider :: Features

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Among US evangelicals, surprising support for immigration reform

Posted: 09 Feb 2013 11:08 PM PST

People queue to apply for visas at the US Interests Section in Havana. — Reuters pic

WASHINGTON, Feb 10 — Thou shalt compromise, at least on immigration reform.

That is the message being heard from some leading evangelicals in the United States. After decades of promoting traditionally conservative causes like opposition to abortion, many evangelical leaders are now wielding their formidable influence to persuade Republican lawmakers to back one of President Barack Obama's top priorities.

With Hispanic attendance at their churches rising, these evangelicals are among the loudest advocates of a US immigration reform. A group of pastors has launched a 40-day campaign to have churchgoers pray, read scripture passages about welcoming the stranger and lobby their members of Congress, many of them in the conservative South.

"We have pastors preach in pulpits to parishioners in Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas - in all the wonderful red states across America," that aiding immigrants, illegal or not, is a Christian duty, said Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, one of the country's most prominent Hispanic evangelicals.

While evangelicals have been a major force in Republican politics for years, Republican lawmakers will take some persuading to back the sort of immigration reform supported by President Barack Obama, which includes a "pathway" to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally.

Conservatives in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives want to focus the debate initially on securing the border with Mexico and making sure illegal immigrants are not rewarded with an amnesty.

"Some of them don't necessarily see or acknowledge the changing demographics or the electoral merits of passing immigration reform, but I do think that many of these religious leaders could push them in that direction by really referencing the humanitarian interest, or moral argument," said Republican strategist Ford O'Connell.

Rodriguez and other pastors are speaking to members of Congress "on a daily basis" to ask them to legalise the status of 11 million undocumented immigrants.

Targeted lawmakers include Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, who chaired a House hearing on immigration last week, and Rep. Raul Labrador of Idaho - a leading Tea Party thinker on immigration.

Unlikely as it may have seemed at the height of the "culture wars" of the last two decades, these evangelicals are attempting to nudge Republicans to the center. The effort is well timed, coming as the Republican Party strives to improve its appeal to Hispanic voters who went solidly Democratic at 2012 elections.

"This is one area where social conservative input is extremely welcomed by the Republican Party," said O'Connell.

Pastors are asking worshippers to email their lawmakers and tell them: "I am a Christian, a conservative and I vote. I want you to support immigration reform this year," said Rodriguez.

Rare bipartisan foray

Support for an immigration overhaul among Christian conservatives has been growing over time. In 2011, the 16 million-member Southern Baptist Convention — the country's largest Protestant body - called for "a just and compassionate path to legal status" for illegal immigrants while urging the government to secure US borders.

A Public Religion Research Institute poll in 2010 showed white evangelicals support, by a margin of 2-1, an immigration reform that would allow illegal immigrants to become Americans.

After the election, a group of evangelical leaders signed a letter to Obama endorsing "a path toward legal status and/or citizenship" for immigrants. Among the signers was Tim Daly, president of the Focus on the Family ministry.

Immigration is providing a rare foray into bipartisanship for evangelical veterans of fights over gay marriage and abortion like lawyer Mathew Staver, vice president of Liberty University, founded by evangelical leader Jerry Falwell in Lynchburg, Virginia. Staver's Liberty Counsel group threatened to sue a Florida library in 2000 for promoting witchcraft by encouraging young people to read a Harry Potter novel.

As recently as last November 8, Staver wrote on Liberty Counsel's website that Obama won re-election because, "Millions of Americans looked evil in the eye and adopted it."

But now he acknowledges that Obama deserves credit, along with the Republican head of the House Judiciary Committee and Senators from both sides of the aisle, for drawing up plans for an immigration overhaul.

"I think it is incumbent upon us to work together and I applaud the bipartisan committee in the Senate and I applaud the leadership of Bob Goodlatte," Staver said. "I applaud President Obama too, I just don't want to use this as a political ping pong."

But any talk of an alliance between the White House and evangelicals to win immigration reform is stretching it.

Christian conservatives strongly oppose a proposal by Obama to give spousal visas to same-sex foreign partners of American gays and lesbians. And evangelical leaders disagree among themselves on whether to grant undocumented immigrants the full right to U.S. citizenship or allow them some other, more limited, legal status in the United States.

Neither option is acceptable to some conservative evangelicals, like Iowa pastor Cary Gordon who opposes loosening immigration laws and accuses his co-religionists of "unbiblical naivete."

'I was a stranger'

Much of the Christian case for helping illegal immigrants is based on stories of Biblical "immigrants" like Abraham and Moses and passages such as Matthew 25:35: "I was a stranger and you invited me in."

"The scriptures command us to take care of the immigrant. It's not just one verse here or there, it's a repeated command throughout the Biblical text," said Matt Soerens of the World Relief organization, who lectures churches on immigration.

US Representative Doug Collins, an Air Force Reserve chaplain, says hospitality to foreigners is fine but must be balanced with respect for immigration laws.

"Scripture also teaches very clearly that there is government and civil authority and that there is an understanding of rule of law," said Republican Collins, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee.

He represents a strongly conservative district in Georgia which has seen a spike in undocumented workers in the poultry and construction industries and opposes giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.

The evangelicals' pro-immigration passion reflects changes in the conservative Christian movement which, while still predominantly white, has taken on a Latin tinge.

Rodriguez, the pastor, who heads a US Hispanic organisation with 40,000 member churches, gave a benediction at the Republican National Convention in Tampa last year.

While some two-thirds of US Latinos are Catholic, Hispanics form the fastest-growing group in evangelical churches and are seen as a bulwark against dropping attendance.

Rodriguez put the number of Hispanics in the United States who are either "born-again" or evangelical Christians at between 10 million and 16 million, and growing fast.

While numbers are hard to come by, "there are lots of indirect pieces of evidence" that point to the growth of Latino evangelicals, said Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, who studies Hispanic politics.

Six per cent of evangelicals were Latinos in 2007, according to a Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life poll. Eight per cent of evangelical or "born-again" voters in a Reuters/Ipsos exit poll at last November's election said they were Hispanic.

Worshipping together with newly arrived Christians — as well as the new emphasis on Biblical teachings on immigration - is melting conservatives' doubts about illegal immigrants, said Danny Carroll, an Old Testament professor at an evangelical seminary in Colorado.

He is part of a congregation at a church in Aurora that is attended mostly by white Americans on Sunday mornings. In the afternoons, the church then hosts separate services with their own pastors for Hispanic, Korean, Filipino and Russian immigrant groups

"Once a quarter, all these congregations get together for a worship service so all of a sudden you are sitting next to someone with a different face, different colour, different language. Once you put a human face on it, the whole conversation changes," he said. — Reuters

Researchers use Twitter to track how health is affected by environment

Posted: 09 Feb 2013 10:09 PM PST

Researchers are using Twitter as a tool to measure how factors such as how often you take public transportation or go to the gym affect your health. — Afp pic

NEW YORK, Feb 10 — Researchers at the University of Rochester in New York are using Twitter to track how factors such as social status, exposure to pollution and even taking the bus or going to the gym influence one's health.

By following thousands of Twitter users in New York, many of whom sent tweets that were location tagged, over a period of a month, researchers were able to estimate interactions between users and their environment.

This information allowed the researchers to map out not only what people said in their tweets but where and when they were in a specific location, collating information such as how often particular Twitter users took the subway, went to a gym or a particular restaurant, their proximity to sources of pollution and their online social status.

As Adam Sadilek, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Rochester explained, by using Twitter in this manner it allows researchers to gather information "passively, quickly and inexpensively."

The study concludes that, not surprisingly, pollution sources appear to have a negative effect on health.

But more importantly the findings also show that any activity that involves human contact increases one's chances of becoming ill, including going to the gym.

Perhaps the most surprising finding was that Twitter users who merely tweet about going to the gym, but actually never go (verified by their GPS), get sick significantly more often than those who don't.

As a result of the data gathered and the mapping model that was created from the findings, Sadilek and colleague Professor Henry Kautz have developed a web application called GermTracker.

This web application uses the user's location to colour-code (from red to green) their area in terms of health by relying on information taken from tweets in 10 cities around the world.

The map shows circles of varying colours representing tweets, and visitors to the map can click on the tweet and then determine whether or not the information contained within the tweet indicates that that Twitter user is sick, thereby helping the app "learn."

So for example a tweet sent in London saying "That is sick man" would not indicate that the person was ill, whereas one saying "I'm so sick I've been in bed all week" would.

The researchers have recently started two collaborations with scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Centre linking tweets to influenza studies and another working on linking tweets to depression and psychological disorders. — Afp-Relaxnews

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The Malaysian Insider :: Breaking Views

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The Malaysian Insider :: Breaking Views

Perdana menteri lakukan tinjauan mesra di persiaran Gurney

Posted: 10 Feb 2013 07:50 AM PST

GEORGE TOWN, 10 Feb — Orang ramai yang berada di kawasan Persiaran Gurney di sini, terutama di gerai makanan, terkejut apabila dihampiri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak yang mengadakan tinjauan mesra di kawasan itu hari ini.

Dalam tinjauan itu, perdana menteri dan isteri Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor beramah mesra dan bersalaman dengan pengunjung serta peniaga.

Najib dan isteri turut menjamu selera beberapa makanan seperti sate, laksa, pasembur dan air kelapa yang dijual di gerai yang terdapat di situ.

Terdahulu, Najib berjalan kaki kira-kira 100 meter dari Hotel G ke Persiaran Gurney selepas menghadiri jamuan malam sempena Tahun Baharu Cina bersama media Pulau Pinang. Seorang peniaga laksa Rosni Mohd Yusof berkata beliau berbangga kerana perdana menteri dan isteri memilih gerainya untuk menjamu selera.

Beliau yang berniaga di situ sejak 10 tahun lepas berkata ini kali pertama pemimpin nombor satu negara datang menikmati makanan di kawasan itu yang menjadi antara lokasi tumpuan pelancong dan penduduk tempatan.

"Seronok la pertama kali perdana menteri mai (datang) makan laksa kat sini. Rasa bangga, rasa seronok...tak pernah orang besar macam ni mai makan kat sini," katanya kepada Bernama.

Peniaga sate Mohd Zairul Izwan Mohd Idrus berkata beliau terkejut apabila tiba-tiba perdana menteri sampai di gerainya terus mengambil kipas lalu mengambil alih tugasnya mengipas sate.

"Tiba-tiba dia ambil kipas dan kipas sate yang sedang dibakar. Saya tergamam tetapi dalam masa yang sama gembira dan terharu melihat perdana menteri begitu mesra dengan rakyat.

"Terima kasih banyak-banyak kepada perdana menteri kerana sudi menikmati sate resepi keluarga kami," katanya.

Stephen Wong, 27, berkata beliau yang nampak Perdana Menteri berjalan kaki di hadapan Plaza Gurney, terus mendekatinya untuk bersalaman.

"Dari jauh saya nampak ramai orang dan bila dilihat rupa-rupanya perdana menteri. Jadi, saya ambil peluang untuk pergi lebih dekat dengannya dan berjaya bersalaman. Beliau turut mengucapkan 'Gong Xi Fa Cai'," katanya kepada Bernama.

Kamariah Shamsudin, 45, yang bercuti di Pulau Pinang sempena Tahun Baharu Cina berkata beliau terkejut dengan kehadiran perdana menteri di kawasan berkenaan.

"Kami sekeluarga berasa sangat bertuah kerana dapat melihat pemimpin nombor satu negara dengan lebih dekat dan tak sangka beliau kelihatan sangat mesra dan bersalaman dengan semua orang berhampirannya," kata Kamariah yang berasal dari Selangor. — Bernama

Artist in profile: Young Dreams

Posted: 10 Feb 2013 07:26 AM PST

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The Malaysian Insider :: Books

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New documents spark questions over ‘In cold blood’ book

Posted: 09 Feb 2013 06:33 PM PST

NEW YORK, Feb 10 — Truman Capote's true-crime novel In Cold Blood is getting renewed attention after the Wall Street Journal reported it has found evidence raising questions about some details in the celebrated book.

The newspaper said it has reviewed a "long-forgotten cache" of documents from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation that casts doubt on the accuracy of two chapters in the book.

Published in 1966, Capote's best-selling novel details the 1959 murder of Herbert Clutter, a farmer in Holcomb, Kansas, and his wife and two of their children.

Capote, who died in 1984, frequently described the book as a "non-fiction novel" which was "immaculately factual," a claim that has prompted decades of debate since its publication.

In the book, Capote wrote that as soon as KBI officials received a tip about the location of two men who were later convicted of killing the Clutters, the agency immediately dispatched an agent to a Kansas farmhouse where one of the suspects had been living with his parents.

The documents, however, show the KBI instead waited five days to act on the tip, the Journal reported on Friday.

Another discrepancy, according to the Journal, involves the number of agents who eventually did visit the farm. The Journal said the documents show four lawmen traveled to the farm, not a single agent as Capote wrote.

The Journal said the new details emerged from papers it reviewed about the Clutter case that a now-deceased KBI agent carried home with him.

The papers are at the centre of litigation between a son of the agent and the KBI, which claims ownership rights.

The newspaper also reported that it had reviewed a contract that shows Capote demanded Columbia Pictures offer the wife of the chief detective in the case a job as a consultant for the film version of the book.

The detective, Alvin Dewey, frequently defended the book's accuracy.

The two men who killed the Clutters, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, were executed in 1965.

In December, their bodies were exhumed at the request of detectives investigating an unsolved Florida homicide that occurred a month after the Clutters were killed.

Investigators want to see if DNA from the men matches any evidence in the slaying of a family in Osprey, Florida. Hickock and Smith briefly stayed there while on the run after the Clutter killings. The results have not been released. — Reuters

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The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

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The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

Mengajar membenci ‘Cinta’

Posted: 09 Feb 2013 03:47 PM PST

10 FEB — Dalam khutbah solat Jumaat dua hari lalu, dibacakan oleh masjid-masjid di seluruh negara yang bernaung di bawah Jabatan Agama Islam Malaysia (Jakim), umat Islam diminta agar menolak dan membenci Hari Valentine.

Petikan daripada khutbah yang bertajuk "Budaya Kesesatan" :

"Budaya menjadikan Valentine's Day sebagai perayaan diminati untuk diraikan bersama kekasih amat menggusarkan kita sebagai umat Islam.

"Ada yang mengirimkan kad ucapan dan hadiah, mengumandangkan lagu-lagu cinta dan asmara, membuat upacara tari-menari, mengadakan acara makan malam dengan disinari cahaya lilin, bertukar-tukar perasaan di taman-taman bunga sehingga berkucupan dan akhirnya sanggup menggadaikan kehormatan diri sendiri demi membuktikan kesetiaan kepada teman masing-masing.

"Menurut Ken Sweiger, perkataan "Valentine" berasal dari bahasa Latin bermaksud "Yang Maha Perkasa, Yang Maha Kuat, dan Yang Maha Kuasa", digunakan pada zaman Rom Kuno kepada Nimrod dan Lupercus, tuhan orang Romawi.

"Sedar atau tidak, jika seseorang meminta orang lain atau pasangannya menjadi "To be my Valentine?", maka ianya telah melakukan suatu perbuatan yang bercanggah dengan akidah umat Islam dan dimurkai Allah SWT kerana ia telah meminta seseorang menjadi "Sang Maha Kuasa" dan hal ini sama dengan usaha menghidupkan kembali semangat budaya pemujaan berhala."

Lihatlah betapa dangkalnya pemikir-pemikir Jakim yang menyediakan teks khutbah untuk dibacakan kepada semua lelaki Muslim bersolat Jumaat di seluruh negara.

Dalam banyak-banyak masalah besar melanda umat Islam seluruh negara seperti cabaran kenaikan harga barang, tidak mampu untuk memiliki rumah, kos pendidikan semakin mahal dan banyak lagi isu-isu kehidupan, Hari Valentine yang diangkat sebagai isu besar oleh Jakim.

Apa mudaratnya kepada orang ramai jika pasangan kekasih yang belum berkahwin berkasih semahu mereka?

Apakah sebenarnya jejaka-jejaka di Jakim cemburu kerana mereka gagal untuk mendapatkan pasangan?

Tidak pernah pula kedengaran Jakim mengangkat permasalahan rasuah sebagai isu besar yang memudaratkan bukan sahaja umat Islam tetapi rakyat Malaysia secara keseluruhannya.

Tidak pernah juga diperdebatkan tentang mengapa ramai umat Islam masih hidup melarat di Malaysia sedangkan kutipan zakat oleh jabatan-jabatan agama meningkat saban tahun.

Selain daripada berkempen menentang Hari Valentine, mengapa tidak Jakim berkempen agar pemerintah di negara ini mengamalkan konsep "good governance" dan telus dalan semua urusan?

Apakah Hari Valentine lebih penting dari pemerintahan yang baik?

Apakah melawan Hari Valentine lebih penting dari melawan rasuah?

Mengapa umat Islam di Malaysia takut untuk memakan "khinzir" tetapi tidak takut untuk mengambil rasuah?

Dimana peranan Jakim dalam membuktikan Islam sebagai penyelamat Ummah di negara ini?

Lebih menyedihkan lagi, penguatkuasaan Islam di Malaysia hanya terpakai kepada orang-orang miskin dimana kita boleh melihat tindakan hanya diambil kepada pasangan-pasangan kekasih yang menggunakan perkhidmatan hotel-hotel murah dan tidak mensasarkan hotel-hotel lima bintang yang dikunjungi golongan atasan.

Mengapa ada double standard?

Apakah dari pandangan Jakim hukum Islam hanya terpakai kepada golongan bawahan kerana mereka yang paling mudah untuk ditindas?

Jika mahu diteruskan lagi peranan Jakim, kerajaan perlu mengisinya dengan orang-orang yang bijak pandai.

Bukan semata-mata diisi dengan golongan yang fasih berbahasa Arab, hafal Al-Quran tetapi gagal untuk memahami inti sebenar yang diajarkan oleh kitab suci yang dibawa oleh junjungan besar Muhammad S.A.W.

Jika ajaran pertama malaikat Jibril kepada Muhammad "Iqra" (bacalah)gagal diikuti oleh ramai umat Islam termasuk yang bekerja di Jakim, jangan bicara soal mahu menubuhkan pemerintahan Islam.

Jika kebersihan yang diajarkan Islam gagal diikuti oleh ramai penganut, jangan bicara soal nak melaksnakan Hudud.

Dalam bahasa mudahnya, jika perkara yang asas masih tidak boleh dilakukan, tidak perlu pergi terlalu jauh.

Akhir kata, penguatkuasa agama seperti Jakim harus membuang pemikiran berasaskan video pornografi.

Jangan terlalu mudah membuat kesimpulan semua aktiviti pasangan kekasih akan berakhir di ranjang sepertimana yang terdapat dalam video-video porno yang mereka tonton.

Percayalah, kehidupan sebenar dunia ini tidak semudah seperti dalam video-video pornografi.

Contohnya, konsert-konsert di Malaysia tidak mungkin berakhir dengan aktiviti seks "orgy" seperti sering dituduh oleh sesetengah pihak yang mendakwa terjumpa kondom-kondom bersepah-sepah selepas selesainya konsert.

* Ini pandangan peribadi penulis.

Utamakan artis-artis tempatan

Posted: 09 Feb 2013 03:43 PM PST

10 FEB — Saya bukanlah peminat setia bintang sensasi Korea, Psy.

Begitu juga dengan tarian Opam Gangnam Style yang dipersembahkannya dalam acara konsert di serata dunia.

Malah, aksi dan gaya tarian Gangnam Style itu tidak sehebat mana. Gerak-geri tariannya agak melucukan dan jarang-jarang sekali dipersembahkan oleh mana-mana artis.

Namun pelik tetapi benar, tarian sebegini rupa boleh mencapai hit mencecah 1 bilion di Youtube dan nampaknya ia semakin menjadi ikutan.

Psy akan berada di Pulau Pinang esok (Isnin) sempena sambutan Rumah Terbuka Tahun Baru Cina 2013 anjuran kerajaan pusat. Beliau dijangka membuat persembahan khas di rumah terbuka itu.

Kita menyambut baik kehadiran Psy ke Pulau Pinang. Sekurang-kurangnya kehadiran Psy mampu melonjakkan nama Pulau Pinang dalam persada pelancongan dunia.

Kehadiran beliau kali ini bukan sahaja membolehkan rakyat di negara ini untuk merasai sendiri demam Opam Gangnam Style dari dekat bahkan selebriti itu sendiri.

Namun demikian, ada baiknya…butiran mengenai jumlah wang yang digunakan untuk membawa Psy ke Pulau Pinang diperincikan secara halus. Menurut sesetengah laporan media, difahamkan penampilan Psy pada majlis rumah terbuka itu menelan belanja antara RM1 juta hingga RM3 juta.

Soalnya, apakah keperluan untuk pihak penganjur membelanjakan wang yang sebegitu banyak hanya untuk seorang selebriti ke rumah terbuka?Apakah berbaloi membelanjakan jutaan ringgit hanya untuk menyaksikan Psy beraksi untuk seketika sahaja?

Biarpun pihak penganjur menegaskan, kos untuk membawa Psy ke Pulau Pinang ditanggung sepenuhnya oleh sebuah syarikat persendirian, penjelasan itu tidak cukup untuk meyakinkan rakyat bahawa perbelanjaan ini benar-benar memanfaatkan negara amnya dan rakyat khasnya.

Apakah syarikat persendirian itu sudah lupa wang yang diperoleh mereka adalah juga wang rakyat menerusi cukai yang dibayar oleh rakyat saban tahun? Wang rakyat harus digunakan dengan sebaik-baiknya untuk tujuan yang lebih bermanfaat.

Dari satu aspek, kehadiran Psy ini nampaknya mendatangkan kesan jangka pendek tetapi harus difikirkan juga kesan jangka panjang. Rasionalnya di sini, kesan jangka panjang tidak wajar dikorbankan hanya untuk memuaskan kehendak jangka pendek.

Agak janggal juga, mengapa pula selebriti antarabangsa yang dijemput untuk membuat persembahan Rumah Terbuka Tahun Baru Cina negara dan bukannya artis tempatan? Apakah artis-artis tempatan kita tidak setanding dengan artis antarabangsa?

Kalangan artis yang dilahirkan di Malaysia tidak kurang hebatnya. Kita telah berjaya melahirkan selebriti terkenal dunia seperti Ah Niu, Michael and Victor (anak kelahiran Ipoh), Nicholas Teo, Sheila Amzah dan Yuna. Mereka ini pernah memenangi anugerah tertentu dan ini bukti kebolehan serta bakat mereka.

Kita tidak harus menghantar mesej yang salah kepada rakyat dalam perkara ini. Tatkala kedengaran ada artis-artis tempatan menghadapi kesukaran untuk mencari sesuap nasi di bumi sendiri, bukankah lebih baik jika artis-artis tempatan diberikan keutamaan untuk tujuan itu?

Kita berbangga Psy akan datang ke Malaysia sekali lagi pada bulan Mac ini namun kita juga harus berbangga kerana artis-artis tempatan kita adalah setanding dan berdiri sama tinggi, duduk sama rendah dengan artis dunia. Jika kita terus memegang teguh kepada takuk pemikiran sebegini, maka selagi itulah artis-artis tempatan negara akan terus dianggap sebagai kelas kedua.

P/S: Kung Hei Fatt Choy!

* Ini pandangan peribadi penulis.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

The Malaysian Insider :: Bahasa

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The Malaysian Insider :: Bahasa

Tarik kerakyatan ‘bercanggah dengan Perlembagaan’, kata peguam

Posted: 10 Feb 2013 02:15 AM PST

Gambar fail Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

KUALA LUMPUR, 10 Feb — Kenyataan bekas Perdana Menteri Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad supaya kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN) diberikan mandat dua pertiga majoriti Parlimen bagi menarik kerakyatan rakyat Malaysia adalah bertentangan dengan semangat Perlembagaan Persekutuan, kata peguam.

Pakar-pakar perundangan yang dihubungi The Malaysian Insider turut mengingatkan Dr Mahathir bahawa kerakyatan adalah perkara pokok bagi hak asasi manusia buat rakyat negara ini.

Jelas mereka, hak itu tidak seharusnya ditarik demi menjaga Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

"Cadangan Dr Mahathir itu akan meruntuhkan semangat dan struktur Perlembagaan," kata Pakar Perlembagaan Syahredzan Johan kepada The Malaysian Insider.

Jelas Syahredzan, terdapat beberapa peruntukan dalam dokumen yang membentuk "struktur utama" Perlembagaan yang tidak boleh dipinda, dan jika dipinda, pindaan itu sendiri melanggar semangat Perlembagaan.

"Apa peruntukan itu, tidak dijelaskan. Namun secara amnya, peruntukan itu memberikan hak kepada individu untuk kerakyatannya tidak ditarik," kata peguam itu, dan menambah kerakyatan itu adalah salah satu daripada hak tersebut.

Walaupun ianya boleh dipinda, Syahredzan menegaskan struktur Perlembagaan telah menetapkan untuk memastikan ianya tidak diganggu.

Meminda Perkara Tiga Perlembagaan berkenaan kerakyatan memerlukan dua pertiga majoriti Parlimen dan persetujuan Majlis Raja-raja, tegas Syahredzan.

"Jika ia dipinda, ia akan dicabar di mahkamah," tambahnya.

Sementara itu, N. Surendran bersetuju dengan Syahredzan, sekaligus turut melabel cadangan tersebut sebagai "tidak masuk akal" yang akan memberikan kesan bukan sahaja kepada mereka yang terlibat, tetapi juga rakyat Malaysia.

"Kerakyatan adalah perkara utama dalam hak asasi manusia di Malaysia. Cadangan Dr Mahathir akan memudahkan untuk menarik kerakyatan rakyat Malaysia, kata Naib Presiden PKR itu lagi.

Peguam Mohamed Hanipa Maidin pula menambah telah ada peruntukan dalam Perlembagaan berhubung kerakyatan Malaysia.

"Untuk menarik kerakyatan bukan perkara mudah ... Saya tidak pasti peruntukan mana yang dimaksudkannya (Dr Mahathir)," kata Hanipa.

Syahredzan bagaimanapun menjelaskan Peruntukan Artikel 24 hanya merujuk kepada mereka yang memperoleh kerakyatan, dan Artikel 25, ianya merujuk kepada rakyat yang "tidak setia" melalui naturalisasi.

Peguam itu berkata adalah hipoktitikal untuk menghalang rakyat daripada mempersoalkan Perkara 153 berkenaan hak Melayu dan Bumiputera, dan mencadangkan penarikan kerakyatan.

"Kamu tidak boleh memilih apa yang disukai kerana politik," tegasnya.

Semalam dalam program yang dianjurkan Human Development Club di Bandar Tun Razak, seorang pengunjung bertanya kepada Dr Mahathir apa tindakan yang boleh diambil terhadap peguam seperti Pengerusi Bersama Bersih 2.0 Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan.

Dr Mahathir, berkata kerakyatan hanya boleh ditarik apabila Perlembagaan dipinda. Menjelaskan perkara itu, majoriti dua pertiga Parlimen diperlukan untuk meminda Perlembagaan.

"Jadi saya harap kemenangan akan diberikan kepada Barisan Nasional (BN)," tambahnya.

Perkara 24 Perlembagaan Persekutuan menyatakan kerajaan boleh menarik kerakyatan mereka yang menerima kerakyatan negara lain, atau mengamalkan hak eksklusif rakyat negara lain.

Perkara 25 pula menetapkan kerajaan hanya boleh melucutkan kewarganegaraan sesiapa yang menjadi warganegara melalui pendaftaran atau penaturalisasian jika berpuas hati bahawa orang itu telah menunjukkan dirinya melalui perbuatan atau percakapan sebagai tidak taat atau tidak setia kepada Persekutuan.

PR Perak yakin tawan 40 kerusi DUN dalam PRU 13

Posted: 10 Feb 2013 12:58 AM PST

KUALA LUMPUR, 10 Feb — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Perak yakin akan menguasai 40 daripada keseluruhan 59 kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Perak dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 (PRU13).

Timbalan Pengerusi DAP Perak, V Sivakumar dalam satu kenyataan hari ini berkata, Barisan Nasional (BN) Perak telah melakukan satu kesilapan besar apabila merampas kerajaan pilihan rakyat pada tahun 2009.

"Pada 8 Mac 2008, rakyat Perak telah memberi mandat kepada PAS, PKR dan DAP untuk memerintah negeri Perak. Kehendak rakyat itu wajib dihormati oleh semua pihak," jelas ADUN Tronoh (gambar) itu dalam kenyataannya.

Menurut Sivakumar, daripada analisa yang diperolehi daripada pelbagai sumber, PR Perak dijangka akan memenangi sekurang-kurangnya 40 kerusi daripada 59 kerusi yang akan ditandingi untuk Dewan Negeri Perak.

"Kemenangan yang besar ini adalah perlu untuk menjamin kesejahteraan dan kedudukan kerajaan yang baru dipilih itu. Pakatan Rakyat Negeri Perak akan terus berusaha dengan lebih gigih lagi untuk menambahkan lagi bilangan kerusi dalam PRU13.

"Pemimpin-pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat Perak cukup yakin bahawa rakyat negeri Perak akan memberi mandat yang lebih besar dalam pilihanraya umum akan datang," katanya.

PR Perak telah menang tipis 31 kerusi berbanding BN yang memenangi 28 kerusi pada Pilihan Raya 2008.

Majoriti tipis itu kemudiannya menimbulkan perbalahan apabila tiga ADUN PR melompat parti, dan majoriti kembali berpihak kepada BN, yang turut menyaksikan PR Perak hanya bertahan selama 11 bulan bermula Mac 2008 hingga Februari 2009.

Malah, situasi itu turut menyaksikan Menteri Besar ketika itu, Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin, digantikan dengan Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir.

Tegas Sivakumar, kerana tamakkan kuasa, BN Perak telah merampas kerajaan rakyat itu melalui "pintu belakang" dengan melanggar undang-undang sedia ada yang tidak sah di sisi Undang-undang Tubuh Negeri Perak mahu pun Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

"Perkara ini telah menimbulkan kemarahan seluruh rakyat Perak ketika itu.

"Barisan Nasional mengharapkan bahawa peristiwa rampasan kuasa itu akan dilupai oleh rakyat apabila dimakan oleh masa. Tetapi, andaian Barisan Nasional itu adalah tidak benar," tegasnya lagi.

Peristiwa rampasan kuasa itu jelas Sivakumar telah terpahat dalam sanubari setiap rakyat Perak, walaupun pelbagai usaha telah diambil oleh kerajaan BN Perak untuk mengalih perhatian mereka, segala usaha itu terbukti gagal.

Katanya, rakyat dapat menilai, membuat pertimbangan yang rasional dan membandingkan pemerintahan 11 bulan PR dan pemerintahan empat tahun BN.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Ahad, 10 Februari 2013