KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 ― If a restaurant has been around for 10 years, it must be doing something right.Yes, Gyuniku has been in Desa Sri Hartamas for that long, and recently an offshoot called Gyuniku ... Read More
KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 ― Whether it's fried chicken with rice, steamed chicken with rice or roasted chicken with rice, they're still called the same thing ― chicken rice.I daresay this is one dish ... Read More
KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 ― If a restaurant has been around for 10 years, it must be doing something right.Yes, Gyuniku has been in Desa Sri Hartamas for that long, and recently an offshoot called Gyuniku ... Read More
KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 ― Whether it's fried chicken with rice, steamed chicken with rice or roasted chicken with rice, they're still called the same thing ― chicken rice.I daresay this is one dish ... Read More
PARIS, May 27 – Rafa Nadal was forced to dig deep into his near bottomless resolve to salvage a 4-6 7-6 6-4 6-3 first round win against Germany's Daniel Brands today that had threatened to turn nasty for the seven-times French Open champion.
The Spaniard who has lost only once in eight years at Roland Garros, was a set and 3-0 down in the second-set tiebreak before finally subduing the 59th ranked Brands.
Playing his first grand slam match since crashing out of last year's Wimbledon to lowly ranked Czech Lukas Rosol, history threatened to repeat itself as Brands, who had never won a match at Roland Garros in four attempts, dictated the early stages.
Nadal, down to fourth in the rankings after seven months out injured, broke in the first game of both the third and fourth sets to wrestle back control of the match. – Reuters
PORT LOUIS, May 27 – The clear blue Indian ocean waters and white sandy beaches of Mauritius could turn out to be the safe haven FIFA president Sepp Blatter began searching for when he launched his wide-ranging reform process two years ago.
Delegates from FIFA's 209 member nations will this week converge on the tropical island for one of the most important FIFA Congresses for years.
On the agenda are 10 main points which, added to those approved last year in Budapest, are designed to increase the integrity and transparency of the federation which will chart the direction the world's most popular sport takes in the future.
When the reform process was launched two years ago, FIFA was in turmoil.
"These are not good times for FIFA. We are in stormy seas and my job is to guide the FIFA ship back to a safe haven," Blatter said at the time.
Over the next few days, in one of the world's most alluring tourist destinations, a very different atmosphere is expected to prevail.
If Blatter succeeds in persuading Congress to vote his way, it will strengthen his hand and could tempt him to seek a fifth term of office in 2015, despite his earlier promise that the current mandate would be his last.
If the process is stalled, however, and Congress goes against him, the 77-year-old Swiss will effectively become a lame-duck president for the last two years of his reign, or even worse.
The flightless Dodo, whose only natural home was Mauritius, could not adapt to the changes brought by the first colonists to the island in the 16th century and was extinct within 80 years.
Unlike the Dodo, though, Blatter is a born survivor and holding a Congress in such an idyllic setting could be seen as a typical masterstroke from the old campaigner.
But as ever with FIFA, nothing is truly idyllic for long and there has been criticism of the way the reform ideas have been handled.
WATERED DOWN
Alexandra Wrage resigned last month from the independent committee set up by FIFA to handle the reform process, saying that many of their recommendations had been watered down and that the Congress vote would be little more than window dressing.
In an interview with FIFA's own TV platform (http://www.fifa.com) on Monday, Blatter said FIFA had followed "the majority" of the 10-point plan by the committee, headed by Swiss law professor Mark Pieth.
"We have a democratic process in place, we follow it," Blatter said.
"I made a lot of effort to take this reform process as far as I could, but it is now up to the FIFA Congress to decide on these measures."
"I believe... we have achieved a lot already and the system in place works well. I think it'd be unfair to say we are not doing well."
A leading source from European soccer's governing body UEFA said last week: "Going to Mauritius may be seen as a metaphor for what FIFA stands for.
"It is beautiful, romantic and the perfect place for a honeymoon or a once-in-a-lifetime holiday, all things FIFA and soccer can symbolise.
"But Mauritius did not even compete for a place in the World Cup next year because its FA could not afford to play a qualifier against Liberia, has only entered the World Cup six times and did not enter a team in this year's African Nations Cup either."
Among the key ideas on the agenda are introduction of age limits, limited terms of office and integrity checks for executive committee members and other senior officials.
The inclusion of two more women on the executive committee, taking the total to three, is also proposed along with changes to the composition of the rule-making International Football Association Board (IFAB).
UEFA, which held its Congress last week, is opposed to some of the reforms and the role that it plays in this week's power-broking could have a big influence on the outcome of the next FIFA presidential election.
UEFA president Michel Platini, tipped by many as the next FIFA chief, has played his cards very close to his chest, but he might begin to show his hand. – Reuters
Women with flagging libidos may soon get their own little blue pill. – AFP picLOS ANGELES, May 27 – A new pill, called Lybridos, may ramp up a woman's sexual desire while also improving sexual satisfaction. Dutch and US firm Emotional Brain says the pill could be on sale within three years.
While Pfizer's Viagra has been a global sensation, scientists have struggled to create a female version of the drug, because while Viagra has a physiological effect on men, increasing female desire requires both psychological and physical factors, reports say.
Lybridos contains testosterone to "increase sexual motivation and physiological sexual response, such as blood flow to the genitals and lubrication," the company says on its website. But unlike Viagra, which focuses solely on achieving an erection, Lybridos targets areas of the brain related to sexual desire.
Of course, libido is a complex issue, and a lack of desire could be linked to anything from boredom to a drop in hormones, such as related to menopause, experts say, and a pill to fix the problem (for women at least) has sparked a host of gender politicking in the media in the past week.
Writer Daniel Bergner, who first reported on the story in the New York Times magazine last week, writes that one of the biggest sources for flagging sexual desire could be monogamy. A clinical disorder known as hypoactive sexual-desire disorder, or a "lack of lust, when it creates emotional distress," affects anywhere from 10-30 per cent of women between the ages of 20 and 60, according to the article.
The Telegraph in the UK writes that the results of a trial with Lybridos involving more than 200 women has not yet been published, and a larger trial is planned. So far, the company says the results have been "very, very promising". – AFP/Relaxnews
There's more to networking than shaking hands and exchanging business cards. Done right, networking helps you forge relationships with like-minded professionals to the benefit all. – Reuters picWASHINGTON, May 27 – There's an old adage, "it's not what you know, it's who you know."
That adage couldn't be more appropriate in today's competitive job market. And networking (especially when you're employed) can be the key to staying employed and staying on a clear career track.
But there's more to networking than shaking hands and exchanging business cards. Done right, networking helps you forge relationships with like-minded professionals to the benefit all.
While networking is often used to generate referrals and leads for new business, it's also extremely useful for finding a new job, discovering possible new hires, improving basic business practices, or changing career paths altogether.
The key is to get out there and connect. It's up to you to find and make the most of the opportunities presented.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Have A Plan.
For every event you attend, make a commitment to yourself to connect with a specific number of people. Three to five people is realistic. Make sure the contacts are "new" and not people you've met before. This will help get you out of your "comfort zone" and you won't spend your entire evening chatting up old friends.
Dress The Part.
Fifty-five per cent of a good impression is based on how you look. If you want to be perceived as a professional you need to dress like one. Make sure your clothes are neat, fit well and appropriate to the time of day and event.
Be Professional.
Remember to say hello and pronounce your name clearly and distinctly. Make sure your business cards are clean and not tattered. Shake hands firmly and make good eye contact with everyone you meet. Say the person's name when you say goodbye and tell the person how much you enjoyed meeting them and hope to see them again.
Make The Ask.
Don't rely on other people to remember and reach out to you. It's your job to ask people for their business card and to maintain contact.
Stay In Touch.
The biggest mistake people make in networking is not keeping in touch with the contacts they make. Find reasons to reach out and connect.
Perhaps send a link to an interesting news story related to the individual's industry. Or, if you've identified a common interest such as a love of modern art or music, let them know about an opening or event.
It's not necessary to make plans to meet at the event. Just reaching out is enough to help strengthen your connection and forge their sense of who you are.
Be Visible.
Take a leadership role in your community and industry organization to build visibility. Join the Chamber of Commerce or, if possible, a more industry-specific organization such as the local chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.
Offer to speak at events and offer advice as an "industry expert." This will position you as a trusted resource and someone to turn to for answers.
While networking generally begins with a quick introduction, the actual benefits can take longer to cultivate. It's all about give-and-take and it may take a year or two but if you are diligent, eventually the phone will ring and there's no telling what kind of opportunity will be on the line. – Reuters
(Pamela Eyring is the president of The Protocol School of Washington (PSOW), which provides professional business etiquette and international protocol training. Founded in 1988, PSOW is the only school of its kind in the US to become accredited. Any opinions expressed are her own. PSOW's website is: www.psow.edu.)
Still of 'Fast and Furious 6'. — AFP-Relaxnews picLOS ANGELES, May 27 — Moviegoers raced to see "Fast & Furious 6" as it debuted over the holiday weekend, earning the action sequel a massive US$98.5 million take (RM295.5 million), industry estimates showed yesterday.
The latest installment in the action-packed film franchise, starring Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez, did earned the top slot at the box office during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, seen as the unofficial start of summer in the United States.
Second place went to the debauched bachelors of "The Hangover Part III," which got a jump on the weekend by opening on Wednesday, and collected an anticipated US$42.4 million from Friday to Sunday, box office tracker Exhibitor Relations said.
Third place went to another sequel, "Star Trek: Into Darkness" which earned US$38 million as it fell from first place last week.
"Epic" a 3-D animated family film about a teenage girl who gets miniaturised Thumbelina-size, was fourth with US$34.2 million in tickets sold.
Super-hero blockbuster sequel "Iron Man 3," starring Robert Downey Jr as the title character, took in US$19.4 million for the number five spot, while "The Great Gatsby," Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of the literary classic, was sixth with US$13.7 million.
Seventh place was claimed by "Mud," a coming-of-age story starring Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon, taking in US$1.95 million.
"42" - a biopic about trailblazing black baseball star Jackie Robinson - was eighth, with US$1.25 million in tickets sold.
The ninth spot went to "The Croods," a stone-age cartoon which earned US$1.2 million.
Rounding out the top 10 was "Oblivion," a post-apocalyptic action flick featuring Tom Cruise, which earned US$815,000. — AFP-Relaxnews
US director Steven Soderbergh. — AFP-RelaxnewsCANNES, May 26 — What films will we be watching in the near future, and how will we be watching them?
Here's a snapshot of trends that emerged in the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, a weathervane of the movie industry:
- TV, NOT CINEMA: Hollywood's grip on big movies is being broken by TV, to which big-time directors, actors and money are migrating.
Dark, offbeat critical and commercial successes like "The Wire," "Mad Men," "The Sopranos" and "Game of Thrones" show what happens when bold programming and video-on-demand (VOD) come together.
At Cannes, there was no greater symbol of the change than "Behind the Candelabra," a biopic that has Michael Douglas as the flouncing entertainer Liberace.
"Too gay" for Hollywood, the movie was financed by HBO - which means it cannot even be considered for an Oscar if it premieres to the public on television.
"TV is really taking control of a conversation that used to be the exclusive domain of movies," said director Steven Soderbergh. "(...) I think it's a second golden age of TV that's happening in the States now."
Richard LaGravenese said creative types found TV refreshingly experimental compared to Hollywood studio films.
"TV is where a writer can write his novel. You can have episodes that are purely character-driven (...) that are just about nuance and about shades of the human condition that you can't do in film any more."
- GREY IS GOLD: Expect more and more films that cater to ageing Baby Boomers, the biggest and wealthiest population bulge in history.
Robert Redford made a screen comeback with "All is Lost," about a retired-but-virile yachtsman caught in a storm.
Senior-friendly projects that were announced or touted at Cannes include "Life Itself," a marriage comedy starring Morgan Freeman, 75, and Diane Keaton, 67; "And So It Goes," with Douglas, 68, who is introduced to the granddaughter he never knew he had; and "Look of Love," where Annette Bening, 55, falls for a man (Ed Harris, 62), who happens to look like her dead husband.
"You really need elements that appeal to the older audiences," The Hollywood Reporter quoted Mimi Steinbauer, an executive with Radiant Films International, as saying.
"These actors have fans in those demographics. That is very important."
- LOOKING TO ASIA: Asian markets and money, as well as Asian content, are exerting a widening influence. China is at the forefront.
"China is coming on strong not just as a market place for international motion pictures, but coming on strong as a creative force," Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg told a press conference.
Big-budget US-Chinese co-productions such as "Kung Fu Panda 3" are sometimes shot with a Chinese location and storyline.
In the case of "Iron Man 3," producers included two Chinese characters for a version released only in China: a character named Dr. Wu, played by Wang Xueqi, and a woman close to him, performed by actress Fan Bingbing.
Some co-productions are being voluntarily submitted to Beijing's censors in the early stage of the creative process to avoid rejection further down the line, according to the industry press.
Asian-made movies can make it big in Europe and the United States provided they move out of a narrow cultural range and address universal themes, say some.
"I find film from India can be sold in Latin America, in Europe, in parts of the world we never thought of before because human emotion and drama are the same everywhere," said US-based film producer and distributor Raaj Rahhi.
- DOCUMENTARIES: They are the biggest growth area of films, driven by interests in content ranging from social and environment issues to history, sports and music.
"People today want more than escapism," said Martijn te Pas, in charge of programming at Amsterdam's International Documentary Film Festival.
Driving the trend are cheap digital technology for content makers, niche markets for non-fiction programming ranging and the Internet as a form of distribution.
"If you own a Mac and a camcorder, you can make a documentary, basically," said Tyler Konney of Taylor & Dodge, which is marketing "After Porn Ends," about actors who struggle to resume normal life after a career in pornographic films.
Another push for documentaries and low-budget fiction is crowd-sourcing, where Internet sites such as Kickstarter bring small investors and creators together.
"Kickstarter is something that harnesses people for a project which has great ideas but no money," said Toby Rose, a British writer seeking 10,000 pounds ($15,100) for a movie idea, "Fashion Victim: The Musical."
- PIRACY: Do you illegally download movies? In the near future, you could run a bigger risk of being pursued by the dogs of law.
Lacking a technical fix against piracy, studios are turning more and more to cyber-detectives to sniff out the Internet addresses of illegal downloaders.
Lawyers then subpoena the Internet Service Provider (ISP) to identify the abuser. The attorneys send a threatening letter, usually with a settlement offer.
"In Germany, there has been a reduction in (copyright) infringements by 80 to 90 percent over the last three years," said Patrick Achache of Guardaley, a German-based tech company which has been hired to trace illegal downloading.
In the biggest case, Voltage Pictures, which produced "The Hurt Locker," attacked 25,000 people deemed to have illegally downloaded the hit movie from BitTorrent and peer-to-peer networks. The settlement offer was usually between US$1,000 (RM3,000) and US$2,000; many cases, though, have been thrown out or contested. — AFP-Relaxnews
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CANNES, May 26 — What films will we be watching in the near future, and how will we be watching them?
Here's a snapshot of trends that emerged in the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, a weathervane of the movie industry:
- TV, NOT CINEMA: Hollywood's grip on big movies is being broken by TV, to which big-time directors, actors and money are migrating.
Dark, offbeat critical and commercial successes like "The Wire," "Mad Men," "The Sopranos" and "Game of Thrones" show what happens when bold programming and video-on-demand (VOD) come together.
At Cannes, there was no greater symbol of the change than "Behind the Candelabra," a biopic that has Michael Douglas as the flouncing entertainer Liberace.
"Too gay" for Hollywood, the movie was financed by HBO - which means it cannot even be considered for an Oscar if it premieres to the public on television.
"TV is really taking control of a conversation that used to be the exclusive domain of movies," said director Steven Soderbergh. "(...) I think it's a second golden age of TV that's happening in the States now."
Richard LaGravenese said creative types found TV refreshingly experimental compared to Hollywood studio films.
"TV is where a writer can write his novel. You can have episodes that are purely character-driven (...) that are just about nuance and about shades of the human condition that you can't do in film any more."
- GREY IS GOLD: Expect more and more films that cater to ageing Baby Boomers, the biggest and wealthiest population bulge in history.
Robert Redford made a screen comeback with "All is Lost," about a retired-but-virile yachtsman caught in a storm.
Senior-friendly projects that were announced or touted at Cannes include "Life Itself," a marriage comedy starring Morgan Freeman, 75, and Diane Keaton, 67; "And So It Goes," with Douglas, 68, who is introduced to the granddaughter he never knew he had; and "Look of Love," where Annette Bening, 55, falls for a man (Ed Harris, 62), who happens to look like her dead husband.
"You really need elements that appeal to the older audiences," The Hollywood Reporter quoted Mimi Steinbauer, an executive with Radiant Films International, as saying.
"These actors have fans in those demographics. That is very important."
- LOOKING TO ASIA: Asian markets and money, as well as Asian content, are exerting a widening influence. China is at the forefront.
"China is coming on strong not just as a market place for international motion pictures, but coming on strong as a creative force," Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg told a press conference.
Big-budget US-Chinese co-productions such as "Kung Fu Panda 3" are sometimes shot with a Chinese location and storyline.
In the case of "Iron Man 3," producers included two Chinese characters for a version released only in China: a character named Dr. Wu, played by Wang Xueqi, and a woman close to him, performed by actress Fan Bingbing.
Some co-productions are being voluntarily submitted to Beijing's censors in the early stage of the creative process to avoid rejection further down the line, according to the industry press.
Asian-made movies can make it big in Europe and the United States provided they move out of a narrow cultural range and address universal themes, say some.
"I find film from India can be sold in Latin America, in Europe, in parts of the world we never thought of before because human emotion and drama are the same everywhere," said US-based film producer and distributor Raaj Rahhi.
- DOCUMENTARIES: They are the biggest growth area of films, driven by interests in content ranging from social and environment issues to history, sports and music.
"People today want more than escapism," said Martijn te Pas, in charge of programming at Amsterdam's International Documentary Film Festival.
Driving the trend are cheap digital technology for content makers, niche markets for non-fiction programming ranging and the Internet as a form of distribution.
"If you own a Mac and a camcorder, you can make a documentary, basically," said Tyler Konney of Taylor & Dodge, which is marketing "After Porn Ends," about actors who struggle to resume normal life after a career in pornographic films.
Another push for documentaries and low-budget fiction is crowd-sourcing, where Internet sites such as Kickstarter bring small investors and creators together.
"Kickstarter is something that harnesses people for a project which has great ideas but no money," said Toby Rose, a British writer seeking 10,000 pounds ($15,100) for a movie idea, "Fashion Victim: The Musical."
- PIRACY: Do you illegally download movies? In the near future, you could run a bigger risk of being pursued by the dogs of law.
Lacking a technical fix against piracy, studios are turning more and more to cyber-detectives to sniff out the Internet addresses of illegal downloaders.
Lawyers then subpoena the Internet Service Provider (ISP) to identify the abuser. The attorneys send a threatening letter, usually with a settlement offer.
"In Germany, there has been a reduction in (copyright) infringements by 80 to 90 percent over the last three years," said Patrick Achache of Guardaley, a German-based tech company which has been hired to trace illegal downloading.
In the biggest case, Voltage Pictures, which produced "The Hurt Locker," attacked 25,000 people deemed to have illegally downloaded the hit movie from BitTorrent and peer-to-peer networks. The settlement offer was usually between US$1,000 (RM3,000) and US$2,000; many cases, though, have been thrown out or contested. — AFP-Relaxnews
A geology graduate turned writer, Khairie Hisyam Aliman enjoys stating the obvious... occasionally in writing. He is still figuring out how to write a proper bio of himself.
MAY 27 — So what can writers learn from "The Apprentice Asia" premiere?
The first challenge for the show's contestants was to make a profit selling fish at a local wet market. Amid all the talk about pricing, profit margins, identifying different fish types and how much to mark the prices up, there was also one very important question that needed to be answered urgently.
Who were they selling to?
Housewives and aunties looking for fresh foodstuff for their families. To sell to them, we need to know what they want. Simplistically, every buyer wants to get the most value out of their money. What is value at a wet market?
For all his other shortcomings, contestant Hendy got this one right. He said the customers are looking for the cheapest price. As long as the fish are adequately fresh, getting the cheapest price would be their top priority.
With this in mind, it did not make sense to me when some of the contestants were saying things that effectively mean "we'll sell it a little higher than market price because we have value" or "I think we should mark the prices up so-and-so per cent so we can get more profit."
If you decide to sell at a certain price, you must know for certain that your customers would be willing to meet your price. If you want customers to pay a higher price for something that they can get cheaper elsewhere, you need to give them a good reason to pay extra. A willing seller is useless without a willing buyer.
In other words, what "value" is should be seen from the customer's perspective, because at the end of the day they are the ones deciding to buy or walk away. They decide if the price matches what they think the value is.
And that lesson applies to writers too. By writing we are trying to sell ideas, thoughts and content to the reader. Is your writing offering what your readers are looking for?
Is the value in your product (words) enough to justify your readers' time (and money)? Do they want just facts and figures or also opinion and analysis? Do they want you to terrify them or create a fantastic world of magic and dragons for them to escape into?
It comes down to knowing your target readership. Understand what they want and deliver it to them. At the very least, they will spend valuable time reading what you write and thus expect that time to translate into a valuable takeaway from what they read. Otherwise, that time they invested is wasted.
So if we spend 500 words speculating on how cats are being cooked in China, those 500 words are worthless to readers who are interested in matters like knowing how long the post-election Malaysian bourse uptrend might continue and why (or why not). Trying to make the cooking methods of the Chinese cat dining industry relevant to these readers (if at all possible) would take away from the meat of the story you're telling to the people you're supposed to be focusing on.
At the end of the day, you can't please every reader at the same time. Not even the greatest writers out there can mesh every existing genre into a single novel. To reach out to your target readers, what you write about in how many words must match what they are interested to read about and how much time they are willing to spend reading.
But there is no universal standard, of course. Business journalists, sports reporters, horror writers, erotica authors, for example, all cater to different segments of the market. Different readers want different things.
It is the reason why there are books like the "Twilight" series or "50 Shades of Gray" that can come under fierce criticism yet still sell very well. For all their faults, there are people who like them. They see what they perceive as value in these works and thus are willing to pay for them, literary qualities aside.
But this does not mean you don't get to write about what you want. The diverse nature of people out there means no one can possibly hope to provide what each and every reader wants. If you like to write about fashion, you can't expect to attract readers who don't care about the latest fashion trends. Your readers would be the fashion-conscious, not those who consume political news day and night.
Whatever you want to write about, you must have a firm idea of who will be reading it. Then write accordingly. Forget those who won't ever be reading what you write. Just focus on your target readership and sell to them through your words.
Lim Ka Ea is a traveller who sees travel as the answer to all the world's woes. Writing is a grand love. Ka Ea has had NGO and legal experience.
MAY 27 — There was no cry of jubilation. Neither were there tears of joy.
If you had been in a coma during the past few weeks and were suddenly awakened to the image of the Barisan Nasional's victory speech on television, you would have thought that someone important had died and the whole nation had gone into mourning mode. Why wouldn't you when Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his sidekicks looked as if the apocalypse was upon them?
Before you could even make out the hazy details that had preceded such collective sombreness, you found yourself being hit by a train of confusion. "Chinese tsunami" quickly followed by "national reconciliation" — two terms coined together only mere minutes after the announcement of the election results were enough to make me want to crawl back into that coma. Ignorance is after all bliss during moments like this.
As I begin to hear comments pouring in from different public figures and the public, of what they thought of the proposed national reconciliation, I felt sheepishly stupid. Am I the only one who doesn't understand what it means or what it's for?
The coma must have impaired my intellectual capacity. Full stop.
A few days ago, someone asked me what I understood about Najib's notion of national reconciliation. Instead of giving that person a straightforward answer, I went on a crooked tangent. If you were as confused as I was, you would probably understand why.
This was my answer: "You know what? It took me two years to learn how to reconcile my accounts. Why did it take me so long? Well, honestly, I had no clue how to do it! Accounting is like a useless foreign language to me. Neither do I understand it, nor do I have the desire to learn it. So it took me two years to finally nail it down. Anyway, to answer your question, I think national reconciliation is a bit like me trying to reconcile my accounts. The federal government has no clue what it's about and most likely has no desire to learn what it really is about."
Horrified at my analogy, the person finally said: "If what you said is true, let's hope they'll at least nail it down in the end."
Of course, hope is a good thing and one can always hope.
Anyway, Najib had come out in public and said that national reconciliation is needed to heal racial and political divide. Never mind what he said because since then, I've had more opportunities to hear what other people thought about this notion in person and, unsurprisingly, different people seem to hold very different opinions of it. Although some agreed wholeheartedly that it's all about reconciling racial divide, others said it's more about the urban-rural divide. A few said that there's really no racial divide and it was the politicians who have spun it to instil hate and fear because the real issue here is economic divide. A few vehemently claimed that it's all about political party divide, much to the chagrin of those who quickly rebutted that political party division is a good thing and the pillar of a robust democracy. Listening to these opinions reminded me of the story of the elephant and the three blind men. (Scary or what? But anyway, Malaysia boleh!)
Without turning this article into something unnecessarily lengthy, I shall cut to the chase. Let's just suppose that the prime minister is honest about his intention, how should he and his Cabinet go about developing the framework of this national reconciliation?
Here's my take as a layperson. (I realise I'm running the risk of oversimplifying the issue but I think simplification is exactly what we need now.) I believe in order for a national reconciliation to be successful, it must first fulfil three criteria — it must 1) command the public's confidence, 2) be a meaningful exercise, and 3) result in action. At the same time, it must be guided by these core principles — 1) truth, 2) repentance, and 3) justice.
In order to achieve the first criterion, the government owes it to the public to provide a clear and truthful explanation of what this national reconciliation is all about. As it is, the public's confidence of the new government is already at an all-time low, it is now up to the latter to convince the public of the true purpose of this process. Without the public's confidence and faith in this, it is likely going to suffer the same fate as the 1 Malaysia slogan, one that reeks of a political rather than human agenda. To curb this, the government must secure the public's participation in developing its framework; not just their supporters but also dissenters. As such, it is imperative for the government to listen to both sides and this necessitates freeing up media space to allow opinions from both sides to be heard.
Secondly, for this exercise to be truly meaningful, the government must understand the true meaning of reconciliation. In order for reconciliation to work, all party must be willing to admit their wrongdoing, repent and agree to move forward together. The closing of one chapter so that a fresh one can begin, so to speak. As the initiator of this agenda, the government must first admit that it has played a role in allowing racism to manifest and, as such, resulted in this divide. By initiating this process, the government must be willing to admit that the 1 Malaysia campaign, the National Service Training and the National Economic Programme have in a way failed or contributed towards perpetuating racial-based politics because otherwise, why on earth do we need national reconciliation? By doing this, the government shows repentance and sincerity and this will help to restore the public's confidence in the process.
Finally and perhaps most importantly, all this must in the end result in the government taking real action towards reconciliation. There has been far too many projects and agenda that ended up being nothing but mere politically rhetoric with no real benefit or meaning for the people. I've listened to various people giving recommendations of what should be done to achieve this goal — from establishing a parliamentary select committee to unifying our education curriculum. All noble solutions which will take a long time to implement and before you know it, the public loses interest and nobody remembers why the process was proposed in the first place. For a quick start just to get things rolling, in order for the government to prove its sincerity and will, why not get rid of those boxes that seek to verify our races in all government-related forms once and for all? Punish ministers who incite racial hatred and make an example out of them. Justice must be blind and not just for the powerful.
In conclusion, after all that is said and done, the secret ingredient that will eventually create a Malaysian culture that abhors racism is really quite simple. All it takes really is for the government to first set an exemplary role in eradicating racial sentiments and once that is accomplished, I am quite confident that the rest will follow. Not unlike reconciling your accounts, the two sides must be in tandem with each other. Otherwise, let's not fool ourselves by calling it reconciliation but retaliation instead. If I were an avid conspiracy theorist, I would have concluded that "Chinese tsunami" and "national reconciliation" were part of a national retaliation strategy to divert the people's attention from what's really to come.
So Mr Prime Minister, which one is it going to be?
KUALA LUMPUR, 27 Mei — Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (gambar) hari ini memberi jaminan bahawa kerajaan oleh melakukan perubahan dalam negara dengan memahami keperluan belia.
Sambil menegaskan bahawa tidak ada yang bersifat tetap, perdana menteri berkata kerajaan mesti berani dan sedia melakukan perubahan yang dapat memenuhi ekpektasi rakyat.
"Sama ada cepat atau tidak, perubahan akan berlaku. Saya jamin bahawa kerajaan akan lakukan perubahan dalam negara, dan ini bererti memahami keperluan belia.
"Kita perlu mengubah sikap, strategi, program dan pendekatan kita kerana kita tidak lagi boleh menganggap apa yang kita amalkan sekarang sebagai penyelesaian terbaik untuk masa depan.
"Kita perlu punya minda terbuka dan bersikap pragmatik, bukan dogmatik," kata beliau dalam kiriman Facebooknya. — Bernama
Oleh Clara Chooi Penolong Pengarang Berita May 27, 2013
PETALING JAYA, 27 Mei — Ribuan orang ramai membanjiri balai polis seluruh negara untuk membuat laporan terhadap kegagalan dakwat kekal, ia bukti orang ramai menyahut gesaan Pakatan Rakyat (PR) bagi membuktikan penipuan pada Pilihan Raya 2013, kata Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim hari ini, .
Ketua Umum PKR tersebut bersama isteri Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (gambar) yang juga membuat laporan sama di balai polis Tropicana berkata laporan tersebut adalah bukti wujudnya manipulasi oleh pihak berkuasa ke atas keputusan pilihan raya 5 Mei lalu.
"Kami mempunyai ribuan laporan setakat ini... Saya tidak mempunyai angka rasmi, tapi hari ini saya dimaklumkan seluruh negara telah membuat laporan rasmi," kata Anwar dalam sidang media disini.
Dalam perhimpunan besar-besaran Sabtu lalu yang dianjurkan oleh pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO), Anwar telah telah menggesa orang awam untuk membuat laporan polis jika mereka berhadapan dengan insiden dakwat kekal tanggal daripada jari mereka sebaik mengundi pada 5 Mei lalu.
Beliau berkata orang ramai boleh melakukannya bermula Ahad hingga Isnin ini dan menghantar salinan kepada PR.
"Ini bagi menunjukkan kuasa dan tekad orang ramai. Kami cabar kamu menerusi proses yang ditetapkan. Kami juga menghormati undang-undang negara," kata Ahli Parlimen Permatang Pauh itu.
Beliau berkata PR mahu membentangkan sejumlah besar laporan polis oleh orang ramai ke atas Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) yang didakwanya menipu di dalam kamar mahkamah.
PR akan melakukan petisyen untuk mencabar pelaksanaan pilihan raya dan keputusan di lebih daripada 25 kerusi Parlimen, langkah yang perlu dilakukan dalam 21 hari selepas keputusan pilihan raya digazetkan pada 22 Mei.
Anwar juga menggesa rakyat menyokong langkah Bersih untuk mengadakan "Tribunal Rakyat", inisiatif yang akan digunakan bagi menyiasat dakwaan orang ramai terdapat penipuan pilihan raya.
Walaupun SPR mengatakan Tribunal Rakyat tidak sah disisi undang-undang, Anwar mengatakan ianya mempunyai legitimasi.
Barisan Nasional (BN) mempertahankan kuasa dalam pilihan raya 5 Mei dengan hanya 133 kerusi Parlimen, lebih 21 daripada syarat 112 kerusi Parlimen untuk menang majoriti mudah.
Walaubagaimanapun, kemenangan BN kali ini lebih kecil di Parlimen sejak negara Merdeka pada 1957.
Pembangkang PR enggan menerima kekalahan tersebut, sebaliknya mempertahankannya dengan kemenangan undi popular sebanyak 51 peratus berbanding BN 48 peratus — keputusan sama yang diperoleh pemerintah pada 1969 selepas kehilangan undi popular.
PR juga akan memfailkan petisyen pilihan raya untuk mencabar keputusan di dalam 27 kerusi Parlimen di mana BN menang dengan majoriti kecil, yang didakwa mereka hasil penipuan semasa pilihan raya.
Walaupun tedapat bantahan besar ke atas pengendalian PRU13, SPR menegaskan mereka telah menjalankan pilihan raya secara adil dan berjaya, serta memberikan jumlah tinggi yang keluar mengundi sebanyak 84.84 peratus sebagai bukti keyakinan terhadap sistem pilihan raya di Malaysia.
The Malaysian Insider :: Food
KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 ― If a restaurant has been around for 10 years, it must be doing something right.Yes, Gyuniku has been in Desa Sri Hartamas for that long, and recently an offshoot called Gyuniku ... Read More 
KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 ― Whether it's fried chicken with rice, steamed chicken with rice or roasted chicken with rice, they're still called the same thing ― chicken rice.I daresay this is one dish ... Read More 
PORT LOUIS, May 27 – The clear blue Indian ocean waters and white sandy beaches of Mauritius could turn out to be the safe haven FIFA president Sepp Blatter began searching for when he launched his wide-ranging reform process two years ago. 
KUALA LUMPUR, 27 Mei — Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (gambar) hari ini memberi jaminan bahawa kerajaan oleh melakukan perubahan dalam negara dengan memahami keperluan belia. 
Ketua Umum PKR tersebut bersama isteri Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (gambar) yang juga membuat laporan sama di balai polis Tropicana berkata laporan tersebut adalah bukti wujudnya manipulasi oleh pihak berkuasa ke atas keputusan pilihan raya 5 Mei lalu.