Ahad, 6 Oktober 2013

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

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The Malaysian Insider :: Food

Celebrating the best seafood from Norway

Posted: 06 Oct 2013 12:57 AM PDT

BY EU HOOI KHAW
October 06, 2013

From king crab to salmon and scallops - this is just half of the centrepiece at the Norwegian Seafood Gala Dinner.A seat at the annual Norwegian Seafood Gala Dinner in Kuala Lumpur is always much coveted. It took place last Friday, hosted by the Norwegian Ambassador to Malaysia, Hans Ola Urstad. The gourmet dinner celebrates the amazing array of seafood flown in specially from Norway for this occasion. It's also when the Malaysia Norway Business Council Innovation Award is given out to the Norwegian company in Malaysia that has performed the best, fulfilling various criteria.

Frank Naesheim, who has been for years the Norwegian head chef and main co-ordinator of this event, had, for this dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur, brought in a team of 11 chefs from Singapore where he is based. These are chefs of standing, who run well-known restaurants in Norway, Singapore, Resort World Sentosa, and Chennai.

Naesheim's focus is to make the dinner better and better every year. At the hotel ballroom this year were long tables overflowing with 72 varieties of cold food, and four live stations manned by these chefs who turned out some exquisite dishes. The seafood ranged from king crab, lobster, prawns and scallops to salmon, halibut, cod, monkfish, turbot and haddock.

Cold King Crab LegsThe centrepiece of the seafood display was the glorious king crab, leaning against an ice carving of a Viking ship. Huge scallops, lobsters, crayfish, prawns, salmon and haddock were the supporting act.

King Crab Terrine.Where would you start at this dinner? King crab! Everyone seemed to have the same thought. The Grilled Norwegian King Crab Leg with mustard and orange sauce was so sweet, delicate and creamy. Later I had the Cooked King Crab Legs on ice, and it was not as nice.

Cold Whole Poached Salmon and Medallions. I had a small helping of Whole Cold Poached Salmon and Medallions, then the Smoked Mackerel Salad. Gravlax was a must, so were the different kinds of caviar.

We gravitated towards the live stations. First it was the King Crab and Scallop Pastille with mushroom, savoy cabbage fondue and saffron mussel cream, that had a scallop at one end and the king crab at the other, satisfying my craving for both shellfish. It was superb. Then it was the Cured Salmon with Sushi Rice Espuma and Shrimp Cracker that was so delicate and delicious. Both these dishes were at the station of chefs Otto Weibel and Michael Mueller, both from Resort World Sentosa.

The Prawn Soup with Fennel Salad and the Potato and Leek Cream Smoked Halibut, Spinach and Eggs were so fine and pleasing at the station of chef Geir Skeie and Kathrina Skeie from the award-winning Brygga II, a restaurant in Sandjefjord, Norway.

Then we encountered Singapore restaurateur and consultant Sam Leong (formerly from Malaysia) and had his Home-made Noodles with king crab leg in milky chicken consommé. It was simply amazing – the smooth noodles in the flavourful chicken and crab stock.

Sous-vide Salmon Fillet with red capsicum coulis and tamarind sauce.From his wife Forest Leong was the Sous-vide Salmon Fillet with red capsicum coulis and tamarind sauce. The salmon, touched with paprika, and the coulis, fell apart in the mouth.

It was not possible to sample every kind of seafood at this dinner. The desserts were displayed in the lobby of the ballroom and all I could manage was just a scoop of lingonberry ice-cream.

A job well done - chef Frank Naesheim can afford to lean back at the end of the dinner.Chef Naesheim enjoyed the challenge of organizing the dinner and cooking for 690 people this year. He proudly announced at the start of dinner that Bacalao or dry salted codfish, a Norwegian specialty. would be served. "Fisheries are increasing in Norway," he said, "and cod fishing has increased by 20 per cent." As for king crab, "the colder the water, the better the flavour." Naesheim, who is known as the Salmon King in Asia, runs Snorre Food Pte Ltd in Singapore where he imports quality Norwegian seafood for Asia.

The MNBC Innovation Award was won by Yara International ASA, the world's leading supplier of mineral fertilizers. It also produces environmental protection agents to prevent air pollution.

The evening ended with a performance by well-known Norwegian singer Marit Larsen who gained fame as a teenager, as part of the pop duo M2M, selling more than 12 million albums and singles.

Celebrating the best seafood from Norway

Posted: 06 Oct 2013 12:57 AM PDT

BY EU HOOI KHAW
October 06, 2013

Cold Whole Poached Salmon and Medallions. I had a small helping of Whole Cold Poached Salmon and Medallions, then the Smoked Mackerel Salad. Gravlax was a must, so were the different kinds of caviar.

It was not possible to sample every kind of seafood at this dinner. The desserts were displayed in the lobby of the ballroom and all I could manage was just a scoop of lingonberry ice-cream.

The MNBC Innovation Award was won by Yara International ASA, the world's leading supplier of mineral fertilizers. It also produces environmental protection agents to prevent air pollution.

The evening ended with a performance by well-known Norwegian singer Marit Larsen who gained fame as a teenager, as part of the pop duo M2M, selling more than 12 million albums and singles.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

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“Gravity” draws stellar reviews, awards buzz

Posted: 05 Oct 2013 04:00 PM PDT

October 06, 2013

"Gravity," starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as the sole survivors of a devastating accident in space, is winning rave reviews and Oscars buzz as Hollywood's annual awards season gets into gear.

While the film's premise may seem unpromising, some critics have evoked Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" in writing about the movie, released in the United States this week.

The film by Oscar-nominated Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron, which achieves the unlikely goal of using a space disaster movie to evoke themes of loss and love, has a stellar 97 percent rating on the Rotten Tomatoes review aggregator website.

"Alfonso Cuaron's white-knuckle space odyssey restores a sense of wonder, terror and possibility to the big screen that should inspire awe among critics and audiences worldwide," wrote industry journal Variety.

The visually stunning movie, shot in eye-popping 3D, is "thrilling, and as close to feeling like you're in space as most of us will ever be," added the Hollywood Reporter.

The story is simple: veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (Clooney) is making his last space flight trying out a new jet-pack space suit which lets him zip around in space, while Ryan Stone (Bullock) is on her first trip into orbit.

They are the sole survivors of a spectacular accident involving satellite debris colliding with their spacecraft, leaving them adrift in the void. But the technical challenges of making the movie were enormous.

They involved a combination of computer generated imagery (CGI) and unorthodox training by Bullock and Clooney to learn to move as if in zero gravity. "That was the biggest challenge, from early on. Even before getting into the technical solutions, when we were considering the choreography, our brain thinks from the standpoint of gravity, of horizon and weight.

"It was a whole learning curve because it's completely counter-intuitive. The problem is that animators learn how to draw based upon horizon and weight," Cuaron told reporters at a Beverly Hills press conference.

One solution was what they called a "light box," a hollow cube with interior walls fitted with thousands of tiny LED lights. This allowed Cuaron to move the universe around the actors, giving the impression that the actors are moving through space.

Another was a 12-wire rig which, with the help of expert puppeteers, enabled the filmmakers to "float" Bullock in certain scenes, while in others the actors were secured into rigs that could rotate or tilt them at different angles.

"It's just the oddest thing to reprogram your reactions," said 49-year-old Bullock, who won a best actress Oscar for 2009's "The Blind Side." "To make that second nature just took training, and then weeks of repetition.

And then, you had to separate that from your head and connect to the emotion, and tell the emotional story," she added. That emotional story is handled with a delicate balance which manages to avoid undue saccharine.

Cuaron says the film can be seen "as just a big metaphor."This is a film about a woman. Forget about space. It's a film about a woman that is drifting into the void," said the filmmaker.

"It's about a woman who is a victim of her own inertia and who lives in her own bottle, and she confronts all of this adversity that brings her further and further away from human connection, and far away from a sense of life and living."

And without giving away any plot details, Bullock and Clooney - who share a spectacular 17-minute uninterrupted opening shot, drawing comparisons to the fluid camera work of German great Max Ophuels - do not end up together.

But the finale is, nonetheless, nerve-jinglingly cathartic. "All in all, it would be impossible to overestimate the difficulty of what Cuaron and his top-of-the-line crew have pulled off," wrote Variety's film critic, Justin Chang.

"Somewhere, one imagines, the spirits of Stanley Kubrick and Max Ophuels are looking down in admiration," he added. – AFP/Relaxnews, October 6, 2013.

New reality series to send winner into space

Posted: 05 Oct 2013 04:00 PM PDT

October 06, 2013

In what's being described as a partnership of titans, Sir Richard Branson has teamed up with reality TV czar Mark Burnett for a new series that will send the winner into space.

In line with Burnett's wildly successful TV franchise "Amazing Race," "Space Race" will take the concept of cross-planetary treasure hunts to new heights and give an 'everyday person' a seat aboard Branson's Virgin Galactic spaceship.

"Virgin Galactic's mission is to democratize space, eventually making commercial space travel affordable and accessible to all," said Sir Richard Branson in a statement.

"'Space Race' allows us to extend this opportunity of a lifetime to as many people as possible right at the start of our commercial service – through direct experience and television viewing."

The competitive elimination show will take place in the commercial spaceline's home at Spaceport America in New Mexico, the departure point and training and preparation center for space flights.

The series is being produced by American broadcaster NBC. – AFP/Relaxnews, October 6, 2013.

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The Malaysian Insider :: Features

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The Malaysian Insider :: Features

Doomed lives of Albania’s children of vendetta

Posted: 05 Oct 2013 11:29 PM PDT

October 06, 2013

Since they were born, nine-year-old Nikolin and his older brother Amarildo (pic), 12, have never left their house in Albania. They do not play outside, nor do they go to school.

The boys are imprisoned because of a blood feud, or vendetta, with neighbours that have made them fear for their lives.

Their uncle killed a neighbour in a 1993 dispute and, although he was jailed for 25 years, the victim's family - living only a dozen metres (yards) away - has vowed to avenge the death.

Albanians still respect the tradition of vendetta, which dates back to the 15th century and spares no male in a family, including babies.

The brutal custom is widely followed in the poor mountainous regions in the north of the country, but also in some villages and towns in other regions.

Nikolin and Amarildo spend most of their lives in a cold, sombre room at their home in Mazrek, a village about 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of the capital Tirana.

They are surrounded by photographs of dead relatives on the walls, their small window covered with iron bars.

The bitter feud has already led to some casualties and the two youngsters, entangled through no fault of their own, could be next.

"Outside, we are facing death," Amarildo whispers. He says he dreams of having a ball and playing with his only friend, the brother that shares his fate.

The boys' mother, Vjollca, recently committed suicide, unable to stand her family's captive life any more. She was 29.

"I found her hanged in the barn," Amarildo says, his voice choking as he fights back tears.

The rival family gave them three days to mourn and bury her, promising not to kill them during that time.

Condemned to death

The boys' only link with the outside world is their teacher, Liljana Luani, who comes twice a month to teach them to read and write.

"The children of vendetta are condemned to death," says Luani, who has asked the Albanian authorities to bring an end to what she calls an "unacceptable crime for a country that wants to integrate into Europe".

Almost 600 Albanian children were unable to start the new school year in September, hiding at home from vendetta threats, which sometimes now extend to women and girls, Gjin Marku, who monitors the problem for a local organisation, told AFP.

Police say there have been 225 victims of blood feuds in Albania in the last 14 years, but activist groups estimate the real number could be much higher.

"In Albania, vendetta was developed due to a weak judiciary system that pushed people to settle scores on their own," sociologist Suela Dani explains.

During the communist era in Albania, from the end of World War II until 1992, a strict application of the death penalty in cases of vendetta allowed the regime to suppress it.

Since communism fell, the maximum punishment has been life imprisonment, but a lack of confidence in the justice system has led to an escalation in blood feuds.

Dani says "all the state structures" must make a real commitment to ending the ruthless practice, which can derail the lives not just of those targeted but also of those seeking vengeance.

When his uncle was killed, Alfred Vekaj, 17, swore he would get even.

"Every morning on my way to school I saw a man from the family that had killed my uncle and one day I hid my grandmother's gun in my school bag," he says.

"I did not want to kill him, just to prevent him from passing in front of my school any more."

But Vekaj missed his target and killed a passer-by.

"At least I am alive," he told AFP from his prison cell in Kavaja, the city where he is serving an eight-year sentence. – AFP, October 6, 2013.

“Thank God I’m not dead”: Malala’s first thought after shooting

Posted: 05 Oct 2013 08:45 PM PDT

October 06, 2013

Malala Yousafzai receives the RAW in WAR Anna Politkovskaya Award from humanitarian Nicholas Winton at the Southbank Centre in central London on Friday. – AFP pic.Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai's first thought was "Thank God I'm not dead" as she woke up terrified in British hospital after a Taliban gunman shot her in the head, according to extracts from her autobiography published in the Sunday Times newspaper.

But the 16-year-old, among the favourites for the Nobel Peace Prize which will be announced on Friday, said she was unable to talk, had no idea where she was and was unsure even of her own name when she emerged from a coma after six days.

In the extract from her book, I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, which is published on Tuesday, Malala said she remembered almost nothing of the attack itself.

The last thing she recalled on October 9, 2012, the day she was shot, was sitting with her friends on a bus as it rounded an army checkpoint on the way to school in the insurgent-riddled Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan.

Friends told her that a masked gunman came on board the bus, asked "Who is Malala?" and then lifted a gun to her head and fired. Her friend said Malala squeezed her hand.

"I woke on October 16, a week after the shooting. The first thing I thought was, 'Thank God I'm not dead.' But I had no idea where I was. I knew I was not in my homeland," she wrote in the extract published by the Sunday Times.

Malala said she tried to speak but there was a tube in her neck, while her left eye was "very blurry and everyone had two noses and four eyes".

"All sorts of questions flew through my waking brain: where was I? Who had brought me there? Where were my parents? Was my father alive? I was terrified. The only thing I knew was that Allah had blessed me with a new life."

A doctor gave her an alphabet board and she spelled out the words "country" and "father" – her father was headmaster of the school that Malala had attended in Swat.

"The nurse told me I was in Birmingham, but I had no idea where that was... The nurses weren't telling me anything. Even my name. Was I still Malala?"

After the shooting Pakistani military neurosurgeon had carried out an emergency operation in which a section of her skull was cut out and placed under the skin in her stomach until it could be replaced in her head.

Malala was then flown to the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham for further treatment.

In Britain, Malala said her head ached so much that injections failed to stop the pain, her left ear kept bleeding and she could feel that the left side of her face was not moving properly.

Malala said that in Britain she enjoyed watching the cookery show Masterchef but did not like the film Bend it Like Beckham, saying she asked nurses to turn it off because she was "shocked when the girls took off their shirts to practise in sports bras".

She enjoyed halal fried chicken and the British cheese potato snacks Wotsits.

Her parents were finally able to get to Britain 16 days after the shooting and Malala said it was the first time she was able to cry since she was shot.

"All that time alone in hospital I hadn't cried even when I had all those injections in my neck or the staples removed from my head. But now I could not stop. My father and mother were also weeping," she wrote.

"It was as if all the weight had been lifted from my heart. I felt that everything would be fine now."

The Sunday Times reported that Malala, who is now at school in Birmingham, central England, would meanwhile meet Queen Elizabeth II in the latest in a series of honours for her campaign for girls' education. – AFP, October 6, 2013.

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The Malaysian Insider :: Books

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Publishing start-ups crowd world’s biggest book fair

Posted: 05 Oct 2013 11:42 PM PDT

October 06, 2013

A rush of publishing start-ups and ever new ways to lure readers in an industry with Amazon breathing down its neck will be a central theme at the world's biggest book fair, opening in Germany on Wednesday.

Faced with competition from the online giant, publishers face an "imperative to be big", organisers of the Frankfurt Book Fair say, pointing to this year's merger to create Penguin Random House.

But the flipside is that start-ups are springing up as continental Europe now follows in the footsteps of Britain and the US, with all eyes on the newcomers shaping the future and hunting for a viable business model.

"The dividing line is no longer between old and new, print and e-books, analogue and digital," the fair's director Juergen Boos said.

"Instead it runs between those who have a passion for content and who want to provide access to it, and those who don't really care what they're selling."

In Germany, the pioneering spirit is seen in innovations such as Tolino, an e-reader produced by bookshop chains and Deutsche Telekom, and Flipintu, an online reader community sharing tips and recommendations, hoping to do for books what Spotify did for music.

Katja Boehne, the fair's spokeswoman, said the mushrooming of start-ups in digital publishing mirrored the switch to smartphones in mobile communications.

From initially offering books in digital format, the range of services around books and content now encompasses self-publishing, 3D educational products with interactive graphics, platforms for interactive reading and new ways of Internet shopping, she said.

"The possibilities of buying books in the classic ways of bookselling are becoming constantly smaller," she said.

"Accordingly, new solutions for the distribution of books on the Internet are being worked on everywhere," Boehne added.

Parents investing in children

More than 7,000 exhibitors will descend on the western German city which annually hosts the five-day showcase of international publishing and its cross-over into film, video games and merchandising.

Brazil's literature, arts and culture will take pride of place, represented by around 90 writers, and backed by a 900,000-euro ($1.2-million) government programme for 2011-13 for the translation of Brazilian works.

The publishing sector is in "relatively good" shape compared to other industries, with children and youth literature a driving force, and school books also doing well, Boos told reporters.

"Parents are investing in their children," he said.

But the environment is changing with the scale of runaway successes such as "Fifty Shades of Grey", the 2011 erotic blockbuster by E L James. It was the first part of a trilogy that has been translated into 50 languages and sold over 70 million copies worldwide.

Not only does it pose questions about the diversity of what people read but also drives up the price of translation rights, Boos said.

"Everyone wants a certain bestseller, they all want the next Harry Potter, or the next Fifty Shades of Grey or Dan Brown... everyone's lusting after it," he said.

Blurring the lines between reality and fiction in today's storytelling is another topic for discussion at the fair, where US-Lebanese director, cameraman and author Ziad Doueiri will reveal how he shifts between Hollywood and Lebanon.

Doueiri has worked with director Quentin Tarantino and will receive the fair's 10,000-euro prize for the Best International Literary Adaptation for his film "The Attack", based on Yasmina Khadra's novel about a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.

Doueiri said in April that the Lebanese authorities had banned his award-winning film from cinemas in his home country because it was partly shot in Tel Aviv using Israeli actors.

The debate about e-books and whether they sound the death knell for print books seems to have been laid to rest, with both finding their place and acceptance in parallel.

Bookstores nevertheless face the need to be inventive.

For hints on how bookshops may look in the future, fair organisers point to initiatives in Britain, such as "The Bookshop Band" which writes literature-inspired songs and plays them in stores.

Meanwhile the blog "Bookshelf Porn" has been aiming to give "people a sudden urge to read" since 2009 by showing the best bookshelf photos from around the world.

"Let's be reasonable and add an eighth day to the week that is devoted exclusively to reading," enthused one tweet by a fan. – AFP, October 6, 2013.

Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro to release illustrated book

Posted: 05 Oct 2013 11:24 PM PDT

October 06, 2013

Mexican writer-director Guillermo del Toro is releasing an illustrated book of notes and drawings from his private journals and filmmaking diaries, his publisher said on Friday.

"Guillermo del Toro Cabinet of Curiosities: My Notebooks, Collections, and Other Obsessions," which goes on sale on Oct. 29, will give readers a glimpse into the imaginative mind of the director of 2006 fantasy film "Pan's Labyrinth," which won three Oscars, and this year's sci-fi disaster movie "Pacific Rim."

The 256-page book, written with author and filmmaker Marc Scott Zicree, takes readers on a tour of Bleak House, the director's second home and working office, and includes a series of interviews in which he discusses his graphic inspirations, storytelling and film analysis.

"He sees with the wonder and stark terror of a child," James Cameron, the Oscar-winning director of films including 1997's "Titanic" and 2009's "Avatar," said in a foreword to the book, published by Harper Design, an imprint of HarperCollins.

"His notebooks are a map of the subconscious, and his films doorways into the dungeons of our dreams, allowing us to confront our own individual hearts of darkness, to do battle and emerge victorious," Cameron added. – Reuters, October 6, 2013.

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The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

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Laporan audit: Sampai bila mahu begini?

Posted: 05 Oct 2013 04:54 PM PDT

October 06, 2013

Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad is a member of the PAS central working committee and ex-MP of Kuala Selangor.

Kalau pendedahan kajian Ernst and Young minggu lalu tidak lagi menjadikan kita geram, marah dan berang, laporan Ketua Audit Negara yang dibentang minggu ini mungkin juga tidak lagi menimbulkan apa-apa reaksi keras dari rakyat.

Ya, mungkin saja sebahagian besar rakyat sudah mangli atau bosan dengan paparan seperti ini. Mungkin ada juga yang mula berasa khasnya yang nekad memilih Umno-BN juga kerana takut kepada pemerintahan baru yang mengkesampingkan Melayu dan Islam, telah mula berasa tertipu.

Propaganda menakut-nakutkan rakyat sudah reda dan tidak dimainkan sehebat ketika berkempen.Tampak jelas adalah daripada hal janji-janji sebelum pilihanraya semakin menyerlahkan belang sebenarnya. Satu persatu semacam dirungkaikan.

Antaranya; isu subsidi petrol dan diesel yang janjinya tidak mahu membebankan rakyat, Akta Pencegahan Jenayah atau Preventive Crime Act (PCA) jelmaan baru ISA yang dulunya mahu dihapuskan, cukai GST yang tidak akan dilaksanakan disebut-sebut akan dimasukkan dalam Budget 2014, perbekalan tambahan sebanyak RM14 bilion yang memburukkan lagi defisit fiskal meskipun yang dijanji adalah perbelanjaan berhermat kerajaan untuk mengurangkan defisit belanjawaan.

Janji PM Najib untuk memerangi rasuah sudah sedia dimaklumi rakyat. Ia adalah semacam sumpahnya dalam pelancaran NKRA dan Pemandu bertanggungjawab mempastikan janji dan sumpahnya ditunaikan. Najib nyata gagal!

Terkini, Ernst and Young, salah satu daripada empat firma audit terbesar di dunia, dalam kajian mereka 'Asia-Pacific Fraud Survey Report Series', mendapati Malaysia adalah antara negara paling korup di antara yang dikaji selidik.

Dapatan yang lebih mendetail boleh ditekuni dalam website E&Y (www.ey.com/publication) yang melibatkan 681 pegawai eksekutif China, Singapura, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea Selatan dan Malaysia.

Pendedahan keputusan kajian ini adalah sangat memalukan Najib dan Pemandu. Dapatan ini mengaibkan rakyat di negara ini. Jelasnya dalam satu soalan yang ditanya: Apakah anda bersedia melakukan rasuah dan mengambil jalan-jalan pintas, seandai suasana persekitaran perniagaan menekan, 54% eksekutif di Malaysia mengesahkan mereka bersedia, diikuti China 34%, Indonesia 29%, Vietnam 27%, New Zealand 13%, Singapura 11%, Australia 10% dan Korea Selatan 6%. Ternyata kita pada ranking teratas – juara!

Untuk pengetahuan umum, pertama kali kajian agensi antarabangsa anti-rasuah 'Transparency International' menerbitkan 'Indeks Persepsi Rasuah' (CPI) pada tahun 1995, Malaysia diletakkan pada ranking ke-23 dari 43 negara seluruh dunia yang dibuat kajian.

Kedudukan Malaysia dalam Negara-negara Asia-Pasifik adalah pada tangga ke-6, selepas Jepun (5), Hong Kong (4), Australia (3), Singapura (2) dan New Zealand yang menduduki tangga Pertama. Markah yang kita perolehi ialah 5.28, dimana markah 10 paling bersih dan 0 paling korup.

Selepas 17 tahun, dalam laporan CPI tahun 2011, dengan pelbagai program, kempen dan kaedah termasuk sejak Najib ambil aleh pada 2009, kedudukan Malaysia jatuh ke tangga 11 di Asia-Pasifik dengan markah 4.3 dan ke-60 di dunia. Adalah diakui bahawa Malaysia membuat sedikit penambahbaikan dalam laporan 2012.

Berlatarbelakangkan laporan CPI dan pendedahan tahun demi pendedahan dalam laporan Ketua Audit Negara termasuk yang terkini 2012, rakyat Malaysia sudah bosan dan kini hanya mahukan komitmen daripada Najib untuk bertindak.

Betul bukan semua melibatkan rasuah atau penyelewangan namun kesemuanya paling tidaknya melibatkan ketidakpatuhan dan kecuaian dan paling buruknya ialah salah guna kuasa dan rasuah.

Daripada pertikaian kontrak kempen Kementerian Kesihatan di Facebook dan Twitter yang melibatkan belanja sebanyak RM320,000, walkie-talkie sehinggalah ke kontrak keselamatan 35 sekolah yang tidak memuaskan menelan RM2.05 bilion.

Daripada PDRM kehilangan 44 senjata api, kenderaan dan sampai pembelian 7,669 pasang kasut yang tidak sesuai, tidak boleh guna dan rosak menelan kos RM600,000.

Pembelian 55 lukisan sebagai pelaburan mungkin yang tidak dipamerkan oleh Khazanah Nasional dengan kos RM3.05 juta sehinggalah bayaran RM1.6juta kepada artis K-Pop. Monopoli oleh tiga syarikat penyelenggara 64 bangunan persekutuan dan puluhan kes yang melibatkan pengurusan pincang badan-badan berkanun Persekutuan yang kosnya RM1.446 bilion.

Ksemuanya termaktub dalam erti tuntutan untuk diaudit tata-kelola Akta Badan Berkanun (Akta dan Laporan Tahunan) 1980 (Akta 240).

Berapakah jumlah kesan dalam laporan tahun ini? Apakah yang terlibat akan diadili dan kalau sabit dihukum? Apakah jaminan Najib bahawa ia tidak lagi menjadi retorik politik dan pilihanraya sahaja?

Sekarang rakyat mahukan kerajaan Najib dan BN memberi jaminan bahawa tindakan akan diambil dan amalan buruk yang telah 'membudaya' atau lebih tepat 'membarah' ini akan dapat ditangani secara serius dan berkesan.

Kegiatan audit oleh Jabatan Audit Negara tidak lagi boleh dijadikan satu amalan rutin tahunan yang tidak membawa apa-apa manfaat pun kepada amalan tadbir-urus negara.

Kebejatan ini mesti ditamatkan segera dan segala penambahbaikan yang diperlukan untuk memulihkan tata-kelola dan pengurusan dikesemua badan dan seuruh jentera kerajaan dalam Persekutuan ini mesti ditangani.

Dalam bahasa anak muda, cukup-cukup sudah! Enuf is Enuf! PM mesti beri jaminan kepada seluruh rakyat bahawa Laporan Audit Tahun depan akan mengalami penambahbaikan yang ketara mengikut KPI yang Najib perlu letakkan.

Rakyat telah tertipu dengan slogan-slogan molok sebelum pilihanraya dan rakyat tidak mahu terus tertipu! - 6 Oktober, 2013.

* Penulis adalah Pengarah Pusat Penyelidikan PAS Pusat.

* Ini adalah pendapat peribadi penulis dan tidak semestinya mewakili pandangan The Malaysian Insider.

Sing your heart out

Posted: 05 Oct 2013 04:39 PM PDT

October 06, 2013

Cass Shan started off as a copywriter tasked with understanding buying behaviour. She now immerses herself in understanding buy-in behaviour.

There are a lot of ways to air your feelings. People like me sometimes become known as a professional complainer because I air my thoughts through the media. Recently, I was touched by a different medium of expression.

Singing.

We all know a good song sung when we hear it. It's full of passion, heart and emotion. It moves you. Fox International Channel has been organising the K-Pop Star Hunt for a few times now and they did it again recently for the third time at Berjaya Times Square.

Yes – K-pop – that foreign Korean import that brought us catchy music with hip dance moves and sometimes slow beats. You may not understand the language but you know a good song when you hear it because it travels up your spine.

As I watched the performance of the final ten, I was touched by the sincerity of the participants – belting their best in front of a cheering audience. These were individuals who look like normal Average Joes. They dressed with those Asian influence you've come to associate with K-pop. They stand without confidence, all fearing the judging panel consisting of Mr. Eddy Tan, vice-president, Original Productions – Entertainment, Fox International Channels (FIC); Mr. Michael Jung, head of Channel M, FIC, and representative for CJ E&M; Mr. Jeremy Kung, executive vice-president, TM New Media; Malaysia's guest judge, home-grown singer and songwriter, Atilia Harun.

With a judge panel like that – and an amazing grand prize of flying to Seoul in mid-October 2013 to train under FNC Entertainment (regarded as one of the top tier agencies in South Korea, FNC Entertainment has churned out the likes of Korean music powerhouses like CNBLUE, Juniel, FT Island and AOA) – who wouldn't be silently praying for divine intervention?

But what impressed me was watching these Average Joes transform into the most energetic, passionate performers the moment they stretch their vocals. The participants, mostly young, ranging from as young as 15 to mid twenties, swayed to the music like local pros, oblivious to the glaring eyes of the tough competition standards that Fox International Channels had set. They gave it their all!

The deserving winner was Putri Norizah and Ryan Thoo, who showcased vocal prowess obtained through passionate practice. I was already intrigued by their spirit – humble individuals with dreams who turn into superstars on stage – but when I heard their stories, I came away motivated with the spark that remains in Malaysian youths.

Both Putri and Ryan spoke positively of their ambition to break into the Korean market. The K-Pop Star Hunt – with its opportunity to train under FNC Entertainment – was the ticket to this. They deservedly won the competition and were enthusiastic about the opportunity granted by an already established entertainment corporation that is Fox International Channels. Chances like this don't come often, and when you get it – you grab onto it with both hands, hang tight and fly with the wind.

I was extremely intrigued by the K-pop wave. How do people get out of their comfort zone to try to understand a different language? So I spoke to the participants and came away impressed with what moves young Malaysians. Their answer: when you have a passion, you're not afraid of getting out of your comfort zone, even if it means having to prove yourself among other able contestants, practising consistently – and in the case of Ryan who made it to Top 10 in last year's K-Pop Hunt – wait an entire year for the chance to come along again; quietly tinkering with his skills, silently improving day by day for 365 days before the spotlights come on.

These are what our youths are made of – and it gives me great pride to know that there are people out there with the determination and drive to set their eyes on their goals and are rewarded with an extraordinary opportunity to train abroad.

For that, I came away equally impressed that FIC took it upon themselves to open the pathways for aspiring singers in Malaysia. FIC is already well established and well known for its impressive line-up of entertainment shows. For a large corporation like that to build a platform for mostly unknown and hidden talents in Malaysia only means that entertainment is in their corporate veins. And having been in the corporate world myself, it's refreshing when companies move from its concrete bricks and mortar of the bottom line to something with heart and people in its mind.

It started out as a stroll in Berjaya Times Square. But it ended with a blazing performance of pop frenetic capped with inspiration.

I guess there's a time for aspiring and there's a time for perspiring. Because sometimes, when the music is in you, you just got to sing your heart out. – October 6, 2013.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

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Tumpu Sungai Limau walaupun hadapi pemilihan, pinta Hishammuddin kepada Umno

Posted: 06 Oct 2013 02:48 AM PDT

October 06, 2013

Umno perlu mempersiapkan jentera bagi menghadapi pilihan raya kecil (PRK) Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Sungai Limau walaupun parti berdepan dengan pemilihan ketika ini, kata Naib Presiden Umno Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

Beliau berkata ini kerana pertandingan dalam Umno umpama pertandingan dalam keluarga, tetapi di Sungai Limau melibatkan saingan politik sebenar yang perlu dihadapi dengan penuh semangat dan iltizam yang tinggi.

"Ibu Pejabat Umno, Badan Perhubungan Umno Kedah serta sayap-sayap parti walaupun sibuk dengan pemilihan parti, jangan lupa dengan tanggungjawab yang lebih besar iaitu memastikan calon kita menang pada pilihan raya kecil Sungai Limau," katanya kepada pemberita selepas perjumpaan bersama bahagian-bahagian Umno di Perak di sini hari ini.

Beliau berkata kemenangan Barisan Nasional (BN) di PRK Sungai Limau amat penting demi memantapkan lagi kedudukan BN di Kedah setelah berjaya merampas kembali negeri itu pada Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 (PRU13).

"Menambah satu lagi kerusi di Kedah bermakna kita berjaya mengukuhkan lagi kepercayaan rakyat terhadap kemampuan BN untuk mentadbir dan memimpin negeri itu," katanya.

Hishammuddin berkata pada perjumpaan hari ini bahawa beliau telah meminta Umno Perak supaya memberi bantuan serta sokongan kepada Menteri Besar Kedah Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir serta jenteranya demi memastikan kemenangan BN di Sungai Limau.

Katanya, sumbangan dan sokongan daripada Umno Perak terutamanya dari segi logistik amat penting kerana mereka merupakan negeri terdekat dengan Kedah.

Kerusi DUN Sungai Limau yang terletak dalam kawasan Parlimen Jerai kosong susulan kematian penyandangnya Allahyarham Tan Sri Azizan Abdul Razak, yang juga bekas menteri besar Kedah, pada 26 September lepas.

Allahyarham mempertahankan kerusi DUN Sungai Limau yang dimenanginya sejak 1995 pada PRU13, 5 Mei lalu selepas mengalahkan sepupunya Fazillah Mohd Ali dari BN dengan majoriti 2,774 undi. - Bernama, 6 Oktober, 2013.

Selepas gagal di panggung, Tanda Putera masuk Felda secara percuma

Posted: 06 Oct 2013 02:40 AM PDT

OLEH EILEEN NG
October 06, 2013

Selepas gagal mendapat sambutan di panggung wayang, filem kontroversi Tanda Putera akan ditayangkan secara percuma di semua 317 tanah rancangan Felda, lapor akhbar Inggeris, The New Straits Times hari ini.

Pengerusi Felda, Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad yang sedang berkempen untuk jawatan Naib Presiden Umno berkata, ia sebahagian dari projek panggung wayang terbuka Felda.

"Masyarakat Felda patut pergi menonton filem yang juga menyentuh pembangunan Felda yang dimulakan oleh perdana menteri kedua, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein sendiri.

"Kita yakin mereka akan mengambil kesempatan untuk menonton sendiri filem ini dan mendapat maklumat sebenar sebelum membuat sebarang andaian mengenai jalan ceritanya," katanya sebagaimana yang dipetik akhbar itu ketika berucap di majlis pelancarannya di Padang Awam Felda Palong 12 di Jempol, Negeri Sembilan, Jumaat lepas.

Isa juga berkata, pihaknya juga sedia menayangkan filem itu di kampung-kampung tradisi jika ada permintaan ke atasnya.

"Filem ini bagus, cerita sejarah yang sesuai untuk ditonton oleh golongan remaja. Kita tidak ada masalah untuk menayangkannya di mana-mana saja," tambahnya.

Filem yang menelan belanja RM4.8 juta yang dibuat berasaskan peristiwa perbalahan kaum 13 Mei, 1969 di Kuala Lumpur itu mendapat bantahan dari DAP dan MCA yang mendakwa beberapa dialog dan gambaran dalam filem itu boleh mencetuskan ketegangan kaum.

Kedua-dua parti itu mengkritik penayangan filem ini yang antaranya menunjukkan Cina yang bertanggungjawab mencetuskan tragedi 13 Mei itu.

Tanda Putera mengalami kerugian yang teruk apabila gagal mendapat sambutan di pawagam. Gambar The Malaysian Insider, 6 Oktober 2013.Ketua Parlimen DAP, Lim Kit Siang antara yang tidak berpuashati dengannya kerana menunjukkan sekumpulan remaja Cina kencing di tiang bendera yang terletak di perkarangan rumah bekas menteri besar Selangor, Datuk Harun Idris.

Ia seolah-olah menggambarkan Lim sebagai salah seorang dari remaja itu.

Dalam satu posting menerusi laman Facebook Tanda Putera, pentadbir laman meminta maaf kepada Lim kerana mendakwa beliau terlibat dalam kejadian itu.

Filem ini mula ditayangkan di panggung wayang pada 29 Ogos tetapi gagal mendapat sambutan.

Pengarah filem ini, Datin Paduka Shuhaimi Baba berkata, beliau sudah menjangka filem ini tidak akan mendapat sambutan baik kerana ia cerita sejarah yang sukar mendapat minat dari peminat wayang gambar, yang biasanya suka menonton cerita seram atau komedi. - 6 Oktober, 2013.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Ahad, 6 Oktober 2013