Georgia Asian Times Vol 9 No 5

1st Asian American Olympic gold medalist

US Olympic Hall of Fame

2013 AKFS New American Hero Award

Covering The Multicultural Asian American Community in Georgia www.gasiantimes.comMarch1-15,2013Vol10No5

Publisher: Li WongAccount Manager: Adrian WestContributors: Andrian Putra, May Lee, Mark HoPhotography: Ben Hioe

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GAT welcome submission of announcement pertaining to community related events. Please email event, date, venue, and time to [email protected].

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Georgia Asian Times March 1-15, 2013 Page 3

2013 America Korea Friend-ship Society-Annual Banquet2013 New American Hero of The Year AwardDate: Saturday, March 2, 2013Time: 6:00 pmVenue: Renaissance Waverly HotelBy Invitation Only.

“Understanding Ethical, Legal, and Societal Issues Related to Emerging Technol-ogies of Military Significance” presented by Dr. Herbert Lin, Chief Scientist, CSTB.The Center for International Strategy, Technology, & Policy (CISTP) at Sam Nunn School of International Affairs Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2013Time: 2:00pm-3:15pm Venue: Gordy Room, Wardlaw Center. For information: [email protected] to RSVP.

Presentation by Han LiXun, Chief Designer of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Opening CeremonyDate: Monday, March 11, 2013Venue: UPS Founders Auditorium, 55 Glenlake Parkway Time:: 5:30 pm-8:30 pmBy invitation only.

2013 NAAAP IMPACT Leadership For SuccessDate: Thursday, March 12, 2013Time: 5:45 -7:30 pmVenue: Newell Rubbermaid, 3 Glenlake ParkwayFor more info: [email protected]

Indonesia Business & Investment ForumDate: Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013Time: 9:00 am - 2:00 pmVenue: Marriott Marquis AtlantaFor more info:[email protected]

Symposium on Asia-USA Partnership Opportunities (SAUPO)Date: Friday, April 19, 2013Venue: St. Regis Hotel, AtlantaFor more info: visit www.ken-nesaw.edu/saupo

Indonesia Friendly Golf TournamentOrganized by Consul General IndonesiaDate: Sunday April 21, 2013Tee Time: 1:00 pmVenue: Hamilton Mill Golf Club - Canongate Golf Club

Page 4 March 1-15, 2013 Georgia Asian Times

METRO ASIAN NEWS

Nominations for the annual presti-gious GAT 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia Awards is open. If you know of any individuals of Asian heritage who make signifi-cant contributions and dedication to promote Asian Americans in Georgia, please submit your nomination via email today.

Nominate a candidate by March 31, 2013 via email to [email protected].

Please limit 2 nominations per submission. Enclosed an introduction, photo, and list of accomplishments.

Nominee must displayed contri-butions and dedication to the Asian Americans community in Georgia.

Nominations will be reviewed by GAT editorial board and a GAT selec-tion committee comprising of local Asian journalists. No guarantees that submitted nominees will be selected.

Nominations for 2013 GAT 25 Influential Asian Americans in Georgia

KSU To Host 2nd Symposium on Asia-USA PartnershipKennesaw, March 1, 2013 -- Ken-

nesaw State University’s Asian Studies Program is planning to host a major international business symposium on Asia on April 19, 2013 at St. Regis Hotel. The one-day Symposium on Asia-USA Partnership Opportunities (SAUPO) will focus on a wide range of topics from business, education, healthcare, information science, and humanities.

“We are expecting to draw over 40 high ranking speakers from around the world for the symposium,” said Pro-fessor May H. Gao, PhD., Chair of the SAUPO Planning Committee.

This year’s symposium would be the second time as KSU hosted the inaugu-ral event in April 2011. Building on the

theme of “Partnership between U.S. and Asia”, Professor Gao viewed the symposium as the platform for infor-mation exchange and networking for participants.

Mr. Farooq Kathwari, Chairman, President and CEO of Ethan Allen Global, Commissioner from The White House AAPI Initiatives, is scheduled to present the keynote address at the symposium, according to Professor Gao.

“We would like to encourage inter-ested participants to take advantage of the early registration rate of $199.00 by March 15. After that, the rates will rise to $249.00 per participant,” said Professor Gao.

Students pay a $99.00 registration fee for the symposium.

“With the guidance from the advi-sory board and planning committee, this symposium has turned into the largest conference of its kind in the southern region of U.S.,” said Professor Gao proudly.

For more information on the sympo-sium, visit www.kennesaw.edu/saupo

Spring Reception Celebrates Hong Kong-US Friendship in Georgia

Atlanta, February 25, 2013 — Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York hosted a Spring Reception at the Carter Center for local business, government and community leaders to foster closer trade relations in the Year of Snake.

“The U.S. remains the single largest source of overseas companies in Hong Kong with more than 1400 firms,” said Mr Donald Tong, Hong Kong’s Com-missioner for Economic and Trade Affairs for the U.S.

“A growing number of multinational companies which issued RMB Bonds in Hong Kong to finance their operations in China originates from the U.S. This is a testimony of the shrewd business acumen of U.S. entrepreneurs but also to the growing ties between Hong Kong and the U.S.,” added Commissioner Tong.

Over 200 guests were treated to a display of lion dances and traditional Chinese dance. Kwanza Hall, Atlanta City Commissioner (District 2) and Alex Wan, Atlanta City Commissioner (District 6) were in attendance.

“We are pleased to maintain our positive relations with our friends in Georgia and Alabama,” said Ms. Anita Chan, Director of Hong Kong Econom-ic and Trade Office in New York, refer-ring to invited guests from neighboring Alabama and Georgia.

The reception also marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of Hong Kong Association of Atlanta. Guests of the evening were greeted with a new year toast by Mr. Tong and Ms. Chan.

Commissioner Tong also spoke at a luncheon reception earlier in the day at Emory University on “Strengthening US-Hong Kong Partnerships.”


METRO ASIAN NEWS

Large turnout at 2013 Georgia AAPI Legislative Day

Atlanta, February 28, 2013 -- Rais-ing the visibility of Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) and to educate AAPI communities of civic engagement are the main objectives of 2013 Georgia AAPI Legislative Day. A series of event was held at the Georgia State Capitol and the Georgia Railroad Freight De-pot to mark the occasion.

Mr. Brian Kemp, Georgia Secretary of State, spoke at a breakfast session organized by Asian American Legal Advocacy Center. The session also featured Rep. BJay Park, Atlanta City Council Alex Wan, Rep. Pedro Marin, and Mr. Tim Hur.

A training session highlighting key legislative issues and advocacy train-ing was held at the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot. Ms. Bonnie Youn mod-erated a panel presentation by Judge

Alvin T. Wong, Mike Vaquer, Principal of The Vaquer Firm, Glenn D. Magpan-tay, Director of Democracy Program at Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Farooq Mughal, Principal of MS Global Partners LLC.

Among the key legislative issue is to appoint more AAPI judges and gov-ernmental officials in Georgia. Another goal is to create and appoint a new AAPI Commission for Georgia.

Due to the recent HB 87 legislation, the immigration law require people to provide identification for public benefits and professional licenses. As an unintended consequences of HB 87, issuances of licenses to thousands of accountants, physicians, nurses, cosmetologists, and others are bogged down with negative impact on AAPI communities in Georgia.

Dr. Sammy Lee Awarded the New American Hero by AKFS

Atlanta, March 2, 2013 - Dr. Sammy Lee was honored with 2013 New American Hero Award by America Korea Friendship Society (AKFS) at a banquet.

Dr. Lee who is currently 92 years old was the first Asian American to win an Olympic gold medal for the United States and the first man to win back-to-back gold medals in Olympic platform diving.

General (Retired) Larry Ellis, Chairman of AKFS, awarded the new American Hero Award along with a $10,000 cash check to Dr. Lee. The cash award will be donated by Dr. Lee to University of Southern California fund for building a new aquatic and diving center.

In a moving speech, a former trainee of Colonel (Retired) Jim Stapleton recounts the inspiration and training given to him in diving. Col. Stapleton saluted Dr. Lee’s accomplishment and the inspiration that instilled in him as a young man.

In another surprise ceremony, AD Frazier, former COO of 1996 Atlanta Olympic Committee, shared insights and spirit of the 1996 Games. He later presented the Korean national flag which flew at the 1996 Olympics to Sunny K. Park, President of AKFS as a gift.

“This is a wonderful gift that should belong to the Korean American com-munity in Georgia. I want to present it to Korean American Association of Greater Atlanta for their safe keeping,” said Sunny K. Park.

In a moving acceptance speech, Dr. Lee shared stories of perseverance amidst difficulties, especially relating to racial discrimination towards him as an Asian American.

While pursuing his dream in diving, Dr. Lee faced many obstacles including a regular practice venue as non-whites were not allowed to use the public pool except one day each week before the pool was scheduled to be drained and refilled with clean water. As a result, his coach dug a pit in his backyard and filled it with sand so that he could prac-tice by jumping into the pit.

Dr. Lee achieved his dream of win-ning medals at the Olympic by becom-ing the first non-white diving cham-pion in the U.S. He won the gold medal in the 10m platform diving and the bronze medal in springboard diving in the 1948 games. He defended his title in the 1952 games, winning the gold medal in the 10m platform diving.

His accomplishment were not lim-ited to the athletic fields. Dr. Lee was a student-athlete at the University of

Southern California School of Medi-cine, where he received his M.D. in 1947. He served in the U.S. Army Med-ical Corps in Korea from 1053-1955, where he specialized in the diseases of the ear. In 1953, while serving his tour of duty in Korea, he won the James E. Sullivan Award, which is awarded an-nually by the Amateur Athletic Union to the most outstanding amateur ath-lete in the United States.

Dr. Lee went on to coach Olympic divers including Pat McCormick, Bob Webster, and Greg Louganis. He is a

member of U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.

Dr. Lee urged young Korean Ameri-cans to embrace and be proud of their Korean heritage. He shared his personal experience where his father advise him to dream bigger and strive boldly towards his goal.

“Son, if you are not proud of the shaper of your eyes and the color of your skin, then who can respect you?” recalls the advise given to him by his father.


HEADLINEObama calls for replacing sequester with

balanced approach

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2013 (AFP) - With severe spending cuts now etched into law, US President Barack Obama urged Congress Saturday to find a deficit-trimming alternative that avoids what he has likened to using a meat cleaver.

Obama advocated what he called a balanced approach to replace across the board cuts of $85 billion in federal spending this year, blending “smart” cuts with reforms.

The so-called sequester mandated cuts were never actually meant to go into effect when it was fashioned in a deal with Congress in 2011.

The drastic cuts are not expected to be immediate or uniform across the country or from one government department to another.

Economists have warned that the cuts could cost many jobs and hinder growth in the still fragile US economy. But the realization is sinking in that despite the perils they bring, the cuts are here to stay -- at least for now.

In his weekly radio and Internet ad-dress Saturday, the president argued however there was still time to find a smarter solution to the nation’s deficit and debt problem.

“I still believe we can and must replace these cuts with a balanced approach -- one that combines smart spending cuts with entitlement reform and changes to our tax code that make it more fair for families and businesses without raising anyone’s tax rates,” Obama said.

These were allusions to Obama’s willingness to trim spending on pro-grams like medical care for the elderly and the poor, something which is anathema to many in his Democratic Party, and Obama’s drive to close tax

loopholes he says benefit the rich.

Republicans, who ceded to Obama in another budget showdown late last year and allowed taxes on the rich to go up, have said point blank that any deficit reduction now has to come from spending cuts, exclusively.

Obama said the budget deficit now exceeding $1 trillion can be reduced without laying off workers or forcing parents and students to pay the price.

“A majority of the American people agree with me on this approach - in-cluding a majority of Republicans,” the president argued.

“We just need Republicans in Con-gress to catch up with their own party and the rest of the country.”

Under the sequester, 800,000 civil-ian employees of the Defense Depart-ment will go on a mandatory furlough one day a week and the navy will trim voyages. The deployment of a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf has been canceled.

Defense contractors may be forced to

lay off workers and some federal health spending could be hit.

Cuts will also be made to special needs education and preschool for less well-off children. National parks could close and wait times could hit four hours at airport customs posts.

But the president insisted that de-spite public bickering, Republicans and Democrats actually had more in com-mon than they were willing to let on.

Some Republicans have charged that the Obama administration is overstat-ing the impact of the sequester, argu-ing it will not be so bad in the end.

A cartoon published Saturday in The Washington Post, entitled “Sequester Day”, illustrated this slice of the latest bipartisan battle to engulf gridlocked Washington. It featured three vi-gnettes: the sun rising, a sailboat on a calm seas and the Earth staying in orbit.

“Told you,” says an elephant, the symbol of the Republican Party.

“Just wait,” retorts Obama, his arms

crossed and looking miffed.

On Friday, hours before signing the cuts into law as he had to, Obama blamed the austerity time bomb on Republicans, who he said refused to close tax loopholes for the rich and corporations, combined with more tar-geted spending cuts, in his “balanced” approach to deficit reduction.

“I am not a dictator. I’m the presi-dent,” Obama said, warning he could not force his Republican foes to “do the right thing,” or make the Secret Service barricade Republicans leaders in a room until a deal is done.

“These cuts will hurt our economy, will cost us jobs and to set it right both sides need to be able to compromise,” Obama said, before decrying the bud-get trimming as “dumb” and “unneces-sary.”

Only three months after winning re-election, and with the extent of his authority in Washington again con-strained, Obama bemoaned his in-ability to do a “Jedi mind-meld” to get Republicans to change their minds, mixing imagery from Star Wars and Star Trek.

The hit to military and domestic spending was never supposed to hap-pen, but was rather a device seen as so punishing that rival lawmakers would be forced to find a better compromise to cut the deficit.

Both sides agree that the sequester is a blunt instrument to cut spending, as it does not distinguish between essen-tial and wasteful programs -- in what Obama has branded a “meat-cleaver” approach.

New Defense Secretary Chuck Ha-gel warned that the sequester could endanger the military’s capacity to conduct its missions.


BUSINESSLG aims to sell 40 million smart

phones in 2013

SEOUL, Feb 25, 2013 (AFP) - LG Elec-tronics on Monday set a global sales target of 40 million smart phones for 2013, as the South Korean firm seeks to expand its presence in a market dominated by bigger rivals such as Samsung.

The world’s fifth-largest handset maker said in a statement that it aims to shift 10 million units each quarter by more than doubling sales of phones designed for next-generation 4G services called Long-Term Evolution (LTE).

Once the world’s number three phone maker in the pre-smartphone era, LG has struggled in recent years, with its Optimus smartphone series lagging Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy S.

But heavy promotion of new models including the Optimus G saw LG’s smart-phone sales surge 56 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 from a year ago to a record 8.6 million units.

Last week, the firm unveiled its latest Optimus G, featuring a full high-defini-tion screen, which packs 2.0 million pixels -- twice as many as smart phones with ordinary HD screens.

LG’s main domestic rival and the world’s top smartphone maker, Samsung, has sold more than 40 million units of its latest flagship handset, Galaxy S III, since its launch in May.

Ikea says no horse meat in US meatballsWASHINGTON, Feb 25, 2013 - Ikea

said Monday there was no horse meat in its popular meatballs sold in the United States, after the Swedish fur-niture giant withdrew possibly horse-meat-tainted meatballs from stores in Europe.

“All meatballs sold in our Ikea US stores are sourced from a US supplier,” the company said in a statement, after a test in the Czech Republic showed horse meat in Ikea meatballs sold there.

“When this issue first came to light in Europe, we mapped the sources of the meat in our meatballs,” the US division said.

“Based on the results of our map-ping, we can confirm that the contents of the meatballs follow the Ikea recipe and contain only beef and pork from animals raised in the US and Canada.”

Ikea, which sells bags of frozen meatballs in the small food sections of its huge furniture stores, pulled the product from shelves in 16 European countries Monday after the Czech Re-public tests.

“We have today been informed that our meatballs could contain traces of horse meat, based on a test done in the Czech Republic,” Ikea’s European operations said.

“Our own tests haven’t shown any traces of horse meat. We now obviously have to study this further,” it added.

Ikea said the meat in its European product normally came from Sweden, Germany and Ireland, but producers from other countries could be contract-ed when demand was especially high.

Since January a number of ready-made food products sold in super-markets across Europe and exported abroad have shown that horse meat has been used and labeled as beef or other products.

The effects were felt as far away as Hong Kong, where a brand of Euro-pean-made lasagne reportedly tainted with horse meat has been withdrawn from stores.

But so far the scandal has not touched the shores of the United States and Canada, both large beef and pork exporters.

Taiwan’s long-serving central banker gets fourth term

TAIPEI, Feb 25, 2013 (AFP) - Tai-wan’s President Ma Ying-jeou has reappointed the island’s central bank governor -- Asia’s longest-serving central banker -- for a fourth five-year term, officials said Monday.

Perng Fai-nan, nicknamed “foreign currency killer” for his efficient tactics against hot-money flows and financial speculators, will start his new term Tuesday, according to an order issued by Ma Saturday.

The appointment makes the 74-year-old the longest-serving central banker in Asia and, according to local media, the world.

Perng has been widely credited with guiding the island through the regional and global financial crises of the past 15 years.

Global Finance, a New York-based magazine, in 2012 gave Perng its top “A” rating along with only five other central bankers globally.

Perng is the only central bank gover-nor to have received the honour nine times from the magazine.


BUSINESSSri Lanka bans sale of land

to foreignersCOLOMBO, Feb 21, 2013 (AFP)

- Sri Lanka on Thursday banned the sale of land to foreigners, charg-ing that prime properties bought by outsiders had been neglected and that the country was not reaping the full benefits of their tourism potential.

Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the cabinet had approved the move in the wake of intense local demand for land for tourism development and industry in a country emerging from nearly four decades of ethnic war.

“Foreigners have bought prime lands, particularly beach properties, and in most cases they have neglected them,” Rambukwella told reporters.

“The country is not getting the full economic benefit from these proper-ties owned by foreigners,” he said.

The government initially announced plans to ban the sale of property on the island nation to foreigners last November.

There will be no moves to expro-priate foreign-owned properties, but proprietors will not be allowed to sell to other foreigners under the new laws. The land can be sold only to Sri Lankans, the minister said.

Favored locations along the island’s southern coast, as well as heritage sites where Portuguese, Dutch and British colonial rulers had their forts, had been bought by foreigners in recent years, Rambukwella said.

But there had been little develop-ment and chances had been lost to create jobs, he added.

Hardline Sri Lankan nationalists have long opposed foreign ownership of land, saying outsiders were driving up prices.

In 2004, the government slapped a 100 percent tax on the purchase price of properties sold to foreigners to discourage the sale of land to non-na-tives.

Authorities will continue to lease state land to foreign investors but would no longer sell it, Rambukwella said.

Sri Lanka’s economy grew by more than eight percent a year in the first full two years after security forces ended a war with Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009. Some 100,000 people were killed in 37 years of fighting.

Tourism has picked up sharply since the end of the conflict with investors rushing to build hotels along Sri Lanka’s palm-fringed beaches.

Barnes & Noble founder seeks to buy retail business

NEW YORK, Feb 25, 2013 (AFP) - Shares of Barnes & Noble soared Monday after the bookseller’s founder and largest shareholder proposed buy-ing the company’s retail and online businesses, but not its digital Nook businesses.

Shares in the company were up 10 percent at $14.86 in early afternoon trading in New York.

Leonard Riggio, the founder and chairman of the company, said in a regulatory filing that he “plans to pro-pose to purchase all of the assets of the retail business of the Company.”

Riggio currently holds 29.8 percent of the shares in company.

Riggio’s purchase proposal, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, includes Barnes & Noble stores and online website.

It excluded the company’s Nook Me-dia business, which includes Nook e-readers and digital college businesses.

Barnes & Noble said in a separate statement that it would appoint a com-mittee of three independent directors to evaluate the proposal.

“There can be no assurance that the review of Mr. Riggio’s proposal for the consideration of any transaction will result in a sale of the retail business or in any other transaction,” the book-seller said.

Barnes & Noble said in early 2012 that it was exploring splitting out the Nook business to “unlock the value” in a venture that had made a mark in digital content.

Barnes & Noble reported a net loss of $38.7 million for the first half of 2013, according to its most recent quarter.

The 2012 holiday shopping season was a disappointment, with the compa-ny reporting in January that revenues in its retail segment fell 10.9 percent from the year-ago period.

Holiday sales for Nook products also came in below expectations, the company said.

Barnes & Noble’s retail stores have seen increasing losses in recent years, pressured by online books and other online products. Former rival Borders went out of business in 2011 and liqui-dated 399 stores.

Asia to get almost 10,000 planes over 20 years: AirbusSINGAPORE, Feb 25, 2013 (AFP)

- Asia-Pacific carriers will take deliv-ery of 9,870 new passenger and cargo aircraft valued at $1.6 trillion over the next 20 years, European plane manu-facturer Airbus said Monday.

The region will account for 35 per-cent of aircraft deliveries worldwide and 40 percent of the market in terms of value during the period, putting it ahead of Europe and North America, Airbus said in a statement.

Airbus expects a total of 28,200 new aircraft deliveries globally with a market value of $4.0 trillion in the next 20 years.

“Everything is going to grow, but the shift to Asia-Pacific in terms of market share and market presence is going to be enormous,” said Airbus chief oper-ating officer John Leahy.

“Growing economies, bigger cities and increasing wealth will see more people flying, driving the need for

larger and more efficient aircraft,” he told journalists in Singapore.

Emerging markets like China and In-dia as well as the growing middle class in the region are powering demand for new aircraft, Leahy said, with Asia-Pacific carriers favoring wide-body models.

The size of the middle class in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to increase fivefold from 746 million in 2011 to 3.4 billion in 2031, according to

estimates cited by Airbus.

In contrast, the number of people making up the middle class in North America is expected to drop while a modest increase is predicted for Eu-rope during the 20-year period.

Domestic travel in the United States, which currently holds the largest share of world passenger traffic, is also ex-pected to be matched by travel within China in 2031 at 10.4 percent of the global total.


ART

NEW YORK, Feb 28, 2013 (AFP) - Clas-sical Chinese painters were masters of rocky mountains, but Liu Dan, one of a group of contemporary artists putting a new twist on a thousand-year tradition, sticks with just the rock.

Liu’s minutely detailed “Scholar’s Rock,” a large-scale, almost photographic exploration of a single gnarly, eroded stone at once pays homage to the classi-cal tradition of scrupulous ink and brush skills, while turning the notion of soaring landscapes on its head.

The work, among a collection of con-temporary paintings that went on show Thursday at Christie’s in New York, is emblematic of a modern school seeking to breathe new life into China’s heritage.

Challenging China’s staid traditions is nothing new. Ever since the Cultural Revolution receded, Chinese painters have been exploring Western innovations, adopting oils and contemporary abstract sculptures.

But a smaller group of painters -- one that Christie’s reckons is now poised for commercial success -- looks to classical techniques as inspiration for 21st century work.

“They are working in a traditional me-dium, but in a very contemporary vernac-ular,” said Paul Johnson, a senior director for Christie’s North America.

Although still a “niche,” this reborn classical genre has a strengthening pres-ence in the Asian art market and is win-ning a foothold in the West, Johnson said.

The exhibit of 25 works by nine artists in Manhattan is part awareness raising, part business: although not on auction, the paintings are discreetly for sale, with prices ranging between $27,500 and $770,000.

In a sign of growing recognition, a “major US museum” will soon devote an exhibit to this new-old Chinese style, Johnson said, declining to name the institution.

The artists on show at Christie’s mix their modern and ancient in different quantities.

Liu, who has lived in the United States and is now in Beijing, turns his lone rock into “something like a landscape painting where you can travel through all the little cracks,” said Carmen Shek, a Christie’s

China specialist.

Li Huayi’s “Clear view of mountains” or “Landscape in snow” bear a close resemblance to traditional paint-ings, but when you look closely “you notice all these lights” that lift the moody landscapes in a more modern way, Shek said.

Liu Kuo-Sung also sticks to mountains and

water, except he flips the usual techniques, for example using white, not black, to outline the mountains.

And unlike historical Chinese artists who Shek said “never portray water move-ments,” Liu Kuo-Sung uses collage, ink rubbing and other techniques to create unpredictable, greenish water close-ups.

Then there’s Gu Wenda, a star of the movement, and living in Brooklyn, New York.

To the uninitiated, his huge paintings couldn’t be more Chinese: they center on outsized characters of the alphabet. This references the hallowed tradition of Chinese calligraphy, which often features

discreetly in the margins of those typical ink paintings.

The difference here is that Gu’s charac-ters are gigantic -- and they’re made up, puzzling even native Chinese speakers and hitting several artistic buttons at once.

“From the outset, viewers are supposed to feel familiar and confused,” Shek said.

“The artist also affiliates the large, fake character with the propaganda posters during the Cultural Revolution, when the meaning of words were often deceptive.”

Chinese artists ink new future for 1,000 year art


FOCUSSmoking out tobacco: The rise of

the e-cig

PARIS, Feb 11, 2013 (AFP) - The camera zooms in on a stubble-beard-ed hunk dragging on a cigarette and blowing out a thick cloud of smoke with what seems to be great satisfac-tion.

It resembles the TV smoking ads of yesteryear, now banned in most of the world, yet this modern-day offering is approved for American television viewers.

“You know what the most amaz-ing thing about this cigarette is? It isn’t one,” explains a narrator as the modern-day Marlboro Man fixes the viewer with a broody stare before re-turning the reusable smoke to a con-tainer that resembles the traditional pocket-sized cardboard pack.

The NJOY “cigarette” is electronic -- its tip lights up with the help of an LED and what appears to be smoke is actually water vapor.

The actor is not smoking, but “vap-ing”.

“Cigarettes, you have met your match,” proclaims the ad for a prod-uct that claims to mimic “the look, feel and flavor of the real thing” -- minus the tar, ash, smoke and most toxins.

NJOY is one of a flurry of e-cigs entering the market as tobacco prices skyrocket and smokers become ever more concerned about the toxins they inhale.

But the jury is still out on whether the gadgets are safe or not.

“Without question, e-cigarettes are safer than traditional tobacco cigarettes,” said Joel Nitzkin, of the American Association of Public Health Physicians.

“They deliver nicotine, with only the tiniest traces of other toxic chemi-cals.”

But there are concerns that these battery-driven alternatives, officially called electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), may pose health hazards we are not even aware of yet -- just like cigarettes before their ill-effects became clear.

“The safety of ENDS has not been scientifically demonstrated,” the World Health Organization said in response to a query.

“The potential risks they pose for the health of users remain undeter-mined.”

The UN’s health organ said some testing “suggests the presence of other toxic chemicals, aside from nicotine”, and “strongly advised” consumers not to use them.

E-cigs first emerged in China in 2003 as an alternative to tobacco, which kills nearly six million people each year.

Just like their predecessors in the 1950s and 60s, electronic cigarettes are being advertised with attractive women and rugged, virile men -- hint-ing at a better, more popular you.

It’s a strategy that seems to work.

A study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM) last month said 80 percent of users ques-tioned in the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia believed e-ciga-rettes to be less harmful than their tobacco counterparts.

NJOY chief executive Craig Weiss said that industry predictions are for electronic cigarette sales, which have doubled in the United States every year since 2008, to reach $1 billion (about 750,000 euros) in 2013.

“Growth in the category has occurred as a result of the millions of smokers who are actively seeking an alterna-tive to cigarettes,” he said by email.

The company would not comment on the health aspects.

According to Nitzkin, the hazard posed by traditional tobacco cigarettes is about 100 times higher than today’s smokeless tobacco alternatives.

“When burned, cigarettes create a tarry residue that sticks to the inside of the smallest bronchial tubes of the lungs and in the alveoli, where the body absorbs the oxygen and releases the carbon dioxide.

“This tarry residue stays in place 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the life of the smoker,” he said -- a side-effect that ENDS do not have.

Yet the European Respiratory Society said this month it could not classify e-cigs as a safe alternative to smok-ing, and stressed the principle that tobacco users “should not trade one carcinogenic product for another.”

Last month, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority banned an ad for an e-cigarette, Nicolites, saying: “claims that the product was not harmful had not been substantiated”.

Some researchers have also ex-pressed concerns that non-smokers may get hooked on nicotine through e-cigarette use, or that the gadget would keep people addicted to nico-tine who might otherwise have quit.

Nicotine can be harmful to children, pregnant women and adults with heart disease.

A recent study among 3,400 high school pupils in France showed that 12 percent of 15-to-16-year-olds who claimed never to have smoked before had experimented with ENDS, and 19 percent of 17-year-olds.

“As a doctor, I cannot recommend the electronic cigarette,” said lung specialist Bertrand Dautzenberg re-cently at the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris.

“But I would not interfere with a smoker who wants to take it up. With a cigarette, there is a 50 percent chance of killing oneself. With the electronic cigarette, we aren’t too sure yet, but it is probably less,” he said.


EVENTSHong Kong Spring Reception, February 25, 2013, Carter Center

Asian American Pacific Islanders Legislative Day, Feb 28, 2013, GA Freight Rail Depot

Indonesian Consul General Visit to UPS Headquarters & Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce

L-R: Vince DaSilva, SVP-Gwinnett Chamber, Nick Masimo, VP, Econ Dev, Al Busyra Basnur, CG Indo-nesia, Li Wong, Publisher, Georgia Asian Times, Preston Williams, President Gwinnett Chamber

L-R: Adam Feinberg, VP, Intr Sales, Tim McKain, Dir Bus Dev, Inter Sales, Chong Loo, Finance Con-troller, Al Busyra Basnur, CG Indonesia, Estrella Cramer, Corp Finance Mgr, Li Wong, Publisher, GAT,

Thomas Soderlund, MD Enterprise Acct Sales

L-R: Glenn D. Magpantay, AALDEF, Judge Al Wong, State Court of Dekalb County, Bonniw Youn, Youn Law Group

L-R: Bonnie Youn, Youn Law Group, Farooq Mughal, MS Global Partners LLC


LIFESTYLE

Unetice, Czech Republic, Feb 25, 2013 - Rising from the ashes after clo-sure or near-collapse, historic Czech breweries are getting back on tap with new owners seeking to tickle the taste buds of beer lovers with new flavors.

Along with a wave of new micro-breweries, these revamped elders -- many with several hundred years of beer-making under their belts -- are offering an alternative to the Czech Republic’s world-famous trademark bottom-fermented lagers in a market cornered by the multinationals.

With beer drinking harking back more than 2,000 years and with their oldest brewery dating from 993, Czechs are proud of their national tipple which in most pubs is cheaper than bottled water.

They rank as the world’s keenest beer drinkers, having guzzled 145 liters of the tipple per head in 2011, according to industry statistics.

First opened in 1710, the Unetice brewery just north of the capital Prague spent six decades mothballed after it was closed in 1951, three years after the Communists took over.

Now, thanks to a husband and wife team, who are using their experience gained from working in a large brew-ery, the suds are back.

“We took a walk through the vil-lage and saw the building with a sign saying ‘brewery’,” said Lucie Tkadle-cova, who runs the brewery with her partner.

They snapped up the vast facility tucked away in a valley with the help

of investors, equipped it with cutting-edge technology and expect to turn a profit next year.

Unetice turned out almost 6,000 hectoliters of beer in 2012. Tkadleco-va said the brewery, currently employ-ing just six people, should ultimately produce 10,000 hectoliters of non-fil-tered and specialty beer annually.

“With the expansion, we will prob-ably have to hire two people, which is a dramatic increase percentage wise,” she chuckled.

The former Czechoslovakia, which split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, inherited about 150 large industrial breweries after World War II.

The number fell to about 90 dur-ing the command-economy era under Communist rule between 1948-89, then slid to under 50 after the switch to the market economy when Commu-nism was toppled and foreign giants deluged the market.

Two decades on, some of those shuttered breweries are reopening their doors, despite the overwhelming dominance of giants Pilsner Urquell owned by SABMiller and Molson Coors’ Pivovary Staropramen.

“We have 47 industrial breweries and about 150 microbreweries” in the Czech Republic, said Jan Vesely, head of the Czech Beer and Malt Associa-tion.

“None has gone under recently -- on the contrary, some have re-emerged, which is a good sign,” he added.

Revamped historic Czech breweries get back on tap

Pulled back from the edge of col-lapse in 2011, the Pivovar Vyskov brewery is betting its future on the wide array of beers -- including stouts and ales -- it exports to Germany, Russia, the Baltic states, Hungary and Slovakia.

“The brewery was built in 1680, so it would be a terrible shame if it went under,” said marketing director Ro-man Holoubek of the brewery, located some 230 kilometers (144 miles) southeast of Prague.

“When we took it over, it was to-tally down in terms of business and marketing,” Holoubek said, adding the brewery was then producing only a trickle of its installed capacity of 100,000 hectoliters.

Last year the business posted a slight loss after raising output by 47 percent against 2011 to 22,000 hecto-

liters of lager as well as India pale ale, wheat beer and stout.

The brewery has won regional awards as well as medals in Japan since its last-gasp recovery and ex-pects to turn a profit this year, Ho-loubek said.

But despite the current thirst for novelty beers, small breweries still make up only one percent of total Czech beer output and consumption, and experts say they are unlikely to pose serious competition in a market dominated by multinationals.

“They make the market interest-ing, they spice it up, but they have no impact on the market as a whole,” Vesely said.

“It’s nice, but it can’t affect the way the world has turned,” he added.


SPORTS

Formula One: McLaren install Goss as technical director

LONDON, Feb 25, 2013 (AFP) - McLaren announced on Monday that Tim Goss has been appointed as the British team’s new technical direc-tor and will replace Mercedes-bound Paddy Lowe at the end of the year.

Mercedes are still to confirm Lowe’s arrival, but McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh thanked him for his work with the team.

“Paddy has been a good and suc-cessful technical director and we wish him well when he embarks on a fresh challenge in 2014,” he said.

Formerly McLaren’s director of engineering, Goss joined the team in 2000 and has contributed to five drivers’ championship successes and three constructors’ world titles.

“His quiet and unassuming persona conceals a fierce competitiveness and a wealth of experience, coupled to an unrivaled level of expertise in the field of Formula One car design and engineering,” said Whitmarsh.

Lowe’s departure seems certain to create speculation about the role of Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn, who has had to defend his position in recent weeks after Toto Wolff was ap-pointed head of motor sport.

Whitmarsh said that Lowe “will be performing a different role” during the final year of his contract with McLaren, without providing further details.

He added: “I firmly believe our technical and engineering team is the best in the F1 business and that its strength in depth has always been, and will continue to be, an important element of our on-track success.

“Moreover, I’m certain that, in his expanded role, Tim will continue to lead it very capably and will evolve and improve it.

“That’s his brief and it’s already clear he’s prepared to embrace it with energy and enthusiasm.”

New Mongolian grand champ sees good futureTOKYO, Feb 18, 2013 (AFP) - Newly-

crowned sumo grand champion Haru-mafuji said Monday he sees a good fu-ture for the ancient but scandal-tainted Japanese sport as well as for his own career as a top fighter.

Harumafuji was promoted last year to become sumo’s first new grand champion for five years. He is the third Mongolian in succession to reach the sport’s top rank, or yokozuna.

The 28-year-old said he adheres to a strict training regimen not only to build up his strength but also to become an admired yokozuna who can give inspiration and hope to his audi-ence.

“Scandals could hit any world. You can only work from scratch to win back the heart of fans,” he told the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.

Sumo is gradually emerging from a series of scandals that have tainted its centuries-old image. Match-fixing, drug use and bullying allegations have eroded its popularity, although it still has a huge following.

To the disappointment of many of his fans, Harumafuji -- whose real name is Davaanyam Byambadorj -- ended his first regular 15-day “basho” tournament as a yokozuna in Novem-ber with just nine wins and six losses.

Sumo advisers criticised him as un-suitable for the rank.

But the grand champion swept to an impressive victory in the latest tourna-ment in January, winning all 15 bouts.

“I have a good future ahead of me,” said Harumafuji, clad in a grey silk kimono with his topknot relaxed at a slant -- the style for casual occasions rather than ring appearances.

He said his tough training schedule involving “lots of sweat and tears” never let him down when he got in the ring.

“I think you can become (the second-ranked) Ozeki if you work as hard as if you could die (in training),” Haru-mafuji said. “But I think you have to be destined, on top of making the hard effort, to become a yokozuna.”

Harumafuji, a relative lightweight at only 133 kilograms (293 pounds), became the 70th grand champion since the first was declared in the 17th century. He is only the fifth foreigner to hold the title.

Japanese sumo fighters have strug-gled to maintain standards in recent years, with many promising potential wrestlers shunning the rigorous train-ing or being lured away by more lucra-tive sports.


SPORTS

SINGAPORE, Feb 25, 2013 (AFP) - Mithun Perera hoped his father, Sri Lankan golf legend Nandasena, would be proud of him after coming within a whisker of becoming his country’s first Asian Tour winner this weekend.

And Perera, 26, felt a maiden victory was coming soon after he finished just one shot behind Thailand’s Chawalit Plaphol in the season-opening Zayka-bar Myanmar Open on Sunday.

“All you need is one good week to turn your life around. I feel my time is coming soon. I try my best in every tournament and I think the win is not far away,” he said, according to an Asian Tour press release.

Perera added: “I’m sure my father and my country are proud of me. This week, I flew the Sri Lankan flag high. There’s no disappointment for me.”

Perera’s father Nandasena rose from a “ball picker”, used to retrieve balls

from water-logged areas, to the upper levels of Asian golf in the 1980s and 1990s before arthritis and diabetes cut short his career.

Now Perera junior, who finished 50th on last year’s order of merit but lies second after the first event, is hop-ing his showing in Yangon will spur him to greater things, starting with next week’s SBI-SAIL Open at Delhi Golf Club.

“I feel that I’ve grown a lot since last year. I have good and accurate tee shots. My putter is good as well. I do lack in distance off the tees but the win will come,” he said.

“I have a chance to win on the short-er courses like the Delhi Golf Club. My accuracy is the highlight of my game. All I need now is a bit of luck.”

New Sri Lankan star is chip, putt off the old block

Nepalese woman scales Mount Everest twice within daysKATHMANDU, Feb 25, 2013 (AFP)

- A Nepalese climber was confirmed on Monday as the first woman to scale Mount Everest twice in a single season, Guinness World Records said, after she made the second summit within days of the first.

Chhurim Sherpa, 29, reached the 8,848-metre (29,028-feet) peak on May 12 last year before returning to base camp for a well-earned rest and then repeating the stunning feat a mere week later.

“I am very happy for this recogni-tion. I was determined that the record should be held by a Nepalese woman and I’m proud to be one,” said Sherpa, from Nepal’s eastern hills.

Another Sherpa, Pasang Lhamu, died on her descent after becoming the first Nepalese woman to reach the summit of the world’s tallest mountain in 1993.

Her feat was followed by 21 Nepalese women but no female climber in the world had ever managed two ascents in one season before Chhurim Sherpa.

“Climbing Everest turns out to be very tough for women like me because there are no toilets. Five of us had to share a tent,” she told reporters at a ceremony in the capital Kathmandu to hand her the official record certificate.

Around 3,000 people have made it to the top of Everest since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first con-quered it in 1953.

The summit season on Everest be-gins in late April when a small win-dow between spring and the summer monsoon offers the best conditions for making the ascent.

Coach K won’t return

as US Olympic coach

LOS ANGELES, California, Feb 26, 2013 - Mike Krzyzewski reiterated Tuesday that he won’t return as coach of the US Olympic men’s basketball team, which he guided to gold in 2008 and 2012.

“I’ve loved, loved, loved and it’s been an honor being with the USA basket-ball team,” Krzyzewski said in a phone interview with ESPN radio. “And we’re in a good spot, we need to keep build-ing.”

Krzyzewski had said in May at the US Olympic Committee’s pre-Games me-dia summit in Dallas that he expected

last year’s London Games to be his last Olympics at the helm of a US team of NBA stars.

Krzyzewski, the hugely successful Duke University coach, was brought in to guide a revamped US squad after a disappointing bronze medal finish at the Athens Games.

He was drafted by USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo, who set up the current system of creating a pool of players to draw from for international duty, thereby creating more continuity in the national team.

WASHINGTON, Feb 26, 2013 (AFP) - Lack of sleep has a potentially harm-ful effect on gene expression, according to a study out Tuesday that sheds light on the link between sleep deficits and a wide range of health conditions.

A sleep deficit -- even just a week’s worth -- can have damaging effects on our genes, researchers said in a new study out Tuesday.

Lack of adequate shut-eye had already been linked to conditions from heart disease and cognitive impair-ment to obesity.

But sleep researcher Derk-Jan Dijk and his fellow researchers have delved into the molecular mechanisms behind the phenomenon, looking at how missed sleep leads to health problems.

They found that a week of sleeping

six hours or less a night affects the expression of some 711 genes -- includ-ing those involved in inflammation, immunity, and stress responses.

Moreover, compared with test sub-jects who were allowed to sleep as long as 10 hours a night, those who lacked sleep had irregularities in their genes’ circadian rhythms, experiencing a sharp reduction in the number of genes

that wax and wane throughout the day and a dampened amplitude for many more.

At the end of the week, the test subjects were kept awake for 40 hours, with blood tests at regular intervals.

The research showed that, for those who had gotten adequate sleep previ-ously, the affects of the sleep depriva-tion were seven times less than for those already operating under a sleep deficit.

Nearly a third of American workers -- some 40.6 million people -- average six hours or less of sleep a night, ac-cording to a 2010 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A normal night’s sleep for healthy adults is considered to be between seven and eight hours.

HEALTH

WASHINGTON, Feb 26, 2013 (AFP) - A Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil, nuts, fish, fruit, legumes and wine reduced the risk of heart attacks, strokes and deaths from heart disease by 30 percent, a major new study has found.

The study, published by the New England Journal of Medicine, fol-lowed 4,479 people in Spain -- men and women age 55 to 80 -- over a five year period, finding dramatic confir-mation of previous observations of such a diet’s health benefits.

“We observed that an energy unre-stricted Mediterranean diet, supple-mented with extra virgin olive oil or nuts, resulted in a substantial reduc-tion in the risk of major cardiovascu-lar events among high-risk persons,” the study concluded.

It put the risk reduction at “ap-proximately 30 percent, among high risk persons who were initially free of cardiovascular disease. These results support the benefits of the Mediter-ranean diet for cardiovascular risk reduction.”

Participants in the study, which was led by Ramon Estruch, a professor of medicine at the University of Barce-lona, were divided into three groups including a control group on a low fat diet.

One group followed a traditional Mediterranean diet supplemented by four tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil a day. A second group followed the same diet, but instead of the olive oil consumed about 30 grams a day of mixed nuts.

Participants in those two groups also ate at least three servings of fruits and two of legumes a day. They also ate fish three times a week and fa-vored white meat like chicken instead of red meat.

They were also strongly encouraged not to eat commercially baked goods, pastries and sweets, and to limit their consumption of dairy products and processed meats.

For those who normally drank wine with their meals, their diet called for seven glasses of wine a week.

Researchers could tell whether the study participants were following the diets by measuring markers for olive oil in their urine or a blood marker for the mixed nuts.

They found that participants stuck to the Mediterranean diets, but that the low-fat control diet led to only small reductions in fat.

“The interventions were intended to improve the overall dietary pat-tern, but the major between-group differences involved the supplemental items,” the study said.

“Thus, extra virgin olive oil and nuts were probably responsible for most of the observed benefits of the Mediter-ranean diets,” it said.

Olive oil, nuts dietary keys to cut heart risks: study


Volunteeing good for the heart: study

OTTAWA, Feb 25, 2013 (AFP) - Volunteer work has long been touted as good for the soul, but the practice is also good for your heart, according to a study out Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver wanted to find out how volunteering might impact one’s physical condition, and discovered that it improves cardiovas-cular health, said study author Hannah Schreier.

And “the volunteers who reported the greatest increases in empathy, altruistic behavior and mental health were the ones who also saw the great-est improvements in their cardiovascu-lar health,” said Schreier.

Previous studies had shown that psychosocial factors, such as stress, de-pression and well being, play a role in cardiovascular disease, which is a lead-ing cause of death in North America.

Schreier noted that the first signs of the disease can begin to appear during adolescence, which is why she recruit-ed young volunteers for her study.

She and her team measured the body mass index, inflammation and cholesterol levels of 53 Vancouver high school students who spent an hour a week working with elementary school children in after-school programs in their neighborhood.

They compared the results with a group of 53 students who were wait listed for the volunteering program.

The researchers also assessed the teenagers’ self-esteem, mental health, mood, and empathy.

After 10 weeks the volunteers had lower levels of inflammation and cho-lesterol and less body fat than those on the wait list.

Lack of sleep leads to groggy genes: study


Misc Asia

SEOUL, Feb 25, 2013 - Park Geun-Hye became South Korea’s first female president Monday, vowing zero toler-ance with North Korean provocation and demanding Pyongyang “abandon its nuclear ambitions” immediately.

As leader of Asia’s fourth-largest economy, Park, the 61-year-old daugh-ter of late military strongman Park Chung-Hee, faces challenges of slowing growth and soaring welfare costs in one of the world’s most rapidly aging societies.

Taking the oath of office less than two weeks after North Korea carried out its third nuclear test, Park called on the regime in Pyongyang to “abandon its nuclear ambitions without delay” and rejoin the international commu-nity.

“North Korea’s recent nuclear test is a challenge to the survival and future of the Korean people, and there should be no mistake that the biggest victim will be none other than North Korea itself,” she said.

“I will not tolerate any action that threatens the lives of our people and the security of our nation,” Park said, while promising to pursue the trust-

building policy with Pyongyang that she had promised in her campaign.

“I will move forward step by step on the basis of credible deterrence,” she added.

Observers say her options will be limited by the international outcry over the North’s February 12 nuclear test, which has emboldened the hawks in her ruling conservative party who op-pose closer engagement.

There was no immediate reaction from Pyongyang, but an editorial Monday in the ruling Workers’ Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun carried a clear message for Park to avoid the “confrontational” policies of her prede-cessor Lee Myung-Bak.

“Inter-Korean relations have become so tense that the Korean peninsula is threatened with armed conflict,” the newspaper warned.

Monday’s two-and-a-half hour inauguration ceremony, held on a chilly and cloudy morning, included a musical warm-up concert that saw Korean rapper Psy perform his global hit “Gangnam Style”.

South Korea swears in first female president

Park took office a little more than 50 years after her father, a vehement anti-communist, seized power in a military coup.

Park Chung-Hee ruled with an iron fist for the next 18 years until his assas-sination, and remains a divisive figure -- credited with dragging the coun-try out of poverty but reviled for his regime’s human rights abuses.

The bulk of Park’s inauguration speech focused on the economy, and included commitments to job creation, expanded welfare and “economic democratization” at a time of grow-ing concern with income and wealth disparity.

South Korea’s extraordinary eco-nomic revival from the rubble of the 1950-53 Korean War -- known as the “Miracle on the Han” -- has faltered in recent years, with key export markets hit by the global downturn.

Promising “another miracle”, Park said her administration would build a new “creative economy” that would move beyond the country’s traditional manufacturing base and focus on sci-ence and technology.

In a clear warning to the giant, fam-ily-run conglomerates, or “chaebols”, that dominate the national economy,

Park promised a more level playing field and a “fair market” where small and medium-sized businesses could flourish.

“By rooting out various unfair practices and rectifying the misguided habits of the past which have frus-trated small business owners... we will provide active support to ensure that everyone can live up to their fullest potential,” she said.

Chaebols such as Samsung and Hyundai were the original drivers of the nation’s industrialization and eco-nomic growth, but have been criticized as corporate bullies who muscle out smaller firms and smother innovation.

South Korea’s journey from war-torn poverty to economic prosperity has done little to break the male strangle-hold on political and commercial power in what in many ways remains a very conservative nation.

As South Korea’s first female presi-dent, Park leads a country that is ranked below the likes of Suriname and the United Arab Emirates in gen-der equality.

Words of WisdomMisc AsiaGeorgia Asian Times March 1-15, 2013 Page 17

Never reveal all that you know to others: They might become shrewder than you. Bhutan Proverb

The function of great knowledge is not to simply weigh down your brain, just as a woman does not wear costly jew-ellery simply to weigh herself down.Cambodian Proverb

If the wind comes from an empty cave, it’s not without a reason.Chinese Proverb

Luck will change in 10 years.Chinese Proverb

He is a rat at home, but when he comes to the street he becomes a tiger.Indian Proverb

If you need a job to be done, be pre-pared to fall at the feet of a donkey.Indian Proverb

Different fields have different insect, different ponds have different fish. Indonesian Proverb

One drop of indigo stains the whole cauldron of milk. Indonesian Proverb

Experience the beauties of nature, and in doing so learn about yourself.Japanese Proverb

A wise man hears one and under-stands ten.Japanese Proverb

Birds listen to day-words and rats listen to night-words.Korean Proverb

Having one’s foot struck by a much-trusted axe. Korean Proverb

Don’t look down on anyone unless you are helping them up.Pakistani Proverb

Greedy is always cheated by Liar.Pakistani Proverb

Those who want to do something find many ways; Those who don’t want to do something find many excuses.Filipino Proverb

What one learns in childhood he car-ries into adulthood.Filipino Proverb

Be darling of old man is better than be slave of young man.Thai Proverb

A day in prison is longer than a thou-sand years at large.Vietnamese Proverb

Comfort is better than pride.Vietnamese Proverb

Taiwan ‘proud’ of Oscar winner Ang LeeTAIPEI, Feb 25, 2013 (AFP) - Tai-

wan basked in reflected glory Monday after film-maker Ang Lee won the best director Oscar for fantasy epic “Life of Pi”, shot on the diplomatically isolated island where he was born.

President Ma Ying-jeou sent his congratulations to Lee, probably the island’s most famous living son, saying Taiwan was “proud” and urging others to follow his example and boost the island’s international image.

“I thank Ang Lee and all film indus-try people who have made an effort for Taiwan. I’d like to encourage everyone to work hard at promoting Taiwan to the world and to keep an international outlook,” Ma said.

The Oscar came as a rare chance for Taiwan, living in the shadow of giant neighbor China, to savor the global limelight after the small island found its way into Lee’s acceptance speech.

“I (could) not make this movie with-out the help of Taiwan. We shot there,” the 58-year-old said.

The speech in Los Angeles was played over and over on Taiwan’s news channels, and sparked an enthusiastic response from social media users.

“Just watching Ang Lee walk up to the stage had me shed a few tears, and when he mentioned the word ‘Taiwan’ I totally turned on the waterworks,” one person wrote on micro-blogging service Plurk.

Lee also sent special thanks to Taiwan’s third-largest city Taichung, where the majority of “Life of Pi” was filmed.

Taichung mayor Jason Hu said in a statement that Lee’s Oscar win showed Taiwan’s ability “to do many things well”, adding: “Taiwan deserves this!”

It is a widespread feeling in Taiwan that the island’s accomplishments are under-appreciated, and many blame China.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory, demanding that all its diplo-

matic allies cut off official ties with the island.

Taiwan is currently recognized by only 23 countries, mostly small and poor, but the island’s government has tried in recent years to make up for some of the missing diplomatic clout by banking on soft power.

Sports icons such as golf superstar Tseng Yani and basketball player Jer-emy Lin -- American but with Taiwan-ese-born parents -- have been held up as models of the cool, modern image Taiwan wants to project.

In a post-acceptance press confer-

ence, Lee played up the film’s cosmo-politan crew.

“Ninety percent of the movie was shot in Taiwan. They gave us financial and physical help. But this was really an international film. I feel this film belonged to the world,” he said.

Lee, who has spent almost his entire professional career abroad, won a best director Oscar in 2005 for the gay cow-boy drama “Brokeback Mountain”.

In 2000, he won the Oscar for best foreign language film with the kung fu epic “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Drag-on”.


TECH

BARCELONA, Feb 25, 2013 - Mozilla Foundation announced Sunday it will launch in mid 2013 its widely anticipated Firefox operating system for smart phones in a direct challenge to the duopoly of Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.

Mozilla, which campaigns for open development of the online world, showed off the first commercial ver-sion of the Firefox OS on the eve of the opening of the world’s biggest mobile fair in Barcelona, Spain.

Smart phones equipped with Firefox OS look familiar to those on other systems, with an array of apps, or ap-plication programs, to be made avail-able on an online store, and a mapping program developed by Nokia.

“With the support of our vibrant community and dedicated partners, our goal is to level the playing field and usher in an explosion of content and services that will meet the diverse needs of the next two billion people online,” said Mozilla chief executive Gary Kovacs.

Mozilla, which aims to take third place behind Android and iOS, said it had already lured 17 operators including Sprint, China Unicom, KDDI, Singtel,Telefonica, Telenor and Deutsche Telecom.

The foundation said it was working with handset manufacturers South Ko-rea’s LG and China’s TCL and ZTE on Firefox OS-run devices, with China’s

Huawei to follow later in the year.

All the smart phones would be run with Qualcomm Snapdragon applica-tion processors, which use an architec-ture licensed by Cambridge, England-based ARM.

They will be available from the northern hemisphere summer, with the first devices arriving in Brazil, Co-lombia, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Venezuela. Other markets are to be announced soon, Mozilla said.

Google and Apple’s operating sys-tems combined now control more than 90 percent of the smartphone market.

Google’s Android ran 69 percent of all handsets sold last year and Apple’s iOS 22 percent, said a study by inde-pendent analytical house Canalys.

Analysts say the two leaders will still dominate the market in 2013 although there could be room for a third player.

Breaking duopoly

There are several operating systems vying for that number-three spot, however, including Microsoft’s Win-dows Phone, Blackberry, Firefox and Samsung’s open-source project Tizen.

Blackberry, formerly RIM, an-nounced last month its BB10 operat-ing system as it sought to regain its glory days with a new smartphone, the Blackberry Z10.

Firefox smartphone system challenges Android, iOS

RIM had tried to escape its niche business market several years ago but could not resist the iPhone, said re-search house booz&co analyst Mohssen Toumi, who gave the firm little chance of success now, either.

“Windows Phone has a real chance via the business market because it is made for work as much as for leisure,” he said.

Operators, too, are keen to break the operating system duopoly of Apple and Google, said Ian Fogg, senior mobile analyst at research house IHS.

Some Asian handset makers such as China’s Huawei and ZTE or global group’s like Spain’s Telefonica could be interested in using Firefox OS to bring

out products for developing countries, said Thomas Husson, analyst at For-rester Research.

But “for a third ecosystem to really hatch, you need to have partnerships with all the players, and the operators alone are not enough. You also need the manufacturers and all the third-parties: developers, brands, content suppliers, and media,” he added.

The support of app developers was the most important and toughest to obtain.

“Developers, which are often small operations, will not want to spend their time developing and supporting applications on several platforms,” said Toumi, especially if one of them has only a small share of the market.

Samsung unveils 8-inch tablet with phone capability

SEOUL, Feb 24, 2013 (AFP) - Sam-sung on Sunday unveiled an eight-inch tablet with phone call capability to rival Apple’s recently launched iPad mini and to cement its market dominance by offering devices in a variety of sizes.

The Galaxy Note 8.0 features an eight-inch screen and, where it may steal a march on its rival which mea-sures 7.9-inches, the ability to make phone calls.

The new device, now being marketed by Samsung as a “tablet”, is powered by Google’s Android software and will be showcased at the four-day Mobile World Congress in Barcelona begin-ning on February 25, the company said in a statement.

Like previous incarnations of the Galaxy Note, the device comes with a stylus pen allowing the user to write or draw on the screen, which can be split in two to run various programs at the same time.

Global sales will begin in the second quarter, the firm said.

Samsung is the world’s top maker of smart phones and mobile phones in general.

The latest device -- the first from the company to feature an eight-inch screen -- is set to fill a gap in the firm’s wide product lineup, which ranges from the flagship smartphone Galaxy S to the 5.5-inch Galaxy Note 2 and the 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab tablet PC.

The firm has recently shifted its focus to its Galaxy Note, which turned out to be far more popular than the larger Galaxy Tab, offering the Note in various sizes in a move that blurred the lines between smart phones and tablet PCs.

Samsung said the launch of the Galaxy Note 8.0 will “reignite the mid-size tablet category” -- a segment increasingly crowded by rival products including the iPad mini that launched last November and Google’s seven-inch Nexus 7.

Samsung and Apple accounted for more than half of all smartphone sales in the final quarter of 2012 -- 29.0 percent for Samsung and 22.1 percent for Apple -- according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

March HoroscopeSnake (2013 2001 1989 1977 1965 1953 1941 1929 1917 1905)Because you thrive on challenges, if one is good then several are better. However, even you could feel overwhelmed by the nature and breadth of the tasks you are facing. You should be indeed. Hopefully this means you will be more likely to seek expert guidance than would otherwise be the case. While decisions are your sole responsibility, allowing those with greater experience to guide you through the labyrinth could be a wise move.

Horse (2002 1990 1978 1966 1954 1942 1930 1918 1906) One of the situations you are facing this month will strike an emotional chord, but that does not mean it is your responsibility to deal with it. This and other dilemmas are calling your attention to arrangements that are unfair to you. Discuss this but do not overdo things hastily. Numerous pivotal facts are yet to come to light. You can only do so much and there is no point in blaming yourself for the outcome.

Sheep (2003 1991 1979 1967 1955 1943 1931 1919 1907)Regard what you are organizing now as a trial run and instead of struggling to get things just right, you will adopt a more relaxed approach. That way when changes arise, rather than battle to keep things as they are, you will be ready to reconsider both existing arrangements and future plans. Try not sticking to certain rigid plans, where there is insufficient room for maneuver. Do not be tempted by offers that seem lucrative for there are always strings attached.

Monkey (2004 1992 1980 1968 1956 1944 1932 1920 1908)Much as you dislike even considering the ideas, it is possible that somebody is not being honest with you. This could apply to practical, business or financial matters or those of a more personal nature. There were hints of such develop-ments recently and if you followed these up, you may already have been deal-ing with the issues and the individual involved. If not, it is time to investigate anything that just does not add up. You may need to seek further information from your normal circle of friends.

Rooster (2005 1993 1981 1969 1957 1945 1933 1921 1909)You have quite a lot on your plate lately and life could be easier if a certain in-dividual would either commit or not. It may seem they are just putting things off and making various excuses. On the contrary, they are wrestling with personal issues that have defied them. Hence be patient for they too are trying to get to the bottom of these but may take longer than envisaged. Perhaps you can be supportive in whatever capacity you deem relevant or necessary but do not expect any gratitude in return either.

Dog (2006 1994 1982 1970 1958 1946 1934 1922 1910)Concerns about tensions with loved ones are very much on your mind. As much as you would like to do something about these, timing is as crucial as anything you could say. Knowing that, you are better off waiting or delaying towards the end of the month. Hopefully with buying some extra time, the situation should mellow down but this does not mean you are in the clear. At times, when not knowing the facts may be the way forward for if things were brought out in the open, the consequences could be unimaginable.

Pig (2007 1995 1983 1971 1959 1947 1935 1923 1911)You tackle disarray in your own life or around you immediately. However, you are juggling chaotic changes and amazing developments involving who and what you care about most. Disruptive as those changes could be, they are clearing the way for various welcome events. What is more, since they are only just taking form, forget about planning ahead. Instead, live life one day at a time.

Rat (2008 1996 1984 1972 1960 1948 1936 1924 1912)One of the things you most dread is situations in which you face manipula-tive individuals or unspoken challenges, those in which you are confronted or criticized, but indirectly. Yet face up to the person in question and they will insist all is well. For now, you are urged to rise above it. This is not just noble, it is practical, as events ahead will force those individuals’ underhand maneu-vers to the light, for everybody to witness.

Ox (2009 1997 1985 1973 1961 1949 1937 1925 1913)You may already be aware that you are gradually losing ground in certain situations. Ordinarily you would do all you can to shore these up. Going by the latest activities or developments around the circle of friends or colleagues, you should establish or decide that you will need to let go some of them. As much of a loss as this seems now, within a relatively short period, you will be grateful that, instead of battling for these, you are free to focus on the rather remarkable new developments approaching your direction.

Tiger (2010 1998 1986 1974 1962 1950 1938 1926 1914)You are amazingly tactful, yet when it comes to a certain close relationship, you must back off and leave others to make decisions on their own, no matter whatever your feelings about their actions. Only after the fact will you learn why they acted as they did and why silence is your best option. Trying too hard to either “protect” or fear for their potential misadventures could some-times backfire for the wrong reasons. Hence it boils down to the issue of trust.

Rabbit (2011 1999 1987 1975 1963 1951 1939 1927 1915 1903)Convincing somebody to give up on a plan that you thought up and worked on together for a while, will not be simple. However, since then, times have moved on and circumstances have changed and so have your interests. Tempting as it is to proceed with your other ventures, perhaps it would be appropriate to talk or discuss a new approach. Just bear in mind not to rush things over and allow ample time for the others to reconsider the scheme. Adopt an open mind attitude if you wish for your plan to survive.

Dragon (2012 2000 1988 1976 1964 1952 1940 1928 1916 1904)For a period of time, you have been questioning various elements of your life, career potentials, eliminating some and embracing new pursuits. You are longing for a break, which is heading your way finally. However you need not remain on duty then. Instead, do something that initially will be challenging for you; learn to relax, even though so much remains unsettled. Achieve that and everything else will unfold as is predestined.


Documents

Georgia Asian Times Vol 9 No 5