boxing nights take
root in shanghai
shop caters for coffee
lovers and their cats
Boxing promoter Top Rank brought
another professional fight night to
mainland China yesterday, following
the first edition of “Fist of Power”
Imagine a relaxing afternoon with a
cup of coffee, a cake and a cat on
your lap. That’s exactly what a local
café is offering
P2 MDT IN SHANGHAI
macau:
is the
‘el
dorado’
effect
over?
P5
P6 MSAR 15TH ANNIVERSARY
WED. 17
Dec 2014
T. 9º/ 15º C
H. 35/ 60%
N.º 2213
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FOUNDER & PUBLISHER Kowie Geldenhuys
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Paulo Coutinho
“ THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’ ”
WORLD BRIEFS
CHINESE manufacturing
contracted in December
for the first time in seven
months in another sign
the slowdown in the
world’s No. 2 economy
is quickening, according
to a survey of factories
released yesterday. More
on p11
AUSTRALIA Tearful
Australians laid mounds of
flowers at the site where
a gunman held hostages
for 16 hours at a popular
Sydney cafe. The siege
ended early Tuesday with
a barrage of gunfire that
left two hostages and the
Iranian-born gunman dead,
and a nation that has long
prided itself on its peace
rocked to its core. More on
p14
Taliban attack on Pakistani
school leaves over 140
dead, mostly children
P13
NORTH KOREA asked the
U.N. Security Council in a
letter to take up the CIA’s
harsh treatment of terror
suspects, instead of the
North’s own human rights
situation. North Korea’s
U.N. Ambassador Ja
Song Nam objected to the
inclusion of his country’s
human rights record on
the Security Council’s
agenda for debate — the
first step toward a possible
referral to the International
Criminal Court. More on p15
More on backpage
ad
24h borders
expected to
bring more
visitors
P3
MACAU
2
17.12.2014 wed
th Anniversary
澳聞
Ada Chio and
Ivy Leong win
accolades at the
Hotelier Awards
China
M
Ik Yang defeated Fahsai Sakkreerin by technical knock out in round 4
Top Rank boxing nights
take root in Shanghai
Brook Yang, Shanghai
B
OXING promoter Top
Rank brought another
professional boxing event
to mainland China yesterday, following the first
edition of “Fist of Power”
launched at Shanghai’s
Mercedes-Benz Arena in
late August.
Sponsored by The Venetian Macao, co-sponsored
by Anta Sports, and promoted by Top Rank, SECA
and G Sport, the “Fist of
Power II” staged seven
bouts featuring ten pro fighters from China as well
as three boxers from Southeast Asia and one from
Ireland.
Highlighted in the sevenbout boxing night, WBO
Asian-Pacific lightweight
champion, IK Yang, gai-
ned his qualification to
challenge the world titles
in two divisions, by obtaining the vacant IBF Pan
Pacific Junior Welterweight title.
“I showed a good speed
striking fists today becau-
The event
was regarded
as a platform
to develop
Chinese pro
boxers
se I wanted to prove to my
opponent that I am faster
than him,” the unbeaten
Chinese boxer told the media after defeating Thai-
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84 million page views
since January 1st, 2012 up to today.
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land’s Fahsai Sakkreerin
by technical knockout
during the fourth round.
China’s 8-year veteran
Ma Yiming also fought his
way towards a world title
challenge, as he obtained
both the WBO Asia Pacific Championship Light
Flyweight title and the IBF
Pan Pacific Light Flyweight champion belt, in the
10-round bout against Indonesian boxer Tommy Seran by unanimous decision.
The event was regarded
as a platform to develop Chinese pro boxers.
Some 5,400 tickets were
sold out and the show was
broadcasted on national
channel CCTV Sports where 5 million people were
watching.
“The ‘Fist of Power’ is
more of the world-class
best pro boxing event for
Chinese boxers,” said the
SECA’s CEO Mr Li Sheng.
“Next year we might have
a world title fight here;
last time we had a world
title of the entry of two foreign boxers, but what we
find is the audience really
want Chinese boxers.”
Enthusiastic spectators
cheered for their home
champions in the ring
from time to time. “Obviously Macau is even crazier, grander than this,”
said Mr Li. “There are
many so-called professional boxing events in China but we believe none of
them have been done with
the Top Rank-standard
top productions, like the
same you would see in Las
Vegas and what you see in
Macau.”
DIRECTOR AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF_Paulo Coutinho paulocoutinho@macaudailytimes.com
MANAGING EDITOR_Paulo Barbosa paulo.barbosa@macaudailytimes.com
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS_Eric Sautedé, Leanda Lee, Severo Portela
CHINA & FOREIGN EDITOR_Vanessa Moore vanessa@macaudailytimes.com
DESIGN EDITOR_João Jorge Magalhães magalhaes@macaudailytimes.com | NEWSROOM AND CONTRIBUTORS_Albano
Martins, António Espadinha Soares, Brook Yang, Catarina Pinto, Cyril Law, Emilie Tran, Grace Yu, Irene Sam, Jacky I.F. Cheong, Jenny
Philips, João Pedro Lau, Joseph Cheung, Juliet Risdon, Keith Ip, Renato Marques (photographer), Richard Whitfield, Robert Carroll
(Hong Kong correspondent), Rodrigo de Matos (cartoonist), Ruan Du Toit Bester, Sandra Norte (designer), Sum Choi, Viviana Seguí
| ASSOCIATE CONTRIBUTORS_JML Property, MacauHR, MdME Lawyers, PokerStars | NEWS AGENCIES_ Associated Press,
Bloomberg, Lusa News Agency, MacauHub, MacauNews, Xinhua | SECRETARY_Yang Dongxiao amy@macaudailytimes.com
ANDARIN Oriental, Macau,
announced in a press release that the director of Marketing &
Communications at the Mandarin
Oriental Hotel, Ada Chio de la Cruz,
was crowned Marketing & Communications Hotelier of the Year at the
Hotelier Awards China 2014.
Also holding the role of regional
director of communications in North Asia, Ada Chio began working at
Mandarin Oriental in 2000.
According to the press release,
wit her “solid communication skills
and impressive creativity designing
marketing initiatives,” Ada Chio de
la Cruz has “played an important
role in both the opening and re-launch of several Mandarin Oriental
hotels throughout China and Taipei.”
Under her supervision, Macau has
received the award for Best Brand
Communications in the Asia-Pacific.
“I am thrilled to be recognized in
China’s first-ever hotelier awards,”
said Ada Chio. “I am so lucky to do
what I truly love, and I will continue
my commitment to the Mandarin
Oriental, and help the group [develop its] talents with my passion and
experience.”
The hotel’s executive housekeeper, Ivy Leong, won as runner-up of
CSR Hotelier of the Year. Ivy Leong
has had over 17 years of experience
in leading housekeeping teams in
Malaysia and Macau. As an environmental enthusiast, she chairs the
hotel’s Corporate Responsibility and
Sustainability Committee.
Open to all hotels in Greater China,
including Macau and Hong Kong, the
Hotelier Awards China 2014 received
close to 300 applications from over
100 properties and 44 brands. A
two-round assessment process was
conducted based on a combination
of conditions presented in the application, as well as interviews and testimonials.
Ms Ada Chio de la Cruz
A MACAU TIMES PUBLICATIONS LTD PUBLICATION
ADMINISTRATOR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Kowie Geldenhuys kowie@macaudailytimes.com
SECRETARY Juliana Cheang juliana@macaudailytimes.com
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MACAU SAR Telephones: +853 287 160 81/2 Fax: +853 287 160 84
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ISSN 2305-4271
wed 17.12.2014
th Anniversary
澳聞
Catarina Pinto
M
ACAU authorities
are expecting an
increase in passenger volume after
new border crossing schedules
are put in force tomorrow. They
believe that the existing number of border crossings will rise
three to four times at the Lotus
Border and 15 percent at the
Border Gate, while passenger
flow is expected to alleviate and
divide into different borders
and respective extended schedules.
In an official visit to Macau’s
three border checkpoints yesterday, Ku Keng Hin, senior
officer at Macau’s Immigration
Department revealed that they
forecast a 15 percent increase on passenger volume at the
Border Gate, which is currently
used by 300,000 to 350,000
people per day.
He also revealed that there are
currently 2,500 to 3,000 people
using the Zhuhai-Macau CrossBorder Industrial Park checkpoint daily. Once the border
begins operating around the
clock, Macau authorities believe
the number of citizens using it to
cross to either Macau or Zhuhai
will reach 30,000 per day.
As for the Hengqin border, located in Cotai, between 8 a.m.
and 8 p.m. the checkpoint is currently used by less than 20,000
people. However, the passenger
volume could reach 50,000 to
60,000 after it starts operating
on a 24-hour basis.
In the early hours of tomorrow, the Lotus Bridge Cotai
Frontier Post (connected to
Hengqin) will start operating
continuously, while the Border
Gate (connected to Gongbei)
will operate between 6am and
1am, an hour longer before and
after its previous closing and
opening times.
MACAU
3
Police expects visitor increase
with round-the-clock borders
The Cotai checkpoint’s
new schedule will be
applied to visitors, residents and non-resident
workers from mainland
China, as well as passenger cars and heavy vehicles
holding mainland and Macau registration plates.
Finally, late night crossings
through the Cross-Border Industrial Zone Checkpoint will
open between midnight and
7am only to pedestrians, including Macau residents, non-resident workers from mainland
China and students.
This Industrial Zone checkpoint is therefore the only
one currently in operation for
the entire 24 hours. However, it is only available for use
by those holding a special pass
into the Industrial Zone.
The ultimate goal of Macau’s
authorities is to achieve 24hour border crossing at the
Border Gate, Macau’s main
checkpoint.
Authorities assured concerned
residents yesterday that special
measures and new arrangements have been taken to ensure the smooth implementation
of the new border schedules.
Forty-five new immigration
employees will be working at
the Cotai checkpoint as the border starts operating around the
clock in the early hours of tomorrow, connecting Macau to
Hengqin Island.
In addition, a higher number
of e-channels will be available.
At the Industrial Zone border,
there will be six e-channels and
three regular channels. The
Border Gate will have a total of
DSAT reinforces bus shifts
A
S Macau’s three cross-border checkpoints will commence operation under
new extended schedules as of tomorrow, the
Transport Bureau (DSAT) confirmed yesterday that it will be enhancing bus routes and
extending some buses’ service hours.
The 19 routes that pass through Border Gate
(connected to Zhuhai) will see their shifts improved while the eight lines passing through
the Lotus Bridge Frontier Post (connected to
Hengqin) will be adjusted to cover the border’s new continuous schedule. In addition,
more Route 25 shifts have been added, while
a new night bus (N4) is introduced.
The schedule of Route 27, which connects
the Green Island area (Ilha Verde) and the
Border Gate, was also extended to serve those wishing to use the Cross-Border Industrial
Zone Checkpoint.
DSAT said that it has been working to improve the traffic situation in order to optimize circulation in the areas surrounding
Macau’s three borders. Further information
on the new bus schedules passing through
border checkpoints is available at www.dsat.
gov.mo.
There are
currently
between 2,500
and 3,000
people using
Zhuhai-Macau
Cross-Border
Industrial Park
checkpoint
daily
124 e-channels - including arrivals and departures - of which
34 have just been added.
Ku Keng Hin stressed that
the new schedules will improve border crossing procedures
for both residents and non-resident workers. He hinted that
they do not expect an increase
in passenger volume, but rather an overall redistribution of
current passengers through different borders and timetables,
providing them with more options to enter Macau.
The new border schedules will
be implemented one day before
Chinese president Xi Jinping arrives in town to participate in the
15th anniversary celebrations of
Macau’s handover to China.
Analysts have argued that
Macau’s new border crossing
policies will be of benefit to the
region, boosting visitation and
possibly gaming revenue.
Pro-democracy lawmakers hand in petition on universal suffrage
Y
E S T E R D A Y ,
pro-democracy
lawmakers Au Kam San
and Ng Kuok Cheong handed a petition to the government advocating for
universal suffrage. They
are hoping the letter can
be forwarded to president
Xi Jinping, who is visiting
Macau this weekend and
will be attending the 15th
anniversary celebrations
of the MSAR.
The New Macau Association and Macau Youth
Dynamics are also organizing a demonstration
and assembly on Saturday to call for “real universal suffrage” in 2019.
Organizers said on
Monday that are unaware if Hong Kong protestors wish to join them
at Saturday’s protests.
They urged authorities
to grant entry to any citizen, including the Hong
Kong protestors who
have been advocating for
a genuine universal suffrage in the neighboring
SAR, by joining the Occupy Central movement.
Jason Chao revealed
yesterday that he has
been warned not to hold
any type of protest which directly addresses Xi
Jinping, Radio Macau reported. The political activist said he got hold of
such information throu-
gh “a credible source.”
Chao added he does
not feel intimidated for
now, but revealed he has
been followed lately by
“middle-aged men who
do not look like they’re
locals”, which has caused slight concern.
The president of the
New Macau Associa-
tion, Sulu Sou, had also
complained of similar
accounts on Monday at
a news conference.
There are also reports
that two students from
Hong Kong were not
allowed to enter Macau
on Monday “for representing a risk to internal
security.” CP
4
ADVERTISEMENT
17.12.2014 wed
th Anniversary
廣告
wed 17.12.2014
th Anniversary
澳聞
João Pedro Lau
I
MAGINE a relaxing afternoon with a cup of coffee, a cake and a cat on
your lap. That’s exactly
what the local café ‘Meows
Corner Meeting’ is offering its
customers.
Angela Gonçalves owns this
cat café at the corner of Calçada do Poço near the St Lazarus’ Church. She told the
Times that she started ‘Meows
Corner Meeting’ around a year
ago. “When I travelled to Hong
Kong and Taiwan, I saw many
cafés like this. I am a cat lover
myself. Therefore, I wanted to
open one as well,” she said.
When the Times visited the
café, there were four cats
napping at different corners
of the shop. Ms Gonçalves said
that the cats were all her pets.
They all lived at her home and
now they reside in the café.
In terms of her patrons, the
owner said that many of them
are young people or students, with females the majority. “Usually [customers] are
young people. Sometimes
there are older people… They
usually have cats at home as
well or are cat lovers,” she
said.
Sometimes when the custo-
Shop caters for coffee
lovers and their cats
Angela Gonçalves
mers do not know how to interact with the cats, she has
to intervene. “They may suddenly hold the cats, which
the cats don’t really like, and
we have to talk to them about
it,” she said. Some customers
would even bring their own
cats to the café. However, the
owner said that those cats
would usually be too afraid
to move. “But some are not
afraid of anything and would
walk around, even eat the food
of our cats like they are really
familiar with the place,” she
said.
When it comes to the business side of things, Ms Gonçalves said that the performance is not very impressive.
But she already has a group
of patrons. While business
is good on the weekends, she
said that the café can be pretty quiet on weekdays. “Maybe
there are too many choices [of
café],” she said.
Ms Gonçalves told the Times
that she once worked in the
Municipal Kennel and believes that the government’s animal policy has room to improve. “The stray cat and dog issue in Macau is pretty serious.
Stray cats usually hide at the
MACAU
5
hills like the Guia Hill and the
Mong Ha Hill,” she said.
“[The Municipal Kennel]
does not euthanize stray cats.
They only catch them, neuter
them and return them… This
has helped to control the number but does not help the stray
issue much,” she added.
When I
travelled to
Hong Kong and
Taiwan, I saw
many cafés like
this ANGELA GONÇALVES
Ms Gonçalves suggested that
this is a matter of civic education. “We should teach the
next generation how to prevent making cats and dogs
homeless. The stray problem
exists because people just
bought them and abandoned
them”. She concluded that
there should also be tighter
restriction on pet shops to ensure that animals are not overbred.
MSAR 15TH ANNIVERSARY
Painting exhibition unveils diverse Portuguese artistic views
Catarina Pinto
T
HE walls of Clube Militar’s Ho Yin gallery
just became more colorful
as a painting exhibition
showcasing “10 Portuguese Artistic Views” has
been launched to mark
the MSAR’s 15th anniversary.
Organized by Clube Militar (Military Club) in
cooperation with the Cultural Events Promotion
Association (APAC), the
exhibition brings to town
artworks by prominent
Portuguese painters, such
as Júlio Pomar, Graça
Morais, Gil Maia, José
Luís Tinoco, Maria João
Franco, Velhô, and Alexandre Baptista, among
others.
The artworks were chosen by exhibition commis-
sioners Maria de Lurdes
Ferreira and José Duque
Vicente.
“I suggested this idea
to Clube Militar. They
thought it was interesting, so we invited two
commissioners to arrange
the exhibition. [It would
have to be an exhibition]
carrying different perspectives, different styles
and ideas. An exhibition
that could offer a glimpse
into what is happening in
terms of art in Portugal,”
said Lina Ramadas, from
APEC.
Maria de Lurdes Ferreira
likewise stressed that the
exhibition showcases artworks by a wide range of
painters, some who have
already achieved great
recognition and are now
internationally renowned,
and others who she believes will be recognized in
due time as well.
José Duque Vicente acknowledged that Portugal’s financial crisis might
have helped artists to be
proactive at finding ways
of showcasing their art.
“Portugal has never had
as many artists as now,”
he reiterated. He added
that artists are no longer
waiting for art galleries
to display their canvases;
they are now more actively seeking opportunities outside that circle to
share their work.
The exhibition, which
gathers 60 pieces by 10
Portuguese artists, will be
on display at Clube Militar’s Ho Yin gallery until
Sunday.
ad
MACAU
W
HILE the region keeps
on exceeding world records, with many praising the
economic growth made possible by the gaming industry, some
residents claim that the ‘El Dorado’ period is over for Macau
due to rising inflation, the overflow of visitors, the pollution
and aggravated social tension.
The historian Jorge Cavalheiro, sociologist Hao Zhidong and
economist José Isaac Duarte
are unanimous in the view that
Gross Domestic Product can’t be
the single factor responsible for
the region’s development. They
claim that quality of life has
been worsening over the years.
“Local people have not benefited at all from the growth
in Macau,” Jorge Cavalheiro
bemoans. The scholar at the
Portuguese Department of the
University of Macau, who specialises in Macau History, says
that the fact that the territory’s
per capita wealth stands fourth in the world ranking, ahead
of Switzerland, means little to
most of the residents.
According to him, there are several factors that contribute to
a worsening quality of life, namely traffic, an increase in the
local population and in visitors,
bad food quality and decaying
cultural heritage. He also says
that even economically there
are no advantages to living in
Macau. “The housing prices, either to buy or to rent, are exorbitant and the government uses
the pretext that Macau is a free
economy to abstain itself from
interfering.” Mr Cavalheiro also
complains about the effects of
inflation: “We go to the market
and everything is much more
expensive, there are items that
have gone up 100, 200 or 300
percent.”
José Isaac Duarte, on the
other hand, is not so pessimistic, admitting that “there was a
significant rise in salaries due
to the lack of local manpower.”
But those wage increases, he
says, have been consumed by
inflation and surges in housing
prices.
“The local SMEs have been
degrading, which means that
Macau could lose its status as
a historic entity. If this is not
changed, the region will become an amusement park with
many casinos,” the economist
explains. A consequence of the
th Anniversary
澳聞
BLOOMBERG
6
17.12.2014 wed
MSAR 15TH ANNIVERSARY
Is the ‘El Dorado’ effect over?
SMEs’ problems, Isaac Duarte
says, is higher rates of school
dropout. The younger generation tends to leave school and
cant drop in the money that
has been coming from China,
although visitor rates are still
climbing. These last few mon-
There is a word, mainlandization,
that means that Macau is
resembling mainland China more
and more
HAO ZHIDONG
UM SCHOLAR
work in the casinos; this has
been on the rise since 2011.
Still, according to Isaac Duarte, the revenue drop that has
been affecting the gaming industry proves that the MSAR’s
economic model is “extremely
vulnerable” to any external
changes. “There is a signifi-
ths are evidence that there isn’t
a direct connection between
the number of visitors and gaming revenues,” he argues, adding that if the trend continues,
some of the projects currently
being built or planned for Cotai
will be suspended.
Jorge Cavalheiro observes that
Photo exhibition marks
MSAR 15th anniversary
A
photo exhibition was launched in Macau
yesterday to mark the 15th anniversary
of Macau’s return to China. The exhibition,
with more than 200 photos on display, features the achievements in the region since the
MSAR was established in 1999.
The exhibition, co-sponsored by the AsiaPacific regional bureau of Xinhua news agency, along with the Macau Foundation and
Macau Convention and Exhibition Associa-
tion, showcases the socioeconomic development in the SAR under the “one country, two
systems” principles.
“The photo show links the past, present and
future of Macau,” said Ju Mengjun, chief of
Xinhua’s Asia-Pacific regional bureau. The
Chief Executive Chui Sai On visited the exhibition. It will be showcased until Dec. 26, at
the exhibition hall of the UNESCO Center of
Macau.
the issue extends well beyond rising prices. “What we see today with this combination of people, traffic and pollution - is that
people are demotivated, they
tend to isolate themselves and,
in a certain way, they stop liking
the city,” he says. The scholar
notes examples that, in his opinion, are not consistent with the
region’s wealth: “If you visit the
area around Senado Square you
will find shallow streets with
degraded houses - where people live without proper sanitary
conditions, without proper kitchens or ventilation. Those are
humid and unhealthy houses
that are unfit for a human being
to live in,” he says.
Political analyst and sociologist Hao Zhidong has observed other tensions arising.
“There is a word, mainlandization, that means that Macau
is resembling mainland China
more and more. This constitutes a problem, because it
means there will be less free
speech and press freedom and
autonomy,” he says.
Hao Zhidong highlights recent
incidents including the scholars
Éric Sautedé and Bill Chou,
who were sacked from the local universities where they
worked. The two professors of
Political Science lost their jobs
for publicly expressing political
views. “That shows that there
are problems regarding freedom of academic expression,”
says Hao Zhidong, who teaches
at the University of Macau (like
Bill Chou did).
“There are many concerns
with the educational system
in Macau,” says Hao Zhidong.
Despite those concerns he has
hopes in the new generation:
“They are more aware of issues and I believe that they
will keep on pressing for democratization. They know
that freedom is wearing out,
you only need to look at the
universities and newspapers
to know that.” MDT/Lusa
the hurdles of moving to town
GIVEN ALL of the concerns from
many observers about the region’s
development, is living in Macau
still a viable option? Economist
Isaac Duarte doesn’t think so for
several reasons. First of all, the
granting of residency is more
problematic than before. In his
view, the government is applying
a “non-declared policy” which will
end with non-permanent-resi-
dents. Another issue concerns the
fact that wages are not as competitive as before. “We are starting to
see people that have jobs associated with high incomes starting
to share flats and becoming more
cautious with their spending. If
people want to come and eat at
home and reside in shared houses,
that is an option, but it is no longer an ‘El Dorado.”
wed 17.12.2014
th Anniversary
分析
Anurag Kotoky and
Anand Krishnamoorthy
I
NDIA’S government gave
billionaire Kalanithi Maran’s troubled airline SpiceJet Ltd. a lifeline by allowing
it to take bookings until the end
of March and extending a credit
line for jet fuel by two weeks, an
official at the civil aviation ministry said yesterday. The shares
climbed.
SpiceJet has sought 10 days
from the government to submit
a funding plan, the official said,
asking not to be identified citing
rules. The New Delhi-based carrier earlier this month had been
barred from accepting bookings
beyond a month.
Allowing the airline to sell tickets for journeys through March
may help bring in cash as it struggles to meet expenses. The company sought state relief Monday.
A government official yesterday
said it is working to find a solution to the crisis, though it is difficult to offer help to individual
airlines.
SpiceJet’s shares finished 2.6
percent higher yesterday in Mumbai. During the session, they had
climbed as much as 8.9 percent
when the government decision to
allow extended ticket sales was
announced. They also dropped as
much as 17 percent.
SpiceJet hasn’t submitted a
concrete revival program, Junior
Civil Aviation Minister Mahesh
Sharma said yesterday. The relief
the government has offered the
carrier so far has been taken in
the wider interest of passengers,
he said.
Base fares sometimes as low as
2 U.S. cents have stoked more
than $10 billion in aviation losses
BLOOMBERG
SpiceJet said to get
lifeline from Indian gov’t
BUSINESS
7
Wanda said to
be poised to
raise USD3.7b
in HK IPO
Fox Hu
D
A SpiceJet Ltd. aircraft flies over a bus as it prepares to land at Chhatrapati Shivaji
International Airport in Mumbai
in the last seven years in India,
one of the world’s costliest airline markets. Kingfisher Airlines
Ltd., started by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, was grounded in 2012
after accumulating $1.4 billion of
debt.
“Without significant and immediate promoter funding, I see no
future,” CAPA Centre for Aviation’s South Asia Chief Executive Officer Kapil Kaul said in an
e-mail about SpiceJet. “Two airline closures in the last few years
and a very challenged SpiceJet
highlight the massive structural
challenges faced by the industry.”
A financial proposal the carrier
submitted to the government in a
meeting yesterday didn’t provide
new information regarding new
investors or funds, an official at
the Directorate General of Civil
Aviation told reporters in New
Delhi, asking not to be identified
citing departmental rules.
The government may give the
company two to four weeks to pay
outstanding jet fuel bills, the official said. Bloomberg
ALIAN Wanda Commercial Properties Co., China’s biggest mall developer,
plans to sell shares near the top end of a
marketed range to raise about USD3.7 billion
in a Hong Kong initial public offering, people
with knowledge of the matter said.
Beijing-based Wanda Commercial plans to
sell 600 million shares at HK$48 each, said
the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The shares
were offered at HK$41.80 to HK$49.60 each,
according to the company’s IPO prospectus.
No final decision has been made and pricing
could still change, one of the people said.
Wanda Commercial, controlled by billionaire Wang Jianlin, is raising money in Hong
Kong’s biggest IPO in two years to build new
projects after China cut interest rates to spur
growth. The company, founded in 2002 in
northeastern China, will use about 90 percent
of the proceeds to fund the development of 10
malls across the nation, the prospectus shows.
Kuwait Investment Authority and China
Life Insurance Co. each pledged to invest
$300 million in the IPO, while Och-Ziff Capital Management Group will buy $250 million
of stock, the document shows.
Cornerstone investors account for more
than half of Wanda Commercial’s offering.
Such investors typically agree to hold their
stock for at least six months in return for guaranteed allocations.
Wanda Commercial had 159 “Wanda Plaza”
malls across 110 cities at the end of June, including 71 fully completed projects, the prospectus shows. It is the flagship of closely-held
Dalian Wanda Group Co., which also runs a
department-store chain, tourism businesses,
a Chinese cinema operator and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. in the U.S.
The Wall Street Journal reported the pricing
earlier yesterday, citing unidentified people.
A Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for Wanda Commercial declined to comment.
Wang has a net worth of $15.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Bloomberg
corporate bits
Hong Kong’s multi-awardwinning Cantopop diva Joey
Yung will return to The Venetian Macao’s Cotai Arena with
her Suncity Group presents
Joey Yung in Concert 1314
Macao on Jan. 23-24.
Joey Yung in Concert 1314
kicked off in Hong Kong last
December with 15 shows,
breaking Joey Yung’s personal record for the number of
consecutive shows held before heading to Connecticut and
Las Vegas, NV in the USA for
two dates earlier this month to
continue her world tour.
When the tour arrives in
Macau it is sure to delight audiences as she delivers her
greatest hits including “Little
Day,” “My Pride,” “Forest of
Flowers” and “Wallpaper” at
the Cotai Arena on Jan. 2324, 2015.
joey yung returns to the venetian macao
Tickets for the 8:00 p.m.,
Jan. 23-24, 2015 performances of Suncity Group presents
Joey Yung in Concert 1314
Macao at the Cotai Arena are
available now.
huawei seeks to win top spot in china
smartphones in three years
Huawei Technologies Co. will
use high- quality, mid-priced devices and online distribution as it
targets to capture the top spot in
China’s smartphone market within
three years.
The Honor line of phones introduced this year is aimed at
young consumers with a focus
on online marketing, sales and
service, Jeff Liu, president of
Huawei’s Honor line, said in
an interview in Beijing. He was
speaking ahead of yesterday’s
unveiling of the Honor 6 Plus,
the latest device in the series.
Huawei, founded in 1987 and
China’s largest maker of equipment for phone networks, has
been surpassed in smartphones
by younger, more nimble local
competitors like four-year-old
Xiaomi Corp. Xiaomi’s low-cost,
online model propelled it to the top
of China’s smartphone market, the
world’s largest, in the third quarter,
while Huawei was tied for fourth
place in the period, according to
researcher Canalys.
“Many Internet based brands
are coming so we need a new
brand to face the competition,”
Liu said. The goal in China is
“first we’ll become number one.
Then, globally, our target in three
years is to be at least a top-two
smartphone vendor.”
Huawei ranked fifth in global
smartphone shipments during the
third quarter, with 5.1 percent share, according to researcher Strategy Analytics. Xiaomi was third
worldwide with 5.6 percent, trailing
only Samsung Electronics Co. and
Apple Inc., Strategy Analytics reported in October.
The Honor 6 Plus with 5.5inch display will sell in China for
about 2,500 yuan (USD404), Liu
said. Xiaomi sells its flagship
Mi4 with a 5-inch display in China for 1,999 yuan.
“The market is so dynamic,
competition is so tough,” Liu
said. “We have to make sure
we do not make mistakes in the
market, and be cautious.”
FORUM
th Anniversary
中葡論壇
published in partnership with macauhub.com.mo
AP PHOTO
Mozambican rubies auctioned
for USD43m in Singapore
This photo provided by Sotheby’s shows a ruby, emerald and diamond Cartier Tutti Frutti bracelet
T
HE
latest
uncut
Mozambican
ruby
auction carried out by
British company Gemfields in Singapore raised USD43.3 million, the
ad
company said.
In a statement, the
company said the auction of rubies mined by
Montepuez Ruby Mining
Limited (75-percent ow-
ned by Gemfields) in the
Montepuez mine in northern Mozambique, sold
62,936 carats of rubies at
an average price per carat
of USD689.
“The two Montepuez
ruby auctions, organized
in June and December
2014, generated revenues
of US$76.8 million,” the
company said.
Montepuez Ruby Mining
Limited, which mines rubies in the Mozambican
province of Cabo Delgado,
is controlled by Gemfields,
whose partner is Mozambican company Mwirit.
At the end of November
Gemfields said it had discovered an “exceptional”
ruby weighing 40 carats
(8 grams) in the rough at
the Montepuez mine.
“This gem will set a new
benchmark for the quality of African rubies and
makes the Montepuez
mine the most significant
reserve under development in the world,” the
statement said.
According to Gemfields,
the area of ​​340 square kilometers of the Montepuez
project is the world’s largest ruby concession in private hands and “has proven
to be one of the most productive.” MDT/Macauhub
Brazilian export
finance plan
expands to Angola
XINHUA
8
17.12.2014 wed
B
RAZILIAN businessmen who want to make
investments in Angola from 2015 will benefit
from the Brazilian government’s Export Financing Program (Proex), said the president of the
Brazil-Angola Chamber of Commerce.
Simão Grilo dos Santos, who recently spoke
in Sao Paulo, said Proex would have its funding
increased in 2015 “to finance Brazilian businessmen interested in investing in Angola with local
products.”
Grilo dos Santos noted several Brazilian businessmen had shown Proex they were interested
in operating in the Angolan market, a country
that “is booming” and added that the agricultural
and construction sectors were of greatest interest
to Brazilian investors .
The president of the Brazil-Angola Chamber of
Commerce and Industry this was likely because
Brazil is one of the world’s largest producers and
exporters of meat, and also has large business
groups in the construction sector.
Simão Grilo dos Santos said the next meeting between businessmen from both countries would be in
July 2015 in Luanda, and would analyze new opportunities and strategic partnerships. MDT/Macauhub
wed 17.12.2014
th Anniversary
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9
10
CHINA
17.12.2014 wed
th Anniversary
中國
C
HINA’S economic planner
announced its approval on
construction of a new airport in
Beijing on Monday, the state-run
Xinhua news agency reported.
The project will involve
79.98 billion yuan (USD13.11
billion) of investment and
take about five years, a statement from the National Development and Reform Commission revealed.
The airport is designed to
be able to handle 72 million
passengers, 2 million tons of
cargo and mail, and 620,000
planes in 2025, it said.
It is expected to meet Beijing’s rising demand for air
transportation and help achieve balanced development in
the capital’s southern and
northern areas, it said.
The new airport will be built
in southern Beijing’s Daxing
District, which borders Hebei Province. Yet according
to an article that appeared in
yesterday’s Financial Times,
some commentators have
questioned the wisdom of an
entirely new airport in such a
remote location.
China has built scores of new
airports in recent years but barely a quarter of the 200 facilities currently in operation are
making any money, with about
BLOOMBERG
New Beijing airport gets the go ahead
A woman looks at her phone at Beijing’s international airport
150 surviving on government
subsidies, the head of Chinese
civil aviation said this month.
The new Beijing airport is
just the latest in a string of
megaprojects approved in recent months aimed more at
boosting construction activity to support sagging growth
than providing essential infrastructure.
Despite several expansions,
Beijing’s existing airport has
struggled to cope with the volume and growth in passenger
and cargo traffic, and last year
saw 83.7m passengers pass
through even though the facility was designed to handle
only 76m, the FT revealed.
Beijing has the world’s busiest airport after Atlanta in
PRC looking for
new markets in
eastern Europe Dusan Stojanovic, Belgrade
I
N an attempt to secure business ties
and increase political influence, China is on a charm offensive in eastern Europe — where the European Union and
Russia are also vying for sway.
Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, accompanied by 200 corporate executives,
met the leaders of 16 central and eastern
European countries yesterday for a twoday summit being billed in China as an
opportunity not only to deepen ties to the
region and boost relations with the EU.
The Asian economic power is interested in energy, infrastructure and other
big projects to fuel its economy at a time
when labor costs are rising at home,
risking crimping its exports, its traditional economic strength. Chinese investors hope to boost their presence in the
region where Western companies may
be reluctant to take financial risks.
The timing of the China summit — the
third such in three years — is significant
as it comes while Russia, the traditional
regional powerbroker, is struggling with
deep economic problems partly caused
by crippling Western sanctions over
Moscow’s role in Ukraine.
Only a few weeks ago, Russian Pre-
sident Vladimir Putin announced that
Moscow is spiking a multibillion-dollar
gas pipeline project for southern Europe that was to pass through several east
European countries, which was to bring
them hundreds of millions of dollars in
transit fees.
Putin argued that the EU’s opposition
to the South Stream pipeline — which
would have run under the Black Sea to
Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and further
on to Europe — meant Russia had no
other choice but to scrap it.
The 16 European countries at the summit all share a former communist past.
Some, like Bulgaria, Romania, Poland
and Hungary, are part of the EU. Others,
like Serbia, would like to join, but are
still influenced by Russia.
“The difference between the Russian
and Chinese approach in the region is
that Russians are more political, while
Chinese are more commercial,” said Serbian economy analyst Miroslav Prokopijevic.
Unlike Moscow, which is applying a
combination of economic and political
pressure on the regional governments,
Beijing sees its increased economic influence in the area as a chance to boost
ties with the EU. AP
the US but it consistently rates as the worst airport in the
world in terms of delays. In
some months, less than 20 per
cent of flights out of Beijing
are able to leave on time, according to data from Flightstats.
China’s growing middle class
is fueling a travel boom in the
world’s second-largest eco-
nomy. As detailed by Bloomberg, air-travel demand in
Asia is projected to expand
5.7 percent in the four years
through 2017, the second-fastest pace in the world, with
routes within or connected to
China being the single largest
driver, according to an International Air Transport Association study last year. MDT
College entrance exam
reform to take focus
off score results
T
HE Education Ministry yesterday
took a critical step in
its initiative to reform
the college entrance exam system, aiming to reverse exam
-oriented education
to help fuel future
growth.
According to the ministry, university entrance will no longer
be solely determined
by students’ Gaokao
score,
the
national college entrance
exam.
In addition to exam
results, students will
also be evaluated on
their morality standards, physical health, art cultivation and
social practice. For
example,
volunteer
activities will result in
merits.
Previously, only a
small fraction of students were awarded
extra Gaokao credits,
mainly for success in
academic
competitions such as the highly competitive mathematical Olympiad.
The current trend
is that most students undertake a fixed,
universal diet of exam
subjects in either the
sciences or arts.
In the future, students will be allowed
to submit the scores of three subjects from a pool of six
- biology, chemistry,
geography, history,
physics and politics
- together with their
mandatory Chinese,
math and English
scores.
“The new regulation will help students take advantage of
their strengths and
overcome their shortcomings,” said Zhou
Bin, a schoolmaster
from Haining city in
Zhejiang
province,
adding that often students paid too much
attention to their
weaknesses.
China resumed the
Gaokao system in
1977. Since then, the
exam has attracted
criticism for its suffocation of students’ innovative spirit and its
juxtaposition to modern society, leading
to serious brain drain.
The number of students
taking
the
Gaokao test has declined from its peak of
10.5 million in 2008
to some 9.3 million
this year, and many
top scorers chose to
study in Hong Kong.
“We need to transform our education
system to one for the
people, to better cultivate our students,”
said Zhou Bin. Xinhua
wed 17.12.2014
th Anniversary
中國
A
The fine is
the biggest
during the antigraft drive and
may be the
biggest ever
levied against
an individual in
China
Ding Yuxin
AP PHOTO
Chinese government propaganda words which read “Prosperity and
Powerful” are displayed on a wall near a construction site in Beijing
C
HINA yesterday raised
its official estimate of last
year’s gross domestic product, possibly moving closer
to passing the United States
as the biggest economy.
There was no indication the
change would affect official
policy. But higher output
might help to reassure Chinese leaders who are trying
to transform a slowing economy and reduce reliance on
trade and investment.
Last year’s official GDP
value will be raised by 3 percent following a regular economic census, the director of
the National Bureau of Statistics, Ma Jiantang, said at a
news conference.
Ma gave no details but
based on previously reported data, the increase would make 2013’s GDP about
USD9.6 trillion or just under
two-thirds of U.S. output of
$16.8 trillion.
Growing economic output
helps to support Beijing’s
campaign to gain a bigger
voice in managing global
affairs. But officials insist
China still is a developing
country, possibly to blunt demands for Beijing to take on
more international responsibilities.
China’s growth fell to a five
-year low of 7.3 percent last
quarter. The economy grew
7.7 percent in 2013 though
that figure is likely to change
jor financial backer of former
Railway Minister Liu Zhijun,
and was charged with intervening in bidding for railway
projects worth about 185
billion yuan and engaging in
illegal business operations,
after the revision of the year’s
GDP estimate.
Analysts expect the ruling
Communist Party to cut next
year’s growth target to 7 percent. But that still is more
than double the 3 percent
forecast by the International
Monetary Fund for the U.S.
Following
an
annual
planning meeting last week,
the party leaders affirmed
their commitment to a “new
normal” of slower, self-sustaining growth based on
domestic consumption and
technology instead of trade
and investment.
China is forecast to become
the biggest economy as early
as 2020, though its income
per person would be much
lower than developed nations
such as the U.S.
Most countries update estimates of economic growth as
additional data become available but China’s revisions
are the biggest among major
countries.
In 2009, the government
raised its estimate of 2007
growth from an already high
11.9 percent to 13 percent.
That meant China moved
ahead of Germany as the third-largest economy behind
the U.S. and Japan.
In 2010, China passed Japan as the second-biggest
economy. AP
Xinhua News Agency reported
at the time.
Liu was sentenced to death
with a two-year reprieve in
July for abuse of power and
taking bribes.
During Ding’s trial, prose-
cutors said she gave Liu 49
million yuan ($330 million) in
exchange for helping her and
affiliated companies win 57
railway construction projects,
in violation of state regulations, Xinhua reported.
Liu presided over the ministry
at a time when millions of yuan
were wasted or stolen. In one
case, at least 187 million yuan
was misappropriated by individuals or companies involved
in building the high-speed rail
line from Beijing to Shanghai,
the National Audit Office reported in March 2011. Bloomberg
Survey: Manufacturing
contracts in December
Kelvin Chan
Business Writer, Hong Kong
C
HINESE
manufacturing
contracted in December for
the first time in seven months
in another sign the slowdown in
the world’s No. 2 economy is quickening, according to a survey of
factories released yesterday.
HSBC’s preliminary purchasing
managers’ index fell to a seven
month low of 49.5 from 50 in
November, based on a 100-point
scale on which numbers above
50 indicate expansion. It was the
first time the index dipped below
50 since May, when it was 49.4.
It’s the latest in a string of weak
data on China’s economy, which
is struggling to meet its full-year
growth target amid weak global demand. China’s economy
expanded at a five-year low of
7.3 percent last quarter, below
the official full year target of 7.5
percent.
The report boosts expectations
that policymakers will add stimulus in order to prevent the
economy from stalling.
China’s communist leaders,
who have expressed confidence
they can manage the slowdown,
cut interest rates unexpectedly
BLOOMBERG
the U.K. drug giant GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) received the
largest ever financial penalty
of 3 billion yuan for offering
bribes to boost its drug sales.
Ding, 59, was described in
her September trial as the ma-
Gov’t raises estimate
of size of economy Joe McDonald
Business Writer, Beijing
11
Rail chief ally Ding given jail,
USD400m fine in graft case
XINHUA
former ally of China’s disgraced railway chief was ordered by a Beijing
court yesterday to pay the largest fine so far in President Xi
Jinping’s anti-graft campaign,
after being convicted of bribery earlier this year.
Ding Yuxin, also known as
Ding Shumiao, was sentenced
to 20 years in prison and fined 2.5 billion yuan (USD403
million) for paying bribes and
engaging in illegal business,
the court said. She was also
ordered to forfeit 20 million
yuan of personal assets, according to a post yesterday on
the court’s Weibo social media
service account.
“The number was extremely
large and the violation was
very serious,” Tang Bo, senior
partner at W&H Law Firm,
said in Beijing. Tang specializes in criminal law and isn’t
involved in Ding’s case.
Ding’s sentencing comes
amid a two-year anti-corruption campaign to bolster Xi’s
power base and curb the graft
that he’s warned could erode
the party’s legitimacy. More
than 80,000 officials have
been punished for breaking
party rules, according to the
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
The fine is the biggest during
the anti-graft drive and may
be the biggest ever levied
against an individual in China, Tang said. In September,
CHINA
A worker assembles car doors at the Geely
Automobile factory in Cixi, Zhejiang Province
in November in a sign that they
were worried growth was falling
too sharply.
“The manufacturing slowdown
continues in December and points to a weak ending for 2014,”
HSBC Chief China economist Qu
Hongbin said. “The rising disinflationary pressures, which fundamentally reflect weak demand,
warrant further monetary easing
in the coming months.”
Other recent official data for
November showed that growth
in industrial production slowed
to 7.2 percent while imports contracted unexpectedly.
The report’s final version is due
Jan. 2. AP
12
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亞太版
ASIA-PACIFIC
13
PAKISTAN
Riaz Khan, Peshawar
T
ALIBAN
gunmen
stormed a military-run
school in the northwestern Pakistani city of
Peshawar yesterday, killing at
least 141 people, mostly children, before Pakistani officials
declared a military operation to
clear the school over.
The overwhelming majority of
the victims were students at the
school, which instructs grades
1-10. Pakistani Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif condemned the
assault and rushed to Peshawar
to show his support for the victims.
As darkness fell on the area,
officials said they had cleared
the school of militants.
A Pakistani military spokesman, Asim Bajwa, said 141
people died in the attack — 132
children and nine staff members. He declared the operation
over and said the area had been
cleared. An additional 121 students and three staff members
were wounded.
He said seven attackers, all
wearing explosives vests, all
died in the assault. It was not
immediately clear if the militants were all killed by the
soldiers or whether they blew
themselves up, he said. Bajwa
described an assault that seemed designed purely to terrorize the children rather than take
anyone hostage to further the
militant group’s aims.
“Their sole purpose, it seems,
was to kill those innocent kids.
That’s what they did,” he said.
The horrific attack, claimed
by the Tehreek-e-Taliban, a
Pakistani militant group trying
to overthrow the government,
sent dozens of wounded flooding into local hospitals as terrified parents searched for their
children.
“My son was in uniform in the
morning. He is in a casket now,”
wailed one parent, Tahir Ali, as
he came to the hospital to collect the body of his 14-year-old
son Abdullah. “My son was my
dream. My dream has been killed.”
The attack began in the morning when the gunmen entered
the school and started shooting
at random. Army commandos
quickly arrived at the scene and
started exchanging fire with
the gunmen. Students wearing
green school uniforms could be
seen fleeing the area on Pakistani television.
Outside the school, two loud
booms of unknown origin were
heard coming from the scene in
the early afternoon, as Pakistani troops battled with the atta-
AP PHOTO
Taliban school terror assault leaves
over 140 dead, mostly kids
Pakistani volunteers carry a student injured in the shootout at a school under attack by Taliban gunmen, at a local hospital in Peshawar
The
overwhelming
majority of the
victims were
students at the
army public
school, which
has children
and teenagers
in grades 1-10
ckers. Armored personnel carriers were deployed around the
school grounds, and a Pakistani military helicopter circled
overhead.
Pakistani television showed
soldiers surrounding the area
and pushing people back. Ambulances streamed from the
area to local hospitals.
The prime minister vowed
that the country would not be
cowed by the violence and that
the military would continue
with an aggressive operation
launched in June to rout militants from the North Waziristan tribal area.
“The fight will continue. No
one should have any doubt
about it,” Sharif said.
Bajwa said that 1,099 students
and staff were registered at the
school.
It is part of a network of
schools run by the Pakistani
military around the country.
The student body is made up
of both children of military
personnel as well as civilians.
A government official, Javed
Khan, said most of the students
appeared to be civilians rather
than children of army staff. But
analysts said the militants likely
targeted the school because of
its military connections.
“It’s a kind of a message that
we can also kill your children,”
said Pakistani analyst Zahid
Hussain.
One of the wounded students, Abdullah Jamal, said that
he was with a group of 8th, 9th
and 10th graders who were getting first-aid instructions and
training with a team of Pakistani army medics when the violence began for real.
When the shooting started,
Jamal, who was shot in the leg,
said nobody knew what was
going on in the first few seconds.
“Then I saw children falling
down who were crying and
screaming. I also fell down. I
learned later that I have got a
bullet,” he said, speaking from
his hospital bed.
Another student, Amir Mateen, said they locked the door
from the inside when they
heard the shooting but gunmen blasted through the door
anyway and opened fire.
In a phone call to reporters,
Taliban spokesman Mohammed Khurasani claimed responsibility for the attack, saying
the suicide bombers carried it
out to avenge the killings of Taliban members at the hands of
Pakistani authorities.
Peshawar has been the target
of frequent militant attacks in
the past but has seen a relative
lull recently.
The Pakistani military launched the military operation in
the nearby North Waziristan
tribal area in June, vowing that
it would go after all militant
groups that had been operating
in the region. With the launch of
the operation, security officials
and civilians feared retribution
by militants but until yesterday,
a widespread backlash had failed to materialize.
Yesterday’s attack calls into
question whether the militants
have been crippled by the mili-
tary or will be able to regroup.
This appeared to be the worst
attack in Pakistan since a 2007
suicide bombing in the port city
of Karachi killed 150 people.
The violence also underscored
the vulnerability of Pakistani
schools, which was dramatically exposed in the attack two
years ago on Malala Yousafzai,
a Pakistani girl shot in the head
by a Taliban gunman outside
her school in the Swat Valley for
daring to speak up about girls’
rights. She survived, becoming
a Nobel Prize laureate and global advocate for girls’ education
but out of security concerns has
never returned to Pakistan.
Militants have also blown up
schools in the northwest.
“I am heartbroken by this senseless and cold blooded act of
terror in Peshawar that is unfolding before us,” said Malala
in a statement. AP
un chief condemns ‘blood-curdling’
school attack
U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL
Ban Ki-moon is condemning the
“blood-curdling attack” on defenseless children at a military
school in Pakistan as “an act of
horror and rank cowardice.” The
U.N. chief told the U.N. Security
Council at the start of a meeting
yesterday that no cause or grievance can justify the killing of at
least 126 people, mainly children.
“Schools must be safe and secure
learning spaces, and getting an
education is every child’s right,”
Ban said. “Going to school should
not have to be an act of bravery.”
He pledged U.N. support to Pakistan in its fight against terrorism
and urged the government to bring
the perpetrators of the attack to
justice. “The hearts of the world
go out to parents and the families
who have lost loved ones,” Ban
said.
14
ASIA-PACIFIC
17.12.2014 wed
th Anniversary
亞太版
AUSTRALIA
AP PHOTO
Nation mourns for siege victims
Staff members from the Lindt Chocolat Cafe with their arms linked pay tribute to their colleague who lost his live during a siege at the popular coffee shop at Martin Place
in the central business district of Sydney
Nick Perry, Sydney
T
EARFUL Australians laid
mounds of flowers at the
site where two of 17 hostages
were killed yesterday when
police swooped into a cafe to
rescue them from a gunman —
an Iranian-born self-styled
cleric described by the prime
minister as a deeply disturbed
person carrying out a “sick
fantasy.”
The 16-hour siege that ended
in a barrage of gunfire early yesterday left the gunman,
50-year-old Man Haron Monis, dead, and a nation that
has long prided itself on its
peace rocked to its core.
At a news conference later in
the day, Prime Minister Tony
Abbott called the siege Australia’s first brush with terrorism
in more than 35 years and addressed the most glaring question that has emerged from
the crisis: How did Monis — a
man with a lengthy criminal record — slip through the cracks?
“How can someone who has
had such a long and checkered
history not be on the appropriate watch list? And how
can someone like that be entirely at large in the community?” Abbott asked. “These
are questions we need to look
at carefully and calmly and
methodically. That’s what
we’ll be doing in the days and
weeks ahead.”
After a day of intense drama,
many questions remained:
Why was the gunman, who had
a sordid criminal history, out
on bail? Why was he not on a
terror watch list? How did he
get a shotgun in a country with
tough gun ownership laws?
Abbott
sought to
portray Monis
as a deluded
and mentally
troubled person
rather than a
religious fanatic
The siege heightened fears of
a terror attack, but it also produced heart-rending displays
of solidarity among Australians who reached out to their
Muslim compatriots. Many
Australians offered on Twitter
to accompany people dressed
in Muslim clothes who were
afraid of a backlash against
the country’s Muslim minority
of 500,000 in a nation of 24
million. The hashtag #IllRideWithYou — or I’ll Ride With
You — was used more than
90,000 times by early yesterday.
But the most visible reaction
the day after the siege came
in the form of mountains of
flowers blanketing the pavement at Martin Place, where
the siege began during Monday morning’s rush hour. The
gunman burst into the Lindt
Chocolat Cafe, took 17 people
inside hostage and forced some
to hold a flag with an Islamic
declaration of faith above the
shop window’s festive inscription of “Merry Christmas.”
“I’ll never forget this day as
long as I live,” said Jenny Borovina, who was in tears with
two friends while carrying
white flowers to the site. She
predicted that the effect of the
standoff would leave a permanent scar on Australia’s psyche. “Our laid-back nature has
just changed,” she said.
Like so many who work in
the area, Borovina said she
was locked down in her office near the cafe for more than
four hours Monday before police gave her the all-clear to
leave. During that time, she
said, she called her son to say
take care. She also called her
aunt, asking her to look after
her son if she didn’t make it
out alive.
“Australia was a really safe
place before,” said Andrea
Wang, who laid a bouquet of
lilies at the site, near her office.
“I hope our country gets
through this very quickly,” she
said, adding that her family
from China had been calling.
“They worry about me in this
country.”
Abbott joined the outpouring
of national mourning and laid
a bouquet at Martin Place, a
plaza in Sydney’s financial and
shopping district. He called
the spontaneous shrine “an
expression of the innate goodness and decency which is a
mark of Australian character.”
Australian Muslim groups
condemned
the
hostagetaking in a joint statement
and said the inscription of the
Islamic flag was a “testimony
of faith that has been misappropriated by misguided individuals.”
Abbott sought to portray Monis as a deluded and mentally
troubled person rather than a
religious fanatic.
He called the victims “decent, innocent people who
got caught up in the sick fantasy of a deeply disturbed individual.” He said the siege
showed Australia is not immune to the violence that has hit
other countries, but he doubted that Monis’ actions would
inspire copycats.
“There was nothing consistent about this individual except that he was consistently
weird,” Abbott said. “I don’t
think anyone would want to
emulate that.”
Monis was convicted and
sentenced last year to 300
hours of community service
for sending what a judge called “grossly offensive” letters
to families of soldiers killed
in Afghanistan between 2007
and 2009.
He later was charged with
being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife. Earlier this
year, he was charged with the
sexual assault of a woman in
2002. He had been out on bail
on the charges.
Police were investigating
whether he was the registered
owner of the shotgun that he
used in the siege.
The standoff started around
9:45 a.m. Monday and stretched into the early hours of
yesterday morning. Heavily armed police finally stormed the
cafe at around 2 a.m. when they
heard gunfire inside, said New
South Wales state police Commissioner Andrew Scipione.
“They made the call because
they believed that at that time,
if they didn’t enter, there would have been many more lives
lost,” Scipione said.
A loud bang rang out, several hostages ran from the building, and police swooped in
amid heavy gunfire, shouts
and flashes.
Authorities have not said
whether the two dead hostages — a 34-year-old man and
a 38-year-old woman — were
caught in crossfire, or shot by
their captor.
One of the victims was Katrina Dawson, a Sydney lawyer
and mother of three children.
“Katrina was one of our best
and brightest barristers who
will be greatly missed by her
colleagues and friends,” Jane
Needham, president of the
New South Wales Bar Association, said in a statement.
The other victim was the manager of the cafe, Tori Johnson.
Four people were injured,
including three women who
were hospitalized in stable
condition after being treated
for gunshot wounds, and a police officer released from the
hospital after being treated for
shotgun pellet wounds, said
Deputy Police Commissioner
Catherine Burn. Two other
hostages, both pregnant women, were assessed by doctors
and were in stable condition,
police said.
In the hours after the bloodshed, many struggled to come
to terms with the incongruous
nature of the attack, which
took place at a cheerful cafe as
people filed in for their morning coffees.
“It’s shocking that it has happened to people like us that
are just going out for a coffee,”
said Michael Gardiner, a visitor from the western city of
Perth, who recalled sitting in
the cafe about a year ago. “But
it’s beautiful to see everyone
coming here. There’s a real
sense of community.” AP
wed 17.12.2014
th Anniversary
RUSSIA
Ruble declines
despite Central
Bank rate hike
Nataliya Vasilyeva, Moscow
A
FTER a massive
overnight rate hike
by Russia’s Central
Bank, the ruble staged a two-hour rally yesterday
morning before rolling back to
new historic lows.
The surprise Central Bank
decision to raise the rate to
17 percent from 10.5 percent
came in the early hours yesterday in a desperate attempt
to prop up the troubled currency. It’s the biggest interest
rate hike since 1998, the year
when Russia defaulted on its
sovereign bonds.
The move was meant to make
it expensive for currency traders to buy rubles and sell
them on the market.
The ruble in the morning regained almost all of its losses
from Monday’s 10 percent decline, the biggest fall since the
1998 economic meltdown. But
it rolled back and was down 3
percent at 66 to the dollar by
noon yesterday in Moscow.
Central Bank chairwoman
Elvira Nabiullina said in televised comments yesterday
that the decision should stem
inflation and encourage Russians to open ruble-denominated deposits.
Nabiullina conceded that the
ruble’s value will not be immediately influenced by the
rate hike and said it will take
ORTH Korea asked
the U.N. Security
Council in a letter Monday (yesterday in Macau)
to take up the CIA’s harsh
treatment of terror suspects, instead of the North’s
own human rights situation.
North Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Ja Song Nam
objected to the inclusion
of his country’s human rights record on the Security
Council’s agenda for debate — the first step toward
a possible referral to the
International
Criminal
Court.
“The so-called ‘human rights issue’ in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is politically fabricated
and, therefore, it is not at
all relevant to the regional
or international peace and
15
Signs advertising currencies light next to the exchange office in Moscow
The ruble
has lost half of
its value this
year as the
economy came
under pressure
from Western
sanctions and
plunging oil
prices
to RIA Novosti news agency.
Russian stocks were moderately declining yesterday
morning with the MICEX ben-
chmark 1.5 percent lower, reflecting the rate hike’s pressure on businesses.
A decline in the price of oil
has weighed heavily on the
Russian economy as Russia depends on oil revenue
and lacks the diversification
to withstand severe economic
downturns. The average price
of a barrel of oil has dropped
below USD56 from a summer
high of $107. The government
recently downgraded its forecast for next year, predicting
that the economy will sink
into recession.
The central bank has gradually
raised the rate from 5.5 percent
early this year. Last Thursday,
it tried unsuccessfully to stem
the ruble’s slide by boosting its
key rate by 1 percentage point
to 10.5 percent.
The rate increase, although
it can help stabilize the ruble, could spell serious economic troubles ahead, making it
more expensive for companies
to borrow funds.
Alexei Kudrin, Russia’s finance minister in 2000-2011,
said on Twitter following the
rate hike that “the fall of the
ruble and the stock market is
not just a reaction to low oil
prices and the sanctions but
also (a show of) distrust to
economic policies of the government.»
Kudrin added that the rate
hike “should be followed by
government measures to raise
investor confidence in the Russian economy.” He did not say
what steps he advocated. AP
HUMAN RIGHTS
N. Korea seeks UN meeting on CIA torture
AP PHOTO
N
the ruble “some time” before it
finds a fair value.
The ruble has lost half of its
value this year and the decline
intensified in the past months
as the economy came under
pressure from Western sanctions and plunging oil prices.
“With these steps, the Central Bank is looking to bring
stability back to the (foreign
exchange) market, which has
been behaving irrationally
over the last few weeks,” Moscow-based investment bank
Sberbank-CIB said in a morning note. “This state of affairs required extraordinary
measures from the Central
Bank — and such measures
have now been taken.”
Neil Shearing, a chief economist for emerging markets at
London-based Capital Economics, said in a note yesterday
that the hike does not eliminate the risks to the currency
such as the prices of oil and
will cause “a further tightening of credit conditions for
households and businesses
and a deeper downturn in the
real economy in 2015.”
Demand for durable goods,
an overwhelming majority of
which is imported, shot up in
the past months as major retailers have announced upcoming price hikes. Major automotive dealers, for one, are reporting sales up 15 to 30 percent in November, according
WORLD
AP PHOTO
分析
Large screen monitors broadcast Choe Myong Nam, North Korea’s
official in charge of U.N. affairs and human rights, as he speaks during
a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly human rights committee
security,” Ja wrote in the letter to Chad’s U.N. ambassador, the current council
president.
“On the contrary, the recently revealed CIA torture
crimes committed by the
United States, which has
been conducted worldwide
in the most brutal medieval forms, are the gravest
human rights violations
in the world,” he added,
requesting that the council take up the issue with
a view toward establishing
“a thorough probe into the
CIA torture crimes.”
It is highly unlikely that
the CIA issue will ever
make it onto the agenda of
the council, where the U.S.
has veto power. There was
no immediate comment
from the U.S. Mission to
the U.N.
A recent U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee report
detailed brutal interrogations of terror detainees
during the George W. Bush
administration, with tactics ranging from simulating
drowning to improvised
enemas.
North Korea’s human rights situation was placed
on the council agenda after two-thirds of its members, including the United
States, requested it. That
debate will occur Dec. 22
or 23, Chad’s Ambassador
Mahamat Zene Cherif said
Monday.
A U.N. commission of in-
quiry report early this year
detailed widespread human rights abuses in North Korea and warned that
leader Kim Jong Un could
be held accountable. Last
month, the U.N. General
Assembly’s rights committee approved a resolution
calling on the Security
Council to refer the North’s human rights situation
to the ICC.
Even though permanent
council member China
is likely to veto any ICC
referral, regular Security
Council debate of North Korea’s human rights
will elevate the issue. AP
16
INFOTAINMENT
what’s ON
...
17.12.2014 wed
th Anniversary
資訊／娛樂
TV canal macau
Zimerman and Macau Orchestra
Time: 8pm
Venue: Macau Cultural Centre,
13:00
TDM News (Repeated)
13:30
News (RTPi) Delayed Broadcast
14:30
RTPi Live
Avenida Xian Xing Hai, s/m, NAPE
Admission: MOP100, MOP200, MOP300
Enquiries: (853) 2853 0782
18:40
Brazil Avenue (Repeated)
19:30
Soap Opera
20:30
Main News, Financial & Weather Report
21:00
Non-Daily Portuguese News
21:40
Seasonal Programmes
22:10
Brazil Avenue
23:00
TDM News
23:30
Non-Daily Portuguese News
00:00
Miscellaneous
00:55
Main News, Financial & Weather Report (Repeated)
Hengqin Today Photos and Videos Creative
Exhibition
Time: 12pm-7pm (Closed on Tuesdays)
Until: February 8, 2014
Venue: Ox Warehouse, corner of Avenida Do
Coronel Mesquita and Avenida Do Almirante Lacerda
Admission: Free
Enquiries: (853) 2853 0026
“Beyond Pixels” by Victor Marreiros
Time: 12pm-8pm (Open on public holidays)
Until: December 31, 2014
Venue: SIGNUM Living Store,
285 Rua do Almirante Sérgio, R/C, Macau
Admission: Free
Enquiries: (853) 2896 8925
cinema
cineteatro
13 Dec - 16 Dec
Western Views on China:
Prints of the 19th Century about China
Time: 10am-7pm
(Closed on Mondays, no admission after 6:30 pm)
Until: December 31, 2014
Venue: Macau Museum of Art,
Av. Xian Xing Hai, s/n, NAPE
Admission: MOP5
(Free on Sundays and public holidays)
Enquiries: (853) 8791 9814
Art Arena – Project from Centre Pompidou
Time: 10am-7pm
(Closed on Mondays, no admission after 6:30 pm)
Until: January 4, 2015
Venue: Macau Museum of Art,
Av. Xian Xing Hai, s/n, NAPE
Admission: MOP5
(Free on Sundays and public holidays)
Enquiries: (853) 8791 9814
Unearthing the Past
Time: 10am-6pm (ticket counters close at 5:30 pm)
Until: January 11, 2015
Venue: Macau Museum
Admission: MOP8-15
Enquiries: (853) 2835 7911
EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS_
room 1
(2D) 2.30, 9.00 pm
(3D) 6.00 pm
Director: Ridney Scott
Starring: Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Sigourney
Weaver
Language: English (Chinese)
Duration: 150min
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING_
room 2
2.30, 4.45, 7.15, 9.30 pm
Director: James Marsh
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Emily
Watson
Language: English (Chinese)
Duration: 123min
THE BEST OF ME_
room 3
2.30, 9.30 pm
Director: Michael Hoffman
Starring: Michelle Monaghan, James Marsden, Luke
Bracey
Language: English (Chinese)
Duration: 118min
Offbeat
Anthony Eden
1942 Britain condemns
massacre of Jews
The British Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, has told the
House of Commons about mass executions of Jews by Germans in occupied Europe. Mr Eden also read out a United
Nations declaration condemning “this bestial policy”.
He said news of German atrocities sent in by the Polish
Government and widely reported in the press this month
would only serve to strengthen allied determination to fight
Nazism and punish all those responsible. After his announcement the House rose and held a one-minute silence in
sympathy for the victims.
Mr Eden described how the German authorities, who have
already stripped the Jews of their basic human rights, were
now carrying out “Hitler’s oft repeated intention to exterminate the Jewish people in Europe”.
He described how hundreds of thousands of men, women
and children were being transported from all German-occupied territory “in conditions of appalling horror and brutality”
to Eastern Europe.
In Poland, Jewish ghettoes were being “systematically
emptied” except for the able-bodied who were being sent
to labor camps. “None of those taken away are ever heard
of again,” he said.
Those who are sick or injured are left to die of exposure
or starvation or killed in mass executions. The House then
heard him read out a declaration made by the governments
of Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the United States, the UK, the
USSR, Yugoslavia and the French National Committee.
It condemned “in the strongest possible terms this bestial
policy of cold-blooded extermination” and made a “solemn
resolution to ensure that those responsible for these crimes
shall not escape retribution”.
He said the United Nations would try to give asylum to as
many refugees as possible but that there were “immense
geographical difficulties” as well as security procedures to
overcome.
James A De Rothschild, Labor MP for the Isle of Ely, made
an emotional speech on behalf of British Jewry thanking Mr
Eden and the United Nations for their declaration.
He said there were many first-generation Jews living in England who believed they had had a lucky escape from the
concentration camps. Four days ago, synagogues all over
Britain held a day of mourning as a mark of concern for the
massacre of the Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe.
The Chief Rabbi Dr J H Hertz called on all Jews to commemorate “the numberless victims of the Satanic carnage”.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has also expressed his outrage in a letter to The Times earlier this month condemning
“a horror beyond what imagination can grasp”.
London
Courtesy BBC News
In context
banker banned for
dodging rail fares
A London banker has been banned from working in
the financial services industry after he was caught dodging rail fares. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
said in a statement Monday that Jonathan Burrows has
been banned for not being “fit and proper.” The former
BlackRock director would board a train at Stonegate, a
suburb nearly 60 miles southeast of London, for his daily
commute and, after arriving at London’s Cannon Street,
pay only 7.20 pounds ($11.70) for the journey, instead
of the full 21.50 pounds price that was required for that
journey, railway officials said.
By boarding at a station without a ticket gate barrier,
Burrows was able to use a loophole in the system of
pre-paid transport passes. When arriving in London he
touched out with his pass, which is only valid for travel within London, and was charged only 7.20 pounds.
He should instead have bought a full ticket for traveling into the city from Stonegate. Burrows paid 43,000
pounds (USD67,000) in an out-of-court-settlement with
Southeastern railways. Michelle Ulyatt, a Southeastern
spokeswoman, said the company believed Burrows was
dodging fares for up to five years.
this day in history
BIG HERO 6_
room 3
4.45, 7.30 pm
Director: Don Hall, Chris Williams
Starring: Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, Jamie Chung
Language: Chinese (Chinese/English)
Duration: 102min
macau tower
4 Dec - 17 Dec
HORRIBLE BOSSES 2_
2.30, 5.30, 8.30 pm
Director: Sean Anders
Starring: Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day
Language: English (Chinese)
Duration: 108min
From 1933 when Hitler came to power, German Jews were deprived of
civil rights, persecuted, physically attacked, imprisoned, and murdered.
As Germany took over Europe many more thousands were shot in Russia and other Eastern European countries, by mobile killing squads or
Einsatzgruppen.
In January 1942 leading SS leader Reinhard Heydrich announced to the
Wannsee conference plans for the so-called “final solution to the Jewish
problem”, a systematic massacre designed to create a “Jew-free” Reich.
Jews were transported to concentration camps, slave-labour camps and
extermination camps. There they were herded into gas chambers and
their bodies burned in crematoria.
By the end of the war in 1945, more than six million Jews had been murdered in those countries occupied by the Nazis. Three million of them
were from Poland. Other minorities such as gypsies, political and religious opponents, the handicapped, and homosexuals were also killed.
Nazi war criminals were tried at Nuremberg and 12 men were sentenced
to death in 1946. Some of those involved in the Holocaust managed to
escape - most notably Adolf Eichmann, once chief of the Gestapo’s “Jewish section”. He was abducted by Israeli agents in Argentina, tried and
hanged in Israel in 1962.
The name “United Nations” was coined by US President Franklin D
Roosevelt in the Declaration by United Nations on 1 January 1942 when
representatives of 26 nations pledged to continue fighting together
against the Axis Powers.
But the United Nations was not officially founded until 24 October 1945.
wed 17.12.2014
th Anniversary
資訊／娛樂
Taurus
Mar. 21-Apr. 19
April 20-May 20
Now is the perfect time to get
started on something new — maybe
a new business venture, or maybe
a new relationship. You feel more
connected to the world, and should
be able to make real progress.
Work is pretty sweet today — or
maybe your job search takes an
unexpectedly positive turn. You
need to make sure that you’re
keeping the energy flowing and that
all your colleagues are smiling.
Gemini
Cancer
May 21-Jun. 21
Jun. 22-Jul. 22
You’re a whirlwind of energy
today — starting all sorts of new
projects that other folks can pick up
tomorrow. Don’t worry about the
future, as things are too sweet right
now to ignore.
Things just aren’t going smoothly
for you today, so make sure that
you’ve got a few allies you can call
on when things get weird. You
may find that wrinkles create new
wrinkles of their own.
Leo
Virgo
Jul. 23-Aug. 22
Aug. 23-Sept. 22
It’s a great night (or day) for a date.
Even if you’re seeing someone and
have been for years, ask them out all
over again and see where it leads. If
you’re single, now’s the time to catch
someone’s eye!
An ordinary discussion takes a
surprising turn late in the day —
you may get involved in something
that feels much more serious than
your ordinary day-to-day life.
Embrace it!
Libra
SUDOKU
WEATHER
MIN
Easy
Sep.23-Oct. 22
Oct. 23 - Nov. 21
Try to figure out what needs to
happen over the short term through
discussion and mediation, not just
telling others what to do. You need
some measure of consensus if you
want to succeed.
Sagittarius
Capricorn
Nov. 22-Dec. 21
Dec. 22-Jan. 19
People seem to be looking to you for
answers today — so listen carefully,
and try to get them to explain
themselves just as carefully. Your
wisdom is heightened, but you can’t
make any assumptions.
Work is a big deal today — and
you’re not only on the cutting edge of
your industry, you’re doing it largely
on your own. Don’t worry about
isolation for now, as that should be
remedied soon.
Medium
Hard
Feb.19-Mar. 20
Your energy is turning inward —
but in a good way! You should be
able to focus on personal issues
and get yourself out into a new
situation that you really like. Get
to work!
You’re thinking a little too hard
about what others may owe you —
but you’ve got to flip that around
and express some serious gratitude.
Your bigger emotions can be herded
(a little).
Crossword puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com
DOWN: 1- New Mexico art colony; 2- Harmony; 3- Crown of the head; 4Directed a light; 5- Building; 6- Actress
Tyler; 7- Mother of Hermes; 8- Rise to
Yesterday’s solution
one’s feet; 9- Jason’s craft; 10- Legume;
11- Slippery; 14- Caper; 15- King Arthur’s
palace; 20- Bit of gossip; 22- ___ uproar;
24- Ire; 26- Tooth; 27- Line in a play
directed to the audience; 28- Confine;
30- Sucrose; 32- Turn; 33- Concur; 34Gaucho’s rope; 37- Desi’s daughter;
40- Nasty; 42- Tailor; 45- Four Corners
state; 47- Run-down quarter; 50- Give it
___!; 54- Inuit dwelling; 56- Cesspools;
57- Hebrew month; 58- Graph prefix;
59- Resistance units; 60- Chow ___; 62Work hard; 63- Ballet skirt; 64- Age unit;
67- Arafat’s org.
-6
5
clear
Harbin
-28
-19
clear
Tianjin
-6
4
clear
clear/overcast
Urumqi
-18
-13
Xi’an
-4
6
clear/cloudy
Lhasa
-4
9
light snow/cloudy
Chengdu
1
11
cloudy
overcast/cloudy
Chongqing
4
10
Kunming
2
7
sleet
Nanjing
-4
7
clear
Shanghai
-1
6
clear
Wuhan
-5
10
clear
Hangzhou
-2
8
clear
Taipei
8
11
cloudy
Guangzhou
6
15
clear
10
15
cloudy
Moscow
0
2
drizzle
Frankfurt
0
5
drizzle
Paris
3
7
overcast/moderate rain
London
8
10
drizzle
New York
6
9
drizzle/moderate rain
WORLD
CROSSWORDS
ACROSS: 1- Cookbook amts.; 5- Shade trees; 9- Actor Vigoda; 12- Indian nursemaid;
13- Gaucho’s rope; 15- Manitoba native; 16- Not tricked by; 17- Perrier rival; 18- I’ve Got
___ in Kalamazoo; 19- Attractive route; 21- White metallic element; 23- Bluesy James;
25- Sup; 26- ___-jongg; 29- Half of zwei; 31- Spur; 35- Sugary suffix; 36- Influential
person; 38- Norwegian name of Norway; 39- Arm or leg; 41- Old Ethiopian emperor;
43- Skater Lipinski; 44- Old French expression meaning “goodbye”; 46- Speed
contests; 48- Safety device; 49- Soprano Scotto; 51- Iranian coin; 52- New Zealand
parrot; 53- Dress often worn by Hindu women; 55- Big birds; 57- Aphorism; 61- Grimy;
65- Wonka’s creator; 66- Slumbered; 68- Pout; 69- Military force; 70- Sheer fabric; 71Falafel holder; 72- ___ Tafari (Haile Selassie); 73- ___ about (approximately); 74- Insult;
CONDITION
Beijing
Hong Kong
Pisces
Jan. 20-Feb. 18
MAX
CHINA
Easy+
Scorpio
Today is all about romance — so
no matter where you are on the
spectrum, from newly single to
approaching a milestone anniversary,
you should do what you can to focus
on the right person.
Aquarius
17
THE BORN LOSER by Chip Sansom
YOUR STARS
Aries
INFOTAINMENT
USEFUL TELEPHONE NUMBERS
Emergency calls 999
Taxi 28 939 939 / 2828 3283
Fire department 28 572 222
Water Supply – Report 1990 992
PJ (Open line) 993
Telephone – Report 1000
PJ (Picket) 28 557 775
Electricity – Report 28 339 922
PSP 28 573 333
Macau Daily Times 28 716 081
Customs 28 559 944
S. J. Hospital 28 313 731
Kiang Wu Hospital 28 371 333
Commission Against
Corruption (CCAC) 28326 300
IACM 28 387 333
Tourism 28 333 000
Airport 59 888 88
ad
SPORTS
th Anniversary
體育
1998 World Cup winner
Thierry Henry retires
Samuel Petrequin, Paris
I
N announcing the end of a
distinguished 20-year career,
Thierry Henry made it clear
where he felt more cherished.
It wasn’t France, for which he
won the 1998 World Cup, remains the national team’s leading goal-scorer, and secondmost capped player.
Henry, who speaks French,
English and Spanish, decided
to announce his retirement by
posting a message in English
on his Facebook page, and via
a statement from his future employer, Sky Sports in Britain.
“The English have made a statue of him, but in France, he
has not always been recognized
at his full worth,” said Frederic Thiriez, the president of the
French league. “(He) will, nonetheless, remain a legend. He
was an exceptional striker.”
The statue of Henry, on his
knees celebrating a goal, stands
outside the home stadium of
Arsenal, where he is regarded
as the Gunners’ greatest player.
The 37-year-old Henry was
ad
linked to a potential coaching
role with Arsenal after ending
his career at the New York Red
Bulls, but said he will become a
TV analyst.
Henry holds the French record
of 51 goals in 123 internationals,
but he never achieved the same
popularity as Zinedine Zidane,
Michel Platini, Raymond Kopa
or even Just Fontaine.
He started his career at Monaco, played briefly for Juventus,
and won more trophies at Barcelona. But it’s at Arsenal, from
1999 to 2007, where he joined
the pantheon of modern greats.
He won seven trophies at Arsenal, among them two Premier
Leagues, including the unbeaten 2003-04 side. He is their
leading goal-scorer all-time
(228), in the Premier League
(175) and in Europe (42).
When asked if he thought
about another stint at the club,
he said, “You kind of never leave Arsenal. How many comebacks do you make? At one point,
it will turn out to be a bad movie. We all love the first Rocky,
but I’m not too sure about the
last one.”
Henry, who was born in the
tough Parisian suburb of Les
Ulis, started playing football
at the age of six, and his talent
did not stay unnoticed for long.
Nurtured at the national football center alongside Nicolas
Anelka and David Trezeguet,
the astute, fast, and technical
forward started his professional career at Monaco, where he
won the French league in 1997.
His achievements with Monaco opened the door to the France team, and he was selected for
the World Cup on his home soil.
Although Zinedine Zidane was
the big star of the tournament,
Henry did not disappoint, and
scored his first international
goal in the group stage against
South Africa, then a brace
against Saudi Arabia. He also
showed his coolness under
pressure, scoring from the spot
against Italy in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals.
“When they (Henry and Trezeguet) had to take penalties
against Italy in the quarterfinals it was no problem, even
AP PHOTO
18
17.12.2014 wed
In this Sunday, June 13, 2004 file photo Thierry Henry, front, of France, is challenged
by England’s Sol Campbell during their the Euro 2004 Group B soccer match
between England and France at Luz Stadium, in Lisbon, Portugal
though there was a weight and
a responsibility on their shoulders,” said Didier Deschamps,
the then France captain. “It
shaped the careers they would
go on to have.”
After a disappointing stint at
Juventus, Henry reunited at
Arsenal with his former Monaco coach, Arsene Wenger. After
failing to score in his first eight
games, Henry netted 26 goals
in that 1999-2000 season, and
would become the Premier League’s top scorer four times.
From Arsenal, Henry joined
Barcelona, becoming part of
Pep Guardiola’s side that won
six major trophies two years
later, including the Spanish
title and a Champions League
triumph over United.
His international career, which included the 2000 European
Championship title, finished on
a low. There was the infamous
handball in the decisive goal
against Ireland in a 2010 World
Cup playoff, then in South Africa the team didn’t win a game,
and refused to train before their
final match, after Anelka was
sent home for verbally abusing
coach Raymond Domenech.
“It has been an incredible
journey (...) I have had some
amazing memories (mostly
good), and a wonderful experience,” Henry wrote on Facebook. “I hope you have enjoyed
watching as much as I have enjoyed taking part.” AP
wed 17.12.2014
th Anniversary
體育
19
FIFA dismisses Garcia’s appeal
of World Cup probe
Graham Dunbar, Geneva
AP PHOTO
T
HE status of Russia and
Qatar as World Cup hosts seemed even more secure yesterday after FIFA
dismissed ethics prosecutor Michael Garcia’s appeal against the
handling of his investigation into
the bidding process. FIFA said its
appeals panel ruled the case “not
admissible.”
The former U.S. Attorney had
objected to ethics judge Joachim
Eckert’s summary of the World
Cup bid investigation, claiming
“numerous materially incomplete
and erroneous representations”
of his work.
Eckert sought to close the case
against all nine bidding candidates last month. He concluded that
any corruption or rule-breaking
was of “very limited scope” and
did not influence the votes. The
FIFA executive committee chose
Russia to host the World Cup in
2018 and Qatar won the vote for
the 2022 tournament.
It was unclear if Garcia can take
his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Garcia filed his appeal last month only three hours after FIFA published Eckert’s report and welcomed “a degree of closure.”
However, Eckert’s report “does
not constitute a decision (...) and
as such is neither legally binding
nor appealable,” FIFA said in a
statement yesterday.
SPORTS
A Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010 photo
from files showing FIFA President
Joseph S. Blatter announcing
that Qatar will be hosting the
2022 Soccer World Cup
FIFA also provided further legal
opinion in a background paper on
its website.
“In doing so, the chairman
(Eckert) had merely commented
on the report of (Garcia’s) inves-
tigatory chamber on a voluntary
basis,” the FIFA paper said.
The ruling was published less
than one hour after FIFA announced a disciplinary committee
judgment dismissing complaints
by two whistleblowers who were
interviewed during the probe.
The timing of the decisions — as
FIFA President Sepp Blatter and
his board gather in Marrakech,
Morocco — will further fuel skepticism. FIFA insists that its judicial bodies are independent and
not subject to any influence within its Zurich headquarters.
Still, the two rulings will help set
the agenda ahead of the two-day
board meeting starting Thursday,
which appears weighted against
reformers seeking greater transparency.
The board is set to receive a
review on Friday of Garcia and
Eckert’s work by Domenico Scala, the chairman of FIFA’s audit
and compliance committee. Scala
should decide how much of Garcia’s confidential 430-page investigation dossier should be seen by
the board to decide the next steps
in the case, more than four years
after Russia and Qatar won their
votes.
Blatter’s ruling board will then
decide whether to relax secrecy
rules and publish some or all of
Garcia’s work.
Garcia’s legal defeat does not affect his prosecutions of five men,
including former FIFA board
member Franz Beckenbauer, for
wrongdoing in the bid campaign.
Three current FIFA board members — FIFA vice president Angel Maria Villar of Spain, Michel
D’Hooghe of Belgium and Worawi Makudi of Thailand — also
face sanctions for their actions
during bid contests marred by
claims of bribery, collusion and
favor-seeking, and the subsequent investigation.
The Russian and Qatari World Cup bid teams and organizing
committees have always denied
wrongdoing.
In the earlier disciplinary ruling
yesterday, FIFA said the whistleblowers’ “breach of confidentiality claim had no substance.” The
FIFA statement did not identify
Phaedra Almajid, a former Qatar
bid staffer, and Bonita Mersiades, who worked for the Australia
campaign. Both worked in communications for their countries’
2022 bids and left before the December 2010 vote.
The FIFA panel ruled that both
women “had gone public with
their own media activities long
before” Eckert’s summary was
published. Eckert’s report also did
not name them.
FIFA said Garcia advised disciplinary chairman Claudio Sulser that the complaints against
Eckert “were without merit.” The
president German soccer federation, one of FIFA’s most influential members, spoke out yesterday
against the legal turmoil.
Wolfgang Niersbach, speaking
on the fringes of a news conference, said “we’ve lost track” of the judicial mess over the Garcia report.
Niersbach, who European members could elect to the FIFA board
in March, said the sport’s governing body was failing to be an
institution of “absolute credibility
and integrity.” AP
ad
THE
Police arrest 2 for death
BUZZ in football fight
Sport Views
Tim Dahlberg, Sports Columnist
Air quality
Roadside
65-95
Moderate
High
Density
55-75
Residental Moderate
Area
SOURCE: DSMG
opinion
among them, 2 alleged perpetrators of the homicide.”
On Nov. 30, a large clash
between Atletico Madrid and
Deportivo La Coruna “ultra”
groups led to 43-year-old Deportivo fan Francisco Javier
Romero Taboada dying later
from injuries after he fell into
the Manzanares River during
the fight.
Spanish police say they have
arrested two men for the death
of a football fan following a brutal street fight between rival radical fan groups before a match
in Madrid two weeks ago.
Spanish police wrote on their
official Twitter account that
“32 ultras arrested in Madrid,
Avila and Toledo for the violent incidents at Manzanares,
Station
Ambient
55-75
Moderate
Floyd Mayweather Jr. built a career — and made
a fortune — by using deception to confuse and outwit his opponents. Playing the same game outside
the ring has also paid off for Money May. Mayweather has, for the most part, been able to fight who
he wants, where he wants and when he wants. He
sells enough pay-per-views that he has been able
to avoid a fight with Manny Pacquiao that should
have taken place five years ago.
But the game has gotten old, even if Mayweather’s many yes men haven’t had the courage to let
him know. His latest attempt to twist the story line
about a possible fight next year with Pacquiao was
so dated and absurd that even the sycophants in
his sizeable entourage had to be rolling their eyes.
The wizard of defense has finally been boxed into
a corner. The charade is over, whether Mayweather realizes it or not. He must fight Pacquiao next,
if his career is to have any legitimacy. And he must
to do it on terms that reflect he won’t be the only
superstar in the ring.
Mayweather didn’t seem to grasp that the other
day when he broke his silence and tried to make it
seem as if he were challenging Pacquiao to a fight,
not the other way around. In an “interview” with the
Showtime network that employs him, Mayweather
not only declared he wanted Pacquiao, but set a
May 2 date for the fight.
Lest long suffering boxing fans get too excited,
though, the conditions quickly followed. Mayweather not only wants to pick the date but to set the
purse to his liking and have Showtime be the
broadcaster. He regurgitated old arguments about
blood testing that didn’t make sense five years ago
when he first started spouting them and make absolutely no sense now.
Luckily, the interview ringside in San Antonio
didn’t last long. If it had, Mayweather might have
demanded Pacquiao be allowed to train only one
week for the fight, have his blood taken in the locker room just before he goes into the ring and
not be able to use his right hand for the first eight
rounds.
That may be laughable. But so, too, is this:
“Manny Pacquiao, (promoter) Bob Arum, you guys
have been ducking us for years,” Mayweather
said. “We’re tired of you guys fooling the public,
fooling the critics. Before we tried to make the fight
happen and you guys didn’t want to take random
blood and urine testing. So that’s why the fight didn’t happen. Then I offered you USD40 million and
you didn’t want to make the fight happen. Then you
lost twice and now you’re coming back begging
for the same money. That’s not going to happen.”
Maybe Mayweather doesn’t read the papers. If he
had, he would know Pacquiao had no problem with
unannounced blood tests for his fight with Chris
Algieri last month. He would know that Pacquiao
and Arum would almost surely accept a smaller
purse as long as the money split wasn’t lopsided.
He would know that the free ride is over for the
most part and Showtime won’t keep paying him
$20 million to $30 million to fight the Marcos Maidanas of the world.
The fact of the matter is pay-per-view buys are
slowing for both Pacquiao and Mayweather. Pacquiao’s fight last month with Algieri in Macau
wasn’t a big seller, and both of Mayweather’s fights
last year with Maidana underperformed. Both HBO
and Showtime are charging premium rates, but not
showing premium fights.
Put Mayweather and Pacquiao in the ring together and that would change. Though both fighters
have slowed some in recent years, the matchup is
still one fans desperately want and are willing to
pay for. It would be the richest fight in history, and
it wouldn’t be close.
Frankly, it’s hard to see why Mayweather hasn’t
already signed on the dotted line. He would easily make $100 million, maybe more. Assuming he
wins — and Vegas oddsmakers have already put
up lines favoring him by as much as 3-1 — he would cement his legacy and bolster his claim to being
one of the great fighters of all time.
But if the fight has an expiration date, so do the
negotiations. For a fight as big as this, they would
likely need to be wrapped up by the end of the year
to allow time for the promotion to begin. It’s taken
five years to even get Mayweather to say he wants
the fight. Now it’s time for him to step up and show
he really means it. AP
Korean Air slammed for
nut rage cover-up
AP PHOTO
Mayweather must fight
Pacquiao next
Youkyung Lee, Seoul
S
OUTH Korea’s transport
ministry said Korean Air
Lines Co. will face sanctions
for pressuring employees to
lie during a government probe into the nut rage fiasco that
highlighted the tyrannical
behavior of a top Korean business family.
The ministry said yesterday it
will also evaluate if the airline’s
corporate culture poses safety
risks after its chairman’s daughter Cho Hyun-ah overruled
the captain of a flight to force
the plane back to the gate in the
incident early this month.
Cho, who was head of cabin
service at Korean Air, ordered
a senior flight attendant off a
Dec. 5 flight after she was served macadamia nuts in a bag,
instead of on a plate, in what
she thought was a breach of
service protocol in first class.
Transport ministry director
Lee Gwang-hee said Korean Air
could face 21 days of flight suspensions or a USD1.3 million
fine for violating aviation law.
The punishment will be deter-
mined by a separate committee
that could decide to increase or
lessen it.
Cho family members have a
direct 10 percent stake in Korean Air, which is part of the
family’s Hanjin conglomerate.
Park Chang-jin, the crew member who had to disembark from
the plane, told South Korea’s
KBS television network on Friday that Cho had shamed and
insulted crew members. A firstclass passenger told Yonhap
News Agency that Cho yelled at
flight attendants who kneeled
before her, pushed one flight
attendant’s shoulder and threw
an object at the cabin wall.
The incident now dubbed
“nut rage” hogged headlines
around the world and enraged
the South Korean public, leading to Cho’s removal from all
executive roles at the airline.
The 40-year-old and her father apologized last week, but
a new furor has erupted over
Korean Air’s attempt to foil
government investigators and
local media reports that exposed how Korean Air employees
were treated like servants of the
Cho family.
“If the incident itself were not
beastly enough, Korean Air’s
response has been abominable,” Korea Herald said in an
editorial. “In attempts that are
akin to feudal servants trying
to protect their lord’s daughter,
Korean Air staff rallied to the
rescue of Korean Air CEO Cho
Yang-ho’s daughter.”
Park, the crew member, was
visited by Korean Air Lines officials who pressured him to give
a sanitized version of events to
investigators.
The airline will be punished
because Cho and Park lied
during the probe and because the captain was negligent
in his duties, according to the
ministry.
However, the captain won’t
face any sanction as he was
powerless to refuse a member of the family that controls the airline, said Lee, the
transport official.
Its investigation found Cho
used abusive language to flight attendants but could not
ascertain if she used violence.
It will file a complaint against
Cho with prosecutors later in
the day.
The incident highlighted the
risks of investing in family-controlled companies where the
primary goal is to further the interests of the family, not that of
the shareholders or employees.
Shares of Korean Air closed 0.3
percent lower after dropping
nearly 6 percent in Seoul after
the government announced its
plan to sanction the airline. AP
THE
DECISIVE MOMENT
Brent Lewin/Bloomberg
Bloomberg’s Best Photos 2014: A silhouetted employee carries a tray of massage oils at the Banyan
Tree Macau’s spa at the Galaxy Macau casino resort.
AP PHOTO
WORLD BRIEFS
PHILIPPINES The
Philippine government
says it is seeking custody
of a U.S. Marine charged
with the murder of a
Filipino transgender
woman. The Department
of Foreign Affairs said
yesterday that it has
asked Washington to
turn over custody of
Marine Pfc. Joseph
Scott Pemberton after he
was charged by Filipino
prosecutors Monday
in the October killing
of Jennifer Laude in
Olongapo city, northwest
of Manila. Laude, whose
former name was Jeffrey,
had apparently been
strangled and drowned in
a toilet bowl.
UKRAINE Fighting in
eastern Ukraine between
government troops and
Russian-backed separatist
forces has ground almost
to halt. That should be
good news for Ukraine, but
Russia looks intent to pile
on the economic misery.
In a detailed op-ed piece
Monday, Russian Prime
Minister Dmitry Medvedev
painted a grim forecast
of Russian economic
blockades ahead as
Ukraine embarks on closer
integration with Europe.
USA The price of oil has
fallen by nearly half in just
six months, a surprising
and steep plunge that
has consumers cheering,
producers howling and
economists wringing their
hands over whether this is
a good or bad thing. The
price of a barrel of oil is
just under USD56, down
from a summer high of
$107, and lower than at any
time since the U.S. was still
in recession in the spring
of 2009.
USA Demonstrators
blocked streets around
police headquarters and
chained shut four doors
of a California police
headquarters to protest
recent grand jury decisions
not to indict white officers
who killed unarmed black
men in Ferguson, Missouri,
and New York. Police made
25 arrests as the protesters
chained themselves to the
doors of the Oakland police
headquarters during soggy
weather and prevented
people from getting inside.