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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 36/VII/December2010
Category: CULTURE
 Imperial Treasures at the National Museum of History powerfully illustrates the close relationship between Buddhism and the Tang Dynasty emperors
When former minister of justice Liao Cheng-hao brought ?Buddha?s finger? to Taiwan from China in 2002, it was hailed as the religious event of the year. The relic, believed to be one of the Sakyamuni Buddha?s digits, attracted an estimated 4 million viewers as it toured Taiwan, spurring renewed interest in Buddhism.
Imperial Treasures ? Relics of Famen Temple Underground Palace and the Flourishing Tang, currently on view at the National Museum of History, complements the religious sentiments stirred up by the 2002 show.
The exhibition includes 61 artifacts rediscovered in the 1980s when a pagoda at Famen Temple, located 120km west of Xian, China, collapsed during a renovation project, exposing a treasure trove of 2,499 objects.
A further 59 objects are on loan from museums located in China?s Shaanxi Province and the Shaanxi Archeological Research Institute.
The exhibit reveals the intimate ties between Buddhism and the Tang Dynasty emperors, who were Famen Temple?s most devoted patrons.
Liao, the exhibit?s coordinator and a devout Buddhist, declares in the catalogue that just like the arrival of Buddha?s finger in 2002, which was intended to ?bless the people of Taiwan ... ward off disasters and engender good fortune,? Imperial Treasures will help ?to purify the soul, condense thoughts and ... cleanse political, social and spiritual pollution out of the system.? It should serve, he writes, as a defense against ?distorted values and materialism? in contemporary society.
Raising the issue of materialism seems odd in the context of an exhibit that celebrates the material possessions of the temple, where even the most mundane objects were given artistic treatment worthy of the divine.
A tea mortar, for example, is made from gilded silver, the base and pestle intricately designed with images of flower pedals, flying horses and wild geese. Everyday items are refashioned into ostentatious objects; there are even hinges made from solid gold.
The flamboyant use of materials and creative design are most apparent in those objects directly associated with Buddhism. The statue of Bodhisattva that holds the remains of Buddha?s finger is an example of the era?s astoundingly sophisticated artistic achievements. The numerous reliquaries on display, made from crystal, jade and gold, justify the exhibit title?s argument that the Tang Dynasty was an era of intense artistic creativity in the service of Buddhism.
The designs in bas-relief reveal the mature craftsmanship common at the time, while patterns of a dancing musician carved onto the side of a gilded silver receptacle and a mural depicting two men playing polo give insight into the era?s leisure activities.
The superb presentation of Imperial Treasures, however, is offset somewhat by a flaw that seems to plague the National Museum of History: dating. The museum dates many of the objects according to the reign of a Tang emperor, without also presenting the corresponding year on the more familiar Western calendar.
For example, the aforementioned mural, a virtuosic display of intricate brushstrokes and lightness of execution, is placed beside a second, somewhat flat and rigid, mural of a warrior. If viewers knew that the first came from the middle of the Tang Dynasty and the latter from the end, they would be in a better position to comprehend how the internal struggles that plagued the dynasty on the eve of its demise had a profound effect on the quality of its art.
Regardless, one can understand from this exhibition why the Tang Dynasty is hailed as a high point in Chinese civilization.
As I wandered through the museum?s first floor where the exhibition is being held, I noticed Buddhist nuns in monastic robes ogling an intricately designed headdress of gold and precious stones, and austerely cloaked monks poring over a silver mirror decorated with bas-relief hunting scenes. Perhaps Buddhist rewards can be accrued in this life as well as the next.
Imperial Treasures reminds us that the close relationship between religion and politics common during the Tang Dynasty remains a living tradition in today?s Taiwan (albeit on a far smaller scale), where religious organizations, such as the Buddhist Fo Kuang Shan in Kaohsiung or Taoist temples such as Jenn Lann Temple in Dajia, Taichung County, accumulate vast amounts of wealth through political patronage and donations.
Exhibition Notes:
What: Imperial Treasures ? Relics of Famen Temple Underground Palace and the Flourishing Tang
When: Open daily from 10am to 6pm. Tel: (02) 2361-0270
Where: National Museum of History, 49 Nanhai Rd, Taipei City
On the Net:www.nmh.gov.tw
Admission: NT$250
By: Noah Buchan
Taipei Times 08 December 2010 photo: Photo courtesy of The National Museum of History
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 36/VII/December2010
Category: LIFE
IF it were coined today, the famous advertising slogan "Guinness is good for you" wouldn't have seen the light of day. The old slogan would run counter to the marketing code of Diageo, the global alcohol company that manufactures the stout, which makes no claims to health benefits for its products.
"We strive to ensure that our marketing does not suggest to the consumer that drinking our brands will make you healthier, stronger or more successful socially or sexually", said Mr Lin Menuhin, Diageo Asia Pacific's corporate social responsibility director.
Representatives of alcohol firms told Weekend Today that promoting responsible drinking was a core part of their company culture.
In terms of marketing, for example, Diageo doesn't use images "that would appeal to underaged people, to teenagers; we also wouldn't make a big noise about how strong a product is, in terms of its alcohol by volume", said Mr Menuhin.
Diageo and Asia Pacific Breweries support the Traffic Police's anti-drink driving initiatives, among other efforts to promote responsible drinking.
"The vast majority of people who consume alcohol do so responsibly and in moderation," said Mr Michael Chin, general manager, Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore.
He also noted that the company is mindful of the harm involved in excessive and irresponsible alcohol consumption. "Our Get Your Sexy Back (www.gysb.sg) initiative - a youth-focused moderate drinking campaign" raises "the social currency of moderation", he said.
"Alcohol is a very heavily regulated product everywhere ... the industry also has its own internal standards for advertising and marketing and often they're stricter than the country's standards," said Dr Marjana Martinic, senior vice-president at the non-profit International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP).
Alcohol firms are among the stakeholders that ICAP works with. Dr Martinic added that such codes of practice can exist at company, trade association and national levels.
By: Venessa Lee
Today 11 December 2010
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 36/VII/December2010
Category: ENVIRONMENT
 Close to 90 percent of the world?s orangutans are found in Indonesia. And Kalimantan is their home. Which is why the orangutan is widely known as the island?s flagship species. Under the Conservation Law, these beautiful and noble creatures should be protected?their living environs safe from harm. Yet, they are now increasingly threatened by encroaching farmers, planters and worst of all, hunters who seek them out to kill or to be traded. A few caring groups are trying hard to protect the orangutans, symbol of our environment?s sustainability. These people work with local forest communities to live in harmony with the orangutans. A special report for Tempo English Edition from Central Kalimantan.
LYING in a bent-over position and injured, the baby orangutan is hugging its mother sleeping beside it. Close to them, another orangutan is hurt in the arm and head. The injured temple right next to the eye of this rare species sheds blood. Such dramatic scenes are shown in the video presenting the rescue of orangutans by the Ministry of Forestry and the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF). During 2006-2007, the BOSF and the Forestry Ministry managed to save 350 orangutans.
Hunting, atrocity and killing of orangutans are not a new issue. The population of these big apes keeps declining. A study by the Forestry Ministry in 2007 recorded a total of 61,234 of these?protected?animals in Indonesia, of which 54,567 were in Kalimantan. The number is now estimated at less than 14 percent of the population in the past (from 10,000 years ago to the mid-20th century) and 90 percent of the total live in Indonesia, in Sumatra and Kalimantan to be exact.
Orangutans are one of the most protected species in Indonesia. The form of protection is contained in Law No. 5/1990. It is stipulated that whoever captures orangutans dead or alive shall be liable to imprisonment. ?The fact is that they are not protected at all,? said Hardi Baktiantoro, head of the Center for Orangutan Protection (COP). According to him, orangutans are frequently hunted, even regarded as a pest because they often eat oil palm shoots. ?The most prominent threat comes from deforestation. As far as I know, forest trees are removed for palm oil plantation in Kalimantan,? Hardi added.
Sipet Hermanto, head of the Central Kalimantan Provincial Forestry Office, admitted to Tempo the opening of palm oil plantations had considerably affected the habitat of orangutans. ?Palm oil estates are then obliged to prepare corridors, which are forest zones intended for orangutans that are caught for entering the estates,? he said. According to him, through the corridors the animals? protection can be realized. For instance, captured orangutans must not be beaten up or tortured but have to be released into their forest through cooperation with the Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA).
Besides orangutans, local people are greatly interested in forest conservation. While orangutans see forests as their habitat, villagers consider forests their sources of food. ?Tura and other villages along the Katingan River are heaven for us. We?ve been pampered by nature from the past to the present. Earth has provided whatever we need to enable us to live in sufficient conditions,? said Daryatmo, Head of Tura village, Central Kalimantan, home to orangutans. ?So, human and orangutans share the same interests,? Hardi affirmed. With the common interests, Hardi and peers have communicated the message of conservation to local communities since 2007. ?And it?s been effective,? he added.
Still, Hardi admitted, it was not easy to make villagers aware of environment conservation amid the storming interests of palm oil plantations. ?Local communities? awareness remains low. Whatever the government decides, though to their disadvantage, they just accepted it,? noted Hardi. Their awareness of orangutans is even more difficult. It is because traditionally, local residents in Kalimantan hunt and eat the flesh of orangutans. The other barrier to people?s involvement is the ?lure? from palm oil firms: plantation owners hire locals for the capture of orangutans, and they get compensation for every ape caught. That is why Hardi acknowledged the issue of orangutans would more effectively draw international attention than national concern.
One way of promoting collective awareness and bringing up the orangutan issue to broader global circles is through films. Five village residents around the Katingan River were gathered and trained in film making. ?We taught them how to hold cameras, adjust volumes and so forth,? said Hardi. The idea of the story, initiated by Daryatmo, is around daily village living and activities. The film also presents the difficulty faced by the people when they handle land documents in the region already controlled by palm oil companies.
The result is a 16-minute docudrama entitled Petak Danum Itah (Our Motherland). Daryatmo is the central figure in the film. In the beginning of the movie, he gathers around 30 residents of Tura, Tumbang Tanjung, and Tumbang Lahang villages to grow rubber and jelutung (Dyera costulata) trees on their open land. ?This is our motherland, we should be growing plants here for our future and the coming generations. Our ancestors have warned us against being sidelined as land owners,? he points out enthusiastically. Daryatmo then invite them to plant rubber together as proof of their disagreement with palm oil plantations.
Asked why he persistently struggles for the conservation of his forest, Daryatmo says he listens to the complaints of his peers from other villages about most of their people being no longer able to gather rattan or tap rubber trees. Large numbers of company workers also come from other regions so that local people are deprived of adequate income. Daryatmo also shows no more fish can be found due to contaminated river water.
The other approach to change people?s viewpoint on the importance of rescuing the environment and what it contains?including orangutans?is through the entertainment media, such as outdoor movie shows, and also education. ?One of our strategies to win the hearts of people is the opening of English language classes. We believe if children like the lessons, so do their parents,? said Hardi.
Not far different from other children in Indonesia?s remote areas, Tura village youngsters almost have no access to good quality and affordable modern education. In order to make English lessons more easily understood, the COP has modified Dayak (traditional Kalimantan tribe) traditional games so that they can be utilized for English learning.
Mohammad Ali Daut, one of the English teachers in Tura, said the children had very high enthusiasm. ?When I announce the program one day in advance, children from the neighboring villages will come to Tura to follow the class,? he said. A class is attended by 30-50 students. ?My target is at least they can introduce themselves and describe other people in simple English,? added the former teacher in Medan.
In addition to English, children also get singing and sport lessons. ?Primary schools there only have one teacher. So we help them with teaching,? revealed Hardi. He admitted such methods had been applied to win the ?fight? with palm oil companies. ?While the companies are attempting to prevail by distributing daily necessities, we?re trying to win the communities? heart by these means (education and entertainment?Ed.),? he indicated.
Its outcome takes time. But he gave an example of a positive effect of their effort: when a companies and government agencies asked for local people?s signatures to give up a forest zone, none of them were willing to sign. ?Up to the present, their heavy-duty equipment has failed to enter those areas,? he said. He expressed his gratefulness that so far he had saved around 2,000 orangutans in an area of 44,000 hectares.
But the struggle to rescue orangutans and their habitat in Kalimantan and Sumatra is indeed still has a long way to go. One of the investigation results of Hardi and colleagues is that some forest zones do exist physically, but their presence is not recognized on the government?s official maps.
What is the response of Sipet Harmanto on this matter? In his view, what happens is the difference in reference sources. The central government so far refers to the Consensus Forest Land Use System (TGHK) of 1982, while the Central Kalimantan Province uses Regional Regulation No. 8/2003 on the Central Kalimantan Regional Spatial Layout. ?If we use the TGHK, then the entire provincial territory is a forest region including the governor?s office,? he said. He hoped the draft on the Central Kalimantan Regional Spatial Layout could soon be approved by the central government. In this way, the difference in reference maps can be promptly resolved.
The struggle to save orangutans and their habitat in Kalimantan?and other regions in Indonesia?is facing various constraints. We?ve often heard the sarcastic remark: ?Why all the fuss about rescuing animals, while the larger part of Indonesia?s population still badly need aid?? Hardi acknowledged the many difficulties but he refused to call a halt. According to him, somebody must offer protection to orangutans, ?Though this endeavor means a long and exhausting journey.?
Tempo No. 15/XI/08-14 December 2010 photo: Centre for Orangutan Protection
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 36/VII/December2010
Category: LEGAL WATCH
A DECADE in the making, a new code of criminal law consisting of 672 articles is set to go into effect today in Phnom Penh and throughout the country on December 20.
The penal code defines criminal offences, responsibility and penalties, and complements the codes of penal procedure, civil law and civil procedure, all three of which are already en force.
The penal code was signed into law on November 30 of last year, but it included a one-year delay to provide time for government officials, law enforcement and legal professionals to become familiar with the new raft of laws.
According to the Constitution, laws are enacted en force in Phnom Penh 10 days after they are signed, and 20 days later in the provinces.
Officials at the Ministry of Justice said that over the past year they have provided copies of the new code and training sessions to judges, prosecutors, police and other civil servants.
Drafting for the code, which is based on the French civil system, began in 1999 and drew significant assistance from the French government.
The code introduces a spate of new crimes, whereas the UNTAC law ? never intended as a long-term legal system ? contained only about 30 criminal offences.
Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said yesterday the ?criminal code plays a very important role in protecting human rights?.
But human rights activists have raised concerns about the new code. Licadho branded it a ?setback for freedom of expression issues? in Cambodia yesterday, citing a host of concerns.
Two articles might have the effect of shielding the courts ? which international human rights experts have said lack independence ? from dissent.
According to Article 523, for example, criticism of a court decision that aims to ?cause turmoil? or ?endanger Cambodian institutions? could draw a prison sentence of up to six months and a fine of 1 million riels (US$245), Licadho said in an analysis released yesterday.
Article 522 makes the publication of commentaries intended to pressure a court a similar crime.
Article 502, Licadho said, makes an action, gesture, piece of writing or drawing that ?affects the dignity? of a public official a minor crime with a prison sentence of between 1 and 6 days and a 1,000 to 100,000 riel fine. Licadho called the definition of this crime ?vague and highly subjective; taken to the extreme, the article essentially criminalises all acts which hurt the feelings of public officials?.
Minister of Justice Ang Vong Vathana was unavailable for comment yesterday.
By: Thomas Miller
Phnom Penh Post 10 December 2010
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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