Musical Victory

1 Jan 2011 - Australian airline Qantas had a rough 2010. On top of everything the year ended on a sour note as local musicians said that had scored a victory against Qantas after a Facebook campaign helped persuade the airline to scrap a ban on carrying instruments as cabin luggage. Jazz saxophonist Jamie Oehlers started the online protest when Qantas introduced a policy requiring all musical instruments except violins and violas to be checked in and stored in the cargo hold. "After travelling with them for 20 years, I was made to check my saxophone in for the first time a few weeks ago, causing USD 1200 worth of damage.", Oehlers wrote, launching the campaign last month. More than 8,700 people joined the group, including members of the country's symphony orchestra's, posting stories and pictures of instruments that had been damaged in the cargo hold. Qantas confirmed on 24 Dec it had reversed the policy. The new policy allows small instruments as carry-on baggage, provided they are no longer than 81cm, higher than 30cm or more than 19cm deep.  

Last Puff

1 Jan 2011 - Spaniards better light up today, because when they wake up tomorrow they will find what many consider an inalienable right - puffing on a cigarette with a drink at their local bar - has overnight become illegal. On 2nd January 2011, one of the laxest laws in Europe will have become one of the strictest, along with that of Ireland. Spanish smokers will no longer be able to light up in bars, restaurants and cafes as a new legislation takes into effect that bans smoking in all enclosed public spaces (so including public toilets). It will also be illegal to smoke in children's playgrounds and on school or hospital grounds, according to the new law, which received final approval from Parliament on 21 December 2010. I bet many Spaniards did not have to think long for their new year's resolutions: stop puffing.

2010

31 Dec 2010 - So, the last day of the year 2010. The year saw new superpowers emerging in the New Media landscape and I expect their authority will further rise in 2011. Two of them - Google and Facebook - now influence societies and cultures all over the world by their sheer size and reach, while the third one - WikiLeaks - epitomises the power of information. Google has a mere monopoly of web search and online search advertising. It owns YouTube and Blogger (so many thanks!) and it is only expected to expand its digital empire further. These days if you don't appear on a Google search you don't exist any longer! I have already written about Facebook, and its founder Mark Zuckerberg, in the last few days, so let's spend the last lines of 2010 on WikiLeaks. It was labeled a "foreign terrorist organization" by some US lawmakers, but was also awarded by The Economist and Amnesty International. I believe we will hear (much) from/about WikiLeaks in 2011. And it will not only be WikiLeaks. A rival called Openleaks.org has already emerged and more whistle blowing sites will follow. I expect that 2011 will further change the way we look at information - as the new superpowers rule the world.

Salt Scarcity

31 Dec 2010 - I am back in the tropical weather of Kuala Lumpur, but I can still feel the winter-cold in my bones. I had a somewhat slippery journey to Amsterdam Schiphol airport as thaw has set in and the roads and pavements are icy. The Dutch complain about practically everything (not only the Dutch by-the-way), but I was quite surprised that nobody complained about the slippery icy conditions of the roads. "In the good old days" people were requested to keep the pavement in front of their house free of snow and the city council took care of the rest. The last few days I noticed that attitudes and practice has changed, because nobody bothered anymore. Even the city council got away with a comment that they could not keep the roads ice-free because of salt scarcity. They probably have never heard of "winter preparedness". Anyway, there is good news, because on my last day in Holland I learned a ship with 7,000 tons salt from Turkey sailed into one of the Dutch ports. But probably the roads are too slippery by now get it to its destination?

15 Minutes of Fame

30 Dec 2010 - The Year also had their short term heroes, like Anna Chapman and the Old Spice Guy. 15 Minute Hero of the Year is Steven Slater. You may not immediately recognize the name, but I am sure you remember the story about the JetBlue flight attendant who could not take it any longer and snapped. When the flight attendant was hit on the head by a passenger's bag in August and was told off by one of the passengers, he exited via an emergency chute and never returned to his job again. He became an instant folk hero for the online community on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. Despite his fame, he said that - although he enjoyed some aspects of the limelight - he never felt more alone in his life than at the height of public scrutiny.

Mark Zuckerberg

29 Dec 2010 - Time Magazine selected Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg as 2010 Person of the Year. Facebook does no longer need any further introduction but Time Magazine has some interesting facts & figures about the phenomena. For example, if the recent growth rate of Facebook users continues, Facebook could reach 1 billion users by August 2012. In Afghanistan, where only an estimated b18% of adult women are literate, 85% of Facebook users are make. And Facebook continues to be blocked in China, but still counts almost 100,000 registered users. Growth in the Middle Kingdom is one of the main strategic objectives for Facebook. Lastly, every 60 seconds 1,789,736 actions are performed on Facebook: more than half a million comments are posted, 231,605 messages are sent and almost 100,000 friendships approved. Facebook connects the world - and I honor Mark Zuckerberg.

Nature Ruled

28 Dec 2010 - Mother Nature was on uncommonly unkind this year. Haiti's earthquake left 230,000 dead, and monsoons left one fifth of Pakistan under water. An Antarctic collision between an iceberg and a glacier gouged out a chunk of sea ice the size of Luxembourg. An effusive Icelandic volcano stranded travelers across Europe, and the winter was so warm that Canadian could not even make ice for their Olympics. BP could not plug the leak and an octopus made more accurate - but unfortunate - predictions than most economists did. Most of, 33 trapped miners returned one by one from their near grave. Miracles did happen and Mother Nature ruled (with thanks to Time Magazine, who published an extended version of this piece). 

Merry Christmas 2010

23 Dec 2010 - I will sign out for a few days to celebrate Christmas with family and friends in the motherland. I will be back on line before the end of the year. Ho Ho Ho Everybody! Merry Christmas!

Vampire Mistletoe

23 Dec 2010 - A new species of tropical mistletoe has been described by scientists of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew in London. The research team found the plant on expedition to Mount Mabu in northern Mozambique in 2008. Now, just in time for Christmas they have confirmed that the plant is new to science. The plant tops of list of Kew's botanical discoveries of 2010, including a Vietnamese orchid and an exceptionally rare tree in Cameroon. A butterfly specialist discovered the mistletoe, and he immediately realized it was different from what he had seen in Malawi and Tanzania. Mistletoe's are "hemi-parasitic" meaning they take some of the nutrients they need from other plants.  When birds eat the small white fruits, the seeds are wiped onto branches of trees, where they stick. Once germinated, the root grows into the living tissue of the tree to suck out its nutrients. In sum, they are vampires. Think about it when you kiss your beloved under the mistletoe over Christmas..

Gulliver's Travels

22 Dec 2010 - Hollywood is lacking creativity in recent years and is now recycling Gulliver's Travels. In a contemporary re-imagining of the classic take by Jonathan Swift, US actor Jack Black stars as Gulliver, a big talking mailroom clerk. In the story Gulliver is mistakenly assigned a travel piece on the Bermuda triangle and (after shipwrec) suddenly finds himself a giant among men when he washes ashore on the hidden island of Lilliput. Lilliput turns out to be the home of very tiny people. At first he is enslaved by the industrious Lilliputians, but later he is declared their hero (very Hollywood). There is also a message: Gulliver gets to learn that it is not about how big you are but that it is the inside that counts (sob, sob). Shot on location in and around Britain the movie also stars Emily Blunt, Amanda Peet and Brian Connolly. Soon in theatres near you!

No English, Please!

21 Dec 2010 - China's General Administration of Press and Publicity has banned newspaper, websites and publishers from using foreign words - particularly English. It said foreign words are sullying the purity of the Chinese language. It added that standardized Chinese should be the norm and that the media should avoid foreign abbreviations and acronyms, as well as "Chinglish" - a mix of Chinese and English often used in Hong Kong. The order is also applicable to radio and TV. The State body raised their order as foreign words are increasingly used in all types of communication and it now wants to turn the tide. It said the usage had "seriously damaged" the purity of the Chinese language and resulted in adverse social impacts on the cultural environment,. It also explained that if words must be written in English, a Chinese explanation needs to be added.

Airport Blues

21 Dec 2010 - Today is the official start of the winter, and the big freeze in Europe has kept many airports struggling to remain open. Still thousands of passengers are stranded in London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, ..... Under snowy conditions the gap between landing and departing airplanes becomes bigger for safety reasons. The final decision to land or not shifts from air control to the pilot. One big issue is ice.Pre-cautionary de-icing chemicals are used to keep the planes ice free. Salt is not used, as it is bad for the planes aluminium. Some airports are better prepared than others: Stockholm's Arlanda remained open and hardly reported any delays. A spokesperson of the airport claims that heavy snow is no problem, but that strong side winds are. In the end it probably depends on how busy an airport is, as a minor disruption can cause massive delays at the bigger airports.

Luxury Malaysia

20 Dec 2010 - Malaysia is carving a niche as a destination for luxury goods shopping, said Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Ng Yen Yen. She said shoppers had much to look forward to as Malaysia would be a duty free haven for most luxurious goods, including watches and jewellery per 1st January 2011. "It is important to ensure an enabling environment for the industry." The Ministry targets to have 36 million tourists and RM 168 billion in tourism receipt by 2020, and it expects 35% to be from shopping receipts. There is a plan to built a 6 km long walkway in the Bukit Bintang area which also help encouage shopping and boost sales. KL has already opened its Starhill Gallery, with many luxury brands under one roof, but from what I hear the formula does not work well. Bukit Bintang looks more like a building site than a luxury shopping area.

Quote of The Day (26)

19 Dec 2010 - This week saw the last talk show by veteran CNN personality Larry King. The 77-year-old presented his cheesy chat show for 25 years and is now finally retiring. He will be replaced by creepy British journalist Pierce Morgan. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger came on the show to announce that he had proclaimed the day Larry King day in the western US state. Former US President Bill Clinton also came on air. When King mentioned that ' we are both in the zipper club ' - and explained later that he meant they had both had heart surgery - Clinton replied " I am glad you have clarified that ' keeping a straight face as other guest chuclked. King's last gaffe must be the quote of the day. And yes, he will be missed (as CNN soon will find out).

Great Picture (27)

19 Dec 2010 - It's a tough winter in Europe. My other hometown Amsterdam is covered in a blanket of snow. The big freeze leads to travel chaos and stranded passengers. Schiphol airport had to close its runways, which is not good news with the peak Christmas season approaching. About 3,000 passengers had to spend the night at the airport because their flight were cancelled. But some beautiful picture could be made. This one is by made the Panoramio agency.

Justin or Julian?

18 Dec 2010 - Its December and the Time Person of the Year title has just been awarded to Mr. Facebook. I can live with that because Facebook has turned into a global social platform that influenced our (my) way of communication. Yes, I am a Facebook fan! But in Holland 16-years old hackers are being arrested for their role in cyber attacks made in Wikileaks Julian Assange's name following his arrest last week. Many more teens and youth are thought to be members of the Anonymous group that has waged cyber war for him. One youngster said that Assange is out to protect us from ourselves. A new Messiah is born! But not all teens are in adoration of the Wikileaks guru. Wikileaks is simply not as hot as Justin Bieber, they claim. So who should we put forward for the Water-trotter person of the year award: Justin or Julian?

Giant Storks

17 Dec 210 - Fossils of a giant stork have been discovered on the far-flung Indonesian island of Flores that has been home to many extreme-sized creatures - from tiny human-like hobbits and dwarf elephants to the world's largest known rats and lizards. The leg bones of a giant marabou stork, which lived 20,0000 to 50,000 years ago, indicate it stood around 180 cm tall and weighed up to 16 kg. Flores has never been connected to another island or mainland, shaping evolution of historic wildlife, with many small-sized warm blooded animals growing larger than elsewhere on the planet, and big sized mammals becoming more diminutive. With no mammalian carnivores, birds and reptiles faces less competition for food, accounting for some of their massive size. Even today, rats can be more than  40 cm from head to body can be found on Flores. The area is also known for the Komodo dragons, the largest lizards on earth, which can grow up to 3 m long and weighing up to 70 kg.

Say No to Shark Fins

14 Dec 2010 - The continuing slaughter of sharks, known as finning (catching sharks, cutting off their fins and throwing them mortally wounded back into the sea) needs to stop. It is cruel, inhumane and not sustainable. In the area of my former office in Hong Kong there are many (dried) fish shops, and one can see the shark fins being laid out on the pavement to dry. The smell and sight of rotting flesh is not very pleasant. I learned that 50% - 80% of all shark fins in the shark fin trade still go through Hong Kong. In 2009 Hong Kong imported 9,300 tons of frozen or dried shark fins. Shark fin soup is still much in want, in particular for wedding banquets. However, sharks are slowly dying out which will have a devastating impact on the ecological system of our oceans, as sharks are often on top of the food chain. In the end the killing of sharks will come to haunt all of us. So please, don't order shark fin soup anymore.

Branson the Air Hostess

14 Dec 2010 - It will be crowded on thew 21st February 2011 Air Asia flight from London to Kuala Lumpur, as the richest air hostess in the world, Richard Branson, will serve the passengers. The virgin Atlantic founder is to dress up as flight attendant after he lost a bet over which team would fare better in the last Formula 1 season. Branson, who owns the Virgin Racing Team, had bet that his cars would do better than the lotus Racing team of Air Asia's owner Tony Fernandes. Fernandes has challenged Branson to dress up as a flight attendant and serve on Air Asia if the tycoon's Virgin Racing ended the season behind Lotus. Branson accepted, on the condition that Fernandes would do the same on Virgin Atlantic's London - Lagos route. if he had lost. Branson will have to serve and even clean the toilets, while wearing high heels. However, he will be allowed to keep his trademark moustache..

Too Many Surgeries

13 Dec 2010 - Nobody likes to go to the doctor and a recent study in The Netherlands has confirmed my sentiment that more regulation in the health sector is urgently needed. A study by the Dutch Department of Health has shown that almost one billion euros is wasted annually on operations that are medically unnecessary. Also, it turns out that patients in some hospital have a 400% higher chance to end up on the operation table compared to other hospitals. It is always the medical team, often the surgeon, who decide to operate, but there are enormous differences in diagnosis and response from doctor to doctor, and from hospital to hospital. Medical care is expensive and of course there are always risks involved. The Department of Health concludes that guidelines when to operate are urgently needed. It says that doctors who operate against the guidelines - sometimes for financial reasons - should receive a financial penalty. However, all cases are different and would it truely be possible to defines guidelines covering all cases and situations? Difficult dilemma.