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CUI JIAN

The fatherof Chineserock

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C & C - Lawyers Office

Partners:Rui J. Da Cunha*

Álvaro Rodrigues*• Nuno S. da Mata*Zhao Lu*º• Connie Kong

* Notary º China Appointed Attesting Officer

www.ccadvog.com

Trainee Lawyers:Maria A. Giestas

Eulália SouzaCarlos S. FerreiraOctávio Tavares

Fong Kit InCao Lemeng, Rui

Wong Pou Ngai, Karen

Associates:Adelino Correia*

Zelina Rodrigues•Nuno L. MartinsSusana Batalha•Luís A. Pinto

Rita Andorinho•Célia GonçalvesVasco G. Vidal•Maria J. Marques

António I. Azeredo•João N. Marques Jeniffer Lao • Icília Berenguel

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18 World of Wonder

28 Offbeat

29 Cartooning the Worldby António This Day in History

30 Infotainment

34 Zoomby Rui Cid

Universal Yoga Asia Ltd. Av.do Infante D. Henrique, 43-53A, second floor, Macau Square, MacauPhone number (853) 2899 5599 Fax number (853) 2899 5533

http://www.universal-yoga-asia.com/

Cover story

4Cui JianThe father of Chineserockby João Gonçalves

26Ask the VetChoosing a dogby Dr Ruan Du Toit Bester

16by António Espadinha Soares

Mouse Click20by Fernando FerreiraPress Play

10Do you know Macau?

Bak Kok TingA Very Old

Chinese Libraryof Macau

by Cora U.I.Wong

32Law & PeopleInvisible Protectionin Transportby Fong Ki In, Candy

12 Wanderings by Anita Duffin

22From Macau

to Lisbon The wicked and

the beautiful by Rui Freitas

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by João Gonçalves

Beijing was the birth-place of rock in China. As the nation’s capital, the music was highly politicized and open

to a range of foreign influences. It was marginal for most of the 80s, consisting of live performances in small bars and hotels. The music was almost exclusively for the do-main of university students and underground bohemian circles.

In late 1989 and early 1990 Chi-nese rock partially emerged into mainstream music as a combina-tion of the Northwest Wind and prison song fads. The first Chinese rock song was arguably the North-west Wind anthem ‘Nothing to My Name’ performed in 1984 by Cui Jian, widely recognized as the fa-ther of Chinese rock.

The song introduced into post-

CU

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of Chinese rock

revolutionary China a whole new ethos that combined individualism and direct, bold expression. It soon came to symbolize the frustration harbored by a disillusioned gen-eration of young intellectuals who grew cynical about Communism and critical of China’s traditional and contemporary culture.

It also expressed, even for older Chinese, dissatisfaction with un-realised promises of the Chinese regime. In the spring of 1989, ‘Nothing to My Name’ became the de-facto anthem of the student protestors at Tiananmen Square

If there is a single person who best signifies China’s growing hunger for rock and roll it is Cui Jian. Known to all as Lao Cui, he is recognized as the father of rock music in China and compared to Elvis, Dylan and Springsteen by the western media.

Cui Jian grew up in a musical family in Beijing. His father was ethnic Korean and his mother was a member of a Korean dance troupe. Cui Jian himself started playing the trumpet at the age of fourteen and joined the Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra in 1981, at the age of twenty.

He was first introduced to rock during this period when friends smuggled in illicit recordings from Hong Kong and Bangkok. Inspired by the likes of Simon and Garfun-kel and John Denver, Cui began to learn to play the guitar.

In 1984 he formed Seven Ply

Board with six other classically trained musicians, including the saxophonist Suona Liu Yuan. The Beatles, the Rolling stones and Talking Heads heavily influenced the seminal band. They performed their own works - mostly soft rock and love songs - in local hotels and bars. Cui Jian first shot to star-dom in 1985, when he performed ‘Nothing to My Name’ on a tele-vision talent show. The next year

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The fatherof Chinese rock

he left his permanent job with the orchestra.

His band, now renamed ADO, included two foreign Embassy em-ployees, Hungarian bassist Kassai Balazs and Madagascan guitarist Eddie Randriamampionona. His first real album, ‘Rock and Roll on the New Long March’, was re-leased in 1986. The album includes the first recording of ‘Nothing to My Name’ and became the biggest

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The year is 1978. Under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping the Chinese Government establishes the ‘Reform and Open-ing-up’ policy, opening the gates of the Middle Kingdom to the outside world and declaring an end to decades of isolation.

This invitation was not only at economic and diplomatic levels, it was also a cultural opening-up. The hunger of the young Chinese, if only some, for the music of the west in spite of the difficulty in access was not unexpected, but a small part of a wider phenomenon, the feverish enthusiasm of the population of an isolated nation was receiving and ac-knowledging its cultural products from the outside world.

The boom of new translations of foreign authors, the ac-cess to movies and television programs from not only Hong-Kong and Taiwan, and the nationwide frenzy for Taiwanese and Hong-Kong Pop music, are some of the results that give testimony to this cultural opening-up.

It is in this same context that the exotic and wild sound of rock’n’roll is first heard across the new China. But the Chi-

nese weren’t simply passively receiving the cultural products of the outside world; they were starving for more and pas-sionate in their search for it, learning to live a new life from it, with all its accompanying splendour and vices.

An example of this tendency was the Chinese translation of a book by Nietzsche that remained a long time bestseller in Beijing bookshops during the 1980’s. This meant that in a still highly controlled cultural environment, sometimes un-wanted material would become bestsellers in the clandes-tine black market.

We should remember here the enormous success of the Taiwanese singer Teresa Tang, a symbol of this same cul-tural opening. When during the early 80’s period of political tensions between mainland China and Taiwan, the music of artists from Taiwan and Hong-Kong was banned for being too bourgeois, her enormous success led to the circulation of a massive number of illegal copies of her albums, and songs continued to be the favourite themes of the Disco-go-ing youth, which led someone to affirm that Deng Xiaoping

The first wave...

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selling album in China’s history. Cui Jian’s own long march begins

and China will never be the same. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Cui created a hybrid and experi-mental music mix that cut across divisions between pop music genres. Cui’s songs drew on folk and traditional music types, such as the Northwest Wind (Xibeif-eng) or peasant songs of the Loess Plateau of Shaanxi. At times they knowingly parodied old commu-nist party sayings and proverbs.

In 1988 he performed at a concert broadcast worldwide in conjunc-tion with the 1988 Summer Olym-pics. His earliest and best known works were spiced with Western popular music styles, such as Punk rock, Dance music and Jazz. Cui’s vindication of a new internation-alism and political awareness con-nected with many university stu-dents of the time.

In the beginning of the 90’s Cui Jian embarks on his Rock n’ Roll on The New Long March tour taking him to arenas throughout the country. Tour profits are to be donated to the upcoming Asian Games in Beijing and huge crowds turn out to see the tour. The tour is cancelled midway, but neverthe-less achieves something important in that Cui Jian’s appearances in-spire the formation of dozens of

ruled China by day and Teresa Tang ruled it by night. The first access for Chinese audiences to the rock sound was

through foreign cover band concerts that played at hotel bars pre-pared to receive foreign visitors especially Shanghai and Beijing.

Steven Shwankert, in an article published in the Septem-ber 1995 edition of the Wire magazine gave voice to Guo Chuanlin, founding member and manager of Black Panther, seminal Chinese Metal band, as he expresses the feelings of a young Chinese when first getting in contact with rock sound during this period. “In 1982 a Filipino surf band did a show at a park. It was all covers, Beach Boys and stuff. We stood there stunned. We had no idea a guitar could make those sounds! That was a turning point.”

Yet another medium of dissemination of the rock sound were the tapes of rock music brought to china by foreign visitors. These pieces of aural exotica, it is said, were re-corded and re-recorded by the new Chinese rock fans, like some rare treasure that needed to be shared. Registered History tells us that the first Chinese band ever playing rock

music in China was formed in 1980 by a group of students of the Beijing Second Foreign Language Institute. The band was called Wan Li Ma Wang and played mostly covers from bands like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bee Gees or Paul Simon, organizing concerts in various universities.

Other bands that should be mentioned as pioneers of the Chinese rock are Alisi, or The Alice Band, formed in 1981, who mainly performed a repertoire of Japanese Rock. In 1982 a mixed group of expats and Chinese musicians formed Dalu Yuedui, Mainland Band, playing a mixture of rock, reg-gae and African music in several hotels around Beijing, such as Club International.

Later, two other Beijing bands were formed, Tumbler and Tan-gram, which also are of historical importance, since several of its members went on to form Chinese rock bands that, after their Cuijian acclaimed 1985 performance of Wo Wu Suo You on na-tional television, constituted the first wave of Chinese rock, not anymore as a localized Beijing underground phenomena, but one which begin to receive nationwide recognition. JG

grass-roots rock bands in China’s hinterlands.

After his tour he releases his sec-ond album, ‘Solution’, consisting of songs written prior to 1992. Continuing to experiment with his sound, Cui Jian produces ‘Solu-tion’ with a new band formed from Beijing’s growing community of rock musicians, as well as Japanese guitarist Amari Kyosuke.

Three years after Cui Jian is invit-ed to Japan and plays at the pres-tigious Budokan Theater in To-kyo. In the autumn, Cui Jian and

the Balls Under the Red Flag band embark on their first tour of the United States, performing at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, The Orpheum Theatre in Boston, as well as The Palladium, The Bot-tom Line, and The Knitting Fac-tory in New York City. The tour receives major press coverage and favourable reviews from the likes of Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, MTV, and CNN.

In the year 2000 Cui Jian starts writing music for the soundtrack of Jiang Wen’s controversial movie

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‘Devils at the Doorstep’ and attends the movie’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Cui Jian also plays the role of a country music teacher in ‘The Feelings of Heaven and Earth’ directed by Yu Zhong. In the same year he performs on televi-sion and on a major stage in Beijing for the first time in seven years. The Dutch ambassador presents Cui Jian with the prestigious Prince Claus Award for artistic endeavours in the developing world.

Cui Jian’s latest album titled ‘Show You Colour’ distributed by Jingwen Records was released nationwide on 28th March 2005. The new album, divided into three main themes represented by three colours, red, yellow and blue. Red symbolizes the heart (inner feelings), blue symbolizes in-telligence and yellow symbolizes love. This album includes various genres of music,

such as Pop, Rock, Techno and Hip-hop. He attended the Rolling Stones concert

in Shanghai in 2006. When Wild Horses - the classic Rolling Stones song - began, the honoured guest Cui Jian, with his gui-tar, sang together with the Rolling Stones. After that, Cui Jian said excitedly: “this year is the 20th anniversary of China’s Rock’n’Roll. I’m very grateful that the Rolling Stones came to China. I’ve made an appointment with them. They will come back to China and we will meet in Beijing!”

Cui Jian continues to tour today. This year he appeared in May at the ‘MiDi Music Festival 2009’ in Beijing. The un-disputed rocker will continue strumming his guitar and creating great works for audiences and fans in China and world-wide. W

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by Cora U.I.Wong, Institute For Tourism Studies (IFT)

A Very Old Chinese Library of Macau

The subject of this article is a quaint little building likely to be by-passed by tourists but which is still worth tak-ing a look at for any visi-

tor walking along the Rua do Campo, on the way to the city centre and the Praia Grande. If one pays attention, one will see a small Chinese pavilion painted in red colour at the Southern end of the Rua do Campo. The two-floor structure was built in an unorthodox style as an octagonal Chinese pavilion. The name under which it is commonly known today is Bak Kok Ting, literally meaning “The Eight-vertex polygon pavilion”, due to its octagonal shape. It was designed in 1926 by a prom-inent Macau Chinese architect, Chan Kun Pui, and it was built in 1927 as part of the amusement facilities that were found in the Praia Garden. In the past, the Praia Garden used to be one of the major social gathering venues for the upper crust Por-tuguese and Macanese families of Macau. An open theatre, a fountain and artificial hills were once to be found inside the gar-den. The Chinese pavilion was originally used as a place for playing snooker and contained a small bar where snacks and drinks were served.

On the 17th of June 1948, a well-known philanthropist and influential Macau Chi-nese merchant, who was also the Vice Ex-

ecutive Chancellor of the Macau Chamber of Commerce of the time, Mr. Ho Yin, pur-chased the Chinese pavilion and donated it to the Macau Chamber of Commerce to be used as a public library. He further donated 17,500 Patacas for the renovation of the building and for the purchase of books for the library. The library was of-ficially inaugurated on the 1st of Novem-ber 1948 by the Governor of Macau of the time, Albano Rodrigues de Oliveira. The pavilion thereby became one of the very first Chinese libraries of Macau.

There was a very personal reason why Mr. Ho Yin purchased the pavilion and made it a public library for the people in Macau. Through his life, Mr. Ho Yin was always enthusiastic in supporting educa-tion and he made a number of donations to schools and charitable institutions of the city to that effect. Mr. Ho Yin, who had received only three years of formal education in his childhood, started to work when he was only thirteen years old. Later in his life, when he became prosper-ous, he came to believe strongly that edu-cation was vital for the people. Mr. Ho Yin expressed many times in his public talks that it is of utmost importance for people to have a chance to receive an education and knowledge was regarded by him as our best hope for the future.

The library today contains approximate-

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ly 20,000 items, mostly written in Chinese. Except for Monday, it opens from 09:00 to 12:00 and from 19:00 to 22:00. Even though the size of this library is modest, it is the most frequented public library in Macau. It is particularly popular among the retired and elderly inhabitants of the city who go there daily to read newspapers. Yet, for anyone who is tired and worn out by the hectic city life and daily routines at work, the Bak Kok Ting Library would be a fitting temporary refuge to relax, reflex and to enjoy a moment of serenity and si-lence. W

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fin Where in the world do you wish to go to this week dear readers? So much awaits us out there… this week we found some scary, historic and retro destinations with a difference.

We’ve all longed for it, and finally our friends at VIVA Macau have answered. Movies on the Macau/Sydney route! While it’s not on your per-sonal in flight entertainment screens it does help with that long flight when you can lose yourself in an on board movie. VIVA are offering one way fare of around HK$4,500 (AU$699) one way for their Premium class service to the lucky country.

VIVA la difference

With much activity surrounding the Chinese National Day it’s about time we got some good deals for a getaway. The stunning 5 star Swissôtel Foshan is offering a special stay for only RMB403 which includes breakfast for two, between Sep-tember 25 and October 7. Foshan is in Guang-dong and home to the Bruce Lee Ancestor House, a new memorial museum which began construc-tion in 2006. It had since become a tourist resort for fans and martial arts lovers. Foshan is also home to the famous martial arts master, Huang Fei Hong. Zumiao (Ancestors) Temple, located in Foshan’s city centre, was first built during the Northern Song Dynasty from 1078-1085 and rebuilt in 1372 during the Ming Dynasty. The GuZao-Xin Chuan was built during the Zhengde Reign (1506-1521) of the Ming Dynasty and has been producing ceramics for over five hundred years. For more information contact 86 757 82362222 www.swissotel.com/foshan

High kicking history

Swissôtel Foshan

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Beauty, spooks and historyAnd when you’re next in Sydney take some time out to visit a very

unusual and breathtaking spot by the Sydney Harbour at North Head (near Manly). The Q Station has a fascinating history as a former Quarantine Station from 1830 where people arriving in Australia would live for forty days to protect local residents from illness. Now a sumptuous hotel and restaurant, the beautiful surrounds of the harbour and historic ambience makes this a very unique experience. You can even participate in a ‘ghost tour’ in the evening, guided by a storyteller, take a lantern as you explore the most haunted spaces such as the old hospital, morgue and shower block. The garden or harbour view rooms are rich in comfort and beautifully decorated amidst a relaxed and rejuvenating environment.

Q Station is offering a Spring Fair package at AU$140 (about HK$900) per person which includes a nights’ accommodation in a double room, a 3 course meal for two in the Boilerhouse Restaurant, buffet breakfast, late check out at 12noon and a bottle of wine and choco-lates upon arrival. Valid between September 1 and November 30. Call 02 9466 1511 or email visitorcentre@qstation.com.au

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Still in China a fascinat-ing boutique hotel has re-cently opened in Beijing. Hotel G is one of those very personalised sample of modern accommoda-tion suitable for either leisure or business travel-ers, but clearly designed to make corporate travel easy. When you next ar-rive in China’s capital, Hotel G can collect you at the plane, provide VIP access through customs for International travel-ers and baggage claim for domestic flights and drive you to the hotel in style, for only RMB338. The striking façade of the hotel, an explosion of coloured lights by night (you can choose your own window colour for your room) with 1960’s retro styled rooms and suites, red velvet hanging sofas and your must have’s like iPod docking, plasma TV and high speed wireless internet, is close to the vibrant Sanlitun district. For more information email info@hotel-g.com

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Mouse ClickVideo of the WeekSolitudehttp://vimeo.com/5410762

A few weeks ago I presented this column’s read-ers with what was the first short movie made with a revolutionary new digital camera capable of shoot-ing cinema like images with its 35mm digital sensor. Much like the creator of that short film, so is the creator of Solitude, a photographer who also took the opportunity provided by this new camera to develop a new kind of cinematography that is more photographically oriented. The whole piece is some-what conceptual with no dialogue with the whole narrative being acted out merely through the amaz-ing imagery shot by this experimental director.

by António Espadinha Soares

WEbookhttp://www.webook.com/

In other issues I’ve presented several social networking websites where users can go to not only appreciate the ar-tistic works of others but also display their own. Fact of the matter is, not everyone is into video, photography or even music. Many people enjoy the simple pleasure of writing. For those sorts of people there is the social networking site WEbook, which provides users with a community of writers and enthusiastic readers as it tries to encourage great writing and also to promote undiscovered talents so as to get them published. The website also offers some great tools to help overcome obstacles such as the dreaded writer’s block.

Software of the WeekBlenderhttp://www.blender.org

The creation of multimedia content is becoming increasingly easier. The tools that are freely available on the Internet today are more powerful and user friendly than anything owned by the biggest of films studios a mere 20 years ago. This week’s software is yet another free solution to all your 3D needs. Blender has established itself as one of the leading 3D content creation tools, and it’s completely free for download and use. If you doubt the software’s capabilities you can check out the online video gallery, which has on display some breathtaking movies and 3D models made using this amazing tool.

GoComics

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Blog of the WeekConcept Art Worldhttp://www.conceptartworld.com/

Although today’s most popular forms of art involve moving pictures and interactivity of some kind, even big budget movies and video games still start out in sketches and illustrations concocted by talented art-ists from all over the world. Concept Art World gives us a daily presentation of these creative concept artists who usually set the visual tone for the works of renowned directors and production companies who work on some of the biggest computer games and blockbusters. Their art ranges from preliminary sketches to full renderings of whole worlds brought to life through raw talent and skill.

http://www.gocomics.com/

Comics have been a long-standing presence of newspa-pers everywhere. Some comics have become so famous

(such as Charles Schultz’ Peanuts or Bill Watterson’s Calvin & Hobbes) that they interweaved themselves into the fab-

ric of contemporary pop-culture in such a way that they remain beloved icons even long after their creators stopped

writing them. The website GoComics provides fans of many of these iconic, and many new, comics to be able to enjoy a

daily dose of their favourite classics, or peruse through a se-lection of new comers to the genre. Registration is required to access the websites more advanced features but it’s free.

GoComics

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Intimacy is the third studio album by British indie rockers Bloc Party, which was recorded over two weeks during 2008 and produced by Paul Epworth and Jacknife Lee. It was released on October of that year, peaking at number eight on the UK Album Chart and entered the Billboard 200 in the United States at number 18.The British quartet got their start in late 1999 when lead singer Kele Okereke and guitarist Rus-sell Lissack met each other through mutual friends at the Reading Festival. Bassist and vocalist Gor-don Moakes and drummer Matt Tong soon joined, and in 2003 the band sent out a demo under the name Union but after several other name changes, the band settled on Bloc Party.

Bulls on Parade is one of Rage Against The Machine’s most recognized songs and a track from their 1996 al-bum Evil Empire. The song has an original guitar solo that sounds more like a turntable than a guitar. Bulls on Parade charted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 62, Mainstream Rock at number 36 and the Modern Rock charts at number 11.

Press Playby Fernando Ferreira

AlBum of the Week

intimacy by Bloc Party

The Descendents are an American punk rock band from California, formed in 1978 by gui-tarist Frank Navetta (deceased), bassist Tony Lombardo and drummer Bill Stevenson but short-ly after forming they en-listed Milo Aukerman as vocalist.The band separated due to Milo going to college, like the title of their album

‘Milo Goes to College’, which along other con-straints, have made them famous for their long hia-tuses, sometimes span-ning a decade in length. They have released six full length albums: Milo Goes to College (1982), I Don’t Want to Grow Up (1985), Enjoy! (1986), All (1987), Everything Sucks (1996) and Cool To Be You (2004).

ViDEo Rage Against the machine “Bulls on Parade”

lost in time- descendents

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ViDEo Rage Against the machine “Bulls on Parade”GoinG StRonG

nofXNOFX is an American punk rock band from San Francisco, formed in 1983 in Los Angeles by vocalist and bassist Fat Mike and guitarist Eric Melvin, while drummer Erik Sandin joined them shortly afterward. In 1991, El Hefe joined to play lead guitar and trumpet, rounding out the current line-up. The band rose to popularity in 1994 with their album ‘Punk in Drublic’ which reached gold status.NOFX has released 12 studio full lengths, 15 Eps and has independently sold over 6 million records worldwide, making them one of the most successful independent bands of all time.

DVD Audioslavelive in Cuba

In May 2005, Audioslave played a free show in Ha-vana, in front of an estimated 70,000 people at the La Tribuna Antiimperialista José Martí (José Martí Anti-Imperialist Stand) venue.Live in Cuba is the first live DVD of the band, which contains footage of the free concert that the band performed there. The concert is considered to be an historical event, as it marks the first time in Cuban history that an American rock band has been permit-ted to perform within the country. The DVD features the show itself, and also a 37 minute documentary based on the band and their time spent in Cuba.

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by Rui Freitas

The sun was low in the afternoon sky but it was still hot and stifling inside the worn-down railway carriage. I had bought an overnight couchette ticket to Belgrade. I wanted to get a seating car ticket but the lady at the ticket office in Sofia told me it was too dangerous for foreigners. The train made many

stops and she advised it would be safer for me to travel in a couchette where I could lock the door. I discovered however, that the lock was bro-ken. At first, I tried not to sleep. I was on my way to Serbia, the former Yugoslavian republic, into a part of Europe which was all but unknown to me apart from the war, the only war my generation remembers on Eu-ropean soil. I had heard Balkan folk music in Kusturica’s films and seen his depiction of Roman gipsies and traditional Balkan life, but the mystery remained. At last, weariness defeated me and I went to sleep, albeit uneasy. We arrived in Belgrade early at the crack of dawn.

Tram cars rolled past and the city was preparing for a new day. As I made my way to the hostel I came across two badly damaged multi-storey build-ings, part of their structure ripped open, with glassless window frames and thickets growing amidst naked steel bars and concrete blocks. Later, I con-firmed these buildings to be the former General Headquarters of the Yu-goslavian Army which had been destroyed during the 1999 NATO bomb-ing of Belgrade during the Kosovo War. Some Serbs still hold a grudge against NATO and the US for the air-raids on their city.

Nowadays Belgrade has been restored to it’s once again beauty, bustling with youthful energy. It’s sexy, exciting, lively, has beautiful buildings, old dirty buildings, drinking water fountains and parks with plenty of sports

Follow him online at: www.theloneartist.com

The wicked andthe beautiful

The aftermath of war (Mostar)

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The wicked andthe beautiful

Orthodox Church in Sarajevo

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facilities. The city fortress ends on a cliff-like ridge affording a beautiful view of the confluence of the Sava and Danube riv-ers. At night, friends gather in the park within the fortress to drink, laugh and socialize. Because of travel restrictions, young Serbs often daydream of visiting European Union countries and are ex-cited to learn about foreign places. It’s a tragedy that they have to pay for the mis-takes of a few.

Bosnia and Herzegovina caught me completely off guard. From what I could remember, Bosnia had seen the worst part of the war. I expected to find a poor recovering country but nothing prepared me for its natural beauty. The road from Belgrade took us up verdant mountains, along pristine, azure rivers bordered by tall limestone peaks. The bus crossed steep valleys over high viaducts and, sud-denly, a large valley appeared cradling a city that crept up the slopes and dozens of white Islamic spires soaring high like spears in an army. There are no words to describe Sarajevo. It is a splendid and ex-otic city with a sad history.

Sarajevo is a landmark in contemporary European history. It can be argued that the European 20th Century began on the Latin Bridge in Sarajevo, where Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Fer-dinand of Austria, an event which pre-cipitated the start of World War I, and ended with the disintegration of Yugosla-via and the siege of Sarajevo by Serbian and Yugoslav forces from 1992 to 1996. It is at once Eastern and Western, with Islamic mosques, Orthodox and Catholic churches, and Jewish synagogues spread throughout the city. Turkish influence is strong in the old town. Arab chant-ing can be heard from mosques and ar-chitecture exhibits an Eastern influence. The city has been mostly rebuilt however Mostar, is still a testament to the destruc-tion of the Yugoslav wars. It’s the biggest city of the Herzegovina region and has a charming old town over the azure waters of the Neretva River. The Serbs were the first to attack the city when the war be-gan. The Croats first fought on the side of the Bosniaks or Bosnian Muslims. Af-ter the Serbs retreated, the Croats blew a tank full of dynamite next to a building and started a conflict with the Bosniaks. We learnt this from Bata, our tour guide. He tells us a gruesome tale of night raids and junky soldiers knocking on his door

at night, hiding in cupboards and chim-neys, a Croat lady who sheltered Muslims in her apartment and a Croat ambulance driver who helped him escape. In Stock-holm he underwent therapy and would run to the woods and scream.

Today, Mostar is slowly being recon-structed but many buildings bear the scars of war. Most of the headstones in cemeteries mark the graves of people who died between 1992 and 1994. Bata ex-plained that the city remains unofficially divided into Croat and Muslim sides, but didn’t want us to dwell on this. He took us swimming in the Kravica waterfalls, swinging on ropes and cliff jumping into the river. At nightfall, we visited the Der-wish monastery, where an underground stream emerges from a cave in a moun-tain. Inside the Islamic monastery, we sat on the floor to meditate. Croats, Serbs and Bosniaks are fundamentally the same people. They are all Slavs and share a common heritage and similar language. How could they ravage such a beautiful country? I could not help thinking how wars are dictated by wicked and fought by the stupid and powerless. W

Islamic mosque in Sarajevo

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Ask

The

Vet

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Ponte 6A, Macau SAR.Tel: +853 28763349 Fax: +853 28763349

Ask the Vet - is a service that allows you to ask questions about your pets’ health and behavior. My goal is to help you, the pet owner, improve the knowledge of your pet’s everyday needs and health care in Macau through a variety of pet services and veterinary resources that where never available to pet owners before.

Pets have become a very important part of our families. In many cases they have be-come as much a part of our lives as children or grandchildren. And, in certain ways, just as complicated. Think of all the questions raised by wanting a pet. Pet ownership has definitely become more complex. Everybody seems to have an opinion on what pet you should get and what being a good pet owner means. My goal is to answer your questions and try making things simpler for you. I want to give some of the basic information that will help you to raise a healthy, happy and family compatible pet. And, of course, have fun while you are doing it.

The ideas listed in this column come from many years of studying and practicing veter-inary medicine in South Africa, Australia, Hong Kong and Macau. And they are just that, my ideas and opinions. They are not meant to be all-encompassing or correct for every situation. Use this information as a tool, along with the advice from your veterinarian, to help you make the interaction between you and your pet a wonderful experience.

As far as I am concerned, there are two kinds of people; those who really love animals, and those who have never owned any. People who say they do not love pets have usually never owned one. And for those who say they hate them, well, let’s just not talk about them! The picture above is of a 150kg sea turtle at Australia Zoo that I did abdominal surgery on after it ingested a ball of fishing line. Indiscriminate and over fishing causes this to happen too often.

I hope this section helps you enjoy that perfect life with your pet. And I would love to hear the stories of how you came to own your particular pet and any interesting experi-ences you have had.

by Dr Ruan Du Toit Bester

THE most frequently asked question I get: “What is the right dog for me and my fam-ily? What would be the

perfect breed?” And the answer is, there is no such

thing. There is no perfect breed and there is no perfect animal for you and/or your family. Here is what I tell people as they begin their search for the perfect dog:

1. Remember that no matter where you get your dog from, a shelter, a breeder, a pet store, there is always a risk. You are never guaranteed how that pet will turn out. So be prepared for the work and the risk. This is a lifetime commitment.

2. That being said, go adopt your pet from a shelter or rescue orga-nization. Unless you really have your heart set on a particular purebred, save your money and check your local humane society. My apologies to the breeders.

3. Sit down with your family and make a list of the characteristics you would prefer in a dog. Then see if your list matches any par-ticular breed, or take the list to your local shelter and try to match up what you want with what they have. I will talk about the pros and cons of shelters, breeders, pet

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stores, etc., in another section. Read that part carefully.

List of things to think about before you adopt your new dog (in no par-ticular order):

• How big do you want the dog to be when full-grown?

• Do you want to housetrain a puppy, or adopt a dog a bit older?

• Do we want a male or a female? In most cases, since you are going to hopefully have the pet altered, it does not matter. The big differ-ence is boys lift their legs and girls don’t!

• Do you want a short haired or

longhaired dog? • How do you feel about shed-

ding? • If they are going to shed, what

color hair would you like them to have?

• Do you want a dog that needs frequent grooming, or none? And this means brushing and groom-ing at home, as well as profession-ally.

• How much time will we have to exercise the dog, and how big is our house or yard? This can be a problem in Macau and Hong Kong!

• Floppy ears or ears that stand up?

• A dog that will live 8-10 years or one that may live to 15 years?

• A lap dog or a larger dog that can live more outdoors.

Again, this is a partial list. Add your specific questions to it. Write down the answers. Then, either go to your local shelter and see what fits the bill, or check with me to see if I can help you find the breed that would suit you best.

Good luck, As always, I’m happy to help your

pet… and their people, too.

Dr. Ruan

Choosing a Dog

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Offbeat

Frenchman Sylvain Quimene won the 2009 Air Guitar World Championships after wowing judges with his acrobatic dance routines and outrageous outfits, the event’s organisers in Finland said.Quimene, who performs under the

Would you Adam and Eve it? Cash machines in east London are offering customers the option of using the local Cockney rhyming slang to get their hands on their sausage, so to speak.Five automated teller machines (ATMs) in the East End are going Cockney for three months since Monday.While cash machines with several language options are commonplace in some countries, the chance to use rhyming slang could leave those unfamiliar with the east London lingo in a right load of Barney Rubble.Anyone opting for Cockney rhyming slang will be asked to enter their Huckleberry Finn (PIN) before choosing how much sausage and mash (cash) they want.Those wanting to withdraw 10 pounds will have to ask for a speckled hen, while the machine may inform users that it is contacting their rattle and tank, rather than bank.“We wanted to introduce something fun and of local interest to our London machines,” said Ron Delnevo, managing director of operators Bank Machine.“Whilst we expect some residents will visit the machine to just have a butcher’s (hook, look), most will be genuinely pleased as this is the first time a financial services provider will have recognised the Cockney language in such a manner.”The ATMs displaying prompts in Cockney are all free to use, though most of the group’s cash machines charge a fee.Better-known Cockney rhyming slang includes dog and

ATM’s offer Cockney slang

bone (phone), apples and pears (stairs), whistle and flute (suit), Adam and Eve (believe), Barnet Fair (hair), trouble and strife (wife), loaf of bread (head) and boat race (face).

Ham session: Air guitar champion

stage name of Gunther Love, took first place in the competition in Oulu, northern Finland last week.The 28-year-old, clad in a skin-tight golden leotard, impressed judges with his imaginary guitar solos and backflip moves.

Although the United States may have given the world rock and roll, the country’s air guitar heros were no match for the French flair of Quimene.He picked up 35.1 points and beat off tough competition from last year’s winner, American Craig “Hot Lixx Hulahan” Billmeier.Billmeier and his compatriot Andrew “William Ocean” Litz finished in joint second place behind Quimene with 24.8 points.Air guitarists taking part in the competition had to ‘perform’ a 60-second song of their own choice – by pretending to play rock or heavy metal without an actual instrument.A jury then awarded marks to each performer based on the choice of music, stage presence, technical merit and artistic impression.This year’s event featured 21 wannabe rockers from as far afield as Japan, Australia and New Zealand.The first ever Air Guitar World Championships took place in Oulu in 1996.

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Cartooning the World by António

MDTimes exclusive in Macau

This Day in HistoryWomen join British war effort

On this day in 1914, with World War I approaching the end of its first month, the Women’s Defense Relief Corps is formed in Britain.Though women’s rights organizations in Britain had initially opposed the country’s entrance into the First World War, they reversed their position soon enough, recognizing the potential of the war effort to gain advancement for British women on the home front.As early as August 6, 1914, just one day after Britain declared war on Germany, an article published in the women’s suffrage newspaper Common Cause stated that: “In the midst of this time of terrible anxiety and grief, it is some little comfort to think that our large organization, which has been completely built up during past years to promote women’s suffrage, can be used to help our country through the period of strain and sorrow.”In addition to the two nursing organizations that existed in 1914 – the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) and the Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs) – several new women’s organizations sprung into being over the course of the war. Created with the support of the British secretary of state for war, Lord Horatio Herbert Kitchener, the Women’s Defense Relief Corps came into being in late August 1914. The corps was made up of two divisions: a civil section, the goal of which was to substitute women for men in factories and other places of employment in order to free those men for military service; and a “semi-military” or “good citizen” section, where women were actively recruited

for the armed forces. This latter group was trained in drilling, marching and the use of arms; its members were exhorted to protect not only themselves but also their loved ones on the home front in case of possible invasion by the enemy.Another organization founded during World War I was the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), created in July 1917. Members of the WAAC supported the war effort more directly, enlisting in the army to perform

labors such as cookery, mechanical and clerical work and other miscellaneous tasks. For the first time, British women were sent to the battlefields of the Western Front to serve their country, thus freeing more male soldiers to do battle in the trenches against the German enemy. By the end of the war, some 80,000 women had served Britain as non-combatants, both on the home front and on the front lines in France and Belgium.

Nukeolympics

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The Born Loser by Chip Sansom

SudokuEasy Easy +

Medium Hard

TV

Canal Macau Canal Macau

TV

G.I.Joe: Rise of Cobra

Stephen Sommers will direct (here’s hoping he reigns in the CG), from a script by Stuart Beattie. The story is set at Brussels-based GIJOE, an acronym for the Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, and revolves around an international co-ed force of operatives who use high-tech equipment to battle Cobra, an evil org headed by a Scottish arms dealer. --Real Movie News 11/20/07Paramount Pictures and Hasbro (previously was collaborated on making the worldwide blockbuster “TRANSFORMERS.” join with Spyglass Entertainment for another extraordinary action-Adventure: G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra. From the Egyptian desert, the elite G.I. Joe team with the latest in next-generation spy and military equipment will against the corrupt arms dealer Destro and the growing menace from the mysterious Cobra organization to dispute them from plunging the world into chaos. “G.I. Joe: The Rise Of The Cobra” is directed by Stephen Sommers (“The Mummy,” “The Mummy Returns”)

Cinema

Saturday

CineteatroMacau Tower1:30/4:15/7:00/9:45 pmorphanStarring: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle FuhrmanDirector: Jaume Collet-SerraScreenplay: David Johnson Language: English ( Chinese subtitles)Duration:118 min

RTP-i (Live)11:30 PETER PAN AND THE PIRATES12:00 DAWSON´S CREEK12:40 COOKING13:00 TDM NEWS ( REP. )13:20 NEWS AT 24H (RTP - i) (Delayed Broadcast) 14:20 SOAP OPERA - COMPACT18:30 UEFA SUPER CUP 2009: ( Rep )

BARCELONA VS SHAKHTAR20:30 MAIN NEWS, FINANCIAL & WEATHER REPORT21:00 NOON NEWS: RTP-i (Live) 22:00 DOCUMENTARY SERIES IN PORTUGUESE23:00 TDM NEWS23:20 VARIETY00:10 SITUATION COMEDY RTP-i (Live)02:30 ITALIAN LEAGUE - SERIE 2009/ 2010: (Live)

AC MILAN VS INTER

Sunday

12:00 MAGAZINE12:30 COOKING SERIES13:00 TDM NEWS ( REP. )13:20 NEWS AT 24H (RTP - i) (Delayed Broadcast) 14:20 DOUGIE IN DISGUISE14:45 ANIMATION: JOHAN, THE YOUNG SCIENTIST15:00 ANIMATION: TURTLE ISLAND15:30 LOST17:45 DOCUMENTARY IN PORTUGUESE18:00 DOCUMENTARY IN PORTUGUESE18:30 SITUATION COMEDY20:0019:00 ITALIAN LEAGUE - SERIE 2009/ 2010: (Rep)

AC MILAN VS INTER20:30 MAIN NEWS, FINANCIAL & WEATHER REPORT 21:00 NOON NEWS: RTP-i (Live ) 22:00 CRIMINAL MINDS

22:45 TDM NEWS23:10 LIGA BBVA: REAL MADRID VS DEPORTIVO (Rep)01:00 LIGA BBVA: VALENCIA VS SEVILHA (Live)

Room 12:30/4:30/7:30/9:30 pmTurning PointStarring: Michael Tse, Francis NgDirector: Herman YauLanguage: Chinese ( English subtitles)

Room 22:30/4:30/7:30/9:30 pmG-ForceStarring: William Chan, AngelaBabyDirector: Hoyt YeatmanLanguage: Cantonese ( Chinese subtitles)Duration:118 min

Room 32:30/4:30/7:30 pmTakenStarring: Liam Neeson, Maggie GraceDirector: Pieere MorelLanguage: English ( Chinese subtitles)Duration:98 min

Room 39:30 pmUPStarring: Wayne Lai, Michael HuiDirector: Peter DoctorLanguage:Cantonese ( Chinese subtitles)Duration:96 min

G-Force

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer brings his first 3-D film to the big screen with “G-Force,” a comedy adventure about the latest evolution of a covert government program to train animals to work in espionage. Armed with the latest high-tech spy equipment, these highly trained guinea pigs discover that the fate of the world is in their paws. Tapped for the G-Force are guinea pigs Darwin, the squad leader determined to succeed at all costs; Blaster an outrageous weapons expert with tons of attitude and a love for all things extreme; and Juarez a sexy martial arts pro; plus the literal fly-on-the-wall reconnaissance expert, Mooch, and a star-nosed mole, Speckles. Along the way, the G-FORCE encounters myriad other members of the animal kingdom, including pet shop layabout Hurley Its fun to take films based on familiar, even classic themes, give them a twist and see what evolves, says Bruckheimer.

29 August 2009

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The Born Loser by Chip Sansom

Weekend Times

32

by Fong Kit In, CandyC&C Lawyers

Law &PeopleInvisible Protection in Transport

Do you recall ever signing a contract with a bus company when boarding the bus? The answer would more than likely be no, as no paper is signed however we do actually have a contract

with the bus company! When we pay the bus fare, a carriage contract is established between the bus com-pany and the passenger. This form of agreement does not only occur in bus usage but in the use of all kind of transport, and this “INVISIBLE” contract exists for the carriage of persons or our own goods.

In our daily life, we may not be aware of the carriage contract, especially being a passenger or shipper or consignee, as this carriage contract will not be passed through a stage of negotiation between the carrier and the passengers or shippers. So we might ask how the rights of the carrier and passengers or shippers are protected.

In Macau, the Commercial Code regulates the car-riage contract and according to this document, “a contract of carriage is that by which a person binds himself to conduct persons or goods from one place to another, against payment”. From this concept, we may understand that the contract of carriage (of persons or goods) is executed between a carrier and passenger or shipper or consignee by which the car-rier is obliged to carry the passenger or goods from one place to another place and in return he receives a sum or a payment. This kind of contract does not re-quire any written form in order to exist. It only needs the consent of the passenger or shipper which is ex-pressed by the act of paying the fees or charges to the services provided by the carrier. However, in case the carriage of persons or goods is gratuitous, it is not considered a carriage contract anymore.

Generally speaking, if the services of the carrier are to be offered to the public, the carrier cannot refuse to carry any persons or goods proposed to him unless there are serious grounds for refusal. On the other hand, the passenger, shipper or consignee has to fol-low the regulations of the carrier, but those regula-tions must be in accordance with the law. Moreover, the carrier cannot exclude or limit his liability dis-cretionarily unless the law permits him to do so. For any damage arising from delay during the execution of the carriage, the carrier is certainly liable for it. He can only exclude his liability if such delay is the result of a cause not ascribable to him.

Apart from the general rules set out in the law, there are some other specific provisions in the two different kinds of carriage - persons and goods. While carrying

people, the carrier is bound to conduct his passen-gers safe and sound to their destination. Therefore, the carrier is liable for any injuries suffered by the passengers and also for the loss or damage to the lug-gage entrusted to him by the passengers. At the same time, he can only exclude his liability if any delay re-sults from an act not imputable to him. Meanwhile, if the hand luggage or any other goods is in the care of the passenger, the carrier is not responsible for the loss or damage to it. However, in the case of a passen-ger declaring to the carrier the responsibility of his money, negotiable instruments, documents, precious metals, jewels, works of art or other valuable goods and the carrier has accepted them, the carrier has no excuse to exclude or limit his liability over the loss of or damage to such goods.

Nevertheless, in the carriage of goods, the law does not only focus on the care and responsibility of the carrier, but balance the rights and duties between the carrier and the shipper or the consignee in the related provisions.

When the shipper requests the service of the car-rier, he should accurately inform the carrier of the following: name of consignee, place of destination, the nature, the possible dangerous nature, quality and quantity of the goods, and provide all additional information necessary for the proper execution of the carriage contract, otherwise, he will be the respon-sible one for any damage arising from any omission or error in the information provided, or the lack, in-sufficiency or irregularity of any documents. The car-rier may request the shipper to issue a bill of lading with signature and the aforementioned information. On the contrary, the carrier should also issue upon the request of the shipper a duplicate of the bill with signatures or in the case of no bill of lading he should rather issue a shipping receipt with the same infor-mation.

After the carrier accepts the carriage of goods, he is then obliged to place the transported goods at the disposal of the consignee at the agreed place and time. If the delivery is not to be made at the address of the consignee, he is obliged to give an immediate notice of the arrival of the transported goods to the consignee. Additionally, when the carrier knows that the carriage cannot take place or is extraordinarily delayed for causes not imputable to the carrier, or the carrier cannot find the consignee at the domicile indicated in the bill of lading or the consignee refus-es to claim the goods or delays claiming the goods, the carrier should immediately request instructions from the shipper, as well as provide custody for the goods. If the carrier cannot obtain instructions

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from the shipper or the instructions are not execut-able, the carrier can arrange a judicial deposit of the goods or judicial sale for the goods which are sub-ject to deterioration. Notwithstanding, the carrier shall give prompt notice of the deposit or sale to the shipper and he has the right to be reimbursed for all expenses made.

During the carriage of goods, although the goods are with the carrier, it does not mean that the right of disposal has been passed to the carrier. In fact, the shipper retains his right to dispose the goods, namely he has the right to request the carrier to suspend the transportation or to modify the place of deliver or to deliver the goods to another consignee other than the one indicated in the bill of lading. However, in case the shipper wants to exercise the above men-tioned rights, he should firstly present to the carrier the duplicate of the bill of lading or shipping receipt that may have been handed to him in order to insert the new instructions and expenses arising from such amendments.

Though the carrier has no right to dispose of the goods, he cannot limit his liability towards the loss or deterioration of the goods unless he can prove that such loss or deterioration was not the result of a fact imputable to him. If the goods are by their nature subject to decrease in weight or size during transpor-tation, the law allows the carrier to limit his liability to a percentage or a quota per volume. However, such limitation should have no effect if the shipper or the consignee proves that shrinkage was not due to the nature of the goods or that under the circumstances it could not have been so.

Once the goods arrive to the destination and are distributed to the consignee, the right of the ship-per to dispose of the goods ceases and at the same time, all the rights arising from the carriage contract will pass to the consignee automatically. Neverthe-less, before the consignee exercises any rights arising from the contract, he has to reimburse the carrier for the expenses arising from the carriage and pay any credits that the shipper has instructed the carrier to collect from him in the bill of lading.

When the consignee takes the delivery of the goods without reservation and pays the amount due to the carrier, he loses the right to any claim against the carrier, except in case of wilful con-duct or gross negligence by the carrier. Despite the above, the consignee has 15 days from delivery to make a claim against the carrier for the partial loss or deterioration which might not be apparent or not easily detectable at the time of delivery of the goods. If the 15 days have passed without any clai,

then the carriage contract has come to the end (ter-mination of the contract).

Please be aware that there are several contracts re-garding each particular mean of transport that might set grounds, restrict or even increase the invisible protection we have discussed. As way of conclusion, we can say that it doesn’t matter if we are the car-rier, the passenger, the shipper or the consignee, we should consider the “INVISIBLE” hand of the law contentedly! W

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34

Zoo

mPhoto Eduardo Magalhães

The Gods must be madPraying is probably the best option to avoid being hunted by other world´s spirits who hang around Macau every little August´s day. You better watch out, you better not cry… the famine phantoms are coming to town.

Rui CidJournalist

29 August 2009

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Weekend Times

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