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...global consumption and growth. But, while China's per capita GDP now stands at about $3,200, up nearly fourfold since 1997, it's still a far cry from U.S. per capita GDP of about $46,000. Moreover, conservative Chinese financial habits are deeply ingrained and driven by the need for "precautionary savings" for medical care, old age or sudden calamity in the absence of robust government safety nets. "It's not that Chinese like to save for the sake of savings," says Tan Khee Giap, chair of the Singapore chapter of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council. "It's that...
...Call If You Need Me, a taut study of petty criminals shot in a month on a low budget, his long takes, real-time, off-hand dialogue and minimal exposition combine to superb effect in charting the pull of human loyalties. This is a gangster film that works without violence - or even revealing, until close to the end, that these pill-popping, pleasure-seeking if girl-shy goof-offs are gangsters at all. And Lee wisely lets singer turned actor Pete Teo and sleepy-eyed Singaporean cult actor Sunny Pang (cast as a country bumpkin who rises by default...
...Without overt political intent, Call If You Need Me shows a Malaysia that may shock many. Here's an entirely amoral, unrelentingly materialist nation that's 100% populated by Hokkien Chinese. This is no devout, mostly Muslim society, nor some showcase of the harmonious multiculturalism shown in destination commercials. Instead of being "truly Asia," to quote the country's official tourism slogan, Lee's Malaysia is truly segregated. The film won the silver prize in the Hong Kong International Film Festival's Asian Digital Competition. Too bad the miniDV shooting format, and timid distributors, will keep this instant noir classic...
Homegrown Headache Re "India's War At Home" [Oct. 26]: While it is true that New Delhi's military methods are alienating Kashmiri youth, we also need to appreciate that India has little choice in the matter. If the government follows a pacifist policy, the separatists and jihadis will indulge in bullying tactics and recruit more youth to extremism. When more repressive methods are adopted, they inflame passions and antagonize the local populace. In either situation, various steps taken by the Indian government favoring Kashmiris are forgotten. For example, non-Kashmiri Indians are barred from even owning property...
...family long rooted in the politics of the region. But he is almost sure to run again in the 2010 national elections, though not in the same district. (Pacquiao has his own political organization - the People's Champ Movement - but has been aligning himself with President Gloria Arroyo, who needs his popularity.) Most people say they'd rather he stay a boxer and win more accolades for the nation, that his need to help lift people up can be better served elsewhere. But politics as his second act may be a strategy born of a deeper survival instinct - from knowing...