Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
October 19, 2015
Cambodia to increase garment industry minimum wage
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia says it will raise the minimum
wage in its clothing industry by 9.4 percent to $140 per month. The increase falls
short of $160 proposed by labor unions. A Labor Ministry statement said the
increase was on instructions from Prime Minister Hun Sen after eight days of
tense negotiations in a committee representing employers, workers, and the
government. The new wages take effect at the beginning of 2016. Three years
ago, a militant union campaign to double the then-minimum wage of $80 in the
textile, garment, and footwear industries resulted in clashes with police and a
crackdown on public protests. A $100 level was set for 2014 and $128 this year.
China dissident artist Ai Weiwei says Beijing studio bugged
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei says he found several
hidden listening devices in his Beijing studio after returning from a trip to
Germany. Ai posted photos of the bugs on his Instagram account. He could not be
reached, but his friend Liu Xiaoyuan confirmed the reports. The artist has in the
past upset Chinese authorities with boldly critical remarks of the ruling
Communist Party and its government. He was briefly detained in 2011 and
released after 81 days in jail. The authorities withheld his passport but returned
it to him four years later, in July. Since then, the artist has toned down his
criticisms of the government. It’s not clear who was behind the listening devices,
although Ai has been under tight surveillance since his 2011 release.
CONVERSATIONS & CHEMISTRY. Chinese actress Tang Wei smiles before a press conference at the Busan
International Film Festival in Busan, South Korea. The Lust, Caution star had a three-year hiatus after filming the movie,
attributed to the political sensitivity of the traitor role she played in the film, which reportedly landed her on Chinese film
officials’ blacklist for three years. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Chung says he is facing lengthy FIFA suspension
The Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Fédération Internationale de Football Associa-
tion (FIFA) presidential contender Chung Mong-joon says he is facing a 19-year
suspension by the ethics committee of the world football body for alleged ethics
breaches to support South Korea’s failed bid for the 2022 World Cup, and also for
openly criticizing the committee. The South Korean billionaire denied any
wrongdoing and accused the committee of acting as a “hit man” of current FIFA
president Sepp Blatter who Chung says is attempting to damage his candidacy.
FIFA has set a February 26 election to replace Blatter amid widespread
allegations of corruption. Its election panel will approve candidates in Novem-
ber after integrity checks. UEFA president Michel Platini of France and Prince
Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan have also declared candidacy for football’s top office.
USAN, South Korea — Chinese
actress Tang Wei is not obsessed about
finding the right role for her future
film project. For the Lust, Caution star, it is
the people she works with on a film set and the
chemistry with them that count.
Tang shot to international fame with her
role in Ang Lee’s 2007 spy thriller set in the
World War II era, which won the Venice Film
Festival’s best film award. She played a
Chinese student recruited to seduce a
Japanese-allied Chinese official as part of an
assassination plot. The film is still Tang’s best
known work outside Asia.
Asked about the roles she would like to play
in the future, Tang said her job is not about the
role, but about the people and the conversa-
tions with them.
“For me in this job, in this work, it’s more
about who you are working with. It’s nothing
about what you’re working on,” she said. “It’s
the people, and the conversations, and also the
chemistry that’s more important for me.”
It should be no surprise that those conversa-
tions and the chemistry on a film set helped
her find her love. Tang met her husband,
South Korean director Kim Tae-yong, on the
set of Kim’s romance drama Late Autumn in
2010. Last year, they wed in a small ceremony
at the late legendary director Ingmar Berg-
man’s island home in Sweden.
This year’s Busan International Film
Festival screened three movies featuring
Bangladesh pastor escapes knife attack at his home
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A Bangladeshi pastor has survived an attempt
on his life by three men who came to his home pretending to want to learn about
Christianity, according to police and the victim. The incident follows the fatal
attacks on two foreigners in Bangladesh, a predominantly Muslim country that
is grappling with violence claimed by hardline Islamic groups. The Islamic State
(IS) group said it was responsible for the attacks, one on a Japanese agricultural
worker and the other on an Italian aid worker. The IS claim was rejected by
Bangladesh’s government. The government blamed the country’s main
opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its key ally, Jamaat-e-Islami, for
the attacks, accusing the groups of trying to destabilize the country. A
spokesman for the BNP denied the allegations.
China charges 10 with repackaging, selling old meat
BEIJING (AP) — Shanghai prosecutors say they are charging people
connected to a U.S. meat supplier’s Chinese subsidiary with producing and
selling fake and substandard products. Shanghai Husi Food Co., which is a unit
of OSI Group of Aurora, Illinois, has been under investigation since a Shanghai
TV station reported last year that it repackaged and sold old meat. The scandal
alarmed Chinese diners and disrupted operations for fast-food brands. The
Shanghai prosecutor’s office said in a statement that Shanghai’s Jiading district
brought cases against 10 defendants, including some connected to Husi’s
facilities in Shanghai and Hebei province. OSI said in a statement that it would
address the charges “according to legal procedures.” “We have confidence in
China’s legal system and believe that the judicial authority will come to a fair
and reasonable judgement with full respect to the facts and laws,” OSI said.
Product safety is unusually sensitive in China following scandals over the past
decade in which infants, hospital patients, and others have been killed or
sickened by phony or adulterated milk powder, drugs, and other goods.
Four renal patients die in hospital from hepatitis C
SINGAPORE — A top public hospital in Singapore said four of its patients
died after a new renal ward was hit by an outbreak of hepatitis C, likely from
intravenous treatment. The Singapore General Hospital apologized
“unreservedly” for the deaths, a startling and rare tragedy for a nation that
prides itself on its efficiency and high-quality healthcare. The hospital is the
largest and oldest government hospital in Singapore. The country’s founding
leader, Lee Kuan Yew, who died earlier this year, spent his last days on life
support in its intensive care unit. The hospital said in a statement that 22
patients with renal disease who were hospitalized between April and June this
year were diagnosed with hepatitis C infections. The infections became known
after doctors observed an unusual cluster of seven cases in four weeks and
involved the infection control team. Four of the patients died, “and while they
were very ill with other serious conditions, we are not able to rule out the
possibility that hepatitis C virus infection could have been a contributing
factor,” the hospital said. Hepatitis C causes chronic liver cancer and is mainly
transmitted through blood-to-blood contact associated with intravenous drug
use, poorly sterilized equipment, and transfusions.
Lust, Caution star Tang
looks for chemistry on set
By Youkyung Lee
B
Tang, including Johnnie To’s musical Office,
where she plays a bespectacled, hard-working
office lady. She also played a female lead in A
Tale of Three Cities directed by Mabel Cheung
and appears in the epic fantasy movie Monster
Hunt, which has been setting box-office
records in China since hitting theaters in July.
Tang had a three-year hiatus after filming
Lust, Caution, attributed to the political sensi-
tivity of the traitor role she played in the
movie, which reportedly landed her on Chi-
nese film officials’ blacklist for three years. But
in the past five years, she has been frequently
spotted on screens in Asia from theaters to
television ads.
Her latest movie, Office, is the first musical
by the Hong Kong action master To about love
and conspiracies at a Hong Kong company set
against the backdrop of the 2008 financial
crisis.
Tang said it was the right direction for her,
with great chemistry.
“This is the dream crew for me. The whole
crew, everybody is a master,” she said.
Filming with veteran Asian screen stars
Sylvia Chang and Chow Yun-fat made her feel
like “a little vegetable bird,” Tang said with
giggles, a literal translation for a Chinese word
meaning rookie.
One thing she misses from the set is the
smell of cigars, she said, bursting out
laughing. To is a habitual cigar smoker.
“When you smell, oh cigar smell is coming,”
she said, “oh then (you know) the director is
coming.”
Asian Currency
Exchange Rates
Units per U.S. dollar as of 10/18
Bangladesh Taka· ·
Cambodian Riel · ·
China Renminbi · ·
Fijian Dollar · · · ·
Hong Kong Dollar ·
Indian Rupee · · · ·
Indonesian Rupiah ·
Iranian Rial · · · ·
Japanese Yen · · ·
Laos New Kip · · ·
Malaysian Ringgit ·
Nepal Rupee · · · ·
Pakistani Rupee · ·
Papua N.G. Kina · ·
Philippine Peso· · ·
Russian Ruble · · ·
Saudi Riyal· · · · ·
Singapore Dollar · ·
South Korean Won ·
Sri Lankan Rupee ·
Taiwan Dollar · · ·
Thai Baht · · · · ·
Vietnam Dong · · ·
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77.775
4050.4
6.3537
2.1
7.7498
64.815
13540
29956
119.44
8133.0
4.1785
104.84
104.36
2.8944
46.065
61.28
3.7503
1.3842
1129.4
140.8
32.285
35.265
22281