Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
November 21, 2016
Gov’ts want tobacco firms to be liable for smoking harm
NEW DELHI (AP) — A global conference on tobacco control has pledged to
hold the tobacco industry legally liable for the health consequences of smoking
and protect public-health policies from the influence of tobacco companies.
Representatives from about 180 countries participating in the World Health
Organization’s global tobacco control treaty negotiations adopted a declaration
in which they also vowed to prohibit or regulate the sale of e-cigarettes. The
six-day conference concluded with participating countries agreeing to promote
alternative livelihoods for tobacco farmers that would ensure a better future for
them. Public health activists say smoking-related deaths are still rising world-
wide, with 80 percent of them expected to occur in developing countries by 2030.
Philippine senator asks court to stop Duterte attacks
MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — A Philippine senator who President
Rodrigo Duterte has linked to the illegal drug trade and described as a “dirty
woman” for her alleged affair with her driver has asked the Supreme Court to
stop the attacks. Senator Leila de Lima said the petition she filed seeks to stop
Duterte and his men from gathering information about her private life and
disclosing it publicly, adding that the allegedly illegally obtained information
should be destroyed. The petition is a test case because it challenges Duterte’s
immunity from lawsuits. De Lima said she also asked that Duterte be compelled
to identify the “foreign country” he said helped him to “listen” to de Lima’s
communications. De Lima has long raised alarm over Duterte’s brutal
crackdown against drugs, earning Duterte’s wrath.
Wanderley banned, Al Nasr fined in fake passport scandal
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Brazil-born forward Santos Monteiro
Wanderley received a backdated three-month ban and his Dubai-based club Al
Nasr was fined after being found guilty of faking documents so he could play in
the Asian Champions League. Wanderley and Al Nasr admitted using a forged
or falsified document, the Asian Football Confederation said in a statement.
Wanderley was provisionally suspended on September 2 when it was alleged a
forged Indonesian passport was used for him to qualify as an Asian player. Each
club in the Asian Champions League is allowed to field three foreign players and
a non-national from another Asian country. Wanderley was fined $10,000 and
suspended for three months. Al Nasr was fined $50,000, ordered to return
$340,000 in prize money from this year’s league, and given a suspended
two-year ban from the tournament.
South Korean police book 15 over animal smuggling
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean police have booked 15 people for
allegedly smuggling endangered animals from Thailand and showing them at
small zoos or to children at kindergartens and daycare centers, according to
officials. Police in the port city of Busan seized 22 animals, including Siamese
crocodiles and slow loris monkeys, according to a city police department official
who didn’t want to be named, citing office rules. The official said most of the
animals were bought from Thailand in 2014 by a 38-year-old man identified only
by his surname, Kim. He said Kim sold the animals to other suspects, some of
whom earned money by touring kindergartens and daycare centers for petting
classes, putting the health of children at risk as the animals weren’t properly
quarantined. Some of the animals were also shown at small zoos run by
individuals, he said.
Official sues media mogul over bribery insinuation
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — The head of a major Myanmar (also known as
Burma) media group and a top editor have been arrested on criminal charges of
defaming a senior official, news reports said. The Frontier Myanmar news
website reported that Eleven Media Group CEO Than Htut Aung and chief
editor Wai Phyo were sent to Insein Prison after surrendering to police. They
were charged under an article in the Telecommunications Law covering online
defamation, punishable by up to three years imprisonment and a fine. Phyo Min
Thein, governor of Yangon, the country’s biggest city, is the first senior official in
Aung San Suu Kyi’s government to sue a member of the media, although there
have been other cases at lower levels since she took power at the end of March.
He had his office sue the Eleven Media Group officials over an article and online
posting that he said suggested he accepted a $100,000 watch as a bribe from a
property developer in exchange for approving a development project.
ALL-OUT ACTING. Pictured is Japanese actor Kenichi Matsuyama being interviewed in Tokyo on November 2, 2016.
The devotion Matsuyama gave to portraying a shogi prodigy who lived a fearlessly single-minded life is clear in the months
he spent practicing placing the pawns in the Japanese board game, immersing himself in the master’s selfless view on
death, and gorging to gain weight. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Japan actor gives his all to
play shogi master in Satoshi
By Yuri Kageyama
The Associated Press
OKYO — The devotion Kenichi
Matsuyama gave to portraying a shogi
prodigy who lived a fearlessly single-
minded life is clear in the months he spent
practicing placing the pawns in the Japanese
board game, immersing himself in the
master’s selfless view on death, and gorging to
gain weight.
“He lived in a win-or-lose world, and for that,
he had to give up so much, to be living on the
edge, totally devoted to that one calling. That
fascinated me. I wanted to give it my all,” he
told The Associated Press, ahead of the
premiere of Satoshi: A Move for Tomorrow.
The film portraying the angst-filled story of
Satoshi Murayama, who died of bladder cancer
at age 29 in 1998, opened at theaters around
Japan on November 19. It closed the Tokyo
International Film Festival and is being
showcased at the Taipei Golden Horse Film
Festival, which runs through November 24. It
was eight years in the making. And Matsu-
yama wanted the role right away.
Murayama had a serious kidney ailment
since he was five years old. He fell in love with
shogi while hospitalized. His pudginess was a
side-effect of his sickness and the medication
he had to take all his life. Shogi, besides his
love for manga, was about all he knew in life.
He never had a girlfriend, he confesses in one
scene. His last words were about shogi moves.
His story is that universal one of a legend in
any field, those so pure they would dedicate
their entire lives, even risking death, for the
pursuit of perfection.
“He confronted his life head-on, and it
T
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Prince William: We’re still a step behind wildlife traffickers
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Britain’s Prince William praised Vietnam, China,
and other Asian countries for taking unprecedented steps to battle wildlife
trafficking but said the truth is that rhinos, elephants, pangolins, and lions are
still being killed in horrifying numbers. William spoke at the Third
International Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade hosted by Vietnam, one of
major transit points and consumers of trafficked ivory and rhino horns. He said
organized crime syndicates are much more agile than we are. Vietnam vice
president Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh said wildlife trafficking is a global problem that
needs comprehensive cooperation and strong commitment. She said Vietnam is
facing many challenges in protecting wildlife and ensuring economic growth,
such as raising awareness in local communities and improving their livelihoods,
and overcoming limitations when prosecuting and convicting criminals. Also
during the trip, William toured Hanoi’s Old Quarter, where he visited a
traditional medicine shop and a primary school, and spoke with local celebrities,
traditional medicine experts, and wildlife activists.
wasn’t about living for anyone else” said
Matsuyama, who starred in Norwegian Wood,
the 2010 coming-of-age film based on the
best-selling novel by Haruki Murakami. “Mr.
Murayama always felt death close to him.
That was his predicament.”
Similar to the way boxers have to keep
winning to remain champions, shogi players
have to keep winning. That’s why Murayama
kept delaying treatment and then goes back to
the shogi board barely a month after major
surgery. He is in constant pain, but he doesn’t
stop. He doesn’t want to cut his nails because,
he says, even nails are trying to live.
Matsuyama gained 57 pounds in about three
months, speeding the transformation since it
ruled out other acting jobs. Gorging on ice
cream and rice cakes, he gradually felt he was
morphing into Murayama, that all-out
physical role-building that often grabs
attention — Robert De Niro in Raging Bull or
Charlize Theron in Monster.
“Usually, I’m told to lose weight for this job,
and we have to restrict our eating and
drinking. But for this, I got to let all that go,”
Matsuyama said, looking lean and nimble,
back at his usual weight of 145 pounds. “I ate
potato chips in bed with my daughter.”
Becoming Murayama was about more than
getting fat, although that brought him closer
to the part. Even the way he walked, the way
he carried himself, and the aches and twitches
that followed, as well as the way his mind
worked, all changed, recalled Matsuyama,
whose marital partner Koyuki played opposite
Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai.
Matsuyama spent a year practicing the way
shogi masters place their pawns — flat
Continued on page 4
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Asian Currency
Exchange Rates
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78.75
4020.0
6.8865
2.076
7.7567
68.138
13428
32070
110.91
8195.0
4.4183
109.05
105.41
3.175
49.743
64.979
3.7506
1.4263
1178.6
148.18
32.058
33.57
22532