2009 04 05 - Botanical Gardens 150years

Botanic Gardens a World Heritage Site?

LAST Saturday's articles about the 150th anniversary of the Singapore Botanic Gardens are both timely and evocative of the great historical significance of the site, which bore witness to scientific experimentation and commercialisation of numerous tropical plants and crops found across the British Empire.
Most notable were the efforts of the gardens' first director, Henry Ridley, who successfully planted rubber, which then transformed the economic and natural landscape of Malaysia and Indonesia.
It is worth noting that Ridley's experiments were conducted in conjunction with Kew Gardens of London, which is now a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) World Heritage Site.
The Botanic Gardens is not just a historical site, but today is a showcase of Singapore's efforts to conserve our rich natural and historical heritage, despite our densely populated urban reality. It is hence a site of 'outstanding universal value', the key listing requirement of localities as a Unesco World Heritage Site.
With Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, which contains more species of flora than the entire North American continent, the gardens belong not only to all Singaporeans, but also to the entire world. The National Parks Board and other government agencies should consider whether serious efforts should be made to have these sites declared World Heritage Sites.

2009 04 05 - Movie - Shinjuku Incident

Shinjuku Incident
Rating: NC16 / Violence
Director: Derek Yee
Genre: Action, Drama
Cast: Jackie Chan, Daniel Wu, Naoto Takenaka, Xu Jinglei
Language: Mandarin & Japanese
Running Time: 120 minutes
Release Date: 2 April 2009
Plot Synopsis
The Chinese migrant communities in Tokyo live shadowy lives. The Japanese neither acknowledge nor welcome them. They are shunned by the mainstream society, hounded by the yakuza, and go about their days under fear of being discovered and repatriated. It is an alien world for Steelhead, an honest, hardworking tractor repairman from Heilongjian in northern China. Steelhead had decided to take the perilous journey to Tokyo after he lost contact with his girlfriend, who had arrived in the city earlier. Trying to exist in the underbelly of Tokyo long enough to find Xiu Xiu, Steelhead has come to realize the migrants had to stand united if they wanted to go about their lives without fear of oppression by not only the Japanese underworld but also Chinese gangs. In his search of a decent living, Steelhead unwittingly finds himself pit against the Japanese yakuza. Ironically he also discovers that Xiu Xiu has adopted a Japanese identity and married Eguchi, an ambitious up and coming yakuza chief. Steelhead wins the respect of his friends by establishing a base for them and forms an uneasy alliance with Eguchi. When he helps Eguchi dispose of a rival, he is given the control of Shinjukus night establishments. But, uninterested in living a gangsters life, Steelhead finds a new love and takes the chance to start a tractor repair business outside Tokyo. However, his peace is shortlived when word gets to him that his former compatriots were now being used by Eguchi to front the yakuzas drug business. Steelhead feels responsible for this turn of events and feels obligated to bring Eguchi down. He also has to bear in mind that if he goes after Eguchi, he would be destroying the newfound life of the woman he once loved. In any case, can one simple Chinese migrant take on the yakuza alone?

Official Movie Site: http://shinjukuincident.emp.hk/en_main.html