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• US-based artist’ssolo exhibition atAl Markhiya Gallery

• MES lifts overall trophyin CBSE interschoolathletic competition

• Knee replacementlinked to weight gain

• Feeding problems:Food allergies

• New ContinentalGT V8 convertiblearrives in Doha

• China’s Appletakes slice ofsmartphone pie

• Learn commonly used Arabic words and their meaning through the pages of the Peninsula Plus.

insideMONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2012 • plus@pen.com.qa • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741

Twenty-five years after his death, iconic Palestinian cartoonist Naji Al Ali continues to live in people’s memories through his political caricatures. They are being shown for the first time in the Middle East at ‘The Witness’ exhibition in Katara – a humble homage to his admirable life and exceptional achievements.

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2 COVER STORYPLUS | MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2012

Homage to Naji Al Ali

On a lazy afternoon on July 22, 1987, iconic Palestinian politi-cal cartoonist Naji Al Ali was walking towards the offices of the Kuwaiti newspaper Al

Qabas in southwest London when he was gunned down.

He was holding a cartoon he had just drawn illustrating the image of a fatally wounded man along with Handala — a ten-year-old Palestinian boy, barefoot and dressed in rags — a figure he had created to represent Palestinian defiance.

The crumpled cartoon, bearing the

harrowing memory of that fateful day, along with dozens others is displayed at ‘The Witness’ – an exhibition recently opened in Katara.

“The look on the man’s face in this draw-ing bears quite a resemblance to his when he was shot. In a way he already knew that he was going to be killed,” said Iraqi artist Hani Mazhar, Al Ali’s colleague and close friend. The exhibition is also showcasing some of Mazhar’s paintings inspired by Al Ali and his works.

Twenty-five years after his death, Al Ali continues to live in people’s memories through his political caricatures, which have now become works of art, thanks to Katara’s recently opened exhibition that pays homage to his admirable life and exceptional achievements.

But who else can best tell about Al Ali’s illustrious life cut short by an assassin than Mazhar.

“We worked together in Al Qabas news-paper and he was a very close friend,” Mazhar told The Peninsula before the open-ing of the ‘The Witness’, where dozens of Al Ali’s caricatures are being showcased

alongside Mazhar’s paintings.Asked about his best memory of Al Ali,

Mazhar said: “Many things. We talked about many things. But because we are both artists, we always talked about art.”

For the first time in the Middle East, a huge number of Al Ali’s cartoons are being showcased along with 20 newly commis-sioned paintings by Mazhar, in the month-long expo at Katara Gallery Building 18.

The exhibition is being held by Katara with support from Al Markhiya Gallery and Bissan Gallery.

The exhibition intersperses the wide range of cartoons with paintings by Mazhar, breathing new life and meaning into the caricatures not merely at the polit-ical level but at the aesthetic level as well.

“These paintings are aimed at paying homage to Naji Al Ali. I want to show the people the aesthetic side of his cartoons, not only the political message, which is very important to me because Naji Al Ali’s image in the media was limited to being a cartoonist only, not as an artist. For me it is very important to show his other side,” said Mazhar.

For the first time in the Middle East, a huge number of Naji Al Ali’s cartoons are being showcased along with 20 newly commissioned paintings by Iraqi artist Hani Mazhar, in the month-long expo at Katara Gallery Building 18 in Souq Waqif.

PLUS | MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2012 3

Inspired by Al Ali’s life and works, Mazhar’s acrylic paintings on display sometimes resemble the cartoons themselves, just in a different way. He paints in bold colours highlighting the symbolic quality of the images, result-ing in the emergence of new layers of meaning.

Born in Iraq in 1955, and of British nationality, Mazhar draws inspira-tion for his work from diverse sources, including Mesopotamian myths as well as Arab and Andalusian litera-ture. He has also been inspired by Latin American and Japanese literary sources. His use of colour along with the repetition of oriental motifs reflects his cultural background in a sophisti-cated and cosmopolitan manner.

Mazhar has held solo exhibitions in galleries across the world over the past few decades, and his works are included in the collections of the British Museum, Mexico National Print Museum and Modern Art Museum of Cartagena, Columbia.

Naji Al Ali’s career started in 1963 as a caricaturist for the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Tali’a, and eventu-ally included over 10,000 drawings published in newspapers through-out the Arab world. In his lifetime, and posthumously, he was awarded many prizes, including the prestigious “Golden Pen of Freedom” award from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers. Naji was the

first ever caricaturist and Arab jour-nalist to have won this prize.

Al Ali died five weeks after he was shot in the face. Three years before his death, he was described by The Guardian as “the nearest thing there is to an Arab public opinion”.

Mazhar said Al Ali would always occupy a place in the hearts and minds of people in the Arab world through his thousands of cartoons, which effectively helped crystallize public opinion dur-ing his time and remain an inspiration to journalists and media practitioners across the Arab region.

“To this day, his cartoons are still published in the Arab media. You can see many newspapers still publishing his cartoons and people are looking at them as if he just died yesterday,” said Mazhar.

Al Ali’s cartoons, according to Mazhar, would remain political, but they are also valued for their artistic quality.

“The political message is still there,

but looking closely one can see his artis-tic side. Normally, cartoons are created only to send a particular message, but in the case of his cartoons, they can be taken as fine art also, that’s why his cartoons are alive till now,” he added.

Naji’s iconic cartoons focus mostly on the plight and resistance of the Palestinian people. His cartoon char-acter Handala is now an icon for Palestinian defiance.

“The Palestinian struggle was the number one subject for him, but of course he drew about many other things from other parts of the world, like Latin America, Far East, everywhere. But in general, Palestine was foremost for him. Nothing has changed for many years now; Palestinians still struggle,” he said.

Compared to Naji’s times, the impact and influence of caricatures is now somewhat diminished, Mazhar noted.

‘The Witness: An Exhibition by Naji Al Ali and Hani Mazhar’ is open until January 12 at Katara Art Gallery Building 18. The Peninsula

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Hani Mazhar explaining the cartoon (top left) Naji Al Ali was holding when he was gunned down.

PLUS | MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2012 COMMUNITY4

Hilton Doha partners with Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs

Members of the Hilton Doha spent a day with chil-dren from the Shafallah Center recently, as part

of Hilton’s Blue Energy programme.Around 20 members of Hilton

Doha’s Blue Energy programme joined 40 children at the Shafallah Centre, which provides a range of educational and recreational services for children with special needs.

Andreas Searty, General Manager at Hilton Doha, said: “We are delighted to be working with such an impor-tant organisation that provides such an essential service to the society. The Shafallah Center empowers these chil-dren so that they can fully participate in their communities and we are very proud to be a part of this initiative.”

After a round of introductions, members of the Hilton Doha and the children at the Shafallah Centre

settled down to participate in various fun-filled activities. Children learnt to make their own cupcakes with a range of decorations and condiments, teamed up to create beautiful flower arrange-ments and to construct towering build-ings out of cards and pins. The Blue

Energy team further entertained the kids with hilarious impressions using wigs, hats and bowties.

The children also participated in a series of entertaining competitions and games, including Stop-Light and musi-cal chairs. The Hilton Doha team gifted

the children Blue Energy t-shirts and commemorated the enjoyable day with a group photo. The best was saved for last as the Hilton Doha surprised the kids with a brand new plasma TV and Wii gaming system as a special dona-tion from the hotel. The Peninsula

All seven winners of ‘Mercedes Benz Car Dream Drive with Lulu’ Promotion – Ma Celica Ramos, Master Moses Mathew Alexander, S Preethi Prasanna, Master Muhammad Nabil Abdul Rahim, Cherry Carambas Victorino, Vaishakhi Anil and Seba Renny – collected their prizes from Shaijan M O, Regional Manager of Lulu Hypermarket Group, on Thursday, in the presence of Mohd H Z Aabideen, General Manager, Chacko K Samuel, Commercial Manager, Naseer Ali, Manager-Lulu Center, and other offi-cials of Lulu Hypermarket Group.

Works by US-based artist Mohammed Al Shammarey are on display at a solo exhibition at Al Markhiya Gallery in Souq Waqif. Titled Longing, the exhibition showcases images in giclee art print which are inspired by the religious dance of Sufi Mawlawis and reveal the artist’s yearning for his home country Iraq.

Exhibition at Al Markhiya Gallery

‘Mercedes Benz Car Dream Drive with Lulu’ winners get their prizes

PLUS | MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2012 5CAMPUS

Georgetown SFS-Q bioethics research recognised as best at QF forum

Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Q) faculty member

Ayman Shabana received the Research Excellence Award in recognition of the Best Arts, Behavioural and Social Sciences, Humanities and Islamic Studies Research Programme of the Year during the awards distribu-tion ceremony of Qatar Foundation’s Annual Research Forum held at the Qatar National Convention Centre recently.

Dr Shabana, Visiting Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at SFS-Q, won the prestigious prize for his presentation titled ‘Sustaining Islamic Bioethics Research.’ The presentation highlighted the main features of the Islamic bioethics research project that he has led at SFS-Q for more than two years.

Commenting on receiving the award for the best research pro-gramme in the fourth track of the Annual Research Forum, Shabana said, “The project has been a won-derful collaborative effort and this award recognises all the hard work and dedication of the project’s team members. This is definitely a great honor and responsibility and we are determined to exert our best effort to sustain this exciting research venture and accomplish its goals.”

The project began with a successful three-year grant proposal (2009-2012), titled Islamic Medical and Scientific Ethics, which was submitted to the National Priorities Research Program of Qatar National Research Fund by Doris Goldstein, former Director of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Library at Georgetown University’s main cam-pus, and Frieda Wiebe, Director of the SFS- Q Library.

This proposal aimed to expand the scope of the reputable KIE Library col-lection of bioethics resources to include Islamic bioethical resources.

The Peninsula

TNG celebrates Annual Day

The Next Generation Kindergarten and Primary School celebrated its third

anniversary and first Annual Day on Thursday. Mohammed Sarfaraz Khanzada, Pakistan Ambassador and his wife Farzana Khanzada were the Chief Guests. Embassy officials Dr Mansoor Abbas Rizvi, Mohammed Afzal Sheikh, Asim Khan and par-ents of the students attended the programme.

For the last three years, TNG has expanded its wings to include students from 15 different nationalities. Having opened its doors to only 15 students initially, TNG has now more than 350 students. The school has plans to move further by opening up grades 7 and 8. TNG will continue with certification programmes such as Young Learners Exam from Cambridge University and ICDL training computer certification.

Meanwhile, Qudsia Asad rejoined as Principal of the school.

TNG also announced “TNG Education Awards”, which were pre-sented to personalities and organisa-tions serving in Qatar for the cause of education. The awards were presented to Dr Shaukat Chandna, Professor Muqeem Khan, Syed Abid Hussaini, Nadeem Bahseer, Ahmed Hussain, Raheel Khan, Faisla Velimi and Dr Mazhar Monga for their outstanding support and services to the community.

Shagufta Bakali, CEO of TNG, spoke of the progress and the future path of

TNG. She also mentioned the change of name from TNG Kindergarten and Primary School to TNG Group. TNG, she said, also has plans to introduce

a nursery (for less than two-and-half years old), a training center and a purpose-built campus.

The Peninsula

TNG students taking part in Annual Day festivities. Below: Parents and other guests watching the show.

MES Indian School won the overall trophy in the Qatar Cluster CBSE interschool athletic competition held at the MES synthetic track recently, with an unbeaten 305 points. Seven CBSE Schools in Qatar participated in the event and MES emerged the overall champions in all the categories — under-14 boys, 14 girls, 16 boys, 16 girls, 19 boys and 19 girls — with 60 medals (41 gold, 14 silver and 5 bronze). The first runner-up was Al Khor International School, with 92 points. The winners are qualified to participate in the interschool CBSE national championship, to be held in Chennai, India from December 27 to 30. Seen in the picture are the winning athletes and school officials.

MES lifts overall trophy in CBSE interschool athletic competition

PLUS | MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2012 COMMUNITY6

Dolphin Energy Limited has announced the launch of the first annual Dolphin Energy Doha Dash, in celebration of

Qatar National Sport Day on February 12, 2013.

The Dolphin Energy Doha Dash will take place at the Losail International Circuit in Doha, giving runners the chance to run on the circuit and follow in the tracks of Moto GP stars.

The community event aims to encourage a healthy lifestyle and raise money for charity by donating a per-centage of the entrance fee charged, and will feature a 5km run for partici-pants aged 12 and over, a 3km run for all ages, a 1km run for children and a 1km ladies walk.

Commenting on the event, Adel Ahmed Albuainain, General Manager, Dolphin Energy, Qatar said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for the com-munity to get involved. The Dolphin Energy Doha Dash is a family fun run that supports Qatar National Sport Day and carries an important message about the benefits health and fitness have on people’s personal and profes-sional lives.

All runners will receive an official race T-shirt, medal and gift bag as well as enjoying a great family day

out in the Festival Village. The first three runners across the line in the 5km, 3km and 1km runs will receive a trophy and a special prize.

A range of activities will be on offer including live music, children’s activi-ties, have-a-go sports areas and food and beverages.

The Dolphin Energy Doha Dash has been created by Professional Sports Group, who will manage the sporting operations on the day.

Jamie Cunningham, Chief Executive Officer of Professional Sports Group, said: “Mass participation running events are growing in popularity every year in the Gulf Region and we have identified a great opportunity here in Doha.

“We hope that the Dolphin Energy Doha Dash will become a key event in the calendar for Qatar National Sport Day.

“Ware delighted to partner with Dolphin Energy and look forward to working with them to make the event a success.”

Registration is now open for the Dolphin Energy Doha Dash 2013. Participants can visit www.dohadash.com to register or to find out more about the event.

The Peninsula

Dolphin Energy launches inaugural Doha Dash

Officials at the announcement of Doha Dash.

Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) took part in ILTM, the International Luxury Travel Market held at the

Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France, from December 3 to 6.

Hosted by QTA, the Qatar pavilion featured a large number of strategic partners including the Ministry of Culture; hotels W Doha, Ritz-Carlton and Sharq Village & Spa; tour opera-tors Qatar International Tours and Qatar International Adventures; as well as Katara Cultural Village and Souq Waqif.

Staged annually in Cannes, ILTM is the leading ‘by invitation only’ event for the global luxury travel commu-nity and each year brings together the world’s most sought after collec-tion of luxury resorts for the most selective international luxury VIP travel buyers.

QTA’s attendance at ILTM is one of the many initiatives to position and promote Qatar as a top luxury des-tination that can match any in the world. By showcasing Qatar amongst the world’s best luxury resorts to the top international VIP buyers, QTA is exploring one of the best opportuni-ties to promote Qatar as a leading luxury tourist destination.

\Luxury and leisure go hand in hand and they underpin why Qatar

is attracting more tourists every year. The QTA is thus pro-moting Qatar for its 21st century upscale facilities, luxury and leisure amenities and award-winning spas to appeal to the global luxury market.

Luxury travel con-tinued to show a strong recovery dur-ing 2011. A key driver of growth was the ris-ing number of wealthy individuals worldwide, the “experiential” travel and sustainabil-ity now playing a more important role.

The QTA recently announced its inter-est in promoting eco-tourism and responsible tourism at the recent COP 18 UN Climate Change Conference in Doha, lever-aging sustainability as a key pillar in the country’s new developments.

With a wide choice of luxury hotels and resorts, Qatar offers the perfect retreat for business travelers want-ing to mix business with leisure, and experience luxurious hospitality to

international standards in a coun-try with a unique cultural heritage. The QTA is thus promoting Qatar as a winning combination of the fin-est in modern day luxury side by side with the country’s age old traditions to appeal to the seasoned luxury traveller.

As UNWTO forecasts the Middle

East region is expected to capture 8 percent of the 1.8 billion international tourists worldwide, the QTA plans to attract the largest number of these visitors to Qatar, as it promotes the country as a luxury destination ready to welcome the world’s most discern-ing travelers.

The Peninsula

QTA showcases Qatar as a luxury destination at ILTM

PLUS | MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2012HEALTH 7

Health Tipsfrom DOCTOR

What is a food allergy?An estimated 6 percent of children suffer from

food allergies. If your baby has a food allergy, his body’s immune system reacts to a particular food as an intruder. When he eats an offending food, his body releases antibodies that cause allergic reactions.

If your baby has an aller-gic reaction to something he eats, it may be rapid (within half an hour to an hour) or it may develop hours or even days later. Symptoms may be seen on the skin — including hives, red patches, chronic eczema, or swelling — or they may be gastroin-testinal, such as vomit-ing, abdominal pains, or diarrhoea.

Symptoms that occur quickly can be more severe. When a child has a severe allergic reac-tion, he may have wheezing, swelling of the tongue and mouth, and trouble breathing. This reaction, called anaphylaxis, is life threatening.

The most common food allergens for young children are eggs, milk, peanuts, wheat, soy, tree nuts, fish (like tuna, salmon, and cod), and shell-fish (like lobster, shrimp, and crab).

If you or your partner has a family history of food allergies, then it may be twice as likely that your baby will have allergies. The good news: Most kids outgrow food allergies by age 5, although certain allergies — to peanuts or tree nuts, for example — are much more likely to persist.

What can be done?When starting your baby on solids, introduce

a new food every three to five days at most. If he’s going to react to the food, chances are the symptoms will show up within this time. And if you buy baby food, start with single-ingredient varieties rather than combinations, to make it easier to identify any offending foods.

If your baby has been diagnosed with a food allergy, you’ll want to learn all you can about it — including which foods to avoid, how to read labels, and how to recognize the early signs of an allergic reaction.

Work with your baby’s doctor to establish an action plan in case your baby does have a reaction. Be sure to keep epinephrine (a medication that will stop an anaphylactic reaction) on hand and know how to use it.

Also make sure that everyone who is ever responsible for taking care of your baby — sit-ters, relatives, daycare workers — knows about his allergy and what they may not give him to eat. Also make sure they know exactly what to do if he has an allergic reaction.

by Kerry Grens

Being overweight is known to increase the risk of needing a knee replacement, but a new

study finds that knee replace-ment surgery may also raise a person’s risk of gaining weight.

Analyzing the medical records of nearly 1,000 knee-replacement surgery patients, researchers found that 30 percent of them gained five percent or more of their body weight in the five years following surgery.

One possible explanation for the counterintuitive results, experts said, is that if people have spent years adapting to knee pain by taking it easy, they don’t automatically change their habits when the pain is reduced.

“After knee replacement we get them stronger and moving better, but they don’t seem to take advantage of the functional gains” and become more active, said Joseph Zeni, a physical ther-apy professor at the University of Delaware, who was not part of the study.

“I think that has to do with the fact that we don’t address the behavioural modifications that have happened during the course of arthritis before the surgery,” he added.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the US undergo knee replacement surgery each year.

The goal of putting in a new knee is to alleviate pain and get people moving around more, but Daniel Riddle, lead author of the new study and a profes-sor at Virginia Commonwealth University, said his team had noticed that patients tended to gain weight after surgery.

To see whether this was com-mon, Riddle’s group used a patient registry from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, which collected information on 917 knee replacement patients before and after their procedures.

The researchers found that five years after surgery, 30 per-cent of patients had gained at least five percent of their weight at the time of the surgery. That’s 10 pounds or more on a 200-pound person, for example.

In contrast, less than 20 per-cent of those in a comparison group of similar people who had not had surgery gained equiva-lent amounts of weight in the same period.

Riddle’s team explains in their

report, published in Arthritis

Care & Research, that this degree of weight gain can lead to “meaningful effects on cardiovas-cular and diabetes related risk as well as pain and function.”

Part of the explanation for the weight gain the research-ers observed could be the age at which patients get surgery, Riddle said. People in their 50s and 60s tend to gain weight anyway.

Still, in light of the lower rates of weight gain in the compari-son group, which was also middle aged and older, Riddle said some-thing else may also be at work among knee surgery patients.

“There’s something going on in these patients that predisposes them above and beyond their peers to weight gain,” Riddle told Reuters Health.

Indeed, the team also found that patients who had lost weight before their surgery were slightly more likely to gain weight afterward.

Riddle said that could be because when people lose weight in anticipation of an event, such as knee surgery, they are more likely to put on weight after they’ve achieved that goal.

Zeni said that to help people

stave off the pounds after sur-gery, health care providers need to address the sedentary lifestyle people often adopt to accommo-date their arthritis.

“We need to encourage patients to take advantage of their ability to function better and get them to take on a more active lifestyle,” he told Reuters Health.

Riddle agreed that the habit of being sedentary before knee replacement may carry over after surgery.

He said it will be important to develop and study weight loss interventions for these patients, and to target them to those who are most at risk of getting heavier, like relatively younger patients in their 50s and 60s and those who have lost weight before knee surgery.

In the meantime, Riddle said, patients can also take some action on their own by talking with their doctors about main-taining a healthy weight and con-sulting with a nutritionist and physical therapist about lifestyle changes.

SOURCE: bit.ly/TJTz24 Arthritis Care & Research, online November 30, 2012.

Dr. Nabeel Saif Hussein Shaif GP-Paediatrics

Healthspring World Clinic

Feeding problems: Food allergies

Knee replacement linked to weight gain

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n U

S b

reakfa

st s

how

Good M

ornin

g A

meric

a, Z

eta

-Jones

snapped

back, sa

yin

g “

You k

now

what?

I’m

sic

k o

f ta

lkin

g a

bout

it b

ecause

I n

ever

wante

d t

o b

e t

he p

ost

er c

hild f

or t

his

. I

never w

ante

d t

his

to c

om

e o

ut

publicly

. It

cam

e o

ut,”

dailyst

ar.

co.u

k r

eporte

d.

“I d

ealt

wit

h i

t in

the b

est

way I

could

and t

hat

was

just

sayin

g t

hat,

‘L

ook, hey,

I’m

bip

ola

r’. E

veryone h

as

thin

gs

goin

g o

n a

nd w

e’r

e d

oin

g t

he

best

we c

an. W

e c

an’t

jum

p f

rom

the r

ooft

ops

shouti

ng a

bout,

‘I

have t

his

, lo

ok a

t m

e, vic

tim

’ -

no. W

e a

ll h

ave i

ssues

in l

ife a

nd I

’m r

eally h

appy I

have g

reat

frie

nds,

great

support

and t

hat’s

all I

can d

o.”

BO

LLY

WO

OD

NE

WS

Vict

oria

, Mel

B fi

ght l

ike

sist

ers

Cher

yl C

ole

sues

US

The

X Fa

ctor

Zeta

-Jon

es fe

d up

of t

alki

ng

abou

t bip

olar

dis

orde

r

1) Z

ER

O D

AR

K T

HIR

TY

Kath

ryn B

igelo

w’s

taut

thrille

r a

bout

the h

unt

for O

sam

a b

in L

aden e

xem

pli-

fies

the O

scar-w

inn

ing d

irecto

r a

t th

e

top o

f her g

am

e, w

ork

ing w

ith a

scrip

t by

Mark

Boal

that

not

only

allow

s vie

wers

to m

ake s

ense

of

the c

om

plicate

d i

nte

l-ligence, m

ilit

ary a

nd foreig

n p

olicy iss

ues

that

have an

imate

d th

e past

decade,

but

als

o c

reate

s a b

rand-n

ew

cin

em

ati

c

genre: th

e r

eporte

d fi

lm.

2)

LIN

CO

LN

Ste

ven S

pie

lberg a

nd T

ony K

ush

ner’s

his

toric

al

dram

a a

bout

the 1

6th

presi

-den

t le

aves beh

ind fu

sty

, great-

man

portr

ait

ure, in

stead e

ngagin

g in a

liv

ely

gam

e of

politi

cal

cat

an

d m

ouse th

at

bears un

can

ny con

tem

porary ech

oes

and l

eaves

vie

wers

feeling a

s if

they’v

e

just

spen

t tw

o h

ours

wit

h t

he s

hrew

d,

fun

ny,

mela

ncholy

— a

nd y

es,

great

—

man h

imse

lf.

3)

TH

E W

AIT

ING

RO

OM

Pete

r N

icks’

magn

ificen

t docum

en

-ta

ry s

pends

a d

ay i

n t

he l

ife o

f an o

ver-

crow

ded a

nd u

nder-r

eso

urced h

osp

ital

em

ergency r

oom

in O

akla

nd, C

alifo

rnia

, w

here a

sta

ff o

f com

pass

ion

ate

profe

s-sio

nals

provid

e care to

a sta

rtl

ingly

div

erse

popula

tion o

f pati

ents

. T

his

sub-

tle,

com

pass

ionate

table

au l

ifts

the v

eil

on a

world

oft

en d

esc

rib

ed i

n t

erm

s of

squalo

r a

nd d

esp

air

, findin

g t

he inherent

dig

nit

y a

nd p

erse

verance t

herein

.

4)

MO

NS

IEU

R L

AZ

HA

RP

hilip

pe F

ala

rdeau’s

aff

ecti

ng d

ram

a

about

an

Alg

eria

n i

mm

igran

t te

achin

g

in a

Montr

eal

ele

menta

ry s

chool

could

have g

one w

rong in s

o m

any s

appy,

sen-

tim

en

tal

or m

audlin

ways.

Than

ks t

o

Fala

rdeau’s

cle

ar-e

yed dir

ecti

on

an

d

a quie

tly galv

an

isin

g perfo

rm

an

ce by

Moham

ed F

ellag in t

he t

itle

role

, it

goes

straig

ht

an

d s

imply

for t

he h

eart,

an

d

its

aim

is

unerrin

gly

true. P

int-

size

d c

o-

stars

Sophie

Neliss

e a

nd E

milie

n N

eron

join

ed P

ierce G

agn

on

(L

oop

er)

, Jared

Gilm

an

an

d K

ara H

ayw

ard (

Moon

rise

K

ingd

om

), an

d

Th

e Im

poss

ible

’s T

om

H

olland, O

akle

e P

endergast

and S

am

uel

Johnso

n a

s young a

cto

rs

deliverin

g p

er-

form

ances

of

ast

onis

hin

g m

atu

rit

y.

5)

MID

DL

E O

F N

OW

HE

RE

Ava

DuV

ern

ay’s

fi

nely

cali

brate

d

dram

a a

bout

a w

om

an

navig

ati

ng l

ife

while h

er h

usb

and i

s in

pris

on f

eatu

red

a b

reakout

perfo

rm

ance b

y lead a

ctr

ess

E

mayatz

y

Corin

eald

i;

its

un

forced,

restr

ain

ed t

on

e w

as e

nhan

ced b

y t

he

express

ive c

inem

ato

graphy o

f B

radfo

rd

Youn

g,

who a

lso s

hot

two 2

012

10-b

est

runners-

up,

Rest

less

Cit

y and P

ari

ah.

6)

TH

IS I

S N

OT

A F

ILM

Jafa

r P

anahi’s

ess

ay fi

lm a

bout

liv-

ing u

nder h

ouse

arrest

in I

ran u

ses

Brech

tian

sta

gin

g,

blu

rred

lin

es

betw

een

docum

en

tary an

d dram

a,

and a

n iP

hone t

o e

xplo

re t

he n

oti

on o

f physi

cal and p

oliti

cal boundarie

s, t

he

aest

heti

c a

nd t

echnolo

gic

al

conto

urs

of cin

em

a, and t

he e

ndurin

g p

ow

er o

f se

lf-e

xpress

ion.

7)

AR

GO

Ben A

ffleck’s

abso

rbin

g, th

oroughly

en

terta

inin

g t

hrille

r a

bout

a l

ittl

e-

kn

ow

n c

hapte

r o

f th

e I

ran

host

age

cris

is s

trik

es

a t

ric

ky t

on

al

bala

nce

betw

een

his

tory l

ess

on

, adven

ture-

acti

on a

nd s

how

biz

sati

re. A

long w

ith

such r

unners-

up a

s T

he G

rey,

Loop

er

and M

agic

Mik

e, it

proved t

hat

genre

pic

tures

don’t

have t

o b

e d

isposa

ble

but

can

ch

an

nel

genuin

e th

ough

t-fu

lness

, in

genuit

y a

nd o

ld-f

ash

ioned

chops.

8)

MA

RG

AR

ET

Ken

neth

L

on

ergan

’s

epic

com

-in

g-o

f-age t

ale

, about

a M

an

hatt

an

te

en

ager sen

t in

to an

eth

ical

tail

-sp

in a

fter b

ein

g i

nvolv

ed i

n a

tragic

bus

accid

ent,

took y

ears

to a

rriv

e o

n

the s

creen

. W

hat

turn

ed o

ut

to b

e

a s

praw

lin

g,

pass

ion

ate

, st

ubborn

ly

dig

ress

ive m

ast

erw

ork

was

worth

the

wait

.

9)

AN

NA

KA

RE

NIN

AD

irecto

r Joe W

rig

ht

took

a big

chan

ce w

hen

he s

taged t

he a

dapta

-ti

on

of

a b

elo

ved l

iterary c

lass

ic a

s light

opera,

largely

wit

hin

the c

on

-fin

es

of

a t

iny t

heate

r. T

he c

on

ceit

w

orked,

wit

h t

he i

nheren

t th

eatr

i-cality

of

Tols

toy’s

sto

ry a

nd i

mperia

l S

t. P

ete

rsb

urg s

ocie

ty c

om

ing t

o t

he

fore, as

well a

s th

e n

ovel’s

alt

ernate

ly

rig

orous

an

d p

oeti

c m

oral

sen

sibil-

ity.

An

na j

oin

ed s

uch s

imilarly

ris

ky

fare a

s C

lou

d A

tla

s and H

oly

Moto

rs in

suggest

ing t

hat

cin

em

ati

c a

mbit

ion

, audacit

y a

nd v

isio

n a

ren’t

dead y

et.

10)

AM

OU

RM

ichael H

aneke’s

technic

ally fl

aw

-le

ss,

em

oti

onally d

evast

ati

ng d

ram

a

about

an e

lderly

couple

facin

g illness

and d

eath

was

part

of

an e

ncourag-

ing t

ren

d t

his

year i

n s

urpris

ingly

h

on

est

depic

tion

s

of

agin

g,

from

th

e fr

an

k sexuali

ty of

the adm

it-

tedly

uneven H

op

e S

pri

ngs

to D

ust

in

Hoff

man’s

dir

ecto

ria

l debut,

Qu

art

et.

On b

ehalf

of

grow

n-u

ps

everyw

here,

to an

in

dustr

y oth

erw

ise obsessed

wit

h y

outh

: T

hanks

for c

arin

g. M

ore,

ple

ase

! W

P-B

loo

mb

erg

Film

: Khi

ladi

786

Cas

t: A

ksha

y Ku

mar

, Asi

n, M

ithun

Cha

krab

orty

,H

imes

h Re

sham

miy

a, R

aj B

abba

r an

d Ra

hul S

ingh

Dir

ecto

r: A

shis

h R

Moh

an

Kh

ila

di

786 is

th

e kin

d of

com

edy don

e

in s

hades

of

green

, oran

ge a

nd p

ink,

whic

h

doesn

’t r

equir

e u

s to

str

ain

our b

rain

. T

he

kic

ks

and g

runts

, guff

aw

s and c

hortl

es,

the

an

tics

raille

ry a

nd t

om

foole

ry fl

ow

out

un

stoppered l

ike a

n u

ncapped

tooth

past

e t

ube.

The form

ula

is

sim

ple

. A

nd s

tark

. G

et

the a

udie

nce t

o laugh a

t any c

ost

. A

nd s

om

e o

f it

does

work

quit

e w

ell.

We h

ave a

hero. N

o, m

ake t

hat

a s

uper-d

uper-h

ero, w

ho fl

ies

across

the

air

, pounds

auto

mobiles

to a

pulp

wit

h h

is b

are fi

sts,

breaks

dow

n a

jail

cell’s

sto

ne w

alls

wit

h a

flic

k o

f his

manly

fist

, gets

goofy

or g

ooey-e

yed

dependin

g o

n h

is c

o-s

tar o

n s

creen.

Aksh

ay’s

crazi

ly i

mprovis

ed p

erfo

rm

ance a

s a s

ham

cop b

orrow

s dol-

lops

from

Salm

an K

han’s

Da

ba

ngg a

nd A

ksh

ay’s

ow

n R

ow

dy

Ra

thore

. T

he

deriv

ati

ve d

errin

gdo d

oesn

’t d

imin

ish t

he i

mpact

of

the i

talicis

ed a

nti

cs

that

range f

rom

the a

rrest

ing t

o t

he e

xasp

erati

ng.

Asi

n (

back in fetc

hin

g form

for t

he fi

rst

tim

e s

ince G

ha

jin

i) loves

a lout

who is

chronic

ally incarcerate

d. E

ach t

ime t

he jailed loverboy (

Rahul S

ingh,

well-c

ast

eff

ecti

vely

pla

yed)

is a

bout

to b

e r

ele

ase

d, he’s

sent

back p

ackin

g

for s

om

e u

nin

tenti

onal crim

e o

r t

he o

ther.

The s

crip

t se

em

s to

be w

rit

ten b

y s

om

eone w

ho loves

Aksh

ay’s

hum

or-

ous

heroic

s and h

is e

mphati

c b

ut

spoofy

hijin

ks.

Both

the t

rait

s are a

mply

accentu

ate

d in t

he s

crip

t. K

hil

ad

i 78

6 u

ltim

ate

ly b

ecom

es

a s

how

case

for its

in

sanely

success

ful su

perst

ar h

ero’s

tale

nts

. A

ksh

ay,

as

we a

ll k

now

, lo

ves

to p

lay t

he P

unja

bi D

evdas.

He d

id it

eff

ecti

vely

in V

ipul S

hah’s

Na

ma

stey

Lon

don, w

here h

e s

tepped b

ack g

allantl

y t

o let

his

wif

e K

atr

ina K

aif

make

a f

ool of

herse

lf w

ith a

n u

ndese

rvin

g b

oyfr

iend.

Exactl

y t

he s

am

e t

ria

ngula

r s

ituati

on

crops

up i

n t

he s

econ

d-h

alf

of

Kh

ila

di 78

6, w

hen m

idw

ay t

hrough t

he a

narchic

hilarit

y, A

ksh

ay d

ecid

es

to

pla

y t

he b

leedin

g t

eary-e

yed m

arty

r “

gif

ting”

Asi

n t

o t

he a

forem

enti

oned

jailed jerk

.M

am

ta K

ulk

arni in

the e

arly

Kh

ila

di film

Sa

bse

Ba

da

Kh

ila

di had d

one

the a

irheaded lovergir

l runnin

g a

fter t

he w

rong m

an. B

ack t

hen, A

ksh

ay

stood g

uard o

ver M

am

ta w

ith t

he s

am

e s

teadfa

st loyalt

y a

s he d

oes

for A

sin.

Som

e t

hin

gs

never c

hange i

n o

ur c

inem

a. H

eroin

es

may c

om

e a

nd g

o.

Heroes

live o

n f

orever.

A s

en

se o

f con

tinuit

y r

un

s th

rough a

ll o

f A

ksh

ay K

um

ar’

s com

edie

s.

He d

oesn

’t d

o a

nyth

ing h

ere t

hat

he h

asn

’t d

one b

efo

re. T

he t

radem

ark

goofy

grin

and t

he s

elf

-deprecati

ng h

um

our a

re b

ack.

Here,

the h

ero i

s desp

erate

to g

et

marrie

d . T

hat’s

a s

porti

ng p

art

whose

subte

xt

scream

s,

‘Look, I

am

such a

big

sta

r a

nd I

pla

y a

characte

r w

ho c

an’t

get

a w

om

an

to m

arry m

e, ha h

a.’

It’s

all d

on

e i

n f

un

, w

ith p

len

ty o

f un

zippered z

est

an

d a

com

forti

ng

abse

nce o

f vulg

arit

y. T

he e

nse

mble

cast

, parti

cula

rly M

ithun C

hakraborty

and R

aj

Babbar,

catc

hes

on t

o t

he s

hrill

sur o

f a m

usi

c t

hat

suggest

s a

ble

nd o

f parody a

nd h

om

age t

o t

he F

orm

ula

Cin

em

a. S

o, w

e h

ave long-l

ost

broth

er o

f th

e h

ero s

how

ing u

p in t

he c

lim

ax w

ith a

mockin

g m

aw

kis

hness

th

at

Manm

ohan D

esa

i w

ould

have a

pproved o

f.T

he m

usi

c b

y H

imesh

Resh

am

miy

a is

sple

ndid

ly in-s

ync w

ith t

he fi

lm’s

w

acked-o

ut

mood.

He o

ften u

ses

standard b

ackground e

ffects

from

old

H

indi

film

s to

rem

ind u

s th

at

we a

re l

aughin

g a

t conventi

ons

that

never

grew

outd

ate

d in o

ur c

inem

a.

Oh y

es,

Resh

am

miy

a a

lso p

lays

an im

porta

nt

part

in t

he fi

lm a

s a h

ope-

less

inept

weddin

g p

lanner.

It’s

good t

o s

ee R

esh

am

miy

a d

oin

g a

Gujju a

ct.

H

e w

as

born t

o p

lay M

ansu

kh.

As

for A

ksh

ay K

um

ar’s

Kh

ila

di

act,

he c

an d

o t

he p

arodic

paces

blind-

fold

ed. A

ddin

g a

drenaline t

o t

he a

nti

cs

are t

he c

rash

ing, tu

mbling s

om

er-

sault

ing c

ars,

whic

h p

rovid

e t

hrills

in a

very R

ohit

Shett

y w

ay.

Incid

enta

lly,

one c

haracte

r p

layed b

y S

anja

y M

ishra t

hin

ks

he looks

like

Am

ol Pale

kar.

And b

urst

s in

to A

an

ew

ala

pa

l ja

an

ew

ala

ha

i fr

om

Hris

hik

esh

M

ukherje

e’s

Gol

Ma

al.

Wonderin

g i

f M

ishra g

ot

the w

rong G

ol

Ma

al. A

nd d

id h

e m

ean A

jay

Devgn inst

ead o

f A

mol P

ale

kar?

Kh

ila

di

786 is

an o

ddball o

f a d

ham

aka t

hat

ble

nds

slapst

ick w

ith s

tunts

. It

is

farcic

al fu

n f

rom

first

fram

e t

o t

he last

. G

o, have a

bla

st.

Khila

di 7

86: E

nter

tain

er,

Aksh

ay K

umar

sty

leM

ovi

e-w

ise,

2012 w

as

ab

out

a lo

t o

f th

ing

s, f

rom

girl-

po

wer

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PLUS | MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2012 MOTORING10

Bentley Qatar set to open new showroom in January 2013

Al Wajba Motors organ-ised a road show for the new Continental GT V8 Convertible at the Admiral Club, Ritz

Carlton Hotel. More than 100 guests gathered over the three day event to see the spectacular new convertible and the rest of the magnificent Bentley range.

The new 4.0 litre, twin turbo-charged Continental GT V8 convert-ible, and its coupe counterpart the Continental GT V8, achieve excep-tional standards for power-to-emis-sions in the high luxury sports car sector. Now the cooler weather has reached Qatar and the new Bentley Continental GT V8 Convertible offers the perfect climate to enjoy driving with the roof down.

This remarkable, new Bentley V8 engine delivers maximum power of 500 bhp (507 PS / 373 Kw) at 6000 rev/min. With a new close-ratio 8-speed auto-matic transmission, this translates into a 0-100 km/h sprint time of 4.8 seconds and a top speed of 188 mph (303 km/h). The instantly recognisable growl of the new 4.0 litre Bentley Continental GT V8 engine sets it apart from its Bentley stablemates.

Chris Buxton, Bentley Middle East Regional Director said: “With the new 4.0 litre V8 engine we are widening

the appeal of the latest generation of Continentals, introducing a com-pletely new driving experience. Qatar is an extremely important market for Bentley and we are 12 percent up in sales volume thanks to the hard work and dedication of our Qatar Parnter, Al Wajba Motors, as more and more people in Qatar appreciate the excep-tional performance and handcrafted beauty of a Bentley.”

Guests were invited to the Admiral Club at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Doha to experience the New Bentley Continental GT V8 Convertible as well

as the Continental Coupe GT V8, the Continental GT W12 Coupe, the Flying Spur and the Mulsanne.

Over 20 Bentley customers joined together to form a convoy of Bentley vehicles that enjoyed a drive together to the Corniche in Doha. Here, wit-nesses were able to see the entire range and many different variations of Bentley vehicles.

Saher A Baaj, the General Manager of Bentley Qatar, said that “It is always a pleasure to get so many proud Bentley customers together like this to drive in convoy. They love to talk together

about their cars and it gives us the chance to show off our new Bentley Continental GT V8 convertible. It is certainly a sight to behold!”

The owner of Al Wajba Motors, Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Ahmed M Al Thani, believes that to offer test drives is the best way to convert pros-pects into a brand owner. And so, Al Wajba Motors will carry on doing more dynamic driving events in the future for its customers and prospects.

Bentley Qatar will be opening a new showroom in early 2013.

The Peninsula

Rolls-Royce expandsPearl-Qatar showroom

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Doha celebrated the launch of its newly-expanded show-room at the Pearl-Qatar yesterday. The new facility is a culmination of an

impressive first three quarters of the business for the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars importer in Qatar, and will mark an exciting new era for the luxury car brand in Qatar.

The redeveloped facility, which was initially inau-gurated in 2009, has been expanded from 580sqm to cover a total area of 750sqm. This is a 30 per-cent increase in space to fit seven cars in display, including a new dedicated area for the Rolls-Royce Provenance Programme cars, the approved pro-gramme for pre-owned Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. The new showroom also has a customer lounge, refreshments bar, and a configuration area to ena-ble Rolls-Royce Motor Cars clients to customise and tailor their vehicles.

Commenting on the landmark opening, Geoff Briscoe, Regional Director, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Middle East, Africa & Latin America, said: “The Middle East is a crucial market for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, and the excellent performance and support of our partner in Qatar compliments this unprecedented success drive in the region. The investment in this impressive facility is testament

to the continued opportunities that lie ahead in Doha.”

Commenting on this occasion, Mohamed Kandeel, General Manager of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Doha Showroom, said: “This new facility will not only allow us to match our sales growth with our physical growth, but also underlines our ambition to achieve greater results in the com-ing years with even greater focus on customer convenience.”

Latest results from the importer reveal sus-tained growth in the first three quarters of 2012, with an 18 percent increase in sales of

Rolls-Royce vehicles compared to the same period last year.

“Our business is not only about selling luxurious cars, but also investing on many different levels to ensure we have the right facilities and staff to sell new and Rolls-Royce Provenance Programme pre-owned cars, to service them and provide a very high level experience throughout the car ownership period,” he added. Located in Porto Arabia in the Pearl-Qatar, the showroom is open from Saturdays to Thursday from 10am to 10pm and 5pm to 10pm on Fridays.

The Peninsula

New Continental GT V8 convertible arrives in Doha

Geoff Briscoe and Mohamed Kandeel at the new showroom.

PLUS | MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2012 11BOOKS

by Elaine Lies

Andrew, in a daring leap to freedom from an overbearing mother, moves in with a friend whose ramshackle house is the one blight on a gorgeous neighbourhood - and promptly is attracted to his next door neighbour, the

friendly Harlow.Welcomed by a plate of homemade cookies and admir-

ing of the picture-perfect home where she lives with her husband, Red, it is a while before Andrew starts to suspect there is something a little off about this woman, who seems just too good to be true.

The Neighbors, Ania Ahlborn’s second novel, was inspired by a battered house and a fallen-over mailbox she passed every day, making her think of a perfect house on a perfect street that in fact is “where all the darkness is.”

Ahlborn, whose first book was self-published but became such a success she then picked up a conventional publish-ing contract, spoke about neighbours, horror and her book.

What inspired the book?“I’ve always been pretty fascinated with serial killers,

but not in the sense that I read about them and I’m like, let’s see how they kill all their victims. I’m more interested in the fact that someone could be living right next door to you, and they might be the nicest person that you had ever met, but they’re really not. There’s something about that that really intrigues me. Of course it terrifies me, it freaks me out, but just that concept was what spurred my writ-ing The Neighbors. That, and I do have a little bit of a love affair with the atomic age and the perfect sort of Americana thing that was going on. That to me is also a little creepy. It’s so perfect that it’s almost plastic, it’s Stepford Wives. Every time something is super cool and happy and nice, I always find something really creepy going on with it. If you meet the one person who’s always happy, always smiling and always laughing, I’m going to be the person who’s sitting back thinking, what’s this person hiding?”

How did you bring this idea to life?“I knew that I wanted to have an everyman character

that readers could relate to, so I put that into Andrew. He’s just a regular guy. He has a lot of issues that he’s dealing with, and he really is looking for that whole grass is greener on the other side concept. Then he steps into a life that he thinks is going to be great, oh look how nice these new neighbours are - they’re going to give him a job, they’re really sweet, they invite him to dinner. And he couldn’t be happier, only it’s ‘oh my God, what have I gotten myself into.’

“As far as Red and Harlow go, I had to rewrite this thing three times. The concept was there, but there was some-thing off about it. I actually started writing Harlow as a really nice old lady, kind of like your grandma, and there was something about it that just wasn’t working for me. So I let her go and said, ‘Do whatever you want.’ I let her run with it, and figured I’d just see what happened in the next couple pages. And she turned into this really retro, cougary vixen. I thought ‘whoa, we’ll run with that.’ I had to rewrite the whole thing. I just loved that - it just feels so wrong. A really sweet woman who ends up being almost like a dominatrix, in a way.”

You sound like that surprised you. Do you have that kind of experience a lot when you write?

“Yes. When it comes to writing, I think there’s two dif-ferent ways that you can approach it. You can either plot it out and do it by an outline and make the characters do

what you want them to do, or you can basically let the characters carry the story and see where it goes. I like to do both techniques. Of course I want to have a beginning, middle and end where I don’t feel I’m just writing and writ-ing and writing and it’s not going anywhere, because that’s horribly frustrating.

“On the other hand, you always want it to be kind of organic, so it doesn’t feel forced. When you allow those characters to step up to the plate and say ‘here’s what I would do.’ You learn a lot about yourself that way. You don’t know that you’ve got these ideas in your head, and they come out by way of these fictional characters. It can get a little bit weird, especially when you’re writing horror and thrillers. You’re like, ‘oh my God, what’s wrong with me?’”

What is the function of scary stories?I think that scary stories are the most truthful. I think

that the honesty behind a lot of stuff that you read in horror is really what’s scary. In The Neighbors, one of the things that I tried to do was make Harlow as likable as possible even after I revealed the fact that she is this monster. The reason why I did that is because if your neighbor is some crazy psychopath but you don’t know that, you might like that person. That in itself is terrifying because you don’t know, they’re so good at hiding what they are.

“I think that there’s bits of humanity that come out in horror and thrillers that are really uncomfortable for us to otherwise think about. Could I relate to the monster next door? Could I care about them? Could I be the monster next door?

“That’s the way that I think that horror became so popu-lar - it really reflects who we are and who we hide. It also reflects our worst fears. We want to explore those fears and it’s a safe way to explore those fears... But forget it, when I have to be alone by myself in a locked house at night, I sleep with all the lights on and the dogs in my room, where otherwise I wouldn’t care if my husband was home... It’s just funny how those tiny little differences make us interpret things in a totally different way. If he’s here I’m fine, but if he’s not a serial killer is definitely going to knock on my door and this is the last night of my life. That’s just the way that our minds work. I think that horror makes us reflect on our fears, and on who we say we are - but are afraid to say we are.” Reuters

Do you really know who lives next door?

Co-author of Three Cups of Tea commits suicideby Teresa Carson

Journalist David Oliver Relin, co-author of the controversial best-selling book Three Cups of Tea, took

his own life last month in the Columbia River town of Corbett, Oregon, east of Portland, authorities disclosed yesterday.

The cause of Relin’s death on November 15 was listed as suicide by blunt force head injury, said Tom Chappelle, Multnomah County deputy medical examiner, but he declined to give further details. Relin, who lived in Portland, was 49.

Relin, a freelance journalist who wrote for several magazines, became best known for his work with Greg Mortenson on the wildly successful memoir Three Cups of Tea, which was first published in 2006 and spent four years on the New York Times bestseller lists.

The book, which sold over 4 million copies, chronicled Mortenson’s failed attempt to climb the mountain K2 in South Asia and his encounter with impoverished Pakistani villagers whom he credited with inspiring him to build schools for young girls and other humanitarian projects in the region.

However, the credibility of the book came under fire in 2011 when the CBS television news programme 60 Minutes aired an expose accusing Mortenson of fabricating or embellishing key details of his story, and using his charitable institute to promote sales of the memoir.

CBS News, for example, disputed Mortenson’s account of being kidnapped in Pakistan’s Waziristan region in 1996.

Mortenson later acknowledged in an interview posted on his institute’s website that the book contains “discrepancies” that resulted from “omissions and com-pressions” done for the sake of literary expediency. But he insisted the abduc-tion story was “pretty much” true and defended the book overall, saying, “I’m not a journalist. I don’t take a lot of notes.”

Relin said in a 2008 interview with a University of Oregon professor that in addition to interviewing Mortenson extensively, he conducted more than 200 interviews with people tied to Mortenson’s story and travelled three times to north-ern Pakistan. Relin said he objected to Mortenson getting a co-author credit on the book.

Relin later wrote Second Suns: Two Doctors and Their Amazing Quest to Restore Sight and Save Lives, which is scheduled to be released by Random House in June.

A graduate of Vassar College and the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa, Relin focused for two decades on reporting about social issues and their effect on children, according to an Iowa Writers biography. Reuters

PLUS | MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2012 TECHNOLOGY12

by Melanie Lee

China’s Xiaomi Technology is a fairy tale for nerdy entrepreneurs.

Less than three years after its founding, the smartphone maker is valued at $4bn and evokes Apple-like adoration from its fans, some of whom are desperate enough to skip work for a shot at buying the latest product the day it goes on sale.

Founder Lei Jun dresses like the late Steve Jobs, in jeans and a black top. He has created a fervent fan base for Xiaomi’s moderately priced high-end smartphones by mimicking Apple Inc’s marketing tactic of attaching an aura of exclusivity around its products.

Before Xiaomi, the 42-year-old Lei was a key investor in China’s early Internet scene, co-founding startups including Joyo.cn, which was eventu-ally sold to Amazon.com Inc, and the recently listed YY Inc.

Born in Xiantao, a small city in China’s central Hubei province bet-ter known for breeding Olympic gym-nasts than billionaire technocrats, Lei brushes off comparisons to Jobs but concedes that the Apple visionary was an inspiration.

“China’s media say I am China’s Steve Jobs,” Lei said.

“I will take this as a compliment but such kind of comparison brings us huge pressure,” said Lei, who grew up assembling radios as a hobby. “Xiaomi and Apple are two totally different companies. Xiaomi’s based on the Internet. We are not doing the same thing as Apple.”

HOT SALES AND FANSXiaomi has already sold 300,000 of

its latest phone model, launched in October. The Xiaomi phone 2 has spec-ifications similar to those of Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S3 and Apple’s

iPhone5 but a top-of-the-line model sells for about $370, half the price of an iPhone5.

Unlike the big domestic smartphone players, such as Lenovo Group, ZTE Corp and Huawei Technologies, which work with telecom carriers to sell a large volume of smartphones, Xiaomi sells most of its phones online and in small batches.

This small volume strategy creates pent-up demand that gives Xiaomi free marketing buzz. The first batch of 50,000 phones released on October 30 sold out in less than two minutes. Subsequent larger batches have also sold out in minutes.

Lei, who has nearly 4 million follow-ers on China’s popular microblogging platform, Weibo, feeds the buzz by dan-gling teasers about new products and launch dates.

“We’re not a company that chases sales volume. We chase customer sat-isfaction. We look for ways to give the customer a great surprise,” Lei said.

His vision for an exclusive mid-tier brand that builds up incrementally, rather than swamping the market, has found financial backers. In June, Xiaomi raised $216m from Singapore’s sover-eign wealth fund, the Government of Singapore Investment Corp, and a few of Lei’s friends, local media reported, giving it a valuation of $4bn.

“China is ripe for its own Apple, HTC or Samsung,” said Hans Tung, managing partner at Qiming Venture Partners, a venture firm backing Xiaomi. “The country is big enough, there are enough mobile Internet users and mobile phone consumers. Therefore having its own mobile eco-system built up by a domestic brand makes sense.”

Xiaomi, which was founded in April 2010 and only started selling smart-phones in October 2011, is on track to sell 7 million units this year, exceeding

Lei Jun, founder and CEO of China’s mobile company Xiaomi, speaks at a launch ceremony of Xiaomi Phone 2 in Beijing.

its target of 2 million.Xiaomi is already profitable and is

expected to rake in sales of up to 13bn yuan ($2bn) this year.

“Our product only sold for a year and hit sales of $2bn. That is pretty impres-sive,” Lei said, adding Xiaomi was not considering an initial public offering within the next five years.

Tung said Xiaomi’s net margins were 10 percent. This suggests its net profit could hit $200m this year.

Mo Xiaohua, a 24-year-old account-ant, is a proud Xiaomi fan who only recently bought her first Xiaomi phone. For many who use Xiaomi phones, the customisable themes and the weekly updates are a big draw.

“I like Xiaomi because among China’s brand smartphones, its value is the best,” Mo said. “Now that we have such a good China branded phone, we need to support it.”

‘BLACK BACK FLATS’Xiaomi has its fair share of detrac-

tors who doubt it will have a happy ending. They say the smartphone game in China can only be won with wide distribution and high volume or a big brand with distinctive designs.

Xiaomi, whose attraction is its price and high technical specifications, does not win points for cutting-edge design.

“This is a world where people are now cranking out ‘black back flats’, that’s what all these phones are when you put 10 on the table... Xiaomi is not going to stick out,” said Michael Clendenin, managing director at RedTech Advisors. “In this world, the

market is driven by two things: one is massive volume and two huge brands.”

ZTE and Huawei have set smart-phone sales targets for this year at about 30 million and 60 million respec-tively. The firms have traditionally dominated the cheap low-end smart-phone segment but have been pushing into the mid-price range.

ZTE said it launched 11 types of smartphones in the mid-price range of 1,500-2,500 yuan this year, up from six last year. Apple released its mid-range tablet, the iPad Mini, in China on Friday.

“Xiaomi had great headline appeal a year ago... but the problem is now you have got guys like ZTE and Huawei and Meizu with phones that are priced in a similar range,” Clendenin said.

China is expected to surpass the United States as the world’s largest smartphone market this year with 165-170 million unit sales, up from 78 million last year, Gartner said.

Analysts said Xiaomi had to ramp up volume and address technical prob-lems and a shortage of customer serv-ice centers if it wanted a shot at the big league.

“One of the challenges of being in the middle is that you can get squeezed,” said Duncan Clark, chairman of Beijing-based consultancy BDA.

Lei is resolute that he will prove the naysayers wrong.

“In this industry, I think the most important thing is to get love from your customers,” he said. “If you are popular with your customers, you suc-ceed.” Reuters

China’s Apple takes slice of

smartphone pie

PLUS | MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2012COMICS & MORE 13

Hoy en la HistoriaDecember 10, 2007

1901: The first Nobel Prizes were awarded on the fifth anniversary of the death of industrialist Alfred Nobel1921: Albert Einstein received the Nobel Physics Prize in Stockholm, Sweden1967: Otis Redding, one of the most influential soul singers of the 1960s, was killed in a plane crash in Wisconsin1982: The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea was signed by 119 countries

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner assumed office as Argentina’s first woman president following her election victory in October. She succeeded her husband

Picture: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS

ALL IN THE MIND Can you find the hidden words? They may be horizontal,vertical, diagonal, forwards or backwards.

AMUNDSEN, BARBOSA, BASS, BOONE, BURKE AND WILLS, CABOT, CARTIER, COLUMBUS, COOK, CORTES, DIAS, DRAKE, ERIKSSON, FAWCETT, FLINDERS, FROBISHER, GRAY, HAWKINS, HERIOLFSSON, HUDSON, KINGSLEY, LIVINGSTONE, MAGELLAN, MARCO POLO, PARK, RALEIGH, SCOTT, SHACKLETON, STURT, TASMAN, TENZING, VANCOUVER, VASCO DA GAMA, VESPUCCI.

Baby Blues Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman

Zits Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

Hagar The Horrible Chris Browne

SALUTATIONS AND GREETINGS

Masculine Feminine English

1- Assalamu alaikum Peace be upon you

2- Wa alaikumu assalam peace be upon you too

IN THE MORNING

1- Sabahul khair Good morning

2- Sabahun noor Morning of brightness

1- Naharak sai’d Have a nice day

2- Naharak As’ad A nicer day to you

IN THE EVENING

1-Massa ul khair Good evening

2-Massa un’noor Evening of brightness

3-Laila saida Good night

Tosbih ala khair Tosbih ala khair Good waking up

Wa enta min ahlu The same to you

SAYING GOODBYE

1- Ma’assalama Goodbye

2- ilal liqa See you later

COLLOQUIAL GREETINGS:

Marhaba/ Ahlan wa sahlan Welcome

1- Kaif Halak (M) Kaif Halich (f) How are you?

2- Bikhair wal Hamdu LiLLAh fine, thanks to God

1- Hayyak Allah Hayyach Allah May Allah Greets you

2- Allah yebguik Allah Ihayeech(f) May Allah Greets you too

LEARNARABIC

PLUS | MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2012

HYPER SUDOKU

CROSS WORD

CROSSWORDS

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

How to play Hyper Sudoku:A Hyper Sudoku

Puzzle is solved

by filling the

numbers from 1

to 9 into the blank

cells. A Hyper

Sudoku has

unlike Sudoku

13 regions

(four regions

overlap with the

nine standard

regions). In all

regions the numbers from 1 to 9 can appear

only once. Otherwise, a Hyper Sudoku is

solved like a normal Sudoku.

ACROSS 1 “That’s lame, dude” 6 ___ Minor10 Letters starting an

address14 ___ Heep15 Staffs16 Indiana’s smallest

county or the river it touches

17 Imagination, metaphorically

20 Part of a nuclear reactor

21 Zellweger of “Miss Potter”

22 Perform on “Glee,” perhaps

23 Featuring top players25 Gets special attention27 Sneak a look28 Investigator of family

problems, say32 Suffix with fool34 League: Abbr.35 “Here ___ Again”

(1987 #1 hit)36 Hispaniola’s western

half

39 Remove the insides from

40 Alternatively42 Article in Austria43 Like the food Jack

Sprat eats45 Suffix with confident46 It’s seen in shop

windows49 Opposite of sans53 Monarchy in the South

Pacific54 Yellowhammer State56 Very dry, as

Champagne57 Three-masted sailing

ship59 Subtraction game60 One who’s favorably

looked upon63 Fairy tale start64 Dullea of “2001: A

Space Odyssey”65 Funny Fields66 Harmonica part67 Quotes, as a price68 Observe secretly

DOWN 1 Trumped-up charge

2 Orange-and-black bird

3 Waist reduction aid

4 Nasser’s fed.

5 There has been one with every Pixar film since 1998

6 King of gods, in Egyptian myth

7 Burglary target

8 Hobby

9 Pompeii’s downfall?

10 More comfy

11 What an easily offended person has

12 High tone?

13 Peas’ keeper?

18 Be rude at the dinner table, in a way

19 Its Internet addresses end in .ee

24 Theater playlet

26 Sympathetic syllables

29 Finnish hot spot

30 One of a Freudian trio

31 Balderdash

33 Start of every hour?

36 Up on things, in the ’40s37 Not feel so good38 Very quickly39 Andromeda and others41 Spare tire material44 Humpty Dumpty, e.g.45 Marooned, in a way47 Took the show on the

road48 Duelers’ swords50 Unappealing personal

trait … or a word that can precede

the start of 17-, 28-, 46- or 60-Across

51 Estevez of “The Breakfast Club”

52 City across the Delaware River from Philadelphia

55 Bank nos.56 Source of ruin58 Composer Satie

60 Supporting

61 Alias letters

62 Move like a bunny

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22

23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

32 33 34 35

36 37 38 39 40 41

42 43 44 45

46 47 48 49 50 51 52

53 54 55

56 57 58 59

60 61 62

63 64 65

66 67 68

B A H A E R A S E S G T SE B O N L O R N A T O R OG O H A L F S I E S A H E MU V U L A A D E E R A K EN O M O R E Z L O T Y

G A L A X Y K I W I SO R G Y I R E C A N I N EN E O G O C R A Z Y R N AT A B L E T O L E B E S TO D E O N E X A C T A

L A T E R H E D G E SG O L F D R A G R H I N OA S Y E G O C O M M A N D OS L U R A R T O O I S E EP O P S R S V P S R U D Y

How to play Kakuro:

The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be

of any size. It has rows and columns, and

dark cells like in a crossword. And, just like

in a crossword, some of the dark cells will

contain numbers. Some cells will contain two

numbers.

However, in a crossword the numbers

reference clues. In a kakuro, the numbers

are all you get! They denote the total of the

digits in the row or column referenced by the

number.

Within each collection of cells - called a run

- any of the

numbers 1

to 9 may be

used but,

like sudoku,

each

number

may only be

used once.

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

14

EASY SUDOKUEasy Sudoku PuzzlesPlace a digit from 1 to 9 in each empty cell so everyrow, every column and every 3x3 box contains allthe digits 1 to 9.

Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

PLUS | MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2012CINEMA / TV LISTINGS

SHOWING AT CITY CENTER1145 Italian League

Palermo V

Juventus

1330 Champions

League

Magazine

1400 English Sports

News

1415 Basketball Nba

Toronto @ La

Clippers

1615 French League

Psg V Evian

1800 English Sports

News

1815 Short

Programme

1830 Champions

League 1900

Basketball Nba

Indiana @

Oklahoma City

2130 The Football

League Show

2200 The Global

Game

7:00 News

7:30 Listening Post

10:30 Inside Story

11:00 News

11:30 South2North

12:00 News

12:30 People &

Power

13:00 NEWSHOUR

14:00 News

14:30 Inside Story

15:00 Witness

16:00 NEWSHOUR

17:00 News

17:30 Talk to Al

Jazeera

18:00 NEWSHOUR

19:00 News

19:30 Counting the

Cost

20:00 News

20:30 Inside Story

21:00 NEWSHOUR

22:00 News

22:30 The Stream

23:00 Al Jazeera

12:20 American

Chopper

14:35 Dirty Money

15:05 Auction Kings

15:30 Ultimate

Survival

18:15 Mythbusters

19:10 How Stuff’s

Made

19:40 How It’s Made

20:05 Border Security

20:35 Dirty Money

21:00 Auction Kings

21:30 Outback

Truckers

10:10 World’s

Deadliest GPU

12:00 Sharkville

13:00 Big Blue

14:00 Swamp Men

16:00 Planet

Carnivore

17:00 Puma!

18:00 Untamed

Americas

19:00 Untamed

Americas

20:00 When Crocs

16:35 Powerpuff Girls

17:00 Angelo Rules

17:20 Young Justice

17:40 Hero 108

18:50 Johnny Test

19:15 Adventure Time

19:40 Regular Show

20:05 Green Lantern:

The Animated

Series

20:30 Ben 10:

Omniverse

12:00 The Hitchhiker’s

Guide To The

Galaxy-PG

14:00 Elf-PG

16:00 Prom-PG15

18:00 The Ladykillers-

20:00 Super-18

22:00 Dinner For

Schmucks

15

13:20 Wild Africa

Rescue

14:15 Bondi Vet

15:40 Wild France

16:35 Going Ape

17:00 The Really Wild

17:30 Must Love Cats

18:25 Animal

Planet’s Most

Outrageous

19:20 Dogs 101

20:15 Monkey Life

20:40 Bondi Vet

21:10 Call Of The

Wildman

11:30 Carry On

Columbus

13:00 Frankie And

Johnny

14:30 The Tempest

16:00 Mannequin

17:30 The Calendar

Girl Murders

19:05 The Initiation Of

Sarah (2006)

20:35 Love And

Death

22:00 Vanished

10:55 On The Town-

12:30 Beau

Brummell-PG

14:20 Easter Parade-

16:00 Kiss Me Kate-

FAM

17:45 Captain Nemo

And The...-FAM

19:30 Adam’s Rib-

21:10 Bhowani

Junction-PG

23:00 Poltergeist

11:30 Emilie Jolie-PG

13:00 Hoodwinked

Too! Hood vs.

Evil-PG

14:30 Horrid Henry-

16:00 Princess Lillifee-

18:00 Marley & Me:

The Puppy

Years

GULF CINEMA

1

Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom (2D) (Tamil) – 2.00pm

Khiladi 786 (2D) – 5.15 & 11.00pm

Face to Face (2D) – 8.30pm

2

Khiladi 786 (2D) – 2.00 & 8.00pm

Face to Face (2D) – 5.15 & 11.15pm

MALL CINEMA

1

The Whistle Blower (Thriller) – 2.30 & 11.15pm

Jab Tak Hai Jaan (Hindi) – 4.30 & 8.00pm

2

So Undercover (2D) (Comedy) – 2.30 & 4.30pm

Killing Them Softly (2D) (Drama) – 6.30& 11.00pm

Anna Karenina (2D)– 8.15pm

3

Rise of the Guardians (3D)– 3.00pm

Mr. & Mrs. Ewyes (Arabic)(2D) – 5.00 & 9.15pm

Universal Soldier 4 (3D)(3D) – 7.00 & 11.15pm

ROYAL PLAZA

1

So Undercover (2D) (Comedy) – 2.30 & 4.30pm

Killing Them Softly (2D) (Drama) – 6.30pm

Universal Soldier 4 (3D)(3D) – 8.30 & 11.00pm

2

Rise Of The Guardians (Animation) – 3.00 & 5.00pm

Mr. & Mrs. Ewyes (Arabic)(2D) – 7.00, 9.00 & 11.15pm

3

The Whistle Blower (Drama) – 2.30, 7.00 & 11.30

Anna Karenina (2D)– 4.30 & 9.00pm

LANDMARK

1

So Undercover (2D) (Comedy) – 2.30 & 6.30pm

Mr. & Mrs. Ewyes (Arabic)(2D) – 4.30pm

Anna Karenina (2D) – 8.30 & 11.00pm

2

Rise Of The Guardians (3D/Animation) – 3.00, 5.00 &

7.00pm

Killing Them Softly (2D) (Drama) – 9.00 & 11.30pm

3

Mr. & Mrs. Ewyes (Arabic)(2D) – 2.30 & 9.15pm

Universal Soldier 4 (3D)(3D) – 4.45, 7.00 & 11.15pm

P

PLUS | MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2012 POTPOURRI16

Editor-In-Chief Khalid Al Sayed Acting Managing Editor Hussain Ahmad Editorial Office The Peninsula Tel: 4455 7741, E-mail: plus@pen.com.qa / editor@pen.com.qa

Today in Qatar

Tea with NefertitiWhen: Till March 31, 2013; 11am-6pmWHERE: Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art WHAT: Offer a critical perspective on how to perceive an artwork, particularly in and from the Arab world. Free entry

Yan Pei-Ming“Painting the history”When: 9am-8pm, Till Jan 12, 2013Friday 3pm to 9pmWHERE: QMA Gallery, Bldg 10 WHAT: Curated by Francesco Bonami, this exhibition profiles three types of history-makers and highlights the power of painting as a medium for recording historical events. Free entry

Forever NowWhen: Till March 31, 2013; 11am-6pmWHERE: Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art WHAT: Forever Now proposes new readings based on the works of five artists from Mathaf’s permanent collection. This exhibition unpacks new narratives that posit a unique understanding of five diverse artists: Fahrelnissa Zeid, Jewad Selim, Saliba Douaihy, Salim Al–Dabbagh and Ahmed Cherkaoui. Free entry

Art of Travel WHEN: Till Feb 11, 2013(Sun, Mon, Wed: 10:30-5:30; Tue: closed; Thu, Sat: 12noon-8pm; Fri: 2pm-8pm)WHERE: Al Riwaq Hall next to the Museum of Islamic Art WHAT: A watercolour album dated 1590 was commissioned by Bartholomäus Schachman, mayor of Gdansk in 1604. It documents what he saw during his travels through the Ottoman Empire in 1588-89, depicting costumes and people, scenes of everyday life, festivals and ceremonies. The pages of the album are on display along with related artworks and documents providing visitors with a fascinating and vivid view back in time to the 16th century. Entry: Children Free, adults QR:25

Record of Images in Algerian Film Exhibition WHEN: 15 Dec 201210am-10pmWHERE: Katara Art Center, Bldg 5 WHAT: Posters have long been a visual tool of politics. In the world of cinema this medium is the still representation of a series of plans, plots, moving images, scripts and protagonists. This exhibition explores the relationship between selected posters of key films that made Algerian film history and stills from the films themselves, framing the aesthetics of its socio-political context that has evolved through the years to form a thriving independent cinema that has demarcated itself in the region. Entry: Free

If you want your events featured here mail the details to plus@pen.com.qa

MEDIA SCAN

IN FOCUS

• Public relations offices of some institutions and companies have been criticized for not dealing properly with the media and the public.

• Complaints against an outlet in Villaggio Mall for playing English songs containing objectionable words.

• Some drivers suddenly slow down their vehicles near radars without caring for the vehicles behind them.

• Discussion about why Qatari teachers are quitting Independent Schools.

• Demand for review of exorbitantly high fees of private schools.

• Some Independent Schools are punishing students for being late in the morning. The

students are made to stand several hours in the school compound.

• Some commercial centres and organi-sations allocate small parking spaces for cars in order to accommodate more vehicles.

• The salary of Qatari doctor is lower than that of administrative employees in sev-eral organizations in Qatar.

• Traffic violations are increasing due to lack of strict action by the Traffic Department. The department is only collecting fines.

• The Central Municipal Council’s role and its relations with the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning are similar to that of Palestine at the United Nations -- without any power or authority.

A summary ofissues of the daydiscussed by the Qatari communityin the media.

A poodle wearing a jacket to keep warm in the snowy weather stands next to its owner who wears big fur boots in Schneeberg, Germany.

by Hendrik Schmidt

Hong Kong dogs seek tooth-brushing world record

More than 300 dogs had their teeth brushed in Hong Kong yesterday in an attempt to

set a new world record for the most canines having their pearly whites cleaned at the same time.

Owners of the 312 pooches scrubbed the animals’ teeth for three minutes using a special brush and gel, as they sought to set a new Guinness World Record in the cat-egory “most people brushing dogs’ teeth simultaneously”.

Organisers said the event, held in Stanley on the south coast of Hong Kong Island, was aimed at promot-ing a hygienic lifestyle for dogs and raising funds for a dog rescue centre.

“A lot of people take care of their dogs’ hair and their diet but not so much their teeth,” Hilda Wong from The Link real estate firm, which organised the event, said.

“Brushing teeth is crucial for dogs, it’s just like brushing their hair. You don’t have to do it every day but it’s good to do it once a week because they eat and chew,” she added.

Wong said it will take three to four months for Guinness officials to certify whether the event is a new Guinness World Record.

AFP