Museum hopping in George Town: The perfect history lesson |
- Museum hopping in George Town: The perfect history lesson
- Counterfeit wine trial: Wine dealer ‘lied over fake vintages’
- Beatles to get Grammys lifetime achievement award
- Malaysia almost certain to grab four bronze medals from badminton
- Caviar and champagne bar opens for posh flyers at LAX
- Two silat athletes qualify for SEA Games finals
| Museum hopping in George Town: The perfect history lesson Posted: 12 Dec 2013 05:00 PM PST
Let's start with the Penang state museum located within the George Town heritage zone, along Farquhar Street, to arm yourself with some basic facts and information about this little island up north. Next, be prepared to go for a walk all over the inner city for a different perspective of Penang. These small, and some big, privately-owned museums marry local history with traditions, gorgeous architecture and contemporary styles to bring you unique experiences that showcase Penang's colourful history and culture. Most Penangites are probably familiar with Ban Hin Lee Bank (now CIMB after a merger) which was founded by local businessman, Yeap Chor Ee. Though many are aware of his former mansion, The Homestead, very few know of his first home in Penang which is along Penang Street. The Homestead was donated to the Wawasan Open University so all the furniture, antiques and some of Yeap's belongings were moved to his first home. Some of his descendants then decided to open a museum in his honour called "The House Of Yeap Chor Ee."
As its name suggests, the whole three-storey building is a showcase of Yeap's life from when he first arrived in Penang at the age of 16 in 1885. He lived at 4, Penang Street and worked as an itinerant barber before he set up a small provisions shop called Chop Ban Hin Lee along Prangin Road Market in 1890. He was believed to have made his first million at the turn of the 20th century and in 1918, he ventured into banking and in 1935, Ban Hin Lee Bank Ltd was born. The museum is divided into a few sections; one on his home life, one on his career and a few more showcasing his family tree, family photographs and antiques. He was famous for his frugality as he was known to eat every grain of rice on his plate and he used to rinse the bones of the fish he ate with hot water so that every morsel of meat would be detached from the bone before drinking the water too. The very teapot he used to rinse his fish bones is displayed here.
It is a popular tourist spot that showcases the home of a rich Baba of a bygone era with more than a thousand pieces of Baba Nyonya or Straits Chinese antiques and furniture on display. The mansion used to belong to Kapitan Cina Chung Keng Kwee, who was not a Baba, but the architecture of the Chinese courtyard house is like that of a rich Baba's home. Stepping inside is like taking a step back in time where Nyonyas embroider their own wedding attire including beaded shoes. The Baba Nyonyas are the descendants of late 15th and 16th Chinese immgrants who married locals and adopted a mix of local Malay and later colonial British culture and traditions. This is obvious by the furniture, clothing, dinnerware, decorative items and jewellery they use in that era and recently, the museum opened a separate division -- Straits Chinese Jewellery Museum. This section showcases the skillful craftsmanship of the jewellers; each piece of gold, silver or sausa jewellery features delicate details showing a mixture of Chinese, Malay and Indo-European influences. There are kerongsangs or brooches that Nyonyas wear with their kebayas, various jewelled hairpins and a full set of jewellery that tells of the opulence of the rich Baba Nyonyas.
Located n the historic Behn Meyer Building fronting the old port along Weld Quay, this museum is perfect for the younger generation or photo-buffs as it depicts Penang through miniature sculptures and large 3D paintings. On the ground floor, the main centrepiece is a miniature of the Behn Meyer Building during the early 20th century when the current jetty used to be the port where traders unloaded their goods and godowns were just on the water's edge. There are other smaller miniature sculptures of various early Penang scenes from a roadside roti canai stall to an itinerant barber.
These paintings are perfect for those who love posing for photographs as this is probably one of the few museums that encourages you to take photographs inside. The quirky paintings are presented in a fun and yet informative way to hightlight local Penang culture and food eg. Hokkien mee. After this, it is time to go back to inner George Town, down to the narrow lane of Acheen Street.
The small two-storey building does not showcase only tin toys as its name implies but has an assortment of toy robots, cars, trains, soft toys, dolls, rocking horses and tricycles. The museum is the result of decades of collecting by antique dealer, Ben Ariffin, who has a passion for all things antique and unique. "I source most of these locally and some from all over the world," he said.
After playing with these toys, it is time to head on to a more adult-themed museum by walking over to Muntri Street where is located. This is the perfect place to learn about the evolution of photography as you are taken through time from the current digital cameras back to the very first cameras – the obscura and also a 205-year-old camera, the Camera Lucida made in 1807. Divided into several sections, the first section is a display of cameras from different time periods until the final display, which is the Camera Lucida. This is where you can discover how cameras have evolved from a huge pinhole box into various shapes, sizes and even snakeskin compact cameras. After the display, there are different rooms such as a dark room where a guide will show you the process of developing films into pictures in the days before digital cameras made an appearance.
Though it is not about Penang but photography, this museum is just the perfect way to end a day of museum-hopping especially after you've been snapping shots of the places you visited right from the start. This story was first published in Crave in the print edition of The Malay Mail on December 12, 2013.  |
| Counterfeit wine trial: Wine dealer ‘lied over fake vintages’ Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:51 PM PST
The 37-year-old Kurniawan, once considered one of the top-five wine collectors in the business, faces up to 40 years in jail if convicted of wire and postal fraud. Born in Indonesia, he had also been living illegally in the United States since 2003 when his asylum bid was rejected. Kurniawan rose rapidly to the top of his profession thanks to his exceptional palate, capable of identifying the finest wines, and spent millions of dollars each year. But prosecutors say he sold ordinary wine that he blended in his kitchen "laboratory" and re-bottled to masquerade as vintage wines worth thousands of dollars. Laurent Ponsot, of the acclaimed Domaine Ponsot winery in France, said he was alerted by email two days before an April 2008 auction in New York where 97 purported bottles of Domaine Ponsot were to be sold for $440,500-$602,000 (RM 1.4 million-RM1.9 million). He was told that the auction was offering bottles of Clos Saint-Denis from 1945 and 1949 and sent him the catalogue. "It is an appellation we started in 1982," Ponsot told the jury. He contacted Acker Merrall & Condit demanding the wines be withdrawn and flew to New York. Ponsot said he arrived at the auction house 10 minutes into proceedings. "The wines were there, in the room," he said. Ponsot got them withdrawn from sale at the last minute. Kurniawan, wearing an impeccable grey suit, sat expressionless in court, chewing on mints as Ponsot spoke. Several of the bottles were produced in court and Ponsot pointed out the forgeries. "This one is very obvious," Ponsot said. "Clos Saint-Denis, and it says 1945. This cannot exist. And a label from Nicolas? We never sold to Nicolas," he said, the bottle in his hand. "And a Clos de la Roche 1929?" They only began bottling in the 1930s, Ponsot said as the jurors took notes. Ponsot said he had lunch the next day with Kurniawan and asked him where he had got the Domaine Ponsot wine. "I saw him watching his plate, saying, 'I don't know, I buy so many bottles'. I found it bizarre," he said. Ponsot asked him again by email in May 2008. Kurniawan responded on June 5, giving him the name "Pak Hendra in Asia." Ponsot said he found out that Pak is the equivalent of "Mister" and that Hendra is a very common name in Indonesia. He saw Kurniawan again in May 2009 in Los Angeles, asking him for more details. "He promised he would send me the details the next day, I am still waiting," Ponsot told the jury. After allegedly trying to sell more dubious wine at auction in London via an intermediary in 2012, Kurniawan was arrested at his home in Arcadia in the suburbs of Los Angeles in March that year. Laurent Roumier of the Domaine Roumier winery, also testified to forgeries including a Bonne Mares, another vintage Burgandy dated 1923 -- again before bottling began. Aubert de Villaine, a co-manager of Romanee-Conti one of the most prestigious wineries in the world, was invited to look at various labels found at Kurniawan's home. "It is extraordinary to see that number of labels for wines that have completely disappeared," he told the court. "I never had so many in my hand." After Thursday's hearing he told AFP that he hoped for a guilty verdict. Roumier said something had to be done. "This case isn't unique," he told AFP. The defence has portrayed a young man who desperately wanted to fit into the richer, older world of rare wine collectors, and painted a picture of a man being made a scapegoat. — AFP |
| Beatles to get Grammys lifetime achievement award Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:37 PM PST
Kris Kristofferson is also among artists who will get their awards in the week before the January 26 Grammys show, along with Mexican composer Armando Manzanero, creole "King of Zydeco" singer Clifton Chenier and late US violinist Maud Powell. "It is a great privilege to recognise such an exceptional group of honourees and celebrate their accomplishments and contributions to the recording industry," said Neil Portnow, head of the Recording Academy, which organises music's annual version of the Oscars. The Academy described the seven-times Grammy-winning Beatles, also known as the "Fab Four", one of the most influential groups in music history, whose music was "rooted in 1950s rock and roll" but developed to range from "pop ballads to psychedelic rock". It is not clear who will pick up the honour next month. The two surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, are still performing. McCartney sang at the last Grammys show in January this year. The Isley Brothers, who had hits with "Harvest for the World" and "It's Your Thing", enjoyed "one of the longest, most diverse, and most influential legacies in pop music", the organisers said, noting that two of the brothers continue to perform. German group Kraftwerk were "pioneers of electronic music" from the early 1970s and "influenced acts such as Bjork, Blondie, David Bowie, Daft Punk, Depeche Mode and Gary Numan", they said. Portnow added of them all: "This astoundingly unique and gifted group have created some of the most distinguished and influential work in our musical history. "Their legacies are timeless and legendary, and their creativity will continue to influence and inspire future generations." Last year's honourees included pop icon Michael Jackson and Canadian singer Leonard Cohen, as well as classical pianist Andre Previn. Tinseltown's annual awards season got into full swing yesterday with the announcement of nominees for the Golden Globes, the second biggest movie prizes after the Oscars. The Globes will be held on January 12 and the Oscars on March 2. — AFP |
| Malaysia almost certain to grab four bronze medals from badminton Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:34 PM PST
Goh V Shem and Teo Kok Siang sprang the biggest surprise after beating second seed from Thailand, Maneepong Jongjit and Nipitphon Puangpuapech; 23-21, 14-21, 21-16. Lim Khim Wah and Ow Yao Han, however, were given a stiff fight by Vietnamese pair, Minh Bao-Nguyen Khang Huynh before winning 22-20, 19-21, 21-12 in another men's doubles match. The national women's junior pair, Vivian Hoo Kah Mun and Woon Khe Wei continued the excellent performance of the national badminton squad after an easy win, 21-8 and 21-8 against host pair, Hlaing Mon Kyu and Htoo Ya Htoo.Tan Aik Quan and Lai Pei Jing in turn confirmed their semi-finals slot after beating Vietnamese pair, Manh Thang Dao and Nhu Thao Pham; 21-14 and 21-16 in The national badminton squad's challenge in the individual event at this edition fizzled out after two Malaysian representatives, namely, Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin and Yang Li Lian lost to their opponents. Iskandar Zulkarnain was beaten 10-21 and 15-21 by Indonesian Prasetyo Wisnu Yuli in the men's category while Yang lost 16-21 and 15-21 to another Indonesian player, Bellaetrix Manuputty in the women's category. Meanwhile, V Shem when met by reporters after the match, said he was proud of beating the Indonesian pair, hoping they could wrest back the gold medal for the men's doubles which was last won by Chong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah at the 2003 edition in Vietnam. This differed with Iskandar who failed to hide his disappointment admitting he was stressed at having to shoulder the burden of getting a medal for the country after Chong Wei Feng's shock loss on Tuesday. The semi-finals competition of the badminton event would take place tomorrow at the same venue before closing a day later. — Bernama |
| Caviar and champagne bar opens for posh flyers at LAX Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:34 PM PST
French caviar house Petrossian opened a bar at the Tom Bradley International Terminal last week for passengers with gourmet taste buds and deep pockets. Menu items include a caviar martini garnished with a caviar-stuffed olive, caviar deviled eggs, hand-sliced smoked salmon, a smoked trout platter and caviar flatbread, reports The Los Angeles Times. For those who absolutely can't tolerate plane food and anticipate fierce midnight caviar cravings, meanwhile, Petrossian also offers carry-on picnic packs that run between US$205 to US$1,582 which can be consumed in-flight. According to the Times, the most expensive "Caviar in the Air" package includes top-shelf Tsar Imperial Kaluga caviar, creme fraiche, toast points, and smoked salmon in an insulated bag. Petrossian follows on the heels of another Parisian caviar purveyor En-K de Caviar, which debuted a collection of small, portable caviar tins pitched as the gourmet snack for in-flight and on-the-go consumption in 2011. The tins contain 15 grams of Osetra caviar ― one of the most expensive on the market ― and also come with a small serving spoon. ― AFP ― Relaxnews |
| Two silat athletes qualify for SEA Games finals Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:26 PM PST
As expected, experienced Ahmad Shahril Zailudin who contested in the Class D Putra event (60-65kg category) easily beat Thai silat athlete, Sakda Omkaeo 5-0. Mohd Al-Jufferi Jamari (65-70kg category) also performed excellently in Class E Putra beating Somkid Rakjun of Thailand 5-0. Ahmad Shahril, 23 tahun said he was thankful to qualify to the finals to defend the gold he won in Indonesia two years ago. Meanwhile, national silat squad assistant manager Datuk Osman Nok said the success of the two national athletes proved that it is among the major silat powerhouses in South East Asia and he hoped another silat athlete could advance to the finals tomorrow. "It is hoped with this development, the target of three gold medals can be achieved," he said. Unofficially, two bronze medals through silat were contributed by Muhamad Helmi Abdul Aziz and Muhammad Saiful Syazwan Rahmat who lost to their respective opponents in the semi-final this evening. In the Indonesian edition previously, Malaysia collected three gold medals from silat. — Bernama |
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