Le spectateur | j'y pense, et puis j'oublie

Une partie de Lyon à Dubaï

Map courtesy of WorldAtlas

Pour la plupart d'entre nous, en particulier les salariés dans les économies en développement, une visite en France de temps en temps est un véritable luxe. Au mieux, on ne peut que ramener quelques petits souvenirs à se rappeler les endroits que l'on visite. Peut-être, on va également aller dans un restaurant français dans sa propre ville pour profiter du goût de la cuisine française dans une atmosphère française. Mais un homme d'affaires des Émirats Arabes Unis, qui est tombé amoureux avec Lyon lors de sa visite là-bas, a décidé de ramener chez lui une partie de la ville de Lyon lui-même. Il a donné le terme "ville-jumelle" un sens nouveau. Grâce à cet homme d'affaires, Dubaï est en train de créer un nouveau quartier, il s'appelle Lyon-Dubaï. Le quartier Lyon-Dubaï sera de la taille du quartier latin à Paris (entre 300 et 400 hectares) et ce sera un réel Lyon dans le Moyen-Orient. Ce qui était d'abord commencé comme un projet de création d'une université de langue française à Dubaï, en partenariat avec l'Université Lyon 2, est devenue un projet de construction à Dubaï une partie choisie de la ville de Lyon. Il sera aussi proche que possible de la chose réelle, avec des bâtiments, des réseaux routiers, des rues, des magasins, des lieux culturels, des systèmes de transport, etc, de lyonnaise. À côté de l'université francophone, l'Université française de Dubaï, il y aura aussi des musées, des cinémas et des restaurants, qui se fonde sur la réalité des lieux de la ville de Lyon. Le nouveau quartier de Lyon-Dubaï est prévu d'achever en 2012 à un coût de 500 millions d'euros.

Petit à petit

Eh bien, je suis de retour. Je pense que c'est bien de réfléchir et d'écrire quelque chose en français en ligne de temps en temps. Parfois, il me donne une excuse pour apparaître très occupé, même si je suis vraiment très occupé. Mon français ne s'améliore pas donc j'ai besoin de plus pratique.

La France est bien entendu plus que Paris. En fait, le français est aussi plus que la France. Je crois que le français et la France est un métissage de beaucoup de gens et beaucoup de choses. Donc les Français ne sont pas seulement ceux qui aiment faire la grève en France, comme les Musulmans ne sont pas seulement ceux qui effectuent des attentats suicides dans la région du Moyen-Orient.

Alors, je sais que mon français n'est pas très bon, et je trouve qu'il est très difficile à apprendre. Peut être je ne suis pas trop intelligente ou j'ai une sorte de difficulté d'apprendre. Donc, je ne peux pas m'échapper à commettre des erreurs. Je n'ai pas l'intention d'insulter la langue, ou de donner un travail de basse qualité. Moi, je trouve qu'il ya trop de règles et de trop d'exceptions. On ne peut s'empêcher de faire un petit pas à la fois. Pas à pas, peu à peu.

Astronomic gastronomics

If money does not matter when it comes to prized food, you should try truffles and foie gras - the black and white golds of French gastronomy. Raw Black Périgord or Provence truffles can cost between 300€ and 600€ a kilo (but the Italian White Alba truffles can cost a lot more, starting at around 1500€ to more than 3,000€ a kilo, and the current world record is 125,000€ for a 1.5kg of rare White Alba sold at an auction) and fresh goose foie gras can cost between 200€ and 400€ a kilo. Now, the prices are indicatives only. Like any other well sought after items, there can be big differences in price depending on, among others, freshness, purity, seasonality and where you get them. Both truffles and foie gras however, are not really new or unique to France. In the case of foie gras, the stuff goes as far back as the time of ancient Egyptians.

Truffles are a type of tuber or fungus or mushroom, but they are not so easy to find. They are available only at certain times of year and even that depends on climatic factors such as amount and time of rain in a particular year. They are buried underground and must be snuffed out from undetermined places in a certain type of soil among the roots of certain trees by specially trained dogs or pigs. The truffles are rather mysterious and resistant to all attempts at cultivation. You can't interfere with nature in the case of truffles. A good truffle season is a national event and the Black Pearl of Périgord and Black Diamond of Provence will be on the front pages of national newspapers and on TV.

Foie gras on the other hand, is not exactly what the nature produces. It is made by force-feeding geese or ducks with corn to significantly enlarge their livers. I will not describe in the detail the process (with due respect to activists and bird lovers) other than the fact that wild geese and ducks can store large amounts of stuff they eat in their body, especially liver, to prepare for winter migration. Forced and controlled feeding, i.e. the fattening process, of geese or ducks in captivity produces a liver many times the ordinary size. Many people mistakenly believe that foie grass is a kind of liver pâté, particularly of duck liver. In France, the world's leading producer of that stuff, commercially sold foie gras is defined legally, the 3 main ones being the whole piece, pieces that are assembled together and pieces that are cooked together with other things subject to a minimum compostion of the real thing. Pâté of foie gras therefore, is not real fois gras but a mix containing a certain amount of foie gras.

There is another French delicacy that is said to taste like a mixture of truffles and foie gras - the ortolans. The hunting and eating of the ortolans goes back to the Roman times. But I will not elaborate more on this poor little bird and how it is eaten as it may upset the activists and songbird lovers.

A new France

So, le Monsieur won the duel against a woman and la France becomes a good buddy of US and Britain, and Israel. Everybody knows the story and the statistics by now. Nicolas Sarkozy, son of an immigrant and grandson of a Jew today takes office as Monsieur le Président de la République Française. He is the sixth President (of the 5th Republic), and the first President and third leader of France of Jewish origin after Léon Blum (3-times Président du Conseil des Ministres or Prime Minister, between 1936 and 1947, 3rd Republic) and Pierre Mendès France (Président du Conseil des Ministres or Prime Minister, from 1954 to 1955, 4th Republic). After a short holiday aboard a luxury yacht in Malta, paid for by industrialist conglomerate and media owner friend Vincent Bolloré, one of the richest man in France, he has been busy assembling members of his inner circle. Among those who are tipped to be appointed to key posts over the next two days are close ally François Fillon, rival Socialist Bernard Kouchner, current French ambassador to Washington Jean-David Levitte, and lawyer Arno Klarsfeld. Kouchner and Levitte are prominent and respected men of their own right, but they are also Jews. Klarsfeld, son of Nazi-hunters, has acquired an Israeli citizenship and has served in the Israeli border police. A former Prime Minister and Chirac's ally Alain Juppé is reported to be on the list but another prominent Socialist Hubert Védrine is not. Both men are not very well-liked by pro-Jewish supporters. Sarkozy is also reported to have invited the most powerful woman in France, Anne Lauvergeon, president of the state-owned nuclear power conglomerate Areva, to join his cabinet. Anyway, Turkey can forget about joining the EU for now, and with a warmer ménage à trois of US, Britain and France, there may not be much hope for peace in the Middle-East soon.

See cancan & frou frou in town

No, these are not posters of Muay Thai exponents in skirts. The French art attack is back - the 6th French Art Festival 2007 Edition starts on May 9 and runs until June 16. And its gets bigger and better. This time round you'll get the chance to enjoy a performance by the charming, brilliant (not just the name, really, 2 degrees, a masters degree and studied at the elite Sciences Po!) and talented Lou Volt (aka the One Woman Music-Hall show at the Théâtre de Dix-Heures) of the famous le Grand Orchestre du Splendid (Le Splendid) and pretend to be in a Parisien cabaret at Le Meridien KL on May 25 (for a price unfortunately). Le Splendid is more of an institution than a music group - it has been around 30 years, and has performed with many famous artists and at many famous locations. Although the name suggests that it is an orchestra, the group actually plays a wide mix of styles including jazz, reggae, salsa and swing rather than classical music. But if you are a fan of classical music and philharmonic orchestra, head to Dewan Filharmonik Petronas on May 9 for a rendezvous with classical pianist Bertrand Chamayou and listen to his masterful interpretation of great works by legendary French composers Debussy (admired for Clair de Lune, Nocturnes, La Mer), Ravel (famous for Boléro) and Dutilleux (whose music is influenced by poets, painters and writers of his time). There are more French musical artists who will be demonstrating their specialties in KL during the period including Paris DJ, musician, composer and producer Stephane Pompougnac whose music is no stranger among the club, lounge and fashion-show goers, and the acclaimed electro-musician Emilie Simon.

Although music is the main theme of this year's festival, art is of course more than just music. As it has been the tradition, there will be screenings of quality French films (good for those who miss the movies on TV5 with the recent suspension of MiTV services), and indoor, outdoor and shopping mall events. A total of 9 films will be shown from May 24 to June 3 in KL, and from June 7 to June 13 in Penang, at the 3 usual GSC cinemas. Among the titles in the film fest are La Môme, a life story of one of France's most loved singers, Édith Piaf, aka La Môme Piaf (whose famous songs include La vie en rose), and award-winning films such as Ne le dis à personne (Don't tell anyone), Je vais bien, ne t'en fais pas (I'm fine, don't worry) and Je vous trouve très beau (You are very handsome). Learn more about the 6-week long festival in The Star and French Embassy News. Catch the updates and latest happenings through the newpapers and GSC cinemas, Alliance Française KL and Penang, the French Embassy, and participating institutions and shopping malls.

Monsieur ou Madame?

(Photo courtesy of Le Figaro) As clear as black and white. The 9th French presidential election goes into higher gear and it will be a classic right-left, Monsieur-Madame, Sarko-Ségo showdown on May 6. Last weekend's votes, which saw a record turnout of nearly 85%, highest in more than 40 years since 1965, gave Monsieur a 31% share of public approval and Madame 26%. Monsieur feels confident now, as the right-wing votes, including those that went to M. Bayrou (18.5%), M. Le Pen (10.5%), and other right-wingers could theoretically give Monsieur the 50% majority. The rest of the left wing votes, together 11%, and perhaps with some middle ground votes, would not be enough to give Madame the mandate. Monsieur was earlier worried if centrist M. Bayrou made it to the second round as Mr. Bayrou could win the right, left and middle ground votes that would not go to him. A bit of relief for Monsieur, but the fight is not over yet. Theoretical votes is one thing, but actual votes can be another as voters can still change their mind after the first round. Madame's score is the highest for a Socialist since M. Mitterrand in 1988 and she becomes the first woman to get this close to the Élysée Palace. The Brits had Margaret Thatcher and the Germans now have Angela Merkel. Who knows, France could have Madame as the boss in 3 weeks.

Monsieur is 52 and Madame 53. Tough-talking, pro-US Monsieur is the son of a Hungarian aristocracy who fled Hungary in the 1940s and a half-Jewish mother. He is no stranger to the French politics, having occupied the government top jobs - Interior Minister in 2002, Finance Minister in 2004 and again the Interior Minister (as well as the Minister of State) in 2005. He started his political career young at the age of 22. Madame is a lesser known politician compared to Monsieur. She was born in Dakar, Senegal to a machoist artillery officer father. Like many of France's political elite she is a product of the prestigious leadership factory École Nationale d'Administration (ÉNA), in fact a classmate of the current Prime Minister M. de Villepin. Madame also studied at another elite institution, Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (aka Sciences Po). Monsieur too went to Sciences Po but did not graduate. With a law degree from Université Paris X Nanterre (post-May 68), he took the bar exam and became a lawyer. Madame too became a lawyer, as a councillor of an administrative court before she joined the staff of M. Mitterrand's special adviser. Madame is not married but is bound by the pacte civil de solidarité (PACS, introduced in 1999, enables opposite or same-sex partners to enjoy the same social and fiscal rights of married couples) with Socialist Party leader M. Hollande. They have 4 kids. Monsieur is married, shortly separated in 2005 when his wife left him for another man, but reunited in 2006. They have 1 child. Madame sued her own father in 1972, at 19, because he refused to divorce her mother and pay child support. Monsieur's father left his wife and children too when he was young and refused to give the family the financial support. So on May 6, the French people will choose one of them, Monsieur or Madame, to be their new leader for the next 5 years. Both are lawyers, both had a history of broken homes and grew up hating their fathers, one of them a second generation immigrant, the other a feminist and pacser (l'union libre, and she would legalise same-sex marriage in France if elected), but both must be very smart, charismatic and influential to have come this far in a country that values highly the intellectual capability of its leaders. The British can ask God to save the Queen (or King, as the case may be) and the Americans can ask God to bless America. But the French?

Où se trouve le Musée National?

I have no idea how many French-speaking people actually visit Muzium Negara, the Malaysian National Museum, in a typical day but we now have French-speaking women expats providing guided tours in French. Another good reason for us to visit the museum. Specially trained guides, a total of 25 women from 9 countries (including 3 local volunteers) who are part of the Museum Volunteers Malaysia will take you on one-hour guided tours of the museum in French as well as in English. And they will entertain the visiting schoolchildren too through the Bring Museums to Schools project. Now we are beginning to do something about stimulating the young minds through museums. Somehow it takes kind foreigners to create such opportunities to get young Malaysians to take interest in their own cultural heritage. I suppose locals, even if they had thought of it, and speaking in whatever language, would not have generated the same impact and publicity. One of the Malaysian volunteers says, "These women have taught me a lot about how I can contribute towards the preservation of my own cultural heritage. They are enthusiastic and eager to learn and impart what they've learnt". That says a lot about the locals.

The National Museum is a good place to start learning about the history and culture of Malaysia. The museum was built in 1961 and completed in 1965 on the site of the original museum that was destroyed when the Japs invaded Malaya in 1941. The original museum, the Selangor Museum, was built in 1898 with the help of the British government. There are only a handful of museums in Malaysia. The other museum worth visiting is Muzium Sejarah Nasional, the National History Museum. Many locals do not know the existence of the National History Museum that was opened in 1996 (but it is housed in a building that is more than 100 years old). We probably need another group of French-speaking women expats to help attract the locals to visit their own museum.

Chemins de fer Tanah Melayu

April has been a fairly active month for Malaysia-France relations. Among other events, the Education Minister spent 4 days visiting Paris earlier in the month, and the Information Minister is currently there on a 5-day visit to Paris, Cannes and Nice (lovely places to be during Spring-Summer transition). And la France comes to Malaysia too. Yesterday, Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM, formerly Malayan Railway) signed an MOU with Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF, the French National Railway company) in order to learn from and work together with the French Railway. The signing formality was held at the French Embassy in KL. Hopefully we will see a more conclusive and positive outcome of the railway sandiwara that has been going on for many years.

KTM is a Malaysia's love-hate-sad story. Its long history goes back to the British colonial times. The Brits then built the railway lines to help them transport the national resources out of this country. The earliest line, from the tin country Taiping to Port Weld (now Kuala Sepetang) was opened in 1885. Sadly, even after 50 years of independence from the Brits, the KTM lines and inter-city services have not changed very much. Over the last 10 years, we have heard too many tales of the Mat Jenin kind - privatisation, electrification, double-tracking, tilting train technology, high speed KL-Singapore, high-speed KL-Bangkok, Singapore-Kunming rail link, etc. etc. and yet, we are still running the old locomotives on inter-city routes once or twice a day at a speed marginally faster than a full-speed kereta lembu. Even then, its still gets derailed from time to time. Perhaps the name Tanah Melayu has something to do with it. Well, at least they seem to be doing something about it and have decided to learn a thing or two about the French trains, rather than the trains of the old colonial master the Brits.

SNCF on the other hand, is a state-controlled, railway near-monopoly, operating almost all of France's railway system which includes the high speed TGV (the V150 set a new record 2 weeks ago at a staggering 575kmh), and part of suburban RER networks. It does not own the tracks - they belong to another government company - but the service covers 32,000km including 14,500km electrified lines and 1,500km high-speed lines. As many as 14,000 trains operate daily carrying 800 million passengers and 130 million tonnes of freight annually (as a comparison, KTM operates 22 services daily carrying 3.8 million passengers annually). France has been exporting their railway expertise and technology to other countries.

It would be interesting to see the result of this MOU after the no-go MOU between the state-controlled automaker Proton and PSA Peugeot Citroën. Let's see if this will be the beginning in Malaysia of what (Sir) Jimmy Saville (of Jim'll Fix It) used to say of the British trains - this is the age of the train, or, c'est l'âge du train.

Monsieur le Président ou Madame la Présidente

Presidential hopefuls, pic courtesy of Le Figaro. Altogether, 12 candidates made it to the official list of the Constitutional Council. That many? Well, there are at least 30 other candidates who did not make it to the official list, by voluntary withdrawal or failing to get sufficient endorsements. In France, if you can get enough endorsements (support of 500 elected officials, or parrainages, from 30 out of 100 different départements et territoires, and of course meet the constitutional requirements to begin with) you could run for presidency. The candidates are an interesting mixture of what they represent, including nature, social and economic activists, those that are not usually considered as mainstream politics, such as The Greens (Dominique Voynet), hunting, fishing, nature and tradition (Frédéric Nihous) and anti-globalisation (José Bové). Popular candidates according to the opinion polls are those who represent the more established political movements, i.e. leftist, socialist Ségolène Royal (Parti socialiste), right-of-centre, illegal immigrant-fighter Nicolas Sarkozy (Sarko, full name Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa, son of Hungarian immigrant, UMP), centrist François Bayrou (UDF, or the remaining pro-Euro UDF that did not merge with neo-Gaullist RPR to form UMP in 2002) and nationalist, far-right Jean-Marie Le Pen (Front national, he lost in second round of 2002 election to now retired Jacques Chirac). The remaining candidates represent variations of similar themes or movements that are becoming less popular in recent years - Workers' Party (Gérard Schivardi), Workers' Struggle (Lutte ouvrière, trotskyist Arlette Laguiller), French Communist Party (PCF, Marie-George Buffet), Revolutionary Communist League (LCR, Olivier Besancenot) and Movement for France (eurosceptic Philippe de Villiers). Campaigns have been going on since the announcement of the official list on 19 March (UMP leader Sarko stepped down as Interior Minister on 26 March to focus on his campaigns), but official campaign starts next Monday and ends on 20 April before the first round of voting on 22 April. If no candidate wins a majority of at least 50% vote, the 2 leading candidates will go on to the second round of voting on 6 May.

Maal Hijrah

Today is 1.1.1428, new year's day in the Islamic or Muslim calendar. Although there is no religious or traditional celebration associated with the new year's day, Muslims around the world, particularly Sunnis, do organise some kind of events to remember and reflect on its historical significance. Muslim calendar began 1428 lunar years or 1385 solar years ago, with the event of the migration or hijra of Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina on 16 July 622 (but according to historical records, actual migration actually took place in September of that year). Since lunar years are shorter than solar years, by 11 to 12 days per solar year, new year's day in the Muslim calendar does not fall on the same date each year in the solar or Gregorian calendar. Next year, in 2008 there will be 2 new year days of the Muslim calendar in the same Gregorian year, on 10 January and on 29 December 2008.

In Paris, Muslims do get together informally at the Grande Mosquée de Paris - the main mosque in Paris, as well as the other mosques there for the ocassion. The Grande Mosquée is located in the 5th arrondissement near Latin quarter, and across the street from the Natural History Museum, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle and the Botanical Gardens, Le Jardin des Plantes. It was founded in 1922 after the World War I and inaugurated on 15 July 1926 by the then French President Gaston Doumergue. The Moorish-style (or more accurately Mudéjar-style, an Andalusian fusion of Jewish-Christian-Muslim cultures) mosque with a 33-metre high minaret was built in honour of the Muslim "tirailleurs" or Muslim members of the French troops recruited from the colonial territories, particularly North African countries, who had fought (and as many as 100,000 died) for France in various French military campaigns including the World War I and later World War II. The French Council of the Muslim Faith or Conseil Français du Culte Musulman is the custodian of the mosque.