GROWING

ANALYSIS SS
9
SATURDAY l FEBRUARY 18 l 2017
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
Red blooms and warm glows at Pyongyang show
A
SEBASTIEN BERGER
humble two-room hut nestles beneath snowladen
trees, a warm red glow emerging from
within, reminiscent of a Christmas Nativity.
It is, according to North Korean orthodoxy,
the mountainside birthplace of Kim Jong-
Il, who inherited power from his father and
passed it in turn to his son, current leader Kim
Jong-Un.
The image of the Day of the Shining Star, as
the occasion is known, is a recurring motif at
the Kimjongilia flower festival in Pyongyang,
appearing in mosaics and models surrounded by
the eponymous red blooms.
Guide Ri Yun-I had no doubts. “The great
leader general Kim Jong-Il was born in a secret
camp on Mount Paektu,” she said — a volcano
straddling the Chinese-Korean border seen as the
spiritual birthplace of the Korean nation.
Such origins would be appropriate for a man
destined to lead the Democratic People’s Republic
of Korea, as the North is officially known.
“Our great general Kim Jong-Il devoted his
whole life only for the prosperity of the country
and our people’s happiness,” said Ri. “Our people
Around 700,000 people
are expected to cram
into the exhibition hall
in Pyongyang over
seven days, and its
passages were packed on
Friday as soldiers and
civilians made their way
past the displays, many
in jovial mood
strongly miss him.”
But outsiders beg to differ, pointing instead
to Soviet records putting his place of birth as a
Siberian village where his father was in exile, and
a year earlier than Pyongyang’s 1942.
Officially, it is 75 years since Kim Jong-Il was
born, and the North is marking the anniversary
with skating and synchronised swimming shows,
fireworks and the flower festival — with no
mention of the killing this week in Malaysia of
Kim Jong-Nam, his first-born son and Kim Jong-
Un’s half-brother.
Around 700,000 people are expected to cram
into the exhibition hall in Pyongyang over seven
days, and its passages were packed on Friday as
soldiers and civilians made their way past the
displays, many in jovial mood.
The Kimjongilia, a large begonia, was the
unquestioned dominant feature, with 100,000
potted blooms on show.
Each stand was supplied by a different
organisation or individual, ranging from the
North’s central bank — whose stand featured a
red map of a unified Korea, decked out in lights
— to an 11-year-old schoolboy.
Two stands held flowers presented in the
names of overseas “friendship and solidarity”
organisations or foreign embassies and leaders,
with pride of place given to the President of the
Syrian Arab Republic and the general secretary
of the central committee of the Lao Peoples
Revolutionary Party.
“Our people cultivate very many Kimjongilias
greeting the birthday of the great general Kim
Jong-Il,” explained Ri.
The flower was bred by Japanese botanist
Kamo Mototeru, who Ri said “visited our country
several times and he witnessed the reality of our
country”.
As a result he “admired the brilliance of
General Kim Jong-Il” and so presented him with
his creation.
His father Kim Il-Sung had previously been
honoured in 1965 with the Kimsungilia, a purple
orchid named after him by Indonesian leader
Sukarno.
Kim Jong-Il died in 2011 and regular visitor
Kim Nam-Hui said that he was “someone we all
follow like our father and miss so much”.
In the 29-year-old teacher’s opinion, the
Kimjongilia is “the most beautiful flower in the
world”.
But, she said, “We come to this flower festival
out of our longing for the general Kim Jong-Il and
the longing for our nation, rather than because of
the beauty of flowers.” — AFP
In harmony with wildlife
US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at the White House in Washington, DC.
News media takes it on the chin again
U
GRETEL JOHNSTON
S President Donald Trump held a news
conference at the White House on Thursday
in what the press corps had believed would
be a routine announcement of his new
choice to be labour secretary.
Instead, it turned into a tour-de-force of
his combative style, with the former reality
television star hammering the media and
championing his accomplishments as if he
were still stumping on the campaign trail.
After nearly four weeks in office Trump
delivered an overwhelmingly positive selfcritique
of his presidency thus far, in sharp
contrast to criticism from all political camps
except the Republican base and his ardent
supporters.
To hear him tell it, he has only been
keeping promises he made to the American
people.
“There has never been a presidency
that’s done so much in such a short period
of time,” he crowed. “And we have not even
started the big work yet.”
Among the highlights he touted were
announcements about jobs returning to
the country, record highs on Wall Street
and a tremendous surge of optimism in the
business world.
He cited a poll by Rasmussen putting his
approval rating at 55 per cent — selecting
the highest of three prominent polls, with
the other two, Gallup and Pew Research,
placing his approval rating at 40 per cent and
39 per cent.
At the same time he claimed he “inherited
a mess” and ticked off a litany of problems
both domestic and international.
While reporters questioned the
resignation of his national security adviser
over his dealings with Russia and contacts
his aides had with Russians during the
campaign, Trump denied any involvement
with Russia.
His energy would go into fixing things,
including relations with Russia: “We’re going
to take care of it all,” he said.
After US President
Donald Trump’s first
solo news conference, the
US news media were left
wondering where to start
their summation of the
77-minute Q&A. While
picking up the pieces
from the tongue-lashing
they received, some
asked whether it was the
new normal
Above all else in Trump’s almost streamof-consciousness
pronouncements were his
complaints about the “dishonest” and “out of
control” media.
He griped about the “tone” some
television reporters used, a “nasty” story on
the front page of the New York Times and
the “hatred and venom” that he said flowed
from a CNN broadcast in particular.
“I sort of enjoy this back and forth — I
guess I have all my life — but I’ve never
seen more dishonest media than frankly, the
political media,” Trump said.
His election victory, he said, was thanks
to his news conferences and speeches, not
because voters listened to “you people,” he
said, adding, “that’s for sure.”
It was surprising that Trump for the
first time as president opened the floor for
what turned into a rollicking session, with
reporters hands flying into the air, hoping to
be called on, as they realised the president
was ready to spar.
Surprising because the day before
during a joint news conference with Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he
ignored reporters from major newspapers
and television networks, calling only on
those who have been friendly to him.
While much of what he said was
familiar or taken straight out of his
campaign handbook, he did give reporters
something they hope for the most in such
a setting: news.
He said he would issue a new “executive
action” next week, implying that it would
be more narrowly tailored than the
controversial January 27 executive order
on immigration that has been halted by a
court.
Trump also said that an immigration
programme to stop the deportation of
people who arrived in the US as children,
but never became legal immigrants, had
been difficult for him, saying “we’re gonna
show great heart.”
The president who is so fond of using
Twitter to bypass the media, told reporters
he would let them ask him questions about
his proposals because he liked to take his
message “straight to the people.”
And even with all the bashing, in his
inimitable way, he said some reporters were
“fantastic,” adding that he would make a
good reporter himself. — dpa
A
HEAD OFFICE
VISHAL GULATI
nimals in the wild mostly avoid any encounters with humans — and when
they do attack people, it is usually in self-defence, says legendary field
biologist George Schaller.
And it would be wrong to declare tigers and leopards that attack
humans as “man-eaters”, Schaller, who believes he’s still young at 83, said.
Thus, there is a need for training the communities settled on the
periphery of wildlife parks and sanctuaries because the wild animals — be
it the tiger or the leopard or the elephant — don’t want trouble from the
humans, said Schaller.
“And if a tiger is a man-eater, then its killing is certain,” he added.
German-born Schaller, who devoted six decades to conservation of
wildcats and their ecosystems, is currently the Vice-President of Panthera,
an organisation founded in 2006 for conserving the animals.
Schaller, who is wild at heart, said in India — a storehouse of biodiversity
— development is a big issue.
“India is saying it’s doing a lot for the preservation of wildlife. But it is
really disturbing that 200 sq km of forest area of the Panna tiger reserve (in
Madhya Pradesh) which is being diverted for non-forest purposes. After
the 1990s, the country’s image in preserving forests is going down,” said
the biologist-cum-author, who travelled to Central Africa to study the
mountain gorilla when he was 25.
It is greed and corruption that threaten nature more.
The problem, in fact, across the globe is that oil, mining and timber
companies are prepared to pay anything to operate in sensitive areas.
Sadly, governments and officials succumb to their pressures.
“I know people (supposed conservationists) who prefer to sit in their
offices (rather than go into the field). Conservation has not to do only with
animals. It also has to do with economics and politics.”
Schaller, who has studied wildlife in several reserve forests and national
parks in India, said the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand is the
most vulnerable to poaching for international trade owing to its proximity
to the Nepal border, a major trade link to the Chinese traditional medicine
market.
Estimates say India supports the highest population of tigers in the
wild, accounting for 2,226 of the estimated 3,890 worldwide.
Schaller, who has worked for nearly two decades on studying endemic
wildlife in the Tibetan Plateau, said the snow leopard also needs protection
from pastoral communities.
“The Spiti Valley (in Himachal Pradesh) and the Hemis National Park
(in Jammu and Kashmir) support a good population of the snow leopard,”
said Schaller, who spent most of his time in the field in Asia, Africa and
South America. — IANS
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