Archive for April, 2008
Japan’s Fascination With Fair Skin Translates To Big Business For Cosmetics Firms
TOKYO : Flawless skin without dark spots, blemishes and freckles - that’s the aspiration of most Japanese women.
So, it’s almost a must for cosmetics brands sold in Japan to produce products that provide a whitening or brightening effect.
To cater to the demand, Japanese cosmetics firms are scrambling to come out with the best whitening products.
For Shiseido, whitening products are core to its business. In March, it released a product called HAKU2, which has become a top seller even though a bottle costs US$100. Shiseido claims two bottles of HAKU2 will diminish blemishes.
In Japan, whitening skincare products began to catch on big in the year 2000. And by 2007, it has become such a big market that it’s now worth US$2.1 billion with increase in sales by 110 percent year-on-year.
Smaller cosmetic makers too are putting on their thinking caps in hopes of gaining a piece of the pie.
In Japan, White Day on March 14 is the day when the men return Valentine’s Day favours from women with gifts.
Cosmetic maker Pola took advantage of that name to widely publicise their project. The company spent 10 years and poured in US$10 million to develop its hit item “White Shot”.
Japan’s fascination with white skin is said to go back at least 1,000 years, and there are historical materials indicating so.
“In the “Ishinho”(Japan’s oldest medical collection) of the later part of the 10th century, there’s a recipe on how to whiten the skin. An example that’s introduced is to use tangerine skin. You grind and drink it, and you’ll be (fairer) in 10 days to a month,” said Noriyo Tsuda, Chief Curator, Pola Orbis Holdings.
In the olden days, only the privileged were allowed to see the recipe. It was during the 18th century that more women were given access to such recipes. The belief by that time, was that whiter skin could hide imperfections. And that was important for women, who saw their lover and husband only when it was already dark.
Today, aiming for a spotless porcelain skin seems to be more for one’s own satisfaction. - CNA /ls
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Singapore Employers Expect Slower Job Growth
SINGAPORE: Employers in Singapore are bracing for a slower job market growth this year, according to the Singapore National Employers’ Federation (SNEF).
Its president, Stephen Lee, said that job growth this year will moderate to about 3 to 4 percent, compared to the 7.7 percent registered in 2007.
Speaking to Channel NewsAsia ahead of Labour Day, Mr Lee also expects demand for higher wages to grow because of inflation.
Nearly 235,000 new jobs were created last year, a record high. Singapore’s job market continues to remain tight, with at least 1.4 jobs for every job seeker.
Projects that will need to employ large numbers of workers include the integrated resorts (IRs) and those that are related to the Youth Olympic Games.
Mr Lee said: “… we need to step up our training for services staff in order to cater for these needs. Both the IRs have huge requirements. If they can bring in more tourists, it will help the growth of the supporting industries.”
Employers and unions are working on several fronts to tackle the challenge. They are encouraging more housewives to rejoin the labour force through the NTUC’s back-to-work programme.
In addition, more companies are now hiring older workers, well ahead of the proposed re-employment legislation in Singapore that will come into effect by 2012.
However, some small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially those employing between 25 and 50 workers, have some concerns about the proposed re-employment legislation.
Mr Lee said: “Their worry is that when legislation comes, will they be forced to re-employ, and whether or not they have the openings. Many of them are worried about the fairly rapid expansion or contraction of their business.
“We are working with them again. The best is for the employee to be re-employed by the original company. Another way is to look at whether we can set up a facilitator… where a retiree from company A could be retrained and then posted to company B to continue his employment.
“One of the key things highlighted was - what can we do about the HR practices and how to collectively improve the HR practices of the SMEs. Perhaps, if we can group some of the smaller companies together, then we can help a group of 10 to 12 companies at one time.”
Mr Lee said that although the indication is that help is needed, the SMEs find it difficult to have a senior person dedicated just to do HR for each company.
For now, companies are concerned about the tight labour market and high inflation - as this is raising the demand for higher wages.
Mr Lee said: “The first-quarter productivity growth has not been that good, it was actually a minus. So whether or not negative productivity, coupled with a high wage increase, may affect our competitiveness, these are issues we are grappling with.”
The National Wages Council will look into these issues before it makes its wage recommendations later this year. - CNA/ir
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‘Many Factors Led To Debacle’
Barisan Nasional has come under intense fire from all and sundry for its underperformance in the general election, and there have even been calls for Umno president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to take the blame and step down. ANNIE FREEDA CRUEZ talks to Umno stalwart Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib on what contributed to the ruling party’s poor performance
Q: As Umno information chief, what do you think are the reasons for what happened?
A: So many factors actually. When BN won resoundingly in 2004, they said it was because of the “Pak Lah factor”. Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was unhappy and said it was too big a majority and that we must have a strong opposition.
Dr Mahathir’s continuous attack on Pak Lah on various issues, including the economy, caught on with the non-Malays.
When Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim came and offered a very inviting alternative to the Chinese like “You can take Penang” and “No need for the National Economic Policy” they were tempted.
Another cause of BN’s downfall was the demolition of a Hindu temple in Shah Alam a week before Deepavali which led to the formation of Hindraf.
The Indians became very angry. Anwar took this opportunity again to say that the government was too arrogant, proud and anti-religion, while Pas in Kelantan never does such things.
The direct telecast of the Umno general assembly, especially the kris-waving issue, was another factor which frightened the non-Malays. The non-Malays felt Umno was becoming more extremist in nature, chauvinistic, powerful.
The broom issue (where former Selangor menteri besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo chastised non-perfoming civil servants) was another factor which angered a lot of civil servants not only in Selangor but nationwide.
The escalating price of consumer products, crime and the active blogs contributed to BN’s poor performance. The government did not take the blogs seriously.
Q: Do you think the selection of candidates also led to the poor performance?
A: Yes. The selection of candidates was another big issue. Some of the candidates were from other states and of course the locals were unhappy.
There were some good candidates but they were not nominated by the BN component divisions. Those within divisions were also not happy with the candidates nominated by their division heads.
Why blame one person?
Q: Abdullah said the party had identified some Umno saboteurs at the general election. What did these members do and what action can the party take against them?
A: As I have said, some candidates were from outside and this made the locals unhappy. We cannot blame them if they had strongly disapproved of the “outsider” candidates.
But if they had sabotaged a candidate who was a local candidate, disciplinary action will be taken, which includes expulsion from the party.
Q: So do you think BN’s poor performance is Abdullah’s fault?
A: Definitely not. There were so many contributing factors that led to BN’s poor performance.
As I said Dr Mahathir wanted a strong opposition and when it happened, he blamed Pak Lah. I must say Dr Mahathir was also to blame for BN’s poor performance.
The four BN state governments falling to the opposition was because of the state government leaders’ own doing, why blame Pak Lah?
If there is sabotage by BN members, why blame Pak Lah? Why point the finger only at Pak Lah when it is due to various factors within and without BN?
Q: Dr Mahathir has been vocal, even calling for Abdullah to resign as prime minister and Umno president. Would Umno have dealt with Dr Mahathir differently if he had not been the former prime minister.
A: In 1987, Umno was de-registered. It was declared illegal and it came as a big blow to party members but we did not ask Dr Mahathir to resign.
During his time he detained 106 people under Ops Lallang. He dealt with a heavy hand against his rivals, including taking disciplinary action. Was there a call for his resignation?
Pak Lah allows freedom of press and no restrictions have been imposed on papers about publishing Dr Mahathir’s criticisms of him. In fact Pak Lah’s level of tolerance is high and has increased.
He tolerates and accepts criticisms, even from Dr Mahathir, and many people took the opportunity to hit at him. He accepted it and this is because of the freedom of speech and transparency he allowed.
It’s sad that it has come to a stage where people cannot differentiate between the truth and the political statements by many people.
The Internet has become the surat layang (poison pen letter) of yesteryears and young Malaysians are carried away with all this.
It was not Umno which lost badly in this general election but also MCA, MIC, PPP and Gerakan.
Indians were strong supporters of BN but this time they went against BN because of the CD which was distributed widely which showed the demolition of the Hindu temple in Shah Alam.
That was why Selangor fell to the opposition. So why should Pak Lah be asked to resign when the component parties performed very badly.
Q: You’ve had your differences with the alternative media (bloggers) and people are now increasingly turning to them for news. How would you be handling this situation?
A: The anti-BN blogs were very effective. Umno and BN didn’t use this type of media because they felt that their track record was good enough. The bloggers really stirred up the emotions and anger of the people with their writing, some of which I must admit were true, some wrong and unrealistic.
The videos which came out during the election made people angry. The lyrics, music and narration touched their hearts, souls and minds and everything that the government did turn out wrong for them.
Whatever said and done, I think we have to accept the alternative media whether we like it or not. There are lot of good and bad things as well as lots of rubbish. Since we cannot fight them, join them.
I will soon be setting up my own blog and website. Some politicians have also set up their blogs. I think it’s about time all politicians have their own blogs so that people can visit the blogs and give their views and suggestions.
Q: The other parties in the BN coalition are working quietly to resolve their internal problems. But Umno members are airing the dirty linen in public. Why do you think they are doing it?
A: I think somebody has some agenda and they want the prime minister to go down. They are attacking openly. They are not the small timers.
Q: Some political observers said members have spoken up because Pak Lah has ‘allowed’ this to happen. Do you agree with this?
A: Pak Lah is championing tolerance, transparency and freedom of the press. I was told that Dr Mahathir, when he became the prime minister, had instructed an editor to stop giving coverage to his predecessor Tun Hussein Onn.
Pak Lah did not give any such instructions. So don’t let this freedom be abused by certain quarters.
Q: Observers are saying that Umno is heading for a rift like 1987.
A: People are thinking that Pak Lah is the main cause. But they should analyse the whole situation. Seventy per cent of Indians shifted to the opposition, is it because of Pak Lah? They could be angry with the MIC leader.
Dr Mahathir campaigned against the party and asked that it not be given a large majority, why blame Pak Lah?
The former Selangor menteri besar gave the broom to non-performers, is it because of Pak Lah?
The sabotage by Umno divisions was due to internal problems, not because of Pak Lah. The divisions showed their candidate lists only at the last minute, is it Pak Lah’s mistake? Who chose the candidates? If it is the issue of the 4th floor boys, they were definitely not the cause of the four states falling to Pakatan Rakyat. Why blame Pak Lah alone?
New Straits Times