Archive for March, 2007
Regular Ultrasound Sessions For Pregnant Tapir At Singapore Zoo
SINGAPORE : The Singapore Zoo will be welcoming a new addition soon.
A tapir is pregnant at the Zoo.
And to make sure that all goes well, the mother-to-be has been going for regular ultrasound sessions.
Malayan tapir Kharti is a mum-to be, and her newborn is expected to arrive in June.
The three-year-old is pregnant for the first time.
For vets at the Zoo, the close monitoring is unprecedented.
Dr Sonja Luz, Veterinarian, Singapore Zoological Gardens, said, “Monitoring it for that intensively yes, this is the first time. We’ve done several ultrasounds before on the Night Safari tapirs, but we never followed the pregnancy such as every two weeks, like what we’d do now.”
It is all to make sure that Kharti’s journey into motherhood proceeds as naturally as possible.
Since tapirs can be aggressive, Kharti had to be distracted with snacks before vets could lure her into the area where her ultrasound was conducted.
The process also went on smoothly because the zookeepers have built a good relationship with the animal.
Dr Sonja Luz said, “I think she’s a bit more wary, and she obviously does not allow the male to come close to her as much as she would have before, and I think overall she’s still the same…she was very calm when we just did the ultrasound but yes, maybe a bit more wary of the whole situation.”
The tapir is an endangered species, as much of its habitat in Southeast Asia has been wiped out. - CNA/ms
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Borat Still Barred
SINGAPORE : Anyone who missed R21 films like Saw III and Borat in the cinemas is unlikely to find the DVDs at their neighbourhood video store anytime soon.
And that’s the official word from the Media Development Authority (MDA).
The regulatory body in charge of film and video classification revealed in a recent email interview with TODAY that it’s taking “a phased approach”.
“One of the major concerns brought up by the community at the point when the Censorship Review Committee proposed a video classification system,” noted Cassandra Tay, the MDA’s director of communications, “was the issue of videos with explicit content being accessed by the young.
“The MDA will consult all its stakeholders, including the public, before taking the next course of action.”
In other words: Hold your horses.
The issue of classification comes under the spotlight again with the release of This Film is Not Yet Rated, which will be screened on March 28 as part of The Picturehouse’s first anniversary festival.
The provocative, R21-rated documentary by American Kirby Dick reopens the debate on whether raters tend to err on the side of caution.
In Singapore, of course, caution has been the watchword since the introduction of film classification in 1991. Since then, the MDA has periodically refined the system to take into account different levels of depiction of sex, violence and coarse language.
The new thinking: Fit the film to the right rating rather than trim the film for a one-size-fits-all rating.
Further liberalisation came with video classification in 2004 that allows titles up to M18 to be imported for sale and rental.
Two and a half years into implementation, film buffs are still unable to get their hands on R21 movies like Kill Bill Vol 1. But the MDA contends that ground sentiment so far has been positive.
“Consumers have expressed appreciation that video classification has allowed for greater choice,” said Tay.
“Submissions of titles by video distributors for classification have increased by an average of 20 per cent since 2003. About 16 per cent were passed NC16 while 12.5 per cent under an M18 rating.”
Generally, video titles follow the ratings used when they were shown theatrically. So, for instance, the Anne Hathaway vehicle, Havoc, is rated M18, as per its cinema release.
To date, according to Tay, there have been 16 breaches relating to conditions of sale. These include the lack of signage indicating age restrictions, not enforcing the age restrictions or inappropriate display of publicity material for such restricted titles.
This small number of errant distributors, however, has not been enough to persuade the MDA to hasten the speed of liberalisation.
It’s probably mindful of the fact that, when R21 movies were first allowed in 1991, cinema operators quickly exploited the loophole to bring in many soft-porn flicks.
For a while, it looked like they had it good, with box office takings shooting through the roof as people flocked to catch what had long been denied them.
But a backlash from conservative members of the public soon put paid to the boom.
“We’ll consider the possibility of allowing R21 titles in due course,” was all Tay would say, declining to disclose a time frame by which this might take place.
Meanwhile, the status quo remains. -
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No Regrets, Says Antonella Barba
Poor Antonella Barba.
After a couple of weeks of intense media scrutiny, endless jibes and harsh comments from the judges, she was finally voted off American Idol last week, falling just short of making it to the coveted top 12.
And still the press won’t let up about those racy photos that have made hers the most-searched name on the Internet at the moment (way ahead of a bald- headed Britney).
In a 20-minute conference call with international media on Saturday morning, Barba was (not surprisingly) badgered with questions about the photos.
“It’s definitely not how I intended things to go,” she said. “I tried to stay focused on the competition. All that other stuff was irrelevant.”
To Barba maybe, but not to the reporters on the call: More questions on the topic prompted a representative from the show to plead with them to change the subject, saying “she’s been through enough”.
“I keep getting told that no publicity is bad publicity,” Barba said. “But, you know, I’m not known for this thing that I want to be known for, which is singing.”
Barba probably deserves some credit for sticking to her showbiz dreams despite the flak she has received and her unimpressive performances over the past few rounds on Idol.
She said she would remain in Los Angeles for the next two weeks or so to “talk to people, see what offers I can get”.
“I want to strike while the iron is hot,” she said.
One of the offers she won’t be fielding is one that would see her appear in a Playboy spread.
“I definitely wouldn’t do that,” she said. “I don’t want to be known for that.”
Playmate status may not be on the cards for Barba, but she is not opposed to listening to other modelling or acting offers.
“I’d rather promote myself in a classy way,” she said.
Asked whether she regrets joining the show after all that’s happened, Barba would only say: “In retrospect, I still think it was worth it.” -
Channel News Asia