Peru Temple

Pointing to a mural at a 4,000-year-old clay temple found in the city of Lambayeque in northern Peru, leading archaeologist Walter Alva said on Saturday the discovery was one of the oldest finds in the Americas.

The temple, inside a larger ruin, includes a staircase that leads up to an altar used for fire worship, said Mr Alva, whose team dug up the temple recently.

It sits near the ancient Sipan complex that Mr Alva unearthed in the 1980s.

Champs Elysees - avenue of charm... and crime

PARIS - THE Champs Elysees, held up by France as the most beautiful avenue in the world, has become blighted by prostitution, racketeering and violence, according to a top police officer.
The broad boulevard, which connects Napoleon's grandiose Arc de Triomphe with the regal Tuileries Gardens, was always a byword for elegance and a focal point for national celebrations.
But in recent years, the avenue has increasingly drawn low-life criminals, its famed cinemas giving way to night clubs, and its tourists frightened away by gangs of drunken youths.

'It's no longer the nice child it used to be,' Mr Guy Parent, head of Paris' anti-prostitution unit, told Le Parisien daily on Saturday.

'The Champ Elysees' clientele is often unstable... there are regularly fights between guards and clubbers. The tension is palpable,' he added.

Le Parisien also quoted the mayor in charge of the Champs Elysees district, Mr Francois Lebel, as saying the famous road was becoming 'a meeting place for thugs and suburbdwellers'.
Locals have complained that large groups of youths from poor neighbourhoods bordering Paris descend on the avenue in the evening, drawn to its vibrant nightlife.
They also estimated that an army of 200 to 300 prostitutes pace the pavements seeking wealthy clients.

Mr Parent said he thought that number might be exaggerated, but confirmed the 2km long street attracted many foreign call girls, especially from north Africa.

'They are very chic to seduce very smart clients. They hunt down Saudis and Kuwaitis... (and) offer their favours for perhaps up to 5,000 euros (S$10,600) an evening.'

Created in 1640 by landscape gardener Andre Le Notre, the avenue was widely seen as down-at-heel in the 1980s before former president Jacques Chirac ordered an overhaul when he was mayor of Paris.

Now, it is the third most expensive street in the world for retailers - behind Fifth Avenue in New York, Causeway Bay in Hong Kong and ahead of New Bond Street in London.
Local businesses complain that rents, which reportedly top US$1 million (S$1.44 million) a year for 100sq m, are chasing away long-standing residents and drawing in big chain stores, bars and nightclubs.

Retail chains have swarmed to the sunny, north side of the avenue, which attracts more pedestrians, while luxury goods groups like Louis Vuitton have shifted to the south side.
REUTERS

Pedra Branca trial enters its third day - Nov 16

Pedra Branca trial enters its third day

THE HAGUE (Netherlands) - MALAYSIA on Thursday sought to portray all that Britain and Singapore did on Pedra Branca in the last 150 years as actions of a lighthouse operator, not a state exercising sovereignty over the island.

As for those activities it could not link to Hosburgh lighthouse on the disputed island, Malaysia charged that some of those had been carried out in secret, making it impossible for it to protest against them.

The others were unrelated to sovereignty, it said on the third day of its oral pleadings
That was how two of Malaysia's international counsel, Sir Elihu Lauterpacht and Professor James Crawford, sought to dismiss all the evidence Singapore had brought before the court to show it had exercised sovereignty over the island for more than 150 years.

Singapore and Malaysia are appearing before the International Court of Justice to resolve their dispute over the sovereignty of Pedra Branca, an island 40km east of Singapore and which stands at the eastern entrance of the Singapore Strait.

Malaysia's stand is the the Johor sultanate had a title to Pedra Branca - which they call Pulau Batu Puteh - from time immemorial.

It claims the Johor rulers gave permission to Britian to build and operate a lighthouse there, and that Singapore continued to do so after it gained independence.

Singapore disputes that.

Straits Times Nov 15 - Preserving a nation's history in the digital age

Preserving a nation's history in the digital age
By Chua Mui Hoong

ADVANCES: (From right) National Archives director Pitt Kuan Wah and senior conservation officer Noraini Omar, with a machine modified to make repairing old documents easier and more accurate. -- ST PHOTO:

WHEN Madam Salimah Ismail first joined the National Archives 22 years ago, she repaired fading paper documents by hand.

'We would use fibre to cover and patch up holes in the thin paper. But now it's much easier,' said the conservation assistant, now 51.

The difference: a high-tech machine that makes use of digital imaging.

Think 'archives' and for most people, images of decaying tomes in dusty rooms spring to mind.
But at the National Archives of Singapore, preserving the nation's records has gone high-tech.
Fragile paper documents are prone to deteriorating quickly in Singapore's climate, from insect or fungi infestation.

THE DIGITAL WAY FORWARD
'We would use fibre to cover and patch up holes in the thin paper. But now it's much easier.'MADAM SALIMAH ISMAIL, 51, a conservation assistant with the National Archives for 22 years, who used to repair fading paper documents by hand. Now a high-tech machine that makes use of digital imaging makes the job easier.High acidity of paper and ink, mixed with humidity and high temperatures, also cause chemicals to interact and destroy the paper.

These old records are vital, because they capture a nation's history and preserving them helps future generations of scholars to have a clear idea of the past.

Good records preservation also makes a difference in international disputes, added National Archives director Pitt Kuan Wah, 49, who joined in 1983 as an oral history interviewer.
'Archives are useful not only for domestic history writing. In cases of national negotiations or international disputes, some of the records also come in useful,' he said.

For example, in the dispute between Singapore and Malaysia over Pedra Branca now being heard at the International Court of Justice, documentary evidence from the archives plays a role in Singapore's case.

Though most government records these days are electronic, conserving and repairing old documents remains part of the work done.

The archives' collection of paper records, photographs and illustrations dates back to the early 19th century.

It also has broadcast reels and audio tapes from more recent times, such as the declaration of Singapore's independence.

It helps ministries archive their paper files. Each month, a fresh load of files is sent to the archives.

Most of the new material it helps to manage is electronic, such as e-mail messages on important issues.

Preserving old documents remains an important part of the work done and here, technology has made the process faster and more accurate.

Take the leafcasting machine, which is used to repair old documents. Over the years, several modifications have been made so the work is easier.

One big change took place last year after a team brainstormed ways to use digital imaging to help in its work.

The result is a $10,000 system that links an Olympus digital camera to a computer software system.

The camera snaps a shot of the document to be repaired, holes and all.

The computer software then calculates the amount of paper fibre needed to strengthen the paper and fill up the holes.

'Previously, we had to do manual calculations and it was much slower,' said senior conservation officer Noraini Omar, 38.

The new system means only one person is needed to repair a batch of documents, down from four or five previously.

More importantly, it makes for more accurate repair, since the camera and computer can calculate more precisely the amount of fibre needed to repair the weak parts of the paper.
The machine has caught the attention of archivists in Malaysia and India, and the blueprint has been sent to them.

A number of overseas archives in Asia, including those in Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Macau, have sent conservation staff here for attachments.
While conserving and repairing old documents is still part of the work done at the archives - much of its work is now digital.

During next week's Asean Summit, for example, the archives will act as a consultant to help manage and conserve electronic records. This means e-records of the summit can be preserved for posterity.

With more records being digital now, archive management has become more about electronic rather than paper records management, said Ms Irene Lim, deputy director in charge of the audio-visual archives.

One challenge: how to 'migrate' content in media which have become obsolete into a format that is more durable and easy to search.

For example, a news broadcast of an important event may have been stored on a video format that is no longer in use. The archives' job is to transfer the content into a format that can be read by today's machines.

But as archives become high-tech, not many visitors need to handle fading paper records any more.

Most head to the search website www.a2o.com.sg (Access to Archives Online), which won an award at the prestigious Stockholm Award in 2004 for e-culture.

This website brings together the archives' various collections of voice recordings, photographs, broadcast reels and paper documents in an easy-to-use online format.

Explaining the archives' focus on technology, Mr Pitt said: 'As a nation's history is created every day, every hour and minute, a national archives must be dynamic and must always be in the frontline of records creation in order to develop cost effective strategies to preserve and share them with future generations.'

Face-to-face with Tutankhamun

Face-to-face with Tutankhamun

The BBC's Ian Pannell was among a small group of guests and journalists invited to watch Egypt's chief archaeologist, Dr Zahi Hawass, reveal King Tutankhamun's face to the public for the first time.

We were taken deep underground into a small chamber with a low roof and hieroglyphics painted onto an ochre-coloured wall on one side.

A group of workmen slowly opened the golden coffin and raised the mummy onto a wooden stretcher.

Until today, only about 50 living people had seen Tutankhamun's body. Suddenly there we were, face-to-face with the blackened, shrivelled body of the boy king.
It was a rare and incredible moment.

Dr Hawass is something of a media performer. He moved the mummy into its new Perspex cabinet and turned to the cameras, saying: "The only good part of the mummy that the public will be able to see is the face and the legs.

"But the most important thing is that from today the mummy will be completely saved from moisture, from humidity, from anything, and we can say that the mummy is going to be safe."
The mummy is in danger of being damaged by the heat and humidity from the thousands of tourists who visit his tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings.

As much as 20g of water collects in the underground chambers every day and when it evaporates, salt crystals are formed that in turn erode the tombs and all that lies within.
Although the treasures of Tutankhamun were moved to the Egyptian museum long ago, the mummy was not.

In the process of removing the jewellery, amulets and death mask, the remains of the boy king were badly damaged. Now the body is also threatened by the impact of the thousands of people who want to come and visit his tomb.

So on Sunday his remains were taken from his golden sarcophagus and put into a specially-designed climate-controlled case.
Iconic symbol

For generations, Tutankhamun has captured the public imagination around the world. Although he was only a minor royal in his day, it was the treasures discovered in his tomb that turned him into one of the iconic symbols of ancient Egypt.

At the turn of the 20th Century a team of US archaeologists rashly declared there were no new discoveries to be made in the Valley of the Kings. But British archaeologist Howard Carter refused to accept this and together with his team spent many years following clues around this crumbling valley.

On 4 November 1922 he discovered the first flight of stairs that would ultimately lead down to the tomb and the treasures of Tutankhamun.

More than 3,000 years after he died and 85 years after his tomb was discovered, King Tutankhamun still has the power to enthral. Now his fans will be able to come face-to-face with him for the first time.

Oct 1, 2007

228 houses, buildings in Katong, Joo Chiat picked for conservation
By Tan Hui Yee

THE rich heritage of Katong and Joo Chiat area will get added protection soon as the Urban Redevelopment Authority has earmarked another 228 buildings there to be saved from the wrecker's ball.

These buildings include well-known landmarks like St Hilda's Church as well as Betheda (Katong) Church, as well as the former Grand Hotel in Still Road South.

Three other bungalows, in Marine Parade Road, Chapel Road and Joo Chiat Road have also been earmarked.

The conservation plan was revealed by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan on Monday at Urban Redevelopment Authority's Architectural Heritage Awards ceremony.
The East Coast area, the traditional home of Singapore's Eurasian and Peranakan communities, have been a popular residential district and is well-known for its diverse and charming architecture.

It is also a treasure trove of eateries serving both local and international favourites

The URA has informed the owners about its conservation proposal and will make the final decision after getting their feedback.

If they are given conservation status, the owners cannot tear them down or alter major structures or facade of the buildings.

These 228 buildings will bring the number of conserved buildings in the district to about 900.
There are more than 6,500 buildings that have been conserved islandwide.

As early as the 1920s, the Katong/Joo Chiat area was regarded as an attractive residential suburb.

The main roads were lined with rows of colourful and distinctive shophouses, with the retail businesses on the ground floor and the living quarters above.

Off the main roads were Kampongs and terrace houses. It was also known for big bungalows for the rich. Larger and grander seaside mansions dotted the coastline, giving their occupants unobstructed views to the sea and the beach front.


Winners of the 2007 Architectural Heritage Award
1) The National Museum of Singapore

Zinc fish-scale tiles of its dome were carefully taken down, cleaned or replaced. Part of the original tiled roof was cut away to incorporate a glass connector, which also gives visitor a see-through view of the historic dome. The new rear extension complements and invigorates the grand old dame.

2) Chek Jawa Visitor Centre
This is believed to be Singapore’s only remaining authentic Tudor-style house with a fireplace. It was sensitively restored - from the honeycombed-shaped terracotta floor tiles right down to its door knobs and light switches.

3) National University of Singapore’s Law School
Home to the varoius institutions for more than 80 years, it had to be adapted to meet the functions of NUS’ law faculty. Boarded-up windows were opened again while distinctive sun-shading fins of its Science Tower were reinstated. The original forecourt between the two buildings were enhanced as an entrance courtyard.

4) Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa
The former military barracks on Sentosa were converted into an eco-sanctuary with a tropical feel. Working around the many mature trees in the area, the owners restored the original timber louvre windows and doors, as well as the balustrades and other features like the terracotta roof tiles.

5) 13 Martaban Road
This transitional style terrace house was formerly used as a dormitory for orderlies fom the nearby Tan Tock Seng Hospital. It has since been restored into a modern home filled with natural light and ventilation.

6) 62 Niven Road
This low and squat shophouse in the Mount Sophia area is nestled between a sari shop and a Indian grocery store. Its tight space with maximised with a four-storey extension at its rear, where full length glass windows and a steel mesh sunscreen bring modern function to old world gravity.

(Sergei Korolev stands with Sputnik, the world's first satellite)

THE MAKING OF SPUTNIK
Machinations behind the Iron Curtain
By Sergei N. Khrushchev (4 Oct 2007, ST)

MOSCOW - ON OCT 4, 1957, my father, then-Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, waited anxiously for a telephone call. The Soviet Union's chief designer Sergei Korolev was expected to report back from the Tyuratam launch site (later renamed Baikonur Cosmodrome) in Kazakhstan on the launch of the world's first man-made satellite.

Earlier that day, my father was in Kiev, Ukraine, on military business. He attended a demonstration of tanks crossing the Dnieper River, then discussed with Soviet generals the fate of defence minister Marshal Georgy Zhukov. (Zhukov was suspected of plotting to seize power, and, before forcing a decorated World War II general to resign, my father and his colleagues enlisted the support of other high-ranking generals, who all agreed with Khrushchev's plan.)
That evening, my father dined with the Ukrainian leaders. I sat at the end of the table, not paying attention to their conversation. Everybody was tired, but my father was in no hurry to sleep. Around midnight, the door opened and the secretary asked my father to take a phone call. When Khrushchev came back, he was smiling: Sputnik's launch was successful.

Soviet engineers began designing Sputnik in January 1956. The plan was to launch it with the R-7, an intercontinental ballistic missile in development since 1954. But the rest of the world paid no attention to the vague pronouncements of a possible launch that had been appearing in the Soviet press; everybody outside the Soviet Union knew the United States would launch the world's first satellite.

Soviet scientists believed the Americans would keep their plans secret until after they had succeeded in launching a satellite, so our efforts were on beating the Americans to the launch. In August and September, R-7 missiles were successfully launched twice. Work went on around the clock.

Sputnik's launch made the front page of Pravda, but just barely. The story occupied the same amount of space as a report on Zhukov's visit to Yugoslavia, and ran in a less prestigious position. There were no banner headlines or enthusiastic comments.

The reason was simple. My father and all the Soviet people thought that Sputnik's success was natural, that, step by step, we were getting ahead of the Americans. After all, we - not the Americans - had opened the world's first nuclear power plant.

The Soviet MiG set world records in the 1950s, and the Soviet Tu-104 was the most efficient airliner of its class. So Sputnik did not surprise us.

Nor did the press report Korolev's name. The KGB knew there was really no need to keep his name secret, but, as KGB chief Ivan Serov told me, the enemy's resources were limited, so let them waste their efforts trying to uncover 'non-secret' secrets.

But the world was desperate to learn his identity. The Nobel Prize committee decided to give an award to Sputnik's 'chief designer', but first it needed the name, so it requested it from the Soviet government.

My father weighed his response carefully, but his concern was not confidentiality. The Council of Chief Designers was in charge of all space projects. Korolev was the head of the council, but the other chief designers - more than a dozen - considered themselves no less significant.

My father understood the chief designers were ambitious and jealous people. If the Nobel committee were to give the award only to Korolev, my father thought, the members would fly into a rage. They would refuse to work with Korolev. A well-organised team would collapse like a house of cards, and the hopes for future space research and missile design would be dashed, threatening Soviet security.

As my father saw it, you could order scientists and engineers to work together, but you could not force them to create something.

In the end, my father told the Nobel committee that all the Soviet people had distinguished themselves in the work on Sputnik, and that they all deserved the award. Korolev was offended but kept silent. The Nobel Prize went to somebody else.

But, despite the pains my father had taken, the other designers expressed growing discontent about Korolev getting all the publicity, even if anonymously. In their 'secret' world, it was not any secret who was behind the title 'chief designer'.

The first to rebel was engine designer Valentin Glushko, whose RD-170 liquid-propellant engine is used on Russian and some American rockets. During one council meeting, Glushko said: 'My engines could send into space any piece of metal.'

Korolev was offended; his rocket was not just a piece of metal, and, after his success with Sputnik, he no longer considered Glushko his equal. The dispute was hushed up, but the resentment lingered. Soon, Glushko offered his services to other Soviet rocket designers, Mikhail Yangel and Vladimir Chelomei - Korolev's rivals.

Even my father could not make peace between them. Technically, Glushko, by government order, continued to design engines for Korolev, but the work was no good. So, despite Sputnik's initial triumph, a decade later the Soviets lost the race to the moon to the Americans.
The writer, son of former Soviet prime minister Nikita Khrushchev, is a senior fellow at Thomas Watson Jr Institute for International Studies at Brown University.

Copyright: Project Syndicate