The men were forced to wear
coveralls sealed by plastic ties at
the neck, wrists, and ankles. 22 JANUARY 2014 . The book was withdrawn
from sale in 2008.
A Finnish court ruled that the book
violated Vanhanen?s personal privacy
in June 2010. HS
A L E K S I T E I VA I N E N . H T
Singlee
tickets andd
day tickets
Validity from 2
hours to 7 days.
Buy from ticket
machines, bus and
tram drivers, as
well as conductors
on commuter trains
or by mobile
phone. One case was ruled in favour
of the citizens, while two in favour
of the state.
On Tuesday, the European Court
of Human Rights ruled in favour of
Mark Lindström and Jouni Mässeli in their case against the state of
Finland for human rights violations
they were subjected to while imprisoned in Riihikmäki.
Incarcerated at Riihimäki prison, Lindström and Mässeli were
placed in isolation on the suspicion
of smuggling drugs into the prison. It will still have its own
museums and own pro?le, while the
Guggenheim would exist separately.
This is a decisive difference for cultural life in Finland.?
L E H T I K U VA / V E S A M O I L A N E N
Pasila?s overhaul
and the local bio industry
An outline of the long-term renovation plan for Pasila station. Oskala stressed.
The proposal made by Guggenheim in late September has been
criticised for, for example, overoptimistic visitor and tax revenue
projections.
JOONA S L AITINEN . At
least in terms of its ?nancing model, 95 per cent of the proposal was
the same,. Both
were found to have violated the privacy of Matti Vanhanen, with Ruusunen?s 2009 tell-all book outlining
in explicit detail her nine-month relationship with the former Prime
Minister.
In October 2007, Finnish authorities brought charges against Ruu-
sunen, publisher Ojala, and Etukeno
Oy, a publishing company based in
Helsinki. Only money for the rights
for the foundation?s name, and only
that, comes from private sources,?
he added.
In 2012, the proposal was rejected partly due to the fact that
the licensing costs of over 20 million euros would have been borne
by Helsinki. A financial boost
to the Erasmus+ programme.
See pages 14,15
European Court of Human
Rights overturns one
ruling of Finnish courts.
C AT H A R I N A S AT O L A
HEL SINKI TIMES
THE EUROPEAN Court of Human
rights has ruled on three cases involving citizens vs. On Monday, Wiseman was not prepared to comment
on who the ?nancers could be.
Hannu Oskala (Greens) argued
that the new proposal is better in
both economic and cultural respects.
?One would think that also Pajamäki
considers it important that the Helsinki Art Museum remains a separate unit. ISSUE 3 (337) . The
Finnish bio industry seeks funding
and growth.
See pages 4,8
Verdicts handed down from
ECHR on three Finnish cases
L E H T I K U VA / A P F P H O T O / RO B E R T L . And
why don?t Finns drive electric cars?
See pages 11, 12
EDUCATION
Classes and Erasmus
A discussion on the distribution
of classes in the proposed high
school reform. The National Coalition,
the Greens and the Swedish People?s
Party voted in favour of the project.
?If we had crossed off the option
now, we would have never known
the plans,. Helsinki Times is also available for sale in more than 140 kiosks across Finland.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
eReaders and electric cars
A review of the best tablets and
eReaders based on user needs. the state of Finland. F I S H E R
DOMESTIC & BUSINESS
The plot reserved for the possible Guggenheim museum in Helsinki?s Eteläsatama.. 16 . The European Court of Human Rights, having
examined the Finnish law, agreed
that the use of coveralls was not
written in to the law.
tive,. pointed out Osku Pajamäki (SDP), who voted against the museum project.
?The whole project is still publicly funded. The European Court of Human Rights agreed with the ruling of
the Finnish court in both the case of
Ruusunen and Ojala.
Architectural competition for
Guggenheim Helsinki to begin this spring
The ?nal decision on the construction of the museum will not be taken
until the ?nal stages of the architectural competition. To prepare for the
decision, the city board decided on
Monday to launch its own assessment
of the museum?s economic impact.
?It?s important that we don?t
blindly subscribe to the ?gures provided by the seller but want to determine their accuracy. commented Lasse Männistö (NCP).
The decision of the city board
was welcomed with joy by executives of the Guggenheim Foundation in New York.
?We?re thrilled with the result.
We?ve discussed the matter in length
with Helsinki?s decision-makers, and
it?s wonderful that today?s decision
was a positive one from our perspec-
application was dismissed in 2009.
They claimed that the use of such
coveralls was not written into Finnish law, and was merely a practice initiated by the directors of Riihimäki
prison. Other prisons, the applicants
pointed out, were able to prevent the
smuggling of drugs without the use
of humiliating coveralls. Ari Wiseman, a deputy director at the foundation, told Helsingin
Sanomat on Monday.
Wiseman?s enthusiasm is understandable particularly in light
of the fact that the city board voted against the project in May 2012.
The vote was then decided by the
Greens, who opted right at the end
to oppose the project.
?I ?nd it hard to comprehend
what exactly has changed so much
that the Greens now voted aye. ?3 . If the city?s
assessment yields totally different
numbers, the project cannot move
forward on the arguments presented by Guggenheim,. While
in isolation, they alleged that they
were not escorted to a toilet in time
when needed, and were therefore
forced to defecate in their clothes.
According to Lindström and Mässeli, their human rights were violated as they were forced to wear the
soiled coveralls, without being given any opportunity to wash.
Lindström and Mässeli took their
case to the Finnish courts, but their
Verdict upheld
On the same day, the Court ruled in
favour of the state of Finland in the
two related cases of Kari Markus
Ojala and Susan Ruusunen. You can
transfer from one
vehicle to another
with a single ticket
within the validity
of the ticket.
www.hsl.?
The European Court of Human Rights upheld an earlier ruling against the writer and publisher of a tell-all book detailing
a relationship with former Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen.
ONE OF THE mo st disputed museum
projects in Finland, the Guggenheim
museum, inched toward its realisation on Monday, when the Helsinki
City Board voted 10-5 in favour of
reserving a plot in Eteläsatama for
the architectural competition.
The reservation will expire at the
end of 2015, before which both stages of the privately-funded international architectural competition are
to be held. Ruusunen claimed that
the judgement of the Finnish court
violated her freedom of speech under
Article 10. W W W.HELSINKITIMES.FI
Available by subscription, on board more than 350 Finnair flights, on Allegro trains and in all top-quality hotels in Finland. Now, the Guggenheim
foundation contrastively pledged
to arrange private funds toward the
licensing costs
Those who committed conventional war crimes (according to the
Hague Conventions), i.e. It has
contributed profoundly to peace and prosperity in both regional and global levels for
over half a century since the end of WWII. 2.
the protests is
Suthep Thaugsuban, a former Democrat Party MP who
was deputy prime minister in
the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration. The
Democrat Party supports
Suthep, and has stated that
it will boycott the February elections. similar charges or ?Class A. How
has Thailand arrived at this
dangerous crossroads?
THAILAND?S key opposition
Democrat Party ?rst spotted
an opportunity to undermine
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra after her botched
attempt, in October 2013, to
enact a controversial amnesty bill that would have pardoned former Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck?s brother, for corruption charges that were laid
against him in 2008.
YINGLUCK shelved the bill
in November, but protesters
are demanding more. buried in Hietaniemen hautausmaa cemetery. claims Mr Huang. He has accused
her government of being the
source of political corruption, and says it deserves to
be eliminated.
SUTHEP wants the government to be replaced with a
?people?s council.. According to the Chinese view the aim of this
or similar visits to the Yasukuni Shrine is only to destabilise the present situation in the
Far East or even the post-war international order. Japan has managed to stay calm and restraint in face
of a non-stop series of jingoistic moves by China on the East China Sea. Government corruption in Thailand seems
omnipresent. The Tribunal was an instrument of revenge in
which no neutral country was allowed to participate. A great deal
of recent research suggests
that the Yingluck-Thaksin
political clans have been no
more corrupt than Suthep?s
own party. You can submit your
articles to viewpoint@helsinkitimes.fi. Regarding China, there are de?nitely some other newsworthy topics Mr
Huang could have clari?ed.
Examples may include human rights violations, persisting media censorship and manipulation, nationwide air pollution (which are also partly affecting neighbouring countries), rapid military spending and expansion in its neighboring waters. We also better not be blind to sufferings and disasters the communist of?cials have in?icted upon their co-nationals as well
as ethnic minorities. People in rural provinces were often condemned for
being easily manipulated by
scrupulous politicians.
THE CONCERTED
TODAY, Thailand is a different place. True, and
China is by no means exceptional. While
the army has not yet directly
intervened, other independent institutions have tried to
oust the government in their
own ways: The Election Commission just announced that
the planned February elections must be postponed to
prevent violence. Unwilling to revise its
policy platform to attract a
wider electorate, the Democrat Party has chosen to
work with the army and to
represent the conservatives
as well as the royalists in
Bangkok to belittle electoral
democracy.
THE PROTESTS have been allowed to continue because
of tacit support from the old
power networks in Thailand:
the military, big business,
and many bureaucrats. In Finland we had the same experience through the Soviet orchestrated ?War Guilt Tribunal?, which also was built on retroactive legislation. But China (and Korea as well) had
since never of?cially protested it until around the late-1980s. It is thus wrong to assume
that Japan is becoming more militaristic. To be
honest I am rather critical of Abe?s latest visit not upon moral, but upon pure political
and strategic grounds. The protests
in Bangkok re?ect their anxiety over losing control as
much as they do their antagonism vis-à-vis Thaksin, Yingluck, and their supporters.
themarknews.com
I am disappointed at the latest commentary of Huang Xing, PRC Ambassador to Finland
(Issue January 9-15, Viewpoint: ?Yasukuni Shrine, a touchstone of Japan?s attitudes towards history and future?). China is currently intent of amassing for itself more territory in the East China Sea. category (made retroactively) at the Tokyo Tribunal against Japan?s wartime leaders.
Have Russia or any former Allied countries ever prevented Finnish political leaders
from visiting their ?Class-A criminals. Not all, but quite many points in his account are biased, erroneous, and politically motivated.
War history and postwar reconciliation in East Asia are still highly sensitive and complicated issues. Suthep is not satis?ed with Yingluck?s political
concessions. Those subjects
are timely as well as eminent, at least more appealing to the attention of local readership. The opinions expressed in this section are the writers. Their acts of aggression in Korea, Tibet, Uyghur, Vietnam . Bangkok,
LEADING
an act designed to create a
situation of ungovernability so as to invite military
intervention.
the Yingluck-Thaksin
regime the worst that Thailand has had. It is China who all of a sudden
changed its stance and started politicising the Yasukuni visit. Note that Japan guarantees freedom of speech, open history inquiry, and opinion diversity, much equivalents in Finland, yet none of which exists in
China under communist rule. As of 13 January, Suthep and his followers
have ?shut down. own and do not represent the official policy of the Helsinki Times.
HELSINKI TIMES
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor,
Pavin Chachavalpongpun is associate professor at
Kyoto University?s Center for Southeast Asian Studies,
and a democracy activist in Thailand.
Thailand at the crossroads:
an endangered democracy
THAILAND?S ruling Pheu Thai
government seems to be in
its death throes, and is being
picked at by an army of its enemies. Should it be immediately banned, for such provocation threatens the post-war international regime. In the 1990s,
Bangkok residents played a
signi?cant role in promoting democracy and opposing
the militarization of politics. These visits are of strictly religious nature
and not directed towards anybody or any country. is publicly expressed. This article is no doubt part of the worldwide antiJapanese campaign orchestrated by his head of?ce in Beijing.
There is nothing new in his arguments. He has
handpicked the members
of this assembly, most of
whom are closely allied to
Thailand?s old, anti-democratic establishment. statement like, ?Well, we fought a war solely for our independence,
no link to Nazis. The eminent position of the monarchy has long
been at the heart of Thai political life. It
last won a national majority in 1992, whereas Thaksin
and his proxies have dominated electoral votes since
2011. Or
should Finns stop paying homage to their war dead out there if Russia or China suddenly
accuse them as ?Nazi collaborators??
What if a ?revisionist. Their voices have been strengthened
in the past decade thanks
partly to Thaksin?s policy of
grassroots empowerment.
do Bangkokians yearn
for anything but democracy?
This shift is deeply connected to the political crisis that
has been building in Thailand
since 2006. Moreover, as the teaching of history in the Ambassador?s home country
is not free, he might not be aware of the fact that the Military Tribunal for the Far East
which did the sentencing, is nowadays very much criticised as having been a sham tribunal, performed by the victors of WWII. Such is the custom in every country and we in
Finland can especially appreciate this aspect. Under
extreme pressure, Yingluck
dissolved parliament, calling for snap polls to be held
on Feb. The palace has been
controlling politics with the
military?s backing since the
middle of the Cold War. I even believe that Mr Huang should have proactively accounted for these states of
affairs without particular request.
As for Yasukuni, unlike common knowledge or misconception, the dispute arose more
recently. all after WWII . Their unilateral claims or Chinese people?s ?uni?ed. Finnish wartime president
Risto Ryti and seven other political leaders were found guilty on counts of war crimes,
crimes against peace and humanity . Rural residents, meanwhile,
are ?ghting for more political representation through
electoral politics. 2
VIEWPOINT
16 . Suthep, however, saw the current situation as an opportunity to
legitimize the behavior and
rationale of his anti-government forces.
BUT IS
THE CRISIS here unveils
many ugly realities in Thai
politics. Against this background one can truly wonder
which country is bent on upsetting the peace in the Asian region?
Yours sincerely,
Ronny Rönnqvist. One would be forgiven
for thinking that the government?s chances for survival
are slim. The country has never developed weapons
of mass destruction, nor sold conventional arms or other military equipment overseas
despite its suf?cient capabilities. the so called class B/C war criminals, were tried and sentenced
in separate trials in Japan and elsewhere.
Finally, would it not be appropriate to clean up one?s own backyard before starting
crusades against other peaceful countries. voice
must therefore be double-checked and put into perspective.
It is also somewhat ironic that Mr Huang addressed his viewpoint to local Finnish people and media while not referring to Finnish post-war affairs. Note that some of these tragedies above are not even historical, but
contemporary and continuing to this day.
Regards, Nori Watanabe
PhD student, Faculty of Social Sciences University of Helsinki
???
Dear Editor,
In the 9 January issue of the Helsinki Times, the Chinese Ambassador to Finland Mr.
Huang Xing writes critically about the recent visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. Nothing can be further from the truth.
The Japanese Prime Minister has every right and indeed the duty to pay homage to the
soldiers who have died for their country. Taking such a Finnish analogy, we are better able to realise what China demands from Japan is unreasonable, out of line, or irrelevant.
It is clearly demonstrated that Japan has ?rmly held a peace-loving touchstone. should not be justi?ed. One would better suggest that China be more accountable for its post-war opportunism and sudden behavioural changes.
Public opinions in Japan over Yasukuni seem divided, sober but ambivalent. 22 JANUARY 2014
Viewpoints are commentaries written by experts and authorities about specific topics. The Democrat Party has never been able to
compete with Thaksin in the
game of electoral politics. The true intentions of Prime Minister
Abe can be read in his recent statement ?Pledge for an everlasting peace?.
The Yasukuni Shrine is the abode not only of the souls of the 14 so called ?Class A War
Criminals. The Human Rights
Commission launched a series of attacks against Yingluck for her government?s
supposed maltreatment of
protesters.
efforts to
overthrow the elected Yingluck government show a
reverse trend in the Thai political story. Helsinki Times reserves the right to accept or reject submissions, as well as
to edit or shorten the text. Articles should be at least 5,000 characters-with-spaces long
(maximum length 10,000). But the
magic of the Thai monarchy is
diminishing due to King Bhumibol Adulyadej?s many years
of self-politicisation, as well as
his deteriorating health.
WHY
THE UPCOMING royal succes-
sion will place the unpopular
Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn on the throne. but also of 2.5 million ordinary soldiers who have died for their country in
different wars. The Constitutional Court has searched
for existing legal loopholes
to outlaw the Yingluck government. Obviously it is China who is now trying to change the post-war international regime or status quo
in Asia/Paci?c regions by force or coercion for its favour.
?No country is allowed to whitewash past aggression,. The rich and the
powerful in Bangkok now
call for less democracy. Contrary to Mr
Huang?s view, Japan does really learn some lesson from its history (and failure). Members
of the old power fear the day
when Bhumibol will no longer
be the force to protect their
power interests. In fact, the shrine visit by Japanese top political leaders had been practiced awhile
and regularly even after enshrining Class A criminals. Meanwhile, political
violence is a growing threat
on the streets of Bangkok,
and rumors of yet another
military coup abound
HS
ALEK SI TEIVAINEN . Such jobs include
telemarketers, forwarding
agents, accountants and basic mechanics.
In contrast, the demand
for teaching and health care
professionals is expected to
be unaffected.
Rouvinen reminds that
naturally researchers cannot
foresee exactly which occu-
pations will survive amid the
changes. H T
HS / JUHANI NIIR ANEN
THE FINNISH Government
convened on Monday for an
unof?cial discussion on the
future of Finland. Beyond that, however, the premier refrained
from disclosing the contents
of the unof?cial talks.
Minister of Finance Jutta Urpilainen (SDP), in turn,
said that the Government
talked extensively about the
state of the welfare state
and its future. summarised Katainen.
Katainen argued that Finland?s low tolerance for failure is eroding its productivity.
?Whenever someone ?oats a
new thought or idea, it?s shot
down from the hip if it?s not
perfect,. All
thoughts and ideas on how
to create new jobs and to promote economic growth are
welcome,. In addition, the talks broached on
how to encourage people to
speak out as users of, for example, social and health care
services. ?It?s good that we?ve
started talking about citizen?s
income in order to reduce the
job acceptance threshold.?
Timo Lindholm, a director at Sitra, reveals that
the innovation fund is currently contemplating how
to enhance the ?exibility of
working.
?So that as many as possible have something meaningful to do. We have
plenty of crankiness as it is.?
According to Katainen,
the participants considered
Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen (NCP) invited his cabined to Aalto
University?s campus in Otaniemi, Espoo, for a parley on Monday.
how to encourage experimentation in Finland. ?The goal is
also to lend an ear to more
experts in the economy. ?The everyday work of
the Government pretty much
proceeds according to a
minute-by-minute schedule.
Sometimes, it?s good to stop
and contemplate in more detail,. According to him, it
is nonetheless vital to realise
that the ongoing turbulence of
the labour market is possibly
more extensive than ever before in the industrial history.
?It challenges our capacity for reform.?
?There?s always been talk
about technology taking
away jobs, but now the threat
is more imminent than ever
before in the industrial history,. It would
mess up the entire debate, and
leave Finland full of offended
and cranky people. he elaborated.
Urpilainen viewed that it
is vital to piece together the
cabinet?s views on the prevalent situation in order to foster trust within its ranks.
Preparatory work on the
next major hurdle for the
Government, the spring?s
framework session, is already underway at the Ministry of Finance. said Urpilainen.
APPLICATION PERIOD
7 Jan?12 Feb 2014
> Energy and Environmental Technology
> International Business
> Media and Arts
scovery
of Di
Joy
www.tamk.fi
While Sitra president Mikko Kosonen sees the development in keeping with the Western nations?
embrace of automation as means to foster growth and wealth, he is concened whether middle and
blue-collar jobs can also be created in Finland in future.
Job automation puts
one in three jobs at risk
The number of
telemarketing,
accounting and
mechanic jobs is
projected to decline.
MART TA NIEMINEN,
JUHA-PEKK A R AESTE . says Petri Rouvinen, the research director at
the Research Institute of the
Finnish Economy (Etla).
These jobs are projected
to vanish over the next 10-20
years.
Etla?s study is founded on research conducted
at the University of Oxford,
the framework of which has
been adapted for the Finnish
labour market.
The jobs in jeopardy in
Finland, the ?ndings suggest, are jobs that can be carried out without manpower
due to advancements in robotics and information technology. ?The changes in the labour market that
will translate to the disappearance of especially middle-class jobs in Finland was
a subject that surfaced in the
talks,. she said.
Katainen viewed that the
talks offered a number of new
ideas. views Rouvinen.
In keeping
with the trend
Pekka Tiainen, a ministerial counsellor at the Ministry
of Employment and the Economy, believes Etla?s projections to be largely accurate.
Tiainen has estimated that
currently some 700 jobs are
created and some 820 disappear every day in Finland.
The current situation, he
views, can to some extent be
attributed to business cycles
and to some to the industrial change . HT
FINNISH jobs are at risk not
only due to the lingering
economic uncertainty, the
industrial change and slumping demand but also due to
the technological advancements that allow the replacement of manpower at
workplaces by machines.
?According to our study,
the prevalence of information technology threatens
roughly one in three Finnish jobs,. DOMESTIC
HELSINKI TIMES
16 . Such measures,
Tiainen says, would not address the problems associated with the demand for
labour.
While the Western nations have embraced automation as means to foster
growth and wealth, a crucial question is whether middle and blue-collar jobs can
be created also in the future,
says Mikko Kosonen, the
president of the Finnish Innovation Fund (Sitra).
Finland, meanwhile, must
hurry to decide how to develop its social security system.
?That is, can we ?nd something to do for everyone and
how do we ?nance that,. is impossible, because they lack the
necessary quali?cations and
competences.
What to do with these
people is a key question in today?s Finland, Tiainen views.
The remedies proposed
recently to promote economic growth and the employment situation include
a raise in the retirement age
and increasing the intake of
immigrants. such as mobile game studios . H S
A L E K S I T E I VA IN E N . since 2000, over
100,000 Finnish jobs have
disappeared.
However, the problem
that remains to be solved is
the structural unemployment threatening people in
the oldest age groups laid off
from industrial jobs.
For them, ?nding employment in the new domains begot by the so-called creative
destruction . the premier lamented, declining, however, to offer
an example of a rejected idea.
?I?d rather not. 22 JANUARY 2014
3
L E H T I K U VA / P E K K A S A K K I
Katainen
disappointed
with negativity
M AT T I T Y Y N Y S N IE M I . The United Kingdom has pledged to reward
venture investors if they can
contribute to keeping former
inmates on the right side of
the law. After a day
at the Aalto University, Prime
Minister Jyrki Katainen (NCP)
said that the session presented the Government with a rare
opportunity to engage in wideranging talks without the
pressure of decision-making.
Cabinet members and the
researchers invited to contribute, Katainen said, were
particularly eager to comment on Finland?s mental
climate.
?Finland has too negative
a climate, which is affecting
our performance,. explains Kosonen.
Answers are sought across
the world by analysing a variety of non-pro?t distributing
organisations and business
models. In the United States,
the social alienation of the
middle-class is already a part
of the public debate, Kosonen
highlights.
Kosonen also cautions that
the ongoing development will
spur the widening of the income gap. It?s not just about the
euros you earn but also about
how to reduce alienation
and illnesses by doing something that keeps you an active
member of the society.?
despite
remaining modest in comparison to a number of other
Western countries . The most explosive revelation within
its pages is that his wife had an affair with US President John
F Kennedy, before they met.
?I have always wanted to tell the whole world what a remarkable person Merrill was,. a fact that
was manifested in several
glitches. In addition, people at employment
of?ces were granted more
leeway to decide on rational
measures to promote integration. also
began underlining the significance of language instruction and personal integration
plans for the successful integration of immigrants into
the Finnish society.
Previously, no discernible difference had existed between the employment
training of native Finns and
immigrants. Essentially, it only urged [authorities] to do
things more ef?ciently. is an indication of rapid changes.
In the 1990s, of?cials had
relatively little experience in
providing integration services to immigrants . for the immigrants who only had little if
any Finnish skills . Passengers will,
however, only be affected in
2017 when the work will move
onto the actual station building for three-and-a-half years.
?The work will be carried out in two stages. This, our study shows,
seems to have worked,?
Sarvimäki comments.
Bogdan Tudosie (left) from Romania, Dung Hoangthile from Vietnam and Soje Efe Bright from Nigeria participate in integration
training at the Axxell Multicultural Centre in Helsinki. says Matti
Sarvimäki, a researcher at
Vatt and the Aalto University. The book is not only the biography of
Hintikka?s second wife, philosopher Merrill Hintikka, but also
a passionate love story. HT
?The new station will be
built on the old concept but, as
a new feature, there might be
some pop-up shops and different exhibitions,. he explains. Sarvimäki conducted the
study in co-operation with
Kari Hämäläinen, a chief
economist at Vatt.
Finland woke up to the rising number of immigrants
in the 1990s, when immigration into the country began to
increase.
In 1990, foreign citizens
only accounted for 0.5 per
cent of the country?s population, according to Statistics
Finland. Salo outlines.
HS / JUHANI NIIR ANEN
Only the platforms and the ground level will remain of the old station. Merrill Bristow Merrill changed
her name to Merrill Hintikka and eventually died in 1978.
A new shopping centre
During the construction,
an entrance will also be created on the western wall of
the station, connecting it
with a new shopping centre
to be built in the area. However,
he has now published a book that changes everything previously known about him. They all
hope to find work soon.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
This week a Sikh bus driver in Vantaa
has been forbidden to wear a turban while at work.
Should people have to conform to the standards of their work
uniform, regardless of their religious requirements?
Yes . 22 JANUARY 2014
HELSINKI TIMES
Y I T R AK ENNUS
Reform of integration
services a success
JYRI HÄNNINEN . The
extent of the building project has prompted Jussi Pajunen, Mayor of Helsinki, to
dub the area the second centre of Helsinki.
With building work set
to begin in 2017, the shopping centre will almost be
the same size as the Kamppi shopping centre. says Salo.
In connection with the
massive overhaul, all the escalators will be changed and
an extra track will be added
to the west side of the station
area.
Additional space is sorely needed as passenger usage
is expected to double by 2021
from the current number of
50,000, when the construction will be completed.
Second biggest station in Capital Region to
receive overhaul.
A BLEAK thoroughfare with
platforms that have seen
better days.
This is the image that
Pasila station conjures up
in the minds of most people despite the facelift it underwent last year when the
station?s colour scheme, logos, signs and shop premises
L E H T I K U VA
were updated and the building?s lighting improved.
In the near future, the station will change beyond all
recognition when it is given
a total overhaul. At the end of 2012,
the share had increased to
3.6 per cent, which . After this,
more ?ats and commercial
premises will be built both to
its north and south.
Altogether 25,000 new
jobs will be created in central
Pasila, as well as accommodation for 12,000 people.
HS / K AI SINERVO
S A N N A J O M P E RO . The reform of
the training services, however, began yielding results.
The study conducted by
Sarvimäki and Hämäläinen
?nds that immigrants who
used the new integration services coped markedly better
than the control group.
?The reform is rather interesting. They moved to Finland six months later, where they got married. The image shows the new ten-storey wings.
THE REFORM of Finland?s integration services in the late
1990s has been a considerable success. All the
platforms will however be accessible and all of the tracks
will be in use,. H S
NIINA WOOLLE Y . that is, money. All that will
remain of the current station
building is the ground level and platforms. Employment of?ces ?
the current TE Of?ces . And perhaps there was also a slight ulterior motive: I wanted to inspire youngster to take up a career in research by showing
that researchers are not just thinking robots.?
Hintikka affirms that his low self-confidence has sometimes placed obstacles in his work, but everything changed
when he met Merrill in 1975 in New York. Our
study shows that results can
be achieved also by handling
things better,. Many more nights
followed the first one. 34.4%
A foretaste of things to come: the colour scheme, logos and
some shops at the Pasila station have already been updated.
View details and this week?s question at www.helsinkitimes.fi. The hotel will aim
to attract visitors to the
fair centre and Linnanmäki theme park,. explains
Tapio Salo, project manager
at the construction company YIT, pointing at the station ceiling.
The height of the present
station building will increase
by ten new ?oors.
The overhaul of the second
busiest station in Finland is
set to kick off in summer 2015,
with the repair of its concrete
structures. HS
A L E K S I T E I VA I N E N . But I?d
be lying if I said passengers
won?t be affected by it. Besides
the shopping centre and the
conference centre, a hotel, a
parking complex and accommodation for 500 new residents will be built next to the
station.
?The shopping centre
will be the sixth largest in
Finland. H T
Pasila station to
gain ten extra floors
station building will not undergo signi?cant changes.
?A new conference centre and of?ces will be built on
top of the building,. A study by the
Government Institute for
Economic Research (Vatt) indicates that the reform resulted in a 47 per cent jump in
the income levels of the immigrants who participated in
the integration programme.
Moreover, these immigrants required less social
security bene?ts than the
control group.
The results are particularly impressive in light of
the fact that spending on the
services was not increased as
part of the reform.
?The idea is typically that
results can only be achieved
by providing additional resources . 65.6%
No . 4
DOMESTIC
16 . Currently, the unemployment rate for immigrants
according to the Ministry of
the Interior is over three-fold
that of the native population.
Similarly, the income level of
immigrants remains, especially in their ?rst year in Finland, notably below that of
native Finns.
In the 1990s, immigrants
were still provided job-seeking training designed for
Finns, which . Niina Puumalainen explains, project
manager from the Helsinki
City planning department.
The construction of the
centre and the services it will
provide acts as the ?rst stage
in the development of central Pasila district. proved
inef?cient.
In the May of 1999, a new
act on the integration of immigrants was introduced,
obliging of?cials to draw up
individual integration plans
for every unemployed immigrant who has been in Finland
no longer than three years.
In larger municipalities,
immigrants were also divided
into groups according to their
language and other competences. ?I also wanted to
fathom why we were so important to each other. Everything
else will be pulled down.
The routes to the platforms and the area of the
retail premises inside the
Who:
Jaakko Hintikka
From:
Vantaa
Famous for:
Philosopher and logician,
Hintikka has recently written a book, She Chose Merrill Hintikka as Her Name
(Hän valitsi nimekseen Merrill Hintikka).
One of the most distinguished philosophers in Finland, Hintikka has never opened up about his personal life
We generally have to prioritise. The caller also said that some of the
youngsters were armed with
knives and baseball bats. The
?ight, operated by Norwegian, was scheduled to land
at the Helsinki Airport at
17:00 but did not arrive until
shortly after 19:00.
A spokesperson at the
Lapland Police Department
reveals that the bomb threat
was made to a member of
the airport personnel by a
52-year-old man from Enontekiö. the outspoken MP declared in his blog
last Thursday.
Hirvisaari is currently
serving his ?rst term in the
Finnish Parliament and has
been a member of the Asikkala town council since 2008.
He was elected into the Parliament on the Finns Party?s
ticket, but after his expulsion
from the opposition party
last autumn is now a representative of the Change 2011
party.
L EH T IK U VA / A N T T I A IMO -KOI V IS TO
Police:
Motive for
Porvoo
abduction
financial
the town?s Näsi district. Two of the manslaughters allegedly took
place in Helsinki in 2011 and
one in Lahti in 2006.
The investigators have
emphasised that although
sound beating,. The
families of the deceased patients and the victims of the
alleged assaults have how-
ever been noti?ed of the
investigation.
Laiho practised medicine
for roughly ten years before
the authenticity of his medical quali?cations was called
into question by the daily Ilta-Sanomat in November
2011. We
have people currently in custody, whose cases must be addressed ?rst,. In this
case, the Of?ce of the Prosecutor General will get a
of serious offences should be
deported from Finland.
Lila Havusela, the of?cer in
charge of the investigation at
the Häme Police Department,
has declined to comment on
the schedule for the investigation. Investigative of?cers remain uncertain whether the offence was
premeditated.
?We don?t know what
would have happened, if the
police patrol had not arrived,?
underscored Tuominen.
The defendant?s counsel, Kari Uoti spoke to members of the media at the District Court of Helsinki on 10 January.
Laiho is not believed to have
made any deliberate attempts to kill his patients, he
should have recognised that
his actions may have jeopardised the lives and well-being of his patients.
The details of the allegations are kept under wraps
for the present on grounds
of the classi?ed nature of patient medical records. H T
THE DISTRICT Court of Helsinki decided on 10 January
not to detain pseudo-doctor
Esa Laiho, who . The
police have yet to comment
on whether edged weapons
were used in the brawl. She
was held captive for a couple
of hours, during which her
abductor withdrew money
from her bank account. The police have yet to reveal the extent of their injuries.
Overall, roughly ten
youngsters have been questioned in relation to the incident, but the police are yet to
locate all of the suspects. The police, however, have
yet to comment on what possibly caused the brawl and continue looking into the incident.
James Hirvisaari joined the Change 2011 party after his expulsion from the Finns Party last autumn, becoming the party?s first representative in the Finnish Parliament.
Police investigating
Hirvisaari?s writing on rapists
K AT R I K A L L IO N PÄ Ä ,
JUH O - P E K K A P E KO N E N . ?The suspect has revealed in interrogations that
he has gambling debts. H S
THE MOTIVE for the abduction of a roughly 20-year-old
woman in Porvoo last week
appears to be ?nancial, investigative of?cers have
revealed. H S
A N N IK A R AU TA KOUR A . Leppilahti also assured that the release
of Laiho will not hinder the
investigation.
Laiho, who in addition to
three counts of manslaughter is suspected of ?ve counts
of aggravated assault, was
apprehended by the police on
7 January. Hirvisaari is suspected of ethnic
agitation following the writing in which he argued, citing
South African rape statistics,
that immigrants convicted
Court releases
pseudo-doctor amid
homicide allegations
Investigation into the deaths of three patients continues regardless, the police affirm.
SUS A NN A R E INB O T H . the LounaisSuomi Police Department
communicated on Monday.
The police received an
emergency call about an ongoing brawl in a school-yard
in Lieto that, according to the
caller, included as many as
40-50 youngsters. That?s
one matter we must still look
into,. is
suspected over the deaths of
three of his patients.
Laiho has rejected the
homicide allegations.
His legal counsel, Kari Uoti, revealed after the ruling
that the defence cited a review by the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare
and Health (Valvira) in its arguments against the detention. Petersburg, Russia.
Consequently, he is also suspected of aggravated
fraud and aggravated forgery.. The police subsequently inspected the aircraft and
baggage with a bomb-sniffing dog and ultimately determined that the threat had
been unfounded.
Investigators also reveal
that the man who made the
threat was heavily intoxicated and is suspected of false
report of danger.
The Kittilä Airport is principally used by passengers
heading to the Levi ski resorts and other resorts in the
region.
Baseball bat used
as youngsters brawl
in Varsinais-Suomi
HS
THE BRAWL that took place in
Lieto, Varsinais-Suomi, last
Friday between two groups
of youngsters was planned in
advance, the police believes.
?A meeting of some kind had
been arranged in Lieto on
social media,. A
baseball bat, the police have
con?rmed, was used in the
brawl.
Over ten youngsters from
Lieto and Aura were still on
the site of the brawl when the
responding of?cers arrived.
Two of the brawlers were consequently taken to the Turku
University Hospital for treatment. she explains.
The investigation, Havusela says, will be conducted
The investigating of?cers
disagree and af?rmed that
they will continue the probe
regardless of the court?s
ruling.
?The reviews conducted
by Valvira are insuf?cient
from the police?s viewpoint,?
stated Antti Leppilahti, the
of?cer in charge of the investigation. H S
A GROUNDLESS bomb threat
delayed a ?ight out of Kittilä
Airport to Helsinki by over
two hours on Sunday. ?We do not comment
on individual cases. CRIME
HELSINKI TIMES
16 . the police
announced a day earlier . H S
A PRE-TRIAL investigation has
been launched into an online posting by Member of
the Parliament James Hirvisaari in January last year,
the Of?ce of the Prosecutor
General has con?rmed. After reviewing Laiho?s
track record exhaustively,
Valvira has concluded that his
actions have caused no deaths
or serious injuries or handicap
to his patients.
in collaboration with a prosecutor, who will ultimately decide whether charges against
Hirvisaari should be brought.
Hirvisaari, in turn, insists
that his criticism was directed at rapists rather than any
particular national or ethnic
group.
?The of?ce is once again
about to side with rapists,
against freedom of speech
and Finnish women. 22 JANUARY 2014
5
C O M P I L E D B Y A L E K S I T E I VA I N E N
L E H T I K U VA / M I L L A TA K A L A 0
M IN N A PA S S I . Mia Tuominen, the of?cer in charge of the investigation, said on 9 January.
She also revealed that the
suspect and his victim did
not know one another prior
to the offence.
The young woman was
abducted at approximately
19:00 on 7 January as she was
walking along a forest trail in
Drunken bomb threat
delays flight out
of Kittilä Airport
JUH A NI S A A R INE N . Laiho has since admitted to obtaining counterfeit
medical quali?cations from
St. Altogether, the perpetrator stole
over one hundred euros from
his victim.
The woman suffered a variety of injuries during her
ordeal but was discharged
from hospital care a few days
after the incident.
The roughly 20-year-old
suspect, in turn, was detained on 9 January by the
District Court of Itä-Uusimaa
for probable cause of robbery, aggravated deprivation
of liberty and violent resistance to a public of?cial.
The police stumbled upon the crime through mere
chance, after the suspect
was pulled over for a routine
inspection by traf?c of?cers, who discovered the victim tied up on the back seat
of the vehicle. At
least one of the brawlers is
held on suspicion of assault.
Ilta-Sanomat reports that
the bad blood between Lieto
and Aura teens stems from a
scuf?e between two youngsters
In the
end it is in everyone?s interest if the atmosphere is more
open, equal and appreciative
of diversity.?
Salo reminds of the many
gendered aspects of sports
structures: the different
sports, series and dressing
rooms.
?Pressure on being a certain type of man or woman is
evident.?
The position of sexual and
gender minorities in sports
became a topic of discussion this week when a former
player of Germany?s national
football team, Thomas Hitzlsperger, revealed that he is
gay. It would
be too dif?cult a position.?
STT asked the chairs of parliamentary groups their take
on NATO, and what it would
be if Sweden applied for NATO
membership. Finland could not
remain the only buffer. According to
Taskinen, one may have fallen
asleep drunk in the sauna.
Taskinen reveals that statistics on sauna deaths are
compiled, because sauna is
a Finnish phenomenon. ?The further into social
hierarchy the matter is examined, the more impossible it is
to separate Finland and Sweden?s unity. According to priest Maari Santala,
a church continues to be the
most popular place for marriage. He specialises in international politics, in particular the Middle East. Statistics from last
year are not yet available.
?Sauna deaths are heat-induced deaths. The US administration refused to deal with
the Iranians. Santala describes
some choices as wild ones.
?One colleague married a
couple in a boxing ring?, Santala says.?. Almost everyone
YLE NEWS 12 JANUARY
Wedding couples persuaded into
organising wedding celebrations
in Estonia for a better price
AS INDICATED by Straw, the deal reached on 24 November provides an opportunity for the West, the US
in particular, to abandon its long-standing policy of rejecting a negotiated political settlement with Iran that
is based on international law. SOFI WECKMAN
Dozens of Finns die in saunas,
according to Ilta-Sanomat
?GOING to the sauna may be fatal, Ilta-Sanomat reports. and contribute to solving one of the ?greatest
threats to world peace?.
HOWEVER, an overview of the documentary record of
the Iranian nuclear dispute indicates that the US and
the EU bear a considerable burden of responsibility for
blocking a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Salo points out that Hitzlsperger would have wanted
to speak of the matter earlier in his career, but he was
forbidden.
?Culture should make it
possible for everyone to feel
welcome and consider it their
choice to announce being
part of a minority.??
L E H T I K U VA / J U S S I N U K A R I
MORE than one month ago, the interim agreement on the
L E H T I K U VA / M A R T T I K A I N U L A I N E N
6
Thomas Hitzlsperger?s revelation this week has shone the
spotlight on the position of
sexual and gender minorities
in sports.
have become common in the
last three years?, reveals sales
assistant Tiia Traks at Sagadi Manor in Northern Estonia.
The number of marriages
and registered partnerships
is steadily increasing in general in Finland. The
Obama administration condemned the action of Brazil
and Turkey and moved to impose harsher sanctions on
Iran. These measures would have
constituted objective and veri?able guarantees of the
peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program. The
National Coalition and Green
Party pointed out, however,
that Sweden?s NATO membership would place Finland in a
new situation. Christian Democrats considered the membership an option. Similarly, the Obama administration cancelled a conference aimed at establishing a nuclear-weapon-free-zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East. The
conference was to be held in Helsinki under UN auspices
in December 2012. The EU3, however, under pressure from the Bush
administration backed down on the deal.
IN AUGUST 2013, Jack Straw, who served as Foreign Sec-
retary of Britain between 2001-2006, told the BBC: ?I?m
absolutely convinced that we can do business with Dr
Rouhani, because we did do business with Dr Rouhani,
and had it not been for major problems within the US
administration under President Bush, we could have
actually settled the whole Iran nuclear dossier back
in 2005, and we probably wouldn?t have had President
Ahmadinejad as a consequence of the failure as well.?
THE SAME policy has continued under Obama?s presiden-
cy. 22 JANUARY 2014
FROM FINNISH PRESS
HELSINKI TIMES
L E H T I K U VA / J A R N O M E L A
AAMULEHTI 11 JANUARY
COLUMN
Seta:
Sports
coaches are
responsible
for the
treatment
of minorities
Johannes Hautaviita is a journalist and
a columnist for Helsinki Times. His commentaries
and analyses on international affairs are
regularly published in the Finnish, Swedish and English-language media.
Iran nuclear deal presents
a test for the West
?COACHES and sports leaders
nuclear impasse between the West and Iran was signed.
The deal essentially halts parts of Iran?s nuclear program
in exchange for a relief in sanctions. Beyond a deal with Iran,
it is crucial for the security of the Middle East and the
viability of the entire NPT-regime to move towards establishing a NWFZ in the region.
Finnish couples get married in Estonia increasingly often.
30,000 couples
marry in Finland each year,
while registered partnerships have become increasingly common.
Estonian wedding entrepreneurs are trying to lure
customers from Finland, and
lower prices work to their
advantage.
?We have had mixed couples for several years with
both Finnish and Estonian
parties, but Finnish couples
?AROUND
are responsible for the equal
treatment of sexual and gender minorities on sports
?elds, says Seta?s Secretary
General Aija Salo.
?In the ideal situation they
would be the ones to support
and empower people. Brazil was frustrated and responded by releasing a
letter from Obama. The substantive negotiations will commence during the following six months.
AN EDITORIAL in Helsingin Sanomat described the deal
as an opportunity for Iran to ?change its foreign policy. They do not include, for example, injuries
involving the sauna stove or
burns?, says Kati Taskinen
from Statistics Finland. ?The
number of sauna deaths has
intrigued people and sparked
inquiries.?
In 2011 38 people died in
saunas, and 45 people died in
saunas in 2010.?
ILTA-SANOMAT 12 JANUARY
highlighted the fact that Finland makes a decision on NATO
independent of Sweden. In return,
the EU3 was supposed to recognise Iran?s right to enrich
uranium under international safeguards in accordance
with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). 16 . In Western
and Finnish public discourse, this is often overlooked.
IN 2003, Iran presented the Bush administration with
a diplomatic proposal, the so-called ?grand bargain?,
intended to solve all outstanding issues between the
countries. In 2010, Iran accepted a proposal by Brazil and Turkey to send its enriched uranium abroad for storage. Iran had agreed to participate in the
conference without preconditions.
Sauna deaths are common in Finland.
VERKKOUUTISET 12 JANUARY. The EU3
was also requested to provide Iran with security guarantees against US and Israeli threats of aggression. The National Coalition was in favour of NATO
membership. Sauna
deaths also do not include heart
attacks, if they can be classi?ed
under a certain disease.
Over half of the deceased
were intoxicated. According to Statistics
Finland, 58 Finns died in a sauna in 2012. The letter revealed that Obama had
privately praised the initiative, apparently assuming that
Iran wouldn?t accept it. The Swedish
People?s Party of Finland did
not consider NATO membership a current issue, as the majority of citizens are against it.
The Social Democrats and
Centre Party were not in favour of membership, but SDP
emphasised the NATO option
and the Centre Party highlighted NATO partnership.
The Finns Party, Left Alliance and Green Party were
against membership.?
Researchers: Sweden?s
NATO membership would
force Finland to join
?IF SWEDEN applied for NATO
membership, Finland would
have to do the same, evaluate researchers interviewed
by STT.
According to researcher
Charly Salonius-Pasternak
from the Finnish Institute of
International Affairs, Finland
could not remain outside the
military alliance on its own.
?How can any politician
claim it to be acceptable in
terms of Finland?s safety and
defense that Finland is the
only Nordic and Baltic coun-
try that is not a member of
NATO??
Professor of international politics Tuomas Forsberg
agrees. In the negotiations Iran
agreed to temporarily seize all uranium enrichment as a
con?dence building measure. Iran also agreed to impose
voluntary limits on its nuclear program and allow intrusive inspections by the IAEA. While the Iranian regime had repeatedly
attempted to reach a rapprochement with the US and
given it crucial assistance in its war efforts in Afghanistan, Iran was rewarded by being branded as part of
the ?axis of evil. Some couples are married at the location of the
celebration. Several dozen Finns die annually in
saunas. It is
noteworthy that the Iranians were asking the EU3 to uphold the basic principles of international law and reiterate
Iran?s sovereign rights under the NPT and the UN Charter,
which bans the threat or use of force in international relations. by the Bush administration in 2002.
THIS long-standing
US rejectionism of dealing with Iran
lead to negotiations between the EU3 (Britain, France and
Germany) and Iran in 2003-2005. After a postdepression dip, the number
of marriages went up and so
did the number of registered
partnerships.
Most couples choose
church marriages
?As long as these events
are presented as meteorological and not climatic, then
they will be covered as local
and domestic, not global.?
Events in Iran, including the election of President
Hassan Rouhani and negotiations over its nuclear programme, received a total of
104 minutes of coverage between the three networks
over the course of the year,
nearly as much attention as
was given the British royals.
As for the Israel-Palestinian con?ict which Secretary
of State John Kerry has made
a top priority along with a nuclear deal with Iran, it received
only 16 minutes of coverage in
2013. He added that
?a minor celebrity like Oscar Pistorius (the South African so-called ?Bladerunner?
track star accused of murdering his girlfriend) attracted more coverage than all the
rest of sub-Saharan Africa in
the [11] months before Mandela?s death.?
Surveys by the Pew Research Centre for the People
& the Press, among other polling and research groups, show
that about two-thirds of the
L E H T I K U VA / A F P P H O T O / E D M O N D J I YA N E 0
Major parts of world ignored by US TV news
A rebel fighter prepares to throw a fire ball on a front line of Syria?s northeastern city of Deir Ezzor.
Nearly 500 people, among them at least 85 civilians, have been killed in a week of fighting pitting
Syrian rebels against jihadists in the north of the strife-torn country.
Yoka Brandt, deputy executive director of the children?s agency UNICEF, told
IPS, ?Kuwait is a chance
to give a voice to the millions of children now affected by the Syrian con?ict and
for the world community to
respond.?
Laerke said it is critical to
bear in mind that half of all
those affected are children.
?We must ensure that a generation is not lost,. Families need shelter, warm clothes,
heating materials and hot food
to survive, Laerke added.
?The future of these children is slipping away, but
there is still a chance to save
them,. That was somewhat
under the average amount of
25-year average. Along with the
aftermath of 2012?s Superstorm Sandy, those four topics reaped nearly 900 minutes
of coverage on the three networks, or about six percent of
the entire year?s coverage.
general public cite television
as their main source for national and international news,
more than twice the number
of people who rely on newspapers, and about one-third
more than the growing number of individuals whose primary source is the internet.
An average of about 21
million US residents watches the network news on any
given evening. said Antonio Guterres, the UN high commissioner for refugees.
Meanwhile, one of the
biggest problems facing the
United Nations is gaining access to the needy amidst the
continued ?ghting inside
Syria.
Valerie Amos, the UN?s
emergency relief coordinator,
who has pointed out that all
the warring parties were responsible for the current constraints, said: ?We continue to
stress the need for a political
solution to the crisis.?. conclave that resulted in Francis. CNN,
FoxNews, and MSNBC . 22 JANUARY 2014
7
JIM LOBE
IPS
outside the United States are looking for answers why Americans often
seem so clueless about the
world outside their borders,
they could start with what the
three major US television networks offered their viewers in
the way of news during 2013.
Syria and celebrities
dominated foreign coverage by ABC, NBC, and CBS
. noted Tyndall. were virtually
absent from weeknight news
programmes of ABC, NBC,
and CBS last year, according to the report, which has
tracked the three networks?
evening news coverage continuously since 1988.
Out of nearly 15,000 minutes of Monday-through-Friday evening news coverage
by the three networks, the
Syrian civil war and the debate over possible US intervention claimed 519 minutes,
IF PEOPLE
Mandela?s death was the fifth most covered international news on US TV. and these
numbers are growing.
The ?gures are alarmingly
higher compared to the combined ?gures for refugees
and displaced persons, running into thousands, in two
other political hotspots in
Africa: South Sudan and the
Central African Republic.
The Of?ce of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) estimates about 4.1
million Syrian refugees, including over two million children, will need assistance by
the end of 2014.
?The numbers are staggering; the suffering is massive,?
Jens Laerke, spokesperson
for the UN Of?ce for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told IPS.
The pledging conference in
Kuwait City is hosted by the
Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber
Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah,
and has been described as ?a
very important humanitarian
pledging event?.
The ?rst Kuwaiti pledging
conference for Syria, which
Research Centre?s Journalism Project, told IPS.
As in other recent years,
news about the weather ?
especially its extremes and
the damage they wrought ?
received a lot of attention on
the network news, although,
also consistent with past
performance, the possible relationship between extreme
weather and climate change
was rarely, if ever, drawn by
reporters or anchors.
Last year?s tornado season, severe winter weather,
drought and wild forest ?res
in the western states constituted three of the top six stories of the year, according to
the report. It was followed by coverage of the terrorist bombing
by two Chechnya-born brothers that killed three people at
the ?nish line of last April?s
Boston Marathon (432 minutes); the debate over the federal budget (405 minutes);
and the ?awed rollout of the
healthcare reform law, or Obamacare (338 minutes).
The next biggest international story was the death in
December of former South African President Nelson Mandela (186 minutes); the July
ouster of Egyptian President
Mohamed Morsi and its aftermath; the coverage of Pope
Francis I (157 minutes, not
including an additional 121
minutes devoted to Pope Benedict?s retirement and the
Cardinals. ?The
assumption seems to be that
anyone interested in Latin American coverage would
likely speak Spanish and ?nd
it in that language.?
Altogether, the three networks devoted just under 4,000
minutes, or about 27 per cent
of total air time, to coverage
of overseas stories or US foreign policy. often get more public attention, their audience is actually
many times smaller, according
to media-watchers.
?In 2012, more than
four times as many people
watched the three network
newscasts than watched the
highest-rated show on the
three cable channels during
prime time,. he stressed.
At the moment, another
harsh winter is increasing the
suffering among communities already tested by two and a
half years of deprivation. succession);
and the birth of Prince George,
the latest addition to the British royal family (131 minutes).
The strong showings by
the papal succession, Mandela?s death, and Prince George?s
birth all demonstrated the
rise of ?celebrity journalism?
in news coverage, Andrew
Tyndall, the report?s publisher, told IPS. worth of stories
focused on US foreign policy
marked a nearly 50 per cent reduction from the average.
L E H T I K U VA / A F P P H O T O / A H M A D A B O U D
WASHINGTON DC
or about 3.5 per cent of total air time, according to the
report.
That made the Syrian con?ict and the US policy response
the year?s single-most-covered
event. Emily Guskin, a
research analyst for the Pew
took place in January 2013,
also in Kuwait City, raised
about 1.5 billion dollars in humanitarian aid.
The United Nations last
month estimated the funding
needs for Syria at about 6.5
billion dollars in 2014 . While the cable news channels . INTERNATIONAL NEWS
HELSINKI TIMES
16 . ?Palestine has virtually disappeared from the news
agenda,. whose combined evening
news broadcasts are the single most important media
source of information about
national and international
events for most Americans.
Vast portions of the globe
went almost entirely ignored, according to the latest
annual review by the authoritative Tyndall Report.
Latin America, most of Europe and sub-Saharan Africa,
South Asia apart from Afghanistan, and virtually all of
East Asia . Laerke said.
Of the 6.5 billion dollars, 2.3 billion has been earmarked for assistance inside
Syria and 4.2 billion dollars for refugee response in
neighbouring countries.
The 2014 appeals represent the support plans of
more than 100 partner organisations, including UN
agencies and national and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs),
which are working together to
address the needs of Syrians.
Among those affected in
the Syrian crisis are children
caught up in the cross?re between the warring parties.
?A major ?aw in the television news journalism is its
inability to translate anecdotes of extreme weather into the overarching concept of
climate change,. despite growing
tensions between China and
Washington?s closest regional ally, Japan . ?the
biggest amount ever requested for a single humanitarian
emergency,. Indeed, the
1,302 minutes. The revered icon of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and one of the towering political figures of the 20th century, died in Johannesburg on December 5 at age 95.
UN to seek billions for
Syria at Kuwait conference
NEW YORK
THALIF DEEN
IPS
WHEN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon chairs a UN
pledging conference next
week for urgently needed
aid to Syria, he is expected
to warn the donor community that the humanitarian crisis in the politically-troubled
Arab nation is threatening to
reach biblical proportions.
Since the con?ict erupted in March 2011, more than
100,000 people have been
killed, over eight million
driven from their homes and
more than two million have
sought refuge in neighbouring countries . noted Tyndall.
As has Latin America,
which received virtually no
attention, according to Tyndall who suggested that the
lack of coverage may be due
to the growth of Spanish-language networks here
To help the beleaguered social
safety net we need to increase working life, both by decreasing the time spent in education and raising the
age for retirement. Kulvik says.
?The risks at the beginning of the process are outsourced: someone else is in
charge of funding up until
that point.?
Local success
One of the success stories of
service companies includes
Glykos, located in the Helsinki suburb of Viikki.
The company, which was
founded in 2004 and employs
60 people in its ventures,
has made a pro?t every year
since its operation began.
According to the chair of
the company?s board of directors Erkki Tenhunen Glykos
quickly acquired a commercial agenda. Firms
with three personnel can operate in the premises free of
charge for their ?rst year and
have access to negotiation
rooms, a gym and a sauna. HS
A N N I K A R A U TA KO U R A . HS
A L E K S I T E I VA I N E N . even the unions consented to a minimal salary increase in the latest round of collective
bargaining.
IN AN
HOW can we get our competitiveness back. Yet even Orion faces challenges: the patents of
their pro?table Parkinson
drugs are about to expire, or
have already done so.
Small companies struggle to obtain funds. In the centre of the room
is a boxy 3D printer, which can
crank out, for example, threedimensional key rings.
This is the home of the seven-month-old Versoteq 3D Solutions in Suomenoja, Espoo.
The start-up ?rm moved
into the recently-opened Quja campus after a tip from
EnterpriseEspoo, a cityrun provider of corporate
services, which knew that
Tecnotree Oy is offering of?ce space to young companies in the vacant half of its
headquarters.
Currently, there are 36
start-up ?rms in addition to
Versoteq under Tecnotree?s
roof.
?There?s enough room for
150 people. Through the US
company we gathered capital worth 60 million euro
and entered the US investment market,. We are already far behind, so we need to be aggressive.
GERMANY
H S / S I R PA R Ä I H Ä
Bio industry strains for a comeback
HELI SUOMINEN . Jalkanen says.
Funding a concern
The industry?s major issue
continues to be funding. Our budget de?cit is projected
to stay at about -3% for as long as they can see. Wahlroos is a banker by trade, and is currently chairman
of the board of Nordea. Another option is to get our comlike Germany
How can we get our petitors
to raise their wages.
competitiveness
That?s probably impossible, too. The writer is a journalist and
columnist for Helsinki Times. H T
ENCOURAGED by a few inspirational examples, the
medicinal bio industry is actively seeking growth.
?Biotie and Hormos have
proven that it is not just a
case of spinning our wheels,?
says Markku Jalkanen, CEO
of Faron Pharmaceuticals
and a prominent ?gure in the
?eld.
Developed by Biotie Therapies, the alcohol addiction medication Selincro is
sold in many countries. There are
companies with one, two and
three employees. H T
THE OFFICE is jammed with the
desks of three men and piles of
stuff. Flexibility needs to be in-
troduced into the labour market so companies are not
afraid to hire people. I don?t know how
many employees there are
now in the campus. It isn?t
back?
realistic to think Germany will voluntarily hurt their economy to help others in the eurozone. If
the costs of failed ventures
Cell biologist Annamari Heiskanen cleans samples in Glykos. The chaotic system needs outlining,. Let?s be honest with ourselves: this is a very
bleak picture.
WE NEED structural reforms. Instead of directly moving into constructing a ship and shipyard, the
ship?s windows should ?rst
be built.?
For Glykos this means
that it operates as a subcontractor or partner for large
pharmaceutical companies.
It is typical of the Finnish
bio industry that promising
companies are sold abroad
before they get to sell products, let alone prosper. says
Timo Veromaa, CEO of Biotie.
The industry is currently seeking pro?t through perhaps a slightly easier angle:
the founding of service or subcontractor companies instead
of developing entire drugs.
These companies specialise in
diagnostics or imaging.
Investments are not
as essential, and prod-
uct development is not as
time-consuming.
?It has been a trend in the
medical industry for years
that large companies increasingly outsource things. One way
would be to lower wages in Finland through collective
bargaining, which is probably impossible. He draws a comparison to the ship industry.
?Companies should gather
customerships from an earlier phase and break down the
Dozens of start-ups have found
affordable homes at Espoo campus
M AR JA SAL MEL A ,
JOONA S L AITINEN . Within a few years they
will reach our level, if they haven?t already.
IN TODAY?S
has been the big winner in this environment, because they have a highly advanced economy
and have simultaneously managed to keep their costs
down compared to their main competitors such as Finland. The
sale of Hormos Medical?s
menopause medication Ospemifene began in the United States last year during the
spring, and has resulted in
revenues worth 150 million
dollars.
The slow and dif?cult nature of drug development is
re?ected in the fact that Hormos Medical was founded in
1997 and Biotie in 1992.
The industry has enjoyed
one boom since the 1990s,
and afterwards also the
withdrawal of funding in the
2000s.
Expectations are, once
again, high but more realistic, researcher Martti Kulvik
from the Research Institute
of Finnish Economy (ETLA)
believes.
?Finland still has so few
companies that successes remain isolated cases,. Developing
markets such as India and China are gaining high-tech
skills at an astonishing rate. He is also a private investor with over
ten years of experience.
Wahlroos is right
is an interesting character. laboratory in Viikki, Helsinki.
are taken into consideration,
the estimated cost of developing a single drug that hits
markets is over a billion euro.
?Companies is Finland
manage to secure funding
worth a couple of millions,
when they should procure
funding for about 20 million,. Cord david@helsinkitimes.fi. I believe almost everyone now
agrees with this . 8
BUSINESS
16 . He is one of those people who
can automatically generate widely divergent opinions. That?s
hardly a marginal amount.
Micro-enterprises and small
enterprises have a signi?-
value chain. Finland?s
strategy has been to focus on high-tech expertise, and
it has worked well. We are now uncompetitive in
the global marketplace. They would be idiots to do so, and
they don?t appear to be idiots.
says that Finns are under the impression
that another Nokia will suddenly appear to save us all.
That?s not going to happen, particularly because our labour costs are no longer competitive. If he says water is wet, some people have to disagree with him just as a matter of principle. Unemployment is going to rise and economic growth will be
sluggish. This is exactly the route we need to take if we
want to compete against them. Wahlroos is right on both of these
counts.
globalised economy there are two main
ways to compete: on price or by expertise. Company representatives hope
for more monetary leverage
from the state or public instances, or at least for a more
systematic and smarter allocation of funds.
?Finland has money, but
the funding system is its
weakness. A
recent report on business operations compiled by the Helsinki
Region Environmental Services Authority indicates that as
many as eight in ten companies
in the region are small enterprises, employing a maximum
of four staff members.
?[Altogether,] they employ more than 15 per cent of
the region?s personnel. Yet this is changing. For
cleaning and internet services, Tecnotree charges 50 euros per person, while space for
additional employees is available for a monthly fee of 100
euros per employee.
?When we vacated the
space, we thought what?s the
use of keeping it warm. Lammintausta says.
Now the American owner has decided to run down
product development and
gather revenue from the
sales of menopause drugs.
Lammintausta and co.
have started a new company
to continue the product development of Hormos.
Despite the success he is
still disappointed that Hormos was not able to grow as a
domestic company and be an
operating company the entire time.
?We would have wanted to
develop Hormos in Finland,
aiming for new products and
a company of billions.?
cant role in the big picture,?
says researcher Seppo Laakso from Urban Research.
Gaining admission to the
Quja campus is a stroke of
luck for start-up ?rms. This
is what happened to Hormos Medical as well, which
merged with the US pharmaceuticals company QuatRX.
?It was a question of funding for us. he says.
Experts, such as Kulvik
and Jalkanen, consider Finnish companies to have strong
opportunities, particularly
on account of Finnish medical and research skills.
?Research is of top quality
in many ?elds: neurological
and mental diseases, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
Discoveries and progress are
good,. When
Finnish companies combine
know-how from a narrow sector with the global market,
success is possible,. Some have
already outgrown this,. states Risto Lammintausta, one of the founders
of Hormos Medical.
Finland?s only large pharmaceutical company remains Orion, which has
plenty of research funding of
its own. However,
when he talked about the Finnish economy recently he
brought up some points which would be dangerous to
disagree with.
BJÖRN WAHLROOS
interview with YLE, Wahlroos complained that
wages in Finland have risen too far too fast since the
introduction of the euro. says
Tatu Tahkokallio, the marketing director at Tecnotree.
Firms with no more than a
handful of employees are increasingly common in the
business circles of Helsinki. Markku
Jalkanen describes.
Large
pharmaceutical companies are short of
products.
?Big pharmaceutical companies purchase lots of products in progress from small
bio companies; it makes
sense,. Let?s
bring in people that can inject
drive also into our own staff.
You never know what kind of. 22 JANUARY 2014
HELSINKI TIMES
Instead of developing drugs companies
seek success in the
fragments of product development.
David J. In the current climate there will not be a new company which springs up
to employ tens of thousands of Finns.
WAHLROOS
THE FINANCE Ministry?s most recent Economic Bulletin shows that they believe we have entered a state
of permanent malaise
Pia Pakarinen,
the CEO of the Regional Organisation of Enterprises in
Helsinki, deems it a concern
that companies established
in recent years remain small.
?Can we ?nd companies that
also want to grow?. ?Today, the ?gure stands at around 62 per
cent,. ??. Offer expires 28th February 2014 and is subject to
availability in selected centres. BUSINESS
HELSINKI TIMES
Structural changes are needed to reverse
Finland?s debt trajectory, economists view.
?If a credible structural policy programme is ?nalised during the current
Government term, the debt
situation will not be as
alarming as it would otherwise be,. 22 JANUARY 2014
Petja Kärki (left), Timo Yletyinen, Markus Suomi and Rauno Huttunen are developing a 3D-printing software at the Quja campus
in Suomenoja, Espoo.
For cities, jobs create revenue through the employees?
municipal tax contributions.
In addition, cities. H T
collaborative schemes it can
spawn!. she reminds.
The more successful the
implementation of the Government?s structural policy programme and the more
plausible the programme
is, the more leeway Finland will have, Ilmakunnas
estimates.
L E H T I K U VA / M I K KO S T I G
Economists:
Implementation of
Govt?s structural policy
programme is vital
16 . And our ?exible
of?ce space can be tailored to ?t your business whatever the future
holds. ?Finland relies on the
economic development of Europe,. Call us today and you could move in tomorrow.
9j?b V?hh?f k?È`` ?]j. reveals Holm.
With the next parliamentary elections only a year
away, Holm believes they will
also prove signi?cant.
?Maybe the adaptation
measures will not be as extensive. Ilmakunnas
reminds.
Ilmakunnas hopes that
the Government will demonstrate its ability to implement the structural policy
programme in the spring?s
framework session. While attempts to
tackle the de?cit have naturally been made, thus far
they have yielded no results,
Holm adds.
Prime Minister Jyrki
Katainen?s (NCP) Government has until 2015 to get the
public debt under control.
Under EU conventions,
the national debt of a member state shall not exceed 60
per cent of its gross domestic product. she views.
Although it is vital to reverse the debt trajectory in
the medium term, Ilmakunnas views that it is not necessary to achieve this during
the reign of the current
Government.
It is important to bear in
mind, she stresses, that domestic demand has diminished and is projected to
remain weak for the rest of
the year. Offer applies only when you contact Regus direct. &?h\"
HS / M ARKUS JOK EL A
PASI HOLM, the managing director of Pellervo Economic
Research Institute, and Seija
Ilmakunnas, the director of
the Labour Institute for Economic Research, concur that
Finland cannot balance its
budget de?cit year after year
by borrowing.
According to Holm, the
budget de?cit of seven billion euros is a problem particularly because it is now
hovering at its current level
already for the sixth consecutive year. ?The
reform of social and health
care and the raise of the retirement age will help, but
in addition we must pursue
extremely moderate wage
hikes in the next labour market talks,. :?Vf??f. HS
A L E K S I T E I VA I N E N . ?We?ve moved
forward after chatting with
neighbouring ?rms,. Tahkokallio muses.
Versoteq?s Rauno Huttunen and Timo Yletyinen
recognise the bene?ts of the
business campus. Terms and conditions apply.
9. she asks.
Does your
of?ce ?t your
business?
Seija Ilmakunnas maintains
that borrowing year after year
is not the way to bring ballance to Finland?s budget in
the long term.
required to support them,?
Holm underlines.
With the employment situation only improving modestly, the Government must
also introduce measures
to encourage employment.
?Support for the airport operator Finavia, for example,
is a positive thing, but other projects are also needed,?
says Holm.
Meanwhile, Ilmakunnas
reminds that Finland?s debt
burden has many temporal
dimensions. Holm,
in turn, hopes that decisionmakers will announce further adjustment measures.
Get your business leaner and ?tter in one of our 4 business
centres across Helsinki and Espoo.
You?ll ?nd us at the best addresses, including Luna House, Bulevardi,
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*Offer applies to new office customers signing up for 12 months. V??_ V?Z?f. he adds.
The priority now, Holm
says, is to expedite and specify the structural reforms.
If the Government is to address its debt trajectory, annual adaptation measures of
roughly a few billion euros
are needed until 2017.
?It has been proposed
that the budget be adjusted by 2-3 billion euros, half
through tax hikes and half
through spending cuts,. In this light, the
high debt level is tolerable.
According to Holm, the
structural policy programme
includes measures needed
to balance the budget. CEO Petja Kärki acknowledges.
For some, the number of
small companies is, however, a concern. Their company is developing a software
that allows anyone to design
and order three-dimensional
objects online. In any case, measures to promote growth are
KIRS TI K AR T TUNEN .
FREE* ]Z ??. & a?bh\. ?d h. highlights Holm, reminding that in comparison
to several other eurozone
economies, the ?gure is
nonetheless relatively low.
Whereas Holm estimates
that the public debt should be
balanced by 2017, Ilmakunnas refrains from offering
a speci?c timetable for the
project. The sustainability de?cit is a problem in the
long term, whereby repairing the public economy in the
long term is crucial.
In addition, policy-makers must consider how to
safeguard public revenue
streams.
?If you tighten the public belt notably in the short
term, the risk is that you reduce economic growth and
tax revenue,
8 January RAINE TIESSALO
Finland looks to Russia
for new investment
?FOR GENERATIONS, Finland
has lived fearfully in the shadow of its giant Russian neighbour, but today Russia could
be the answer to its economic woes. A new snake robot is ef?cient
at cleaning waterways while a robot car helps save lives and
money in traf?c and reduce its environmental impact. Perhaps we should
draw up a new strategy for the industry based on robotics. Why are
the public expenditures higher than tax revenue. It is
designed to lower the viral load
of current HIV patient, stop
progression of AIDS or even
make it too low to be detected.
Finnish company FIT Biotech developed a new vaccine
against HIV which may become an effective treatment
against the virus. Why
is the welfare state crumbling bit by bit?
FORTUNATELY, there are also new winds blowing ?
a whirlwind of positive attitudes. Researchers claim
that the application of robotics will change society to
a larger degree than the Internet. All the
positive potential and latent courage in Finland must
now be harnessed for use.
Teemu Selänne of the Anaheim Ducks in action against the New Jersey Devils during their game at
the Prudential Center last December in Newark, New Jersey.
NHL. Bold and innovative
enterprise is the prerequisite for economic growth.
THE FINNISH government recently released the Report
on the Future. The Finnish company said they had discussed an acquisition of the
entire business rather than
just its marine unit, as suggested by earlier reports.
By buying Wärtsilä, RollsRoyce would have strengthened its marine business,
which lowered its pro?t guidance in November. Production has been falling steadily
since October 2012.
In November, the seasonally adjusted production index rose 0.8 per cent on a
monthly basis. In this ?rst elim- contestants.
November tional
After this warming up
inating round, Softengine got
the direct ticket to the na- chat, the most important
ny Rolls-Royce made a takeover approach to Finnish ship
and power plant engine maker Wärtsilä but the talks ended without a deal, the two
companies said on Thursday.
Shares in Wärtsilä, with an
enterprise value of around 7.3
billion euros ($9.9 billion), rose
more than eight per cent after
the companies con?rmed the
preliminary talks. 11 January
he doesn?t feel in good enough
shape to play at the Olympics.
His younger brother Mikku Koivu, was on the squad
presented Tuesday, as was
Minnesota Wild team mate
Mikael Granlund??
?There might be some prejudices,. As they creep deep-
er into recession, the Finns
may turn east for investment,
while trying to forget a century under the Tsar followed by
two hot wars and a cold one
against the Soviets.
RTT NEWS. Medical robots can perform challenging surgical operations.
People create value while robots produce added value.
ULTIMATELY it is essential to bear in mind that technology provides services for society. Why is
the industry gradually moving from Finland to competitive, new economic powers. Rolls, the
world?s second-largest aircraft engine maker, has in
recent years bene?ted from
soaring demand for more fuel-ef?cient engines for planes
by Airbus and Boeing??
BUSINESS & HEALTH. This
followed a 3.1 per cent drop in
the previous month. They can help the elderly, in?rm and
sick to lead a meaningful life. While we cannot have enterprise, success or jobs without enthusiasm we also need a stable and supportive society as a
launching pad for entrepreneurs.
a general revision of attitudes, we also need
targeted actions. In Finland, incentives for high-risk enterprise are considerably lower than in the countries it
competes with even though as a whole more funds are
channelled into innovation than in many other countries.
ROBOTICS has caught the public attention in recent
weeks and could well prove the saviour of the Finnish
industry and society on the whole. 07 January
Finland?s Selanne headed
to Sochi for 6th Olympics
veteran Teemu
Selanne has been selected
to play at his sixth Winter
Olympics.
The 43-year-old Anaheim
Ducks player has twice been
the top scorer at the Olympics
?FINLAND
and was chosen as the best
player at the Turin Games in
2006.
Another veteran, Saku
Koivu, won?t be part of the
team after telling Finland
coach Erkka Westerlund that
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN. It has been shown that the productivity of a Finnish factory with 15 employees and automated production using robots is higher than that of
a 200-person industrial plant in a developing country.
A few companies have already transferred their operations back to Finland and are happy with their decision.
EVEN
THE INDUSTRY does not have an exclusive claim on robots,
which may improve the ef?ciency, productivity and quality
of all aspects of society. Some companies
have decided to become success stories, even if there
are still those who are moping around. 22 JANUARY 2014
FINLAND IN THE WORLD PRESS
HELSINKI TIMES
L E H T I K U VA / A L B E L L O
REUTERS. Considering the manufacturing industry is still the foundation of the Finnish export sector, the report does not give it the emphasis it merits.
BESIDES
FINLAND has lost some of its competitive edge because
the state and the business sector have failed to implement structural reforms and to adapt new methods of
doing business. 10
JANUARY RYAN INOYORI
HIV cure:
new vaccine
from Finland
for testing
in Spring
2014
?THE VERY
industrial downturn eased notably in November with production
recording only a marginal fall from the same month
last year, data from Statistics
Finland revealed Friday.
Output fell 0.7 per cent
year-on-year on a working
day basis in November. Some
production twelve
the stage and fought for the guests have been asked to
place in the second chance analyse the strengths and
slows in
show or in the Finnish na- weaknesses of tonight?s
?nal. Six of the good mood and their excitecontestants entered ment behind the stage. they entered
the stage and gave their best
to proceed to the next round
or even to get the ticket directly to the Finnish national ?nal??
Softengine got the highest number of points in this eliminating
show.
developed by
Finnish company FIT Biotech
might be the solution to effectively treat HIV for good. The new
vaccine is designed to lower
the viral load of current HIV
patients, stop the HIV infection from progressing and ultimately eliminate it from the
system completely.
FIT Biotech CEO Kalevi Reijonen said the company is collaborating with two
European universities and
American
pharmaceutical
companies on the ongoing
study to test the new vaccine.
It will last two to three years
starting in the spring of 2014
with involvement of 1,000 patients throughout Switzerland and France. 10 JANUARY
EUROVISION TV. 9 JANUARY
JUSSI ROSENDAHL /
KAREN REBELO
RollsRoyce
looked to
buy out
Finland?s
Wärtsilä
Harri Jaskari is an MP of National Coalition Party. In January to
November period, industrial
output declined 3.8 per cent
compared with the same period last year...?
?FINNISH
tional ?nal. People participating
in society, feeling appreciated and having a sense of
communality makes it possible to achieve the next level of progress, for example the era of robotics. He is also a Member of Commerce Committee and a Member of Committee for the Future.
Rise of new industrialisation
and robotics in Finland
?BRITISH engineering compa-
MANY FINNS are raising their voices in lament. said Heli Simola at
the Institute for Economies
in Transition in Helsinki.
?But these attitudes aren?t
an obstacle for commercial
exchanges.?
Data released by the Finnish government in December showed that the economy
would contract 1.2 per cent,
worse than the 0.5 per cent
drop previously forecast??
Finland: Softengine
Decline
In Finnish is one of the finalists!
rst UMK show their feelings and their exindustrial has been ?broadcast
from pectations showing their
Helsinki, Finland. This followed
a 0.2 percent rise in the previous month. 10
16 . Why is the export sector shrinking and unemployment increasing. Supercell even
proved so good it became worth billions of euros in a
just few short years. KONE Corporation is going from
strength to strength while numerous smaller companies are making a pro?t with their export booming.
PEOPLE going against the tide are talking about the rise of
new industrialisation in Finland. MIAU, Dennis
Fagerström, Hukka ja Mama and Jasmin Michaela will
have a second chance in two
weeks.
At the beginning of the
show, the contestants shared
part for the six candidates
has started . That is what I mean by new industrialisation.
as we speak, robots are rapidly becoming more
commonplace in the industry, helping make Finland
more competitive. First phase
will take place on hundreds of
HIV sufferers??
?NEW VACCINE. Containing a wealth of positive news,
the report emphasises the importance of values and
attitudes in regard to Finland?s future. For agile entrepreneurs,
the world is full of opportunities and it is more vital than
ever to grab those with both hands
That said, there
are excellent reasons, such
as price and performance, to
consider purchasing a Kindle Fire HDX. It?s ?just. Amazon
has made its tablet friend-
lier and less intimidating,
and wants to deliver a worldclass experience. it?s measured in weeks, not hours ?
and each generation sees
an improvement in screen
quality, clarity and glare reduction. if any . For
productivity, games or anything in between, the best
apps almost always go to Apple ?rst, and then make their
way to Android, Amazon and
Windows.
Chances are, you?ve used
Apple products before. Prices subject to availability.
+ www.icelandair.fi
11. A feature called Kindle
FreeTime lets you create a
personalised experience for
each of your children based
on the content you?ve purchased. model is in his right hand.
eReader vs Tablet
Kindle Fire HDX vs. form
factor. If you?re invested in the Apple ecosystem,
there is no way that any other device is going to make
you happy. This is
the same comfortable experience you?ve come to know
and love from the company.
Even if you haven?t, you?ll feel
right at home in iOS.
Amazon?s
Kindle Fire HDX 7?
Amazon?s newest Kindle Fire
tablets are the best the company has ever made. Also, like the
iPad Air and iPhone 5s, the
new iPad mini also features
an A7 processor, which Apple
touts as ?desktop class.. will only set you back
339 pounds (approx 400 euros), some 80 euros less than
the cheapest iPad mini.
The new Kindle Fires
have a few awesome features found nowhere else in
the tablet world. If you?re
having any trouble navigating or troubleshooting your
device, Mayday is here to
help, and that?s awesome.
Amazon?s staff won?t be able
to see your passwords, and
you can ask them to disable
screen mirroring at any time.
The feature also doesn?t use
the Fire?s front-facing camera, so no worries there.
The Kindle Fire HDX won?t
blow the competition away
with specs . Like every other
iPad, the mini can run every
app in the App Store, which is
far and away the number one
reason to buy an Apple tablet over any other brand. but it will when
it comes to support. It?s a
whole lot of power in a really
small package.
The mobile landscape
has been built around Apple, and the iPad Mini?s biggest strength is its expansive
app catalog. an e-reader,
which means you can?t use it
to watch movies or play (real) games, or listen to music.
The Paperwhite is a device
dedicated to reading and it
is priced accordingly. iPad mini with Retina
vs. other major tablets today.
Amazon?s
Kindle Paperwhite
The Paperwhite is the best
e-reader on the market today, and offers great value. That may be a better
way to ask the question. though they are
impressive . The
new iPad mini packs a Retina display that features the
same resolution as the fullsized iPad Air. The feature now
works for music too, and you
can use it to follow along to
the lyrics (or sing along) as a
song plays.
The new Kindle Fires are
also awesome if you have
kids. It
offers a level of customisation and parental control not
found in many . The HDX starts at
209 pounds (approx 250 euros), and even maxing out
the storage capabilities and
removing Amazon?s ?Special
Offers. You can use the Paperwhite anywhere you go.
Continued next page.
ANCHORAGE
ST. And, there are
very good reasons to prefer a
good, old-fashioned eReader.
Let?s have a look.
SHOULD
Apple?s iPad mini 2
with Retina Display
The iPad mini is everything
you?ve come to know and
love from the full-sized iPad, shrunk down to a 7. Kindle Paperwhite . Aside from
the expected processor and
RAM bump, the newest Kindle Fires have a Mayday feature that helps you connect
with an Amazon tech-support employee directly on
the tablet. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
HELSINKI TIMES
16 . Mission
accomplished!
Like all of Amazon?s tablets, the experience revolves
around Amazon?s media.
If you?re an Amazon Prime
customer, or just a fanatic for Kindle books, Amazon
Instant Video and Amazon
mp3, the whole ecosystem
will be a multimedia wonderland for you. While
slightly more expensive than
the previous model, the 7?
Kindle Fire HDX is more affordable than the new iPad mini. 22 JANUARY 2014
A M A Z O N .C O M , I N C .
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos shows off the recent Kindle Fire HDX duo, the 7. The tech support agent shows up on your
screen in a tiny video box
while they help you. Amazon
has also expanded features
tested in earlier products,
like X-Ray, which lets you
dive deeper into movies you
watch by showing you information such as actor bios
and trivia. Apple?s newest iPad
improves in every way over
its predecessor. PAUL
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Smooth connection to
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Special prices starting from ?249 to Iceland
and ?499 to North America and Canada.
Book before 16.2.2014. Do
you want to spend the money on an iPad. Which to buy?
S H E L LY PA L M E R
you purchase a
full-featured tablet or a select-features tablet or an ereader. You?re also able to
use this to limit the amount
of time your children spend
watching videos in a day. PETERSBURG
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MINNEAPOLIS / ST. If so, nothing
else will do. Paperwhites start at 109 pounds
(130 euros).
The battery life in these
things is killer . Where the
?rst iPad mini was good (actually it was a miniaturised
iPad 2), this one is great
HT
cars have not
caught on in Finland with only 151 cars having been registered by the end of last
September.
?The price is proving the
biggest stumbling block. You?ll save hundreds of
dollars and have the best
reader of all three.
Finland, according to Heikki Suonsivu from Espoo, who
bought his ?rst electric car in
November after some careful
calculations.
?I caught the bug after
that. In Finland, I would have
had to pay around 30,000 euros for a similar car.?
Car taxation encourages
the use of low-emission cars
with the tax for the use of an
electric car amounting to 1.5
cents a day per hundred kilometres, while the ?gure is
as high as 5.5 cents for diesel cars.
His two-month stint driving an electric car has won
Suonsivu over. Kindle Page Flip lets
you skim through your books
by page, chapter or all the
way to the end, without losing where you?re at. Unlike most other EU countries,
Finland has not implemented incentives for buying an
electric car,. the
base model costs 400 euros,
more than the ?rst-gen iPad
mini?s original price point ?
and hundreds of euros more
than the two Kindles on this
list. If you
lovelovelove media, the Kindle Fire is for you.
If you just want to read:
Paperwhite! That?s the ticket. It?s more expensive
than the original model . iTunes offers third-party
apps, but many of the most
popular ones . If
you have a big phone (Galaxy S4 or HTC One, etc.) you
may not need a tablet, but an
eReader may make you very
happy. (By the way, the original iPad mini is still around,
and now starts at 300 euros. His petrol car
has remained parked in his
driveway during this time.
Suonsivu says that an electric car comes to its own when
driving in town and recommends the car particularly for two-car households. like Net?ix
. But if you?re looking for
a top-tier tablet, and one to
compete with the new Kindle
Fires, you?ve got to go with
the latest and greatest mini.)
But if you?re willing to saddle
up and pay the hefty sticker
price, you?ll get access to the
best App Store in the world.
The Kindle Fire packs a lot
of value, but it doesn?t come
with the App Store... Every time I ?lled up my
old car, it cost me 120 euros.
Now that sum lasts me four
months.?
Suonsivu bought his second-hand car in Spain, where
a six-month-old Nissan Leaf
set him back 19,500 euros
with car tax included.
?As the Finnish subsidy
system only concerns companies and leasing, we haven?t
yet got a used electric car market. 22 JANUARY 2014
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
A P P L E .C O M
12
HELSINKI TIMES
Electric cars not
popular with Finns
Lack of buyer
incentives blamed
for small numbers
sold.
M E E R I Y L Ä -T U U H O N E N . Kallio explains.
Electric cars have also gained momentum in
Estonia.
?The car market in Estonia
is ?ve times smaller than in
Finland and still the number
of electric cars sold there is
ten times higher,. eventually make their
way to other platforms. It even has a
?next-gen, built-in light. Not
even Android can compare in
this ?eld, let alone Fire OS.
If you?re a media hound:
The Kindle Fire is built around
Amazon?s media. that
lets you read without eyestrain, even in the dark.
The Paperwhite has awesome features built in that
make reading a great experience. possibly. From Kindle
to Instant Video to Amazon
mp3, Amazon?s media is built
into the core experience of the
Fire. H S
NIINA WOOLLE Y . performance
When it comes to the iPad mini, the real drawback
is cost. says Tero Kallio,
managing director of the Association of the Finnish Automobile Importers.
Kallio says that an electric car costs 10,000 euros
more than a petrol car of similar size and power.
?We need to have ?nancial incentives for purchasing an electric car if we want
them to become more common in Finland.?
One country with such incentives is Norway, where
18,000 electric cars have
been registered to date and
they accounted for 12 per
cent of all cars sold in March.
?In Norway, there is no car
tax or VAT on electric cars.
Charging points are also free
to use,. It?s getting better every day, but Amazon
has a way to go.
The Kindle Paperwhite
isn?t a tablet, but that?s not
why you?re buying it. says Kallio.
An 18,000-euro purchase
grant serves as an ef?cient
incentive in Estonia, with
the state also footing the bill
for a charging point at home.
The country also has an extensive network of charging
points, unlike Finland, where
a network is only now being
built.
However, the network is
already adequate in Southern
ELECTRIC
The iPad mini 2 with Retina Display offers a whole lot of power in a concise package.
Its processor is 25 percent
faster than the Kindle it replaced and it features better
touch technology that makes
it respond more accurately than any other e-reader
on the market. Plus, you?ll
save money!
If you plan to use it primarily for games: No question: go with the iPad mini.
The best mobile games are always on iOS and maybe. And, like
the Kindle Fire, it has Kindle
FreeTime, which is aimed at
young readers and tracks
their progress and awards
achievements as they reach
their goals. He
has calculated that if he drives
around 20,000 kilometres a
year in his electric car, the costs
will not exceed 2,000 euros.
Heikki Suonsivu from Espoo
bought his electric car in November. Especially if you like
to read in direct sunlight ?
eReaders are perfect when
you have lots of natural light.
I can think of several reasons
to own a dedicated eReader, including that fact that
I?m willing to throw them in
my briefcase or backpack
and not care too much about
what happens to them.
Which is right for you?
If you own an iPhone: You?ve
entrenched yourself in the
world of iOS and nothing but
an iPad mini will do. 16 . But by using either of these devices,
you?re asserting that you?ve
broken free of the iOS atmosphere and want something a
little more customizable, and
a little more tech-y. Besides low running
costs and eco-friendliness, the
car?s low noise level was a
deciding factor.. It features Smart Lookup, which
integrates a full dictionary
with X-Ray and Wikipedia.
It also has a built in vocabulary builder, so any time you
look up what a word means
on your Kindle, that word is
added to an easy-to-access
list, where you can quiz yourself with ?ashcards. The Kindle Fire is probably the better choice for you. are also on the Fire. Awesome.
..
..
Price vs. A Paperwhite will never replace
a Kindle Fire or iPad mini,
but it?s not supposed to. Buying
a Kindle Fire means starting
from scratch when it comes to
apps, which isn?t something
anyone wants to go through.
The iPad mini is still a fashion
accessory, and if you?re toting
around an iPhone loaded with
apps and content, you?ll want
the mini to match.
If you own an Android or
Windows phone: Either will
suit you just ?ne. or even
Google Play
1 April 2014
Information Technology
Bachelor of Engineering
Design
Master of Culture and arts
International Business
Bachelor of Business Administration
International Business Management
Master of Business Administration
Nursing
Bachelor of Health Care
MORE INFORMATI
A ON:
www.tuas.fi/applicants_guide
www.tuas.fi
facebook.com/vaasanyliopisto
youtube.com/UniversityofVaasa
twitter.com/univaasa. EDUCATION
EDUCATION
HELSINKI
HELSINKI
TIMES
TIMES
16 16
. 22
JANUARY
JANUARY
2014
2014
1313
THE JOURNEY STARTS HERE.
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Turun AMK,
Turku University
of Applied Sciences
The application period for Bachelor?s
Degrees 7 jan . 11 feb 2014
The application period for Master?s
Degrees 3 March . 22
was met by
the high school reform task
force, which delivered their
proposal to Minister of Education and Science Krista Kiuru (Social Democratic
Party) on 17 December.
High schools currently
have up to 18 common subjects, the surface of some
only scratched upon by only
EVEN
one compulsory course. announces
the proposal?s summary and
mainly confuses the reader.
Core of education
With good intentions, one can
of course ?nd the core of the
proposal: shared introductory
courses for different subjects
would feature in the beginning
of high school studies and advanced courses in the end.
Instead of tanking up on data contents . In other words, should a high school student
know the history of his or her own country and the world?
The task force does not think it is necessary; in one of the
options proposed, history can even be completely omitted
from the subjects studied.
Voter turnout for young people is constantly about 1015 per cent lower than for other age groups. course
teaches young people why the EU was founded and how
it has developed. Nor do
the justi?cations for a new
kind of general education
quite hit the mark.
?General education would
be a deeper and more structured mutual symbiosis of
knowledge and skills, in
whose development the student?s enthusiasm for learning
would have a greater signi?cance than before,. Some time ago,
many in the media were surprised that citizens do not know
which parties are in the government.
Should young people be taught how democracy works?
We often wonder how young people have no financial
know-how or working life skills.
Payment defaults are increasing at an alarming rate, and
some young people get into trouble because of quick loans.
Representatives of economic life are calling for more economic classes for young people.
Today, the ?European history, culture and the EU. Indeed, now the high school
student has to decide for himself or herself what general
education consists of. Teaching young people social studies
means defending democracy.
Young people need good basic skills in many fields in a
world that is becoming increasingly complex. What do the MEPs really decide on. And the laws are
passed by the parliament.
HELSINKI
HELSINKI
TIMES
TIMES
Titta Putus-Hilasvuori, teacher in history and civics, Espoo
Young people need good
basic skills in many fields
A task force that considered the distribution of lesson hours
in high schools suggests an increase of electives among
courses required in high schools. 22JANUARY
JANUARY
2014
2014
EDUCATION
L E H T I K U VA / M A R K K U U L A N D E R
Difficulties in interfering
with distribution of
high school lesson hours
Krista Kiuru has made a controversial decision since the start of
her tenure six months ago.
Old and new general education confront each other in
high school reform.
M AR JUKK A LIITEN . For one thing,
teachers. One
course consists of 38 lessons.
The task force majority?s
proposal to reduce compulsory subjects in high school and
new interdisciplinary studies
has met with resistance.
There are at least two reasons for this. H T
though the world is
not divided into subjects, the
distribution of lesson hours
between subjects is such a sacred matter that it is almost
impossible to touch upon.
Most recently, this ?subject protection. Should a high
school student know, for example, why Finland has two official languages. the emphasis
would be on, for example, skills
for gaining and assessing information and making choices.
Teachers and study advisors would together support
the student?s choices toward
future studies. Must a high school student know why we
disagree on the name for the war of 1918?
Should a person who has completed high school understand why a Winter War monument is planned for Helsinki?s
Kasarmitori. We cannot let
young people close the gates on future studies by having
them choose something in high school that will later prevent them from freely choosing their future studies, or perhaps force them to later change their field of study.
At what level will institutions of higher education begin
the education of young people if they have never studied
humanities and natural science subjects in high school. According to many experts,
a 16-year-old youth is not yet ready to make decisions concerning his or her entire study career.
High schools have been dismayed to receive the information that, according to the high school task force, humanities and natural science subjects . He or she must be able
to assess what skills and information are needed in building
the future. Let us also henceforth teach them
humanities and natural sciences in high school!
Meri Rantama . are not part of general education. general education
with familiar subjects from
one?s own school days, even
though one would not remember anything of them.
?Auschwitz, the Holocaust, the Soviet Union, veterans of our wars, Vietnam, a
nation without history...?
Friends of history, for example, have with these heavy
Humanities and natural sciences subjects
in the distribution of high school lesson hours
Current model
Subject
Task force model A
Compulsory courses
Biology
2
Geography
2
Physics
1
Chemistry
1
Religion/Ethics
3
Philosophy
1
Psychology
1
History
4
Civics
2
Health education
1
Compulsory courses
Total courses minimum
(1 course = 38 lessons)
47-51
75
Subject
Compulsory courses
Natural sciences studies*
Common study module
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Geography
Health education
1
1
Humanistic-social
sciences and worldview studies*
Common study module
1
History
Civics
Psychology
Philosophy
Religion/Ethics
1
Compulsory courses
35-39
*The student must also study at least
eight of the national advanced courses
Compiled by: Marjukka Liiten HS, Graphics: Jukka Himanen HS, Source: Ministry of Education and Culture
arms, defended keeping the
subject compulsory for all
even in high school, even
though in practice students
already attend comprehensive school for ten years.
Civics has also had its advocates, although not even
the current lessons of, for example, the different stages
of decision-making have not
seemed to have been learned.
There has been a demand
for the head of Krista Kiuru,
who has been Minister of Education and Science for six
months, because with her
decision she has destroyed
the general education high
school but was persuaded to
keep religion and health education as compulsory subjects in the future.
However, in question is
only the task force?s proposal, which the minister was
careful not to comment on.
There were cautious attempts to get the high school
reform started already during the previous government,
and the task force was set by
Kiuru?s predecessor Jukka
Gustafsson (Social Democratic Party) a year ago.
High schools have been
criticised as being worn down
for a long time, since their distribution of classes and curricula date from ten years ago.
Experts have seen the
need for even substantial reforms, but on the other hand,
they fear their knockout.
Previous example
One does not have to search
far for an example. 1414 1616. The high school student is left with no time for
consideration, even though many attend high school specifically to postpone their career choice.
How could a young person have the information and
skills needed for this choice. It talks about common
study modules placed in the
beginning of the humanisticsocial sciences and worldview
studies and natural sciences
studies and thematic studies
placed at the end. Indeed, universities and universities of applied sciences must
perhaps in the future be responsible for general education.
Let us give young people good resources to build their
own and Finland?s future. such as history and
civics, biology, geography, physics, chemistry, and philosophy . The previous government tried to reform comprehensive schools
more robustly, but after tough
negotiations, the Centre Party
nixed the proposal. The
European Parliament elections take place in May, and one
would think that knowing what we are voting on is part of
common knowledge. associations hold on
tightly to their livelihood, i.e.
their number of lesson hours.
Politicians also listen to
teachers carefully; indeed,
many have backgrounds as
teachers.
People?s perspective
The people, for their part, are
rarely interested in schools
and mostly when there is a
threat to change schools to a
strange direction that is hard
to understand.
Indeed, the abstruse nature of the proposal is also to
blame. HT. The changes
will come into effect in 2016,
which the high school update
aims for as well.
The task force preparing the high school reform
strived to ensure the progress
of the proposal by offering
ministers three alternatives
and limiting changes to be decided by the government.
For that reason the proposal contains a lamentable
?aw: religion or ethics and
health education would even
in the most radical models
remain compulsory subjects
because they are mentioned
in the Upper Secondary
School Act. current government)
settled for a poor man?s light
version, in which, for example, the number of physical
education and civics courses were increased and religion decreased. 22. But it is of
course much easier to justify the ?old. which today can
be gotten from elsewhere besides school . He or she must at age 16-17 decide on
the most important subjects for him or her career-wise, as
well as the extent of those studies. HS
M E R I R A N TA M A . At the same time, however, the task force emphasises maintaining and developing a
general education curriculum in high school.
Now it looks as though the task force has not been able
to decide what general education means, even after having
pondered the matter for a year. The Centre
Party was not pleased by, for
example, drama, which was
envisaged as a new subject.
Thus, as the economy grew
tighter, in the comprehensive school reform the next
(i.e. This does
not sound very clear
We know that the future belongs to the curious.
Joint application 7.1?11.2.2013.
UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED LIFE.
1515
Co m e and enj oy
l e a r n ing t he eas ies t
language in the world!
L E H T I K U VA / S E P P O S A M U L I
Combining previous education and
youth programmes,
Erasmus+ to receive
14.7 billion euros.
16 16
. EDUCATION
EDUCATION
HELSINKI
HELSINKI
TIMES
TIMES
New Erasmus programme to
increase student exchange
M AR JUKK A LIITEN . This is 40 per
cent more than what the former programmes had.
These older programmes
include Erasmus for university students and Leonardo da Vinci for vocational
training.
?More people from Finland than before will be able
to participate in an exchange
due to the increased funding.
The budget will grow especially toward the end of the
period,. With bachelor?s degree programmes in
English in International Business, Materials Processing Technology
and Nursing, Arcada offers you a wide range of stepping-stones to
launch your career. 22
JANUARY
JANUARY
2014
2014. Erasmus, Comenius, Leonardo da Vinci, Grundtvig
and Youth in Action programmes were combined
in the extensive program.
Sports is a new addition.
. f i
Institute of Adult Education in Helsink i
Helsingin aikuisopisto
Tö ö l ö nt u l l i n k at u 8 , 0 0 2 5 0 H e l s i n k i
Do you want to live, learn and explore student life in an inspiring and
international environment. Erasmus+ combines the
previous EU programmes
of education and youth.
. Their goal is to
promote
grassroots-level
sports.
?The size of the annual sport grant is fairly small,
and organisations and sports
governing bodies, for example, may apply directly to
Brussels to receive it,. may still be
used under the new umbrella.
over half of the Finnish students leaving for a period of
study abroad have participated in the exchange specifically through Erasmus.
S ee our vas t an d abso lu tely f abu lo u s
co u r s e p ro g ra m m e !
h e l a o. HS
M E R I R A N TA M A . Old ?brands. estimates Mikko
Nupponen, Assistant Director at Centre for International Mobility CIMO.
A sporting chance
New for Erasmus+ is the
?eld of sport, with which cooperation partnerships are
supported. budgets. 22
. Nupponen says.
Finland has actively participated in former programmes, through which
Finns have had access to approximately 20 million euros
annually.
This corresponds to some
two per cent of the programmes. Finland?s
share of membership fees
has been under 1.5 per cent.
Currently up to a quarter
of those starting their university studies, 13 per cent of
those starting colleges of applied sciences and vocational institutions, and a ?fth of
those starting high school
will spend a period abroad
during their studies.
The role of Erasmus in the
mobility of university students is considerable, since
Fi n n i sh for Foreig ner s
Combining
the programmes
. H T
UP TO FOUR million people
may be able to gain international experience through
a new European Union programme that commenced at
the beginning of the year, the
EU Commission estimates.
Erasmus+, which combines the previous education and youth programmes,
will at least receive far more
funding than before.
The budget increase
means that funding for the
seven-year period will be 14.7
billion euros
These are the spices of late night
conversation among Finns, which are almost always missed by foreigners.
The book is based on the Finnish After Dark series published in SixDegrees
over the past few years. The series continues to receive excellent feedback from
readers.
Buy online:
www.6d.?/fad
or in major bookstores.. 16
HELSINKI TIMES
16 . 22 JANUARY 2014
Want to know if you should compliment your girlfriend
on being plösö or paksuna?
Sick of not knowing your Kossu from your skumppa?
Not sure whether to käydä vieraissa or to käydä vierailulla?
Finnish After Dark is here to help, with everything from cool slang to chat up
lines, tips on how to avoid being beaten up in taxi queues and the latest excuses for why you are late for work.
Finnish After Dark is a humoristic look at various Finnish-language terms and
phrases that are almost impossible to translate
A
male dancer will take over
Odile?s part. H T
THE RISING African star of
modern dance Dada Masilo has created a divergent
version of Swan Lake that
combines rhythms and movements of African dance with
the aesthetics of ballet. S U L L I VA N
HEL SINKI TIMES
EXPLORING the themes of ab-
sence and presence, the work
of French photographer Dorothée Smith is currently being featured at The Finnish
Museum of Photography.
On display until 9 March,
the photographs depict the
constant changes undergone
by young people.
Marking her debut exhibition in the Nordic countries,
the Paris-based artist was
raised on a diet of the Internet and digital technology.
Drawing on in?uences including Nan Goldin, Christer Strömholm and Antoine
d?Agata, Smith?s images are
cloaked in a haze, echoing
melancholy as they create
their own world.
Featuring young adults
set against quiet backdrops,
the churning of their in-
ner change is evident, even
though they are often facing
away from the camera.
Constantly photographing her friends, Smith seeks
to capture what lies beneath
the surface of her subjects,
asking viewers to use their
minds to see, rather than the
super?cially obvious.
The works on display
come from a number of different series, including Löyly, which was created in
Finland. Melissa Leo,
Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, and Viola Davis fill out the
impressive cast list.
Finally, local flick Onneli ja Anneli sees the first part of the children?s book trilogy coming to life on the big screen. In Political Mother,
which has an agenda of international politics, offers
a rock concert in addition to
dance.
The former drummer,
percussionist and dancer of
Batsheva Dance Company
founded his own dance group
in 2008. or most brutal ?
work, but it?s not bad.
The windup, in this case,
comes after a winding down.
Several months after that
opening scene, Phil, a recent
widower, has retired from
police work, moving to smalltown Louisiana with his
young daughter, Maddy (Izabela Vidovic), to get away
from it all.
Boy, did he pick the wrong
town.
No sooner have the Brokers unpacked than they?re
getting into trouble with the
locals, courtesy of Maddy,
who decks a schoolyard bully (Austin Craig) one day. tells artistic director of the festival
Jorma Uotinen. He has also done
choreographies for Cedar
Lake Contemporary Ballet
and Nederlands Dans Theater, among others.
Returning to Kuopio is signi?cant for Schechter, for his
?rst choreography was seen
in the international choreography competition that was
organised in Kuopio in 2003.
?Schechter and Masilo are
both fresh agents around the
world who have current and
new perspectives to offer for
our art form, and we are proud
to be able to provide pioneers,
such as them in Kuopio,. JO?S
Both male and female dancers perform the traditional roles in a refreshing take on Swan Lake.
African Swan Lake
to be seen in Kuopio
H E L S I N G I N S A N O M AT
A N N I K A R A U TA KO U R A . CULTURE
HELSINKI TIMES
16 . This,
of course, is precisely what
makes fans of Jason Statham
movies happiest.
For the rest of us, it helps
that Franco clearly relishes his role as the heavy here,
lapping up the part like so
much gumbo. The Academy
Award nominee makes quite
the entrance, pronouncing
the name ?Gator Bodine. that the father of
the girl who gave the kid a
bloody nose is an ex-narc.
Say goodbye to restraint.
At this point, Gator and his
goons start trying to run
Phil out of town, which only makes our hero mad. With Jake
Gyllenhaal?s detective hovering about, we are in for some serious emoting when Dano is released due to lack of evidence
Jackman soon takes matters into his own hands. Uotinen says.
The festival will be celebrating its 45th anniversary during
the forthcoming summer.
Originality is also evident
in Israeli-born and English
resident Hofesh Shechter?s
?rst ever all-evening choreography. Even
worse, Muom is sister to drug
lord/psychopath Gator Bodine (James Franco), who
isn?t very happy when he
learns that his little nephew
has a bloody nose.
But he really isn?t happy
when he discovers . no, all of the fun . like
his tongue is doing a slow Cajun waltz around it, just before applying a baseball bat
to the shins of a competitor who has had the temerity to horn in on Gator?s drug
business.
And he?s not even the real
bad guy.
To help him get rid of
Phil, Gator enlists some of
Phil?s former enemies, with
whom he liaises through
the mediation of his ethically challenged biker-groupie girlfriend (Winona Ryder,
clearly having too much fun).
Thanks to such immoderate performances as hers,
the whole movie has a pulpy,
purple, over-the-topness to
it, which makes it kind of a
guilty pleasure, in a low-rent,
Southern Gothic way.
Sit back, relax and enjoy
the excess, if you can.
Also on screens
Meanwhile, elsewhere in middle America, Hugh Jackman
shaves off his Wolverine sideburns to take the role of a smalltown carpenter turned vigilante in Prisoners. The
creators stand out with their
originality,. It will
be presented at the Kuopio
Dance Festival next summer.
In Masilo?s Swan Lake
both men and women will be
dancing the familiar roles. of a Jason Statham movie is winding him up and letting him go.
The best of his action movies
are ballets of brute force: primal, precise and punishing.
Homefront, serviceably directed by television veteran Gary Fleder from a script
by Sylvester Stallone (based
on crime-novelist Chuck Logan?s book), isn?t Statham?s
JASON STATHAM
Homefront (K16)
Release Date: 17 January
Director: Gary Fleder
Starring: Jason Statham,
Winona Ryder
Onneli ja Anneli (S)
Release Date: 17 January
Director: Saara Cantell
Starring: Aava Merikanto,
Lilja Lehto
Prisoners
Release Date: 17 January
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal,
Hugh Jackman
best . When his daughter and her best friend are abducted, Paul Dano?s shifty demenour sees him become suspect number one. According
to him Kuopio Dance Festival does not have a coherent
theme, as it did last year.
?We have pieces of very different forms and styles. The exhibition also
features a multimedia video installation, Agnès, and a
brand-new short ?lm, Septième Promenade.
Dorothée Smith
Until 9 March
The Finnish Museum
of Photography
Cable Factory
Tallberginkatu 1 G
Helsinki
Dorothée Smith: From the series Löyly, 2009 /Courtesy Galerie
les Filles du Calvaire.. via a bit
of harmless breaking-andentering . S U L L I VA N
W A S H I N G T O N P O S T- B L O O M B E R G
exercises
great restraint in the opening minutes of Homefront, as
his character, DEA agent Phil
Broker, chooses to shoot an
armed bad guy in the leg instead of blowing his brains
out.
Really, though, who wants
to see Jason Statham exercise restraint. As
it happens, the bully?s mother (an alarmingly emaciated Kate Bosworth) turns out
to be one of the town?s many
resident meth-heads. says
Executive Director of the festival Anna Pitkänen.
The program also includes
?amenco in Suite Sevilla,
which is from Ballet Nacional de España directed by Antonio Najarro.
Virpi Pahkinen, who
rarely performs in Finland,
will perform for two nights
and have a solo in the gala.
The Kuopio Dance Festival will take place from 12 to
18 June 2014.
What lies beneath
J A M E S O . 22 JANUARY 2014
17
J O H N H O GG
Film
There?s
a meth
to the
madness
M I C H A E L O . Part of the fun
. The piece has
been seen at the Lyon bien-
nale, and last autumn it was
hugely popular in Paris.
?When I heard about
Masilo over a year ago, I immediately became interested
in the phenomenon,
22 JANUARY 2014
VA L É R I E B RU N
La Cantine restaurant serves traditional French cuisine for both lunch and dinner offering high quality dishes to the quiet neighbourhood of Munkkiniemi.
Taking a breath of
French air in Munkkiniemi
A Cantine where
everybody knows
the boss.
VA L É R I E B RU N
HEL SINKI TIMES
back to my childhood, I can hear the bell
ring at twelve sharp when it
was time to run down to the
canteen for lunch with our
schoolmates. such
are the high-quality dishes
La Cantine offers its customers for lunch on a daily basis.
A successful reputation
has preceded this 24-seatting bistro, and, upon request of its own clientele, La
Cantine has expanded to an
evening service offering a
new à la Carte menu.
I cannot think of a better time to come in and taste
this new traditional French
Carte, so I step inside and
immediately choose my table while Benjamin Taylor,
a very kind Australian waiter and sous-chef, lights up a
few candles adding atmosphere to this small dining area. Today, the bell
is the sound of our growling
bellies telling us it?s lunch
hour with our colleagues.
Some
things
never
change, and in keeping with
this concept is Franck Doreau, the French owner and
Head Chef of La Cantine: a
neighbourhood bistro packed
with people each day between 12:00-14:00, offering
its busy customers a warm
lunch menu before they go on
with their busy schedule.
Meatballs bathed in
mushroom sauce, tuna steak
THINKING
à la Provençale, risotto with
mussels and saffron . EAT & DRINK
HELSINKI TIMES
16 . The vibe of
an everyday lunch bistro disappears, and the restaurant
!,,6%'!.,5.#("5&&%4
3OUP . Dark wooden tables and a
few black and white photos
of Paris give a vintage touch.
I?ve had lunch here several
times before, and I have noted how the ambiance changes completely during the
evening service