The 'other'

Sazan M. Mandalawi

The Kurdish Globe
By Sazan M. Mandalawi

It's not always about 'I' it can also be about 'them'

Earlier this week I met a young woman, she had abandoned a great job -- which paid well, too -- and a princess-like lifestyle because she didn't feel inner contentment. She left behind everything she had, from a large house, to a credit card that was limitless and three vacations a year to saving up money to buy shoes -- "not because they look good on my feet, but because I need them," she explained to me.

Now, living in a shared house and only having a small room, her volunteer work in an initiative to spread awareness about giving back to society, she says, is giving her all the happiness she wants. She says she feels liberated when she does something good for the community.

This gives me flashbacks and makes me think of home. I remember in one of my last nights in Erbil we were at Le Capital, with its beautiful seating area. Breathing in the summer evening air to the sound of replica waterfalls is definitely a lovely night out, in what was once the "other Iraq" but today even that doesn't fully reflect the fairytale story of Erbil.

What you often notice at these places is the small portion of society (which by the way is normal anywhere you go) who can enjoy the luxuries of life more than others. So, it is not surprising to see expensive cars lined up outside these cafes, like seductive models in a swimwear fashion show. Anything older than a 2000 model will seem out of place.

Nokia? Who uses those these days? In this part of Erbil, it's all about iPhone, it is "I" everything.

My dear reader, as globalization has played its game and we have developed at such speed, Erbil has put its toe into the waters of becoming a developed capital city. I must admit it is living up to the standards of the name "capital city," as well.

Today, we are actually hearing the name of our city on BBC, Al-Arabiya, CNN and other international media (even if it is only for a matter of seconds) for reasons other than politics, and conflict.

Seeing Erbil grow at such a pace, I cannot help but be worried for this generation and future generations, too. We need to start to give our young people a sense of responsibility to the community, of giving back and being part of society.

From a young age, students in schools and university must be familiar with volunteering and community work. This will, in turn, allow them to always think of the "other." It will build within them the compassion to think of others first and then to help others.

We live in a society that has a large gap between the rich and poor; the well-off younger generation needs to have a role in the lives of the less privileged. There is a lot our young people can do -- from visiting orphanages to working in shelters, teaching in illiteracy classes for seniors to social initiatives, such as planting trees to fundraising events. This all begins from school and built upon in a person's secondary education life.

It hurts me to see a group of young people live the ultimate life, while another group must suffer every day to put food on the table every night. Knowing our flourishing future, from today, we need to start to plant the seeds of compassion and thinking of others within our next generation's youth.

Kurds have experiences and have suffered too much to become a careless nation. We were, and always will be, people who sympathize with others. Kurds are generally people who would prefer their next door neighbor to have dinner before them. I just hope this side of the Kurds remains while everything else in our surroundings is changing.

I hope we teach our young it's not always about 'I' it can also be about "them."


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Korea as a Good Model of Women Policy

As the number of Korean women who entered the main stream of society increases, other countries in Asia started to have interest in women policy of Korea. Recently, there was a meaningful workshop where the other Asian countries can learn about Korean policy on women. Let’s take a look.

Gathering to Learn Korean Language

<2011 KWDI Workshop on Capacity Building for Women’s Policy of Cambodia and Indonesia> (Source: Korean Women’s Development Institute)

30 people including Cambodian and Indonesian government officials and Ngo members attended workshop on Capacity Building for Women's Policy sponsored by Korean Women's Development Institute to learn women policy from Sept. 18th to Oct.1st. They participated at lectures, discussions and site visit under the three themes on capacity building on; policy, economy, women rights and violence.

The Buddhist country, Cambodia and the Muslim country, Indonesia have different cultural background, however, since 2000s they are actively working on the policy on gender equality. But women's social status is still low due to the poverty, poor education, and conventional man chauvinism. What were the impressions that the experts from these two countries got from Korea?

(Source: Korean Women’s Development Institute)

for justice democracy are speakers today.this is the first time  to korea for both of them and they were very impressed by women's liberation movement history and women's policy.mukti apprciated hospitality saying"it is the first time for me to be herebut seoul is wellknown city in indonesia.korea is emerging as an economic superpower in the world.i'm looking forward to be here".pakpahan was interested in korean women's policy and she said korea abolished the head of the family system and korean women's liberation movements are even if it is a small result.

What is the Most Important Issue in Women’s policy in Tow Countries?

 Mukti: “As Malaysia and Indonesia share the same language and religion, Indonesians are very popular in Malaysian labor market. Currently, about 1.2million are working in Malaysia. However, since the exploitation and fraud got worse, Indonesian government banned the export of labor force until the Malaysian government guarantees of proper working conditions.”

Pakpahan: “The biggest issues among Indonesian women are health, finance and education. Indonesia has the highest maternal mortality rate in Southeast Asia, which is very urgent matter to be fixed. Most of women are working as maids in Indonesia or in other countries. Their working conditions and payments are very poor because the domestic law cannot protect them. It was all resulted from the gender inequality in education. While the percentage of the female students in primary school is quite high, in higher educational institutions the percentage gets pretty low.”

Bring Know-how to Their Countries

(Source: Korean Women’s Development Institute)

Mukti: “In Indonesia we also do the research on women but most of them depends on Ngos or university laboratories, so we need a professional institutes managed by the government. The most impressive thing of Korea was the statistics of adult magazines. When I go back to Indonesia I’ll strongly suggest the same one to the senate.”

Pakpahan: “I agree with the importance of the statistics and want to develop many indicators to apply to the policies for women. Also when I visited to one of the Korean Women's Hotline center, I got an idea about establishing the one-stop service centers that connects the sexual violence victims to consultants for supporting. I will suggest it when going back.”

There is an expression like this, “The women-friendly country is indeed a developed country.” Now, Korea is becoming a good model of high techniques and advanced policies. A good and comfortable society is not built by a specific person but by every single one of us. Isn't it the first step of world peace to make the weak including women happy?

 

Accessories for Women in Joseon Dynasty Era

People want to have a better look and show off their charms by wearing new clothes and trying a new hairstyle. Well, there is nothing like accessories to complete the ‘better’ look. Every decorative itemsitem, such as hats and mufflers, can be called accessories.

Today, we will go through the favorite accessories of Korean women in the Joseon Dynasty era. Hair ornaments, bracelets, rings and necklaces. They wore different ornaments by season, occasion and age. In addition, each accessory has its own story. For example, when family gets separated, they share each ring from a pair of rings, garakji. When husband died early, wife buried a ring of the pair with him and she kept the other to commemorate him. For that reason, garakji used to be made as a pair and actually bigger than present one.
Let’s take a look at the accessories of women in the Joseon Dynasty era.

Earring: The Symbol of Class

Rings were the first ornament in history. In certain countries of Asia, people considered it like a charm and kept it very carefully. They were also called eesik, eedang or eehwan. Many gold crowns and delicately made-ornaments were excavated from many graves of the Three Kingdoms period. We can guess the metalwork technique of the era was very sophisticated and detailed. There are three types of earrings; simple, dangling and showy. The earrings of old times were made of gold, silver and bronze, but unfortunately the number of the earrings from Goryeo dynasty are very few.

Did you know that men used to put on earrings in the past? The typical example is Hwarang in the Silla kingdom. They used to wear earrings as a symbol of youth and ability. According to the Annals of the Joseon dynasty, prince Yangpyeong put on big earrings when he was nine (in 1513) and it was common for prince to put on earrings back then. However, the earrings became unpopular since the Confucianism pervaded the whole country in the Joseon Dynasty era. Even the King Seonjo officially announced that it is the most undutiful thing to put on earrings because piercing is hurting the ancestrally inherited body. According to some recent studies on the era, scholars insist that the regulation was resulted from the economic crisis caused by importing too much gold and silver for earrings from China. 
Eventually, the men’s earrings were disappeared after King Seonjo era and women only put on earrings in wedding ceremony. For this reasons, the design of the earrings in Joseon dynasty became very simple.

Garakji: A Pair of Rings of Engagement

Garakji means a pair of big rings. It was also called “Jihwan”. Garakji appeared from the Joseon Dynasty era. It was only for married women. If a woman put on only one ring in her finger, it means she was a single. Only married women could put on a pair of rings, which means harmony with her husband. The idea came from the Confucianism

The history of exchanging rings went back 4800 years ago. In 16th century, the Tudor dynasty believed that the blood vessel of the 4th finger of left hand is connected to heart, and they put on wedding ring on 4th finger. Since then, it became customary in most countries. 
Garakji was mainly made of gold and silver but other materials were also used, such as lacquer, jade, quartz, green jadeite, amber, pearl, and copper. 
In Joseon dynasty, noblewomen and royal family put on different materials of rings by season and occasion. Gold rings from Oct. to Jan., silver lacquer rings from Feb. to Apr., jade or quartz rings were for Dano festival and regular lacquer rings were from dog days, boknal, to Sep. All of them were for having a natural and harmonious look, which are influenced by the formality of clothing and four seasons.

Garakji was not only a love token but loyalty to the country as well. During Japanese invasion of 1592, a gisaeng, cultured women entertainers in the Joseon Dynasty era, called Nongae, hugged Japanese general and jumped down to the river, wearing 10 rings. Jinjoo local government designated Aug. 8th as the “Nongae Day” and has hosted many special events and donated hundreds of silver rings engraved "euiam", which is the name of the rock she stepped on before jumping into the river, to supporting center.

Norigae: Accessory for Every Class

Norigae is a perfect accessory for women’s Hanbok. It is widely loved by all classes, from royal family to common people. Norigae was the most popular ornament during the Joseon Dynasty era, while the other accessories like necklaces and earrings became unpopular. 
There is no historical record on norigae. For your information, the Hanbok during the Silla kingdom and the Goryeo dynasty era doesn’t look like the one in these days. Instead of norigae, it was customary to hang pocket filled with gold bell or scent in the belt. Later in Joseon, they were replaced into the new born accessory, norigae. During the era, norigae was hung in the breast-tie of Hanbok. People wore more gorgeous norigae for royal functions and big festivities. Noblewomen used to inherit it to generation after generation.

Norigae is consisted of ttidon, string, but also paemul(jewel), knot and sool(tassel). Ttidon is a tie to connect jewels and it is supposed to be hung in the breast-tie. Gold, silver, white jade, green jadeite and coral were used to make norigae. There are square, rectangular, round, flower and butterfly shaped ttidon. According to the number of jewels of it, it was called oijul-norigae or danjak-norigae(single jewel) and samjak-norigae(three jewel). 
Red, blue, yellow, pink, green, light purple and deep purple colors were used to make sool(tassels). Besides, some of norigaes were embroidered with a rhino horn, lotus flower, and herb that was belived to bring an eternal youth. Norigae represented not only the social status but also the wishes of women and ideologies for abundance, longevity and good luck.

Binyeo: A Traditional Hairpin for fixing ladies’ chignons

Binyeo is an ornamental hairpin used to hold a hair bun in place. We can still see old ladies wearing binyeo in countryside. Binyeo is classified into two kinds; a Jam and a Chae. Jam is a normal stick-shaped binyeo and Chae is a tong-shaped binyeo with decorations. Binyeo was allowed only for married women. The jewels, woods, animal horns and bones were used to make binyeos.

According to the historical record, Binyeo was firstly used in the Three Kingdoms era. But it also became very detailed since King Yeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty era.
The question is why he forced women to put on binyeo. In fact, in mid-Joseon Dynasty era, married women used to put on gachae (a wig) around hair. The higher the wig is, the higher their social status is. The most expensive wig cost almost same as a fine house. It caused a social problem. In addition, because of heavy wig, some women were suffering from neck sickness. Besides, they even decorated the wig with various accessories. For the reason, the wig was replaced into binyeo. 

There are also different types of binyeo for different seasons, occasions, and ages. Binyeo made of a plum tree and a bamboo or jade binyeo with a peony-shaped decoration was used in April, August, and September. Okbong binyeo, Wonang binyeo,Isaryeon binyeo were used to giled dangui, a type of upper garment for women in hanbok. In spring and autumn, women used to wear Moran or Maejuk binyeo with delicately decorated small hairpins called isaddeoljam on it., According to the character of occasions, they choose different materials of binyeo.

 The Ornaments have been with us throughout the history and represented women's life. From now on, even small earrings will remind you the history.

 

No Oil Country Sells Oil!

Ship is the main export of Korea. It is natural that Koreans are proud of their ship, saying that it is the best in the world. Well, then what is the second leading export? It’s Oil. People say that Korea has no oil, but it has petroleum companies which sell half of their products abroad.

No Oil Nation Exports Oil!

(Source: EBN Industry News)

The type of the oil that Korea import!s from other oil-producing countries is crude oil. The crude oil is used to make a large number of other fuels and ingredients of consumer products. Firstly put crude oil into big tank and boil up. Crude oil becomes gas and it goes up through the chimney. The substances of low boiling point and low molecular weight go up easily but the others don’t.

If the crude oil substance gets frozen, we can get liquid substance. We call this ‘fractional distillation’. The main ingredient of crude oil is hydrocarbon but it has some impurities in it. When impurities are removed, other substances are eliminated, too. This is the process to gain refined oil. Korea exports this refined oil all over the world.

The refined oil influences the export of petroleum products, such as semiconductor, mobile phone, LCD and automobiles. Korea Custom Service shows that Korea sold out petroleum products amount of 29.5 billion dollars at the first half year. This figure is up 70 % compared to last year. The number one is ship amount of 36.1 billion dollars.

The official of Korea Custom Service says that despite rising oil prices and export prices, domestic refineries have continued to develop technology and expand target market. And finally they were able to see the fruit of their efforts. Their investments for advanced facilities played an important role in increasing exports. Advanced facilities make value added products such as gasoline or diesel out of Bunker C oil of low price and poor quality.

< Export in the first half year > (Source: Edaily)

Korea is well known for this ship technology. Korea created something out of nothing. Domestic refineries have steadily invested in advanced facilities on a large scale. Petroleum products from the process are now the main export items.

Increasing Oil Exports

It is a trend for domestic refineries to increase the export portion to earn stable profits. Fortunately when crude oil price rises, oil product price is to rise. Unlike other industry impact of soaring price of raw materials is less. The official says refineries make a profit which is second to none.

< Quarterly Trend of Oil Export > (Source: Herald Economy)

The official of Korea Custom Service says the export volume increased largely due to the rising export price, value added technology, diversification of products and expansion of target market. Many years have passed to become oil export nation from non oil nation. However we have to be prepared for oil exhaustion.

Lamp to Light up the World Culture

Once upon a time, Korean ancestors spent overnight with a lamp. Students prepared the national exam with a lamplight. The story ‘Han Seok-bong’, a leading mid-Joseon period calligrapher,  is very well-known for the episode that mother checked his son’s improvement, chopping the rice cake next to her son while he was writing calligraphy without a lamplight.

This story became an old tale, which seems impossible in these days. However, in Tong-yeong city of Gyeongsangnam-do, people enjoy wind lamp game at night of Donji day. In Joseon period, students used to play the game with other school students. The key is whose lantern flies the highest and floats the longest.

It tells us that we should light up the darkness, and wish for safety of family members toward the floating lantern on the sky.

Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival

In October, the night sky over the Jinju river become full of fantastic lanterns. It is Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival. The festival, which started in 2002, has won the top prize in last five years in a row. In addition, floating lantern festival is designated as one of the best festivals in Korea this year. Now, it began to step forward to the world.

Ancestors used floating lanterns for military use. Floating lantern is more advanced tool than signal-fire tower in terms of alert!ing the enemy’s invasion to other regions. In October, 1592, during the war against Japanese troops, General Kim Shi-min used wind lanterns and torch as military signals. They were pretty effective ways to stop Japanese to cross the river. In addition, the lanterns were used for communicative methods between soldiers and their families.

(Source: IS Plus Corp)

You can have hands-on experience, such as making rice cakes, playing traditional games during the festival.

Lanterns describing Korean troops and enemies in their costume, fire arrows, and water cannons will be reproduced for war of Jinju fortress. Moreover, there will be lanterns that symbolize each country, such as Korea, China, Taiwan and Japan. Ranging from small lanterns to 15 meter-high lanterns, the various lanterns will light up the night of Nam River.

Fantastic Feast of Light Decorates a Night Sky of City

 (Source: YonhapNews, Newsis)

The festival has continued to be held in downtown. The traditional lantern festival in Bongeun temple and Seoul world lantern festival in Cheonggye stream welcome us.

Lantern show of Bongeun temple starts near Buddha’s birthday. The show focuses on Buddhism so there are many religious works. You can feel fantasy because the show is held in exhibition hall. If you feel stuffy, please go outside for lantern festival.

Lantern parade from Dongdaemoon stadium to Jogye temple is a big festival of Buddist culture. You may have generosity when you watch the light of Buddhism arising in city building forests.

(Source: Seoul Lantern Festival blog)>

Lantern festival, which was held in November, last year, will be held on Cheonggyecheon. The previous festival gave wonderful and warm memories not only to Seoul citizens but also the foreign visitors.

Lanterns of Haechi and ten symbols of longevity were displayed near Mojeon Bridge. There were some lanterns invited from abroad: Koshogawara Dachneputa from Japan, Byungum Mask from China, Giant lantern in San Fernando festival from Phillipines, Heitiki lantern telling about Maori tribe from New Zealand and Jaeshinsongbo from Taiwan. They were displayed near Gwangtong Bridge under the theme of the ‘light of the globe’.

Meanwhile, the theme of festival near Jangtong bridge was the ‘light of recollection’. It presented daily routine of Korean, fairy tale and history, which drew a lot of attention from visitors. Near Samil bridge, many artworks, such as characters, animals, hot air balloons, lanterns made by new artists and LED lanterns, reminded visitors of a floating museum, creating a forest of light.

Lanterns Lighting up Asian’s Heart

Let’s see other lantern festivals in neighbor countries. China has a lantern festival in January 1^st, as a Spring Festival. Chinese hang paintings like carps for luck on the wall and have a big lantern festival outside. 

 (Source: OhMyNews, Hakata Lantern Festival (Japan)>

In particular, you can watch a variety of splendid lantern works displayed in a small city in China, Chukung , which is three hours away from Chungdu. Most of Chinese people spend Spring Festival, enjoying the enormous lantern.

How about Japan? There is a very popular lantern festival in Fukuoka, which is called Hakada Lantern Festival. It displays lanterns based upon the geographic locations. The shape and size of lanterns are very different from those of Korea and China.

In earlier days, the lantern events called ‘Cheondeungmyeong’ used to be held in shrine or temple during summer. They cut bamboo trees into half, put sand and seashells inside, poured oil, stuck a wick and lighted it. The event has continued to develop and degenerate and finally became a Hakada Lantern Festival. It is very popular to couples for its beautiful scenery.

Lantern tells us a hope. It is like jewel lighting up surroundings. Why don’t we turn the light on without harming nature? You should be careful especially in a windy day to prevent fire. Plus, if we care about our neighbors with the sincerity we light up the lantern with, our heart will be warm like a lantern.

Korea attracts Indian investors

As Indian companies have begun rapidly globalizing, the Korean government is wooing the companies to invest to Korea in earnest.

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy and KOTRA’s regional office in Mumbai hosted the first Korea-India Trading Forum on November 24 at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, India to attract investments from Indian companies.

Some important figures in attendance at the forum included Lee Byeong-cheol, Director General for Cross-Border Investment at the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, and Anand Mahindra, Vice President of Mahindra Group, along with 200 Indian business officials.

Anand Mahindra and Lee Byeong-cheol (Photo: Yonhap News)

The forum started off with a welcoming message and the appointment of Anand Mahindra as ambassador of investment to Korea. It was followed by a presentation about the investment environment of Korea, an introduction of various Korean companies for investing in, and one-on-one investment counseling services.

Director Lee said that the Korean government decided to attract Indian investors to Korea as they have been rapidly globalizing through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of overseas firms.

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), India invested USD 1.4 billion overseas in 2001, and last year the amount of investment expanded to USD 14.6 billion.

 “As Indian companies, Tata Group first invested in Korea, yet Mahindra Group has invested the largest amount in Korea,” said Vice Chairman Mahindra after receiving his ambassadorship. “We’ll try our best for Indian companies to invest in Korea much more.”

Tata Motors, the largest vehicle manufacturing company in India, bought Daewoo Motors in 2004, while Mahindra Group bought Ssangyong Motors in October last year. The rapid growth of Indian companies and their interest in investing overseas have also been proven by the the purchase by Indian company Tata Steel of British company Corus Steel in 2006. Bharti Airtel Group also bought Zain Group from Kuwait last year.

During the forum, KOTRA and Indian bank ICICI signed an MOU for business cooperating, while Korea Engineering & Consulting Association signed an MOU with the Indian Engineering Export Promotion Council for expanding investments and cooperation by combining the technologies of Korea and human resources of India.

By Jessica Seoyoung Choi

Volunteering that Makes Us Smile

It is said that taking care of teeth from your childhood is very important. A recent study shows that taking proper care of teeth prevents the heart disease. The basic is to brush teeth in a proper way and scale teeth on a regular basis. But there are many people who cannot afford it. A charity group has been doing a service for those since long ago.

The joy in Volunteer Work

< Annual meeting for better volunteering> (Source: Yollin Dental Society)

Yollin Dental Society was established in 1999 to volunteer for poor neighbors. It is blowing a fresh breeze into many dentist groups in Korea. The targets are those who abandoned, seniors who live alone, and Korean-Chinese. Well, the Yollin Dental Society is busy enough to go to different places everyday that needs their help.

Then, how do they volunteer? Once the dentist license holder becomes a member of Yollin Dental Society, he gets a volunteer-schedule on a regular basis. Considering his/her schedule, the next step is to apply in advance. It is also good for building friendship among volunteers.

Kim Seong Moon, the newly elected president of Yollin Dental Society, said that the progress of the volunteer group cannot be made by just one or two persons’ efforts. He emphasized that passion and devotion from each person are the keys to achieve the progress and strengthen the friendship among members.

To Abroad!

(Source: Health Korea)

Yeolin dentist group went abroad for a volunteer work for the first time this year. Kim prepared for international volunteer with passion. The original plan was to set up clinics abroad in order to provide Korean medical services for people in developing countries. They are planning another overseas volunteering project on a regular basis in the near future.

The first destination was Indonesia. As it is a first international project, they already conducted a field trip, and did a lot of research. Finally, 25 dentists flew to Indonesia for a volunteer work from 29^th of July to the 3^rd of August. They treated factory workers and neighbors at factory of Dada Korea in Laya 76 km away from Jakarta. 309 patients were treated through the volunteer work.

Arrived very late, the dentist group set up the equipments until dawn and started to treat patients from the next morning. The situation was not so good. Mostly, they extracted and scaled teeth for local people, which continued for six days. In addition, they did a skin care and nail care for female workers and opened flee market with Korean items they brought from Korea. Of course, it was very popular.

 

(Source: Asia Economy)

The president of the group said, “More than 700 people wanted to be treated but only 300 people had opportunities due to the schedule. But I’m very glad to get things done without any accident.”

Yollin Dental Society marked 11^th anniversary. Two hundred volunteers have treated seven thousand people so far. They have grown up as one of the most famous volunteer groups with six clinics in Korea.

Dental care is very important but it costs a lot of money. Until now, dental care was not affordable to low income class. However, we have Yollin Dental Society, and it seems that they will be the strong supporters.