CITARASA MALAYSIA

Saudara Mohd Khairy Abdullah,

Kepelbagaian makanan di Malaysia menggambarkan budaya kita yang pelbagai.

SAYA masih ingat apabila saya berpeluang menikmati sarapan pagi di Village Park, Damansara Utama. Saya telah banyak kali mendengar tentang nasi lemak di situ yang sangat terkenal dengan kelazatannya. Selepas menikmatinya sendiri, kelazatannya terbukti tidak mengecewakan!

Kita sangat bertuah kerana negara mempunyai masyarakat pelbagai kaum yang hidup aman dan damai dalam semangat 1Malaysia. Antara kelebihannya adalah apabila kita dapat menikmati beberapa makanan paling lazat di dunia yang terdapat di negara kita. Sudah pasti semua kenal dengan kelazatan kuay teow goreng Penang dan Laksa Johor. Setiap bangsa di negara kita mempunyai makanan istimewa tersendiri yang menepati citarasa kita semua. Saya masih ingat, semasa di United Kingdom satu ketika dulu, ada kalanya saya merindui makanan tempatan yang tidak mungkin boleh kita dapati di mana-mana negara di dunia ini.

Kelazatan makanan tempatan cukup dikenali di seluruh dunia. Kepelbagaiannya cukup unik malah ia sering kali diceritakan di platform antarabangsa termasuk CNN. Masyarakat seluruh dunia seringkali memuji makanan kita setiap kali mereka melawat negara ini dengan menggunakan pengaruh media sosial. Ini sekali gus memberi impak yang baik kepada industri pelancongan negara.

Anda boleh baca seterusnya di blog saya bertajuk 'Citrasa Malaysia' di sini

Untuk mengikuti segala pekembangan terkini mengenai isu semasa negara, ikuti saya di Facebook dan Twitter serta lawati laman web saya, 1Malaysia.com.my. Kongsikan maklumat ini kepada ahli keluarga serta sahabat handai anda dan ajak mereka untuk melanggan maklumat terkini menerusi laman web saya. Diharapkan anda semua dapat meneruskan sokongan kepada saya sebagai Perdana Menteri agar kita dapat bersama-sama membawa negara ini ke peringkat yang lebih tinggi.


Najib Razak

‘kegemilangan seseorang yang telah meninggal dunia, hanya bertahan selama sebulan selepas dia dikebumikan’.

By MOHD KHAIRY ABDULLAH

31 Disember 2012, mengenapkan 10 tahun saya tidak melakukan apa-apa perancangan untuk meraihkan peninggalan tahun, dan menyambut tahun baru.

   Ketika kawan-kawan sedang bersiap untuk pelbagai acara ‘buang sial’, mandi dan pesta di tepi sungai Bunsit atau Pegalan, atau menempah meja di Pub, Restoran atau hotel-hotel mewah, saya sedikit pun tidak tertarik.

   Seorang kawan bertanya, Kenapa? Saya tidak mampu untuk menjawab sesuatu yang baik mengenainya.

   Seawal pagi saya menghantar dan menjawab SMS (Sistem Pesanan Ringkas) daripada saudara terdekat.

   Cuma lewat jam 2.45 petang, saya bersama isteri dan anak menemui seorang rakan, yang meminta bantuan untuk memindahkan beberapa peralatan penghawa dingin ke pejabat barunya.

   Kemudian lewat jam 6 petang pada 31 Disember 2012, saya dihubungi oleh beberapa orang rakan, yang antaranya bekas orang kenamaan (pernah menjawat menteri), yang mahu berjumpa saya untuk membincangkan sesuatu.

   Perjumpaan di sebuah kedai kopi berhampiran Jalan Masak Keningau itu, menyajikan banyak persoalan yang dikemukakan oleh bekas menteri itu, yang antara lain berkisar mengenai pergolakan politik, masa depan bangsa Kadazandusun dan Murut (KDM), ekonomi, social dan sedikit sebanyak mengenai perkongsian pengalaman selepas masing-masing mencapai usia veteran.

   Mantan menteri itu cuba mengelak setiap kali saya menyentuh mengenai pencapaian ‘ilmu’. Dia benci dengan perkataan ‘pelajaran’. Kenapa? Ketika dia berjawatan menteri, perkara yang beliau abaikan ialah memperkasakan pelajaran / ilmu pada diri sendiri, anak-anak serta kaum karabatnya.

   Zaman Usno, Berjaya dan PBS, ramai wakil rakyat / menteri yang bersekolah setakat Tingkatan 3 / Tingkatan 5.

   Namun ramai yang menyambung pelajaran ketika bertakhta wakil rakyat dan menteri, tetapi kawan kita ini terlupa mengenai itu.

   Dia memenafaatkan kesempatan yang ada untuk bersoronok. Dia tidak makan nasihat!

   ‘Aku Menteri bah,” demikian kata-katanya kepada saya kira-kira 30 tahun yang lalu.

   Pada 31 Disember yang lalu, dia memohon untuk berjumpa kepada saya untuk meminta pandangan dan cadangan mengenai beberapa masalah yang sedang beliau hadapai.

   Ada lapan persoalan kesemuanya, tetapi saya hanya berminat untuk menjawab mengenai soal KEMATIAN.

    Saya memilih tajuk Mati, kerana rata-rata manusia tidak memahami definasi mengenai kematian.

   Dia bertanya kepada saya mengenai soalan, adakah kawan-kawannya akan terus mengingati / menyanjung beliau selepas dia mati?

   “Adakah orang ingat kita lagi,”. Soalnya.

   Pada usia mencecah 60an, saya lihat kerisauan yang amat sangat tertanam dalam jiwanya. Kerisauan yang beliau alami itu dikongsi oleh enam orang pengikut setianya, dan mereka mengangguk kepala apabila saya beritahu bahawa putaran kehidupan umpama roda.

   Dalam bahasa Yunani ‘kematian’ disebut thanatos. Thanatos bererti bentuk kematian atau keadaan mati. Tetapi kata ini juga dipakai untuk mengungkapkan hal berbahaya yang mematikan, bagaimana kematian, ancaman kematian.

   Thanatos bererti membuat seseorang mati, membunuh, dan mengakibatkan sesuatu hal berbahaya yang mematikan. Kematian adalah jangka waktu ketika kita melewati dengan sendiri dunia yang tidak kelihatan.

   Saya begitahu kepada mantan menteri itu bahawa, ‘kegemilangan seseorang yang telah meninggal dunia, hanya bertahan selama sebulan selerpas dia dikebumikan’.

   Dia bertanya adakah kehidupannya lebih baik selepas kematiannya? Apa yang beliau maksudkan ialah adakah beliau akan menjawat jawatan yang lebih tinggi daripada menteri ketika berada di alam roh?

   Saya tidak mampu menjawab soalan itu, kerana hanya mereka yang pernah mati yang mengetahui keadaan di alam kematian.

    Ketika berkesempatan untuk melawat di Negara Jepun pada suatu ketika dahulu, saya berpeluang untuk berkenalan dengan seorang pakar rujuk agama di sana.

   Masako Hiriachi berpendapat, Roh sesuatu yang dicipta oleh Tuhan untuk menjadikan manusia itu hidup.

   Agama Keristian berpendapat melalui --- Kudus Rohulkudus;

1.       1 Roh merupakan sesuatu (unsur) yg ada dl jasad yg diciptakan Tuhan sbg penyebab adanya hidup (kehidupan); nyawa: jika -- sudah berpisah dr badan, berakhirlah kehidupan seseorang; 2 makhluk hidup yg tidak berjasad, tetapi berpikiran dan berperasaan (malaikat, jin, setan, dsb); 3 ki semangat; spirit: kedamaian bagi seluruh warga.

Al-Quran surah al-A'raf : 172. Dengan ini entiti roh dan jasad saling bantu membantu untuk meningkatkan martabat dan kejadian insan disisi Allah s.w.t

   Seorang sahabat dari pergunungan Himalaya memberitahu kepada saya dalam satu perjumpaan pada Mei 1995, bahawa Roh merupakan Zat Tuhan yang berada kepada setiap manusia, sama ada ia baik atau jahat.

   Peethadheeshwar, seorang pakar Maha Yogi menjelaskan, Roh merupakan pinjaman daripada Tuhan yang Esa.

   Ini bermakna bahawa manusia mempunyai dua perkara penting untuk hidup, iaitu ROH dan JASAD.

   Roh adalah kompenan kepada Jasad untuk menjadikan seorang manusia itu bernyawa.

   Saya beritahu kepada bekas menteri itu bahawa beliau amat beruntung kerana sepanjang hayatnya pernah menjawat jawatan menteri, berbanding saya yang tidak mempunyai apa-apa jawatan yang membanggakan, selain seorang wartawan dan penulis yang dompetnya tidak pernah gemok.

   Tetapi dia menjawab bahawa saya merupakan manusia hebat, kerana tidak semua manusia yang mampu melakukan kerja wartawan atau penulis, berbanding menteri yang semua orang boleh lakukan.

   Apapun dalil bekas menteri itu, namun hakikatnya setiap manusia akan menempuh saat akan mati, persoalan kehidupan selepas mati lebih baik berbanding di dunia, tidak ada seorang yang mampu menjawab.

   Apa yang dapat saya gambarkan melalui pengalaman sebagai pengkaji social, ialah kehidupan bahagia di dunia merupakan gambar kehidupan yang sempurna di alam selepas mati.

BERSAMBUNG …

FARMERS URGE MINISTER TO PROVIDE EXTREME WEATHER INSURANCE

UK: National Farmers Union estimates rains in 2012 cost the industry £1.3bn from poor harvests and higher food bills for cattle

Last year's record rainfall has cost British farmers £1.3bn, prompting calls for government to provide insurance against extreme weather if it wants to preserve national food security.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) estimates the extreme levels of rainfall in 2012 has cost the industry £600m in lost output, especially from poor wheat and potato harvests, and another £700m in extra costs such as feed for cattle, which could not graze in water-logged fields.

The figures are being published on Tuesday, ahead of the first major speech to the industry by Owen Paterson, environment secretary, on Thursday at the Oxford Farming Conference. The NFU president, Peter Kendall, said they would be used to press Paterson to soften his expressed desire to axe European "Pillar 1" subsidies, which pay farmers a set amount for owning land in production. The UK gets about €3.65bn (£2.97bn) a year under the EU scheme.

The NFU supported ending the subsidy, but only if it was done across Europe and ideally elsewhere in the world, so farmers in other countries did not have an advantage. It needed to be replaced by a form of extreme weather payment or insurance to protect farmers from going out of business during the most difficult years, said Kendall.

"All we seem to get out of the Treasury and Defra [the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] these days is 'Pillar 1 is worthless'," Kendall said. "If they are determined to move away from Pillar 1, we need a debate about income insurance or protection when we have got years like 2012. It's not the same as producing nuts and bolts in a factory – we can't farm under water or when we don't get any rain."

The EU is locked in negotiations over dramatic cuts to farm subsidies but they are expected to take years because of strong resistance, especially from France.

Farmers are likely to face scepticism about calls for financial support after decades of headlines about fat subsidy payments, and – before they were replaced by the acreage payments – food "mountains" and milk "lakes" caused by paying farmers to produce food regardless of demand.

The global decline in production of wheat, maize, dairy products and many other foodstuffs in 2012 caused steep rises in prices, with the UN warning in October that wheat prices had already risen by 25%, with the prospect of more to come.

In the longer term, analysts expect farming to enjoy a global boom as expanding populations and rising wealth and consumption continue to outpace supply.

The investment guru Jim Rogers, who co-founded the Quantum Fund with George Soros, urged business students to learn to drive a tractor instead. "There are many things happening in agriculture, which mean agriculture is going to be fabulous for another 10 to 30 years," Rogers said in a video blog .

Paterson, who was moved to Defra in the September reshuffle, will try to capitalise on that optimism to launch the Future Farming Group on Thursday, a campaign to attract more people to consider farming as a career.

The NFU says the 2012 "black hole" in farmers' finances is the worst situation for 10-15 years, not part of the normal ups and downs of the industry.

Kendall argues that governments have been supporting agriculture for centuries, and today most, if not all, countries have some form of insurance, even states which are proudly subsidy-free.

He said the renewed focus on national food security – as climate change is prediccted to bring more extreme weather and disrupt agriculture and transport around the world – made the issue more urgent.

"In years like 2012 it is very clear to see that the support farming receives from the CAP [EU common agricultural policy] is an absolute lifeline to many farmers," said Kendall in a statement accompanying the new financial estimate.

"Recently, we have heard government representatives refer to these support payments as 'worthless', arguing that payments should only go to environmental goals. With the possible exception of Sweden, the UK government is the only one out of 27 member-state countries in the EU arguing in this way.

"I firmly believe the only likely outcome of this strategy is further discrimination against English farmers. What is more, this ideologically driven approach is outdated given the increasing volatility in global prices and the challenging global climate," he said.

Defra told the Guardian that it had responded to the tough conditions by relaxing regulations such as restrictions on when slurry can be spread on fields and deadlines for applications for funds.

"We recognise the impact the wet weather has had on farmers and that is why we have relaxed some of our restrictions to help them," said an official.

"We have also made it clear that direct payments under CAP should not be phased out in the next financial period, but that businesses should have time to adjust."

 

HOW RUSSIANS CELEBRATED NEW YEAR BEFORE REVOLUTION

THE New Year did not become Russia’s main holiday until Soviet times. In the Russian Empire, in the early 20th century, there were several holidays at the turn of the New Year.

Russian vintage New Year's postcard made in the early 20th century. It reads "Merry Christmas!" Currently, Russia dates Christmas as Jan. 7, in common with the rest of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Source: Public domain.

   The population of St. Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire, consisted of social strata nested within themselves like Indian castes. It was only a few times each year that the tempos of their lives – be they high society, factory workers, servants, students, Germans or paupers – converged.

   Because four-fifths of the city’s population were Orthodox believers, and because Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox holidays were very close together on the calendar, New Year’s and Christmas – the second most important Orthodox holiday after Easter – were celebrated by almost all of St. Petersburg's populace. The advent of Christmas marked the beginning of Christmastide – a season that lasted until Baptism (from Dec. 25 to Jab. 6, according to the old style).

Christmas

Christmas was a family holiday, mostly for children. On Christmas Eve, every self-respecting newspaper carried Christmas stories and verses in which the hero is miraculously saved from danger on Christmas Day.

   Toy shops displayed dolls, drawing-room and sports games, children’s pistols, doll houses, furniture, clothes, carriages, live models of steam and water mills, railways and automobiles. A novel feature in the 1913 season was an English wireless telegraph for children – the latest technology.

   Petty officials and clerks snapped up practical jokes, in order to play pranks on their friends, cousins and mothers-in-law: for example, a “bottle of perfume” would turn out to contain plain water that spilled all over the recipient of the gift; matches that lit themselves; little imps jumping out of candy boxes…

   Christmas dinner included an ostrich sitting on eggs: its body made from a coconut, its neck from a banana, its head fashioned out of a small apple with holes for eyes and its beak made from an almond… A guidebook wrote that “few inhabitants of the capital celebrate Christmas without a partridge or a traditional goose.”

   Until Christmas Day, people practiced religious abstinence (although, in St. Petersburg, very few people followed the full rules of fasting).

   Every self-respecting family also put up a Christmas tree. The custom was borrowed from the Germans and became popular in St. Petersburg in the 1830s, before spreading across Russia. The Christmas tree decorations were brought from Germany in huge quantities, ahead of Christmas.

   The decorations piled at the foot of the tree were given to all the invited children, and the sweets, tin soldiers, fruits and nuts hanging on the tree were handed out as prizes to winners of trivia, anagrams and countless other games.

   Families attended the festive mass and returned to a lavishly spread table. Numerous toys were recovered from under the Christmas tree.

   From morning, children from poor neighbourhoods visited the flats of the well-off. They congratulated the owners, gave praise to Christ and accepted gifts – typically small change, a few kopecks per person. Among those who came with Christmas greetings were local constables, chimney sweeps, church-bell ringers, garbage collectors, and attendants from Turkish baths. They were treated with vodka and given some money.

   Christmas in the Emperor’s family was very much the same, except for the number of Christmas trees (one per each family member) and the fact that gifts were presented not only by adults to children but also by children to their elders. And, of course, the value of their gifts was different (jewelery, arms, paintings, china).

The New Year

   For a long time, the New Year was not a holiday but an ordinary workday. However, rural folk celebrated St. Basil’s Day on Jan. 1. That saint, the Bishop of Caesarea, was the patron of pigs – so, on New Year’s, people all over Russia ate sucking pig.

   By the beginning of the 20th century a New Year’s ritual was established in the capital. Jan. 1 was regarded as a time for looking back on the previous year.     

   On the other hand, the night of New Year's was the time when unmarried young people in the city let their hair down. It was very pleasant to enter a restaurant or an inn, to escape St. Petersburg's dank weather. Fancy dress balls were staged at the Noble Assembly and the Suvorin Theatre.

Until Baptism

   The winter holidays lasted two weeks. During this time, Christmas tree parties were held in all the public spaces for the pupils attending the city’s schools. During the day, they lit up a huge electric fir-tree and children under the age of 10 received free gifts.

   After the New Year came time for fortunetelling for young maids. Of course, the rituals were all aimed at attracting bridegrooms: they gave barley grains to roosters, melted wax, dropped slips of paper with the names of potential bridegrooms in a bowl of water and made use of mirrors.

    Christmastide ended with religious celebrations for Epiphany Sunday. On Jan. 6, Orthodox believers went in their masses to “Jordan” (places on rivers, canals and lakes where they were baptized in the water). Processions carrying a cross started out from many churches and ended at the water’s edge: holes were cut in the ice for the ritual and chapels were built near these spots. Thus, Christmastide would come to a close.

 

HOLLANDE PLEDGES TO REVERSE UNEMPLOYMENT IN 2013

'French President François Hollande vowed to reverse the country's rising unemployment levels in a confident New Year’s address on Monday, saying France would emerge from the financial crisis “sooner and stronger” than expected'.

FRENCH: French President François Hollande pledged to reverse the country’s surging unemployment rate as he gave his first New Year’s televised address at the Elysée Palace on Monday.

   Speaking of the “serious and legitimate” concerns of the public, Hollande acknowledged the “fits and starts” of his first six months in office, but said France would emerge from the financial crisis “sooner and stronger” than expected because of the course he and his government had taken. “We’ve set the course – jobs, competitiveness and growth – and I will not deviate. It’s the future of France.”

   With the number of jobless breaking the three-million barrier for the first time this year, Hollande said “all our efforts will be aimed at a single objective: reversing the unemployment trend within a year, whatever the cost”.

   He also promised to tackle what he described as “useless spending” in government. “The French public’s money is hard earned and must be put to the service of a thrifty and exemplary state”.

   But speaking of his controversial 75% income tax levy, which was overturned by France’s highest legal body on Saturday, the Socialist president said that while the law would be “redesigned” its objective would remain the same. “Those with more will have to contribute more,” he said.

   Hollande also stressed the increase in teacher numbers he promised during his election manifesto and touted his delivery of promises to allow 60-year-olds the right to retire if they began working early, along with the return of French combat troops from Afghanistan.

Briefly mentioning the controversial issues of same-sex marriage and euthanasia, Hollande stressed the importance of civil rights. “We have all it takes to succeed,” he said, adding that France is most successful “when it moves forward on equal rights”.

   Ending his address with a thought for the “sick, lonely, disabled and unassisted” people in France, the French president said social security was as important as a competitive economy and called for a “collective effort” to make that balance possible.

 

SENATE REPORT: FBI, CIA, INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS CAUSED CONFUSING BENGHAZI EXPLANATIONS

WASHINGTON –  The FBI, CIA and other intelligence agencies — but not the White House — made major changes in talking points that led to the Obama administration's confusing explanations of the attack on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, a Senate report concluded Monday.

   The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee report said the White House was only responsible for a minor change. Some Republicans had questioned whether the presidential staff rewrote the talking points for political reasons.

   The committee, headed by independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, also said the director of national intelligence has been stonewalling the panel in holding back a promised timeline of the talking point changes.

   U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the Sept. 11 attack. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said she used the talking points to say in television interviews on Sept. 16 that it may have been a protest that got out of hand.

   Rice's incorrect explanation may have cost her a chance to be nominated as the next secretary of state, as Senate Republicans publicly said they would not vote to confirm her. President Barack Obama instead nominated Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who is expected to win easy confirmation.

   The State Department this month acknowledged major weaknesses in security and errors in judgment exposed in a scathing independent report on the assault. Two top State officials appealed to Congress to fully fund requests to ensure diplomats and embassies are safe.

   Testifying before two congressional committees, senior State Department officials acknowledged that serious management and leadership failures left the diplomatic mission in Benghazi woefully unprepared for the terrorist attack. The State Department review board's report led four department officials to resign.

   The Senate report said that on Sept. 19, eight days after the attack, National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen told the Homeland committee that the four Americans died "in the course of a terrorist attack."

   The same day, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the department stood by the intelligence community's assessment. The next day, Sept. 20, presidential spokesman Jay Carney said, "It is, I think, self-evident that what happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack." Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also used the words "terrorist attack" on Sept. 21.

   Olsen's acknowledgement was important, the report said, because talking points prepared by intelligence officials the previous week had undergone major changes.

   A line saying "we know" that individuals associated with al-Qaida or its affiliates participated in the attacks was changed to say, "There are indications that extremists participated."

   The talking points dropped the reference to al-Qaida and its affiliates altogether. In addition, a reference to "attacks" was changed to "demonstrations."

The committee said the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, and representatives from the CIA, State Department, National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI told the panel that the changes were made within the CIA and the intelligence community. The change from "we know" there was an al-Qaida connection to "indications" of connections to "extremists" was requested by the FBI.

   The report said the only White House change substituted a reference of "consulate" to "mission."

Intelligence officials differed over whether the al-Qaida reference should remain classified, the report said. It added, however, that the analyst who drafted the original talking points was a veteran career analyst in the intelligence community who believed it was appropriate to include a reference to al-Qaida in the unclassified version.

   The analyst came to that conclusion because of claims of responsibility by a militant group, Ansar al-Sharia.

   The committee said Clapper offered to provide the committee a detailed timeline on the development of the talking points. Despite repeated requests, the committee said the information has not been provided.

   "According to a senior IC (intelligence community) official, the timeline has not been delivered as promised because the administration has spent weeks debating internally whether or not it should turn over information considered 'deliberative' to the Congress," the report said.

   The report added that if the administration had described the attack as a terrorist assault from the outset, "there would have been much less confusion and division in the public response to what happened there on Sept. 11, 2012."

   "The unnecessary confusion ... should have ended much earlier than it did," the committee said.

TAIPEI 2013

 TAIPEI 2013 TAIPEI:  Three out of 10 wishes selected by the public for the major New Year Eve's party in Taiwan were put up in lights on the Taipei 101 tower from 5 p.m. Monday, in a warm-up to the annual countdown party. The tower is being lit up with New Year wishes from its 78th to 81st floors from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday and from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesday, the organizers said. The wishes say "Love, Prosperity, Happiness," "Peaceful Taiwan, Happy Family" in Chinese and "I love you" in sign language. At midnight Monday, a dazzling display of fireworks will begin at the building - one of the tallest in the world - and will last for 188 seconds, the organizers said. The fireworks display will be choreographed to an adapted version of "The Firebird," the famous 1910 concert piece by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, according to the organizers. The annual New Year's Eve countdown at Taipei 101 will be broadcast live globally, starting at 11:55 p.m. The city-sponsored party will be headlined by pop diva Chang Hui-mei, also known as A-mei, singer and TV host Harlem Yu and Aaron Kwok from Hong Kong. Despite the cold weather, revelers were already packing the square front of City Hall, near Taipei 101, on Monday evening. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit system also reported increasing passenger loads, which it said were expected to start escalating sharply around 7 p.m.

TAIPEI TO WELCOME 2013 WITH 188 SECONDS OF FIREWORKS

TAIPEI: Taipei will welcome 2013 with 188 seconds of fireworks in a show that features a phoenix-themed display signifying people's wish to wave goodbye to the old and say hello to the new. Fireworks would burst into the Taipei skyline after the countdown, with red, blue, green, purple, and golden-colored designs shooting into the sky. The annual countdown party is expected to draw some 800,000 crowd, according to Taipei City Government. Displaying both in English and Chinese on the skyscraper after the firework display will be the Tourism Bureau's slogans: "2013 Time for Taiwan" and "Taiwan--The Heart of Asia," "Time for Celebration," and "Taiwan Tourism Events." The annual fireworks show at Taiwan's tallest building and the world's second tallest is considered one of the best in the world. CNN recently named Taipei as one of the 10 best places to celebrate the new year in style, along with New York, London and Hong Kong. The Taipei Rapid Transit Corp. (TRTC), the city's metro system operator, said it expects Monday's ridership to break the 2.05 millionth passenger mark recorded last year. With hundreds of thousands of people pouring into the city's metro system, the TRTC said it deployed nearly 1,000 staff at various stations to help ease the crowd and expects them to dissipate fully around 4 a.m. The city-sponsored party near City Hall will end around 1 a.m after six hours of nonstop performance by a star-studded lineup featuring pop diva Chang Hui-mei and Hong Kong singer Aaron Kwok.