Talk about living the dream. Joel Parkinson is not only the best surfer in the world right now, he is competing on the Dream Tour.
There aren't many better lives, even in the rarefied atmosphere of today's world of professional sports. With events at Fiji's and Tahiti's perfect reef breaks, to the famous Mundaka in Spain, and other locations in the USA and Australia, it's hard to imagine a better competitive schedule.
Leading the 2009 ASP world tour after three events is Australia's "Parko", as he is known, who has just completed a five-day Corona tour of New Zealand, along with fellow surfing legend and 1999 World Champion, Mark "Occy" Occhilupo.
Parkinson, who hails from Australia's surfing epicentre of Coolangatta, has grown up in the new age of professional surfing.
"We lived in a small town when I was young, it wasn't very big, Coolangatta, and we'd all surf down there. Dean Morrison, Mick Fanning, me, and a few of the older guys. It was kind of like a little rat pack where everyone tried to be the best."
The 'rat pack' Parkinson refers to has come to be known in surfing circles as the "Cooly Kids", who have gone on to become some of the best surfers of their time.
"Before we knew it we were 15 and competing at the state titles, and we didn't realise how much better we were than other surfers. And when we would go to the nationals, it would be like a little Coolangatta clan. I guess we just pushed each other harder."
Fanning later went on to become 2007 world champion. Parkinson, now sitting on top of the world surfing ladder, said his friend's world title had influenced his drive towards a possible world title.
"Definitely - just watching him do it and knowing that as kids we grew up together, as teenagers, as sparring partners in a way," he said. " He definitely showed me it was possible, and I believe he can do it, and I can do it."
Parkinson has shown he has the ability to take it all the way in 2009. Winning the first event of the year on home ground at the Gold Coast Pro was a definite boost to his confidence.
"Home is a hard one to win. You get a lot of home support but sometimes that home support can be a hindrance. It's like there are too many eyes on you. But when it all comes off, there's nothing better than winning in front of your home town crowd."
Parkinson followed up his Gold Coast victory by winning at the famous Bells Beach Pro held on the rugged coastline of Victoria, Australia.
What has changed in his approach to the world tour from previous years?
Parkinson attributes a strict training schedule under the guidance of mentor and coach, former professional surfer Luke Egan, for much of his success. Parkinson is as fit as he's ever been but the key is the support he gets from his family and his love of surfing.
Sabtu, 30 Mei 2009
Surfing: 'Cooly kid' is surfing's hottest star
HEADLINES NEWS
In Kalimantan, Airport, Brothels Take Over Orangutans’ Habitat, Say Activists
Part of a national park in Kalimantan that is home to hundreds of endangered orangutans has been turned into a development zone complete with an airport and brothels, activists said this week.
Almost 600 of the long-haired apes have disappeared from Kutai National Park, East Kalimantan province, over the past seven years of unchecked construction, the [ Read More...]
President Talks $1bn Deal with Qatar Emir
“The two leaders agreed to strengthen efforts and increase the volume of (bilateral) trade,” presidential spokesman Dino Djalal said.
The leaders discussed progress on a US$1 billion joint venture for [ Read More...]
Bali’s Air Paradise Still Searching for Investors
“We are still searching for investors and we are having discussions with some potential investors,” Air Paradise director Oka Semadi told The Times.
He said some were based overseas and [ Read More...]
Answers Sought in E. Java Plane Crash That Killed 98
Investigators were trying to work out why the Hercules, carrying more than 100 crew and passengers, including soldiers and their families, came down in East Java province on Wednesday [ Read More...]
Orangutans Being Abused in Indonesian Zoos: Study
A Sumatran orangutan at a zoo in Medan, North Sumatra.
JAKARTA ~ Orangutans in public and private Indonesian zoos are being abused to the point where they are eating their own vomit and drinking their own urine, conservationists said on Wednesday.
The non-governmental Centre for Orangutan Protection (COP) said zookeepers were keeping the endangered apes malnourished so they would be eager to take food from visitors.
“The zoo managements have abandoned the principles of animal welfare,” which is to keep animals free of pain, hunger and stress, COP captivity researcher Luki Wardhani told a press conference.
“We documented several stress symptoms and abnormal behaviour. They bump their own bodies, vomit and eat it again, urinate and drink their own urine, lick their own nipples and sit without expression.”
A COP study of five zoos across Java island found that some of the apes were being denied proper nourishment so they would eat anything tourists tossed into their cages.
“Public feeding should be stopped. The visitors often feed the orangutans unsuitable food and the zoos fail to monitor this,” COP captivity program manager Seto Hari Wibowo said.
Too often the orangutans are kept in cages instead of larger enclosures which help reduce their stress levels, the group said.
There are an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 orangutans left in the wild, 80 percent of which live in Indonesia and 20 percent in Malaysia, according to The Nature Conservancy.
Answers Sought in E. Java Plane Crash That Killed 98
MAGETAN ~ Air investigators sifted through the charred debris of a military transport plane on Thursday that crashed into homes before bursting into flames, killing 98 people.
Investigators were trying to work out why the Hercules, carrying more than 100 crew and passengers, including soldiers and their families, came down in East Java province on Wednesday morning.
Officials said at least 98 people were killed in the crash, which completely burnt out much of the plane and left chunks of fuselage strewn across a rice paddy near Magetan city.
The plane was flying from capital Jakarta to eastern Papua province via Magetan.
An air marshal – the air force’s equivalent to a general – and his wife were among those killed in the crash.
The exact number of survivors was unclear.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed his “deepest condolences” to the families of the victims but said it was too early to point to a cause for the crash.
“The reasons for the accident are still in the process of investigation. We can’t say if it was weather factors, engine damage or human error. It’s better we don’t speculate as to the cause of the accident,” he said.
The crash is the second accident involving a Hercules in two weeks. Another of the transport planes skidded off the runway in the Papuan highland town of Wamena on May 10, reportedly injuring one person.
Twenty-four military personnel were also killed early last month when their Fokker 27 training plane slammed into a hangar and burst into flames at an air base in West Java.
Bali’s Air Paradise Still Searching for Investors
LEGIAN ~ Bankrupt Air Paradise International has thus far not secured any investors and therefore has no immediate plans to resume operations, The Bali Times has learned.
“We are still searching for investors and we are having discussions with some potential investors,” Air Paradise director Oka Semadi told The Times.
He said some were based overseas and that there was considerable interest in acquiring a stake in the currently non-operational airline.
Air Paradise, owned by Bali tourism-sector businessman Kadek Wiranatha, closed without warning two months after the second bombings here in October 2005, citing a lack of demand on its then sole Australia routes.
Possible suggested new flights for a revamped Air Paradise could include the lucrative Bali-Jakarta route. However, an update on the company’s website, dated March 4, 2009, bills the carrier as “the newest budget airline to hit Australia” with a wide range of destinations in Australia.
Semadi denied earlier media reports that said the company reportedly sold a 49-percent stake – the maximum foreign purchase allowed under Indonesian law – to an Australian airline, after failing to net investment from then Bali governor Dewa Beratha, who had expressed interest in reviving the island’s only international airline.
“That is not true. That is only a rumour,” he said, adding that there had been no follow-up discussions with current Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika.
“Bali needs to have its own airline; it’s very important,” said Semadi.
President Talks $1bn Deal with Qatar Emir
JAKARTA ~ President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani in Jakarta on Tuesday to discuss bilateral relations and investment, an official said.
“The two leaders agreed to strengthen efforts and increase the volume of (bilateral) trade,” presidential spokesman Dino Djalal said.
The leaders discussed progress on a US$1 billion joint venture for investment set up by the two countries in 2006 and 85-percent funded by Qatar, Djalal said.
Al-Thani also expressed interest in buying a number of Indonesian-made CASA/IPTN CN-235 transport aircraft, he said.
“This was a surprise for the president. He didn’t say how many he wanted to buy but he did convey he wanted to buy them,” Djalal said.
Yudhoyono also praised Qatar for its mediation role in conflicts in the Middle East and Sudan.
Bilateral trade between Southeast Asia’s biggest economy and the Middle Eastern oil emirate was $348.56 million in 2008, according to government figures.
The Qatari leader left Indonesia later on Tuesday after a two-day visit.
In Kalimantan, Airport, Brothels Take Over Orangutans’ Habitat, Say Activists
Part of a national park in Kalimantan that is home to hundreds of endangered orangutans has been turned into a development zone complete with an airport and brothels, activists said this week.
Almost 600 of the long-haired apes have disappeared from Kutai National Park, East Kalimantan province, over the past seven years of unchecked construction, the Centre for Orangutan Protection (COP) said in a statement.
“The number of orangutans in the area, which was 600 individuals in 2004, has fallen to only 30 to 60 individuals at present,” Hardi Baktiantoro from COP said.
The East Kalimantan administration had permission from the national Forestry Ministry to build a 60-kilometre road through the park in 2002, COP said.
But commercial and residential development covering 23,712 hectares of forest was also allowed to flourish alongside the road, with seven new villages springing up almost overnight.
“The Kutai National Park has been changing into a city, complete with an airport, gas stations, marketplace… a bus terminal and prostitution complex,” COP habitat campaign manager Yon Thayrun said in a press release.
The national government should investigate local authorities for corruption even though the development in the forest has been subsequently legalised, he said.
“The root of the problem with the Kutai National Park is a breach of duty committed by officials to get political and financial advantages,” Thayrun said.
“They gave away land spaces to people to win their votes in the local administration elections. They also mobilise people to seize the national park area.”
Forest Ministry spokesman Masyhud denied that the forest had been badly damaged and accused the conservationists of exaggerating the impact of the road on the orangutans.
“Its scale is not as dramatic as they have said. The road development has not sacrificed the national park. Like in many countries, a national park isn’t meant to be completely sterile of social and economic development,” he said.
“It’s true that this road development affected the orangutan habitat but it’s only temporary as they have adapted to it. We have also implemented some conservation programmes involving local communities.”
There are an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 orangutans left in the wild, 80 percent of which live in Indonesia and 20 percent in Malaysia, according to The Nature Conservancy.
Meanwhile, an Indonesian paper company is planning to log an area of unprotected jungle that is being used as a reintroduction site for about 100 critically endangered orangutans, according to activists.
A coalition of environmental groups said a joint venture between Asia Pulp & Paper and Sinar Mas Group had received a licence to clear the largest portion of natural forest remaining outside Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in Sumatra.
The area is home to about 100 great apes that are part of the only successful reintroduction programme for Sumatran orangutans, the sub-species most at risk of extinction, the coalition said in a statement.
It is also a crucial habitat for the last remaining Sumatran tigers and elephants left in the wild, it said.
“It took scientists decades to discover how to successfully reintroduce critically endangered orangutans from captivity into the wild. It could take APP just months to destroy an important part of their new habitat,” said Peter Pratje of the Frankfurt Zoological Society, which is part of the coalition.
“These lowland forests are excellent habitat for orangutans, which is why we got government permission to release them here beginning in 2002. The apes are thriving now, breeding and establishing new family groups.”
The unprotected forest is also considered essential habitat for around 100 of the last 400 critically endangered wild Sumatran tigers, as well as around 40 to 60 endangered Sumatran elephants, the activists said.
“APP’s plan is devastating,” said Dolly Priatna of the Zoological Society of London.
“It will almost certainly lead to more fatalities since tigers and people will be forced into closer contact with each other as the tigers’ forest disappears.”
At least nine people have been killed by tigers on Sumatra this year, while villagers have killed four tigers.
The coalition, which includes the Sumatran Tiger Conservation and Protection Foundation and WWF, said almost half of Sumatra’s natural forest – or 12 million hectares – had been cleared from 1985 to 2007.
APP has said its plans to log forest areas around Bukit Tigapuluh would actually help the orangutans, not harm them.
“Well-managed pulpwood plantations act as buffer zones, which have been proven to deter illegal logging – this ensures that protected areas remain protected,” APP sustainability director Aida Greenbury said.
The government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has allowed 1.8 million hectares of forest to be cleared annually since 2004, according to environmental group Greenpeace.
Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions are the third-highest globally and deforestation is the largest contributor.
