TELUK INTAN, Tues:

Police detained four Indonesians and a Malaysian, suspected of being involved in several criminal cases here, at a roadblock at Jalan Changkat Jong-Jalan Padang Tembak near here today.

Hilir Perak district police chief ACP Goh Kok Liang said the roadblock was mounted following a report of a robbery on a 53-year-old oil palm plantation owner here, who was robbed of a shot-gun, RM3,000, a Rolex watch and jewellery.

He said the suspects - aged between 25 and 28 - were detained at 6am. They were in a Proton Iswara car with the Malaysian at the wheel,

Following their arrest, police found RM7,714; 245,000 Indonesian rupiah: eight handphones; a laptop; jewellery; and several boxes of cigarettes, he said here today.

Goh believed that the suspects, who would be remanded for a week from today, were also believed to be involved in six other robbery cases reported in the Teluk Intan area. - BERNAMA

New Straits Times

A privileged upbringing and an eye for all things beautiful has led the founder of De Witt watches to create elegant timepieces, writes FRANCIS DASS.

Jerome is the driving force behind De Witt watches.

JEROME De Witt is a dream interview subject.

His elegance is not only reflected in his appearance but also in his intellect.

“With no knowledge, you will walk by something without even knowing it,” De Witt says.

It is an observation that is the culmination of his privileged upbringing and a curious mind. He had access to vast knowledge - 60,000 books in his father’s study.
Frenchman De Witt, is the founder of luxury Swiss watch label De Witt, which he set up five years ago.

His interest in watches was sown early in life, with the very first watch he owned.

“It was a Cellini by Rolex and I knew the moment I saw it in the shop window that I wanted it,” he recalls.

Then, he uprooted himself from France and moved to Switzerland in 1995.

In 1996 and 1997, he went to the world famous Basel watch fairs and fell in love with the incredible world of making watches.

In his mind he wondered, “Who was still designing the watches,” because he felt they were “living in someone else’s past”.

And so half a decade ago, he decided to enter the highly challenging world of Swiss watchmaking.

De Witt, 58, was driven by a determination to inject his vision into the high tradition of watchmaking in Switzerland.

“You have to be curious to learn and rework things with a modern approach as well as new material,” he says.

“A product is always in an evolutionary stage. If there is no evolution, then there is regression. You must always go forward and take up positive challenges.”

As a result, De Witt’s self-named watches are completely hand made - from the filing and polishing of the small components all the way to assembling them into the signature De Witt watches.

Such is the originality of De Witt’s vision that you will immediately recognise his watches.

“The De Witt watches are strong and distinct with their round shapes and the columns on the bezel. You either like it or you don’t,” he says matter-of-factly.

“A watch is to read time but we add to the design. The show is very important!”

Home-schooled till he was 12, De Witt still remembers the first time he went to school.

“It did take me by surprise,” he confesses, because he found it intriguing to be surrounded by so many people.

“I felt I was different and I didn’t react as others did to situations. He credits home schooling with having given him a vision of what he wanted in life as well as blessing him with a great curiosity about life.”

As a child, De Witt lived in a very large farm in the countryside in France. When he was 10, he remembers opening up cars and putting them together again. This was because when things broke down, you’d have to fix it yourself.

“I like it when people come to me and say, ‘I have a problem’, because I like finding solutions,” he says with delight.

One of the most intriguing qualities about De Witt is his enduring sense of delight in observing people in his travels. A precious observation he has made is that: “Appreciation of art and beautiful things are very important in life. I can’t imagine going into one’s house without art or beautiful things.”

Not surprisingly, since his father was of Russian nobility and his mother of French nobility, De Witt’s parents inculcated in their children a love for travel and to see how the larger world lives and works.

“When you travel a lot, you see a lot of things. In some countries, the people do not have water and there are different classes with their different levels of living. If you see these things for yourself, then your eyes are opened to the reality of the world.”

This experience has also led to De Witt having the ability to bring skilled people together. Which explains the artisans who work for him at the watch manufactory in Switzerland.

“I know the quality I want in my watches. I have the right team. I see my role as that of a music conductor - I can play it many different ways. The conductor determines the quality of the music as he orchestrates the musicians into producing beautiful music. In the end, the product must look good.”

Can anyone imagine the world of Swiss watches without the De Witt timepieces?

Will it turn out to be an enduring legacy? Maybe, if De Witt’s father’s advice is anything to go by.

“My father said, ‘You can be at the top and you can fall to the very bottom and end up with nothing’.”

Perhaps that’s why De Witt strives to be the best.

New Straits Times

BEIJING: Two of Beijing’s most notorious counterfeit goods markets reported bumper sales over the Olympics despite China’s efforts to curb the rampant copyright theft that has infuriated trading partners.

Silk Street’s pushy vendors managed to attract nearly one million visitors between Aug 1 and 24 — 800,000 of whom were foreigners — a 15.7 per cent increase from the same period last year, market general manager Wang Zili said.

Sales came to nearly 400 million yuan (US$58 million) based on customers spending an estimated average of 400 yuan each, Wang said, compared with less than 100 million yuan at the same time last year.

Wang insisted many visitors had come not just for the Polo, Prada, and Rolex brand knock-offs, but for the traditional handicrafts also sold there.

He said (US president) George W. Bush visited the market earlier this month, adding that “he bought some traditional pyjamas with a dragon and phoenix design.”
He said politicians from 24 countries had come to the market during the Aug 8-24 Olympics, as had a number of athletes including US swimming champion Michael Phelps.

The nearby Yashow Market made slightly lower sales, but still saw twice as many visitors during the Olympics than during the same time last year, said Dong Tao, its marketing manager.

The market, which sells anything from fake bags to pirated shoes, had an average of 20,000 visitors every day, or about 480,000 people between Aug 1 and 24, of which 70 per cent were foreigners.

Total sales for the period were estimated at around 130 million yuan, Dong said.

China is awash in counterfeit DVDs, fake brand-name clothing, shoes and handbags, which China’s trading partners say costs Western firms billions of dollars in lost sales each year. — AFP

New Straits Times