Film Review: The Kingmaker

Imelda Marcos tells her side of the story in The Kingmaker

As a teenager in the 1980s, I learned about Imelda Marcos and her husband, then president of the Philippines, through my two classmates. I later found out they and their families had fled the country to get away from Marcos, and later watching news reports of their wealth excesses, it was a wonder how they amassed so much wealth, while most the country was literally dirt poor.

My first (and so far only) visit to the Philippines was in 2017 for a food trade show in Manila. What shocked me the most was seeing metal detectors everywhere -- including our hotel The Peninsula Manila -- and we were lucky to be staying in Makati, the business district, but also where the wealthy live.

Greenfield reveals Marcos' inconsistencies

Our escort on the trip from Hong Kong was staying with her uncle and she told us they hardly every went out of their family compound. But if they did, her uncle always brought his gun with him...

So I was very curious to watch The Kingmaker, a documentary by Lauren Greenfield about Imelda Marcos. At first I thought it was just going to be about her, but it was much more than that.

The opening scene shows a drone shot of the shanty towns in the foreground, with glimmering towers in the back. Imelda Marcos is in a chauffeured car and when it stops at a red light, she opens the door and hands out crisp bills to poor children with outstretched, dirty hands.

She later says that the Philippines was not like this when her husband was in power.

We see her in her home, immaculately dressed, an army of nervous servants attending to her, from holding her arm to adding more powder to her face that still retains her beauty.

When she was eight years old she was orphaned when her mother died, but later became a beauty queen who caught the attention of Ferdinand Marcos who was a senator at the time. Eleven days later they were married.

Marcos enjoyed being First lady

One can tell Marcos is keen to tell her version of the story, how she was "a mother" to the country and gave it love. She did this buy buying wild animals from Africa and had them deposited on an island, but not before kicking out 254 inhabitants there; she bought at least four properties in New York City, a home in Beverly Hills that was strangely in actor George Hamilton's name, and the numerous dresses, thousands of pairs of shoes and the jewellery!

When the country revolted against the Marcoses and they had to flee to Hawaii in 1986, she slipped lots of glittering baubles into bags holding baby diapers that was put onto the plane. On camera she says that jewellery helped pay for legal fees. Yowsers.

Marcos also likes to boast who she knew, and Greenfield finds the archival footage to prove she met people like Muammar Gadafi, Saddam Hussein, and even Mao Zedong, where there is a clip of him kissing her hand. She considered them all friends...

While she maintains she and her husband did everything for the good of the Philippines, others say otherwise in The Kingmaker.

One of the giraffes caught in Africa for Marcos

When Marcos declared martial law in 1972, he claimed he did this due to a "communist threat" though opposition leaders said he used this to consolidate his power and shut down criticism. Fourteen out of 15 newspapers were shut down and those rebels trying to oust him were summarily executed.

One journalist recalls being physically tortured by having to crouch and his shins were beaten; his younger brother worked for the resistance and was caught and killed. A teacher recalled being tortured by electric batons -- by her own students, and an activist talked about being sexually assaulted by a group of men.

These testimonies are a stark contrast to the romantic picture Imelda Marcos tries to portray about her and her husband's grip on power. 

But there is more.

She tried to engineer the continuation of the Marcos dynasty by having her son, Bongbong become president, but first become vice president in the 2016 elections, but he lost by over 260,000 votes and even refused to concede.

The position of vice president is also elected, not chosen by the president like in the United States.

Bongbong tried and failed to win vice presidency

Rodrigo Duterte came to power, but it is revealed in The Kingmaker, that he also comes from a wealthy family, his father once served in Marcos' administration, and the late president's daughter Imee helped Duterte win.

And now he rules with impunity, killing tens of thousands of people on a supposed war on drugs without trying them in court.

So the Marcoses still have their wealth and power, fuelled by selling off whatever expensive trinkets they accumulated to keep their political dreams alive, including a Monet that was sold for over US$32 million.

And what happened to those African animals, the zebras and giraffes?

No one knew how to look after them, and they were literally left on their own, inbreeding which led to physical problems in the giraffes like shorter necks and not even being able to hold them upright. The human inhabitants there are resentful of the animals given priority over them.

Marcos below her Picasso and priceless art

Meanwhile the next generation are being taught revisionist history and in class they parrot how martial law was good for the country, and have no idea what really happened. Sound familiar?

It is quite eerie to see how the Marcos' have control over numerous institutions in the Philippines thanks to their enormous wealth and influence. As one critic points out, as long as they have money, they will continue to call the shots in Philippine politics. 

As she says being First Lady in the beginning of the documentary, "People underestimate women, and sometimes that's useful." 

That was Marcos' strategy, and she will continue using it to get what she wants -- power, wealth and more power.

Travel Warning to China

Yesterday Robert Schellenberg was sentenced to death in his appeal

This morning the Canadian Consulate in Beijing issued a warning to Canadians in China, saying it had revised its Travel Advice and Advisory for the country.

It says: "Exercise a high degree of caution in China due to the risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws", without mentioning by name the recent case of Robert Schellenberg, 36, who was sentenced to death for trafficking methamphetamine from China to Australia.

Foreign media in China say the Chinese government took great lengths to allow foreign reporters to cover the verdict, meaning it was keen on giving the impression that it follows rule of law. Meanwhile, Chinese state media earlier insinuated his case is directly linked with Huawei executive Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, warning Canada would suffer severe consequences if she was not released her back to China.

Meng Wanzhou is under house arrest in Vancouver

Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Communist Party-run Global Times uploaded a video in which he warned that, "if Canada extradites Meng to the United States, China's revenge will be far worse than detaining a Canadian."

Hours after the Canadian travel advisory was issued, China put out a travel warning to its citizens about going to Canada.

A notice by the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Chinese citizens should be aware of the risks of being "arbitrarily detained at the request of a third nation" in Canada, and urged caution when making travel plans."

Tensions are certainly escalating between China and Canada. Both have sufficient cause to want to resolve the situation, though China definitely ratcheted things up several notches yesterday when it sentenced Schellenberg to death.

And it is still detaining two Canadians, former diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor.

On top of that China is now warning its citizens about traveling to Canada...

Which side should be more worried?

Imports of Date Rape Drug on the Rise

Female revelers in Hong Kong need to watch their drinks carefully

The Hong Kong police is confiscating more of the chemical used as a date rape drug in the first four months of this year than the whole of 2017.

It's pretty shocking and scary that men are actually procuring gamma-Butryolactone (GBL) from Lithuania, and importing it into Hong Kong by the litre.

Gamma-Burtryolactone can be used as a date rape drug

GBL is usually used as an industrial solvent to remove paint, oil, ink and graffiti. A 350ml bottle of it in Lithuania costs HK$150 (US$19). When the colourless liquid is imbibed, users can experience euphoria and reduced inhibitions.

But in larger doses it can cause sleepiness, confusion, dizziness and in extreme cases, death.

So far 131kg of GBL, a clear and odourless liquid was seized in the first four months of this year, compared to 124kg for the entire 2017.

Earlier this month a male model and an Australian man were arrested in possession of 13 litres of GBL. They were arrested in a flat that was only 500 metres from Lan Kwai Fong, a trendy restaurant and bar area in Central.

"We recently noticed date rape drug in parcels arriving from Lithuania destined for Hong Kong. The parcels stated boldly that the contents were chemicals for industrial use," said a source. "The liquid is commonly used as an industrial cleaner in some countries and is perfectly legal. It is widely available online."

GBL is a clear, odourless liquid that can be added to drinks

While GBL is a controlled drug in countries like the United States, Canada and Sweden, in other places like Poland and Russia, a license is needed to sell it. Hong Kong lists GBL as a dangerous drug since 2012, so trafficking GBL to Hong Kong carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a HK$5 million fine.

The Hong Kong Security Bureau's Narcotics Division said on its website that this clear, odourless liquid is often used as a date rate drug and is added to flavoured drinks to mask its salty taste.

The case of these two men will go through the court system, but in the meantime women in Hong Kong need to be careful when they go out and watch their drinks like a hawk. Don't say I didn't warn you...

A Fruitless Shipment

One South American dragon fruit that had liquid cocaine in its centre

Some drug traffickers are really creative these days, and after this case, Hong Kong customs officers might check fruit shipments even more carefully from now on.

That's because they found liquid cocaine with an estimated street value of HK$15.7 million (US$2 million) concealed in the hollow centres of 98 dragon fruit that arrived by air from Colombia.

It was apparently the first time such a method of drug concealment was discovered in Hong Kong in about 20 years.

The shipment was chosen for inspection because fresh fruit arriving from overseas by air is usually picked up on the day of arrival, but in this case it was sitting there for two days.

Customs officers inspected each fruit to see if they had drugs

Customs officers spent more than four hours opening 160 boxes and checking nearly 2,000 dragon fruits -- also known as pitayas -- one by one on Tuesday, two days after the shipment arrived from Colombia via Britain.

The concealment method was described as "sophisticated" and "innovative". "Part of the fruit layer was peeled off and pulp was removed before liquid cocaine was injected into the hollow centre and the layer was glued back on," said a source.

"From appearance, it was hard to distinguish the ones concealing illegal drugs. Officers had to inspect them one by one."

In the end 98 dragon fruits contained the drug within 50 boxes among other fruits that had not been compromised.

"Each dragon fruit carried about 130 grams of liquid cocaine. A total of 15kg of liquid cocaine was seized with an estimated street value of HK$15.7 million."

A 36-year-old truck driver was arrested when he tried to pick up the shipment.

The authorities are investigating whether the shipment was for Hong Kong or another destination.

In the meantime drug traffickers will have to think of a more fruitful way to get their illicit products to their destination.

Jackie Chan's Son In Jail

Jaycee Chan in a Beijing court today and pleaded guilty to drug charges

The saga of entertainer Jackie Chan's son Jaycee is over for now, with the conviction of the 32-year-old today for a drug offense that will see him jailed for six months and fined 2,000 yuan ($322).

He has already served five months in jail, so the younger Chan will be out on February 13, days before Chinese New Year.

In a Beijing court, Chan pleaded guilty for "sheltering others to use drugs", a charge that could result in up to three years in prison. The court agreed with the prosecutors' recommendation that Chan be given a lighter sentence because he volunteered information about his drug use to the police, and that he behaved well in detention.

He and his father Jackie Chan in happier times...

Wait a minute -- the prosecution recommended a lighter sentence?!

When police busted his apartment in Beijing on August 14, the authorities found more than 100 grams of marijuana. Taiwanese actor Ko Chen-tung was detained at the time, and gave a tearful confession on CCTV and was given 14 days' administrative detention, while Chinese actress Li Xiaonan was also busted, but not charged. All three tested positive for weed.

Chan admitted he made his home available for drug use to Ko three times, and Li once between 2012 and last year.

"I broke the law and I should be punished," Chan said in the court. "When I'm back in the community, I won't repeat the offense because I have hurt too many people, including my family, friends, and teachers."

Teachers? Is this a school reprimand?

Taiwanese actor Ko Chen-tung gives a tearful confession

Nevertheless it's quite obvious Chan was just following the script and one has to wonder how much his father tried to intervene in the legal process or if he did at all.

Jaycee's drug bust and conviction is a big blow to Jackie Chan's reputation, because not only is he considered a clean superstar who spends a lot of time on the mainland, he was also named an anti-narcotics ambassador in China in 2009.

Jackie Chan and his wife Lin Fengjiao did not attend the hearing, probably to avoid further media coverage.

Thus ends the soap opera of Jaycee and his drug antics. His career is probably over now -- who wants to risk casting someone whose drug bust was broadcast on TV? Hardly upstanding citizen material.

However, daddy surely has made more than enough money to keep his son covered for a long time... no?

Jackie Chan's Guanxi Put to the Test

Jackie Chan (right) has flown to Beijing to deal with Jacyee's drug charges

Poor Jackie Chan. He's tried so hard to accumulate as much good guanxi as possible with the motherland, even being the unofficial spokesperson for China by sticking up for the Communist regime, much to the chagrin of Hong Kongers.

But news broke that his son Jaycee Chan, 32, was arrested for drug charges along with Taiwanese actor Ko Chen-tung, 23 last Thursday in Beijing.

Both tested positive for marijuana and admitted using the drug, and 100 grams of weed was found in Chan's home.

Jaycee with actor Ko Chen-tung tested positive for weed

China Central Television broadcast footage of the police searching Jaycee's home, with the actor's face pixelated, showing police where he stashed the marijuana. The police claimed the acted on a tip off from the public.

Chan is accused of accommodating drug users, a charge if convicted can lead to a sentence of up to three years in prison -- a far greater charge than drug consumption, of which Ko is accused of. Two other people detained were accused of selling drugs.

This latest arrest comes as part of an anti-drug crackdown after Chinese President Xi Jinping said in June that illegal drugs must be eradicated and offenders be severely punished.

It seems Chan and Ko were made as examples, as Jackie Chan was named an anti-drug ambassador in 2009 and Ko was part of an anti-drug campaign two years ago.

Earlier today Ko was shown in CCTV tearfully apologizing to his family and fans. "I feel very regretful, very sorry to all the people who supported me... I've been a very bad example, I've made a very big mistake, said the star of You Are the Apple of My Eye.

In the meantime Jackie Chan has flown to Beijing in the hopes of helping his son deal with the drug charges, though it seems Jaycee has admitted guilt.

The older Chan has invested in property, land and the film industry in China, as well as promoted mainland Chinese charities, but it looks like all his good deeds and investments weren't enough to save his kid from such an embarrassing incident.

Which is why we say poor Jackie. All his money and fame aren't going to be enough to wriggle his son out of this well-publicized incident...