ISSUE 34 (214) • 25 – 31 AUGUST 2011 • €3 • WWW.HELSINKITIMES.FI BUSINESS WORKING LIFE LIFESTYLE EAT & DRINK Profits How to Contact Wholesome in secure sports in culinary waste a job Finland experience pages 13-16 page 8 page 11 page 18 page 20 LEHTIKUVA / RONI REKOMAA Tougher restrictions on tobacco products HEIDI EKDAHL – STT with numbers or some other form of coding. For the time being, cigarette TOBACCO PRODUCTS are in for a packets themselves will not be al- fairly radical facelift, although tered. In addition to the brand name not a fl attering one. Visible tobac- and logo, cigarette packs currently co shelves are to be removed com- also carry a warning of the health pletely from kiosks and shops from risks associated with tar, nicotine the beginning of 2012. According to and carbon monoxide inhalation. the National Supervisory Author- Disturbing images showing the ity for Welfare and Health Valvi- harmful effects of tobacco prod- ra, the new regulations support the ucts are likely to be made compul- 30-year-old prohibition on the ad- sory by the end of 2012, according vertisement of tobacco products. to the Ministry of Social Affairs and “The methods for displaying to- Health. A new selection of warn- bacco products have been a means ing images for use throughout the of promoting sales. Now that means European Union is currently in has been removed,” according to preparation. lawyer Laura Terho. The new reg- Additionally, in coming years Minister for Finance Jutta Urpilainen (SDP) has announced a slew of tax hikes. ulations do not prohibit the sale of EU countries may switch over to tobacco products. Under the new the practice of removing all brand- ences to the prices of alcohol, tobac- tighter law the products sold will be ing from tobacco product packag- co products, sweets and fuel, due to shown only on a separate list, which ing. All brand names and product these areas being earmarked for the the customer will have to ask to see. descriptions would be written un- Austerity measures steepest tax increases. Owner-oc- All traces of product branding will obstrusively in small text, all with cupied housing will also be subject be removed from the automatic cig- the same size and type of font. The to tax increases. The 2012 budget arette dispensers at supermarket decision to adopt such simplifi ed to be felt all round will also see reductions in the tax- checkouts. They will be replaced and unenticing packaging has al- deductible rate on mortgages, and ready been taken in Australia. This STT In the fi rst budget proposal of the maximum tax-deductible level has raised a furore among tobacco HELSINKI TIMES Minister for Finance Jutta Urpilai- for domestic expenses will also be fi rms, which have accused the fed- nen’s term in offi ce, the growth in brought down. eral government of destrying their THE MINISTRY of Finance released gross domestic product (GDP) for However, income tax levels for brands. its budget proposal for 2012 on 2012 is estimated at 2.8 per cent. mid-level wage earners are not set LEHTIKUVA / AFP Finland began putting the Monday. Despite the tough spend- The prediction is based on domestic for any major changes next year. squeeze on the tobacco industry ing cuts outlined in the propos- demand, since export rates are ex- Those dependent on basic security in 1976, a trend which has coin- al, the savings achieved may still pected to decline from their current- payments, by contrast, can expect cided with a slow but steady drop not be enough to put state financ- ly good levels. Employment rates are some relief. Among other changes, in the popularity of smoking. Al- es back on balance. In announcing expected to improve, with the unem- the fi xed daily benefi t rate for the un- most one in fi ve working-age Finns its proposal the Ministry admit- ployment rate projected to drop to employed and the labour market sub- light up every day. The same pro- ted that the projected incremen- 7.2 per cent by the end of 2012. The sidy will both be increased by 100 portion of 18-year-olds smoke, al- tal austerity measures will not number of long-term unemployed euros from the beginning of 2012. Disturbing images, such as this one though among this cohort there bring any noticeable short-term seems set to rise, however. from a US package, are set to deter has been a steady decline over the improvement to the national The fi nance ministry’s budget Read more on page 5 about how smokers. past decade. economy. proposal will make tangible differ- next budget will affect consumers. Best Stand Up In Town 7.-11.9.helsinkicomedy.com Stand Up Show In English Thursday September 8th • 19.00 Apollo Live Club Louis Zezeran • Phil Schwarzmann • Rich Lyons • Tomi Walamies • Ismo Leikola 2 25 – 31 AUGUST 2011 VIEWPOINT HELSINKI TIMES Viewpoints are commentaries written by experts and authorities about specific topics. You can submit your articles to [email protected]. Articles should be at least 5,000 characters with spaces long (maximum length 10,000). Helsinki Times reserves the right to accept or reject submissions, EDITORIAL as well as to edit or shorten the text. Here come ‘The Finns’ PERUSSUOMALAISET, the political party that has until now been referred to in this newspaper and other in- ternational publications as the “True Finns”, has decid- ed to take as its English-language name the translation “The Finns”. DESPITE the fact that the English-language names of Finland’s political parties are treated as unoffi cial by the Ministry of Justice, it has been and continues to be the policy of Helsinki Times to consider the transla- tion each political party has chosen for itself as essen- tially offi cial. This editorial policy is also evident in the translations we use for names of institutions, build- Tuukka Tomperi is a researcher at the Finnish Youth Research ings, reports and so on. Society and the University of Tampere. ONE PROBLEM we at Helsinki Times have had in the past few years concerns the name we should use for “Perussuomalaiset”. Before Sunday 21 August, the par- ty had never provided its own English version of the party’s name; it had, at best, merely adopted the name, although party members such as election coordinator Monocultural ideals Matti Putkonen have asserted that even “True Finns” isn’t correct and that the only proper name for the par- ty is “Perussuomalaiset” (SixDegrees 6/2011). have no historical foundation PRIOR to 2010, the translation of the party’s name in- to English was of less consequence due to its margin- and disagreement are per- al importance in Finnish politics. However, with “True ceived as a threat rather than Finns” becoming a household name across Europe and Multiculturalism is discussed as though it were something new, but it something to be understood as further afi eld around the time of April’s parliamentary has always been inherent in Finnish society, writes Tuukka Tomperi. part of society, there can be no elections, we felt that the continued use of “True Finns” scrutiny of one’s own beliefs. was justifi ed because a large proportion of our readers are short-term residents in Finland and may already WHEN “multiculturalism” is language, religion and polit- A SOCIETY of difference cannot IN THE worst case, this leads have been familiar with the name “True Finns” before criticised in debate about im- ical beliefs, sexuality, life- be based on rose-tinted visions to psychological tensions re- their arrival here. To use “Perussuomalaiset” would migration or from a religious style, hobbies, and numerous of harmony, for confl icts are in- lieved with violence. have been more correct, but would also have required fundamentalist point of other factors. herent in it. Solving them re- explanation every time it was used, in order to avoid al- view, one sometimes has the quires more than a conceptually THE MOST important antidote to ienating those of our readers who have less knowledge notion of a prevailing homog- EVERY individual associates vague “tolerance”; it demands this might be dubbed “disagree- of Finnish. enous culture or even mon- himself with these groups in clear principles and procedures ment tolerance training”, i.e. oculture. Even academics a number of different ways. to help us all get along. encounters with contrary opin- THUS, it is with both relief and regret that we acknowl- sometimes talk about multi- There is no unequivocal ma- ions. This is available to many edge the news of Perussuomalaiset formally agreeing culturalism as though it were jority or minority in a soci- VALUES, for example, are in- people by way of their closest on the English-language name “The Finns”: relief to fi - a new phenomenon or simply ety, for the content of these exorably different, which relationships, in the form of de- nally have an “offi cial” translation, but regret that it is a byword for immigration. concepts depends on what is makes discussion about eth- bates with family and friends, so inappropriate. This obscures the fact that being examined. ics indispensable. This does for example. One has to get used we are all multicultural. not mean that all sorts of val- to learning from others, to iden- NO PRIOR translation has been entirely satisfactory, so A SAMI reindeer herder in In- ues and practices should be tifying sound arguments and we understand the diffi culties the party faced. “Every THE MULTICULTURAL nature ari, a Karelian WWII refugee accepted, but rather that the faulty logic, and to recognising party has the right to call itself whatever they want,” of this country should be fa- working as a farmer in Häme, good life, right action and the one’s own mistakes.