MONDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2014 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741 inside Hunger Games success MARKETPLACE masks stubborn gender • Toyota Camry sells more than 33,000 gap in Hollywood units in 20 years P | 8-9 P | 5 PROFILE • Richard Branson: Virgin group’s stunt man P | 6 WHEELS • Harley’s electric hog targets selfie-taking green hipsters P | 7 HEALTH • Wearable device monitors heart and skin health P | 11 TECHNOLOGY • Passport may be a perfect fit, for some P | 12 LEARN ARABIC BERLIN WALL • Learn commonly used Arabic words A rare remnant of the Berlin Wall lies at the end of an overgrown and their meanings path next to the Spree River but as the 25th anniversary of its fall approaches, the relic is under threat. P | 13 2 PLUS | MONDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2014 COVER STORY Activists rally to save Berlin Wall relic 25 years on By Deborah Cole of the 26 speedboats driven by patrol- and emergency vehicles. The develop- of Berlin dividing the communist and rare remnant of the Berlin ling border guards ready to give chase ment could mean at least part of the capitalist sectors. Both were patrolled Wall lies at the end of an to would-be refugees trying to swim Wall ensemble is ripped down. by armed guards with shoot-to-kill overgrown path next to the to freedom. Cultural historian Eberhard Elfert, orders. A Spree River but as the 25th Like something out of an early James 56, has founded a pressure group to The death toll is a subject of fierce anniversary of its fall approaches, the Bond film, the dark and dank concrete save it called Luise Nord, named after debate and continued research but at relic is under threat. cave sits right on the water, complete a long-forgotten pre-war district called least 389 people lost their lives try- Berliners ripped down the despised with a 1960s-era emergency telephone Luisenstadt. ing to escape East Germany. Several Wall as fast as they could in the giddy and mouldy life jackets hanging from “This year we will celebrate the fall among the 138 victims who died in months after November 9, 1989, when the walls. of the Wall in Berlin and there's a lot Berlin tried to swim through the con- the border between East and West was Together they make up a unique of money being spent to show where it taminated Spree or other waterways finally thrown open. ensemble bearing witness to a time stood,” he said. to freedom. A quarter-century on, there is a when East Germany was prepared to “And on the other hand, city plan- This makes the ruins all the more growing sense in Germany that the kill its own citizens rather than let ners want to tear down remnants of crucial to understanding how East last concrete testaments to the city's them quit the country. the Wall to build a street. It makes Germany “secured” the border, histo- Cold War division must be preserved. After decades as a no-man's land, no sense.” rians say. The ruins in question include an the spot off trendy Koepenicker Strasse Axel Klausmeier, head of the Berlin around 18-metre-long (60-foot-long), has become a prime cut of real estate Swim to freedom Wall Memorial Foundation, said the graffiti-smothered slab of the Wall on between the Mitte and Kreuzberg dis- East Germany’s rulers threw up boat bunker was “extremely important the river bank, as well as fences coiled tricts, where luxury housing with spec- the Berlin Wall in August 1961 to and historically significant”. with rusting barbed wire and towering tacular views of the Spree is going up halt a mass exodus of disgruntled “It's the only one of its kind in cen- lamps that prevented anyone slipping amid a property boom. citizens. tral Berlin,” he said. out under cover of darkness. The city would like to clean up the It consisted of a complex barrier “It shows that the border was not A short walk down the path is what area, which is being squatted by a “tee- between the separate countries of East only made up of concrete and walls but historians call the most valuable part pee” tent community, and build a cycle and West Germany, and a concrete also of water in Berlin. And to preserve of all: a “bunker” used to house three path and small road for delivery trucks wall that snaked through the heart history, you need places to do it.” PLUS | MONDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2014 3 Klausmeier noted that €37m ($48m) in pub- lic money had been spent since 2006 to make the Wall’s path visible again after so much of the original structure was demolished. “We are overrun by tourists and what do they want to see? The Wall,” he said. No guarantee The around dozen residents of Teepee Land, a ragtag group camping next to the stretch of Wall, have proved to be unexpected allies for the Luise Nord activists, serving as a kind of neighbourhood watch protecting the site. Carsten Spallek, who is responsible for con- struction on the local district council, said that no decision had been taken on how the river bank would be developed and said a website was being set up to gather feedback on the plans. He said it was now clear that the piece of the Wall in question was listed as a protected structure. “But even if something has been declared a historical monument, that doesn’t necessar- ily guarantee it won’t be ripped down,” only that the office for such sites must be consulted before any changes can be made, he said. The controversy recalls a dispute over the longest remaining stretch of Wall, the so- called East Side Gallery, which artists covered with murals in early 1990. A development nearby could require the permanent removal of a Wall segment oppo- site the river from the Luise Nord section. The plans have sparked noisy protests, Personal belongings of a homeless person are famously joined by US celebrity David pictured at a part of the former Berlin Wall border Hasselhoff, who remains a cult star in Berlin fence on the ground of the former Eisfabrik (Ice for a New Year’s Eve concert he gave at the factory) near the River Spree in Berlin. Wall in 1989. AFP A bunker used to house speedboats by former eastern German border guards at river Spree is pictured in Berlin. 4 PLUS MONDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2014 CAMPUS Teachers’ Day at DPS-MIS Principal, school officials and guests felicitating a teacher at the function. PS-MIS Management organised Da function in its auditorium as an appreciation towards teachers. The occasion was attended by the Chief Guest Hassan Chougule, President of Executive Committee and other members of the executive commit- tee, special invitees, editor of children magazine, Gul Bootay, Farooq Sayyad, and poet, Ubed Azmi. Principal, Asna Nafees, in her wel- come address congratulated the teach- ers for the exemplary results of Grade X and XII and encouraged teachers to keep working hard towards DPS- MIS’s vision and mission of bringing a positive difference in the lives of the children. Speaking on the occasion, Chougule quoted: “If you are committed to be good leader start by doing necessary as educators, teachers should help of teachers in building a healthy soci- A melodious musical presentation things, then do possible things and facilitate goals and cast a vision for ety. He also stated the importance of by the music department added joy to suddenly you will find yourself doing students that, not only, stretches their teaching and the respect they com- the function. impossible things.” imaginations, but also their beliefs mand in the society at large. G Mala, Vice Principal Junior Wing, In his address, Vice President and regarding future developments. All the members of the teaching fac- proposed the vote of thanks. Director IT, Yasir Nainar, explained Sonny Varghese, Director Public ulty and the admin department were The Peninsula the changing aspects of education and Relations, highlighted the importance felicitated. DMIS marks Green Consumer’s Day he Department of Science of Doha Modern Indian School celebrated the Green TConsumer’s Day recently for students of Grades 6 to 11. The programme included a special assembly by the students of Grade 11 in which stu- dents presented an informative power point dis- cussing the need to protect the earth using the 3Rs — Reduce , Reuse and Recycle. The students highlighted the harmful effects of pollution and raised questions on the hazards of dumping toxic wastes like cans and plastic bottles. They suggested different ways to reuse waste materials like old notebooks with leftover pages hazards of using fizzy drinks and on the importance which can be used to make simple rough books of reusing rather than expensive recycling. He also and also emphasized the need to provide a clean, expressed his hope that every student will use the Students presenting green environment for the next generation. best of his creativity to reuse waste materials and the slides at the special The Principal Rakesh Tomar addressed the contribute to a better world. assembly. assembly and enlightened the students about the The Peninsula MES celebrates India’s Mars Mission ES Indian School celebrated the Indian,” said Principal, Sasidharan A Mtriumphs of India’s maiden mis- P in his message. sion to Mars, named ‘Mangalyaan’, During the programme, the video clip- in a special function held at the KG ping of the Mars Orbiter Mission was Auditorium of the school recently.