ISSUE 6 (136) • 11-17 FEBRUARY 2010 • €3 • www.helsinkitimes.
fi
DOMESTIC
Shrovetide
fills the
slopes
page 4
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tales by with
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page 15 page 16
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 11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010
A proposal for resolving Iceland’s debt dilemma
As a son of Icelandic parents and someone who has always been iden-
tified with Iceland, I have followed its banking crisis with interest and
concern, writes Donald K. Johnson.
The decision by the Pres-
ident of Iceland, Olafur
Ragnar Grimsson, not to
counter-sign the Bill that
was passed by Iceland’s Par-
liament has resulted in a ref-
erendum scheduled for 6
March. Icelanders will ap-
prove or reject the terms of
the state guarantee on the
3.8-billion-euro loan (5.3 bil-
lion US dollars) to Iceland
from the UK/Netherlands. If
approved, each family in Ice-
land will be assuming 86,000
dollars of debt to the UK and
Netherland governments,
bearing an interest rate of 5.5
VIEWPOINT HELSINKI TIMES
to protect the Icesave de- and equally important objec-
positors of Landsbanki, de- tive, is to protect the future
spite the fact that there were of Icelandic families and en-
many warning signals lead- sure that the next genera-
ing up to the 2008 collapse tion is not burdened with an
of the three Icelandic banks. insurmountable amount of
Furthermore, depositors, in- debt.
cluding municipalities and
universities, conducted no It has been suggested that
due diligence on Icesave, and as much as 90 per cent of
Donald K. Johnson is a member of the Advisory Board of BMO Capital Markets, the In- were simply attracted by the the repayment the UK gov-
vestment Banking Division of BMO Financial Group, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. premium interest rate being ernment seeks could come
He has had a distinguished 46-year career with the firm and its predecessor companies. offered – and ignored the from liquidating Lands-
He was previously President of Burns Fry, and Vice Chairman of BMO Nesbitt Burns. Mr. risks that they were assum- banki’s assets. The courts
Johnson’s grandparents were born in Iceland and emigrated to Canada in the 1890s. ing. They should accept some in Iceland will decide what
He will be the keynote speaker at the annual Icelandic National League of North Ameri- responsibility for their deci- portion of Landsbanki’s as-
ca Convention in Toronto on April 23, 2010. Mr. Johnson is an Officer of the sion to make high risk/high sets can be assigned to the
Order of Canada. reward investments in a pri- debt owed to the UK/Nether-
vate, foreign bank. On the lands. These assigned assets
other hand, Iceland must ac- could be held in trust, with
knowledge that the manage- the commitment that, as the
ments and boards of its banks assets are liquidated, the
exposed their shareholders proceeds would be directed
and depositors to excessive to pay down the loan. Repay-
should be to negotiate terms risks through extreme finan- ment of the principal of the
of a settlement between Ice- cial leverage. They borrowed loan is much more relevant
land and the UK/Nether- short term through Icesave to Iceland’s reputation, than
lands that are acceptable to deposits and used the funds the rate of interest. The pro-
both parties, as well as the to make long-term, illiquid posed 5.5 per cent interest
IMF and the Nordic coun- investments, by acquiring rate is high and could be re-
tries, who have provided the overseas companies, partic- duced substantially without
facility worth 10 billion dol- ularly in the UK. Iceland must imperilling anyone’s integri-
per cent and repayable over timely manner and avoid the lars. The most appropriate also recognise that its reg- ty. Also, the term could be ex-
15 years. In the much more financial crisis. mediators to resolve this ulatory system did not pro- tended to 25 or 30 years. The
likely event that a majori- crisis are the Nordic coun- tect depositors, shareholders UK could agree to absorb a
ty of Icelanders vote against Given the strained relation- tries – Norway, Sweden, and ordinary Icelanders. The portion of the principal, in
the debt deal, Iceland will be ship between Iceland and Denmark and Finland. They question is, to what degree recognition of its regulatory
facing a financial crisis. The the UK/Netherlands, it is have a positive relationship should Icelandic taxpayers failure.
10-billion-dollar rescue plan unrealistic to assume that with both Iceland and the be held responsible for losses
from the IMF and the Nordic these three countries can UK/Netherlands. They also incurred by their private cor- TO ENSURE that Iceland’s
countries may be conditional resolve their differences have an in-depth knowledge porations, which made high- debt dilemma is resolved
on approval of the debt deal. without a mediator. The me- of the issues underlying Ice- risk investments? without undue delay, the
This facility is crucial in re- diator would need to have a land’s debt dilemma, as they platform for negotiating
storing stability to Iceland’s close and trusted relation- have partnered with the IMF Iceland’s first objective is mutually acceptable terms
financial system. It is in the ship with both Iceland and to provide the loan facility. to protect its international should be developed now, so
best interests of all stake- the UK/Netherlands, and reputation. It is important to that the negotiations can be-
holders in this saga, that a have an in-depth knowledge On the one hand, the UK and restore its relationship with gin before the referendum
plan of action be developed of the issues that need to be the Netherlands must ac- the UK, the Netherlands, the and be incorporated into the
now, before the referendum, resolved. The primary objec- knowledge that their regula- Nordic countries, the IMF, referendum process. Time is
to resolve these issues in a tive of the mediation process tors did not take any action as well as the EU. Its second, of the essence!
HELSINKI TIMES DOMESTIC NEWS 11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010 

Audiences stay
for accommodation seem to

faithful to television
A NTT I E E ROL A – S T T
M ATTH E W PA R R Y – H T
REPORTS of the death of tele-
vision have proved premature.
Television viewing increased
last year in nearly every cor-
ner of the globe, even if Finns
watched a minute less televi-
sion than they did in 2008.
Bob McCann, a media re-
searcher visiting Finland,
compares the fears, or hopes,
that the internet will destroy
television to the period when
television first emerged.
“I’m talking about the
1940s. Back then it was said
that television would kill ra-
dio, but that hasn’t hap-
pened,” he points out.
Television was meant to
put an end to the film indus-
try, too – another false pre-
diction. And newspapers
most avid internet users are
also the most ardent television
viewers. The internet and tele-
vision are not competitors, but
rather partners in the battle
for media market share.
Uncertain future
One in five Finnish house-
holds bought a new televi-
sion last year. These new
livingroom fixtures were
viewed with such vigour that
several channels clocked up
record ratings for some pro-
grammes. Nelonen’s Talent
Suomi, for example, drew
over a million viewers.
According to research
company Finnpanel, oth-
er ratings record-breakers
included Sub’s Big Brother
finale, the Jim Tsunami docu-
mentary, Yle Teema’s Tuulen
viemää series of film classics,
and Urheilukanava’s broad-
Snow boosts business
Although the winter causes havoc for many,
for some businesses it is the most profitable
time of the year.
N I CK B A R LOW
HEL SINKI TIMES
One can hardly have failed to
notice that we are experienc-
ing something of a cold spell
at the moment. With winter
starting earlier and continuing
for longer than in many years,
even Finns are finding it tough
to brave the big chill with their
customary good cheer. Howev-
er, the sub-zero temperatures
and difficult walking conditions
are not bad news for everyone.
In fact, quite the contrary.
Just as ice-cream com-
panies and sandal manufac-
turers enjoy a boost in sales
The seemingly endless
white stuff falling from the
heavens also, unsurprisingly,
gives a boost to ski resorts.
Although they are always
busy at certain times of the
year – half term for exam-
manufacturer E.S. Lahtinen. ple – the prolonged chill has
Their kick sleds have been pop- meant that bookings at oth-
ular in Finland since 1933. er times have also increased.
“Mild winters in previous Ruka is one of Finland’s big-
years have affected sales. It gest ski resorts with down-
is definitely better for us if hill skiing, 500 kilometres
the snow and ice comes be- of cross-country tracks and
fore Christmas,” Soukka 600 kilometres of snowmo-
continues. “Now we are ex- bile routes.
pecting strong pre-orders for “We had a very busy time
next year as well.” in October when the win-
ter began and our first slopes
Busy times opened,” says Tarja Mouru-
Winter and snow-related järvi, the resort’s head of mar-
products all tend to have a keting. “Now we have a lot of
knock-on effect with each snow and it looks like it’s go-
other. Spend more time ing to be a good spring in Ruka
on your kick sled and you and Pyhä. Advance bookings
might want to use more face
be better than last year and
we have more capacity than
last winter. A good winter
with lots of snow is definitely
beneficial to our sales.”
Companies selling prod-
ucts for both indoor and out-
door comfort and warmth
can have their cake and eat
it. Finnish down-product
manufacturer Joutsen, for
example, is another company
where the sight of snow glad-
dens hearts. “This time of
year is peak season anyway,”
explains Tuomas Laine, Jout-
sen’s marketing manager,
“but this year sales have in-
creased considerably, espe-
cially of down jackets and
coats. In the outerwear busi-
ness we need cold early to
do well as the season begins
in October. If the snow only
comes in February or March
then we don’t feel the bene-
fit so much, so it’s fair to say
that we have been very happy
with the weather this year.”

TEEMU HENRIK SSON

have been written off with
reference to the internet for
so long and so earnestly, and
yet they seem to struggle on.
To back his claims up, Mc-
Cann flashes statistics in his
presentation showing that the
cast of an elimination round
in the Finnish ice hockey
championships.
But in spite of the new
records, Finns’ average daily
television viewing last year,
2 hours and 56 minutes, was
a minute less than in 2008. It
is surely no surprise that the
over-65s watched most tele-
vision. The trend in the sta-
tistics is that the younger
the viewer, the less television
they watch.
Last year’s most-watched
channel was MTV3. It at-
tracted 23 per cent of all
viewers, narrowly outstrip-
ping Yle’s TV1 (22 per cent).
come the summer, there are
always some businesses for
which Arctic conditions are a
positive boon.
Like other Northerners,
the inhabitants of this coun-
try have learnt to enjoy be-
ing outdoors throughout the
year. The prolonged snowfall
this year has seen a marked
boost in sales of kick sleds or
potkukelkat, beloved of ice-
fishermen among others.
“Many shops haven’t had
enough stock this winter, since
they placed their orders be-
fore the snow actually came,”
says Raija Soukka, marketing
manager for mobility-device
creams, for example, to keep
your glow rosy. Finnish cos-
metics company Lumene
sees certain products be-
coming more popular at cer-
tain times of the year.
“This year our most pop-
ular products have been face
creams and intensive-care
products,” says Tiina Iso-
hanni, the company’s vice-
president of marketing and
development. “Our ranges
for sensitive skin including
face creams, eye creams and
so on, are very popular when
the weather is cold. Also win-
ter conditioning make-ups
are good sellers.” Prolonged snowfall has given a boost to sales of kicksleds.

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 11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010
Nea (front) and Niko Mäntylä rocketing down the slopes.
Shrovetide fills the
slopes, and stomachs
V E L I - M ATT I P E LTOL A
HEL SINKI TIMES
Nowadays also known as
Pancake Day and Mardi Gras,
Shrove Tuesday (Laskiaisti-
istai) on 16 February is the
last day before the Christian
fasting period leading to East-
er begins. It has traditionally
been a day of excessive eating
and amusement, and while
it has lost its religious mean-
ing among most Finns, many
traditions remain. The day is
still associated with hopes for
the coming year, and it’s cele-
brated by sledding and feast-
ing, with numerous snowy
happenings taking place all
around the country.
Foodwise, Shrovetide
has traditionally meant eat-
ing goods that are restricted
during the fasting – namely
everything rich in meat, fat
and sugar. In Finland, the be-
lief was that good servings on
the day meant that the com-
ing year would also be gen-
erous in crop and livestock.
Since the 19th century, the de-
finitive festive treat has been
the laskiaispulla, a bun filled
with whipped cream and ei-
Urban-rural divide cedes to dual identity
Finns have an emotional attrachment to the
countryside, but few believe it has a future.
E E VA N I KK I L Ä - K I I P U L A – S T T
M ATTH E W PA R R Y – H T
GONE are the days when Finns
could easily be divided into
city dwellers and country folk.
According to the latest Land-
ther almond paste or straw-
berry jam. On sale since late
January, many have already
gotten a head start in tanking
up those delicacies. Another
traditional Shrovetide dish is
pea soup, on offer in schools
and many outdoor events.
Sledding tradition
Just as other countries have
their parades and carni-
vals, Finland celebrates the
middle-winter holiday in
outdoor gatherings and by
hitting the slopes. On Shrove
Sunday, families can take
part in many open-air jubi-
lees across Helsinki. A good
chance for a day out with the
kids is in Seurasaari, where
a whole day event with food
and activities for all ages
takes place.
On Shrove Tuesday, ele-
mentary school pupils and day
care centre children tradition-
ally have a day out sledding.
The stubbornly persistent
snowfall may have thrown the
country’s traffic into disar-
ray, but it has definitely made
sledders, such as Niko, 4, and
Nea Mäntylä, 6, happier than
ever. They have spent numer-
marks Barometer from Sitra,
the Finnish Innovation Fund,
more than a third of all Finns
regard themselves as both. Al-
ternating between living in ur-
ban areas and rural areas is
now increasingly common.
pekka sakki
DOMESTIC NEWS
TUIKE M ÄNT YL Ä
ous days on the slopes and
are anxiously awaiting Shrove
Tuesday. “We are going sled-
ding with our preschool, and
there will be a dog sled as well.
I’m really looking forward to
that, as I’ve tried it only once,”
Nea says.
From the many vehicles
available for rocketing down
the slopes, Niko has a clear
favourite. “The Stiga snow
racer is the best, because it’s
the heaviest and I can over-
take everyone,” he boasts
confidently. Nea prefers a
glider, as it is so much fun
when it goes tumbling upside
down.
Also on Shrove Tuesday,
university students organise
an annual outdoor happening
in Ullanlinnanmäki in Kai-
vopuisto. The highlight of the
action-packed afternoon is
the legendary downhill race,
where teams are judged on
their run’s distance as well
as the originality of their
homemade sleds. Besides the
showlike race, activities from
competitions to live music
are available. And above all,
the slippery hill is open for
sledders of all ages.
“We hope that the country-
side will also empower those
people who do not live there.
Finns expect this of the coun-
tryside, as 93 per cent believe
that it will be important to
them in the future and 64 per
cent of urban residents intend
to visit the countryside to re-
charge their batteries and un-
wind,” says Eeva Hellström,
executive director of the Sitra
programme.
The barometer also re-
vealed a major contradiction
between what Finns want of
the countryside, and their
beliefs about how it will de-
velop. The majority of Finns
believe the countryside will
become severely depopulated
over the next decade, but on-
ly a few per cent would allow
this to happen.
The survey was answered
by 1,504 people in September
2009. In addition, a total of 651
municipal decision-makers,
business leaders and rural ex-
Paediatric experts
recommmend small classes
A conference of
experts has recom-
mended that youth
psychiatric services
be better organised.
S I N I KK A S U O S A LM I – S T T
M ATTH E W PA R R Y – H T
STUDIES show that young
people fare better the small-
er and more stable their
school classes. Class size is
especially important to the
development of self-esteem
in adolescent boys. A Consen-
sus Development Conference
convened by the Academy of
Finland and the Finnish Med-
ical Society Duodecim put the
ideal group size at 21 pupils.
“These days, children are di-
vided up into different groups
and fragmented into differ-
ent projects. But studies show
that stable groups provide
better support than fluctuat-
ing groups for school success,
self-esteem and learning,” ar-
gues child psychiatrist Matti
Kaivosoja, head of the confer-
ence’s consensus panel.
Schools were also encour-
aged to pay greater attention
to the developmental differ-
ences of boys and girls. Boys’
brains develop more slow-
ly, and the unrest brought on
by adolescence begins later.
With regard to the future, im-
portant choices made in pri-
mary school often produce a
damaging pattern. That is why
switching in later years from
one school stream to another
should be made more flexible.
A group of school health-
care experts recommended
that every municipality ap-
point a doctor responsible for
schools. This official would
also need to be adequate-
ly trained in mental-health
issues.
perts answered the questions
in the survey concerning their
own fields of activity.
Widespread scepticism
Although Finns often seek
peace and quiet in the coun-
tryside, there is little appe-
tite for stagnation there.
“Finns would like to see
a dynamic and lively coun-
tryside, and one that doesn’t
seem neglected or desolate,”
explains Anne Leppänen, a
communications researcher
at Kuule Oy.
The study also shows that
more than half of all Finns
would also like to see the coun-
tryside filled with various
types of entrepreneurial activ-
ity, including remote workers
assisted by telecommunica-
tions, organic food production,
which is widely favoured, and
various forms of tourism.
But in spite of the great
hopes, an increasing number
of Finns believe that these
“These days, school nurse
reception hours may even be
outsourced to medical com-
panies,” suspects Kaivosoja.
Cash-strapped
municipalities limit care
The experts also recommend
uniform age brackets across
the country for young peo-
ple’s psychiatric services.
They suggest 13-22 as suit-
able limits, and that a young
person in need of continued
care be allowed to continue
to see a youth psychiatrist
until the age of 25.
At the moment, the upper
age limit for care varies great-
ly. In several municipalities, it
is as low as 18. As municipali-
ties have struggled to comply
with deadlines for treatment
of needy patients, one tactic
has been to lower the upper
age limit for eligibility, Kai-
vosoja says. For young people’s
psychiatric services, the dead-
line is three months. For adult
patients, it is six months.
It is calculated that apply-
ing the conference’s recom-
mendation would increase
access numbers to youth psy-
chiatry services by up to a
third. With the resulting rise in
costs, funds would need to be
reallocated from elsewhere.
Treatment
often heavy-handed
One in five Finnish youths
suffers some degree of men-
tal illness. A substantial
proportion of them do not
receive the treatment they
need.
Care services are poor-
ly organised and fragment-
ed, and resources are wasted.
Young people with behav-
ioural difficulties are some-
times placed in child welfare
institutions, even though,
with the right co-operation,
less heavy-handed measures
would be more effective.
Young people should be able
to choose their own care facility
hopes will not be realised.
Sitra’s research also reveals
widespread scepticism re-
garding the future develop-
ment of the countryside.
The barometer is part
of Sitra’s Landmarks pro-
gramme, which was launched
at the beginning of this year.
The aim of the five-year pro-
gramme is to strengthen the
importance of the country-
side through such strategies
as developing commercial
models based on sustainable
development.
“With the Landmarks
programme, we’re aiming to
increase understanding of
when it makes sense to con-
centrate activity in the name
of eco-efficiency, and when
we should decentralise it, in-
stead,” Hellström explains.
An online survey was dis-
tributed in September 2009
for the study. The study was
co-ordinated by the commu-
nications consultancy Kuule.
HELSINKI TIMES
when they do not receive sup-
port from the people around
them or their school healthcare
services. The internet would be
useful for this purpose, given
that many young people are ac-
tive internet users.
“You should be able to
find information online about
where to get help in each part
of the country, and how to
receive treatment for any-
thing from eating disorders
to rape counselling,” suggests
Kaivosoja.
The group also empha-
sised the importance of
stability in patient–carer re-
lationships, but were una-
ble to formulate suggestions
to encourage commitment
from doctors and carers to
individual patients.
(Most of) the kids are OK
– The majority of young people
are faring well. Those aged
13-22 make up around 12 per
cent of the population. More
than 80 per cent of youths
in this group rate their men-
tal health as “good” or “ex-
tremely good”.
– A fifth of young Finns suf-
fer some degree of mental
illness, however.
– The most common mental
disorders in young people
are moods, anxiety and be-
haviour-related disorders,
as well as disorders stem-
ming from drug use.
– Young people with mental
issues typically suffer from
more than one problem si-
multaneously.
– Around ten per cent of 12-
18-year-olds suffer from a
long-term illness, impair-
ment or disability, which
compromises the quality of
their everyday lives.
Source: The three-day Consensus
Development Conference convened
by the Academy of Finland and the
Finnish Medical Society Duodecim.
Civic spirit
weak in
Finland
ST T
The Landmarks Barometer
also measured what aspects of
their lives Finns consider im-
portant. In this area, examples
included possibilities to affect
matters important to oneself, a
suitably unhurried pace of life,
a sense of meaning in work,
self-realisation and manage-
ment of personal time, as well
as financial security.
At the bottom of the list of
elements of the good life were
internet access, and belonging
to some sort of community.
“So even if we hear a lot
about community these days,
people don’t rate it as terribly
important,” notes communi-
cations researcher Anne Lep-
pänen. Nevertheless, Finns
did express satisfaction with
their current internet access
and activities.
HELSINKI TIMES DOMESTIC NEWS 11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010 
lehtikuva / markku ulander

COLUMN
IN BRIEF

Finnish PM urges Finnish Railways

local councils to
cut spending
Matti Vanhanen on 9 Feb-
ruary urged local councils
to improve the efficiency of
their services.
Speaking in parliament,
Vanhanen said councils
needed to break their up-
ward spending spiral.
He added that local
councils as well as provinc-
es would have to rethink
their entire service sys-
tems.  STT
A Eurobarometer survey on the social climate in the EU shows that the majority of citizens, including Finns, are happy with their lives.
Kaikkonen
restores normal
commuter services
Finnish Railways (VR) said
on 8 February that it had
returned to normal com-
muter schedules in the cap-
ital region after a week of
reduced services.
This winter has seen VR
cancel a number of trains
over ice build-up in trains’
undercarriages.  STT
Leaders pledge to
improve state of
Baltic Sea

Europeans keep
costs only 30 per cent go into
rent and mortgage payments
while the other 70 per cent
received 42,000 Prime Minister Matti Van-
euros from Youth hanen pledged on 8 February
that his government would
Foundation

a sunny outlook on life

A new survey suggests that Europeans are generally satisfied with
life, although there is still some room for improvement.
M ARI K AISL ANIEMI
HEL SINKI TIMES
The Special Eurobarome-
ter on the social climate in
the European Union found
that the majority of Europe-
ans are satisfied with their
personal situation, but less
satisfied of their countries’
economy, public services
and social policies. The opin-
ion survey was released on 2
February. The survey is part
of the European Commis-
sion’s annual Social Situa-
tion Report, which examines
social trends in Europe. The
focus in this year’s report is
on housing and the econom-
ic crisis.
Satisfaction dispersed
across the EU
The Eurobarometer sur-
vey was conducted between
May and June 2009, at a time
when the economic crisis had
definitely affected people’s
lives. Despite the situation,
the survey found that 80 per
cent of EU citizens are satis-
fied with their lives in gen-
eral. However, there are also
large differences between
various countries, residents
in the Nordic countries and
the Netherlands are gener-
ally more satisfied with their
personal situation than peo-
ple in other countries. The
highest level of satisfaction
was reported in Denmark,
with Sweden, the Nether-
lands and Finland following
with high levels also. The re-
port reveals that lowest lev-
els of satisfaction were in
Bulgaria, followed by Hunga-
ry, Greece and Romania.
Finnish part-time worker
and part-time student Reeta
Kaarnola and Russian-born
Finnish student Anton Ejov
are similar to other Finns in
feeling that they are currently
satisfied with their lives. Both
are also optimistic about the
future and believe that their
lives will improve during the
next 12 months. “I’m a student
and learning new things will
not only increase my knowl-
edge, but also give me more
self-confidence which will im-
prove my life,” says Ejov.
Generally Europeans are
quite dissatisfied with the
way their public administra-
tions are run. With the ex-
ception of Luxembourg and
Estonia, people in all other
EU states felt that the situ-
ation has worsened over the
last five years and will con-
tinue to get worse.
Healthcare provision was
a public policy that Europe-
ans are satisfied with. The
most satisfied are citizens
of Belgium, the Netherlands
and Luxembourg with citi-
zens in Bulgaria, Greece and
Romania the least satisfied.
“I’m generally satisfied
with Finland’s public servic-
es, but I wish the government
would allocate more funding
where it is needed, for exam-
ple in the number of police
officers,” says Kaarnola.
How their countries ad-
dress the issues of inequal-
ities and poverty were seen
as the most dissatisfying
across Europe. Citizens in
Latvia and Hungary were the
most dissatisfied, while peo-
ple in Luxembourg and the
Netherlands were the only
ones who were satisfied.
Ejov sees that pover-
ty and inequality issues are
understated in Finland “be-
cause of our attitude that we
have everything”. Kaarnola
is slightly dissatisfied with
how things are dealt with in
Finland. “We have people re-
ceiving aid who don’t appre-
ciate the help while others
who need help and financial
aid and would appreciate it,
are forgotten.”
Focus on housing
The annual Social Situation
Report focused on housing
and the economic crisis this
year. Europeans reported
that they now spend a larg-
er percentage of their income
on housing costs than they
did ten years ago, as mort-
gage debt has increased.
EU citizens spend ap-
proximately 20 per cent of
their income on accommo-
dation. Of the total housing
are spent on repairs, mainte-
nance and fuel.
Europeans are dissatisfied
with the affordability of hous-
ing. People in Cyprus are the
least satisfied, followed by the
Bulgarians, Lithuanians, Ro-
manians, Spaniards, Hungar-
ians, Poles and the Maltese.
People in Sweden and Estonia
consider housing to be afford-
able. Many people feel that the
situation with housing has de-
teriorated during the past five
years and that the situation
will not improve during the
next year.
Reeta Kaarnola and An-
ton Ejov both rent and spend
a different ratio of their in-
come on housing. Kaarnola
says she spends about 20 per
cent of her income on hous-
ing, while full-time student
Ejov says 40 per cent of his
income is spent on rent. Both
agree that housing is expen-
sive in Finland and especially
in the Helsinki area.
The full social impact
of the economic crisis can-
not be assessed, as it is still
too early, but the report in-
vestigates what lessons can
be learned from past reces-
sions. The past shows that
those affected during reces-
sions are protected in part
by social expenditure but the
likelihood that unemployed
people will receive income
support varies across the EU
member states.
Kaarnola says she’s one of
the lucky ones; her life hasn’t
been affected by the eco-
nomic crisis. Ejov says he lost
his job due to the crisis but he
isn’t depressed. “I lost my job
but the experience made me
look at life in a new way and I
found a great place to study,”
he concludes.
Antti Kaikkonen, a Finn-
ish Centre party MP and
former chair of the Youth
Foundation, received about
42,000 euros from the
foundation in 2008, na-
tional daily Helsingin Sa-
nomat quoted figures from
the Housing Finance and
Development Centre (Ara)
as indicating.
Kaikkonen resigned as
chair of the foundation last
year after it emerged that
the housing charity had
funded a number of Centre
party politicians’ election
campaigns, including those
of Matti Vanhanen, the
Prime Minister and a former
chair of the foundation. STT
KHO rejects
all Espoo
underground
extension
complaints
The Supreme Administra-
tive Court (KHO) on 8 Feb-
ruary dismissed complaints
against local plan amend-
ments in Espoo, lifting an
obstacle to the construc-
tion of five underground
stations in Espoo that are to
make up a western exten-
sion of Helsinki’s existing
single-line system.
The stations are to be
built in Jousenpuisto, Kei-
laniemi, Matinkylä, Ot-
aniemi and Tapiola.
Tunnelling in Espoo
is scheduled to begin lat-
er this year, with plans to
open the extension in late
2014.  STT
redouble efforts to clean up
the Baltic Sea. Vanhanen
said in the commitment, one
of 140 made by the Baltic Sea
region’s politicians ahead of
the Helsinki summit, that
Finland would strive to be-
come an example in the re-
cycling of nutrients.
The prime minister went
on to list a number of meas-
ures to reduce the Baltic
Sea’s nutrient load.
Tarja Halonen said in a
statement that she backed
Vanhanen’s commitments
and added that they showed
that the government was
strongly committed to take
action for a healthier Baltic
Sea.
The president also pro-
posed an annual Baltic Sea
day to raise awareness and
to “strengthen our com-
mitments”.  STT
Widespread
expectations of
pension cuts
Some 58 per cent of the re-
spondents in a poll carried
out for the Finnish Broad-
casting Company (YLE) ex-
pect pensions to fall, the
public broadcaster quoted
the results of the Talous-
tutkimus poll as saying on
7 February.
YLE added that respond-
ents aged between 25 and
49 held the bleakest views
about pensions.
Commissioned by YLE,
market research company
Taloustutkimus interviewed
726 people and puts the mar-
gin of error at three percent-
age points either way.  STT

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 11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010
L E H T I K U VA / pekka sakki
As with many other regions of Finland, schools in Espoo are becoming increasingly international.
HELSINGIN SANOMAT 7 February. KATRIINA PAJARI
Half of Central Espoo
schoolchildren are immigrants
77 languages are spoken in Espoo’s schools,
the national daily Helsingin Sanomat reports.
“THERE ARE ten schools in Es-
poo where at least a quar-
ter of the pupils speak some
other language besides Finn-
ish or Swedish as their moth-
er tongue. In the schools of
Kirkkojärvi and Keski-Espoo
Experience both pearls of Kemi
- Sampo Icebreaker and
SnowCastle
www.snowcastle.net
they amount to nearly half
the pupils.
The schoolchildren in ques-
tion usually have an immi-
grant background. The city’s
officials and decision makers
are now debating whether or
www.sampotours.com
Tel. +358 16 258 878
FROM THE FINNISH PRESS
TRANSLATIONS BY MICHAEL NAGLER
not the large amount of for-
eign pupils poses a problem.
77 languages are spoken
in Espoo’s comprehensive
schools. According to the city
council’s guideline, a suita-
ble proportion for immigrant
children would be 15 per cent
of a school’s pupils.
In practice this goal is im-
possible, says section director
Aulis Pitkälä from the city’s
Education and Culture Sec-
tion. ‘You can’t move around
children from one school to
another based on their reli-
gion or ethnic background.’
Statistics show, however,
that nearly every multicultur-
al school has in their vicinity
another school with few immi-
grant children. For example,
the schools of Suna, Tuomarila
and Jalavapuisto, in which im-
migrants are less than a tenth
of all pupils, are all near the
Keski-Espoo school.
The areas from which pupils
are allotted into their respec-
tive schools are lines drawn on
a map, and they can be changed
by the board’s decision.
The indigenous population
in Europe’s major cities has
begun to shun some schools
and areas where the propor-
tion of immigrants has risen
substantially.
Problems have often aris-
en if over a third of pupils are
immigrants. Espoo has seven
such schools, but there have
been no problems. 45 per cent
of the children in the school of
Keski-Espoo in Suvela have an
immigrant background. So-
malis and Kosovar Albanians
are the largest groups.
The school can accom-
modate 726 pupils, but there
are no newcomers. There are
around 400 pupils in the school
this semester. Some families
are avoiding the school, ac-
knowledges Simo Juntunen,
the school’s principal. ‘Parents
are afraid that the speed of
teaching will be slowed down
by those who are weak in Finn-
ish, to the detriment of other
pupils,’ Juntunen says.”
KAUPPALEHTI 2 February
Wahlroos: Finland’s
rich should relocate
Billionaire banker Björn Wahlroos offers
financial advice in his usual succinct way,
the financial paper Kauppalehti reports.
“FINLAND lacks natural
competitive advantages
compared to its neighbour-
ing countries, says Sam-
po Group’s chairman of the
board Björn Wahlroos to
ILTALEHTI 6 February. PÄIVI PELKONEN
Sex drug a serious problem
The dangerous substance increases sexual
desire, acts as a stimulant and is easily addic-
tive, the tabloid Iltalehti reports.
“A CONCERNED woman says
that the amphetamine-like
drug MDPV has caused several
dangerous situations amongst
her acquaintances. Accord-
ing to her, one even died after
using the substance, another
was hospitalised and a third
fell into psychosis. When pur-
chasing the drug the users
thought that they were buy-
ing amphetamine.
Jari Pynnönen from the
Helsinki Police Department’s
Drug Unit confirms that MD-
KALEVA 7 February
CIA prisons
around
the world
Dozens of countries
host or have hosted
secret detention cen-
tres, the Oulu-based
daily Kaleva reports.
“DOZENS of countries have
secret detention centres
which are forbidden under
international law, says a UN
report which was completed
at the end of January.
The report focuses on the
CIA prisons and networks
that were used after Septem-
ber 2001 in President George
W. Bush’s War on Terror.
Included also are countries
which have detention centres
that enable inhuman treatment
for their governments’ own
The training centre of the Lithuanian State Security Department
has been accused of housing a secret CIA prison for al Qaeda
suspects in 2004-2005.
the Swedish-language mag-
azine Forum för Ekonomi
och Teknik (Forum Business
Magazine).
Because of this Finland
cannot afford to ease up on
PV has become a problem. Us-
ers have told police about the
substance’s stimulative as
well as sexual desire-increas-
ing effects, but also about its
negative properties.
The substance’s effect
lasts for 3-6 hours. Side-ef-
fects include severe head-
aches, depression and anxiety.
‘I haven’t heard of anyone dy-
ing from it, but it’s perfectly
possible,’ Pynnönen says.
What makes the substance
particularly dangerous accord-
HELSINKI TIMES
purposes, such as suppressing
opposition or minorities. The
list contains 66 countries.
One of the authors of the
report is Martin Scheinin,
the current UN Special Rap-
porteur on the promotion and
protection of human rights
while countering terrorism
and a professor of Interna-
tional Law at the European
University Institute in Flor-
ence, Italy. He says that the
list of nations in the report
isn’t even comprehensive. ‘It
includes those countries of
which we were able to acquire
such airtight evidence that
they could be put into a sum-
mary like this,’ he describes.
There have been secret
CIA prisons used by the US
all over the world and in at
least three current EU mem-
ber states: Lithuania, Poland
and Romania. Among the Eu-
ropean nations Kosovo and
Bosnia also ended up in the
report, while of the Asian
countries Thailand was list-
ed. The detention centres in
the war zones of Iraq and Af-
ghanistan are in a league all
to themselves.”
L E H T I K U VA / I nts K alnins
taxation or corporate legisla-
tion, according to Wahlroos.
Now Finland is easing up on
both fronts. In his provocative
style, Wahlroos shows where
someone looking after their
interests should do things and
what they should do.
‘If you want to establish a
business, you should do it in
Estonia. If you need to build a
main office for your company,
Saint Petersburg is the right
place,’ he says to the magazine.
‘It would be wise for a
wealthy family thinking
about inheritance arrange-
ments to move to Stockholm.
And someone who wants to
found a holding company
should pick Oslo.’”
ing to Pynnönen is that MD-
PV causes powerful addiction.
On the other hand one nev-
er knows what a drug bought
from the street really contains.
Dealers may sell their product
at a certain concentration, but
they might have actually sup-
plemented it with some other
substance in the hope of addi-
tional profits. Sometimes even
a toxic substance may be used
as a supplement. ‘You have to
remember that even the dealer
doesn’t necessarily know what
he’s really selling. Both the
buyers and sellers mix MDPV
into the amphetamine,’ Pyn-
nönen adds.
The street price of the
drug varies between 20 and
30 euros.”
HELSINKI TIMES international news 11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010 
L E H T I K U VA / A F P P H O T O / S E R G E I S U P I N S K Y

Ukraine goes full circle

The 2004 ‘Orange revolution’ saw a pro-Western leadership win
a presidential campaign that pitted them against a pro-Russian
candidate accused of vote rigging. After six years of political and
economic chaos, then-villain Viktor Yanukovich has reclaimed the
President’s post.

presidential vote on 7 Feb- Ukraine’s difficult socio-eco-

kiev
Z OLTA N D U J I S I N
IP S
Ever since outgoing Pres-
ident Viktor Yushchenko
and current Prime Minister
Yuliya Timoshenko success-
fully led the 2004 popular
uprising against allegations
of electoral fraud that were
internationally-backed, the
high democratic expecta-
tions created gradually gave
way to disappointment with
the leaders’ inability to work
together and to better the
country’s depressing eco-
nomic situation.
The first round of this
year's election on 17 Janu-
ary saw the sound defeat
of Yushchenko and his an-
ti-Russian line. Following a
campaign filled with mutual
accusations of vote-rigging
plans, the final runoff of the
ruary saw Yanukovich ob-
tain 48.8 per cent of the vote,
closely followed by Timosh-
enko with 45.6 per cent.
Democracy’s heyday?
In spite of popular fatigue
with yearly elections, turn-
out bordered 70 per cent.
Representatives from the
Organisation for Security
and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE), the North Atlantic
Treaty Organisation (NATO),
the Parliamentary Assem-
bly of the Council of Europe
(PACE), and the European
Union have all considered
the election free and fair, and
have called on all sides to ac-
cept its results.
Yanukovich secured vic-
tory with a message of na-
tional unity, geopolitical
moderation and econom-
ic and political stability to a
country that has been bitter-
ly divided and unstable ever
since the Orange revolution.
The elections signaled that
Ukrainians are less preoccu-
pied with national, symbolic
and historical issues promot-
ed by the current President
and more concerned with
nomic situation.
“I think that we have made
the first step towards unit-
ing the country,” Yanukovich
said. “I will spare no effort so
that Ukrainians, no matter in
what part of the country they
live, feel comfort and peace
in a stable country.”
For years accused of
not being truly democrat-
ic, Yanukovich has said that,
although he considered the
period following the Orange
revolution a “nightmare”, he
is “not opposed to the slo-
gans” of democracy and Eu-
rope promoted back then.
Yanukovich is not promis-
ing EU membership any time
soon, but his support for
step-by-step Europeanisa-
tion shows that the goal of
entering the EU has become
consensual among both the
population and Ukraine’s po-
litical elites.
While it is clear that re-
lations with Russia will
continue on the path of nor-
malisation favoured by both
presidential contenders, the
main question under a Yanu-
kovich government is to what
extent he will be accepted by
Victor Yanukovich's supporters rejoice over election victory in Kiev on 9 February.
Western countries as a relia-
ble partner.
Political fall-out
Prime Minister Timoshenko
has refused to concede de-
feat as many of her allies
make allegations of massive
fraud. “Timoshenko was de-
feated with dignity, the num-
bers show it was a minimal
defeat, but if she decides to
fight the results she will lose
all international support,”
Balazs Jarabik, Ukrainian
expert at the Madrid-based
Foundation for Foreign Rela-
tions and International Dia-
logue (FRIDE) told IPS.
With Timoshenko still hold-
ing a majority in the Ukrain-
ian parliament, the prospect
of a continued crisis in govern-
ance is more than likely. If the
two bitter rivals don’t reach a
power-sharing agreement, the
solution may lie in Yanukovi-
ch calling early parliamenta-
ry elections to consolidate his
power with a new parliamen-
tary majority that will prove
more cooperative.
However, Yanukovich may
not be able to accomplish her
dismissal without help. Out-
going President Yushchenko
has insisted he is not leaving
politics, and Jarabik believes
that in exchange for certain
guarantees, he might use his
deputies to support Yanuk-
ovich in dismissing Timosh-
enko from her post as Prime
Minister.
Yanukovich will inherit a
country in an extremely dire
economic condition. He will
have to prove a more reliable
partner to the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) than his
predecessors were in order to
obtain much needed loans.
Ukraine’s economy continues
to be on the verge of collapse,
and budget revenues have di-
minished as a result of the
global financial crisis, which
may lead to a new round of
privatisation. Representa-
tives of large businesses will
continue to have a say in how
Ukraine’s economic policy is
run, and the business sectors
behind Yanukovich are likely
to demand policies that pro-
mote exports.

Legal experts condemn targeted killings in US

Critics express concern over potential abuse of executive power in
the United States after intelligence director’s testimony.
Civil liberties advocates
and legal authorities struck
back on Friday 5 February at
washington what they describe as the "de-
liberate targeted killing of US
citizens far away from any ac-
tive hostilities, as long as the
executive branch determines
unilaterally that they meet a
secret definition of who the
W I LL I A M F I S H E R enemy is." The American Civ-
IP S
il Liberties Union is among
those expressing serious con-
In an admission that took cern about the lack of public
the intelligence commu- information about the policy
nity and its critics by sur- and the potential for abuse of
prise, Director of National unchecked executive power.
Intelligence Dennis Blair ac- Attorney George Brent
knowledged in a congres- Mickum, who has defend-
sional hearing that the US ed a number of Guantana-
may, with executive approv- mo Bay detainees, told IPS, "I
al, target and kill US citizens guess my sense is that it's just
who are suspected of being more fear mongering. They
involved in terrorism. kill somebody and don't need
to offer any justification." An-
other constitutional scholar,
Professor Francis A. Boyle of
the University of Illinois Law
School, told IPS that "this ex-
trajudicial execution of hu-
man beings" violates both
international human rights
law and the fifth amendment
of the US constitution. "The
US government has now es-
tablished a 'death list' for US
citizens abroad akin to those
established by Latin Ameri-
can dictatorships during their
so-called dirty wars," he said.
Civilians
protected by law
The human rights advoca-
cy community was equal-
ly forceful in its pushback.
Daphne Eviatar, an attorney
with Human Rights First, told
IPS, "The short answer is that
combatants can be targeted
and civilians cannot under
international law. Their cit-
izenship isn't relevant. But
just being a 'suspected ter-
rorist' doesn't necessarily
mean they're combatants."
She added, "The key ques-
tion, and where there may
be serious disagreement, is
whether the person targeted
is 'directly participating in
hostilities'. If not, and they're
targeted, it's a war crime."
Chip Pitts, president of the
Bill of Rights Defence Commit-
tee, told IPS, "As with its em-
brace of the [George W.] Bush
approach to indefinite deten-
tion, the Obama administra-
tion's even greater reliance on
targeted extra-judicial killing
– including of US citizens – is
a tragic legal, moral, and prac-
tical mistake."
"Even for those who ac-
cept the legitimacy of the
death penalty, this further
undermines the rule of law
that is our best weapon in the
fight against true terrorists,
while completely subvert-
ing due process and constitu-
tional rights of US citizens,"
he said.
Licence to kill
Testifying before the House of
Representatives Intelligence
Committee, Blair said, "We take
direct action against terrorists
in the intelligence community."
He said US counterterrorism
officials may try to kill US cit-
izens embroiled in extremist
groups overseas with "specific
permission" from higher up. In
response to questions Republi-
can representative Pete Hoek-
stra of Michigan, Blair said, if
"we think that direct action
will involve killing an Ameri-
can, we get specific permission
to do that."
Blair's remarks followed
a Washington Post article
reporting that US President
Barack Obama had embraced
his predecessor's policy of
authorising the killing of US
citizens involved in terrorist
activities overseas.
Blair said he was offering
such unusually detailed in-
formation in public because
"I just don't want other Amer-
icans who are watching to
think that we are careless."
He didn't specifically articu-
late the standards he used,
saying only that "We don't tar-
get people for free speech. We
target them for taking action
that threatens Americans."
Hoekstra cited an inci-
dent in 2001 in which Peru's air
force shot down a plane carry-
ing US missionaries, killing a
woman and her seven-month-
old daughter, after the aircraft
was misidentified as a drug-
smuggler. "We were careless
and we were reckless," Blair
replied. "I want to make sure
that this committee does eve-
rything that it can and within
its power that it does not allow
the community to be reckless
and careless again."
 11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010 BUSINESS HELSINKI TIMES

Working in the virtual office

COLUMN

waste. Also, if people work

In an economy based on knowledge and technology, many compa- from home the daily com-
mute is eliminated, thus po-
nies are finding that the need for a physical office is disappearing. tentially saving energy as
well as traffic congestion ei-
ther on highways or in pub-

A le x is kouros
lic transportation networks.
Environmental concerns can
boost the attractiveness of a
virtual office.

Loss of interaction
David J. Cord is a writer and columnist for the Helsinki There can be downsides to
Times. He is also a private investor with over ten years of using a virtual office, though.
international experience. Some companies have face-
to-face interaction eliminat-
ed unless special gatherings
are called. “Our teachers
The Euro’s first crisis don’t get to meet each other
unless we arrange meetings,”
UNITED Europe is having its first homegrown crisis. In- Gilhooly points out. This can
vestors have become distrustful of public officials, the also affect remote freelanc-
common currency has fallen, yields on some countries’ ers, whom Learnwell also us-
bonds have soared, and stock markets have dropped. es for some projects.
Now is a good time to take a look at the current state Dubbed “workplace iso-
and future of the European economy. lation,” this malady is when
some staff members feel
THE crisis began with Greece’s public finances. We disconnected from their or-
know the story: politicians let government debt get ganisations. An isolated em-
out of control and investors don’t believe they have the ployee may not know where
willpower to get things in hand. Distrust then spread to turn when questions arise
to other countries on the periphery of Europe. and may miss the social in-
teraction of a conventional
BUT some economists reject the “public debt crisis” office environment.
scenario. Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman has been Learnwell is proactive in
a loud advocate for massive government borrowing. making sure that these prob-
He has frequently cited Italy as proof that a country lems don’t appear. “The team
can run gigantic deficits and suffer no consequences, members do know where to
so this setback could have been embarrassing for him. turn when they have ques-
Instead he has blamed the crisis on the fact that Eu- tions,” says Biro. “We have
rope has never gotten its act together to create a sin- worked together for four
gle economy. years and it works out real-
ly well for everybody. Occa-
IN fact, both sides of the debate are right: the sover- sionally we organise events
eign debt of individual countries needs to be brought Learnwell managing director Veronica Gilhooly is happy with the virtual office arrangement. such as nights out or cocktail
back under control and Europe needs to finish what it parties, where teachers and
started and create a single European economy. DAV I D J . CO R D this way already four years tral office. A virtual office translators do interact with
HEL SINKI TIMES
ago when Bianca started often entails working from each other.”
PRACTICALLY all European countries are going to fail with Learnwell, but we had home but it can also include Then there are the dis-
the criteria of the Stability and Growth Pact. Even Fin- THE office used to be an in- an office in Eira for about one the use of mobile commu- tractions if someone works
land, which was just cited by the European Commis- separable part of working and a half years.” nications, the virtual stor- at home. The dishes may need
sion as having the life. You get up in the morn- A virtual office seems age of information, alternate to be washed, the dog may
best public financ- ing, travel to your job and get perfect for a business like postal addresses and on-de- want to go outside or fami-
Now is a good time es in Europe, will to work with your colleagues. Learnwell. Their work in mand meeting facilities. ly members may demand at-
to take a look at the breach the maxi- This scenario is now rapid- translations and language Gilhooly is pleased with tention. “Distractions? No,
current state and future mum deficit rule ly changing, especially in the training does not require a her arrangement. She does I’m not distracted,” Gilhooly
this year. If we developed economies that are central, physical location. not have to pay high rents or laughs. “I’ve been doing this
of the EU economy. have the best gov- more service-oriented, with While many small compa- maintain large amounts of for ten years. But I can see
ernment finances, strong electronic and com- nies and entrepreneurs find space for storing paperwork. how it might be a problem if
what does this say about the worst countries? It is ab- munication infrastructures. it cost-effective, even large “We have a very low-cost people are not used to it.”
solutely imperative that public finances are stabilised. In fact, some companies are corporations have made use overhead,” she says. “When If current trends contin-
thriving with completely vir- of some related concepts. we give language courses ue, more and more business-
THEN there is the sad fact that the European economy tual offices. IBM estimates that it saves they are done at the client’s es will be utilising aspects of
still has significant barriers to cross-border activity. “We used to have a physi- 100 million US dollars a year premises. All our material is a virtual office in the future.
There are impediments to the free movement of labour. cal office,” says Veronica Gil- by having some 42 per cent of online and it is easy access to According to an estimate
Countries can restrict the movements of workers from hooly, managing director of its employees work remotely our material from anywhere. published in an MIT journal,
new member states for up to seven years, for instance. professional-language serv- at least part time. I use a laptop that contains the number of telecommut-
ice company Learnwell. “Bi- PowerPoint and everything ers has trebled since 2000.
THE movement of money has been less than free as anca Biro, who heads our Freedom I need. We e-mail all our ma- Because the Finnish econo-
well. The Single Euro Payments Area is just now com- translations, went on ma- from filing cabinets terials and don’t bring books my is heavily reliant on in-
ing to fruition, eleven long years after the single cur- ternity leave and I decided A virtual office should not be or papers to meetings unless formation technology, which
rency was developed. Hopefully people will soon be to give up the office as there confused with telecommut- the client specifically asks is often tailor-made for such
able to make cross-border payments as easily as do- would be no-one there full ing. Telecommuting is a work for it.” activities, it is likely that the
mestic payments. time. And when Bianca came arrangement where employ- The reduction of hard number of virtual offices will
back, we decided to stay with ees work from home, or from copies of materials brings increase drastically over the
FINALLY, a major effort needs to be made to create a the same system. We worked a location other than a cen- the added benefit of less coming years.
coherent fiscal policy among European nations. The
Stability and Growth Pact needs to be updated with re-
alistic criteria, such as deficit and debt levels averaged
over an entire economic cycle. It also desperately needs
teeth. If a member state breaches the covenants there
need to be serious consequences. Now the Stability and
Growth Pact is simply a joke, but no-one’s laughing.

WE need strong leadership. Heads of state have said

loud and clear that they do not want a strong leader.
The choice of an unknown bureaucrat to lead the Com-
mission is proof of this. Sad to say, but it may take a
much deeper crisis before any real changes are made.

david@helsinkitimes.fi

Helsinki Business Hub
HELSINKI TIMES
The Chinese New Year celebrations bring a variety of colourful performances to Lasipalatsi Square on 13 February.
Happy New Year!
DAV I D J . CO R D
HELSINKI’S fourth annual Chi-
nese New Year celebration is
set to kick off on 13 February in
Lasipalatsi Square. Growing in
popularity over the years, the
event typically attracts thou-
sands of visitors. It is popular
with Chinese expatriates and
enthusiasts, but also brings
regular Finns to sample Chi-
nese food and spectacles.
The event starts with a
parade from the Railway Sta-
tion featuring the tradition-
al dragon and lion dancers.
The main celebration takes
place in Lasipalatsi square
Invitation to Helsinki
DAV I D J . CO R D
A GROUP of talented people
from Shanghai will soon be en-
joying a unique visit to Helsin-
ki. This is part of an innovative
programme focused on estab-
lishing long-lasting networks
between people in Helsinki
and selected cities worldwide.
“The main goal of Invi-
tation to Helsinki is to build
long term relationships,”
says Ossi Luoto of Pluto Fin-
land. “It helps people here in
the Greater Helsinki area to
the same day from 14:00
to 18:00. A variety of per-
formances will take place,
including a special appear-
ance from the Beijing Opera.
There will even be a live vid-
eo feed of the New Year’s cel-
ebrations in Beijing.
“This time of year there’s
not much happening out-
side,” says Caisa’s Martta
Louekari. “We want to do
something for the citizens of
Helsinki. This is a big and col-
ourful event, and such things
are nice in life.”
Plenty of colours will be
on view at the Chinese mar-
ket. Especially popular are
the many food stalls. “Many
learn new things from people
abroad and expand their net-
works. This is not just mar-
keting and promotion.”
The programme began
last spring when 12 Wash-
ington, DC residents with
diverse professional back-
grounds were invited to come
to Helsinki. They were host-
ed by native counterparts
and experienced the profes-
sional and everyday life of
the metropolitan area. Later
four guests came from Ma-
drid. Now the offer has been
extended to Shanghai.
BUSINESS
BUSINESS
BUSINESS
Chinese restaurants from the
Helsinki area come and cook,”
Louekari explains. “They also
prepare wonderful tradition-
al New Year’s food. You really
should come and taste.”
The event is especially
important this year as close
ties are being developed with
China in the run-up to the
Shanghai World Expo. Nor-
mally each year has a chosen
theme, such as the Olympics
when the games were hosted
by Beijing. For this occasion
one theme is the Shanghai
World Expo. Those attend-
ing the event will be treated
to photos and displays of the
pavilions in Shanghai.
“We have people com-
ing from a number of differ-
ent backgrounds,” continues
Luoto. “In travel, we will have
a travel agent and a travel en-
thusiast. In education, we will
have a professor and a student
who will visit Aalto Universi-
ty. On the business side there
will be an innovator, such as in
clean technology. Then we have
an artist, Pan Jianfeng, who
will take up a month-long art-
ist residency in Suomenlinna.”
Jianfeng worked for large
multinational design agen-
cies before starting his own
“We cooperate with many
different China-related
groups for the celebration,”
continues Louekari. “There
are martial arts and language
groups, for instance. The Fin-
land-China Association is one
of the organisers. The bilin-
gual choir from Meilahti Pri-
mary School will perform in
Finnish and Chinese.”
The Chinese New Year, the
Year of the Tiger, begins on 14
February on the Gregorian
calendar. Festivities at this
event, also called the Spring
Festival, traditionally con-
tinue for several days. In the
same vein the city of Helsin-
ki has a number of events in
company. He is well known for
portraits, which he often plac-
es on objects such as ceramic
cups. “I’m looking forward to
see a peaceful world covered
by pure white snow,” he says.
“What I am always interested
in is creating something dif-
ferent and meaningful relat-
ed to everyday life. I do hope
my visiting will help people in
Helsinki and Shanghai under-
stand each other better and
learn from each other… got
lots of work to do!”
Typically a participant in
Invitation to Helsinki stays
for about a week, but Pan in-
tends to stay longer in order
to participate in Helsinki’s
Chinese Spring Festival and
prepare works for the Shang-
hai World Expo.

11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010
www.helsinkibusinesshub.fi
February and March, includ- also points out that Chinese
ing lectures on Chinese cal- New Year celebrations would
ligraphy, tea ceremonies and not be complete without fire-
art exhibitions at Caisa. works, so a fireworks show
“There are many activities will take place over Töölön-
for families and children,” lahti beginning at 18:20 on 13
says Louekari. “It is nice to February. The event is organ-
be able to do something out- ised by the cities of Beijing
side this time of year.” She and Helsinki.
www.kiinalainenvuosi.fi
Guests visit sites and pro- Invitation to Helsinki project
fessionals in the area per- is tied to the Chinese Spring
taining to their working life Festival as well as the mam-
as well as sampling the night- moth Shanghai World Expo.
life and cultural activities. Of
course, a trip to the sauna is
normally high on the list of
things to do when visiting
Helsinki. The invitees keep
an online journal of their ac-
tivities and thoughts on Hel-
sinki, and these are available
on the program’s website.
The invitees will broaden
their network in the Helsin-
ki area. City officials, who are
keen to develop closer con-
tacts with Shanghai, consider
this especially important. The Chinese artist Pan Jianfeng.
www.invitationtohelsinki.fi
10 11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010 BUSINESS HELSINKI TIMES

Markets alarmed by public debt levels

land, Italy, Greece and Spain. per cent. These are more inated instruments such as
International investors signal their dislike of strained public financ- Over two days stock markets than triple the allowable lim- Treasury bills.
in those nations fell sharply. it under the EU Stability and The euro began a long pe-
es, pushing down market prices around Europe. Greece, Portugal and Spain Growth Pact. riod of appreciation against
all saw their major indices In addition, much of the the dollar during mid-2005.
fall by approximately 8 per panic is aimed specifical- When the financial crisis be-
DAV I D J . CO R D some EU member states. Fi- Concerns were first raised cent. ly at those nations where in- gan the euro fell as investors
HEL SINKI TIMES
nally those anxieties have regarding Greece’s govern- Finland’s stock market vestors distrust the ability sought safety in Treasuries,
boiled over across Europe. In ment budget but the spot- was less affected by the rout and willpower of politicians. but throughout 2009 the eu-
STOCK markets across Eu- Finland, the OMX Helsinki 25 light has since turned on yet on 4 and 5 February Finn- Greece’s current deficit as ro resumed its upward trend.
rope have reacted badly to index suffered its worst two- other nations. This group has ish stocks fell by 4 per cent, a percentage of GDP is less Now in recent days it has
ongoing concerns over the day points loss in almost nine been given the unflattering a more modest decline com- than the United Kingdom’s, been widely sold in favour of
shape of public finances in months. acronym PIIGS: Portugal, Ire- pared with many suffered for instance, but the UK is the dollar. The euro is down
by its neighbours. In fact, the not being shunned by inter- 5 per cent against the green-

L E H T I K U VA / R E U T E R S / R A L P H O R L O W S K I
broad Helsinki index was still
barely positive for the year
as of the end of week five.
By contrast, major markets
have performed significant-
ly worse. The German DAX
Index is down almost 9 per
cent while in Japan the mar-
ket is down about 5 per cent
for the year.
Much of the movements
in Finnish stocks continue to
be related to company-spe-
cific issues, such as year-end
reports. The sudden pessi-
mism in equity markets is
having an impact, though. On
Friday the number of declin-
ing stocks outnumbered ad-
vancing stocks by more than
6 to 1.
Soaring deficits
Investors’ fears are mostly
driven by the view that pub-
lic finances are increasing-
ly unsustainable. Portugal
had a deficit of an estimat-
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet demands that member states strictly imple- ed 9.3 per cent of GDP last
ment the EU Stability and Growth Pact and get their budget deficits under control. year. Spain’s deficit was 11.4
national investors to the ex-
tent as what is happening to
Greece.
Public officials across Eu-
rope have been scrambling
to reassure markets and sig-
nal that they will get gov-
ernment budgets back on
track. In Finland, the Finance
Ministry released a sharp-
ly worded message, saying
that they were well aware of
the potential problems. “The
longer the delay in adopt-
ing corrective measures, the
worse the problems will be-
come both from the econom-
ic and social point of view,” it
stated bluntly.
Euro falls,
risk premium jumps
International investors are
also punishing the euro cur-
rency. Suddenly distrustful
of the world’s second-larg-
est reserve currency, major
investors have been flock-
ing to the perceived safety
of American dollar-denom-
back so far this year.
As investors demand
higher rates of return for
the debt of some of these so-
called “periphery countries”,
yields are soaring in compar-
ison to the benchmark Ger-
man bonds. Even for Finland,
which has better public fi-
nances than most EU coun-
tries, yields have widened
against German counter-
parts in recent days.
The President of the Eu-
ropean Central Bank, Jean-
Claude Trichet, squarely
placed the blame for high-
risk premia on the individual
countries concerned. “Strict
implementation of the Sta-
bility and Growth Pact and
of the excessive deficit pro-
cedures is crucial,” he says.
“Of course, it is better to have
low treasury interest rates
than to have higher treasury
interest rates. This is true,
and this is the way you are
rewarded when you do the
job.”

SFERS
MONE
YG
Y
RA
T
M
RAN
MONE T H E WORLD IS IN YO
UR H ANDS
OU TO CHOIC
E
TING Y
C ONNEC

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HELSINKI TIMES
RADIO SRBIJA 4 February.
Finland
supports
Serbia’s
EU bid
“Finnish Foreign Minister
Alexander Stubb said in Bel-
grade that Finland strongly
supports Serbia on its course
to the EU. After talks with
Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk
Jeremic, Stubb told a press
conference that he expects
the Stabilization and Asso-
ciation Agreement between
Serbia and the EU to be rati-
fied as soon as possible.
Jeremic said the West Bal-
kan region would be more
peaceful, stable and prosper-
ous as Serbia progresses to-
wards the EU. He reiterated
that the central strategic prior-
ity of the Serbian government
is Serbia’s EU membership and
expressed gratitude to Finland
for the support it gives Serbia
on its course…”
“Asked by a Finnish jour-
nalist if Serbia could join the
EU without the recognition of
Kosovo independence, Jerem-
ic repeated that Serbia would
not recognize Kosovo under
any circumstances. ‘Serbia is
on a European course, but will
not recognize Kosovo under
any circumstances. That is
our constitutional, legal and
moral obligation,’ he speci-
fied, adding that the course to
the EU and the issue of Kosovo
are two separate processes…”
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 5 February. GEOFFREY T. SMITH
ECB governor: Finland’s public
finances need urgent reforms
“The need to reform Fin-
land’s public finances has be-
come urgent, central bank
governor Erkki Liikanen said
in a speech Friday. Liikanen, a
member of the European Cen-
tral Bank’s governing council,
told the Finnish Economic As-
sociation in Tampere that the
results of a recent study by his
bank ‘reinforce the outcome
of the Ministry of Finance’s
MEDICAL NEWS TODAY 5 February.
Finland invests 1.85 million euros
in pan-European biomedical efforts
Finland commits funds to the building of European biomedical in-
frastructures.
FINLAND IN THE WORLD PRESS 11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010 11
L E H T I K U VA / M auri V uorinen B remer
Readers'
letters
Helsinki Times has launched a new
section and wants your views on
current issues, comments on news
articles, anything of interest from a
multicultural perspective. A selec-
tion of readers’ comments are pub-
President Urho Kekkonen is the icon of Finland's policy of neutrality during the Cold War.
lished in the Readers' letters sec-
TAIWAN TODAY 5 February. ROBERT GREEN
tion.
Let Finland be Finland
Commentaries should be no longer
than 2,000 characters with spaces.
“A political scientist will The cross-strait rapproche- serve as a base for any coun- Helsinki Times reserves the right
sometimes engage in the kind ment, Gilley claims, ‘repre- try challenging Soviet inter-
of academic speculation that sents a fundamental shift in ests’ in exchange for Moscow’s to edit and shorten all submissions.
historians generally eschew. the political relationship be- promise to respect Finland’s
In recent years, political sci- tween Taiwan and [mainland] sovereignty. According to Gil- Comments can be sent by e-mail
entists have claimed that East China,’ and should prompt ley, the deal ensured Finland’s
Asia is akin to 19th century Washington to consider with- survival and undermined the to: info@helsinkitimes.fi
Europe, teetering in an un- drawing military support for power-based assumptions of
easy balance of power. Most Taiwan, and allow Taiwan the the Kremlin, providing an ad-
recently Taiwan is found de- benefits of the ‘principled neu- mirable alternative to mili-
picted as Finland during the trality’ enjoyed by Finland un- tarized confrontation. Like
Cold War. This last historical der the Soviet shadow. many isolated events in histo-
parallel was made by Bruce Gilley is referring to Fin- ry, this episode in Finnish his-
Gilley in Foreign Affairs, the land’s 1948 agreement with tory gave birth to a political
highly esteemed journal of the Soviet Union ‘under which science model, known as ‘Fin-
the Council on Foreign Rela- Helsinki agreed not to join al- landization,’ or self-interested
tions, a US think tank. liances challenging Moscow or neutrality…”
You may also
L E H T I K U VA / P E K K A S A K K I
mail your letter to:
Helsinki Times /
Readers' letters,
Vilhonvuorenkatu 11B,
00500 Helsinki
analysis: there is now a press- will be particularly expen-
ing need to readjust the public sive,’ he said.
finances.’ Liikanen confined his com-
Liikanen stressed that the ments to the Finnish economy,
burden of balancing financ- but his comments are of a piece
es shouldn’t take the shape with ECB president Jean-Claude TIMES EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT 5 February.
of new payroll taxes, as the Trichet’s frequent warnings to EDWARD DUTTON
ratio of working population those members of Europe’s 16- is that there is no stark so-
to retirees is rising fast and
already placing a significant
strain on the former. ‘Policies
country currency zone, such
as Greece and Portugal, which
have more publicized problems Governor of the European
Can UK cial divide in secondary
education...”
“Schools in Finland do not
that undermine employment with their public finances…” Central Bank Erkki Liikanen.
schools compete with each other in
the way that British schools
really go do, and social class is not a
significant source of media
debate. Finland lacks are-
Finnish? as of pronounced poverty or
wealth. According to the Leg-
atum think tank, Finland re-
“Finnish schools are repeat- mains a very united society.
edly described as the best People trust each other, they
in the world. So it was no trust those in positions of au-
surprise when David Cam- thority and the country is ho-
“Finland has made its first future years was left open eron recently praised them, mogenous. Immigration is
L E H T I K U VA / K I M M O M Ä N T Y L Ä
specific commitment to the as this depends on the out- and promised that his Con- only now becoming a politi-
development of European come and structures that servative Party would em- cal issue, with some parents
biomedical research infra- will be developed in the pilot ulate their ‘unashamedly withdrawing their kids from
structures (BMS ESFRIs) by phase…” elitist’ attitudes to teacher schools in Helsinki because
supporting a joint pilot infra- “There is particular in- recruitment. 40 per cent of their class-
structure project in bioinfor- terest to form links and The fact that Finland has mates have a mother tongue
matics (ELIXIR), biobanking synergies between the infra- topped such international other than Finnish…”
(BBMRI) and translational re- structures, such as by linking education tables as the Pro- “Schools here are co-edu-
search (EATRIS). The initial sustainable infrastructure gramme for International cational and comprehensive.
commitment of 1.85 million for biological information Student Assessment (PISA) From age 7 to 12 you have a
euros is to support prepara- (ELIXIR) with biomedical shows that, aside from the class teacher and from 13
tion and pilot studies in 2010. samples and clinical, life- school shootings it has suf- to 15 subject specialists. Up
This funding is meant to style and environmental data fered, it must be doing some- until the age of 15, you sim-
ensure Finland’s commit- (BBMRI) as well as an oppor- thing right. But whether the ply attend your local school
ment to the building of these tunity to translate results UK can copy it is another and parents seem to assume
European infrastructures. to diagnostic and biomarker question. One of the clear- that these are all of much the
The level of funding in the purposes (EATRIS)…” est differences with the UK same standard…”
12 11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010
Mika Myllylä shocked Finns with his doping confession in 2001, and his recent admission casts more dark clouds over the recent past of Finn-
ish cross-country skiing.
Ski champion's belated doping
confession revives old worries
Mika Myllylä’s admission that he used EPO during his career adds
fuel to the allegations that systematic doping went on in the Finnish
ski team in the 1990s.
E G A N R I CH A R D S ON
HEL SINKI TIMES
AFTER winning six Olympic
and nine World Champion-
ship medals, Mika Myllylä
could be considered one of
the biggest names in Finnish
cross-country skiing. His ca-
reer peaked in 1999, when he
won three gold and one silver
medal at the Ramsau World
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Championships, but within
two years he had been dis-
qualified, along with five oth-
er Finnish skiers, from the
2001 Lahti World Champion-
ships for using a banned plas-
ma expander, Hemohes. The
substance can be used to hide
the use of banned blood hor-
mone, erythropoietin (EPO).
Previous doping allega-
tions by STT resulted in a libel
SPORT
trial, in which several people
associated with the Ski Fed-
eration received damages for
mental distress. The National
Bureau of Investigation (NBI)
subsequently opened an in-
vestigation to discover if any-
one had given false evidence in
that trial.
Myllylä’s admission
Myllylä made his admission in
L E H T I K U VA / S A R I GU S TA F S S O N
the course of the National Bu-
reau’s investigation on 2 Feb-
ruary. “I have been personally
injected with EPO, but I won’t
comment on who gave it to me,”
Myllylä was quoted by Nelonen
news as telling the officers. “It
occurred during the course of
my (skiing) career,” he added.
The news brought a com-
bination of weary sighs,
sharp intakes of breath and
relief that somebody had
come clean in such a way.
While former national ski
team coach Kari-Pekka Kyrö
called Myllylä a “hero”, oth-
ers were simply surprised by
his honesty, given the obfus-
cation preferred by others.
“It is fairly surprising that
an athlete of Myllylä’s calibre
says it like it is,” said Timo Sep-
pälä, head of the Finnish an-
ti-doping agency FINADA. “Of
course it is great that he ad-
mits having used the banned
substance. This clears the air.”
Kyrö’s allegations
Kyrö had previously claimed
that blood doping “in all its
forms” had occurred in the
Finnish team during the 1990s,
but his allegations have been
denied by Ski Federation offi-
cials. In 2004, Kyrö was con-
victed of attempted fraud and
smuggling banned substanc-
es. His public pronouncements
since then have been charac-
teristic of a whistle-blower
who has seen the light.
He has named members of
a “core group” in the Ski Fed-
eration that he alleges kept
doping materials safe. This
group included he Ski Feder-
ation's former Managing Di-
rector Esa Klinge, the former
head of cross-country ski-
ing Antti Leppävuori, and
Pekka Vähäsöyrinki, who
held the same position.
The NBI's further investi-
gations will be of interest to
STT, who may be able to re-
cover the damages they were
forced to pay, and will worry
those who may now be prose-
cuted in light of new evidence.
Along with Klinge, Leppävuori
and Vähäsöyrinki, those pos-
sibly facing charges are Marjo
Matikainen-Källström, an Ol-
ympic gold medallist and now
National Coalition Party MP,
former skier Jari Räsänen, and
former Ski Federation Manag-
ing Director Jari Piirainen.
Game on Vancouver!
The XXI Winter
Olympics commence
this Friday in
Vancouver, with
more than 80
nations taking part.
M A N U PA AVOL A
HEL SINKI TIMES
This year, there are newcom-
ers both in terms of disciplines
and participating countries.
Ski-cross will debut as a new
event while the Cayman Is-
lands, Colombia, Ghana, Paki-
stan and Peru will send their
first competitors to the Winter
Olympics. The overall medal
standings are likely to be dom-
inated by more traditional
winter sports countries, such
as Germany, Russia, Norway,
United States and the hosts
Canada. One thing is sure: Ca-
nadian fans will embrace their
first Olympic Champion in
Vancouver with much adora-
tion. Montreal 1976 and Cal-
gary 1988 produced no gold
medals for the home team,
so the athlete who breaks the
curse will definitely become a
national hero.
The Finnish Olympic team
consists of 95 athletes. The
official goal is 12 medals,
which is a hard target due to
the numerous injuries that
the Finnish medal hopefuls
have suffered this season.
Finnish hopes
For ice hockey fans, the tour-
nament is certainly a long-
awaited event. With no
World Cup held after the Tu-
rin Games, four years have
passed since all of the best
players in the world have
represented their home
countries. Cross-country ski-
ing, ski-jumping and Nor-
dic combined are sports to
which Finns have tradition-
ally clung to in the medal
hunt and which draw the big-
gest television crowds after
ice hockey. In cross-country
skiing Aino-Kaisa Saarinen
won three gold medals at last
year’s World Championships
and is expected to stand on
the podium in Vancouver.
sudoku
HELSINKI TIMES
Matti Heikkinen and Sami
Jauhojärvi can end the med-
al drought for Finnish male
skiers, who are without an
Olympic medal this century.
The ski jumping and Nor-
dic combined teams are led
by veterans Janne Ahonen
and Hannu Manninen, both
of whom decided to return to
compete for that elusive in-
dividual Olympic medal. Last
year’s World Cup Champion
Anssi Koivuranta is another
formidable contender in the
Nordic combined while Harri
Olli’s comments and actions
will gather the usual media
attention in the ski jumping.
In Alpine skiing, Fin-
land’s hopes have been dealt
a blow by troublesome in-
juries. Former slalom world
champion Kalle Palander is
out while Markus Sandell
will be in Vancouver but with
only one kidney as the result
of a crash earlier in the sea-
son. Among the women, Tan-
ja Poutiainen carries strong
medal hopes in slalom and gi-
ant slalom, while Sanni Lei-
nonen offers solid back-up in
both events.
Skating comeback?
Finland’s first six gold med-
als at Winter Olympics came
in speed skating in 1924 and
1928. Since then, Finland’s
dominance has waned and
speed skating is not con-
sidered a major sport in the
country. However, in re-
cent years a new generation
of skaters has excelled and
now there could be chance
for an Olympic medal, espe-
cially for Mika Poutala, who
is also known as a rap artist.
Former 1000 m world record
holder Pekka Koskela is an-
other Finnish favourite, but
his current form is in doubt
because of injuries. In figure
skating, Laura Lepistö and
Kiira Korpi will contend for a
place in the top 8, but a medal
seems out of reach.
Freestyle skiing and
snowboarding have also
been closely followed in Fin-
land since Nagano 1998, and
together they have account-
ed for five medals. This year,
more hopes are laid on snow-
boarding talents, with Peetu
Piiroinen considered to be
our leading athlete.
SOLUTION ON PAGE 18
HELSINKI TIMES TRAVEL 11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010 13

Venice of the North
Architectural gem
St. Petersburg is
only a short train
journey away.
LO U I S A G A I R N
HEL SINKI TIMES
With its network of canals
and striking neoclassical ar-
chitecture, St. Petersburg is
often nicknamed “The Ven-
ice of the North”, and is con-
sidered by many to be one of
the most beautiful cities in
the world.
It is a popular destination
for sightseers from Finland,
located only 380 kilometres
from Helsinki and connected
by a regular train service.
Founded by Peter the
Great in 1703 to rival oth-
er European capitals in both
scale and opulence, it was the
former home of the Tsars and
capital of the Russian Em-
pire for more than two hun-
dred years. Today, as Russia’s
second largest city after
Moscow, St. Petersburg is a
thriving economic centre.
Its abundance of impe-
rial palaces, cathedrals and
grand public spaces make
for a special atmosphere,
and one that is protected as
a UNESCO World Heritage
site. But, in addition to its
grand imperial past, St. Pe-
tersburg is also a bohemian,
freethinking city, home to
writers like Dostoevsky and
Pushkin, and continues to-
day as a cultural centre with
a vibrant arts scene.
Key attractions
Boasting a collection of over
three million artworks, the
Hermitage Museum is St. Pe-
tersburg’s prime attraction
and one of the top museums in
the world. Housing priceless
paintings by Rembrandt, Da
Vinci and Michelangelo along-
side Palaeolithic artefacts and
contemporary works of art,
the Hermitage complex is an
architectural treasure in itself,
comprising the Winter Palace
of Peter the Great – worth it
for the entrance fee alone.
Another top cultural at-
traction is the world-famous
Mariinsky Theater, home to
the Mariinsky Ballet com-
pany and opera. Still going
strong after 150 years, the
Theatre enjoyed royal pa-
tronage during pre-revolu-
tionary times, and has played
host to some of Russia’s most
celebrated classical perform-
ers, including ballet stars
Vaslav Nijinsky and Anna
Pavlova.
White Nights
Summer is perhaps the best
time to visit St. Petersburg,
giving the visitor a chance
to experience the city’s fa-
mous ‘White nights’, the time
in late spring and early sum-
mer when it hardly gets dark,
and the streets are filled with
bustling crowds around the
clock. St. Petersburg comes to
life during this special time,
kicked off by the annual Stars
of the White Nights festival,
an international gathering
of opera, ballet and classi-
cal music stars commencing
in mid-May, followed by the
city’s birthday celebrations
and carnival on 27 May.
First time visitors to the
city are well-advised to take
a stroll up Nevsky Prospect,
St. Petersburg’s main avenue
and one of the best-known
streets in Russia. Stretch-
ing from the Hermitage to
Nevsky Square in the south
east of the city, it is St. Pe-
tersburg’s Champs Elysees,
and boasts some of the city’s
most impressive buildings, as
well as some of its best shops
and bars. Sightseeing can be
Visa-free ferry to St. Petersburg
V E L I - M ATT I P E LTOL A
HEL SINKI TIMES
The undertaking, set to launch
in April, is the brainchild of
St. Peter Line, a newly-found-
ed ferry operator registered in
the EU and sailing under the
Maltese flag. The company is
offering passengers from all
over the world the chance to
take the ferry line from Hel-
sinki and spend 72 hours in
Saint Petersburg or another
desired city without a Russian
visa. The country’s visa laws
require, however, that tourists
Part of the St. Petersburg skyline, seen from the rooftop of St. Isaac's Cathedral.
combined with a little retail
therapy during a visit to Gos-
tiny Dvor, St. Petersburg’s
main department centre and
itself a historic site, reputed-
ly the world’s first shopping
mall, built in the 1750s.
travel in a group of at least two
people and book their accom-
modation beforehand from a
travel company authorised by
the Russian government. The
visa freedom on route trips has
been made possible by newly-
adopted changes to Russian
legislation, supported strong-
ly by the Saint Petersburg City
Government.
According to preliminary
schedule, the vessel Princess
Maria, accommodating up to
1,638 passengers, will conduct
five voyages a week from Hel-
sinki to Saint Petersburg, with
Getting
there from Finland
Reaching St. Petersburg from
Helsinki is straightforward,
with two train departures
from Helsinki each day. This
year, train travel is set to be-
the cheapest prices prom-
ised to be around 40 euros. On
board, shipgoers will be treat-
ed with restaurants, tax free
shops and authentic Russian
entertainment. St. Peter Line
believes there is strong de-
mand for this kind of service,
and hopes to attract 500,000
tourists annually.
When St Peter Line an-
nounced the ferry line in Jan-
uary, they assured that all
Follow the developments at http://stpeterline.com/en/
come even easier, as a new
high-speed Allegro rail serv-
ice between Helsinki and
St. Petersburg will come in-
to service, cutting the trav-
el time from five and a half
hours to three hours.
the open questions would
be solved before April. Until
this day, the company hasn’t
confirmed the schedule or
the prices, and there are still
uncertainties with the port
agreements.
This is the second time in
recent years that the cruise
connection between Helsinki
and Saint Petersburg is tried
out. In 2008, Finnish Stella
Lines started operating the
route but pulled out after a
few months because of the
worsening economic climate.

Arctic Circle

Sweden Russia

Gulf of Botnia

Kokkola
3.48

More of Finland by train

Vaasa
3.37

12
12

Travelling by train is the best way to see Finland. 19

37

Modern trains enable you to travel quickly and comfortable to anywhere in Finland.
6
12

6 26 2

Restfully on the night train to Lapland Environment

When you want to discover the enchantment of Lapland, take the
train. You can get to Rovaniemi and Kemijärvi comfortably in
modern and well-equipped double-deck sleeping cars. You can also
take your car on the train.
Connections to Russia
It is also very easy to travel to Russia from Finland. There are two
daily departures by train from Helsinki to St. Petersburg and one to
Moscow. Border formalities take place conveniently while the train
is moving, and you can exchange currency during the trip.
VR has worked for a cleaner environment for a long time. In the
coming years VR promises to offer passengers even more Shortest travel times between Helsinki
environmentally friendly transport services. The 12 environmental and major cities are shown on the map.
commitments were published in December 2007 and VR intends to 7 = number of Pendolino services per day on the line section
make good on its promises by end of its jubilee year 2012. 8 = number of InterCity services per day on the line section
For more information on the environmental commitments: 4 = number of Express and Regional train services per
day on the line section
www.vr.fi. Environmentally friendly travelling by train in Finland
www.ecopassenger.org.
Further information and booking
VR Ltd, Finnish Railways • Helsinki Railway station
www.vr.fi • contactcenter@vr.fi

Getting there together

14 11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010
The groom riding a horse to his wedding ceremony in Mumbai.
Postcard from India
Dancing to a
different tune
J A M E S O ’ S U LL I VA N
HEL SINKI TIMES
I HAVE only ever once attend-
ed a wedding in Finland. It
was a suitably lavish affair,
with smart suits and beauti-
ful dresses gathering by the
Baltic Sea on a picture-per-
fect summer’s day. The day
was notable for many reasons,
one of which being a memora-
ble walk through cosmopol-
itan Helsinki on the way to
the chapel. Being as it was the
weekend of the Tuska heavy
metal festival, the city was
littered with black t-shirts
and devil’s horns, striking a
contrast against the rainbow
flags of a gay pride gathering
in Kaivopuisto.
The wedding itself was
lovely. We sang hymns, lis-
tened to sermons and threw
rice at the newly-married
couple. Then we ate, drank,
had some dessert – and
drank some more, as the
bride and groom danced their
way into the early stages of a
lifetime together.
Now, I have only ever once
attended a wedding in India.
It was a suitably lavish affair,
Give
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to Helsinki Times
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www.helsinkitimes.fi
with big turbans and beauti-
ful saris recently gathering in
Mumbai on a sweltering win-
ter’s day. The police were also
there that day, as the guests
of the groom milled in the
street a block away from the
venue. Someone had forgot-
ten to inform them what we
were about to do and the of-
ficers were squeezing every
last drop of authority to their
satisfaction.
Finally, the all-clear ar-
rives and we were off and
dancing down the street,
moving to the rhythms of
two drummers, leading the
groom who sat bestrode a
horse with a grin from ear to
ear. A long line of cars snaked
behind us, waiting to pass.
We were greeted at the en-
trance to the wedding hall
by the waiting bride, and al-
so by a brass band that filled
the drum beats with an in-
fectious blast of music which
built up to a frenzy of danc-
ing. The air was thick with
incense and smiling faces.
People eagerly stuffed mon-
ey into the band’s pockets, as
the bride joined in with the
dancing throng. A considera-
bly sweaty time later the mu-
sic subsided, with a blessing
of the groom from the moth-
er of the bride signalling it
was time to move indoors.
LIFESTYLE
A nna O ’ S ullivan
It’s all about mingling
The Hindu ceremony itself
was a ritual of many and var-
ied activities playing out on
the stage in front of every-
one. The couple was tied to-
gether. They walked around
a fire numerous times. They
pressed each other’s toes on
top of what looked to be thim-
bles. The groom tried valiant-
ly to keep up, as proceedings
were conducted in both Hin-
di and Sanskrit – far from
his native Australian twang.
As per tradition, the bride’s
family busied themselves
with trying to steal the
groom’s shoes; asking a hefty
fee from the groom’s family
for their safe return.
Strangely though, as the
crowd chatted amongst them-
selves, it seemed like no one
was actually paying attention
to the bride and groom.
“No one cares what hap-
pens on stage; it’s about min-
gling,” confirmed one guest
sitting next to me, as waiters
passed around morsels of fin-
ger food.
Sometimes Indian wed-
ding ceremonies can last for
up to three hours, but af-
ter a relatively brief 45 min-
utes, we piled out of the room
and headed upstairs to the
rooftop to enjoy a buffet
feast under the stars.
There before me lay a
mouth-watering smorgas-
bord of a multitude of Indi-
an dishes. I noticed to my left
that one table was dedicated
to the Jain religion. Now, not
only are they vegetarians and
teetotallers, but Jains practise
strict non-violence towards
all living things and thus also
don’t eat any root vegetables;
as the plant dies after be-
ing uprooted. Wow. I thought
about the feast of reindeer
that was served at the wed-
ding in Helsinki – about the
meatballs too; and also about
the holy trinity of HK Sininen,
Koskenkorva and rye bread
that is so close to the Finnish
heart. We all enjoy our tradi-
tions, I suppose.
While arranged marriages
are still the overwhelming ma-
jority in India, love marriages
are becoming more common.
With a prevalence of mar-
riages transcending both so-
cial and cultural boundaries,
modern ideals are challenging
well-worn traditions. As num-
bers of those attending an In-
dian wedding can be in the
thousands, this was a relative-
ly modest affair – with a mere
250 people in attendance.
In keeping with Hindu
wishes, there was no alcohol
served on the wedding day it-
self. Such activities were re-
served for the cocktail party
held two days later, bringing
an end to a series of celebra-
tions that had lasted the best
part of a week.
James O’Sullivan, along
with his Finnish wife Anna, has
turned the inevitable plumbing
renovations presently ravaging
their Helsinki apartment block
into an opportunity to spend
nine months abroad. More
postcards in future issues.
Marriage Facts
Indian wedding
industry’s worth:
11 billion dollars
Largest Indian wedding
attendance on record:
11,000 people
Average age when married:
24 (men), 19 (women)
National divorce rate:
1 per cent
Reflections
on Valentine’s Day
TA N I A N ATH A N
HEL SINKI TIMES
Just as everyone sighs
with relief now that the bed-
lam of Christmas and all of
its associated hullaballoo is
behind us – up looms Valen-
tine’s Day. Striking fear into
the hearts of all boyfriends,
husbands, significant oth-
ers and such, Valentine’s Day
has always been painted as
the day for lovebirds. In Fin-
land Valentine’s Day is more
of a day to commemorate
friendships, much to the dis-
may of florists, chocolatiers
and jewellers throughout the
country.
But what about the roots
of Valentine’s Day? A quick
Wiki-search reveals that
Valentine’s Day is actual-
ly a good old pagan festival.
The Romans apparently had
a great way of getting dates.
The boys would get together,
write the names of all the la-
dies they fancied, put them
in a ballot and on the four-
teenth get together and have
a lottery. The name drawn
HELSINKI TIMES
would then be their bedmate
for the coming year. Back
then, this lovely little fes-
tival was called Lupercalia.
Not quite as catchy as Valen-
tine is it now? Imagine giving
someone a Lupercalia Card.
Or a Lupercalian box of choc-
olates. Sounds like an infec-
tious disease. No wonder
they stuck to the Valentine’s
moniker.
Do Finns buy into the Val-
entine’s Day craziness? Those
I asked simply shrugged it off
as a kiddy thing. One friend
said: “It’s like a populari-
ty contest as school – who
gets the most Valentine’s Day
cards, you know?” Anoth-
er one said she was going to
spend the fourteenth of Feb-
ruary at the movies – with
a large gang of friends. The
solitary guy friend I interro-
gated merely turned white,
“Why, am I supposed to buy
something??” and then ran
away. Oops. It’s nice that Fin-
land will not descend into the
same frothy, gooey festivi-
ties and most won’t spend
the fourteenth of February
giving or receiving gifts of
heart-shaped soap, wilted
petrol-station carnations or
earrings the colour of a petri-
fied flamingo. A far better cel-
ebration has to be Runeberg’s
Day – because then you get
to eat Runeberg’s torte and
buns filled with cream. And
the eating of baked goods is
always just cause for celebra-
tion in my book.
istockphoto
 HELSINKI TIMES
The
land of
shadows
PETR A NYMAN
HEL SINKI TIMES
IMAGINATION has no lim-
its. This is what the world
renowned dance troupe Pilo-
bolus will prove to the audienc-
es the coming week with their
production, Shadow Land.
A fairy tale for children
and adults alike, Shadow Land
follows the dreamlike experi-
ences of a young girl in an ex-
ceptional world as she comes
of age. Part shadow theatre,
part circus, part concert and
part dance, the performance
cannot be given a strict label.
It merges movement with im-
agery and intertwines project-
ed images with front of screen
choreography.Incorporating
multiple moving screens of
different shapes and sizes to
the performance, Pilobolus
creates its own unique world,
one that the audience can fol-
low only with amazement.
PILOBOLUS
Three times the fluff
J A M E S O ’ S U LL I VA N
HEL SINKI TIMES
AH YES, as you fumble about
wondering what you should
do with your loved one this
Valentine’s Day, be sure to
count on Hollywood to pro-
vide all of the solutions to
your romantic riddles.
Solution number one lies
in Gary Marshall’s ensemble
pic Valentine’s Day. Boasting
a wide array of actors flash-
ing their perfect dentures, we
follow a bunch of love-struck
characters representing eve-
ry corner of the demograph-
ic who promise to charm, tug
at our heart strings and may-
be even squeeze out a tear
or two. Ok, maybe that’s be-
ing a bit cynical. I’ve nev-
er quite understood why the
shop owners of this world de-
creed one day a year where
we should line their pockets,
all in the name of love.
Anyway, let’s move on to
the next solution, which seeks
Pilobolus began in the ear-
ly 1970s as a group of young
dancers and shot quickly
to the vanguard of modern
dance due to its highly tech-
nical and imaginary style.
Since then it has evolved in-
to a pioneering arts move-
ment in the United States.
The group has made appear-
ances in such mainstream
avenues as Hyundai adver-
tisements and the 2007 Os-
cars, where the group kept
celebrities captivated by per-
forming iconic images from
selected movies.
The signature trade of the
Pilobolus dancers is creating
sculpture like images com-
bining each other’s bodies in
surprising ways. The group
has been praised for its high-
ly physical and demanding
performances with a sense of
discovery that always finds
a way to surprise. Having al-
so been compared to the likes
of Cirque du Soleil, this is one
performance not to be missed.
Shadow Land
16-18 Feb
Tickets €32/38
www.lippupalvelu.fi
to court those afflicted with
puppy love. With the inevitable
end to Harry Potter’s adven-
tures just around the corner,
movie execs are scrambling to
cash in with the next big youth
franchise. And, with Percy
Jackson & the Olympians: The
Lightning Thief, what better
man to serve it up than origi-
nal Potter director Chris Co-
lumbus. Based on the popular
children’s book, young Percy
wakes up one day to discover
he is in fact a Greek demigod
and sets about striking box of-
fice gold traversing America in
search of his both his moth-
er and uncle Zeus’ lightening
bolt, as well as preventing a
war between the gods. Just an-
other day in the life of an aver-
age American kid, then.
Thirdly, bearing its fangs
and offering a playful excuse
to put your arm around your
loved one is the long awaited
remake of The Wolfman. Star-
ring the never less than inter-
esting Benicio Del Toro as the
CULTURE
Fishermen in Weligama, Sri Lanka, 1995.
Retrospective – showcasing the
photography of Steve McCurry
J OHNN Y W. A . M I LN E R
HEL SINKI TIMES
Titled Retrospective , US-
based photographer Steve
McCurry’s latest exhibition
comprises a selection of por-
traits, landscapes and street
photography. Widely known
for his evocative colour im-
ages, his work sublimely cap-
tures the essence of human
struggle and joy.
In the finest documentary
tradition, McCurry has cov-
ered many of the major civ-
il and international conflicts
for the past 30 years. His
hairy one, this update prom-
ised enough chills and thrills
to invigorate even the most
stale of dates – did I forget to
mention both Kiss’ Gene Sim-
mons and Van Halen’s Dav-
id Lee Roth both lend their
vocal talents as the howls of
the wolfman? Wonders nev-
er cease. Look for strong sup-
port from Anthony Hopkins
and Hugo Weaving. Woof!
The Wolfman
Release Date: 12 Feb
Director: Joe Johnston
Starring: Benicio del Toro,
Anthony Hopkins
Valentine's Day
Release Date: 12 Feb
Director: Garry Marshall
Starring: Julia Roberts,
Bradley Cooper
Percy Jackson & the Olym-
pians: The Lightning Thief
Release Date: 12 Feb
Director: Chris Columbus
Starring: Logan Lerman,
Brandon T. Jackson
first images to attract inter-
national attention were that
of rebel-controlled Afghani-
stan just before the Russian
invasion. Disguised in native
garb, McCurry emerged, with
rolls of film sewn into his
clothes. The photos were im-
mediately published around
the world and were among
the first to show the conflict
there.
McCurry’s photography
focuses on the consequences
of war, not only showing what
war impresses on the land-
scape but also on the human
face. His portrait the “Af-
Swedes better at
being miserable also
M ATT I KO S K I N E N
HEL SINKI TIMES
MOODY and dark, melancholy
but hopeful, sad but not defeat-
ed: Iraqi-born Swedish sing-
er-songwriter Ninos Dankha’s
music sounds like it was tai-
lor-made to suit the Finnish
winter blues. No surprise then,
that Dankha, under the monik-
er Prince of Assyria, has quick-
ly emerged as a new favourite
among savvy music lovers here.
Dankha’s debut album Missing
Note has gained him plenty of
11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010
ghan girl”, originally printed
on the cover of the National
Geographic in 1985, has been
described as the most widely
recognised photograph in the
world today. It has come to
symbolise the international
refugee struggle. The identi-
ty of the Afghan girl was un-
known for more than 15 years
until in 2002, when McCurry
and a National Geographic
team located her in a refugee
camp in Pakistan. She was
apparently completely una-
ware of her fame.
Although McCurry pho-
tographs stories on assign-
attention throughout Europe
and his first full-blown concert
in Helsinki was sold out long in
advance.
Historically deprived of
blue-bloods of their own,
Finns seem to have a partic-
ular affinity for this fiction-
al prince of a landless nation.
Born in Baghdad, Dankha
and his family moved to Swe-
den when he was less than
a year old. Traces of his As-
syrian cultural background
can still be heard in the lyr-
ics, which deal with personal
15
S TE VE MCCURRY
ment, and his exhibitions
have a sense of coherency
and order. He does stress that
it is important that a photo
retains a sense of individual-
ism and says “what matters
most is that each picture
stands on its own, with its
own place and feeling.” 
Retrospective
will exhibit both unpublished
work and also many
of McCurry’s more famous
portraits at Salo Art Museum
between 13 Feb and 2 May.
stories and growing up as an
immigrant.
In musical terms Dankha’s
influences lie firmly in folk pop
and indie-rock. His sound has
drawn comparisons to Nick
Drake, Leonard Cohen or New
York’s The National, not least
for his gruff, emotional vocals
and sparse arrangements. Es-
pecially in a room full of de-
vout Finnish fans Prince of
Assyria’s performance prom-
ises to be an exceptionally
atmospheric and darkly beau-
tiful winter’s evening.
Prince of Assyria
Fri 12 Feb
Tavastia club
16 11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010
Chilli with some
green curry on the side
Luckily for fans of Thai food, a new restaurant in the centre
of Helsinki offers some of the best-value dishes of any nationality.
N I CK B A R LOW
HEL SINKI TIMES
I don’t know how many
lunch restaurants there are
in Helsinki, but I’m think-
ing it’s a lot. Many more peo-
ple eat out for lunch than for
dinner, it seems, and you can
find just about anything on
a lunch menu somewhere.
However, it’s not been the
easiest thing to find good and
cheap Thai food in town. You
can find pretty good Thai but
it’s not cheap for the most
part. Luckily for fans of the
cuisine that are on a tight
budget, there is one new
lunch place in the centre of
Helsinki where one can find
some of the best value food
of any kind.
Thai take-away Prik Hom
can be found in Aikatalo, a
hundred metres from the
railway station. It’s basical-
Chef Porntipa Ilvesmäki wants to stay faithful to Thai cuisine.
ly a small kiosk with a few
stools outside. Most of the
business is in fact take-away,
and it has apparently be-
come quite popular with of-
fice staff working nearby in
the three months that it has
been open. If you’re stopping
to get some quick sustenance
on your way somewhere else,
don’t be surprised to find
yourself eating your food
with your hat and jacket on.
It can get rather chilly sitting
a few metres from the build-
ing’s entrance.
But to be honest, you
won’t go to Prik Hom for the
ambience; you will go for the
top-value, tasty grub. Lunch
menus tend to cost some-
where from seven to ten eu-
ros. Here the cheapest offer
on the menu costs a mere
4.50 euros. It’s a bargain,
I tell you. Since it’s only a
lunch place there’s not a mas-
sive selection. You have your
EAT & DRINK HELSINKI TIMES
teemu henriksson
RESTAURANTS
The hottest
grill in
Helsinki.
Runeberginkatu 2 | (09) 6958 6301 | www.grillit.fi
Opening Hours: Mon–Fri 11:30–24, Sat 13–24 (excl.
5.9.), Sun 15–23. Kitchen closes an hour earlier.
Fresh flavours and
inspirations from Italy.
In the heart of Helsinki.
on the side. “It’s most impor-
tant to keep a positive atti-
tude and be cheerful,” she
smiles. “I like meeting people Mikonkatu 23,
Mikonkatu 23, www.paakonttori.fi
www.paakonttori.fi
from all different cultures. Restaurant Opening
Restaurant Opening Hours:
Hours: Mon–Fri
Mon–Fri 11:30
11:30 –23,
–23,
This isn’t just a business for Sat 16
Sat 16 –23,
–23, Sun
Sun 18–22.
18–22. Kitchen
Kitchen closes
closes half
half an
an hour
hour earlier.
earlier.
Bar Opening
Opening Hours:
Hours: Mon–Sat
Mon–Sat 17–24,
17–24, Sun
Sun 18–24.
me. I want my customers to Bar 18–24.
eat good, healthy food, and
I also like having them as Strip away your prejudice,
friends.” stand nude and be part of the
The food itself is certain- underground revolution
ly more than adequate. Thai LIVE MUSIC
food is traditionally spicy, and Tuesday-Friday 17-21!
one can easily imagine it could Friday:
curry of the day, spring rolls, be too spicy for someone who Downstairs:LIVE MUSIC!!!
tofu, chicken skewers, and a hasn’t tasted it before and is (mathias-mellari)
bit of sushi, all of which costs used to the blander Finnish
Nude club
from 4.90 to 8.90, depend- style of cooking. Ilvesmäki FRIDAY CLUB..FREE ENTRANCE!!!
ing on your choice. They al- has made a conscious deci- Opening times:
(dj-terry-dee)
so have some nice dim sum sion to tone down the spici- Mon-Tue 11-24
Wed-Thu 11-02
three times a week, but the ness of the dishes, although Fri 11-04
Saturday:
Saturday club... FREE ENTRANCE!!!
emphasis is on showcasing fans of the hot stuff are wel- Sat 14-04
(dj-tino)
good, healthy Thai cuisine. come to request some extra After work special prices 16-19
spiciness. Even without the Kaisaniemenkatu 2A, Beer 2€, Cider, Longdrink,
Not just business fieriest ingredients, the cur- Helsinki R/W Wine 3€ ,
www.restaurantnude.com Sparkling Wine 3,50€
Prik Hom is run by Porn- ry I tasted was still flavour-
tipa Ilvesmäki, a Thai chef some and warming. The soup
who has been living in Fin- with steamed salmon was al-
land since 2000. Her family so thoroughly wholesome.
restaurant in Thailand, al- “People who have been to )LQQLVK&XLVLQH
so called Prik Hom and lo- Thailand have come here as
cated in Bangkok, has been
recommended by food crit-
ics for more than 30 years.
my customers because they
say it reminds them of their
time in my country,” Ilves-
5DYLQWROD0DUWWD
Ilvesmäki works at the res- mäki told me, “I think it’s /DSLQODKGHQNDWX+HOVLQNL
taurant every day, and she very important to know what _ZZZUDYLQWRODPDUWWDÀ
is one of the friendliest own- your customers want.” From
ers I’ve ever met. “I want to my experience, her custom-
give a positive impression of ers seem to want fresh in-
Thai culture,” she told me as I gredients, and cheap, filling most attractive location, but
tucked into my chicken with food. Ilvesmäki delivers UDYLQWRODPDUWWDBKHOVLQNLLQGG
the with food this good it would 
chilli, with some green curry goods. Like I said, it’s not the be churlish to complain.
teemu henriksson
teemu henriksson
Salomonkatu 19, Helsinki
Tel.  09 694 0750
Mon-Fri 11-23, Sat 12-23, Sun 12-22
www.ravintolatandoor.net
Prik Hom
Aikatalo
Mikonkatu 8
Open: Mon-Sat 11-20
The end result of a tasty luncheon.
 Korean Restaurant

Korea House
ዽ૑શ
Salomonkatu 19, Helsinki
HELSINKI
Tel.TIMES
09 694 0750 EAT & DRINK 11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010 17
Mon-Fri 11-23, Sat 12-23, Sun 12-22 Mariankatu 19, Helsinki
www.ravintolatandoor.net Tel. +358 9 135 7158
www.koreahouse.fi
RESTAURANTS RESTAURANTS RESTAURANTS

The world of beer

in all its glory
BEER HOUSE KAISLA
Vilhonkatu 4
Mon-Thu 13–02,
Transforming Finnish
Fri-Sat 13–03,
Korkeavuorenkatu 27 gifts of nature in an
Helsinki Sun 13–02
Tel. +358 9 635 732
innovative manner to
www.juuri.fi suit modern tastes.
www.oluthuone.com

Kaisla_helsinki_times_80x67.indd 1 18.5.2009 11:58:47

Get Real!
Pub Angleterre serves the best
Sushi Academy reAl Ale in town.
Take part in a sushi course in Töölö
in a unique Japanese atmosphere with A CLASSIC SINCE 1932
Sushi Chef Koichi.
Join the open courses Runeberginkatu 55, Helsinki.
on Monday or Saturday Tel.: 09 43 42 7640
or book a private course myyntipalvelu@mammarosa.fi Et. Hesperiankatu 22 tel. +358 9 6128 5200 Fredrikinkatu 47,
from Tuesday to Friday. www.tokyo55.fi
mon-tue 11-24, wed-fri 11-01, sat 14-01, sun 14-23 00100 Helsinki
Get to know how to make sushi! www.royalravintolat.com

COSY ITALIAN RESTAURANT

Angleterre_hki_times_121009.indd 1 15.10.2009 08:18:30
IN THE HEART OF HELSINKI

SWAGAT
REMARKABLE Nepalese Restaurant RAVINTOLA
The finest Nepalese
YEARS IN The biggest Nepalese Restaurant in Helsinki
• Suitable for group parties cuisine in Helsinki
HELSINKI HELSINKI
KAISANIEMENKATU 1 C • Fully licensed
Open
Mon-Fri 11:00-23:00
VESPA RISTORANTE
MYYRMÄKI • Delicious food with tandoor Sat-Sun 12:00-23:00
MOLLY MALONE’S TOPPARI Ravintola Swagat ETELÄESPLANADI 22
www.mollymalones.fi MYYRMÄKI TRAIN STATION
Welcome to Satkar Runeberginkatu 40, 00260 Helsinki 00130 HELSINKI
Tel. 09 4289 0553 Tel 020 7701 460
Live Band Every Night! Fredrikinkatu 46 (Kamppi, Autotalo). 00100 Helsinki, Finland
Tel. +358 9 611 077, +358 40 707 1140 www.satkar.fi
mobile 044 21 22 454
www.ravintolavespa.fi

The Oldest Nepalese

Restaurant in Finland
Open
Mon-Fri 11-23, weekends 12-23,
Lunch: Mon-Fri 11-15
Contact
Ratakatu 1B, 00120 Helsinki.
Book your table
tel. (09) 647 551, fax. (09) 647 552
www.himalaya.fi
Eteläesplanadi 24 Forum Mannerheimintie 20
@ibW\HiYÃ:f]%%Ã%("'$ tel. (09) 611 217 tel. (09) 694 4207
Mon-Tue 10.30-23.00 Mon-Fri 10.30-21.00
8]bbYfHiYÃGUh%+Ã&' Wed-Sat 10.30-24.00 Sat 10.30-19.00
Sun 12.00-23.00 Sun 11.00-18.00
AigYc_Uhi&-
BEST STEAKS IN TOWN
☎ $-()(('$' H E L S I N K I • L A H T I • T A M P E R E
Welcome!
fUj]bhc`U!U]hc4fUj]bhc`U!U]hc"Z]
w w w . m a n h a t t a n s t e a k h o u s e . f i
kkk"fUj]bhc`U!U]hc"Z]
 18 11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010 WHERE TO GO HELSINKI TIMES
COMPILED BY MIISSA RANTANEN

16/17/18 February www.taidehalli.fi

Shadowland Until Mon 8 March
A surreal tale of the spectacular Stiina Saaristo
world of a young girl on her way to Ein kleines Monster
P etri V irtanen adulthood. Grotesque, ironic and wild female
Adel Abidin Savoy Theatre
Kasarmikatu 46-48
figures challenge the social
expectations placed on women.
A new exhibition at Kiasma presents works of the Finland- Tickets €38/32 Amos Anderson Art Museum
based Iraqi artist Adel Abidin. Opening on Friday 12 Feb- www.savoyteatteri.fi Yrjönkatu 27
ruary, the exhibition consists of Abidin’s new installations Mon, Thu, Fri 10:00-18:00
that merge sound, moving image and sculptural elements. Until 17 February Wed 10:00-20:00
Helsinki Flamenco Festival Sat-Sun 11:00-17:00
Abidin is a rising star in the scene of contemporary art Lots of flamenco-related events. Tickets €8/6/4/0
and has exhibited his work in the US, France, the UK and Tickets €0–35 www.amosanderson.fi
Egypt. Known for his sarcastic and ironic approach, Abidin www.flamenco.fi/festivaalit
challenges the audience to critically examine things like Until Sun 14 March
17/18/20/21 February Enchanting Beauty
national and sexual identity and the concept of heroism,
Chinese Objects & Kerro Minulle Russian masterpieces from the
while questions of life and death are also recurrent motifs Sade collections of the State Tretyakov
in his work. Two powerful pieces uniting music Gallery.
and dance. Tennis Palace Art Museum
Fri 12 February Tue 10:00-17:00 Stoa Salomonkatu 15
to Sun 25 April Wed-Fri 10:00-20:30 Turunlinnantie 1 Tue-Sun 11:00-19:00
Kiasma Sat-Sun 10:00-18:00 Tickets €18/10 Tickets €9/7/0
www.stoa.fi www.taidemuseo.hel.fi
Mannerheiminaukio 2 Tickets €8/6/0 Adel Abidin in front of his work To Mohammed! To Mecca!
Helsinki www.kiasma.fi Fri 12 February to Thu 6 May
EXHIBITIONS Modern(ism)
A major review of the
MUSIC Sat 13 February Tue 16 February concept and manifestations of Until Sun 14 February manifestations of Modernism
Jalankulkuämpäri A Night of Romance shame. Margarita Rosselló Ramón Design Museum
Thu 28 February The raunchy rock band present Russian melodies by soprano Sini Cable Factory, 19:00 Terribly Beautiful – Horribly Korkeavuorenkatu 23
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra their new material. Tuomisalo and pianist Paulina Nie- Tallberginkatu 1 Handsome Tue 11:00-20:00
Music of Beethoven and Bartók. Bar Loose mi-Loseva. Tickets €17/10 Art works dealing with the Wed-Sun 11:00-18:00
Finlandia Hall, 19:00 Annankatu 21 Malmitalo, 19:00 www.kekalainencompany.net tension between beauty Tickets €8/7/3/0
Mannerheimintie 13 E Tickets €5 Ala-Malmin tori 1 and ugliness through textile www.designmuseum.fi
Tickets €20/13/6 www.barloose.com Tickets €10 Sat 13 February materials.
www.hel.fi/filharmonia www.malmitalo.fi Solo – The Story of a Dance Gallery Huuto Sat 13 February to Sun 16 May
Sat 13 February Oriental dance. Laivurinkatu 43 Viljo Revell (1910-1964)
Thu 11 February Cannabis Corpse (USA), Tue 16 February Stoa, 15:00 & 17:00 Tue-Fri 12:00-18:00 An exhibition celebrating the
Laura Sippola Delta Force 2 Mew (DEN) Turunlinnantie 1 Sat-Sun 12:00-16:00 centenary of architect
Thrilling melodies by a highly Two entertaining trash metal bands. A combination of indie rock and Tickets €15/10/8 Free entrance Viljo Revell's birth.
skilled singer-songwriter. Korjaamo, 22:00 progressive rock with shoegaze and www.stoa.fi www.galleriahuuto.net The Didrichsen Art Museum
ClubLiberté, 21:00 Töölönkatu 51 dream pop influences. Kuusilahdenkuja 1
Kolmas linja 34 Tickets €17 Kulttuuritalo, 19:00 13/16/18/20 February Until Sun 14 February Tue 11:00-18:00
Tickets €6 www.korjaamo.fi Sturenkatu 4 Snow White Finlandia 200 – Finnish Wed 11:00-20:00
www.clubliberte.fi Tickets €40 The beloved story told in the Portraiture 1809-2009 Thu-Sun 11:00-18:00
Sun 14 February www.kulttuuritalo.fi language of dance, puppet theatre An extensive review of Finnish Tickets €8/6/2
Fri 12 February Opera Concert and music. portraiture. www.didrichsenmuseum.fi
Don Giovanni The most beautiful arias and Wed 17 February Cable Factory Meilahti Art Museum
Mozart’s finest serious opera. touching choir scenes. Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra Tallberginkatu 1 Tamminiementie 6
Finnish National Opera, 19:00 Finlandia Hall, 17:00 Romanian music. www.hurjaruuth.fi Tue-Sun 11:00-18:30 OTHERS
Helsinginkatu 58 Mannerheimintie 13 E Finlandia Hall, 19:00 Tickets €8/6/0
Tickets €14-62 Tickets €40 Mannerheimintie 13 E Until 15 February www.hel.fi/taidemuseo Sat 13 February
www.operafin.fi www.finlandiatalo.fi Tickets €20/13/6 Side Step Festival Chinese New Year
www.hel.fi/filharmonia A festival of contemporary Until Sat 27 February The most important annual
Fri 12 February Sun 14 February dance aimed at bringing out Tuija Markonsalo holiday in Chinese culture will be
Prince of Assyria (SWE) Tsembla, Laineenkasperi, different currents in dance Updates celebrated in Helsinki in a
Pop music spiced with stylish Akahiljane, Shinji Kanki THEATRE AND DANCE thinking. Textile art works. colourful event.
melancholy. Electronic and experimental music. Cable Factory Napa Gallery Lasipalatsi Square, 14:00-18:00
Tavastia Club, 21:00 Koko Theatre, 18:00 Thu 11 & Thu 18 February Tallberginkatu 1 Eerikinkatu 18 Mannerheimintie 22
Urho Kekkosen katu 4-6 Unioninkatu 45 The Taming of the Shrew Tickets €20/15 Wed-Fri 12:00-18:00 Free entrance
Tickets €14 Tickets €10 A ballet based on one of Shake- www.sivuaskel.fi Sat-Sun 12:00-16:00 www.kiinalainenvuosi.fi
www.tavastiaklubi.fi www.charmofsound.org speare’s most popular comedies. Free entrance
Finnish National Ballet Mon 15 & Sat 20 February www.napabooks.com Sat 13 & Sun 14 February
Sat 13 February Mon 15 Feb Helsinginkatu 58 My Name Is Finger Radio Apassionata
Chamber Music Oh No Ono (DEN) Tickets €16-56 Rhythmic music from Kraftwerk to Until Sun 28 February The show called Charm of
Musicians of the Finnish National Synth pop elements combined with www.operafin.fi Bach accompanies this ballet Jani Ruscica Freedom presents dazzling
Opera Orchestra perform. new wave indie rock. performance for children. Parallel Acts equestrian skills.
Finnish National Opera, 15:00 Kuudes linja Fri 12 February Finnish National Ballet A solo exhibition of an artist Hartwall Areena
Helsinginkatu 58 Kaikukatu 4 Shame Helsinginkatu 58 working with film, video, Areenankuja 1
Free entrance Tickets €10 Sanna Kekäläinen’s new dance Tickets €9/7 photography and other media. Tickets €24-54
www.operafin.fi www.kuudeslinja.com project is a cross-section of the www.operafin.fi Hippolyte www.hartwall-areena.com
Kalevankatu 18 B
Tue-Fri 12:00-17:00
Sat-Sun 12:00-16:00 solution sudoku
Hel s in k i Travel Tip Proudly sponsored by: Free entrance
www.hippolyte.fi

Until Sun 28 February

Hel s ininkYour
HELSINKI i Travel
Mobile PhoneTip
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Helsinki.mobi
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HELSINKI in Your
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you can carry around in your pocket. Within the Tue, Thu, Fri 11:00-18:00
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In cooperation THURSDAY 11 – DJ Tino spinning groovey tunes, plus Cocktail Specials 7-11pm! FILTHY!. FRI- The annual International Beauty Contest seeks to find a woman able
find the programme calendar visit at www.savoyteatteri.fi.
espoo MORE TIPS FROM
DAY 12 – Happy Birthday Jouni & Simo – RIP CURL TRAFFIC LIGHT PARTY with Live Music to represent the international women in Finland and act as a goodwill
and DJ’s all night! SATURDAY 13-6 Nations Rugby LIVE ! ALL GAMES!! Starting at 4pm!!!
ambassador promoting intercultural values and self-worth. Ten candi-
DJ FILTH throughout the evening! SUNDAY 14 – VALENTINES DAY, Spoil your loved one
with more 6 NATIONS RUGBY and sexy romantic drinks! MONDAY 15/TUES 16 – kickstart dates have qualified to the final, where they have a chance to showcase
ya working week with a booze up at the Aussie! Funky beats and relaxed vibes! not only their beauty but also their charisma, stage presence, talent and
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Helsinki_Times80x125_mobi.indd 1 12.5.2008 13:28:56

HELSINKI TIMES
thursday
TV1
09:30 Always Greener
11:05 YLE News in English
11:10 Hercule Poirot
14:30 Doctors
15:05 Louis la Brocante
In French.
17:08 Hercule Poirot
21:50 China’s Capitalist
Revolution DOC
Experts shed light on
China’s rapid development
into a powerful economy.
Part 2/2.
22:40 Passion Fish FILM
A comedy-drama about a
former T V-star who acts
like an insufferable diva
until she gets a strong-
willed personal attendant.
Directed by John Sayles.
Starring: Mary McDonnell,
Alfre Woodard. USA 1992
TV2
06:50 Pikku Kakkonen
Children’s programming.
In Finnish.
10:35 McLeod’s Daughters
11:45 Animal Hospital
16:05 Don Matteo
In Italian.
17:00 Children’s Programming
In Finnish.
17:30 Pikku Kakkonen
Children’s programming.
In Finnish.
19:50 Die Kommissarin
In German.
23:05 The Intelligence (K15)
YLE TEEMA
15:25 Hidden Heart DOC
Christian Barnard became
world-famous when he
performed the first heart
transplant. The operation
took place in the racist
South-Africa of 1967.
Germany/Switzerland 2007.
In English and German.
17:00 Himalaya with Michael Palin
Part 6/6.
19:30 Little Mosque on the Prairie
20:05 Building Wonders
The Port of Bristol. Part 3/6.
21:00 Terry Pratchett on
Alzheimer’s DOC
The documentary follows
how the renowned fantasy
writer adapts to life with the
disease. Part 2/2.
22:00 Die fetten Jahre sind
vorbei FILM
A drama set in modern
Germany about young
activists who attempt
to give the filthily rich a
lesson by attacking their
homes. Directed by Hans
Weingartner. Starring:
Daniel Brühl. Germany
2004. In German.
Programmes on Yle Teema
may be viewed in the original
language(s) by changing the
digital receiver’s settings.
Helsinki Times T V Guide offers a selection of English and other language broadcasting on Finnish television.
11.2.
MTV3
09:50 The Young and the Restless
10:55 Emmerdale
12:50 Hell's Kitchen USA
14:15 Notes from the Underbelly
SERIES BEGINS. American
comedy-drama about the
pressures and expectations
of parenthood.
14:45 Northern Exposure
17:05 The Bold and the Beautiful
18:00 Emmerdale
21:00 House
Series continues with the
fourth season.
22:30 Closer 08:30 Room for Improvement
23:25 Oldboy (K15) FILM
A mystery thriller awarded
in Cannes about Dae-
su, who after 15 years of
unexplained incarceration
seeks revenge on his
captors. Directed by Chan-
wook Park. Starring: Min-
sik Choi. South Korea 2003.
In Korean.
SUB
07:00 Children’s Programming
In Finnish.
14:20 Kathy Griffin: My Life on
the D-List
16:00 E! Entertainment: Behind
the Scenes
16:30 E! Entertainment: Streets
of Hollywood
18:05 Sturm der Liebe
In German.
19:00 The Hills
Heidi considers breaking up
with her boyfriend.
19:30 Will & Grace
20:00 Friends
20:30 The Simpsons
21:00 True Beauty
The contestants face a
physical challenge and have
to exercise.
22:30 E! Entertainment: Kourtney
& Khloe Take Miami
23:00 C.S.I.
Grissom and Sara investigate
a murder of siblings while a
hunter’s murder perplexes
Catherine and Nick.
00:00 3 0 Rock
00:55 Studio 60 on the Sunset
Strip
TV VIISI
18:00 That 70s Show
18:30 Grounded for Life
Lily is left alone and hangs
on the phone all the time.
19:00 America’s Funniest Home
Videos
19:30 8 Simple Rules for Dating
My Teenage Daughter
20:00 X-Weighted
21:00 Forget Paris (K3) FILM
A basketball coach falls
in love in Paris, but after
the ecstatic beginning
the couple’s future seems
less rosy. Directed by Billy
Crystal. Starring: Billy
Crystal, Debra Winger.
USA 1995
22:55 Dark Justice Force
TV GUIDE
NELONEN
Forget Paris
TV Viisi 21:00
07:00 Children’s Programming
In Finnish.
13:00 Birth Stories
Vanessa has a busy month
with final exams, graduation,
wedding and the birth of her
baby in the pipeline.
13:30 10 Years Younger USA
14:00 Marriage under Construction
SERIES BEGINS. A
newlywed couple starts
renovating their home on a
small budget.
14:30 Come Dine with Me
15:30 Desperate Housewives
Lynette gets arrested for
child abuse.
16:25 Days of Our Lives
17:20 Everybody Loves Raymond
17:50 Dr. Phil
What happens when the
skeletons in the closet
transpire?
21:00 FlashForward
Janis fights for her life at the
hospital while Demetri and
Al pursue the blue hand.
22:00 Rescue Me (K15)
Tommy causes confusion by
being heroic in other people’s
name.
23:25 Frasier
Maris returns. Ski jumping and feeling the
23:55 The Office
Michael gets excited about
Indianness and makes a
surprising proposition to Carol.
JIM
13:15 The Re-Inventors
The inventive pair builds a
Roman crane.
18:00 Border Security
The customs officials
investigate a suspicious
Englishman.
18:30 Bondi Rescue
Dangerous visitors appear
on the Bondi Beach.
19:00 World's Most Amazing
Videos 21:50 Infamous (K15) FILM
20:00 World’s Wildest Vacation
Videos
20:30 Rude Tube Capote, a brutal murder and
21:00 Nostradamus 2012 DOC
Nostradamus, the Mayas
and other sources tell of
a great destruction that
hits planet Earth in 2012.
Part 1/2
22:00 Contender
Doctor might forbid Ryan
from competing. A concert recording from
23:00 South Park (K15)
23:30 Kenny vs. Spenny
01:00 Manhunters: Fugitive Task
Passion Fish
Mary-Alice Culhane used to
be a successful soap opera
star until an accident left her
paralysed from the waist down.
Having moved back to her old
Louisiana home, she vents her
bitterness by drinking too much
and being insufferable to her
nurses, who as a result come
and go like revolving doors.
Then Chantelle, an obstinate
nurse with problems of her own,
comes along and as a recover-
ing cocaine addict needs to stay
on the job. The women dislike
each other immensely at start
but before long they become
friends and find that they can
support each other in dealing
with their problems. The linger-
ing pace of the film allows for
beautiful shots of the bayou and
insights into the peculiar rela-
tionship between a caretaker
and a patient.
TV1 22:40
friday 12.2.SELECTION OF ENGLISH PROGRAMMES ON FINNISH TELEVISION
TV1
09:30 Always Greener
11:05 YLE News in English
11:10 Hercule Poirot
Who is behind the
kidnapping of a small boy?
14:30 Doctors
Jude helps a recently
widowed old man whose
house is about to be
foreclosed.
15:05 Louis la Brocante
In French. 21:00 Eleventh Hour
17:08 Hercule Poirot
Poirot finds a case in his
favourite restaurant.
19:10 Lark Rise to Candleford
SERIES BEGINS. In this
British drama series, Laura
leaves home for work. A
whole new world opens up
for her as a mail deliverer.
Part 1/10
22:00 Mistresses beautiful assistant. Directed
Jessica seems to have fixed
her love life. Katie returns
to work, Siobhan feels
domestic bliss and Trudi has
career plans.
23:45 Vital Signs What to do when wedding
Part 4/6.
TV2
06:50 Pikku Kakkonen
Children’s programming.
In Finnish.
10:35 McLeod’s Daughters
16:00 Don Matteo
In Italian.
17:23 Pikku Kakkonen
Children’s programming.
In Finnish.
20:00 Vancouver Olympics
SPORT
spirit of Vancouver.
In Finnish.
22:05 Law & Order
A body is found inside a
burned church but the victim
was killed before the fire.
22:50 Sopranos (K15)
Tony thinks he’s in love with
Melfi and wants to go on a
date with him.
YLE TEEMA
17:00 Simon Schama's the
American Future - A History
How has religion shaped US
politics?
Part 3/4.
A drama based on true
events about Truman
a friendship between the
author and the murderer.
Directed by Douglas
McGrath.
Starring: Toby Jones, Daniel
Craig. USA 2006
00:40 Rock Masters: Jethro Tull
1977
Hippodrome, London.
11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010
MTV3
09:50 The Young and the Restless
10:55 Emmerd ale
12:50 Ex List
14:15 Happy Hour
Everyone has plans for the
New Years Eve.
14:45 Northern Exposure
17:05 The Bold and the Beautiful
Donna steps in as the CEO
during Eric’s sick leave.
18:00 Emmerdale
Doctors are puzzled after a
family is paralysed during
their breakfast.
22:45 Tuxedo FILM Vanessa is nervous because
An action-packed comedy
about a special tuxedo that
accidentally ends up on
chauffeur Jimmy and takes
him on a wild adventure
with an inexperienced but
by Kevin Donovan. Starring:
Jackie Chan, Jennifer Love
Hewitt. USA 2002
01:10 Fringe 17:20 Everybody Loves Raymond
SUB
07:00 Children’s Programming
In Finnish.
14:20 Kathy Griffin: My Life on
the D-List
16:00 E! Entertainment: E! News
Weekend
18:05 Sturm der Liebe
In German.
19:00 The Hills
In the last episode of the
first season, Lauren gets a
chance to pop in Paris.
19:30 Will & Grace (K15) FILM
20:00 Friends
20:30 Family Guy
21:30 The Duudsons (K13)
The boys cause confusion in
radio and T V programmes in
Hollywood.
22:00 Numb3rs
FBI is after a serial killer
who lures his victims in to
houses that are for sale.
23:00 C.S.I. Miami
A murder scene proves to be
almost fatal for the team.
00:10 30 Rock
01:05 It's Always Sunny in
Philadelphia
01:35 Mad TV
TV VIISI
18:00 That 70s Show
Donna gets a job at the local
radio station.
18:30 Grounded for Life
Claudia splits up with Eddie.
19:00 America’s Funniest Home
Videos
19:30 8 Simple Rules for Dating
My Teenage Daughter
20:00 Crossroads (K3) FILM
A road movie about three
friends who depart for Los
Angeles. Directed by Tamra
Davis. Starring: Britney
Spears, Dan Aykroyd.
USA 2002
22:55 Farscape
19
NELONEN
Ice Harvest (K15)
Nelonen 21:00
07:00 Children’s Programming
In Finnish.
13:00 Birth Stories
of the wedding and the
position of the foetus.
13:30 10 Years Younger USA
14:00 Marriage Under
Construction
14:30 Come Dine with Me
Amanda shows her skills and
the winner is revealed.
15:30 Desperate Housewives
16:25 Days of Our Lives
17:50 Dr. Phil
preparations get out of hand?
20:00 Funny Home Videos
In Finnish.
21:00 Ice Harvest (K15) FILM
An action comedy with pitch-
black humour about a lawyer
who plans a heist. Executing
the scheme, however, does
not go as planned. Directed
by Harold Ramis. Starring:
John Cusack, Billy Bob
Thornton. USA 2005
23:10 Dresden Files
00:10 Les anges exterminateurs
An erotic thriller about a
film director who wants to
explore female sexuality
in his next work. Directed
by Jean-Claude Brisseau.
Starring: Frederic van den
Driessche. France 2006.
In French.
JIM
13:20 The Re-Inventors
14:15 Destination Truth
Looking for proof of a
creature called Yowie in
Australia.
17:30 Kenny vs. Spenny
18:00 James Martin’s Brittany
18:30 Tyler’s Ultimate
SERIES BEGINS. A New
Yorker master chef travels
around the world in search
of perfect recipes.
19:00 Anthony Bourdain
San Sebastian.
19:30 Chuck’s Day Off
20:00 Shadow Force
21:00 Criminal Behaviour: Green
River Killer (K13) DOC
Gary Leon Ridgeway, one of
the worst serial killers in the
USA, killed at least 48 women.
22:00 Los Angeles Ink
23:00 Future Weapons
SERIES ENDS.
00:00 World’s Most Daring Rescues
00:55 Most Shocking (K15)
Infamous (K15)
In November 1959, a newspaper
article about a brutal murder in a
small town of Holcomb, Kansas
catches the interest of author
Truman Capote. He travels to
Holcomb with his friend Harper
Lee to investigate the case and
interview the suspected murder-
ers. Of them, Capote becomes es-
pecially attached to Perry Smith,
and can’t help but empathise with
his troublesome past, obvious
intelligence and sincere remorse.
A very peculiar relationship
evolves between the two men, and
Capote becomes more emotion-
ally invested in the case than he
would have expected. The inner
turbulence of the pair comes alive
through top-notch performances
from Toby Jones and Daniel Craig,
with especially the latter giving
evidence of broader acting skills
than his famous role as James
Bond allows.
YleTeema 21:50
20 11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010
saturday 13.2.
TV1 MTV3
14:25 Vicar of Dibley 08:05 Children’s Programming
David has been in a position In Finnish.
of trust for a long time, but 11:15 Snowboarding SPORT
now feels threatened. In Finnish.
15:55 Holby City 11:45 Freestyle SPORT
Kyla’s and Harvey’s fight In Finnish.
turns violent and Martha 15:50 Robots FILM
worries about her father. An animated family film
19:45 Monk about Rodney, a brilliant
On Dr. Kröger’s advice, inventor robot, who faces
Monk takes up painting and peculiar and dangerous
is very surprised when a adversaries on his
Russian art dealer wants to adventure. Directed by
buy all his works. Chris Wedge. Voices: Ewan
22:30 Taking the Flak McGregor, Halle Berry,
The team are not pleased Robin Williams. USA 2005
when a correspondent from 17:30 Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Brussels is sent to join them. 18:00 Ramsay's Kitchen
Other things, however, soon Nightmares USA
occupy their minds. 21:00 Survivor
Part 6/7. 22:35 Perfect Murder (K15) FILM
23:00 Cracker A thriller in the style of
Albie seems to have lost it. Hitchcock about a powerful
Fitz is on to gambling, and and wealthy man, his wife
the police have to continue and her lover. The husband
investigations without him. plans to have his wife
murdered. Directed by
Andrew Davis. Starring:
TV2 Michael Douglas, Gwyneth
Paltrow, Viggo Mortensen.
07:45 Pikku Kakkonen USA 1998
Children’s programming. 01:05 Unit she changes him in a
In Finnish.
10:00 Vancouver Olympics
SPORT SUB
Rerun of last night’s opening
ceremony. In Finnish. 15:15 E! Entertainment: How Do
16:55 V75 Trot SPORT I Look?
In Finnish. 16:10 E! Entertainment: Dress
19:40 Vancouver Olympics My Nest
SPORT 16:40 Mad TV
Includes ski jumping, men’s 19:00 American Idol
downhill, women’s biathlon, Auditions in Los Angeles.
women’s ice hockey 20:00 Spain... On the Road Again
(Sweden – Switzerland) and SERIES BEGINS. Gwyneth
women’s mogul skiing. Paltrow and top chef Mario
Batal travel through Spain
to explore its cuisine.
YLE TEEMA 21:00 Hotel Babylon
A poker tournament is
15:20 Himalaya with Michael arranged at the hotel.
Palin 22:00 Heroes
Michael says goodbye to 23:00 Miami Vice
Himalaya, visits a colourful 23:55 The Ultimate Fighter (K15)
Buddhist festival and ends SERIES BEGINS
his trip in Bangladesh. 01:25 X-Files
Part 6/6.
19:05 Deti Arbata
In Russian. TV VIISI
21:00 Il était une fois... Wild at
Heart DOC 18:00 Jon & Kate Plus 8
A new documentary about 19:00 Scrubs
the film’s dimensions and Turk is shocked by Carla’s
significance. In French. proposition, and Elliot has
21:52 Wild at Heart (K15) FILM to struggle with her own
A rough crime story about coyness.
two lovers who during their 20:00 Breaking The Magician’s
escape end up in the middle Code
of weird and frightening 21:00 Vatel (K11) FILM
events. Directed by David In 1671, François Vatel has
Lynch. Starring: Nicolas to prepare the menu for
Cage, Laura Dern, Willem the visit of Ludwig XIV.
Dafoe. USA 1990 Vatel, however, falls for the
king’s mistress, and the
preparations do not proceed
as planned. Directed by
Roland Joffé. Starring:
Gérard Depardieu, Uma
Thurman. France/UK/
Belgium 2000
Robots 23:00 Alias
MTV3 15:50 00:30 Grounded for Life
TV GUIDE
NELONEN
The Shape of Things
Nelonen 21:00
13:30 Ghost Whisperer
17:00 Breakin’ All the Rules
FILM Blake investigates the
In this romantic comedy,
Quincy writes a handbook
about how to break up with
women. After his book
becomes a bestseller, he
ends up as a counsellor for
all sorts of couples. Directed
by Daniel Taplitz. Starring:
Jamie Foxx. USA 2004
19:00 Ripley's Believe It or Not
21:00 The Shape of Things FILM
A pungent comedy-drama
about a university student
who falls head over heels for
a feisty arts student. In the
course of the relationship,
confounding way. Directed
by Neil LaBute. Starring:
Paul Rudd, Rachel Weisz.
USA/France/UK 2003
23:25 American Chopper
00:25 When Will I Be Loved (K15)
FILM
An erotic drama about
Vera, who plans with her
boyfriend to rip off an
Italian millionaire. Vera,
however, has devious plans
for both of them. Directed
by James Toback. Starring:
Neve Campbell.
USA 2004
JIM
09:55 Ultimate Gadgets  skating.
10:25 Extreme Fishing
11:20 Chop Shop
Jools Holland hires the boys
for their most challenging
project yet.
12:15 Perfect Weapon In French.
13:15 Jurassic Fight Club DOC
Palaeontologists made a
significant discovery in
Alberta, Canada.
14:10 Shadow Force
15:05 Super Factories
Winnebago Vectra.
18:30 London Ink
19:30 Good Buy, Bad Buy
20:00 World's Deadliest Animals
The episode takes a look
at the dangerous animals
of Asia.
21:00 That’s Impossible DOC
A series about how close to
scientific breakthroughs we
are in making what used to
be impossible reality.
22:00 Kill Arman Oper choir.
Hong Kong. In Finnish.
00:05 Border Security USA
01:00 Chopper Challenge
01:55 Gumball-rally: 2006
Wild at Heart
After his release from jail for
the defensive manslaughter of
a man sent by his girlfriend’s
deranged mother to kill him,
Sailor Ripley and his beloved
Lula set off for California,
hunted by her mother’s violent
cronies. Their sex-filled road
trip sets the scene for a blazing
display of youthful rebellion,
wanton sexuality and a fiery
montage of violent encounters
with an assembly of extremely
bizarre characters. One of
them is the loathsome Bobby
Peru, who Sailor agrees to join
in a criminal venture. The film
features the lurid, dream-
like imagery of David Lynch’s
signature style, for which he
draws on an eclectic range of
American pop iconography.
Based on Barry Gifford’s novel,
Wild at Heart won the 1990
Palme d’Or at Cannes.
YleTeema 21:52
sunday
TV1
12:15 Jeeves and Wooster
14:15 Inspector Morse
The police have to fly all the
way to Australia for their
investigation.
21:00 Would You Save a
Stranger? DOC
One in three people says
they wouldn’t intervene in
an assault on a stranger. But
how does it feel when others
turn a blind eye when you
are attacked?
21:55 The Commander (K15)
beating of an elderly man in
his home.
22:40 The State Within
Brydon finds out how closely
his past is connected with
the crisis at hand.
23:30 Fear, Stress and Anger
Julie despairs as she
thinks she has gone into
menopause.
TV2
07:45 Pikku Kakkonen
Children’s programming.
In Finnish.
12:00 Emily of the New Moon
Emily’s first school day is full
of surprises.
12:50 Hairspray FILM Modelling Agency
A brisk comedy about a
plump teenage girl who
wants to take part in a
dance show on local T V.
Directed by John Waters.
Starring: Sonny Bono.
USA 1988
14:25 Heartland
After the storm.
Part 2/13.
19:10 Vancouver Olympics
SPORT
Including nordic combined,
men’s biathlon, women’s ice
hockey (USA – China and
Finland – Russia) and figure
YLE TEEMA
15:40 Un village Français
16:35 Walks with the Architect
Nantes.
18:00 The Children’s Hour FILM
A groundbreaking
melodrama, set in a school
for girls, about the scandal
that ensues over the alleged
love affair of two female
teachers. Directed by
William Wyler.
Starring: Audrey Hepburn,
Shirley MacLaine.
USA 1961
20:45 Karajan and Beethoven’s
9th Symphony
Herbert von Karajan
conducts the Berlin
Philharmonic and Deutsche
21:50 Deti Arbata
In Russian.
14.2.
SELECTION OF ENGLISH PROGRAMMES ON FINNISH TELEVISION
MTV3
08:20 Children’s Programming
14:30 Shakespeare in Love FILM
Young Shakespeare is
unlucky in the matters of
love and struggles also with
his writing. The romantic
comedy won seven Oscars in
1998, including that of Best
Picture. Directed by John
Madden. Starring: Joseph
Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow.
UK 1998
17:55 National Geographic
Programming
Yosemite National Park.
21:00 Amazing Race A new home is sought for a
From Italy to Mumbai, India.
22:35 C.S.I. Miami
SUB
10:00 Batman: The Animated
Series
10:30 Futurama
11:00 Wildlife Nannies
14:00 The Mask
14:30 King of the Hill Owen or Todd.
15:00 Baywatch
Warm wind from the desert
flares up emotions on the
beach.
16:00 Project Runway
17:00 I Want to Work for Diddy
18:00 Janice Dickinson
An expert comes in to put
the models’ smiles in order.
19:00 American Idol
20:00 The Shot
The remaining contestants
need to photograph street
dancers.
21:00 Moulin Rouge! FILM
A musical set in Bohemian
early twentieth century
Paris. Directed by Baz
Luhrmann.
Starring: Ewan McGregor,
Nicole Kidman.
USA 2001
23:35 Half Ton Teen
Part 3/3.
00:35 Celebrity Rehab with Dr
Drew 11:20 Fifth Gear
01:25 Stargate SG1
TV VIISI
18:00 Biography: Matthew Perry
The former Friends star
opens up about his drug and
alcohol addiction.
19:00 Mighty Joe Young FILM
In this family film, Jill
has sworn to take care of
small gorilla Joe, but as
he grows up it becomes
harder and harder to protect
him. Directed by Ron
Underwood. Starring: Bill
Paxton, Charlize Theron.
USA 1998
21:00 Lisa Williams: Life Among
the Dead
Lisa helps Sandy and Bethy
to contact their parents.
22:00 Flashpoint
23:00 Breaking The Magician’s
Code
00:00 Tough Love
HELSINKI TIMES
NELONEN
Moulin Rouge!
Sub 21:00
10:25 Animal Planet: Underdog
the Wonderdog
street dog in every episode of
this American reality series.
11:25 Most Extreme
14:25 Desperate Housewives
Susan receives a baffling
inheritance from Karl while
Orson is bitter towards Bree.
16:15 Samantha Who?
After a complex series of
events, Samantha hesitates
over whether she wants
16:45 Greek
20:30 Funny Home Videos
In Finnish.
21:00 Sleepless in Seattle FILM
In this romantic comedy,
an engaged woman hears a
single widower dad on the
radio and can’t get him out
of her mind. Soon fate steps
in. Directed by Nora Ephron.
Starring: Tom Hanks, Meg
Ryan. USA 1993
JIM
09:30 The Amazing Adventures
of a Nobody
10:00 Boy’s Weekend
Miguel cooks Spanish paella
while Gary prepares crêpes.
10:30 Excellent Adventure
Nate looks into the ten-
day festival of Ganesh
Chaturthi.
10:55 Tricked Out
11:50 Sandhogs
End of an era.
12:45 Anthony Bourdain: No
Reservations
Anthony explores Mexican
cuisine with his friend Carlos.
18:00 Dangerous Encounters
Brady travels to South
Africa to investigate how
the Nile crocodile adjusts to
a changing environment.
19:30 Dinner: Impossible
SERIES BEGINS. Robert
Irvine has to prepare a
seemingly impossible dinner
in every episode.
20:00 Flip This House
21:00 Biography: Jamie Foxx
Multitalented Foxx has a
modest background but
has already won the most
prestigious film industry award.
22:00 Build It Bigger
The water tunnel of Los
Angeles.
23:00 Contender
00:50 P olice Interceptors
Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love tells the
fictional story, set in Elizabethan
London, of the forbidden love
of young William Shakespeare
and the lovely daughter of a
rich merchant, Viola de Lesseps.
Out of ideas for his new play,
Shakespeare finds a muse in his
greatest fan Viola. Her hand in
marriage has been promised to
the cold-hearted nobleman Lord
Wessex, a fate she resists and
longs only to perform, in male
disguise, the part of Romeo in
Shakespeare’s new play. Their
impossible romance and a wager
with the Queen herself that a
play may indeed convey the true
alchemy of love provides the
rich inspiration for this lovingly
crafted film of memorable scenes,
hilarious dialogue and a priceless
cast of characters. Gwyneth Pal-
trow won an Academy Award for
her portrayal of Viola de Lesseps.
MTV3 14:30
HELSINKI TIMES
monday
TV1
09:30 Always Greener
Is the truth too much for
Mickey?
11:05 YLE News in English
11:10 Hercule Poirot
14:30 Doctors
Kali’s patient suffers from
depression after three
miscarriages, and now she
gets arrested for pilferage.
15:05 Louis la Brocante
In French.
17:08 Hercule Poirot
Poirot’s peace is disturbed
when a woman’s body is found
just next door. In investigating
the case, Poirot does not agree
with the police.
19:00 How Mad Are You? DOC
It is a fine line between
mental illness and sanity.
Experts have to spot which
five of the ten subjects
suffer from a mental illness.
Part 2/2.
22:20 Feelings and Stuff (K11)
FILM
A short film about the
sometimes unexpected
manifestations of feelings.
Directed by Samuli Valkama.
Starring: Jörg Petzold, Anna
Voy Kunith. Germany 2008
TV2
07:30 Pikku Kakkonen
Children’s programming.
In Finnish.
11:00 McLeod’s Daughters
16:10 Snowy River: The
McGregor Saga
17:21 Pikku Kakkonen
Children’s programming.
In Finnish.
19:20 Vancouver Olympics
SPORT
Including women’s and
men’s cross-country skiing,
snowboarding and figure
skating. In Finnish.
YLE TEEMA
19:00 Cuéntame Cómo Pasó
In Spanish.
21:00 Jools Holland Show
Guests: Sheryl Crow,
Liza Minnelli, Hot Chip,
Sugarrush Beat Company
and The Imagined Village.
22:30 Samaria (K15) FILM
Schoolgirls earn money
by prostitution, but the
illegal activity has dramatic
consequences. Directed by
Kim Ki-duk. Starring: Yeo.
reum Han. South Korea
2004. In Korean.
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Sub 21:00
TV GUIDE
15.2.
MTV3 NELONEN
09:50 The Young and the Restless
11:00 Emmerdale
12:55 Lipstick Jungle
Nico suspects her husband
of infidelity.
14:15 Two and a Half Men
14:45 Northern Exposure
17:05 The Bold and the Beautiful
Ridge is fed up with all the
internal conflicts. Lie to Me
18:00 Emmerdale
MTV3 21:00
21:00 Lie to Me
SERIES BEGINS. In the
pilot episode, the world’s 07:00 Children’s Programming
leading lie detection expert In Finnish.
and his crew investigate a 13:00 Birth Stories
murder of a teacher and the 13:30 10 Years Younger USA
case of a politician involved 14:30 Come Dine with Me
in a sex scandal. A new competition starts,
22:30 Burn Notice and the first contestant is
23:25 Psych businesswoman Karen with
an ambitious menu.
15:30 Extreme Makeover: Home
SUB Edition
American reality series
07:00 Children’s Programming returns with the third
In Finnish. season.
16:30 E! Entertainment: Wildest 16:25 Days of Our Lives
TV Show Moments 17:20 Everybody Loves Raymond
18:05 Sturm der Liebe Robert intends to make a
In German. career change, which causes
19:00 The Hills a stir in the Barone family.
19:30 Will & Grace 17:50 Dr. Phil
20:00 Big Bang Theory 20:00 Canada’s Next Top Model
Sheldon is shocked to hear 21:00 Desperate Housewives
about a new neighbour. Lynette is against Tom’s
20:30 The Simpsons suggestion that they take up
21:00 Bridget Jones: The Edge of marriage counselling.
Reason FILM 22:30 Weeds (K15)
The sequel picks up where The series returns. Nancy
the first film left in following goes to stay with Andy’s
Bridget’s complex love life grandmother to start a new
between two men. Directed life. Guillermo offers her a
by Beeban Kidron. new job.
Starring: Renée Zellweger, 23:25 Frasier
Hugh Grant, Colin Firth. 23:55 Bronx Is Burning
USA 2004 00:50 A rmy Wives
01:30 Girls of the Playboy
Mansion FC. In Finnish.
JIM
TV VIISI 15:10 Feasting on Asphalt
Alton Brown and his team
18:00 That 70s Show continue their journey up
18:30 Grounded for Life the Mississippi.
Sean and Claudia try to have 18:00 Border Security
some peaceful quality time The officials encounter a
together. suspicious Filipino tourist.
19:00 America’s Funniest Home 18:30 Bondi Rescue
Videos 19:00 World's Most Amazing
20:00 Jon & Kate Plus 8 Videos
21:00 The Little Couple Special 20:00 World’s Most Daring
DOC Rescues
Bill and Jen are people with 21:00 Crimewave: 18 Months of
dwarfism but this hasn’t Mayhem (K15) DOC
prevented them from having During the Great Depression
normal lives. The couple of the 1930s, The USA
found each other online Midwest witnessed a great
and after three years got crime wave that spawned
married. many legendary outlaws.
22:00 Das Inferno – Flammen The first episode sheds light
über Berlin (K15) FILM on the FBI’s beginnings.
Dozens of people get caught Part 1/2.
in an inferno in a T V tower 22:00 Border Security USA
in Berlin. A former fireman A Turk wanting to move to
rushes in to save his ex- Canada faces problems on
girlfriend. Directed by both borders.
Rainer Matsutani. 23:00 South Park (K15)
Starring: Stephen Luca. Stan’s father says the N-
Germany 2007. word on a T V programme.
In German. 23:30 Kenny vs. Spenny
01:00 Sneaking Back In (K13)
The Brits
are invading
NICK BARLOW
Regular readers of this column will
be aware that I’m pretty down on
Finnish telly in general. This isn’t
only because it is almost all pants,
although it is, but because the
schedules are filled with either a)
terrible shock-docs, b) very poor
Finnish variants of American real-
ity or light entertainment shows,
c) laughably amateur Finnish pro-
ductions and soap operas, and d)
the news, which means we end up
never watching anything which
might actually tell us something
about anything, or even, dare I say
it, educate us. I’ve nothing against
being entertained per se, but I do
tuesday
TV1
09:30 Always Greener
11:05 YLE News in English
11:10 Hercule Poirot
14:30 Doctors
15:05 Louis la Brocante
In French.
17:08 Hercule Poirot
19:00 Around the World in 80
Rituals
People have turned to
numerous methods in trying
to contact the spiritual
world. Priest Peter Owen
Jones travels around the
world for a year to explore
the ceremonies of different
religions. The trip starts in
Australia. Part 1/8.
21:00 White Girl FILM
In this BAFTA-awarded
drama, Leah’s family moves
into a Muslim community
where she is the only one of
a different faith. How will
she perceive the strange
religion and culture? Will
the family settle in the new
environment? UK 2008
TV2
07:30 Pikku Kakkonen
Children’s programming.
In Finnish.
10:35 McLeod’s Daughters
16:10 Snowy River: The
McGregor Saga
17:23 Pikku Kakkonen
Children’s programming.
In Finnish.
19:20 Vancouver Olympics
SPORT
Men’s alpine skiing
combined. In Finnish.
21:35 Football SPORT
Champions League. AC
Milan – Manchester United
23:50 Vancouver Olympics
SPORT
YLE TEEMA
17:00 The Undersea World of
Jacques Cousteau
Narrated in Finnish.
19:00 The Camomile Lawn
Part 2/5.
20:00 Un village français
In French.
21:00 Age of Terror DOC
In 1987 an IRA bomb
exploded in Ireland. In the
same week a Libyan ship
bringing weapons for the
IRA was intercepted. How
did these chaotic days affect
Northern Ireland’s politics?
Part 2/4.
White Girl
TV1 21:00
resent my viewing desires being
interpreted, by people who have no
idea what they’re doing, as involv-
ing re-runs of American Gladiators
from 1989. I want investigation, I
want truth, I don’t want X-Factor.
But I’ve pretty much given up
my lofty pretensions of expecting
or even desiring edification from
my telly. Beyond the simple truth
that humans are idiots – a theorem
first proved beyond all reasonable
doubt in the first season of Big
Brother years ago – I reckon we’ve
pretty much come to the end of
the TV as a medium of instruction.
With recognition comes freedom,
apparently, and while casting my
normally-jaundiced eye over the
upcoming schedules I must admit
I’ve noticed a few shows where I’m
happy to set my brain onto ‘freeze’.
Hercule Poirot (TV1), for a start, is
back on our screens this week.
Whoever is in charge of digging
up old stuff that YLE still have the
11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010
16.2.
SELECTION OF ENGLISH PROGRAMMES ON FINNISH TELEVISION
MTV3
09:50 The Young and the Restless
10:55 Emmerdale
12:50 Private Practice
Addison is called to help a
comatose woman in labour.
14:15 Alf
14:45 Northern Exposure
17:05 The Bold and the Beautiful
18:00 Emmerdale
Belle’s teacher hears about
the good results and makes
a proposition.
21:00 Prison Break (K15)
Michael’s crew is betrayed
by an unreliable party.
Lincoln is caught while
trying to protect his brother.
22:30 C.S.I.
Nick and Riley witness a
robbery by a man in a police
uniform.
23:25 Justice to feminise her appearance.
00:20 3rd Rock from the Sun
SUB
07:00 Children’s Programming
In Finnish.
14:20 Kathy Griffin: My Life on
the D-List
16:00 E! Entertainment: Perfect
Catch
18:05 Sturm der Liebe
In German.
19:00 The Hills 21:00 NCIS
19:30 Will & Grace A serial killer uploads videos
20:00 Friends
20:30 The Simpsons
21:00 Cops With Cameras
The police calm things
down in the aftermath of a
football match.
22:00 Journeyman
Dan loses a new digital
camera in the 80s.
23:00 Stargate SG1
Jack O’Neill needs the help
of his old nemesis colonel
Maybourne in finding Major
Carter.
00:00 Eureka
00:50 Génesis (K15)
In Spanish.
01:55 Blade: The Series
TV VIISI
18:00 That 70’s Show great deal of jewelry, which
18:30 Grounded for Life
19:00 America’s Funniest Home
Videos The lifeguards compete
20:00 Tough Love
The women have to account
for their old crimes in love.
21:00 Come Dance at My
Wedding FILM
In this drama, Cyd
contemplates selling her
dance studio to a property
speculator in the little
town of Gracie. Cyd’s
father, whom she has
never met, appears
and everyone learns
important life lessons.
Directed by Mark Jean.
Starring: Brooke Nevin.
USA 2009
23:00 Late Night with Jimmy
Fallon 01:00 P olice Patrol (K13)
rights to must have inadvertently
found something good. Consider
your detective needs satiated at
eight minutes past five every day,
repeated at ten past eleven the
following morning.
Hugh Laurie has seemingly
been recognised as one of the
few stand-out stars of the current
broadcasting zeitgeist. The new
season of House starts Thursday
11th at 21:00 weekly (MTV3). Lau-
rie’s justly famous misanthropic
medicine man hasn’t changed that
much over the years, other than a
general decline into drug addic-
tion, distrust and sardonicism, but
he’s still one of the more interesting
characters on our screens. Jumping
on the bandwagon somewhat, YLE
have decided to show yet another
re-run of a British classic which just
happens to also star Hugh Laurie:
Jeeves & Wooster (Sundays 12:15,
TV1). It’s hard to imagine a show
better suited to Sunday afternoon
21
NELONEN
My Shocking Story:
The World’s Fattest Kids
Nelonen 22:00
07:00 Children’s Programming
In Finnish.
13:00 Birth Stories
Destine turns to prayer to
endure the pain of giving birth.
13:30 10 Years Younger USA
Fireman-woman Kelly wants
14:00 Marriage under
Construction
14:30 Come Dine with Me
The guests expect
something special from
Gordon.
15:30 Extreme Makeover: Home
Edition
16:25 Days of Our Lives
Max hankers after
Stephanie.
17:20 Everybody Loves Raymond
17:50 Dr. Phil
of the killings online. He
also gives clues about his
next victim and seems to be
personally interested in Gibbs.
22:00 My Shocking Story: The
World’s Fattest Kids DOC
Every sixth teenager in
the US is overweight. The
documentary follows two
obese kids’ struggle with
their weight.
23:25 Frasier
00:55 Las Vegas
JIM
17:00 Takeshi’s Castle
17:30 Kenny vs. Spenny
18:00 Border Security
Customs stops a Chinese
woman in possession of a
she claims is for her relatives.
18:30 Bondi Rescue
against each other again.
19:00 World's Most Amazing
Videos
20:00 Speeders
20:30 Bait Car
The New Orleans Police
Department makes use of
bait cars.
21:00 Tsumani DOC
A look into one of the worst
natural disasters in history,
the 2004 Asian Tsunami.
22:30 Penn & Teller (K15)
Will the world end in 2012?
23:05 South Park (K15)
Cartman takes suspicious
pictures of Butters.
23:35 Kenny vs. Spenny
lounging, nor a show which is so
perfectly in tune with its source
material.
Finally, at least for the good
stuff, MTV3 are showing on Mon-
days a relatively recent series called
Lie to Me at 21:00. I admit this one
slipped off my radar, or rather never
appeared on it, but perhaps that’s
because MTV3 have been too busy
promoting their extensive array of
rubbish shows all over the place
that all the vaguely interesting
stuff never gets noticed. Lie to Me
stars Tim Roth as psychologist Cal
Lightman who is an expert in body
language and deception. Shades
of The Mentalist are pretty obvious,
but here’s another Brit making in-
roads into the American TV market.
And let’s face it, Roth can act. So
I guess this’ll have to do while I’m
waiting for a hard-hitting docu-
mentary exposing corruption in the
highest levels of Finnish govern-
ment and industry, won’t it?
22 11 – 17 FEBRUARY 2010 TV GUIDE HELSINKI TIMES

wednesday 17.2.
Thu 2/11

−13
−11
TV1 MTV3 NELONEN
−13 Thu 2/11 Fri 2/12 Sat 2/13 Sun 2/14 Mon 2/15 Tue 2/16 Wed 2/17
09:30 Always Greener 09:50 The Young and the Restless −11
−1 0 −1 −1 −3 −1 +2
Marissa is annoyed – 10:55 Emmerdale −12
everyone else seems to be 12:50 Starter Wife −10 +16 +15 +13 +14 +18 +15 +18
−8
doing fine when her dreams The 40-year-old virgin queen.
−7 +34 +34 +33 +33 +34 +35 +35
come crashing down. 14:15 Loop
11:05 YLE News in English Sam discovers that it’s +6 +8 +6 +7 +7 +8 +9
Fri 2/12
11:10 Hercule Poirot lonely at the top.
14:30 Doctors 14:45 Northern Exposure 0 −1 +2 +1 −2 +4 +2
−12
A mother seems to be 17:05 The Bold and the Beautiful
−4 0 −2 −2 −1 −1 −1
hiding something from her 18:00 Emmerdale −14
husband and daughter. 21:00 C.S.I. New York Hemingway: That Summer in Paris
−1 −1 −1 −3 −1 0 +2
15:05 Louis la Brocante Mac is on the flight to YleTeema 19:00 −13
In French. Washington when a bloody +1 0 +2 0 +2 +2 +3
−8
17:08 Hercure Poirot corpse is found in the plane’s 07:00 Children’s Programming +27 +27 +29 +27 +30 +30 +33
−9
19:00 The Last Day of the World toilet. He tells the pilot to In Finnish. −11
War One DOC turn back to New York. 13:00 Birth Stories −6 −3 −3 −3 −5 −3 0 0
Nine million soldiers lost their 22:30 Black Gold Tara and Kurt struggle with
−7 +21 +13 +19 +20 +21 +21 +20
lives in the First World War. 23:30 Mythbusters the challenges of shift work.
Michael Palin investigates The team tries to fry popcorn 13:30 10 Years Younger USA Sat 2/13 +21 +22 +21 +22 +24 +25 +25
what happened on 11.11.1918, with explosives and laser. 14:00 Marriage under
the last day of the war. 00:35 3rd Rock from the Sun Construction −9 −3 −2 −2 −3 −3 −2 −1
19:55 Last of the Summer Wine Derek wants to surprise
−10 −6 −3 −2 −1 −1 +1 +1
22:55 The Street Vanessa by building the
SUB terrace by himself. −9 −1 −3 −2 −3 −2 −1 +1
14:30 Come Dine with Me
TV2 07:00 Children’s Programming It’s clairvoyant Jenny’s turn −7 +24 +14 +16 +22 +16 +14 +9
In Finnish. as one of the guests ruins −9
09:45 Pikku Kakkonen 14:20 Kathy Griffin: My Life on the evening. −11 +10 +13 +11 +10 +13 +10 +16
Children’s programming. the D-List 15:30 Extreme Makeover: Home −9
−8 +12 +5 +9 +8 +10 +10 +10
In Finnish. 16:00 E! Entertainment: True Edition
16:10 Snowy River: The Hollywood Story 16:25 Days of Our Lives +2 +4 +3 +2 +3 +2 +4
McGregor Saga Natasha Richardson. 17:20 Everybody Loves Raymond Sun 2/14
17:23 Pikku Kakkonen 18:05 Sturm der Liebe Robert’s eating habits
+14 +18 +20 +22 +22 +21 +19
Children’s programming. In German. interest the others in the
−10
+18 +17 +16 +17 +17 +16 +12
In Finnish. 19:00 The Hills family. −10
19:20 Vancouver Olympics Heidi celebrates her 17:50 Dr. Phil +5 +5 +6 +6 +7 +3 +7
SPORT birthday impressively. 20:00 The Bachelorette
−12
−10 +13 +12 +13 +16 +14 +15 +16
Including sprint skiing, 19:30 Will & Grace DeAnna goes to the
women’s downhill, 20:00 Friends Bahamas with the last three +32 +31 +31 +26 +32 +32 +31
snowboarding and men’s ice 20:30 The Simpsons men.
−9
hockey. Homer becomes a 21:00 Grey’s Anatomy −6 −8 +18 +18 +18 +15 +14 +16 +16
missionary on a far-away The sixth season of the −5 −4 −6 −4 −8 −5 −3 −6
tropical island. drama series begins.
YLE TEEMA 21:00 Top Chef 23:20 Frasier Mon 2/15 −8 −8 −8 −5 −6 −4 −2
The chefs head to the Roz is worked up as her
17:00 Am I Normal? DOC country to explore a “perfect” sister is visiting −10 −4 −5 −3 −4 −3 −3 0
The last episode takes a farmhouse and cook for the Seattle. −1 −1 −2 0 0 −1 −5
look at different sorts of workers. 23:50 Dirt −9
addictions. If it is regarded 22:00 Ashes to Ashes A celebrity gets caught for −7 −4 −5 −3 −2 −7 −5
as an illness, does it mean When Alex’s in-laws’ house drunk driving, and nasty −12
−10 −1 0 0 0 0 +1 +3
that addicts are not to is broken into he has to meet material spreads on the
blame for their problems? Molly’s 14-year-old father. internet about a well-liked −8 +2 +2 +3 +2 −8 −7 −9
Part 4/4. 23:00 C.S.I comedian.
19:00 Hemingway: That Summer A theatrical serial killer −2 −8 +35 +35 +34 +34 +36 +37 +26
in Paris FILM chooses his victims −3
Hemingway made friends according to their birthdays. JIM +10 +6 +9 +11 +11 +9 +14
with Canadian author 00:00 Heroes Tue 2/16
+3 +3 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3
Morley Callaghan in 1929 00:50 Temptation Island 17:00 Takeshi’s Castle
−15 +29 +33 +33 +32 +32 +29 +29
in Paris and challenged 01:40 Family Guy 17:30 Kenny vs. Spenny
him to a boxing match. The Who’s the better boxer? −9
outcome was surprising. 18:00 Border Security
−4 −1 −5 −4 −4 −1 0
Directed by Michael TV VIISI The officials find traces of −11 −5 −4 −9 −10 −5 −7 −3
DeCarlo. Starring: Vincent drugs in the children’s books −5
Walsh. Canada 2006 18:00 That 70s Show of a Vietnamese family. −8 −6 −5 −8 −6 −6 −2
22:00 Six Feet Under (K15) Red and Eric forget about 18:30 Bondi Rescue
−6
+4 +5 +6 +7 +10 +11 +11
David feels abandoned as Kitty’s special day which 19:00 The World’s Most Amazing −7 −6
Keith is on tour. Vanessa drives her up the wall. Videos −7 +5 +2 +1 +1 +3 +2 0
and Angelica decide to find 18:30 Grounded for Life 20:00 Chopper Challenge
out about Rico’s lover. 19:00 America’s Funniest Home 21:00 Modern Marvels: Car Wash Wed 2/17 +5 +4 +5 +6 +6 +5 +1
23:20 Little Mosque on the Prairie Videos DOC
−4 −2 +1 −1 −2 −1 +1
21:00 The Defender (K15) FILM The programme investigates −13
Lance Rockford is assigned different car washes and
to protect high-ranking also looks into how a train −8
official Roberta Jones. that has carried nuclear
However, terrorists kidnap waste is washed. −10 Thursday 2/11
−6
the pair, and Rockford 22:00 American Hot Rod
has to protect the world’s 23:00 South Park (K15) −6 8:11 am 4:58 pm 8:32 am 4:32 pm
most wanted terrorist as The life of a louse.
well. Directed by Dolph 23:30 Kenny vs. Spenny −3 −7 8:22 am 5:08 pm 8:42 am 4:22 pm
Lundgren. Starring: Dolph Who can drink more beer? −3
The Last Day of the World War One Lundgren, Jerry Springer. 01:00 Manhunters: Fugitive Task 8:21 am 4:58 pm 9:04 am 3:50 pm
T V1 19:00 USA 2004 Force (K13)

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Hannibal – the runaway

When I retired to Finland in
mid-August of last year I was
obliged to leave Hannibal, my
Highland Ox, behind in Bel-
gium. The rules for the move-
ment of bovines are so strict
that I was advised to wait un-
til mid-winter, when no more
flies were around to pose a
danger of disease.
Anyway, Hannibal ar-
rived. He is relatively small
but very solid: about 400 ki-
los, with horns more than a
metre across, point to point;
these were wrapped in plas-
tic to protect them during the
journey.
All seemed well and I de-
cided to keep him blocked in
his stable for a few days. This
was a big mistake because
for the past six years he has
lived like the monarch of the
glen in the Belgian Ardennes.
I had intended to sleep out-
side with him for the first
In this series expatriates tell about their lives in Finland.
night, but the temperature
was so low that I might nev-
er have awoken. However, I
checked him every hour until
two in the morning and then
went to sleep indoors.
I opened the curtains
early the next morning and
the light from the bedroom
shone out onto Hannibal,
who was looking in at me! I
dressed hurriedly and went
out to get him back into his
barn. Although he followed,
he refused to take the last
few steps towards incarcer-
ation. He has always hated
ropes so I had to rely on ap-
ples and soft words; howev-
er he cared nothing for these,
having grazed himself full
on blueberry bushes, heath-
er and snow. He decided to
continue investigating the
forest.
I went inside and called a
friend, who agreed that the
police must be alerted. When
they arrived, I was blocking
Hannibal from going towards
the road but couldn’t turn
him round. Neither could the
police, so they called the fire
brigade. Very soon, around
fifteen people were involved.
It took two hours to head
him back through forest to
his enclosure. Two hours of
chasing, persuading, sooth-
ing calls – and they had such
patience. Hannibal is not ag-
gressive but he hid in bushes,
broke through undergrowth
and galloped every which
way in an attempt to escape.
The sight was spectacular as
was the relief when he finally
decided it was a fair cop and
sauntered, exhausted, into
the enclosure.
In spite of the cold, eve-
ryone was glowing with the
running and adrenalin, and
one of the men told me that
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when pushing through bro- Both individual and group clients are welcome !
ken branches. Some of them
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