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Advances Fusion, October, 2015

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Vol. 5, #8, October 2015, No. 52

“Style Meets Substance”

Midea’s products & promotions keep winning friends and influencing people


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ADVANCES

Contents

Midea Advances Newsletter is published monthly

by Midea International Business. We welcome all

comments, suggestions and contributions of

articles, as well as requests for subscription to our

newsletter. You can reach us by email at:

[email protected]

Address:

ADVANCES, International Strategy Department

Midea HQ

No. 6 Midea Road

Beijiao, Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong

P.R.C. 528311

Web: www.midea.com/global

Quote of the Month:

“Success is

simply a matter

of luck. Ask any

failure.” - Earl

Nightingale.

NEWSLINE

Profit up 23% Year-on-Year PAGE 3

A Star Is Born? PAGE 3

Style Meets Substance at

Canton Fair Stand PAGE 4-5

www.midea.com

Thailand: Surin Elephant

Round-up PAGE 22

Britain: Guy Fawkes Night PAGE 21

First Attendance at Belarus

Sports Competition PAGE 8-9

At the Forefront of the Beuty

Business PAGE 6

Major Brazil Design Award PAGE 7

On a Spin Through Vietnam PAGE 14

LittleSwan’s 3rd Quarter Profit

up 26% PAGE 14

Midea Movember PAGE 17

CAC Sends Team to Fun Run PAGE16

CAC’s Compressor

Consultant PAGE 18-19

Midea in China’s Top 10

Privately Held Brands PAGE 10

-11

Southeast Vietnam Dealer

Meeting PAGE 13

Nature Paintings Come to

Factory Canteen PAGE 12

China: Single’s Day PAGE 20

FUSION

PEOPLE

Equipment Installed at West

Africa International Airport PAGE 15


3

Profit up 23% Year-on-Year

By MIP

M idea Group’s third quarter profit was at

US$424.83 million, a year-on-year increase of 14.7 per-

cent. This pleasing result comes despite a shaky Chinese

housing market curbing demand for household appli-

ances.

Revenue in the first three quarters of 2015 has

reached US$17.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.2

percent. Net

profit at-

tributable to

the parent

company was

at US$1.73 billion, a

year-on-year increase

of 23 percent. Earn-

ings per share were at

US $0.41, a year-on-

year increase of 22.64

percent.

According to Bloomberg, Midea is valued at 8.3 times

projected earnings over the next 12 months, versus an average

multiple of 54 for Chinese-listed producers of discretionary

consumer products. It has unanimous buy ratings from 20 ana-

lysts tracked by Bloomberg, who predict a 47 percent surge in

the stock over the next 12 months.

NEWSLINE

By Midea College

A Star Is Born?

M idea Group’s President of Human Resources Jef-

frey Liu appeared on television show ―Dialogue on November 1

to talk about subjects ranging from auto-

mated manufacturing to talent retention.

Other distinguished guests included Chi-

na’s Vice Minister of China’s Department

of Social Security Tang Tao who discussed

challenges facing the nation’s manufactur-

ing industry.

Liu started by talking about the

group’s work ethic and how to get the best

out of the talent Midea already has. Chi-

na’s labour market and manufacturing sectors are going through

changes that Liu helped viewers to understand.

He also talked about new technology such as smart homes

and automated factories and how to attract the top talent in

these new industries. Another topic was

the competitive nature of companies’

keeping hold of their most valued people

while encouraging them to be their best

selves.

Presented by UK-educated Yang Rui,

Dialogue is a prime time daily talk show

on state-owned CCTV News. It reaches

viewers across China and over 80 million

subscribers around the world. Its format

is similar to Larry King Live, which also

focused on current affairs.


4

Style Meets Substance at Canton Fair Stand

By Shine Lee

NEWSLINE

Dot Award.

Also in the washing machine section was the Crown

series. The series boasts an ultra-thin, stainless steel drum and

comes in a variety of shapes and sizes to cater to the needs of

different markets and individuals.

The All Easy series of residential air conditioners prom-

ises to cut installation and maintenance time by 40-50 percent.

This could prove particularly popular in countries with high

labor costs.

A smart assault on the Senses

If the sight of Midea’s stand was not lavish enough to

attract passers-by, then the smell certainly was. Many of

Midea’s cooking appliances were put to action by gourmet

chefs who knew their way around a kitchen.

T he 118th edition of the Canton Fair, China’s oldest

and largest trade fair, began in the southern megacity of

Guangzhou on October 15. As always, Midea pulled out all the

stops in showcasing the best of its products currently available

at home and abroad.

As with last time, the centrepiece was the model M-

Smart home in which the range of interoperable products

could be seen in action. Elsewhere, every product category had

its own display area, where cutting-edge products like the M2,

a silent water dispenser, were on show.

Eye-catching products

The M2, Midea’s almost entirely noiseless water dis-

penser, has proved a sensation in China, smashing records

with its sales volume on online platform T-Mall. This was

most likely the first time overseas buyers got the chance to see

the water purifier. Its no-touch usability and sterilization func-

tion proved particularly noteworthy.

On the water dispenser is a QR code which can provide

users with an instruction manual, after-sales service, pointers

as to when the filter needs changing and other functions.

―Now my wife will no longer have to worry about me losing

the instruction manual,‖ commented one buyer.

Another hit was the Coral series of washing machines.

The machines’ features include a direct drive mechanism, a

DC inverter and a water cube. The Coral series has received

the ―Oscar‖ of the industrial design world in the German Red


5

Style Meets Substance at Canton Fair Stand

(Cont.) By Shine Lee

LANGUAGE

Style meets substance

M-Smart is becoming progressively more prominent at

each Canton Fair. At this fair, products that were part of the

Internet of Things program including air conditioners, refrig-

erators, wash-

ing machines,

water heaters,

microwaves

and fans were

on display.

There was a

live demon-

stration of the

App that

brings together

the systems of ―smart air‖, ―smart water‖, and ―smart nutri-

tion‖.

The Canton Fair was the perfect place to bring together

both the style and substance of Midea. The first half of this

year saw Midea Group enter the Forbes 500, be placed as the

highest appliances manufacturer in China’s Fortune 500 and

revenue reach US$13 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7 per-

cent, which puts Midea on course for its most lucrative year

yet.

―Eco‖ was written in large letters above the area contain-

ing both fridges and small appliances. This was to fit with the

theme of energy-saving technology which Midea is emphasiz-

ing this year.

Another head-turner was the Mibot floor-cleaning robot.

The word ―cute‖ was even heard to describe it. It is indicative

of Midea’s part in the automation revolution. Other product

categories into which Midea is delving such as coffee dispens-

ers were also on display.


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At The Forefront of the Beauty Business

By Kevin McGeary

T he beauty business can be an ugly thing,

competitive to the point of being cruel. On October 6

in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou, The New

Silk Road – Chi-

na’s oldest and

most prestigious

beauty competi-

tion - saw 100

competitors

whittled down to

40 ahead of the

final in Decem-

ber.

Midea was the official

sponsor of the whole

thing. As a result, the

most beautiful people

in the world’s most

populous country were

seen talking

about and

posing with

Midea’s

appliances.

Wu Yingna,

who came

fifth in the

2002 edition

of Miss

World and

is a former

Miss Asia-

Pacific, was

among the

judges. She

told report-

ers that it

was fitting

for the

young, dy-

namic competitors to be

associated with a brand

that was at the forefront

of home appliances tech-

nology.

As well as posing

for photographs, self-

introductions and a tal-

ent show, contestants

were required to answer

questions about the

smart home, and how it

would revolutionize the

way people live.

NEWSLINE

Wu Yingna (right)


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Major Brazil Design Award

By Nadia Mathias

T he Midea Sensia water purifier was among

the winners at the 29th edition of the Brazilian House

Museum Design Awards in São Paulo. The awards

recognise the design of items related to Brazilian

homes.

The announcement was made on October 15 by

São Paolo’s secretary of culture. On November 26, a

ceremony will be held to honor the winners and ex-

hibit their products.

The Midea Sensia water purifier will be exhibit-

ed, along with the other products, up to January 31,

2016, at the Museum, which is dedicated to traditional

culture. The Sensia is signed by designers Daniel

Kroker and Valkiria Pedri Fialkowski. The engineers

responsible for it are Luciano Moraes and Felipe

Vogt.

The water purifier will come to market in 2016.

Its main features include a sleek design, compact size,

low power consumption, programmable amount of water,

three temperature options and an efficient treatment system

consisting of three stages of water filtration.

It is one of the smaller purifiers on the market, being 38

cm wide by 37.2 cm high. Its installation is

simple and can be done by any lay person.

Maintenance is also easy and it is not neces-

sary to check the filter all the time. It also has

a unique warning system that tells users when

to change the filters - usually every 6 months

but sometimes upto 12 months. Perhaps most

impressively of all, it has no-touch usability.

Regarding energy consumption, the purifier is

also different because it consumes only 80

watts and has an insulated tank that helps

keeping the water temperature stable, as it

does not need to cool the water all the time,

reducing the power consumption. Another

detail is its non-use of refrigerant gas, which

helps cool your water without heating the

planet.

NEWSLINE

House Museum


8

First Attendance at Belarus Sports

Competition By Advances

B elarus joint venture Midea-Gorizont took part in

the Horizont Holding Company’s annual sports competition

for the first time on September 18-20. In the name of health

and teambuilding, the competition contained both sport and

creative sessions.

The main motto of the competition is ―You are never

too old or too young for sport‖. Eight teams, each represent-

ing a separate affiliate of Horizont, took part.

Midea-Gorizont was represented by 17 people both Bela-

rusian and Chinese and the teams name translated as

―friendship among nations‖. Ice was broken on the first day

with staged performances. Midea-Gorizont did a folk song and

dance routine involving both Belarusian and Chinese elements.

Midea-Gorizont won third place. Later on, team members

got together to cook dinner and strategize for the upcoming

events.

NEWSLINE

Dormitory design

Cooking as a form of teambuilding

Flying its flag over the dormitory building


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First Attendance at Belarus Sports

Competition (Cont.) By Advances

On the morning of September 19, teams were treated to

a traditional Belarusian breakfast. Shortly afterwards, the main

competition began. Activities included draughts, billiards,

table tennis, darts, volleyball, etc. Midea-Gorizont’s best result

was achieved by General Manager You Baofeng who took

second place in a darts competition.

The last day turned out to be the most physically de-

manding as teams competed in a relay-race which included a

number of contests that required cooperation.

The highlight of the three-day competition was the closing

ceremony during which Midea-Horizont won first prize for the

decoration of its accommodation. The team missed out on the

podium by one place but the important thing is that for three

whole days they were a team.

NEWSLINE

You Baofeng finished second in darts

Long distance running

Volleyball

Togetherness and team spirit captured in one photo


10

Midea in China's Top 10 Privately Held

Brands

M idea has been named in China's 10 most valuable

privately held brands by the Hurun Research Institute. The re-

port by the institute, founded in 1999 by chartered accountant

Rupert Hoogewerf, placed Midea as the nation's most valuable

privately held appliances brand.

No 10 Midea

Brand value: $4.68 billion

Increase: 81 percent

Industry: Home appliances

Headquarters: Guangdong Province

No 9 Alipay



Industry: E-commerce

Headquarters: Zhejiang province

No 8 Xiaomi



Industry: Mobile phones

Headquarters: Beijing

No 7 Wanda Group



Industry: Real estate


NEWSLINE

Via China Daily


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Midea in China's Top 10 Privately Held

Brands (Cont.)

No 6 JD.com





No 5 Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of Chi-

na



Industry: Insurance

Headquarters: Guangdong province

No 4 Tmall.com





No 3 Baidu



Industry: Internet search engine


No 2 Taobao.com





No 1 Tencent



Industry: IT

Headquarters: Guangdong province

NEWSLINE


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Nature Paintings Come to Factory Canteen

By Advances

N owadays most of us work hard and save up to

travel when we get time off. On our travels we may go to a

museum or a scenic spot where we can forget about our mun-

dane concerns.

Midea's Residential Air Conditioning (RAC) factory in

Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, has

brought mother nature into the canteen, with paintings that

would normally belong in a museum portraying images that

normally only exist far from any office or factory.

NEWSLINE


13

Southeast Vietnam Dealer Meeting

By Advances

M idea Group’s Vietnam branch worked through

the second most important traditional festival on the calendar

to hold a dealer meeting for the southeast of the country on

September 28. Staff and dealers sacrificed their Mid-Autumn

holiday to hold the activity dedicated to the all-important re-

gion.

With its prodigiously curvaceous coastline and munici-

pality of Ho Chi Minh City, the southeast boasts a robust

economy and a sophisticated consumer. This activity was an

excellent opportunity to boost new products and connect

with local dealers.

Prizes for outstanding partners included a four-day holi-

day in Thailand. One-hundred and forty-eight dealers were

invited to the conference, which staff at the Vietnam office

showed the utmost dedication to organize the event through

heavy rain and the temptations of a national holiday.

NEWSLINE

Products on display


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On a Spin through Vietnam

By Victor Hang

L ocal mascot ―Little Blue Bear‖ was hard at work in

Vietnam throughout September, holding promotional activities

in supermarkets, a roadshow and a Facebook campaign to pro-

mote the new front-loading washing machine. This campaign

marks an increase in the brand’s product range in a country

where it has mostly specialized in air conditioning and small

appliances.

NEWSLINE

By Chen Minshan

LittleSwan’s 3rd Quarter Profit up 26%

M idea-owned washing machine brand LittleSwan saw

profit reach US$1.5 billion in the third quarter of 2015, this

marks a year-on-

year growth of

23.57 percent. The

gross profit margin

was 26.75 percent, a

year-on-year in-

crease of 0.63 per-

centage points. Net

profit margin was 8.31 percent, a year-on-year increase of 0.82

percentage points.

Earnings per share were at US$0.17. Operating income

was US$552 million, a year-on-year increase of 25.17 percent.

The company’s burgeoning E-commerce business also saw a

promising return, with US$225 million worth of sales in the first

three quarters, a

year-on-year

increase of 130

percent.

Recent months

have seen the

launch of the i-

Intelligent drum

water cube se-

ries; the fast net series; the i-bigger washing machine; and the

children’s washing machine, all of which have been successful in

the domestic market.


15

Equipment Installed at West Africa

International Airport By Liang Zhaolun

M idea Commercial Air Conditioning (CAC) has

begun installing its equipment in the international airport of

Cotonou, the largest city and economic centre of the west

African state of Benin. This follows airport projects in Mauri-

tius, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand which CAC has land-

ed.

Cotonou is Benin’s largest port and is located just 35

kilometres away from the national capital of Porto-Novo. For

this reason, 60-65 percent of Benin’s international trade goes

through the airport as does 35-40 percent of that of neighbor-

ing, landlocked countries such as Burkina-Faso and Niger to

the north.

Over the course of a year, the temperature in Cotonou

typically varies from 75°F to 90°F and the airport operates for

24 hours, so the large refrigeration units and dozens of other

products installed by CAC are certain to come in useful. After

the All-Africa Games in Brazzaville and the launch of Midea’s

entire product range in Tunisia, 2015 has been an exciting year

in the Dark Continent for Midea.

NEWSLINE

Cotonou

Locals at the airport ahead of the pope’s visit in 2011

Cotonou International Airport


16

CAC Sends Team to Fun Run

By Liang Zhaolun

A team of representatives from Midea Commercial

Air Conditioning (CAC) took part in the Foshan City Fun

Run, close to the group’s global headquarters on October 30.

The 5-kilometre run involved 160 local companies and 4000

competitors.

The purpose of the fun run is to promote health and

fitness in a city where a competitive job market means many

residents spend excessively long hours at the office. The slo-

gan of the fun run is: "Run for happiness, run for health, run

for friendship."

NEWSLINE

Flying the flag for a fit and healthy company

Ready for the starting gun

“And we’re off!”


17

Midea Movember

By Advances

M ovember is an annual event involving the grow-

ing of moustaches during the month of November to raise

awareness of men's health issues, such as depression in men,

prostate cancer and other male cancers. Founded in Australia

in 1999, Movember also attempts to raise money for associat-

ed charities.

The Movember Foundation runs the Movember charity

event, housed at www.movember.com. Participants can go to

the website to register and donate.

In the name of men's health, and fun, Midea will hold an

internal competition to see who among us can grow some-

thing to rival the below masterpieces:

Criteria

To be eligible to win, participants must submit the follow-

ing things at the end of the month:

- A photograph of you clean shaven in early November,

one photograph of your progress and a photograph of your

final moustache.

- Evidence that you have contributed via the Movember

website or to another men's health charity of your choice.

Prizes

1. The M2 Water

Purifier.

The M2, Midea’s

noiseless water dispenser,

has proved a sensation in

China, smashing records

with its sales volume on online platform T-Mall.

On the water dispenser is a QR code which can provide

users with an instruction manual, after-sales service, pointers as

to when the filter needs changing and other functions.

2. Xiaomi Action Camera.

The Xiaomi Action Camera

records video at upto 60 fps

and captures photos upto

16MP. It's built in WIFI can

connect to your Android

phone from up to 100m away

which will allow you to easily

and conveniently transfer photos and videos to your phone.

3. A deluxe set of XO

brandy.

For more info, contact

[email protected]

May the best mo win!

NEWSLINE


18

CAC’s Compressor Consultant

By Patrick Luo

T o stay at the forefront of the global industry, Midea

Commercial Air Conditioning (CAC) often hires consultants

from overseas. At 72 years old, Byron Hamm, who is as pas-

sionate about compressor design as when he started, brings an

infectious enthusiasm to his work at CAC’s Chongqing pro-

duction base.

Byron studied Tur-

bine Engineering at Iowa

State University and has

over forty years of experi-

ence in cooling technology.

As a graduate student in

the 1960s, Byron was in-

volved in rocket fuel pump

design for NASA’s early

Apollo missions.

Subsequently, he

worked in the aerodynamic

design of centrifugal com-

pressors. According to

colleagues, Byron is a walk-

ing encyclopedia on the sub-

ject of centrifugal machines.

From 1972’s R12 compressor to 2015’s VFD direct drive

compressor, he has been at the forefront of the profession for

decades. This month Byron gave an interview to Patrick Luo

of CAC, here is our translation:

Advances: In your time at Midea, what changes

have you noticed?

Byron: In my four years here, the biggest change I have

noticed is the increased product quality. The compressor pro-

duction facility we have right now is as good as I have seen

anywhere in the world. Due to the modernization of our de-

sign, the performance of our chillers has improved immeasur-

ably.

Advances: In what areas do you think there is still

room for improvement?

Byron: There are still places in which we use manned ma-

chines when automated technology could do the job just as well.

We also need to test our products more thoroughly and are thus

adding more extensive testing equipment.

Before products enter the market, we need to spend more time

developing them, identi-

fying and solving prob-

lems. This is essential to

boosting our reputation

for quality and reliabil-

ity. Comprehensive test-

ing of our heat exchang-

ers and compressors is

essential to continuing

the improvement of our

product range.

Advances: In terms of

the work you put in,

which product do you

feel proudest of?

Byron: I suppose I am

proudest of the VFD

direct drive compressor, which we have been working on this

year. It puts us at the forefront of our industry, and our whole

research and development team can be very proud.

Advances: In all your years in the cooling business, is

this your proudest achievement?

Byron: I don’t derive satisfaction form prizes or other

material stuff. I am quite indifferent to those things. I like to see

a project go from conception to completion. I like seeing the

part that my own hard work played in a project’s success.

Advances: What advantages does the VFD direct

drive compressor have over some previous models?

B: It beats previous models in both efficiency and simplic-

PEOPLE

Byron Hamm


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CAC’s Compressor Consultant (Cont.)

By Patrick Luo

ity. It only has one moving part. The rear end has a superior

power rotor to previous models. I think this model represents

the future of small and medium-sized compressors. However,

it does still require a variable frequency drive.

Advances: What do you think of the team we have

here in Chongqing?

Byron: In my experience, they are as good as their coun-

terparts at Trane, York and Carrier. The one thing holding

them back is a lack of international experience. Given more

time to provide for overseas markets, I think we will attain

our rightful share.

Advances: Are you satisfied with the production

process or do you see much room for improvement?

Byron: I think the current process is satisfactory consid-

ering our output. When we become more successful and de-

mand increases, I think both the design and manufacturing

processes will be due an upgrade. As our yield increases, we

will also be able to choose a higher class of supplier for our

components, which will ultimately improve our products.

Advances: What are some of your predictions for

the future of the cooling, centrifugal machinery and

screw compressor industries?

Byron: The internet has leveled the playing field in terms

of design concept. Increases in performance will probably slow

down and prices will probably go up as the industry is under

pressure to use more energy efficient technology such as varia-

ble frequency technology, falling film evaporator, electronic

control systems, magnetic levitation systems, or other non-oil

bearing system.

However, performance will be stabilized due to a world-

class database. Aside from that, only with radical new ideas will

big changes be made in the industry.

Advances: We have entered the age of Industry 4.0.

Both manual operation and automated operation have

their advantages. Which do you prefer at this point?

Byron: This is a question of production capacity. Most

domestic manufacturers currently use manual production. This

can satisfy their current demand. However, a company like

Midea really needs to invest in automated manufacturing if it is

to fulfill its ambitions.

A good example of this is in heat exchanger plates. Cur-

rently, manufacturing depends on a manned drill press. If this

could be done by a machine, output would increase exponen-

tially. Our current production facilities are good enough, but we

also need to move with the times.

PEOPLE

Iowa State University

Midea CAC’s Chongqing base


20

CHINA: Single’s Day

By Kevin McGeary

FUSION

kind of anti-

Valentine’s

Day that is

celebrated in

China and

throughout

the Chinese

diaspora.

Activities

For breakfast on this day, singles often eat four Youtiao

(deep-fried dough sticks) representing the four "ones" in

"11.11" and one Baozi (steamed stuffed bun) representing the

middle dot. The day is popularly used for boys-only or girls-

only leisure activities but is sometimes set aside as a date for

matchmaking events such as ―blind date parties‖ on university

campuses.

In 2011, the Single’s Day of the century (because it had

six ones) an above-average number of wedding celebrations

were held in Beijing and Hong Kong. Reasons cited included

that the ―one‖ could also mean ―the only one for me‖.

In 2009 the online retail firm Alibaba adopted the day to

promote a massive online shopping sale. It said the date was

easy to remember, and conveniently placed in a consumer

spending lull between National Day and Chinese New Year

holiday.

Singles' Day rapidly became a hit. Other online retailers

began cashing in, and in 2012 Alibaba copyrighted the term

"Double 11" so that competitors could not use it in advertis-

ing. In

2014,

Alibaba

reported

record

sales of

US $9.3

million in

that one

day.

S ingle’s Day （光棍节）falls on November 11 on

the Roman calendar, this day was chosen because it contains

more uses of the digit ―1‖ than any other date. The Chinese

name of this festival translates as ―Bachelor’s Day‖, but in re-

cent years it has come to be popular with both single men and

single women.

Origins

China is a tough place in which to be single. In recent

years, words have entered the language such as shengnv 剩女

(“leftover women‖) which is used to describe women who let

their twenty-seventh birthday come and go without the sound

of their own wedding bells. Older expressions such as 读得好

不如嫁得好 (“studying well can never beat marrying well)

illustrate the extent to which being single is seen as a failure.

Single men do not have it much better. Gender imbalance

among the generation born since 1980 means that it will be

impossible for millions of men to fulfill their traditional obliga-

tion of providing grandchildren for their parents.

Whether out of pity or defiance, some university students

in the southern former capital of Nanjing established ―Single’s

Day‖ on November 11, 1993. Since then it has grown into a

A day on which to lose one’s single status

A Single’s Day matchmaking competition

A warehouse dealing with Single’s Day orders.


21

BRITAIN: Guy Fawkes Night

By Kevin McGeary

FUSION

the four corners of the kingdom‖ to be displayed as a warning

against treason.

Activities

For centuries, November 5 was a festival throughout

Britain and in overseas colonies to celebrate the defeat of

treachery. It was also seen as anti-Catholic and in America’s

colonial era it was even nicknamed Anti-Pope Day.

Since the mid-twentieth century, Guy Fawkes Night has

been preceded by local children making an effigy of flammable

materials and preparing wood for a bonfire weeks in advance.

A fireworks display organized by the community has come to

be about as important to Guy Fawkes Night as the fire itself.

In 1998 an editorial in The Catholic Herald called for an

end to Guy Fawkes Night, but the fireworks may be too popu-

lar. According to David Cressy, author of the 1992 book "The

Fifth of November Remembered": "The rockets go higher and burn

with more colour, but they have less and less to do with mem-

ories of the Fifth of November ... it might be observed that

Guy Fawkes' Night is finally declining, having lost its connec-

tion with politics and religion. But we have heard that many

times before. ―

As for Guy Fawkes himself, according to JA Sharpe,

author of Remember, Remember: A Cultural History of Guy Fawkes

Day, he is now seen as something of an anti-hero. Some have

even called him ―the last man to enter parliament with honest

intentions‖.

G uy Fawkes Night, also known as Bonfire Night,

falls on November 5 and involves the burning of an effigy of

Guy Fawkes, who attempted to assassinate King James I of

Britain in 1605.

In 1606 the Parliament of England passed the

―Thanksgiving Act‖ ordering that November 5 be a day of

celebration of the plot’s failure.

Origins

Guy Fawkes (1570-1606) was a member of a group of

English Catholics which planned the Gunpowder Plot, an at-

tempt to kill England’s Protestant king and restore Catholic

rule. Fawkes’ role was to guard the gunpowder and after an

anonymous letter enabled the king’s soldiers to capture him, he

was arrested and tortured.

Under torture, he revealed the names of his co-

conspirators on November 8, and the eight plotters were put

on trial on January 27, 1606. The jury found all of the defend-

ants guilty of high treason.

Attorney General Sir Edward Coke told the court that

each of the condemned would—if you are eating you should

probably stop reading here—have their genitals cut off and

burnt before their eyes, and their bowels and hearts removed.

They would then be decapitated, and the dismembered parts of

their bodies displayed so that they might become "prey for the

fowls of the air".

Fawkes was the last to climb the scaffold ahead of being

hung, and after either jumping or falling, he broke his neck

which meant he escaped the agony of being drawn and quar-

tered. All of the conspirators had their body parts ―spread to

An effigy being carried to its fate

The last man to enter parliament with honest intentions?


22

THAILAND: Surin Elephant Round-up

By Kevin McGeary

FUSION

Nowadays, elephants and their trainers travel 100 km to

Surin to participate in the festival. The ritualistic elements and

traits of the festival have all but disappeared.

Activities

The modern two-day event includes a variety of shows

displaying the physical prowess and skill of the animals, such

as soccer games and tugs-of-war with the Royal Thai Army.

Elephants painting pictures, playing polo, and whirling hula

hoops on their trunks are also incorporated into the show.

The Kuy hunters who are singled out to perform in the

round-up

follow a

morning

ritual

called the

"Pak Kum

Luang" in

the days

before the

festival.

This ritual

includes

praying at the ancient Pakam Shrine and then offering pigs

heads, chickens, wine, and herbs as well as burning incense.

When the required sign is obtained, the elders blow the

hunters horn which signals that the 60 km long trek to the

festival can commence. The elephants and their mahouts ar-

rive with at least five days to spare and spend this time roam-

ing the streets while offering rides and practicing for the show.

On Friday morning, a marching procession of approxi-

mately 300 elephants starts moving through Surin. The ele-

phants carry dignitaries who dismount their steeds on arrival.

Once all the elephants have arrived, the banquet begins.

On the Saturday activities include an address by the cere-

mony’s chairperson at The Elephant Stadium, the corralling of

wild elephants by tame ones, acrobatics, and a re-enactment of

a historical battle between Siamese (Thai) and Burmese forces,

ending with a Siamese victory.

T he Surin Elephant Round-up is traditionally held at

the end of the third week of November in Isan, Thailand. The

festival has its origins in the royal hunts which were conducted

in Surin Province during medieval times.

The indigenous residents of Surin, the Kuy, have been

traditional practitioners of corralling elephants and training

them as working animals. When the Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351-

1767) came into power these hunts were converted into a pub-

lic extravaganza and wild elephants were replaced with tame

ones.

Origins

Historians as far back as pre-Christian Greeks observed

that thousands of wild elephants roamed freely in the forests

around Thailand. In Surin Province these elephants were

rounded up, corralled and captured in hunts which were highly

ritualistic and involved many mythological aspects. The hunts

also had an economic purpose, as the captured elephants were

domesticated and used for haulage or even sometimes war.

The Ayutthaya Kings turned the hunts into a royally

sponsored event where local dignitaries and overseas guests

were invited to savour the spectacle. By the mid-twentieth cen-

tury, the spectacle aspect overtook the hunt aspect.

The festival, in its contemporary form, was first organized

in the 1960s. Due to civil war in Cambodia and technology that

caused the economic value of elephants to decline, the elephant

handlers began to seek opportunities in the entertainment and

tourism industries.


23

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