CPH POST 3 - 16 May 2019

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CPHPOST.DK 3 - 16 May 2019

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NEWS Rasmus Paludan a household name after riots

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It’s the colour of money Danes prepared to pay a lot for sustainability

‘BOG’ SINNER OR DOG’S DINNER?

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Fewer foreigners learning Danish

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SPORT Denmark lands its first NFL player in 37 years

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World beneath your feet Holed up, fighting potential wars or just to survive

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HE NUMBER of foreigners learning Danish has plummeted since the state introduced fees on July 1.

During the first half of 2018 there were 22,328 people taking Danish courses, but this number fell by 10,000 over the next six months according Danskuddannelsesdatabasen figures.

The consensus among many students is that they can’t afford it.

Hidden costs IN COPENHAGEN Municipality subsidised classes for 2,000 kroner a module are available at two selected schools, where the state also sends refugees and dependent family members who are exempt from paying.

Given that students need to complete six modules to certi-

fy they are capable of speaking Danish for purposes such as citizenship, the minimum cost is 12,000 kroner.

But many are choosing more expensive options as they don’t want to learn a language alongside students with limited experience of a European-style education.

Hitting hard “IT’S A CATASTROPHE,” Betina Johansson, the head of AOF in Esbjerg, which has had to dismiss 30 employees and close two branches, told DR. The Dansk Erhverv business interest group believes it could end up being a very expensive mistake.

“This is what’s needed to keep them here in the country and paying taxes,” said its head of education and research, Mads Eriksen. (SG)

4-5

Terror double bill

SAS hit by pilots’ strike

‘NOTAT’, a film starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau about the 2015 Copenhagen Shootings, is in post-production with a likely release this year. It should not be confused with Brian De Palma’s ‘Domino’, which also deals with a Copenhagen terror plot and stars Coster-Waldau, which is coming out in the US on May 31.

AT THE time of going to press, the SAS pilot strike was still ongoing, with little hope that union and employer will reach a deal anytime soon. Since last Friday, over 300,000 passengers have been affected. On Wednesday alone, 504 departures in Scandinavia were cancelled.

SAS warns the pay demands will endanger jobs.

Surely not snow!

Denmark like a desert

DENMARK could face snow this weekend. Following a few days of glorious sunshine, temperatures are expected to plummet on Thursday, as blustery winds hit the country, and then approach minus figures on Saturday night as Arctic air takes hold. The cold will at least bring relief to birch pollen allergy sufferers, following some five year-high counts.

THE DRYNESS of Denmark’s ground would lead most experts to conclude it is mid-June, not the start of May, raising fears of forest fires. It only rained once in Copenhagen during April, and it currently needs around 90 mm to restore the equilibrium.

Nevertheless, Zealand’s mostly clay soils enable easier water retention, compared to Jutland.

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Diplomacy

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ONLINE THIS WEEK DISTORTION will have more restricted areas at its Nørrebro and Vesterbro street parties on May 29 and 30. Each party attracts 100,000 revellers. Street bracelets will cost 120 kroner each, and Distortion has set itself a target of selling 25,000. It is also cutting the number of its large street party stages from 30 to 12 to reduce noise volumes.

ID card for addicts SOCIALDEMOKRATIET would like to give Vesterbro drug addicts an ID card confirming they are a registered abuser, which they can then present to stop the police searching them.

The party argues the addicts should not be fined for carrying drugs for their own personal usage at the legal fixerum facilities on Istedgade and Halmtorvet.

History of the Strand

Only January lived up to expectations for the winter emergency preparedness workers, who were mostly idle otherwise BEN HAMILTON

I

T’S PROBABLY safe to say you can put the gloves and winter coat away into storage for another year. On April 22, fully one month and a day after the official start of spring, Copenhagen Municipality officially called time on winter, and it has been the tamest for quite some time.

The municipality’s winter emergency preparedness workers, who stand ready to salt the pathways of the city to prevent slipperiness and remove snow if need be, were activated only 18 times over the season – the lowest

figure in over a decade.

6,000 normally applied.

Lots of spare salt IN COMPARISON, the winter of 2017-18, which was pretty mild compared to most years bar a really cold snap in March, had 48 emergency calls.

In total only 2,500 tonnes of road salt have been used this past winter – well below the average

Mostly milder BROKEN down, the 18 calls resulted in 14 preventive saltings and four snow clearances.

Only January lived up to expectations, with December, February and March only generating emergency calls on one, two and one occasions respectively.

Do zones encourage fewer to light up elsewhere?

D

THE POLICE have released a video showing footage of a young man who they suspect was responsible for stabbing a security guard at a party at Rødovre Gymnasium on November 30. He is described as being of Somali descent, 180190 cm tall and aged 17-20.

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Still seeking stabber

The icicles failed to get hazardous this year

Smoking zones back at selected stations SB IS RETHINKING its 2014 outright smoking ban on all its platforms, reports Søndagsavisen. Yellow ashtrays will be placed in marked smoking zones at Dybbølsbro and Fredericia in south Jutland as part of a one-year pilot scheme.

DSB wants to test whether fewer people would light up in smoke-free areas with a zone available. It is difficult to find smoke-free platforms at busy stations, and few DSB staff enforce the ban.

ONLINE THIS WEEK World’s smallest eatery THE WORLD’S smallest restaurant has opened at Gammel Kongevej 139 in Frederiksberg.

With room for just one diner, Restauranten 1:1 wants to showcase the potential of ‘readymade’ food purchased at Irma supermarket. All available reservations have been snapped up.

More scooters hit streets

TONY WEBSTER

ON MAY 5 and 19 the public is invited to scale one of Brøndby Strand’s iconic 70-metre towers to learn the history behind ‘Denmark’s only real skyline’. Seven of the 12 blocks will be demolished next year due to the discovery of the carcinogenic substance poly-chlorinated biphenyls.

Capital calls time on warmest winter for ages PIXABAY

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3 - 16 May 2019

Panda-monium at zoo SOME 105,317 guests packed into Copenhagen Zoo to see the new giant pandas during the eight-day period concluding on Easter Monday – up from 40,570 last year. The warm weather also helped – but let’s hope the pandas don’t get too used to it!

21st best for Instagram COPENHAGEN has been ranked the 21st most Instagrammable destination in Europe by Big 7 Travel. The winner was Dubrovnik in Croatia, the principal location for scenes set in King’s Landing in ‘Game of Thrones’.

Stubbed out in 2014, sparking up in 2019

Another Metro delay?

IN OTHER transport news, Metroselskabet, the company responsible for running and constructing the Metro, has confirmed further delays could be on the cards.

ANOTHER 250 rental scooters have been released onto the streets of Copenhagen – this time by the international company Lime, which already rents out the vehicles in over 100 cities worldwide. It joins Voi and Tier in an already competitive market.

It blames the main contractor for missing the ‘ready for handover’ deadlines at the end of March.

This in turn will delay a ‘trial run’ of the system and could lead to the opening date being pushed beyond July. (CPH POST)

Collapsed swings death A 31-YEAR-OLD woman was killed when a swings collapsed on top of her near Baltorpvej in Ballerup on April 28. Police have cordoned off the playground and also other nearby swings.

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Expat authors vent their anger at Helsingør-based Whyte Tracks Publishing Writers concur that incompetence is rife, but is something more sinister going on?

EMILE YOUNG

S

IGNING a book deal should be an author’s dream. But for Nadia Thu Huong Ho, it was the start of a nightmare.

In February 2018, Ho contacted Annemarie Skjold Jensen, the CEO of Whyte Tracks Publishing in Helsingør, about publishing and promoting her anthology, ‘A Mile in Our Shoes – Personal Stories of Global Journeys’. The volume chronicles autobiographical accounts from 11 international contributing authors. Ho herself is based in the US. Over a year later, although communication has lapsed with Jensen, Ho claims Jensen has proceeded to distribute and possibly profit off an error-riddled draft of her book without her consent.

“The book is currently sold worldwide on many bookselling platforms, including Amazon.

We never gave the publisher permission to publish any version of the book draft,” Ho said.

Neither Ho nor the volume contributors have received any royalty payments, and Ho has since made contact with 12 other authors in a similar situation.

Red flags HO SAID her first interactions with Jensen were positive and professional. In early meetings, Jensen laid out a timeline for editing, promoting and publishing Ho’s volume.

Heather Gartside, a Denmark-based author, corroborates Ho’s experience. Gartside was initially taken in by Jensen’s LinkedIn presence in 2017.

“For any author, it feels like the holy grail to get a publisher.

On LinkedIn, I saw her profile come up on my feed: an English-language publisher based in Denmark with a very kindly photo of a middle-aged lady,”

Gartside said.

But that curated image did not hold up. Soon after signing with Jensen, the red flags started to appear.

For Ho, it was the poorly-designed cover Jensen provided for her book (see left). Rather than hire a graphic designer or ask one of the designers featured on her website to create the cover, Ho said Jensen made the cover herself. When confronted, Jensen became defensive and unprofessional.

“For the first emails, she was very polite and very nice. But because of our conflict over the book cover design, her tone changed,” Ho said.

In the end, Ho paid an independent designer to create her book cover (see right). Upon further investigation, Ho discovered that one of the designers featured on Jensen’s website had never worked with her.

Ho and Gartside both believe that even though Jensen promises professional editing and design services, she tries to save on costs by doing much of the work herself.

You say tomato, she says ...

AS BOTH authors came to realise, Jensen pushed much of the publishing work back upon the authors themselves.

“In the beginning, I just thought she lacked experience in publishing. I thought she was a nice person, so I wanted to help her with editing and layout. That’s why I spent the whole summer working on the book and helping her with editing and layout,” Ho said.

Since Gartside lived in the Greater Copenhagen area, Jensen invited her to meet in person.

On their fourth meeting, Jensen offered Gartside a partnership in her publishing company.

“She said there’s plenty of money in publishing and that I should join her as a partner. My husband said it was a bit spooky, but I thought it was my time to shine,” Gartside said.

Design issues: ripped tights a tell-tale sign that an author is being ripped off

Gartside joined Jensen for a three-month unofficial internship working on building up Jensen’s Facebook and web presence. During this time, Gartside also fielded dissatisfied emails from other authors.

“At the end of the three months, I said: ‘Thank you, but this isn’t for me.’ I could see the dissatisfaction in messages from other writers: ‘Where’s my book?’ and ‘Why has my book been published in black and white when I asked for it in colour?’ and so on,” she said.

Shortly after, Gartside experienced Jensen’s negligence first-hand. On the way to her book launch in Spain, Gartside realised the book copies had been printed on yellow paper and were riddled with spelling errors.

“It looked like Annemarie had run it through her own spell checker. So for instance, ‘tomates’, the Spanish word for ‘tomatoes’ was spelled ‘benates’,” Gartside said.

According to Gartside, Jensen apologised for uploading the unedited document for print by mistake. At this point, Gartside withdrew from Whyte Tracks.

Breach of contract JUST AS with Ho’s volume, Gartside said Jensen approved the faulty copies of her book for distribution without her consent.

“One of my friends went to Saxo and found the faulty copy on the shelf. Not only was she going behind my back, but she was illegally distributing the flawed copy,” Gartside said.

In fact, Ho’s contract with Whyte Tracks acknowledges that publication of the book without

the author’s consent constitutes a breach of terms and voids the contract.

“I believe she was trying to get away with the contract breach by hiding the fact that there is no version of the book that is being currently sold,” Ho said.

UK-based author Adrian Thurston recounted a similar story. After providing Jensen with the manuscript and accompanying materials for his book, Thurston said he did not hear anything until he received a summary of sales

Nadia Thu Houng Ho: exploring legal action

COVER

3 - 16 May 2019 FACEBOOK/ANNEMARIE SKJOLD JENSEN

Annemarie Skold Jensen: “It’s a hobby”

from Cambridge Scholars. It was then that Jensen informed him the book would be sold through Cambridge Scholars, he said.

Three years later, Thurston said the summary of sales still comes back as zero.

Cause for optimism WHEN ASKED to comment on the zero summary of sales, Jensen explained that her publishing business is small and understaffed, and that not all of the published books end up making a big splash.

“It’s a ‘hobby publishing thing’. Lots of love, but not a lot of profit. It’s a good week if five books sell. I write to my authors and tell them: ‘Hey five books sold.’

We’re trying to change that and, year after year, it’s improving,” Jensen said.

Just recently, she published a new volume with UK author Corinna Ferros. The volume was ushered in by a successful book launch, Ferros said. While it is too early for book sale tallies, Ferros said her experience working with Jensen was positive apart from some communication lapses and limited marketing potential.

Two other forthcoming Danish authors corroborated Ferros’ assessment of her experience working with Jensen. Neither are first-time authors and are aware that the limited marketing potential and smaller distributions may impact sales.

But Jensen claims she has been in the publishing business for 13 years, first

Heather Gartside: Grave concerns

working in the UK, then the Netherlands, and now Denmark. She’s not new to the publishing trade.

Though Jensen’s outfit is small and she hasn’t been able to guarantee the standard of every published book, she’s looking towards big developments in the near future, she said.

“I only like to promise things that I know I can promise, but we are in negotiations with a potential partner. I’m just looking forward to giving that good news to everyone,” she said.

Picking up the pieces BUT EVEN as Jensen looks forward, her former authors are left hanging. Thurston said he needs a formal injunction to access Jensen’s complete record of his sales. The police, he said, haven’t been particularly helpful.

Ho is currently exploring further legal options against Jensen and Whyte Tracks. However, she said this is hard to do from abroad.

“I tried to comment on different social media platforms and through the press.

I sent emails to the Danish newspapers and the Helsingør local police force, but they said it wasn’t a criminal case, so they told me they couldn’t do anything. I tried to contact different authorities, but they said they couldn’t help me,” Ho said.

However, Dansk Forfatterforening (Danish authors association) did inform her that it knew of a similar case with the same publisher.

Whether or not legal action is required or possible, Ho hopes her experience can help other authors avoid similar circumstances.

“I want the story to be public so there are no more victims caught up in Annemarie’s net. The other thing I’m seeing here is that authors are not very well-protected. There are many authors who have given up on their dreams of publishing a book because of their experience with Annemarie,” Ho said.

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THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

ONLINE THIS WEEK

SOCIALDEMOKRATIET and Dansk Folkeparti want to change the law to enable refugees with temporary residency to get divorced. According to the Statsforvaltningen department of the Social and Interior Ministry, only permanent residents and citizens can get divorced. The parties fear the law is detrimental to ‘child brides’ married against their will.

Facebook closes news site THE FACEBOOK page of the right-wing media site 24NYT was closed twice in mid-April.

Its first page, which had over 34,000 likes, was shut without warning. An improvised second was then swiftly cut. Facebook offered no explanation to DR, and various social media experts regarded the action as “unusual”.

Copyright act needs revision A STUDY of the Danish Copyright Act reveals it is full of errors that affect how artists should receive money when their works are used by others. Initially, different EU member states were permitted to decide who could and who couldn’t play music for free, but now the EU is insisting that there should be no exemptions.

Firefighter shortage IT IS BECOMING harder to recruit part-time and volunteer firefighters. More than half of the country’s 314 stations are short of personnel, meaning municipal taxes will need to rise to hire more permanent staff. In related news, the emergency preparedness authority, Danske Beredskaber, has warned that the fire safety of most historical buildings is poor and that a national action plan is needed.

DF post backfires IN A NOW viral poll, Dansk Folkeparti asked its Facebook followers if they would dare put Danish foreign policy in the hands of four of the party’s opponents. Contrary to their hopes, 80 percent of the 23,000 responses indicated yes.

Election bid born out of insurrection

ONLINE THIS WEEK SCREENSHOT

Divorce change sought

3 - 16 May 2019

Rasmus Paludan capitalises on mass media coverage to gain the necessary endorsements to run for office BEN HAMILTON

I

T WOULD appear that inciting violence on the streets of Nørrebro at the tax-payer’s expense is good business for Koran-burning lawyer Rasmus Paludan and his party Stram Kurs (Hard Line).

Since his demonstration and the riots that ensued on April 14, Stram Kurs has received the necessary 20,109 approved voter declarations needed to stand in the 2019 General Election.

As of that morning, which began with a change of venue after a car exploded at 1 am in Paludan’s original choice of Mjølnerparken, he only had 5,526 declarations.

70 fires, 23 arrests, 24 million THE RIOTS sparked off after the lawyer flung a Koran around in the air at Blågårdsplads at around 3 pm before being whisked away to safety.

Pitched battles then continued into the night as police and rioters exchanged tear gas and cobblestones. In total, around 70 fires were deliberately set, and the police made 23 arrests as trouble spread all over the city.

The police have spent an estimated 24 million kroner of taxpayers’ money protecting Paludan at around 70 demonstrations over the last two years.

Bear dissection THE NATURAL History Museum in Aarhus invited children to the dissection of a black bear over the Easter break dedicated to the love of nature. The bear’s innards and heart were shown to those present, and bone and muscle were sliced off to reveal why bears have such thick fur.

Family drown in fjord Spot the Copenhagener: one cyclist would not be deterred

pair met when Paludan represented Jensen following his numerous arrests for indecency and disruption.

Among his better known stunts are re-enacting the decapitation of the Little Mermaid whilst naked, painting Kim Kardashian and a 2017 DF local election campaign poster with his penis, and urinating off the Round Tower.

Some of Jensen’s convictions are not as quirky, though. In 2017 he was sentenced to 30 days in prison for assaulting a museum employee in Aalborg.

been granted asylum/who are not nationals, and withdrawing from international conventions on refugees. Paludan has also, on occasion, burnt the Koran, thrown it around in the air and wrapped it in bacon.

PM Lars Løkke Ramussen has condemned Paludan’s provocations as “meaningless” and ultimately divisory.

Penis painter recruited PALUDAN has named controversial artist Uwe Max Jensen as his first candidate. It is believed the

Paludan in debates?

IT IS BELIEVED that Paludan will be allowed to take part in the televised party leader debates, and Jørgen Ramskov, the CEO of the radio channel Radio24syv, warns he will need to be more careful than he has been on YouTube where he has expressed many racist opinions.

Paludan was recently handed 14 days for racism – a sentence he has appealed to the High Court.

Among Stram Kurs’s policies are a ban on Islam, expelling all non-Western people who have

No bottle of wine?

IN RESPONSE to Paludan’s actions, journalist Nicolai Würtz started a charity fundraiser on the website of refugee organisation Dansk Flygtningehjælp. Würtz thought he might raise around 2,500 kroner for newly-arrived refugees, but the fundraiser has already netted 2.189 million.

Maybe some of the money could be given to the dark-skinned father and son who found Paludan’s Mastercard in the street and handed it to him as he spoke into the camera last July.

Most decent people would have given the gracious father and son a reward – like a bottle of red wine – but Paludan just accepted the card with a shrug.

Spammed on eboks

Lawyers blame shortage

Drunk teen rise

SOME 270,000 summerhouse owners have received a message via their e-boks from state-owned tourism organisation VisitDenmark encouraging them to rent out their property.

Many reported the message as spam, and VisitDenmark has apologised. Datatilsynet is investigating whether the email breached the data law.

LANDSFORENINGEN af Forsvarsadvokater, the national association of defence lawyers, blames staff shortages at the country’s prisons for their lack of preparedness for serious crime cases. Due to the shortages they are often unable to see their high security-risk clients. The Fængselsforbundet prison officer association concedes it is lacking 167 staff.

AN INCREASING number of Danish teens are getting drunk compared to 2014, according to the Sundhedsstyrelsen health authority. Some 84 and 82 percent of 15-year-old boys and girls drank alcohol in 2018 – up from 77 and 74 percent in 2014. A quarter of the boys drink alcohol every week; 38 percent of the girls got drunk at least twice last year.

A FATHER and his two children drowned in Ise Fjord near the hamlet of Nakke in north Zealand. The family failed to return after setting sail from Frederiksværk on the previous day. A search was launched across a huge expanse of water. The deceased children were 13 and 11.

The ultimate abstainers NO PARTY in Denmark abstains from voting in Parliament as much as Socialdemokratiet, according to DR. Since the last general election, S has together abstained 96 times, including on the contentions ‘handshake’ law, the Lindholm island asylum centre, and reducing the integration grant by 3 percent last April. Dansk Folkeparti is the least likely party to abstain.

Blocked by the church A LOCAL farmer in Ølsted in eastern Jutland has been trying for nine years to obtain permission to plant a 12-hectare oak and beech wood on his own land.

However, although local people and the local church are behind the move, Haderslev diocese has used a 30-year-old law to stop him because the trees would block the public’s view of the church.

Major passport error SOME 228,000 Danes might need new passports as it has been discovered that the fingerprints for the right hand are saved as the left hand and vice versa. The erroneous passports were issued between 2014 and 2017, and the mistake was discovered in 2017.

The police are looking into whether new passports will be required.

NEWS

3 - 16 May 2019

ONLINE THIS WEEK Official enquiry ordered

Flown in from London

7 BESTSELLER

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Tragedy strikes country’s richest man Three of Bestseller chief executive Anders Holch Povlsen’s four children perished in the multiple bomb blasts in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday CHRISTIAN WENANDE

Glassed up in Randers

Take one class of Greenlandic kids ...

DANISH conceptual artist Kristian von Hornsleth is exhibiting four drug-addicted, homeless Londoners in glass displays at Randers Art Museum as part of his ‘Super Crash’ exhibition running until July 28. All four had never left the UK before. To date they have shared 30,000 kroner for taking part.

THE GOVERNMENT has ordered an official enquiry into why 22 children aged 5-8 from Greenland were shipped off to Denmark in 1951 in a bid to turn them into role models for a new bilingual school system. The scheme mostly had negative consequences. Many ended up in children’s homes, claiming the experience scarred them for life.

Russian tabs unlikely THE FORSVARETS Efterretningstjeneste intelligence agency estimates it is not very likely that Russia will interfere in the Danish General Election, which will take place by June 17 at the latest, or the European elections on May 26. However, its threat assessment warns that Russia is likely to meddle in other countries in the build-up to the May elections and that this could influence Danish voters.

From Aarhus to Accra SEVERAL containers filled with superfluous Danish hospital equipment have been shipped out from Aarhus bound for Ghana.

The equipment is considered redundant

by Aarhus University Hospital due to the closure of the hospital on Nørrebrogade as the health sector prepares for the so-called super-hospitals to open. The items include operation lights and treatment beds.

Customs were ready

Escape to Germany?

THE TOLDSTYRELSEN customs service was prepared to stay open all night between April 12 and 13 in case British PM Theresa May could not convince her EU colleagues to grant a Brexit extension. It feared doubts would have set in should the UK have left without a deal. But on April 10, an extension until October 31 was granted.

GERMAN police detained 2,350 illegals in 2018 – up from 1,750 in 2016. Many, it is believed, are asylum-seekers rejected by Denmark. Last year, 2,835 went missing in Denmark. Germany can return the rejected asylum-seekers to Denmark, but if they don’t do so within six months, the person has the right to seek asylum in Germany.

All roads lead to China

Still a big aid donor

JONAS Liisberg, the state secretary for foreign policy at the Foreign Ministry, was among 5,000 representatives from more than 150 countries at the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Co-operation in Beijing from April 25-27.

Some 40 world leaders were in attendance.

Denmark is China’s only comprehensive strategic partner in the Nordic region.

DENMARK is one of just five of the 34 members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that has lived up to the UN goal of giving 0.7 percent of its GNI in development aid. The other four are Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg and the UK. The development minister, Ulla Tørnæs, praised a strict, cost-effective immigration policy for making it possible.

Targeted by blackmailers

Swissed off

AT LEAST two Danish food companies – meat giant Danish Crown and bakery outfit Schulstad Hatting – have been asked to pay 300,000 euros in cryptocurrency to stop their supermarkets goods from being poisoned. Companies in Italy and Sweden have also been targeted. It is believed the demands originated from Ghent, Belgium.

THE TAX minister, Karsten Lauritzen, has expressed his disappointment with Switzerland for harbouring 800 Danes who owe Denmark around 175 million kroner in unpaid taxes. Two years of talks recently failed to seal a reciprocal agreement. Lauritzen called the situation “despicable”.

T

HE THREE Danish citizens killed in multiple bomb blasts in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday were three of the four children of Denmark’s wealthiest man, Bestseller chief executive Anders Holch Povlsen.

The clothing giant confirmed that the children were among the 253 people killed in the co-ordinated attacks in which suicide bombers detonated bombs in hotels and churches in Colombo, Dehiwela and Negombo.

PM shows solidarity DANISH PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen condemned the attacks, saying that they “filled him with pain and sorrow and that all of Denmark stands united with those families who lost their loved ones”.

Rasmussen attended a gathering in

Bereaved father Anders Holch Povlsen

Copenhagen’s Kongens Nytorv to show solidarity with Sri Lanka, which was arranged by eight political youth organisations from across the political spectrum.

An event also took place in Odense, and a silent torchlight procession took place in Stavtrup, the Aarhus suburb where the Povlsen family comes from.

Aircraft assistance A DEFENCE aircraft has been deployed to Colombo to offer crisis assistance to those in need and establish a temporary help desk in the Sri Lankan capital.

The Foreign Ministry estimates that there are upwards of 2,000 Danes currently in Sri Lanka.

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ONLINE THIS WEEK COPENHAGEN Municipality has unveiled a new strategy to provide healthier and more plantbased food to its schools, daycare institutions and elderly homes, whilst avoiding food waste. In related news, Venstre has set up a working group to investigate how to scrap the VAT payable on food given away by retailers.

More vaccinations MORE DANISH children are getting vaccinated as part of the national børnevaccinationsprogram, according to the Health and Elderly Ministry – vindication that increased spending in the area is working.

Furthermore, there has been a 20 percent increase in young females getting the HPV cervical cancer vaccine.

Mapping Denmark in sound A UNIVERSITY of Copenhagen project, ‘Lyden af Danmark’, wants to map Denmark – in sound. It encourages Danes to download an app and make 30-second recordings of their neighbourhood.

Crown Princess Mary has already made a contribution. An AI filter will analyse the sounds and learn over time to distinguish between natural and man-made audio.

Victims of 1534 battle A MASS grave has been discovered in central Aalborg during work to lay down new sewer pipes, and archaeologists have dated ten male skeletons to 1534. Based on the sustained injuries, they are confident they were killed in the storming of Alborg during the ‘Count’s War’ (Grevens Fejde), a three-year civil war that concluded in 1536.

Multiple MRSA infections SJÆLLANDS Universitetshospital in Roskilde has tested young visitors to its neonatal department since March 3 for the MRSA bacteria. So far, six babies have been found to be infected and suffering, while another five were found to be healthy carriers.

Willing to pay for a sustainable future PXHERE

New food strategy

3 - 16 May 2019

Most Danes would dig into their own pockets to live in greener buildings and use CO2-neutral public transport STEPHEN GADD

D

ANES ARE willing to pay for sustainable initiatives out of their own pockets, a survey from Rambøll Consultants and UserNeeds reveals.

Three out of four people said they would accept a rent increase of around 100 kroner per month to reduce energy use in their homes, and 20 percent would go as far as paying an extra 1,400 kroner per month.

Transport shake-up SOME 52 percent would pay 5 percent more for CO2-neutral public transport, and more than 25 percent would be willing to accept a 25 percent increase in ticket prices. In addition, 62 percent would like to see diesel vehicles forbidden in city centres in three to years.

Most people would also be prepared to sacrifice a car lane to give more space to cyclists and buses. There are even 36 percent who support road pricing.

THE FISHERIES minister, Eva Kjer Hansen, has been asked to explain why a handful of ‘fish barons’ have been granted privileged access to Danish mussel beds that others are not allowed to visit. In just one day, a trawler managed to haul in mussels worth around 1 million kroner in the spring of 2018. Danmarks Statistik reports that catches have halved sine 1996.

Concerns over soya

Are towering pagodas around the corner?

own responsibility, with 71 percent putting the onus on the private sector.

Council’s CO2 warning A NEW REPORT from the Klimarådet climate council concurs that Danes need to make major lifestyle changes.

Among other things, Danes need to fly less and consume less meat and animal products – one of the worst sinners when it comes to CO2 emissions.

The council would like to see the government use surcharges on CO2 emissions as a tool, but cautions that it would not be desirable that such surcharges merely moved the emission problem elsewhere.

climate change in the Arctic than targeting CO2.

Because the particles are black, they absorb sunlight when they end up in the Arctic, thus melting the ice at a quicker rate, he contends. Methane and ozone, likewise, are much easier to eradicate than CO2.

Target the soot!

HOWEVER, Professor Henrik Skov from Aarhus University claims that tackling soot particles would be a much more effective way of slowing down

Scourge of sightseeing IN OTHER climate news, the Det Økologiske Råd ecological council has pointed out that 25 out of the capital’s 27 sightseeing boats have diesel engines, which are highly pollutive.

Their combined annual nitrogen oxide emissions are the equivalent of a petrol-engined car going round the world 5,000 times.

Some councillors have questioned why the municipality has made a big effort to cut the pollution of its buses and harbour buses, but not requested the private sector to do the same.

Worries about the water

Ginger’s dark secret

Most engaged students

A NEW GEUS study reveals that 41.1 percent of the nation’s drinking water wells contain traces of pesticides or residues, while 11.4 percent had higher than recommended levels. In related news, HOFOR intends to build three waterworks by 2024 to make the capital’s water less hard. As the kettles caked in calcium and kettle fur suggest, hard water is worse for the environment.

THE CHANCES of having a miscarriage are much greater if large quantities of ginger are consumed – bad news for those who use it to combat morning sickness. Tests on rats at the DTU revealed the tendency but did not confirm the harmful substances in the ginger. The Fødevarestyrelsen food authority has warned pregnant women to avoid ginger shots and supplements.

MOLECULAR biomedicine students are the most engaged in their subject, according to a survey of 100,000 people at Danish universities. Some 96 percent said their co-students were dedicated. Completing the top five were animation, anthropology, health (master’s) and architecture. Software development students were the least engaged with a rating of 48 percent.

State must step up MOST RESPONDENTS agreed that more should be done in the public sector – especially in the fields of energy, building and transport, with 88 percent saying it was the state’s responsibility to ensure sustainable development in their cities.

On the other hand, 41 percent feel this is primarily their

Out-muscled on mussels

DENMARK is importing thousands of tonnes of soya from Argentine plantations that are making locals terminally ill, reports Danwatch. People living in or near the plantations had a higher prevalence of cancer and had more children with deformities.

Denmark imports about 650,000 tonnes of the soya every year.

Ancient crisps packet A CHANCE discovery of a Kims crisps packet with a use-by date of 2 October 1978 has drawn attention to how long it takes for plastic to break down in nature.

The teacher who found the item told TV2: “The bag is actually as old as I am, and it is the bag that has changed the least over the more than 40 years.”

Let’s get physio!

SOME 468,280 people saw a physiotherapist last year, according to Danske Regioner – an increase of almost 100,000 from a decade ago. Experts contend that GPs are more inclined to refer patients to ease their workloads, and that the public are happier to pay fees not covered by insurance. Problems with the back, hip and shoulders are the most common complaints.

Phone charger perils DR PROGRAM Kontant has tested eleven mobile phone chargers available on the Danish market and found that five are dangerous and capable of causing fires or electrocution. Another test carried out by Sikkerhedsstyrelsen found 150 of 350 to be dangerous. However, while the authority has the power to fine the importers and distributors, so far it hasn’t.

3 - 16 May 2019

ONLINE THIS WEEK OLIVER Bjorkstrand remains the only Dane in contention to win the Stanley Cup. While his side, Columbus Blue Jackets, advanced to the second playoff round, Nikolay Ehlers, Frederik Andersen and Lars Eller were all knocked out. Next up for Columbus are the Boston Bruins. Meanwhile, Mikkel Bødker has confirmed he will play for Denmark in this month’s IIHF World Championship.

Viktor takes a stand SINCE FC Copenhagen forward Viktor Fischer voiced his disgust at OB Odense fans for singing homophobic chants during a game in early April, a number of sports authorities have weighed in on the issue, including the DBU, which has fined both OB and Brøndby.

X Factor eludes CIS student

Hjalte Froholdt has become the first Dane to be drafted into the NFL since Morten Andersen in 1982

I

N 1982 MORTEN Andersen became the first Dane to be drafted into the NFL. He later went on to be one of the most prolific kickers in league history, racking up a number of records and eventually being inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.

Some 37 years later, Hjalte Froholdt has become only the second Dane to be drafted. He was selected by the reigning Super Bowl champs, the New England Patriots, in the fourth round as the 118th overall pick.

“It’s been a dream of mine for a long time – one that really came to reality a couple of years ago when I thought I could do this. But I’m so excited and

MOST MEDIA gave Michelle Obama’s April 9 appearance at Royal Arena to promote her book event a poor rating.

Many compared it to a daytime women’s talk show, blaming the host Rachael Ray for asking lame questions.

Big win for Jacob JACOB Fuglsang soloed his way to the first Monument victory of his career on April 28: the Liège-Bastogne-Liège race.

thankful for this opportunity. It still hasn’t really hit me yet. But I’m really grateful,” Froholdt told CBS Boston.

A quick learner FROHOLDT, a 139-kilo offensive guard out of the University of Arkansas, didn’t play properly until he was a sophomore in high

school in the US on exchange.

Now, he will be lining up to protect legendary quarterback Tom Brady, who is just fresh off his sixth Super Bowl title last season.

It not a stretch to say that the Patriots fan base in Denmark has increased by about 10,000 percent since the April 27 selection.

Von Trier loves Freddy

Another Bond baddie SANNA SJÖSWÄRD

Thumbs down for Obama

It sure helps having three legs

HASSE FERROLD

WITH FOUR games left to play, FC Copenhagen can seal the Superliga title with a win at home against rivals Brøndby on May 5.

In related news, FCK has already won the eSuperliga title thanks to a 6-2 defeat of Brøndby in the final.

THE HBO Nordic streaming site crashed following the release of the first episode of the final season of ‘Game of Thrones’ on April 15, leaving the door open for C More, which also holds the rights, to beat its all-time one-day sales record by 30 percent. HBO Nordic laughed it off, saying it had been “invaded by the Night King and his army of the dead”.

Spinal Tap connection?

First Euro wrestling gold

FCK closing in

9

HBO hits the wall

CHRISTIAN WENANDE

UNITED WORLD WRESTLING

CIS STUDENT Benjamin Rosenbohm, 16, an expat with a German mother and Madagascan father, came up short in the final of ‘X Factor’ ahead of the Easter break, losing to Kristian Kjærlund from Thomas Blachman’s over-23s stable.

In the footsteps of the immortal TWITTER

Stanley dreams alive

NEWS

FANS OF ‘This is Spinal Tap’ might have noticed there is a new Danish musical called ‘Jack the Ripper: The Musical’ – an idea proposed in a scene from the 1984 film in which the band members sing the lines “Saucy Jack, you’re a naughty one, Saucy Jack, you’re a haughty one.”

The musical is playing at the Folketeatret Store Turnéscene in Bellahøj until May 11.

Vulnerable to knee injuries FEMALE FOOTBALLERS are two to five times more likely to suffer cruciate ligament injuries than men. The equivalent of 20 percent of the players in the top flight will suffer the injury at some point in their careers. Research in Norway suggests the rate could be cut by 50 percent with preventative training – mostly to strengthen the thighs, which serve to protect the ligament.

Tauson’s WTA debut Bringing home the bacon

Von Trier takes the hand

Dencik ready to battle Bond

WHEN RAJBEK Bisultanov was 12, he fled war-torn Chechnya with his family and ended up in Herning, Denmark, a place where he faced new barriers and challenges in the form of language and culture. Now 23, just over a decade later, the former refugee has done something no Dane has managed to do in almost a century: bring home a European title in wrestling. Bisultanov won the title in the 82-kilo class in Bucharest, beating Lasha Gobadze of Georgia 4-3 in a riveting final. His victory was all the more impressive given he has only been wrestling at a senior level for just one year. (CW)

DAVID Bowie, LS Lowry, Albert Finney, TE Lawrence, Harold Pinter – that’s the ultimate anti-establishment fivea-side team. All of them turned down the chance to shake the British establishment by the hand and accept a knighthood.

So surely Lars von Trier, an arch Republican, would do the same?

No! Last month the queen handed him the Rungstedlund Prize – a culture award in honour of Karen Blixen. “I want to say to her majesty that, in hopefully a very long time from now, we will get a really, really good and nice king,” he said. “And that’s coming from a Republican.” (BH)

UP UNTIL the Pierce Brosnan era, the Danes didn’t get a look-in when it came to villainous James Bond roles. But since Ulrich Thomsen’s appearance in ‘The World Is Not Enough’ in 1999, the roles have been pouring in, and the news that Danish-Swedish actor David Dencik will play a baddie in the next film takes the number up to four in the last eight. The Danes came into their own with Daniel Craig.

Mads Mikkelsen played the main villain in ‘Casino Royale’, and Jesper Christensen had a quieter role in the same film, which he continued in ‘Quantum of Solace’ and ‘Spectre’. (BH)

READ THE REST OF THESE STORIES AT CPHPOST.DK

CLARA Tauson played her first ever WTA match at the Samsung Open in Switzerland, but came up short to Evgeniya Rodina, the Russian world number 69.

Nevertheless, Tauson is now in the world’s top 400. Meanwhile, Caroline Wozniacki made her first final of the year at the Volvo Car Open in Charleston, but lost to Madison Keys.

Rafael on the oche FORMER Dutch footballer Rafael van der Vaart, a FC Midtjylland player until recently, is taking part in the Denmark Open & Masters in darts from May 4-5 in Esbjerg. His brother, Fernando, is also a darts player.

10 BUSINESS

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

ONLINE THIS WEEK

CARLSBERG is overhauling its brand in the UK. By focusing on quality rather than quantity, it wants to change the way people think about the beer. It will turn its ‘Probably’ slogan on its head, arguing instead that it is ‘probably not’ the best lager in the world – thus enabling it to inform British drinkers about the changes it makes.

Aviation aid accusation A NGO EXECUTIVE has accused Denmark of indirectly supporting the aviation industry by not introduced extra tariffs on flights in order to compensate for commercial aviation’s contribution towards global warming.

Bill Hemmings, the head of the aviation arm of Transport & Environment, urges Denmark to follow the lead of Sweden and Norway.

Houses overtake flats HOUSE prices are rising at a faster rate than apartments for the first time in four years, and housing economists say it’s a healthy development. Not only can the development be seen with houses in the big cities, but across the country. Over the first quarter of 2019, the average rise was 2.0 percent, while flat prices only increased by 1.7 percent.

Authorities in trouble THE DANISH and Estonian financial supervisory authorities together committed four breaches of EU law (two Danish, one Estonian, one shared) in connection with their handling of Danske Bank’s money-laundering case, according to a report prepared by the EU Banking Authority.

Billund best again FOR THE second year on the trot, Billund Airport in Jutland has scooped the award for the best small European airport (with total passenger numbers of less than 4 million) at developing new routes.

ONLINE THIS WEEK

Foreign worker quotient likely to increase PIXABAY

Probably not the best

3 - 16 May 2019

With the number of non-western and eastern European employees soaring, municipalities are doing their best to make them feel welcome and capitalise

A

RECORD 384,000 foreigners worked in Denmark in 2018 – the equivalent of every tenth worker, according to the Dansk Erhverv business interest group.

Its spokesperson Peter Halkær predicts this is only the beginning, as “in comparison to other countries, the share of foreigners in the Danish labour market isn’t particularly high and it will likely increase further.”

About every third employee within agriculture, forestry and fishing is foreign, and internationals also make up a large proportion of those working in the restaurant, hotel and cleaning industries.

Reduced immigrant cost INCREASINGLY, immigrants with non-western backgrounds are pulling their weight, according to the Finance Ministry, as more are finding work.

An analysis of the data of 719,000 people’s income tax and state benefits reveals that their cost to society fell from 35 to 30 billion kroner between 2015 and 2016 – the most recent stats as it takes time to compile them.

Eastern Europe boost THE NUMBER of workers from outside the Nordics is also soaring. According to jobindsats.

Verdos fires CEO VERDOS has fired its chief executive Kim Frimer after reports surfaced of malpractice at the energy company. Between 2000 and 2014 it over-invoiced customers to the tune of 440 million kroner. In other news, Flying Tiger chief executive Mette Maix has stepped down.

She is unhappy with recent changes, which included laying off 40 employees in February.

Chip-leading Swedes

More is being done to ensure foreigners have a softer landing

dk, the number of people from other EU countries living and working in Denmark has risen from 99,809 to 139,854 over the last four years.

While the number of workers from the six largest eastern European countries holding highly specialised positions or managerial jobs had risen to 6,525 by the end of 2017 – up threefold over the course of a decade.

Made to feel welcome THE MUNICIPALITIES are stepping up their game to make the workers feel at home.

Frederikshavn Municipality in north Jutland, for example, has employed a special relocation consultant who can answer

questions on things like school and daycare possibilities, dealing with the authorities and the Danish language.

Eyeing an opportunity VEJEN Municipality in south Jutland likewise assists non-Danish speakers in finding information on getting a bank account, CPR national insurance number and Danish courses.

The local mayor, Egon Fræhr, sees their presence as an opportunity. “We’d like to see institutions like our kindergartens and schools fill up so we don’t have to keep making cuts. We’d rather see the wheels of commerce turning nicely,” he told DR. (CPH POST)

Board game entering China Cost of data centres

Foreign graduate exodus

THE CHINESE Ministry of Education has approved the Danish company Gravity Board Games’ game series of the same name as official teaching material at 250,000 middle schools in China. In related news, Chinese police have conducted a raid on the workshop of Lepin, a toy company that continues to make copycat versions of Lego despite being told to cease production.

AROUND 6 percent of all new graduates leave Denmark to pursue their careers elsewhere, according to an Education and Research Ministry study, and most of them are foreigners.

The number of international students rose from 7,500 in 2004 to 22,000 in 2016 – and only a third end up staying. However, their tax income more than covers the expenses of those who leave.

THE FIVE data centres planned for Denmark will together use up 16 percent of Denmark’s electricity production by 2030, according to a report from the Klimarådet climate council. At least two new turbine parks will need to be built.

In related news, the construction of Apple’s new centre at Foulum (near Viborg in central Jutland) ground to a halt in mid-April – allegedly due to a contractor dispute.

NFC CHIPS are inserted into the finger, enabling somebody to scan for a mumber of purposes, such as building and transport access. But while 4,000 Swedes have a chip – roughly the length of a 50-øre coin, it is housed in a glass capsule so it is not rejected by the body – few Danes have one. The chips cannot be used for tracking purposes, as they cannot be read from long distances.

Posting a profit AN INCREASED focus on parcels has seen the Danish-Swedish postal group PostNord win back customers of late – particularly in Sweden – and for the first three months of 2019, it has managed to convert a 117 million kroner loss into a 39 million kroner profit.

Lost tax earnings THE TREASURY loses an estimated 4.4 billion kroner every year due to companies active in Denmark choosing to pay their corporation taxes in countries like Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Ireland, for example, demands only 12.5 percent compared to 22 percent in Denmark.

Heavy losses for Maersk MAERSK had a torrid year on the stock market in 2018. Not only did its own shares fall 24.5 percent, but Danske Bank, in which it holds a large stake, plummeted 46.6 percent – a loss for Maersk of 19.6 billion kroner.

INDIA

TRANQUEBAR

the pink fort by the singing waves

We sold it to the English 174 years ago, but it is still there. The Danish trading colony on Tamil Nadu’s coast is in need of a bit of tender loving care, but its situation and provenance are unique

By Eric Schoon, Translation: Stephen Gadd

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enmark was never a major player amongst the colonial powers of the past. Our acquisitions were few and small and mainly had the character of fortified trading posts. This also applied to the Danish trading colony in Tranquebar, situated on the Coromandel coast in what is now Tamil Nadu around 300 km south of Madras (now called Chennai).

It was the Danish king Christian IV (1588-1648) who had major colonial ambitions for his kingdom. Denmark was a successful seafaring nation and Europe’s great powers were raking in money through their overseas conquests. Of course Denmark should be a part of this!

In 1618 the king sent the nobleman Ove Giedde to East Asia to lay the foundations of a Danish trading empire. Initially the ambitious goal was to obtain a monopoly on the trade with Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The plan failed and instead, negotiations started with the Naiken (king) of Tanjore about setting up a trading station at the fishing town of Tranquebar.

A YEARLY LEASE After long negotiations, agreement was reached that the Danes could rent the place for a yearly payment and in 1620, building

work began on the Dansborg fort. It was to be the centre for the Danish presence in the area. The fort became the second-largest in the kingdom – only surpassed by Kronborg in Helsingør.

To begin with it was sought-after Indian goods such as indigo dye and rare and exotic spices that passed through Tranquebar but very quickly, the fort became a port for trading with the whole of Asia.

Tranquebar remained in Danish hands for 225 years until it was sold to England in 1845. At various times there were up to 200 men stationed in Tranquebar.

DECAY AND A TSUNAMI I visited Tarangambadi (the present name of Tranquebar) that in the local tongue means ‘the place of the singing waves’ in August 2018. There are around 10,000 people living there who, directly or indirectly, make a living from coastal fishing.

The village seems a bit like India’s answer to ‘outer Denmark’ (or ‘seaside Denmark’ as the people in the thinly-populated areas of the provinces prefer to call it). It’s a long time – as in a very very long time – since the gods seriously smiled upon Tarangambadi.

INDIA

In 2004 the area was hard-hit by a tsunami that struck the coast of southeast Asia. The wave killed hundreds of people in the town and salt from seawater ruined fertile agricultural land up to two kilometres inland. The earth is still so contaminated that it is not possible to grow traditional crops.

In time the fishermen, whose traditional boats were smashed to matchwood in the catastrophe, have had them replaced with fibreglass boats but agricultural workers have not gotten their jobs back. In the years after the tsunami they have primarily been engaged in building a new tsunamiproofed fishing village further inland. As the home of a poor coastal fishing community, Tarangambadi is busy moving.

DEPRESSING POVERTY It is impossible to avoid seeing the extreme poverty in the area. After a long trip we stood on the beach contemplating the pink fort but there was destitution in all directions. An elderly woman sat on the beach sorting mussel shells – presumably in the hope of selling them to tourists.

The old harbour installations have been ruined by centuries of incessant burning and lack of maintenance and today stand as formless clumps of thick old redbrick walls. A wiry old man was washing himself at a waterpump on the old exercise yard in front of the fort. Goats were looking for vegetable remains in the town’s dustbins.

Desolation in the tropical paradise.

The old fort itself – Dansborg – is basically intact apart from the fact that the moat has disappeared over the years. The walls are intact and bear witness to more prosperous times. However, all the furnishings – including the bronze cannon – disappeared a very long time ago so there is not much left that hints at how life was lived in this

tropical part of Denmark, back when it smelled of gunpowder, horse manure, sweat and curry ...

INSPIRATIONAL POSSIBILITIES There is actually a little museum at the fort but in truth it’s nothing to write home about, however indulgent you feel when you see the motley collection of effects with (or without) any connection to the place.

After visiting the fort we went to get something to eat in the town’s only restaurant. It was situated in the British governor’s residence opposite the fort. We were presented with a menu and told that we could choose anything … as long as we chose prawns.

In the middle of all this melancholia, I still can’t shake off the idea that the place is inspiring; not least because of the obviously enormous potential there could be in developing a tourist attraction with some genuine content and not just a mass of glass, steel and concrete.

As I said before, the old fort is largely intact. The same goes for the church and quite a number of the old buildings that still fit the original old town plan – and the whole ensemble is situated on a tropical coast where the azure waves break on an unspoilt sandy beach.

It definitely should be possible to create an authentic tourist attraction with a fully-restored fort and attendant garrison town with Danish names on the cobbled streets; a high-end tourist destination that celebrates the historic ties between India and Europe and creates a lot of real local jobs; and a place where people from all over the world can feel the breath of history and wallow in everything that the cultural meeting between east and west can dish up in the form of culinary experiences, nature, high culture, bathing beaches, sunny climate and exotic drinks in the tropical night.

AMBITIOUS PEOPLE WANTED Where else would you otherwise be able to relive a slice of colonial reality with the same authenticity as here? Most of it has long since been swallowed up by the explosive growth of the big cities, but in Tarangambadi it’s still mostly intact but worn down, still there and waiting to be resurrected in a new role.

I don’t know what is on the cards for Tranquebar but I sincerely hope it will catch the eye of people with sufficient means and ambitious visions so that there will be rather more on the menu than prawns when at some stage I return old and crook-backed to experience the moment when the sun rises over the Indian Ocean and directs its warming rays on the walls of Dansborg.

INDIA

INDIAN MEAT-EAT ING HABITS There is a huge difference in almost every way between our bulging supermarkets and their vast selection of ready-packaged meat and the process involved in buying a freshly-slaughtered chicken for dinner in India

By Eric Schoon, Translation: Stephen Gadd

A

large printed banner at the roadside with clear pictures of living poultry leaves absolutely no doubt that the shop sells pot-ready chicken. The premises is a modest building around two metres wide and seven metres deep. It is constructed of thinly plastered walls with a roof of palm leaves.

Both lighting and ventilation occur naturally from the ramshackle walls. The floor consists of the earth the building stands on.

In front of it are a couple of rusty iron cages stacked on top of each other where a small selection of living chickens destined for slaughter are clucking about.

Out towards the road is the shop itself that is less than five square metres. A Hindu swastika decorates the wall – painted in the hope that it will please the gods.

The back room – separated from the shop by a curtain – contains a small chicken coop with 20 little chickens, butchering and processing facilities,

along with a digital scales. Not surprisingly, there is an acrid smell like that of a chicken coop.

A SIMPLE CONCEPT Harshal Venkatesan, a young man in his early twenties dressed in shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops, receives me smilingly in front of the shop. He is the son of the owner and is also responsible for rearing the chickens. “We have the best chickens in Nakkambadi,” he assures me.

The business concept is simple. You choose a chicken you like the look of, Harshal weighs it and you decide whether the price, quantity and quality measures up to your expectations. When the decision to purchase is made, there is no going back.

Harshal takes the chosen bird into the back room, pulls a blue plastic barrel out onto the floor and with a deep and quick cut, slits the throat of the chicken

just before he lets it fall into the empty barrel, and puts the lid on.

The plastic barrel is used primarily for practical reasons. Even though in reality a chicken is stone dead a few seconds after the lethal cut, it still has a habit of thrashing around violently for a couple of minutes before the body’s energy ebbs away. That’s why they end up in the barrels. The alternative would be the newly-slaughtered chicken flapping wildly round the entire room, spreading panic amongst the flock of living chickens and making a frightful mess of chicken blood and excrement everywhere.

So it is practical to avoid this, even though from a purely hygiene point of view it hardly makes a lot of difference worrying about mess in a slaughterhouse with an earth floor and live chickens.

The chicken’s death-throes in the otherwise empty barrel echo round the room like an out-of-

INDIA sync drumming – almost like popcorn in a microwave. Harshal chats with his customers in a relaxed way during the bizarre concert, and when the thumps from the barrel begin to slow down, he goes out into the back room again to get the chicken ready for the pot.

It ends up on a little table where he quickly relieves it of its head, legs and wings before, with a few practised cuts, removing the skin and emptying the entrails. The chicken is then put into a thin plastic bag, and if the customer wishes, the loose bits are put into a separate bag. Anything that is not eaten can be used as fertiliser.

A VERY ORGANIC PROCESS Harshal dries off the table, his hands and the knife that he has been using for everything with a cloth – or rather, the cloth. There is only one of them. There is no running water in the room, no chemicals. Everything is very organic.

The customer settles up for the chicken and goes straight home to prepare dinner. The price for this particular bird – which a second before it was slaughtered weighed 1.5 kilos – is 180 rupees. At the current rate of exchange that is around 17 kronerv – a third of a day’s wage for a school teacher, but a whole day’s wage for a domestic help.

“Nobody buys meat in a supermarket here,” explains Harshal. “We don’t trust pre-packed meat when it comes to freshness.” On an ordinary day Harshal sells around 20 chickens and all his customers are local housewives.

PRAGMATIC VEGETARIANS “Many westerners believe that most Indians are vegetarians for religious reasons,” said Jayachandran VG, who after 30 years as a professional tourist guide has the answers to most questions and is happy to discuss the local eating habits with me.

“It’s not true! There is nothing in our religion that forces us to be vegetarians.

On the other hand, being vegetarian is associated with high status. It’s simply more expensive to live as a vegetarian than to supplement the diet with meat – first and foremost chicken and fish – when the opportunity arises.”

The typical Indian understanding of the term ‘vegetarian’ includes the eating of vegetables and milk products but no form of meat or eggs. Because of the social status that being a vegetarian gives, many Indians don’t tell the whole truth when it comes to answering questions about their dietary habits.

They are ashamed of being meat-eaters and especially about their intake of beef – which has a special religious status in Hinduism and is very much under-reported in questionnaires. So nobody really knows what proportion of Indians are vegetarians in the proper sense of the word. Jayachandran estimates around 20 percent.

MAINLY POULTRY AND FISH On the other hand, it can be said with a reasonably high degree of accuracy that the average Indian consumes around 10-15 grams of meat per day – so under 100 grams per week, which is less than 10 percent of that consumed by the average Dane. In addition, it is mostly poultry and fish that is eaten – the types of meat that we the eat least of. Processed meat in the form of, for example, frozen dishes, sausages or charcuterie is almost non-existent. All the meat is in principle taken home fresh and is preferably alive in the shop.

In reality, the majority of Indians are close to being de facto vegetarians – at least in comparison to us – not out of religious considerations, not because of consideration for animal welfare or health, but for economic and social reasons. Relative to comparative purchasing power, the fact that a freshlyslaughtered chicken costs 17 kroner in India equates to 400-500 kroner in Denmark.

“Would Danes eat less chicken if it cost the same relative to an individual’s income as here,” Jayachandran asked rhetorically.

To the question of how many Indians are actually vegans, I’m met with a slightly quizzical look. “None … or maybe a very few of the super-rich! We’ve neither the money nor the desire to be!”

COMMUNITY

3 - 16 May 2019

11

A recent exhibition showcased acclaimed photographer Sorin Onișor’s take on rural Romania

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ONTINUING the series of cultural events organised to mark Romania’s presidency of the Council of the European Union, March 22 saw the opening of an exhibition entitled ‘Bucovina – a Romanian Winter Fairytale’ at the residence of the Romanian

ambassador in Denmark, Mihai-Alexandru Gradinar (dark suit).

The photos on display were taken by Sorin Onişor (red shirt) and four graduates from the Danish photo school Fatamorgana: Anna Tarp Klode, Amalie Dollerup Lorentzen, Lina Elvekjær Biehl and Johan Buch.

Rural existence AS ONE of Romania’s most

acclaimed photographers, Onișor has made snapping the Romanian countryside and its picturesque villages something of a speciality. For the past 15 years his pictures advocating the beauty of rural life have been shown throughout the world.

The photographers spent a week together in Romania to capture different aspects of village life.

Locked and ready, but on this occasion Onişor (right) was beaten to the flash in the company of (left-right) Ambassador Gradinar, Danish MEP Candidate Bergur Løkke Rasmussen and the Romanian ambassador’s wife Andreea

An enthusiastic and appreciative crowd turned out for the opening of the exhibition

A real winter wonderland – a sleigh ride through the winter snow, by Sorin Onișor

ROMANIAN EMBASSY

Among the ambassadors presented to the photographer (centre left) were (left-right from second left) Ginte Damusis (Lithuania), Alda Vanage (Latvia), Gradinar, Fatema Almazrouei (UAE) and, on the right, Muhammad Muhith (Bangladesh)

ALL PHOTOS UNLESS STATED: HASSE FERROLD

A Romanian winter fairytale in pictures

12 OPINION

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

MARTINA FACINO Martina Facino works for a leading consultancy firm where she specialises in competition economics and maintains a strong interest in macroeconomics. Using her master’s in economics and finance, she intends to focus on explaining macroeconomic concepts and describing them in the current context

I

NFLATION is the increase in prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.

Dangling carrots AN INCREASE in prices follows an increase in demand, as all goods are subject to scarcity.

Imagine a market where three people go to buy carrots. The merchant is selling only one bag of carrots and each of the three people has two euros to buy that bag. They will all try to get the carrots, but the merchant won’t sell them for more than two euros, otherwise no-one will buy them.

Now if these three people have four euros instead, they will offer more money to the merchant to try and get the bag of carrots. The merchant will find it optimal to sell the carrots at the higher price of four euros.

Normal service IN A FUNCTIONING economy it is normal to see a small increase in prices over the years.

As companies produce more goods, unemployment decreases and individuals get a better salary, which allows them to buy more goods, thus increasing the demand and pushing prices up.

Consequently, the rate of inflation (i.e how much prices increase from one year to the next) is a good indication of a well-functioning economy. Central banks monitor it closely and want to avoid the extreme cases of hyperinflation, when the carrot process gets too extreme, and deflation, when prices decrease over time.

The European Central Bank has a 2 percent inflation target, but at the moment inflation in the eurozone is below this target.

This indicates a general slowdown of the economy that has led to the bank injecting more money into the economy in recent years in order to stimulate spending.

STEPHEN GADD

Straight, No Chaser An Englishman abroad, Stephen has lived and worked in Denmark since 1978. His interests include music, art, cooking, real ale, politics and cats.

S

SCREENSHOT

ECONOMICS EXPLAINED

No longer enough A CONSEQUENCE of the general increase in prices is that the value of the currency decreases: when prices go up, people can buy less with the same amount of money. Going back to the market example, now two euros can’t buy a bag of carrots anymore.

Inflation is measured through a basket of goods and services representative of what an average person usually buys. It includes, for example, bread, cars and haircuts. The content of the basket varies across countries and is updated overtime as people’s habits change.

3 - 16 May 2019

PRING has sprung and along with the nice weather we have seen Rasmus Paludan – self-styled ‘soldier of freedom’, ‘protector of the weak’, ‘guardian of society’, ‘light of the Danes’ and leader of Stram Kurs (Hard Line) party – in full cry.

This trained lawyer tours Denmark staging demonstrations in primarily immigrant areas, burns or defaces copies of the Koran, and delivers outrageously offensive statements about Muslims and immigrants.

To the barricades!

PALUDAN insists he is exercising his freedom of speech rights as enshrined in the Danish constitution and anyone who doesn’t like it is anti-democratic or has no sense of humour.

But before succumbing to the arguments of this latter-day Voltaire, remember that rightwing populists who claim to be concerned with the protection of free speech seem basically only interested in one thing: the right to insult minorities – and Muslims in particular.

Additionally, Paludan’s demos leave riots, tear-gas, property damage and a massive bill for police protection in their wake.

Justice Ministry figures reveal the 17 so far held in 2019 have cost the taxpayer 6 million kroner and, if we also count the 53 in 2018, the total rises to 24 million kroner.

A sick joke THESE events are filmed, edited and released on his YouTube channel and receive thousands of ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ – especially from young people.

A lot of these youthful supporters seem to regard Paludan

The same brand of buffoonery perfected by Boris Johnson

primarily as entertainment – a great joke, a breath of fresh air compared to boring old ‘normal’ politicians. But some are of voting age.

Astute campaigning on the back of his social media success, plus massive publicity for a recent ‘event’ on Nørrebro’s Blågårds Plads that turned into a full-scale riot, has enabled Paludan to collect enough signatures to stand for Parliament.

Ignore him at your peril.

Almost a year and a half ago another non-politician with a grossly offensive line on immigrants – prone to wild exaggerations, downright lies, contempt for the established press and oafish behaviour towards women – was elected leader of the world’s biggest superpower. That probably seemed a bit of a lark at the time to some, but the joke has worn completely threadbare.

‘Can’ not ‘must’ IN A RECENT TV interview Justice Minister Søren Pape Poulsen urged people to ignore

the provocateur. If nobody takes the bait and turns up he will just disappear, was the message.

But is it that simple and, besides, what constitutes ‘freedom of speech’ as we understand it today? Are there – and should there be – any limits at all?

Back in 2005 Denmark had a seriously bruising brush with this dilemma over the ‘Mohammed Cartoons’ published in Jyllands-Posten newspaper, and the fall-out is still with us today.

In the US, the First Amendment protects freedom of speech, but over the years there have been a number of legal challenges. For example, Supreme Court verdicts say that it does not give people the right to incite actions that would harm others. On the other hand, you do have the right to use certain offensive words and phrases to convey political messages.

So it is well to remember that just because you are allowed to say what you like about a person’s religion, it doesn’t mean you always have to exercise that right.

OPINION

3 - 16 May 2019

ADRIAN MACKINDER

Mackindergarten British writer and performer Adrian Mackinder (adrianmackinder.co.uk) and his pregnant Danish wife moved from London to Copenhagen in September 2015. He now spends all his time wrestling with fatherhood, the unexpected culture clash and being an Englishman abroad.

An Actor’s Life

13

NEXT ISSUE

IAN BURNS

Living Faith REVD SMITHA PRASADAM IN 2 ISSUES

FLICKR/MATT BROWN

The Road Less Taken JESSICA ALEXANDER

Mishra’s Mishmash MRUTYUANJAI MISHRA IN 3 ISSUES

Crazier than Christmas VIVIENNE MCKEE

Early Rejser

“Never mind your fingers, has anyone seen my wife?”

O

KAY, I REALISE I’m fast running out of James Bond titles to convert into puns for the benefit of this column.

And that some of these are a bit of a stretch. Don’t blame me. Blame Ian Fleming for not writing more 007 adventures on account of being dead. Selfish really.

You can also blame Ben here at the Post. He started it and now we’re all locked in. So let’s just plough on, shall we?

Daughters are forever SOON I will become a father.

Again. We are welcoming a girl into the family.

Our son is three and a half.

He can now amuse himself, enjoy TV, have and play with friends, and not need constant surveillance. My wife and I have increasingly enjoyed more freedom to do things for us.

Naturally it made sense, then, to shut down these growing windows of opportunity and return to the eye of the storm by having another baby. To paraphrase someone much better at the guitar than me: it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of

my tunnel is just a freight train heading my way.

Am I ready? Yes and no. First time around, it was easier to prepare. There was nothing else to do but anticipate the life-changing, seismic life event of becoming a parent. Everything was ready: the pristine new cot; the carefully-prepared changing area; and the neatly-folded baby clothes. The whole place was spotless.

View to the swill THIS TIME around, after much fumbling around in the basement to retrieve all our old newborn stuff, now more than a little battle-damaged, I cannot see the cot, changing area or indeed my wife because everything is covered with bits of Lego and half-eaten biscuits.

I think we’re ready, but I won’t lie: we’re bringing this one into a daily tsunami of chaos. I guess this is what all parents having a second kid go through, but we haven’t, and it’s carnage.

It does, however, bring about a strange sense of calm. When she comes, she comes. We’ll deal with it, just like we deal with everything else – as best we can.

You only spawn twice ACTUALLY, I’m much more relaxed about this second coming. First-time parenting is a real white-knuckle ride. You’re always in the moment, flying blind with no frame of reference. Now we have the benefits of hindsight, experience and perspective. It’s reassuring to know that if I see our newborn juggling flamethrowers while gargling gin, I will now see this just as a phase and not panic.

I’m also looking forward to having a daughter. One of each.

Perfect. No need to roll the dice a third time. And if either decide to choose their gender down the line, that’s fine too.

But having a son brought with it lots of unexpected emotional issues for me. Second time, I have no hang-ups. I’m excited about the prospect of having a girl that will break my heart on a daily basis. Bring it on.

As I write this, she has yet to arrive. As you read this, she’ll hopefully be here. Another triumph for Anglo-Danish relations! Wish me luck. See you on the other side.

ADAM WELLS IN 4 ISSUES

Straight Up ZACH KHADUDU

A Dane Abroad KIRSTEN LOUISE PEDERSEN

14 COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

ABOUT TOWN

3 - 16 May 2019

PHOTOS BY HASSE FERROLD

The diplomatic corps were out in force on April 26 to bid farewell to Chinese ambassador Deng Ying at her embassy in Hellerup, who has made such a big impression during her relatively short stay in Copenhagen.

Among those saying goodbye was UAE ambassador Fatema Almazrouei.

Copenhagen Post CEO Hans Hermansen was among those to give the ambassador a departing gift: a special commemorative, tailor-made framed copy of the newspaper wishing her the best for the future – along with a few mentions of the recent panda-monium at Copenhagen Zoo

It was a time to be proud to be English at Peter Liep’s Hus on April 27, where the Royal Society of St George – Denmark Branch held a special dinner to mark St George’s Day four days earlier. Among those in attendance were (left-right) Ugandan ambassador Nimisha Jayant Madhvani, society president Simon Mears, Alexandra Countess of Frederiksborg, and British Chamber of Commerce president Gareth Garvey. Among the festivities were a special roast beef carving, which of course was served with Yorkshire pudding, and some heavy sampling of stilton and port

Two weeks earlier, Ambassador Ying was among those in attendance as Queen Margrethe II officially opened the new panda enclosure at Copenhagen Zoo. Also present were Crown Princess Mary, architect Bjarke Ingels (fourth left) and the zoo’s chair, Jørgen Horwitz (second left)

The weather wasn’t kind to this year’s Sakura Festival, which was held at Langelingie on April 27 and 28, but that didn’t deter many members of the diplomatic corps from turning out to enjoy the festivities and listen to the address of the organiser, the Japanese ambassador Toshiro Suzuki

And to complete a busy month for the Chinese Embassy, the Royal Danish Academy of Music hosted the premiere of ‘The Panda Suite’ by Zhang Shuai

PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen welcomed the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier to the University of Copenhagen on April 30, where he addressed those present

3 - 16 May 2019

COMMUNITY

15

South African ambassador Zindziswa Mandela (centre) assumed cake-cutting duties at the celebration of her country’s national day at Miklagaard Café & Steakhouse in Nordvest on April 26. As well as a large number of ambassadors, many black female South African winemakers were in attendance to show off the wares of their country

The 2017 French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen (seated), the head of the National Rally political party (which changed its name from National Front last June), was invited to speak by the Det Udenrigspolitiske Selskab foreign policy society at Berlingske Hus on April 26

Laurel and Hardy themselves – sorry, Danish MEP Morten Messerschmidt and his partner Dot Wessmann – were present at the Danish premiere of ‘Stan & Ollie’ at Dagmar Bio April 7

The Copenhagen Theatre Circle enjoyed a successful run of ‘An Inspector Calls’ at Krudttønden, which concluded on April 13. Next up is the Fringe Festival, which starts on May 2

Indian ambassador Ajit Gupte (grey suit) was among those present at a celebration of Holi, the festival of colours, at Docken on April 27

The Malaysian Danish Association recently held a ‘Muhibbah Potluck Dinner Party’. The potluck mostly referred to the nature of the games, not the food

16 HISTORY

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

3 - 16 May 2019

Bunker mentality: born out of the British bombardment, prolific in the Cold War Beneath our feet there are thousands of cavernous halls, which over the years have served as air force command centres, art galleries and band rehearsal studios PAUL MCNAMARA

F

ORMERLY used as command posts, air raid shelters, surveillance stations, radar stations and forts, Copenhagen’s underground bunkers are slowly being transformed into shops, galleries and even nightclubs opening their doors again.

Built to house government leaders, the reigning monarch, mayors, police chiefs and military personnel to ensure Denmark could operate in the event of war, Copenhagen’s secret bunkers, after years of being kept under wraps, are gradually opening their doors to an inquisitive public.

As in most other European capitals, city centre space is at a premium in Copenhagen. It is indicative of this problem that an increasing number of people are willing to consider locating their shops, clubs or galleries in a windowless, subterranean cellar up to five metres below street level. The bunkers are becoming increasingly popular with those seeking cheap, centrally located, albeit unorthodox property.

Mostly Cold War MOST OF the country’s military bunkers were constructed 60 years ago. With the Cold War at its height, Denmark was a frontline state, counting both Poland and East Germany among its near-neighbours. Worried that Copenhagen might be a prime target, the government took the decision to build some 2,000 bunkers, of which 1,000 were sited in Copenhagen.

Located mostly in parks and other public areas, the vast majority of Copenhagen’s underground shelters are empty, damp, poorly maintained and, on the whole, uninhabitable.

Popular conversions MANY ARE situated in what are now some of the most desirable areas of the city. Responsible for overseeing the bunkers, Copenhagen Municipality is turning these former white elephants into money-spinning enterpriser.

Those deemed to be in good enough condition are being rented out as shops, art spaces or clubs, and the municipality is also willing to rent them out for a weekend or just a single night. At Fælledparken some bands have been allowed to use the bunkers as rehearsal rooms, and this was a huge success.

Cavernous under Christiansborg SOME HAVE not been fully opened yet – take for example the network of corridors under Christiansborg, which were reportedly built as escape routes for politicians and royals to use during the war.

The tunnels are no longer used, but located pretty much under the prime minister’s office and the King’s Gate, close to Christiansborg Palace Church, there is a command centre where the government could lead the country.

The secret room dates back to the 1930s – not when the concern was war but rather a coup d’etat orchestrated by the Nazis or Communists.

Huge hospital in a hole SIMILARLY, under the old municipal hospital on Østre Farimagsgade is situated a 600 sqm emergency hospital built during the Cold War to be used in the event of a nuclear attack.

Back when it was built, it had the capacity to operate on 30 people at the same time. Inside the walls are painted a pastel green – designed to give off a luminescence to help people to see. Other walls are coloured a darker green because of its calming effect.

Today the hospital is obsolete, but it is sometimes used as a warehouse and sometimes for cultural events such as opera.

From pleasure zone to warzone: this beach has seen better times

Subterranean to the skies ONE OF the largest bunkers in the Copenhagen area was built in Rødovre in 1954 as a command centre for the Danish Air Force.

In the middle of the 1,300 sqm bunker is an operating room connected to radar stations that monitored the airspace and cannon and missile batteries around Copenhagen. The bunker was manned around the clock, ready for battle.

It was only in 2004 that the last employees left the bunker, and in 2012 it was opened to the

public as part of an experience centre in Vestvolden.

Potholes in the park ONE OF the most popular bunkers is situated in the middle of Copenhagen’s Faelledparken and, until recently, anyone could have rented it. The spacious underground cavern, with no neighbours to complain about the noise, was a huge favourite with the techno party crowd. It is still possible however to rent other bunkers for whatever reason through Hovedstadens Beredskab.

There’s a Tolkienesque look to Vestvolden in Rødovre

Close to Copenhagen Zoo, an innocuous looking entrance built into the lawns of Søndermarken public park houses a trendy art gallery and exhibition space, called Cisternerne.

The dark, cold and moist underground world beneath was formerly used as a large water reservoir containing 16 million litres of drinking water, which was dug out in 1856.

Other Copenhagen bunkers include one located by Dronning Louise’s Bridge, which for a while housed the special-

HISTORY

3 - 16 May 2019

ist occult bookshop Osculum Infame, and another on Sankt Hans Torv, where a second-hand clothes shop opened, retaining the original name, Bunker 301, although it has since then, like the Cold War, closed forever.

Bunkered in by the Brits SOME OF the bunkers have a story to tell that goes way beyond the 1950s. Although most structures date from that era, some were built in the early 1800s after the Danish capital suffered a firebombing in 1807.

During the Napoleonic wars, the British subjected the city to a bombardment that destroyed hundreds of buildings and injured many thousands of people, with at least 200 dead. Despite Denmark’s declared neutrality, the British rained shells and rockets on the city’s terrified inhabitants. Houses, apartments and entire buildings were ripped apart and reduced to rubble.

After the blitz was over, the civic authorities realised that many deaths could have been avoided if the citizens had somewhere to shelter. A project was envisaged to build vast underground halls to allow every Copenhagener a place of safety underground.

Although these plans never came to fruition, some evidence of the ambitious scheme remains.

Examples of early shelters can still be seen in inner city squares such as Israel Plads, Kongens Nytorv, and Christianshavn Torv,

17

where construction workers recently discovered what is thought to be an early shelter 10 metres below the surface.

Denmark’s largest TO FIND Denmark’s largest bunker, you need to venture outside the capital region to the west coast of Jutland. Named after a German battleship, the Tirpitz Bunker was originally supposed to defend the seaport of Esbjerg but never saw military action, and Nazi soldiers abandoned it in 1945 when the German surrendered.

For decades, it sat empty – a dark reminder of Nazi-occupied Denmark. However, in 2017, the BIG architecture firm expanded and redesigned the bunker to house a WWII museum.

Dubbed as ‘a sanctuary in the sand’, it delicately cuts into the neighbouring dunes, enabling plenty of daylight to shine into the underground space.

Despite being tucked away, the museum stretches across a generous 2,800 sqm floor plan, which includes four large exhibition spaces within and beyond the imposing cast-concrete bunker. And at the heart of the museum a central courtyard with six metre-high glass panels surrounds the space.

Warsaw Pact police ANOTHER Jutland bunker in use can be found close to the royal park of Marselisborg outside Aarhus. Currently under the

Access is blocked to Regan Vest: what a waste of a tunnel!

This place is the pits, or at least that’s what the founder of Tirpitz reportedly said when he named it

jurisdiction of the Maritime Intelligence Service, the structure was constructed by the Germans during WWII. Notable for its metre-thick walls, it was taken over by the intelligence service after the war as a place to chart the sea traffic – particularly Warsaw Pact ships and submarines – in the Baltic.

Today, with no enemy to keep tabs on, there is an air of neglect about the place. Most of the military staff have departed, and those who remain are concerned mostly with the monitoring of civil vessels. The formerly top-secret establishment is a favourite of visiting schools parties, and its very existence is currently under review.

Carved into a cliff MONITORING Warsaw Pact traffic was also the chief concern of a bunker carved into the cliffs at Stevns Klint just south of Copenhagen.

Built between 1950 and 1953, it included a 1.7km long corridor with rooms for hundreds of people, as well as a hospital and a chapel.

Its task was to control the Øresund. Together with the fort at Langeland, its purpose was to prevent the Warsaw Pact’s large fleet in the Baltic Sea from gaining access to the world’s oceans – by among other things stopping them from de-mining the minefields.

Fittingly today, it is now a Cold War Museum.

Speeding up the erosion process at Stevns Klint

Not so lucky OTHER bunkers have not been so lucky and been long since abandoned.

Some 60 metres beneath Rold Forest in Regan Vest near Aarhus, a bunker was built between 1963 and 1968 in case the government needed a Jutland base to manage a civilian crisis in the event of a military attack on Denmark.

Built in a lime pit blown into a hill, the bunker consists of 150 rooms and space for 350 people. With almost 2 km of walkways, tunnels and shafts, the bunker is huge. The last employees left here in 2003, and today there is no access to the bunker at all.

18 COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

OUT AND ABOUT

day (which most people call Lent …) and you’ll find carefully cut-out, decorative paper displays.

One tradition, the gækkebrev, involves sending somebody such a decoration in the post along with

held an event entitled ‘Easter Fun – Gæk gæk gæk’ on April 14.

Many families turned up to learn more and practise the art of meticulously cutting holes in paper for stunning visual effect.

COMING UP SOON

Overseeing the volunteers, without whose help these events would not be possible, was IHC co-ordinator Louise Simone Seest (right: second right).

DAVE SMITH

MZOPW

ICC

COMEDY NIGHT PHOTO

Laugh yourself silly at English Comedy Nights, where the line-up includes Irish comic Ger Staunton and British stand-up Kelsey de Almeida (May 7, 20:00; Dubliner Downtown, Ny Østergade 14, Cph K; 110kr, 190kr for two, billetto.dk)

a poem and the number of letters in their name, and if the recipient fails to identify you as the sender, they have to buy you an egg.

Anyhow, all this might help explain why International House Copenhagen

ALL PHOTOS: TANYA VINOGRADOVA

T

HE FIRST rule of Christmas in Denmark is that you don’t buy decorations. But did you know the same is true of Easter?

Walk into any home during the build-up to the big

3 - 16 May 2019

The legendary English rock band Procol Harum are giving a concert. Enjoy hits such as ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ ..., what, they had more than one?

(May 5, 18:00-22:00; Docken, Færgehavnsvej 35; 495kr; cityconcerts.dk)

Havana Nights offers a night of passion dedicated to salsa and bachata in the city centre just in front of Tivoli. Happy hour on mojitos from 19:30 to 21:00: buy one get one free (May 9 & 16, 20:00-01:00; The Old Irish Pub, Vesterbrogade 2D, Cph K; 60kr)

Culture Østerbro Network invites you to a screening of the Oscar-nominated ‘Manchester by the Sea’ (May 9, 19:00- 2 1 : 0 0 ; Østerbro Bibliotek, Dag Hammarskjolds Alle 19; free adm) PAUL MCNAMARA

ASHLEY DEASON / FLICKR

Enjoy a hilarious show of improvised comedy – and included in your ticket cost is one signature cocktail. The bar is open until 02:00 (May 3 & 10, 20:00-21:30; Copenhagen Improv, Frederiksholms Kanal 2, Cph K; 150kr; improvcomedy.eu)

The fourth and fifth episodes of the final season of ‘Game of Thrones’ are served with free popcorn.

Will Danny manage to take care of business and claim the iron throne? (May 6 & 13, 19:00 – 21:00; Studenterhuset, Købmagergade 52; free adm)

ON SCREENS

3 - 16 May 2019

19

He killed for fun, and now he’s ruined High Street Musical forever BEN HAMILTON

P

ETER Vronsky, the author of Sons of Cain: A History of Serial Killers from the Stone Age to the Present, blames traumatised fathers, not over-domineering mothers, for the huge rise in serial killers in the US between the 1960s and 80s. He speculates that servicemen who saw or participated in unspeakable horrors during World War II were never going to win too many ‘father of the year’ awards.

Vronsky predicts that another serial killer spree in around 2030 will be directly attributable to the scars left by the financial crisis of 2008.

Vicious, vile, viral TED BUNDY ticks the box for being of the right era – he was born in 1946. But paternity was never confirmed. As a killer well known for getting about a bit, apparently so did his mother, with any number of returning veterans in the frame as Teddy’s Daddy. Like Charles Manson and several others, his upbringing was more about having a permanently absent father than an absent-minded one. The tell-tale signs you’re bringing up a serial killer, in case you’re taking notes at home, are arson, cruelty to animals and bedwetting – all three and it’s time to call Clarice Starling.

You might never be able to swoon over High Street Musical again thanks to Zac Efron’s decision to play Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (Netflix from May 3). In the

trailer, he looks frighteningly convincing. Presumably it’s believed that enough time has passed for a high-profile portrayal of Bundy on screen, but he was so very vile and the wounds are deep – not least due to the publicity he engineered. Unlike most killers, who when caught can’t wait to hold court about how omnipotent they are, Bundy went for the real thing, defending himself on several occasions – and the trials were often televised. He was both vile and viral.

But will the film be as upsetting as Chernobyl (HBO Nordic from May 7), a miniseries about the 1986 disaster starring Jared Harris, Emily Watson and Stellan Skarsgård. From the trailer, it really does look ghastly – in a good way, if there is such a thing. But sometimes harrowing is what we need to learn the lessons of the past.

The real Hollywood hustle THE SAME can’t be said about the dreary Ghostbusters with busts and Ocean’s 8 with plaits, as the gender-reversal trend is still going strong, with 1988 classic comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels the next on the penis chopping board. Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson have taken over the roles played by Michael Caine and Steve Martin in The Hustle (Not Released Worldwide; May 9), and presumably if this is a faithful remake, they’ll be out-smarted by a man who they underestimated.

The problem with these films is that almost every new release these

days is scrutinised in similar vein.

For example, is Wine Country (May 10 from Netflix), in which a group of 50-something women (where Amy Poehler goes, Tina Fey is bound to follow) head off to sample vino and winos, a remake of Sideways? And is Long Shot (71; May 2), in which the US president-elect (Charlize Theron) falls for a lowly speechwriter (Seth Rogen) revisiting The American President?

In the latter’s case, it’s a no, although it does play out like a 1990s romcom, but fortunately Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) is at hand to raise the laugh quota as the president Mostly crying shames ROUNDING up the rest of the film releases, nobody is onboard to save The Last Summer (Netflix from May 3), a forgettable looking romcom about kids enjoying their last summer before adulthood – like that’s a set date or something.

Coming out on Netflix on the same date, Spanish dramedy A pesar de todo (‘Despite Everything’ in English) looks more promising.

There are echoes of Mama Mia as four very different sisters discover they all have different fathers via a video message from their now deceased mother.

Who knows, maybe it will be remade into English and do its best to halve its Metacritic score like Miss Bala, a 2011 Mexican thriller in which a young woman is coerced into working for a

Why’s Ted holding a seven-inch serrated hunting knife in his right hand?

drug cartel as an assassin. While the original is morally ambiguous, the 2019 version (41; May 9) is a tale of female empowerment. It’s strong leads, innit.

Neil Jordan gave us one of those in The Crying Game ... or at least he’s making up for it with Greta (53; May 2) in which Isabelle Huppert does her best to stalk Chloë Grace Moretz after deliberately leaving her bag on a train so she can torment the do-gooder who hands it back. You just have to love films like this (The Hitcher was another), which effectively warn us that it’s pointless being decent.

Stark back and in pole position SEAN BEAN learnt this lesson as Ned Stark, so hopefully he’ll have better luck in Curfew (HBO Nordic from May 15), a cult classic in the making that won’t be to everyone’s taste. It’s like The Cannonball Run, but with zombies. Nobody’s undead in Dead to Me (Netflix from May 3), just a wife (Christina Appelgate) recovering from the death of a husband who quickly

gets irritated by all the sympathy.

While Chris O’Dowd and Rosamund Pike’s marriage is on its last legs in State of the Union (HBO Nordic from May 7), a promising comedy with an interesting back story-heavy narrative.

Elsewhere, Undercover (Netflix from May 3) is a compelling Dutch police infiltration drama that looks 100 times more convincing that most UK and US series; Lucifer (S4, Netflix from May 8) and Channel Zero (S4, HBO Nordic from May 2) are returning; the recent staging of the podcast My Dad wrote a Porno (HBO Nordic from May 12) has been televised; Lord of the Flies gets the small town treatment in The Society (Netflix from May 10); and Saw has been resurrected as Flinch (Netflix from May 3), a game show in which contestants are challenged not to react to stressful situations.

Contrary to fears, the Saw franchise didn’t end up spawning a new generation of serial killers – although you could argue its crimes against cinema were far worse.

DANISH ON A SUNDAY Twice a month we invite you to experience a Danish classic or critically acclaimed new production with English subtitles or dialogue. On May 19th: The award-winning drama ‘A Fortunate Man’.

We present some 50 films with English dialogue or subtitles every month.

See what’s on at cinemateket.dk or visit us in Gothersgade 55

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