Xtra Diary: London Mayor Boris Johnson gets ready for Chinese New Year celebrations

Published: 29 January 2010

A tigerish Boris!

WHILE most of us have already broken our resolutions and the self-improving mantras have been banished to the unconscious, Chinatown is still waiting for its new year. 
Boris Johnson was out doing his bit to plug next month’s celebrations, standing closer than he might have wanted to some rather ferocious looking dragons. Hold a minute, isn’t it the year of the tiger? The largest Chinese new year celebrations outside Asia kick off Sunday February 21 across Trafalgar Square, Chinatown, and Leicester Square. 
Mr Johnson said: “I am delighted to give my backing to London’s Chinese new year celebrations. It is the year of the tiger and we should take inspiration from some of the attributes of that fine creature.”

Handy problem-solving

TO a lot of people council estates are synonymous with broken Britain. 
So much so that estate has become a sort of right-wing shorthand for all the ills of our society. 
So Diary wants to dispel the stereotype, with the help of the story of an initiative that’s been launched across housing estates in Westminster. Two neigh­bourhood handymen will be visiting estates as part of a new service to help spruce up some of their neglected nooks and crannies.
Councillor Philippa Roe, who is responsible for housing at the city council, explained the logic. “Some of these jobs don’t get picked up unless there are major works on site and this will be a fantastic opportunity for getting problems seen to much faster and in a much more cost effective way".
 

Letting go of babies

SEDUCTION, rape and infanticide are the not so light-hearted themes explored in an exhibition of ­Portuguese artist Paula Rego ­opening at the Foundling Museum in Brunswick Square this week.
Rego, whose studio is in Camden Town, has sold work to celebrities including Madonna and is joined by Tracey Emin and Mat Collishaw, in the exhibition. All the pieces are linked to the story of what was the then Foundling Hospital, Britain’s first home for abandoned children, depicting the anguish of 18th-century orphans who were abandoned by their mothers because they couldn’t live with the stigma of keeping an illegitimate child.
Rego’s life-size figures of waif-like girls and babies portraying the ­violation and fall of young women are particularly disturbing.
The exhibition runs until May 9.

Echo Romeo Romeo Oscar Romeo

A FEW months ago, we reported the story of grammatical Neanderthalism at City Hall. Road signs were springing up with apostrophes in the wrong place – in one ludicrous case leading to a street in Victoria being spelt three different ways. Now it seems they’re not the only public servants who can’t spell. Diary received a call from the Met Police saying they would not be able to process a request to locate the top 10 most burgled streets in the borough. Street names were being misspelt by officers when the crimes were recorded, so distorting the table. Thin-k blue line.

The challenge of Mo’s secret

THE St Mary’s doctor who was entrusted with keeping the secret of Mo Mowlam’s brain tumour is to be portrayed in a new television drama on Sunday evening.
The Channel 4 film, simply titled Mo, tells the story of the relationship between the much-loved Labour minister and Dr Mark Glaser – the man who diagnosed the cancer, that eventually killed her in August 2005.
Dr Glaser and Dr Mowlam’s husband, Jon Norton, were the only two people to know the truth throughout her treatment – during most of which time she was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
It was only after Dr Mowlam’s death that Mr Norton asked Dr Glaser to speak to film writer Neil McKay so the truth could be told.
Dr Glaser, who will be played by Toby Jones in the film said: “It was very eerie watching the film. It was like reliving the case because Julie Walters was so good, I thought she was Mo reincarnated. Mo’s case was one of the most challenging of my career. She had a frontal lobe tumour which can affect your behaviour and judgment and yet she was doing a job which affected national security. I made frequent trips to Northern Ireland to reassure myself that she was up to the job. I believe I made the right decision because the treatment we gave her meant she lived much longer than expected and she was able to help bring peace to Northern Ireland.”