Some parents are of the view that caning is an effective means of punishment for children. While that opinion is an acceptable one, questions have to be asked about whether it is appropriate for caning to be done in public.
Stomp contributor Sharan sent Stomp a video showing a man and a woman believed to be parents caning their daughter at the foot of Block 410 in Jurong West on May 16 at around 6.30pm.
In the video, the woman who was holding a cane, can be seen standing with her daughter over a school bag and some books that had been thrown on the ground.
Her daughter was crying and pleading with her. She can be heard saying ‘I don’t want’ in Mandarin multiple times.
At one point, the woman can be seen tearing up a piece of paper.
Later in the video, the man who was holding on to another cane emerged. He hit the girl on her leg with the cane four times.
Thereafter, the girl was instructed to pick up her bag and books that were on the ground as the adults stood nearby.
Towards the end of the video, she still can be heard wailing as she was told to go into a car.
It is unclear what happened thereafter.
Said the Stomp contributor with regard to what she saw: “The child looked to be like she was a Primary two or three student.”
“I think this is quite distressing for her. I hope she does not continue to get caned at home.”
PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN, Thailand – For the first time in a decade a Thai lake has given up its dazzling secret – the pink blooms of tens of thousands of lotuses.
The sea of colour in Khao Sam Roi Yot national park, three hours south of Bangkok, is a show-stopping feat of nature that has locals hoping for a tourist bonanza.
But it has also sparked warnings over the fragility of the environment with park rangers pleading with people not to visit until the lake is healthy enough to deal with an influx of tourists.
The flowers, considered sacred in Thai culture, are good news for locals who have been ferrying camera-toting visitors through the lotuses which lie in knots on the lake’s vast waters.
But “currently they should not come,” said head ranger Rungroj Aswakultarin.
“The national park is in the process of restoring the lotuses. When it comes to the right time the park will open them up to the public,” he said. Rungroj’s caution is understandable.
For the last decade the park – a stunning jumble of lakes, tributaries and towering limestone karsts three hours south of Bangkok – saw no widespread lotus bloom.
No-one has been able to pinpoint exactly why.
But officials blame a mixture of drought and pollution from fertilisers and nearby seafood farms.
In recent years rangers have tried to clean up the park and this year were rewarded with a sea of pink flowers.
Thailand struggles to balance its lucrative tourism industry with preserving the environment.
Few countries have experienced the kind of stratospheric growth in tourism.
In the last decade the number of foreign arrivals has more than doubled from 13.8 million in 2006 to a record 32.5 million last year, growth partly powered by Chinese arrivals.
Those expecting to find the kind of pristine, untouched beaches in tourist brochures are often left disappointed among hordes of visitors.
Thailand’s tourism minister has called for the industry to chase fewer holidaymakers but ones with deep pockets.
This week some 61 national parks, including 25 marine parks, closed to visitors for the monsoon season, an annual move to try and help them recover.
But some environmentalists have argued the most vulnerable ecosystems need to close for longer, or face much stronger restrictions on visitor numbers.
WHICHEVER way you look at it, this has been a fine edition of the Indian Premier League. It began amidst turbulence but like with all inherently good products, once the cricket began, everything else was forgotten and may it always be that way.
For all the entertainment and talk about its finances, the IPL is a high quality cricket tournament and therein lies its maximum appeal and, dare I say, its sustenance. It can never change.
And now as it completes 10 years, it needs to look ahead with vigour, strength and caution. I choose all three words carefully. It is already the most important sporting property in world cricket.
It may not yet have the heritage of the Ashes, that requires time and careful nurturing, but across a larger population than that affected by the Ashes, it is the most aspirational.
Now it needs to build a heritage and it needs to go beyond being just the richest tournament. If players come to play for the money alone, it will never acquire the respect it deserves.
Yes, people should want to be the highest paid, but they should want an IPL title on their CV, like footballers want a Champions League medal. And I hope the people running the IPL are looking at it this way and, indeed, beyond.
For that to happen, it has to be the best run, the best structured and the most stringently governed T20 league in the world. It cannot afford hiccups like with the ill-fated Pune Warriors and Kochi Tuskers exercise or indeed, like with the events that led to the disqualification of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.
It cannot spend as much time as it has on the front pages and while it is inevitable that it will make the business pages, it must primarily be about the sports pages.
With the two teams returning and other changes in the pipeline, this is a great opportunity to lay down very stringent governance norms. It will be the IPL’s biggest strength in the years to come.
I do not know if the plan is to have 10 franchises or stay with eight. Remember 10 franchises means 94 games (every team must play every other, convoluted match structures across pools won’t work), that is 34 more than now and so will need at least another three weeks and many more afternoon games.
The Governing Council must look at what the numbers tell them, both financial and viewership.
Yes, 94 games is very do-able but it must then start earlier because too many afternoon games in peak summer do no one any good.
And so if there is a move towards 10 franchises, it must be seen to be a long-term structural change and the new teams must be very carefully scrutinised. Going purely towards the highest bidder is not always the best long-term arrangement.
But the IPL needs to be cautious. As India comes to terms with being out-voted at the International Cricket Council (ICC), once considered unthinkable, it must look at alignments within the world structure.
The IPL is the jewel in India’s crown and it must be ring-fenced.
Like with the great kingdoms of the past, where the king is all powerful and most protected, the IPL must exude power but must be at the centre of all negotiation.
Already there are moves to undermine it and with other leagues coming up around the world, the IPL cannot become just another tournament.
This is where the true power of India’s cricket fans can be exerted. India has spent a lot of time in fighting for influence at the ICC but it cannot come at the expense of the IPL. Going ahead, the IPL has to become friendlier. The spectator viewing experience has to be better because the in-home viewing experience will be and while higher television and digital viewership is critical, there is no IPL atmosphere without a full house.
I believe the IPL needs to reach out to communities more and become more digitally savvy in reaching out to fans. Digital is where the future is, not just in terms of reach and income, but also in relationships.
So far, the IPL hasn’t needed to, but the world changes very fast as many big brands have realised. The Fanpark initiative seems to be a step in the right direction.
And it is imperative that there is a strong connect between a player, his franchise and the fans. If players are constantly changing clubs, that relationship gets weaker and so constant player auctions aren’t great. Certainly, you cannot put everyone back into the auction.
Virat Kohli has to be with Royal Challengers Bangalore, David Warner with Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rohit Sharma with Mumbai Indians, Gautam Gambhir with Kolkata Knight Riders and whatever the pattern of allotting players to the returning franchises, MS Dhoni has to be with CSK.
These relationships are at the heart of franchise sport and creating club loyalty and rivalry is both essential and healthy. In fact, we have to find a method whereby the next one is the last big auction.
That is why I am in favour of retention and I would be happy to see as many as five players retained. It doesn’t guarantee team strength as much anymore but it guarantees team loyalty and strengthens associations.
The draft last year seemed a fair way of distributing marquee players to Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiant and might be the way to go when we welcome CSK and RR back. In course of time, I would also like to see teams being allowed to do long term contracts with players they scout.
There could be much more and there are more refined and valuable thoughts available than those expressed here. But all change must put cricket and governance first.
Luckily, the IPL brand is so powerful that you don’t need to think about money. That is for the little leagues. To be free of the worry of sustenance is a privilege that very few have and the IPL must use that to become stronger.
SINGAPORE’S indoor cricketers, preparing for September’s World Cup in Dubai, gave a good account of themselves during a warm-up series with a Sri Lanka All-Stars team. .
Playing at the Indoor Premier Cricket Centre at Turf City, the national Open (no age restriction) team, who finished last out of six teams at the last World Cup in Wellington, New Zealand, in 2014, won the opening match by one run, before losing the subsequent ones by 13 runs and four runs respectively.
The Sri Lankan team had several World Cup veterans. Sri Lanka, who have been playing in the World Cup since 2002, are the top team in Asia and considered the fifth-best in the world.
“We were caught by surprise as the Singapore team gave the All-Stars a good fight,” said Hiran de Mel, 52, the technical director of the Ceylon Indoor Cricket Association who watched the matches.
“They lost narrowly which shows the Singapore team have improved tremendously over the past two years.
Captain Rajiv Chandrasekar diving to escape a run out bid. Photo: Singapore Cricket Association
“I was impressed with their batting and fielding. They are a sharp side and are developing into a strong unit.”
Asela Pathirana, the coach of the All-Stars who captained Sri Lanka at the 2002 World Cup, had similar praise for the Singaporeans.
“They have high skills with good all-round abilities,” said the 40-year-old. “If they continue to practise hard, they will be the team to watch at the Dubai World Cup.”
Singapore fielded four new players in a bid to give them international exposure.
“It is a big achievement for us to get so close to the vastly experienced Sri Lankans,” said captain Rajiv Chandrasekar, 32.
“We have gained a lot from this series and hopefully we will continue to do well in the future.”
Another warm-up series with Malaysia has been scheduled for July.
The Singapore Masters (above 40s) lost their first match against their Sri Lanka All-Stars counterparts by 33 runs. But they bounced back to win the second match by 17 runs and draw the series 1-1.
“The over-40s team had been chasing a win at the international level for some time,” said captain and coach G. Muralidharan, 52. “Everyone played brilliantly in the second match. We hope to make winning a habit now.”
The Singapore Masters team finished last out of six teams at the World Masters Series in Birmingham, England, last year.
In Singapore, nearly 400 people play indoor cricket, which is fast paced and requires quick reflexes. It is catching on in Community Centres and schools and attracting many who play cricket for leisure
BOLLYWOOD actor and director Rajat Kapoor is injecting a modern and provocative twist to one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays Macbeth.
It tells the story of a brave soldier turning into a tyrant in the lust for continued dominance.
The play titled What’s Done Is Done will be staged at the Esplanade Theatre on May 26 and will be performed by renowned artistes from the Indian theatre and film industry – Kalki Koechlin, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Tillotama Shome, Sheena Khalid, Mansi Multani, Suraj Tomer and Jim Sarbh, among others.
The 100-minute play in English will see the artistes take on the themes of power, guilt, falsehoods and the supernatural and puts a contemporary spin on them while remaining true to one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies.
Ranvir Shorey Photo: Teamwork Productions
The main artistes in the play are Vinay Pathak, Kalki Koechlin, Ranvir Shorey and Jim Sarbh.
Renowned Indian film and theatre actor Vinay Pathak is known for his roles in films like Bheja Fry, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Johnny Gaddar and Badlapur.
He has also acted in theatre productions namely, C For Clown, Hamlet – The Crown Prince, Nothing Like Lear, Macbeth and As You Like It.
Ranvir, also acting in What’s Done Is Done, started his career along with his friend and co-actor Vinay.
Kalki Koechlin Photo: Teamwork Productions
He was the host of the successful talk show Ranvir Vinay Aur Kaun? and The Great Indian Comedy Show which aired on Star One.
Like Vinay, he too, has starred in Bheja Fry and other critically-acclaimed films such as Traffic Signal and Mithya.
Kalki, an Indian actress of French descent has essayed a variety of roles in films and theatres. She debuted with Dev.D, for which she received the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Apart from her film career, Kalki has written, produced, and acted in several stage plays in India. She co-wrote the dramas Skeleton Woman, which won her the MetroPlus Playwright Award and made her directorial debut on stage with the a comedy on death – Living Room.
Jim Sarbh Photo: Teamwork Productions
Jim’s first commercially released film was Neerja, where he acted as a hijacker opposite lead actress Sonam Kapoor. He is also acting in upcoming film Raabta, which stars Kriti Sanon and Sushant Singh Rajput.
Mark your calendars and get your tickets to What’s Done Is Done to see these professional artistes come together to create a novel take on one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays Macbeth.
Catch What’s Done Is Done on May 26 at the Esplanade Theatre. Tickets are priced at $50, $70, $100, $140 and $200, and can be purchased from www.sistic.com, or by calling Karishma Khanna at 8118-9144 or e-mailing her at karishma@teamworkprod.com
COLOMBO – Rescuers were digging through rubble trying to save a woman they feared was trapped inside a collapsed wedding reception hall in the Sri Lankan capital on Friday, officials said after confirming that one man had been killed and 23 injured.
Police said construction work was under way to expand the five-storey building in Colombo when it collapsed on Thursday.
Police, soldiers and firefighters were involved in the search for the missing woman.
A hospital official said one man was pulled alive from the debris after being trapped for five hours but died soon after he was admitted to hospital.
Police said 23 were injured.
“The rescue operation is continuing for the second day and military and rescue teams are removing the debris,” police spokesman Priyantha Jayakody said.
“Still one lady is missing and we are searching for her. We don’t know if she is trapped inside,” he said.
The reason for the building collapse was not immediately clear but Jayakody said the weight of the new extension could have been the cause.
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THERE is a saying, ‘You can’t change the world, but you can change the world for one person’.
Ms Dipa Swaminathan (left) is inspired by it and she follows it in her efforts to improve the welfare and champion the rights of migrant workers in Singapore.
It all started in May 2014 when the now 45-year-old assistant general counsel at Singtel saw two migrant workers standing in the rain when she was driving near Turf City.
Seeing that they were soaking wet, she invited them to take shelter in her house, offered them something to eat and gave them some of her husband’s old clothes to change into.
She spoke to them in Tamil and was appalled that their employer let them out in the rain with no raincoats.
In the spirit of giving…foreign workers in donated raincoats. Photo: Facebook/Itsrainingraincoats
It made her want to spread the news of their tough working conditions, so she took pictures of the workers, posted them on her Facebook page, and advocated for companies to give raincoats to migrant workers.
While the workers were afraid they might get into trouble since their pictures were posted online, she gave them her number and told them to call her if anyone troubled them.
A few months later, she got a call from the police informing her that one of them had attempted suicide and the only number he had on him was hers.
“They asked me if I would be willing to post bail for him so I went to the police station in Jurong and signed the papers,” said Ms Swaminathan, a permanent resident here.
She went to the Institute of Mental Health to visit him and found out that he tried to commit suicide because his employer had not paid him his salary for months and his family needed money desperately back in India.
“I spoke to the police officers and sent them emails, explaining to them that they should be going after his employer, who drove him to this state. Within 10 days, they dropped all charges against him, got his employer to pay him all his wages and a month later, he was at my doorstep again all happy and recovered. His wife even called me from India to thank me,” said Ms Swaminathan, who is from Bengaluru, and has lived here for two decades.
The incident made her realise how, with a little time and effort, she could make a “concrete difference” to someone’s life.
“I don’t need an organisation, it’s just a few minutes or hours of my time and I can make a difference to someone who is down and out,” she said.
Tie-up with the Singapore Kindness Movement
A year later, in 2015, the story of the two migrant workers went viral when The People of Singapore – a group which tells the stories of everyday Singaporeans – found out about her deed and interviewed her.
The Singapore Kindness Movement learned about it and decided to work with her to do something for migrant workers on a larger scale.
They brainstormed some ideas and settled on giving raincoats to migrant workers.
Said Dr William Wan, general secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement: “It was natural that we made contact with her and offered to assist and amplify her efforts.
Having met up with her, we saw her passion and hence supported her with the distribution of raincoats. Also, the particular kindness she started falls right within an area that the Singapore Kindness Movement has been concerned about for some time now – migrant workers in need.”
Ms Swaminathan distributing excess food items from Starbucks outlets to workers. Photo: Facebook/Itsrainingraincoats
The Singapore Kindness Movement donated 5,000 raincoats to migrant workers and also donated a raincoat when someone donated one to the workers, took a picture of them with the raincoat and hashtagged it #itsrainingraincoats on social media.
Apart from working with the Singapore Kindness Movement in early 2016 to distribute them in Little India, Ms Swaminathan kept raincoats in her car and pulled over to hand them over to the workers whenever she saw them.
To facilitate the distribution of raincoats for the campaign, she started a facebook page – itsrainingraincoats.
Till today, whenever she is driving and sees workers standing in the rain, she will pull over and give them raincoats, which she keeps in her car.
Said Ms Swaminathan: “Once I saw workers wearing garbage bags as raincoats while their supervisor was comfortably standing in a sheltered area.
I got the number of the construction company, called them and said that ‘I have photos, videos of the scene and I will upload it on social media and send it to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), if you don’t give them raincoats’.
“Although the person was rude and hung up on me, the next day when I drove by again when it was raining, the workers had shiny yellow raincoats and rain boots on.”
She added: “It’s a simple act of kindness to give a migrant worker a raincoat. By doing so, we’re showing compassion, acknowledging them as people and empathising with them.
People often drive by in cars or taxis and might see them slaving away in the rain, heat or haze but nobody pays attention to them. Many people do not realise that they are people with needs and we should treat them the way we like to be treated ourselves.”
Last year, Lasalle College of the Arts heard about her raincoat project from one of their staff members and decided to work with her to get their final-year diploma in fashion design students to design raincoats for migrant workers for their social cause-related project.
They are now looking for sponsors to mass produce raincoats in the winning design, which will then be distributed to the workers.
Going beyond raincoats
Ms Swaminathan is not just sticking to distributing raincoats to workers.
The mother of two sons, 12 and 10, is also always thinking of ideas to help the workers.
She had gone to buy coffee from Starbucks at Singapore Polytechnic last year in June when she saw staff preparing to throw away unsold food as it was closing time.
“Just as they were about to do that, I asked them whether I could distribute the food, which was of perfectly good quality, to migrant workers I had seen doing road works nearby.
“They agreed and handed me two bags of pastries, muffins and sandwiches, all warmed up. I then handed over the bags to the migrant workers. As I turned to walk off after handing them the food, I saw them sitting on the pavement, happily snacking,” said Ms Swaminathan who posted pictures of them with the treats on the itsrainingraincoats page.
In the post that got more than 2,900 shares, she added that she would like to do this every Saturday at 4pm, when the outlet at the polytechnic closes.
Starbucks picked up on it and now Ms Swaminathan, along with a pool of volunteers, works with 18 Starbucks outlets here to give unsold food to migrant workers every Saturday. While the amount of food varies each week, she said on average, there is enough for at least 150 migrant workers.
Dipa Swaminathan reaches out to migrant workers through various welfare projects. Photo: Tabla!
“You will never see a migrant worker going into Starbucks to buy a pastry or muffin for himself. It’s food that they can’t afford, so it’s really nice to be able to give them a treat at the end of their working week on a Saturday,” said Ms Swaminathan.
While she used to collect the food and distribute it at worksites, she doesn’t do it anymore as she has a regular group of 40 volunteers. “We have a Whatsapp group and I usually post the schedules and projects and the volunteers reply either saying they can or cannot make it,” said Ms Swaminathan, adding that people reach out to her via the itsrainingraincoats Facebook page from time to time, expressing an interest in volunteering with her.
Ms Jocelyn Lim is one of those who reached out to her via the Facebook page after reading about her efforts to help migrant workers in The Straits Times in 2015.
Ms Lim, 62, collects unsold food from Starbucks outlets at Capitol Tower and OCBC Centre every Saturday afternoon, drives to find worksites and hands the food to the workers.
She has also worked with Ms Swaminathan on the Singapore Kindness Movement project to distribute raincoats. Said Ms Lim, a real estate agent: “They don’t have a lot of money to spend but they are not greedy. Sometimes I might forget their faces and give them raincoats for a second time but instead of taking it they will tell me they already have it.”
Apart from those who reach out to Ms Swaminathan via Facebook, she also gathers her family members, her friends and their children for her projects.
In 2015, she raised $1,500 from friends and put in $640 from her savings to buy $10 phonecards for migrant workers. “I figured that they are alone here and need to be in touch with their families back home and the only way to do that is with the phone. Now we have Wifi and all but the luxury of a phone call is quite special and it costs them money to call home,” said Ms Swaminathan, who was joined by her sons, her husband and a group of her friends and their children at Little India for the distribution on Deepavali day.
“It was a huge success then. All the phonecards were gone within 15 minutes when people realised what we were giving out.” She did this again during Deepavali last year. She and her group of volunteers distributed over $5,000 worth of phonecards. “It was pouring on the morning of Deepavali last year, yet there were many volunteers who joined us under umbrellas,” she said.
A match to remember
In March this year, she organised a cricket match between the team at her sons’ school, the United World College of South East Asia (UWCSEA), and migrant workers.
Said Ms Swaminathan: “I contacted MOM and requested them to put me in touch with foreign worker ambassadors. Through the ambassadors, they formed a cricket team on the migrant workers’ side. They were very excited and were there four hours before the start of the match.”
It was held on the grounds of UWCSEA and saw great response.
“Many of the foreign workers didn’t have sports shoes so we did a shoe collection drive among the parents at the school. They also donated food and drinks for the match,” said Ms Swaminathan, adding that the school was thrilled with the outcome and plans to host a match with the workers every year.
For Mr Prabakaran, a construction worker who helped to form the migrant worker’s team and participated in the match, that day in March will be etched in his mind “for life”.
“It was a new experience for all of us and we had so much fun. Everyone shook our hands and cheered us on during the match. We come so far away from home but we feel important.”
The 34-year-old from Tiruchirappalli added that he is thankful to Ms Swaminathan not only for organising the cricket match but also for the shoe donation drive.
Migrant worker’s vs UWCSEA cricket team. Photo: Facebook/Itsrainingraincoats
“I still use the sports shoes every day, when I’m not using my safety boots at work,” said Mr Prabakaran.
Even though Ms Swaminathan has expanded her efforts beyond giving raincoats to migrant workers, she is not planning to change the name of the initiative – itsrainingraincoats.
“I’ve thought about it but I feel that it’s already got a bit of an identity and if I change it, I will have to re-create that awareness. Maybe we can look at raincoats philosophically as a form of protection, not just as a plastic cover from rain, but a form of protection from hardships. Maybe in that sense, it will still be relevant,” she said.
As a lawyer and mother to two young boys, many people often ask her: “Where do you find time to plan and do all these things?”
Her answer to them?
“I always say it doesn’t take up much time. It’s just a bit of coordination on the phone or on social media and if I do any running around, I do it on weekends. It’s not a challenge and I don’t feel like it’s a drain, although I’m never idle and I’m always rushing around,” said Ms Swaminathan.
While she may have unconsciously cut down on some things she used to do like shopping, she still finds time to read, socialise and spend time with her sons and husband, a senior director at a semiconductor company here.
Despite her efforts to reach out to migrant workers, she feels there is still a lot to be done.
She hopes to “bridge the gap between where we are now and where we can say that all migrant workers are humanely treated and looked after and they really don’t face everyday injustices”.
“I don’t think Singapore would be what it is without these workers who leave their homes to work here. Nobody else will build these skyscrapers, dig these underground tunnels, sweep our roads. They make a huge contribution and to ensure that they are housed well, fed well, treated well and kept free from injury and illness is not too much to ask for,” said Ms Swaminathan.
Dr Wan commended her and said that “efforts (not just those directed at migrant workers) like Dipa’s are exactly what the Singapore Kindness Movement hopes to inspire and see more of – ‘ordinary’ individuals taking ownership and initiating acts of kindness.”
Efforts in promoting kindness
AS PART of Kindness Day Singapore on May 19, the Singapore Kindness Movement will be launching an art installation – Garden of Gratitude – at the Singapore Sports Hub.
It will immerse visitors in a bright and cheerful garden, created with 3,000 yellow gerbera windmills.
Participating florists will be encouraging customers to show appreciation through gifting yellow gerberas, which is believed to be a symbol of appreciation.
The Movement’s mission is to inspire spontaneous and purposeful acts of kindness and among its various efforts to reach out to people, it produces inspiring videos.
In collaboration with Coca-Cola Singapore, the Singapore Kindness Movement supported the “Happiness from the Skies” initiative in April 2014. It helped provide Singaporeans with the opportunity to show appreciation towards the foreign workers in the community.
In 2015, it created a video that aimed to answer some questions. What causes some Singaporeans to feel entitled to insult foreigners? What do some foreigners feel when they see anti-Singaporean comments made by their countrymen? How do some foreigners feel when Singaporeans tell them to “Go home!”?
And also, how have some Singaporeans shown hospitality and warmth to foreigners?
The Singapore Kindness Movement has also reconfigured its Kindness Gallery at Stamford Court so that more pre-schools can take children on interactive Kindsville tours there.
In the first two weeks of each month, the Gallery is transformed into a child’s values-learning hub, as the children pick up good manners while going on an adventure with Singa and the Kindness Cubbies.
The Movement has also started reaching out to parents about their role in inculcating values in their children, and it has received feedback from them that they would like more ideas, opportunities and resources to help them do so.
Said Dr William Wan, general secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement: “The potential multiplier impact if all of us act is exponential. All these, together with our ground-up movements’ ongoing initiatives, will hopefully come together in a big celebration of kindness, graciousness and appreciation during Kindness Day Singapore.”
TOKYO – A female panda at a Tokyo zoo appears to be pregnant, zoo officials said on Friday, raising hopes for a safe birth five years after her first cub died within days of being born.
Ueno Zoo’s 11-year-old panda, Shin Shin, has shown signs of being pregnant, such as dozing more and urinating less, although she currently has a good appetite, the deputy head of the zoo, Hirofumi Watabe, told reporters.
Shin Shin and her partner, Ri Ri, arrived from China in February 2011 and went on view to the public soon after a devastating earthquake and tsunami the next month, providing Japan with some welcome news.
The birth of a cub to the panda couple in 2012 was the first panda born at Ueno Zoo in 24 years and was greeted with widespread excitement.
However, the tiny cub was found motionless and without a heartbeat on his mother’s belly and, although moved to an incubator, efforts to revive the baby panda failed. “The previous cub died after six days. Raising them at the early stage is very difficult, so we want to properly prepare,”Watabe said.
Panda pregnancies, rare in captivity and outside of China, are hard to establish or predict.
If Shin Shin is pregnant, she is likely to give birth in early June or a bit later. “Last time it didn’t turn out well, but I think it will be OK this time,” said Rie Nishimura, 40, who was with her three-year-old daughter Koharu among the crowds who came to see the possibly pregnant panda on Friday.
TOKYO – Japan said Friday it scrambled fighter jets after a Chinese vessel sailing in disputed waters launched a drone, the latest bout of tension in a longstanding territorial row.
The two countries are at odds over a group of small uninhabited islands in the East China Sea administered as the Senkakus by Japan but claimed as the Diaoyus by China.
Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s top government spokesman, told a regular briefing that the incident took place Thursday and that Japan lodged a “strong protest”, accusing China of “unilaterally escalating” tensions.
Japan dispatched four planes, including two F-15 fighters and an airborne warning and control system (AWACS) plane to waters surrounding the islets, Japan’s defence ministry said.
Coast guard ships from the two nations routinely patrol the area, known for rich fishing grounds and possible energy reserves, to back up their claims.
The countries have also occasionally engaged in potentially dangerous encounters in the air and at sea over the dispute but have avoided actual conflict.
The latest incident came as the Japan Coast Guard said four Chinese ships entered Japanese territorial waters Thursday.
“This is the first time we see what appears to be a drone flown by Chinese ships that are sailing within territorial waters,” Suga said.
“This is a new form of activity by China,” he added.
“We strictly protested that this is a unilateral escalation and that we absolutely cannot accept it.” Japan has said its military scrambled a record number of jets last year, mostly in response to an increase in approaching Chinese aircraft.
Tokyo ordered its jets to the skies 1,168 times in the fiscal year through March, with 73 per cent of the missions against aircraft either known to be or believed to originate from China.
Japanese officials believe China has been trying to analyse the capacity and response patterns of Japan’s defence and coastguard personnel.
