TOKYO – Almost 40 per cent of foreign residents who sought housing in Japan had applications turned down and almost a quarter were denied jobs in the past five years, a survey showed on Friday, highlighting discrimination in a largely homogeneous society.

The findings from the Justice Ministry survey come as the number of foreign workers and residents in Japan hit record highs as the country prepares to host the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

However, immigration remains a touchy subject in a land where conservatives prize cultural homogeneity and foreigners make up less than two per cent of the population.

Language skills weren’t the problem, the survey suggested, with about 95 per cent of those who were denied jobs and more than 90 per cent of those who were denied housing saying they spoke Japanese conversationally, professionally or fluently. “The landlord said I couldn’t live in the flat because of my nationality,” said a Korean respondent in her fifties quoted in the report. “I was born and raised in Japan and Japanese is the only language I know. There is still so much bias and discrimination in Japan,” she said.

The survey was conducted so that the Justice Ministry could better understand what discrimination and human rights issues foreigners in Japan face, and to find ways protect their rights.

The first government survey of its kind, it was conducted by the Centre for Human Rights Education and Training in November and Deecember last year.

Of the 18,500 foreign residents contacted, 4,252 responded. More than half of them were Chinese and Korean, and more than 40 per cent had lived in Japan for more than a decade.

Nearly 20 per cent of the 2,788 respondents who had looked for work in the past five years said they received lower pay than Japanese people for the same job, and more than 17 per cent said they couldn’t get promoted because they were foreign.

About 13 per cent said their working conditions were worse than those for Japanese co-workers, with longer hours and fewer days off.

Separate Justice Ministry data this month showed that violations, including unpaid wages, among groups accepting foreign trainees in Japan had risen last year.

Around 30 per cent of respondents said they were insulted or discriminated against occasionally or frequently. “One time, when I tried to enter a small shop in Harajuku, the staff told me it’s for Japanese only,” said a Brazilian woman in her twenties.

A Korean woman in her sixties said: “Japan is my home and I love Japan, but discrimination against foreigners is deeply rooted. I wish for a society that recognises diversity.”

“MY first hero was an astronaut. But my new hero is the small farmer, earning about Rs200 (S$4.35) a day or about Rs6000 per month in India. People like that are trying to migrate out of agriculture because of the difficulties in making a living, and yet there are limited jobs and food in the big cities. I thought there had to be a way to keep them on the farm but improve it to a point that they feel it’s a productive and good place to be,” says Mr Rikin Gandhi, a US space programme aspirant turned farmers’ activist.

Rikin Gandhi’s initiation

“Experiencing rural India for the first time in 2006, I found many farmers facing increasing debt and declining returns that led some to make desperate choices like selling their land at a lower than market price – or even committing suicide.

“I joined a college friend who was working on a biodiesel venture in Maharashtra and learnt about the challenges faced by farmers in India, where the livelihoods of a majority of its 1.2 billion population still depends on agriculture.

“This was a radical change for me. Life took a different course, and I sought to better reconnect with the world and its people. I landed in rural India encountering literally, the sons of the soil – the farmers,” reveals Mr Gandhi, chief executive officer and co-founder of Digital Green.

For the US-born Mr Gandhi, an aeronautical and astronautical engineer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a private pilot’s license holder, the change of tracks came about after reading about space travellers.

“Seeing the Earth from up above, they wondered why there was war, poverty and a food crisis on this beautiful planet. Some astronauts would return and see how they could connect with the land and its people. They inspired me to reconsider my desire to join the space programme.”

Mr Gandhi had a tenure with Microsoft Research in Bangalore, during which he was looking at what role digital technologies could play in improving farmers’ lives.

“We observed that the traditional top-down approach to agricultural extension in low- and middle-income countries involves extension agents physically visiting farmers’ fields with dated and generic information. We wanted to change that. This led to the non-profit spin off Digital Green in 2008,” he says.

Upgrading farming via videos

“Vetted by specialists, we decided to produce short, localised videos by the farmers for the farmers, to demonstrate helpful tips and techniques on the farm. We found farmers are more likely to trust information, and adopt the technique when another farmer describes and shows something that helped him.

“Our team is relatively small but we partner with organisations that are already working with farmers and train them to produce videos, screen them, and collect community feedback to improve the efficacy for their work. Agriculture is a knowledge-intensive vocation given the vagaries of weather and markets.

“We serve as a trainer of trainers to build the capacity of existing field professionals to produce and share short 8-10 minute videos that are by the community and for the community and enable them to gather data that targets their programmes to better address the community’s needs and interests,” says Mr Gandhi, who is in his mid-30s.

In the past eight years, since Digital Green’s inception, at least 574,222 viewers from the farming community have adopted one or more of the best farming practices promoted through these videos to small groups, leading to improvements in their lives.

Mr Gandhi matched the production of video with data collection for continuous research to find what methods are working and thus help steer new videos and further help identify farmers’ information needs.

Digital Green received a US$10 million grant in 2012 for the project with a target of reaching out to one million farmers (of which 500,000 would be unique adopters in India) in 10,000 villages, to be achieved by December 2018.

As of now they have reached 8,191 villages and 893,309 farmers, 494,747 of whom have adopted at least one practice to which they were exposed.

Propelling Digital Green

“At Digital Green, we start with a sense of gratitude that we have the opportunity to stand with the poor farmers. We see the world not just as it is, but as it could be. We elevate others’ voices to imagine a better future for them, as they are the sources of inspiration that lead to innovation. We often find ourselves in unchartered territory, but we push ourselves to take risks and act at scale because time is short, particularly for those in need.

“We use technology to amplify and partner with organisations and individuals that have the hearts and minds to realise its potential. We are committed to the long game of our moonshot by starting with the poor, and relentlessly seeking to improve ourselves. We know this challenge is not easy, and that investing in the growth of one another is as important as those whom we serve.

“We will never be satisfied until poverty is history and every individual is able to live a life of dignity,” affirms Mr Gandhi.

Childhood memory

A recent entrant into parenthood himself, one anecdote is presumably more meaningful to Mr Gandhi now – and a lesson he has perhaps learnt too.

“I was in the backseat of our old station wagon and shouted at my dad in the front seat that he never said that he loved me. That wasn’t true of course, but I was a young teenager and a rebel without a cause. He pulled the car to the side of the road and said that he was sorry if I ever felt that way, said that he loved me, and started to cry. We have never parted or ended a conversation since that day without him making sure that he’s said that he loves me,” said Mr Gandhi.

Women farmers

Two of the women farmers who have viewed and been helped by Digital Green’s videos, spoke about their experiences.

“After watching a Digital Green video on Ghanjeevamrit (a manure mix), I became confident about applying it on my land. Ghanjeevamrit keeps the soil light and helps retain moisture, which in turn keeps the plants greener and healthier. The vegetables taste better.

“Initially, I wondered if my field would adjust to this new method. Some videos have also helped me share best agricultural practices and other such information with my neighbours. The videos feature men and women like us,” says Somia Devi, 46, of Nikaspur village, Samastipur District, Bihar, who owns a one kattha (22 kattha=1 acre) vegetable plot.

Similarly, Pinky Devi, 30, a mother of three from Nalanda district of Bihar, has been part of a self-help group since 2009 organised by JEEViKA, a partner organisation of Digital Green.

She said: “After attending these video disseminations, around 50 farmers in my village have adopted the practice of System of Rice Intensification and 35 have kitchen gardens in their homes increasing their farm output and gaining food security and ensuring nutritious food for their families.”

Facing challenges

“Yet challenges remain,” said Mr Gandhi. “The prime one, ensuring the quality of the approach, especially as it is scaled to reach more than one million farmers – men and principally women. Our approach ultimately depends on people – from those involved in producing videos to those facilitating their screening to farmers themselves – so we have focused on developing systems, such as a management information system that works online and offline to monitor activities in the field and a mobile, video-based courseware platform to train and assess the skills of extension agents.”

Partnering for progress

Digital Green partners social and government organisations which are working with rural communities.

“Our approach is geared to magnify their reach and increase the uptake of the practices they are promoting. We’ve found this can improve the cost-effectiveness of existing agricultural development programmes by a factor of 10 times, per rupee spent,” justifies Mr Gandhi.

Since 2008, Digital Green has partnered more than 50 organisations, including government agencies, NGOs, and private agribusiness.

Its partners typically fund the operational costs of its approach, including buying cameras and mobile projectors as well as involving their field personnel in the day-to-day activities of producing and screening videos.

Digital Green’s in-house teams develop technology tools and training materials to support its partners.

Having been designated a National Support Organisation by the National Rural Livelihood Mission of the Government of India, Digital Green has managed to forge a partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture of Ethiopia, which enabled it to expand its approach.

They have produced more than 5,000 videos in 28 languages across more than 17,000 villages.

Currently working in nine states in India as well as in Nepal and countries such as Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Tanzania, Digital Green has plans to work in more Asian, African and Latin American countries.

Thus, for Mr Gandhi the hugely rewarding experience lies in realising that “the so-called developed and developing world divide can’t be closed by technology alone”.

He said: “It is the sparks of curiosity to learn and to create role models that participatory video and grassroots-level partnerships can enable. Farmers are empowered to take their ‘one small step’ toward improving their lives and of those around them.”

Looking ahead…

“We want to expand in India and a few other countries in Asia and Africa. We’re also very excited about evolving a new five year strategy (2017-2022), where we want to focus on really making a lasting impact in the lives of the small-holder farmers and make ourselves more accountable to them.

“The strategy formulation, which is still underway, is focused on strengthening the existing extension systems, going beyond the extension systems by exploring other innovations such as value chain and market linkages and strengthening our Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation systems to capture the impact on the ground,” he said.

tabla@sph.com.sg

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Mokpo, South Korea – The salvaged wreck of South Korea’s Sewol ferry finally reached port Friday, nearly three years after setting out on a doomed voyage that killed more than 300 people.

A semi-submersible ship carrying the wreck docked alongside a pier at the southwestern harbour of Mokpo, an AFP photographer on the scene said.

The vessel was raised from the sea floor in one piece in a complex salvage operation before being transferred to the semi-submersible for the 105-kilometre (66 miles) journey to the port, where investigators will search it.

382733

2017-03-23 10:10:28

Photo Gallery

South Korea raises sunken Sewol ferry

Source:

AFP

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Almost all of the dead were schoolchildren and nine of the victims have never been found, leaving the possibility that they could still be trapped inside.

The lifting ship was escorted by a smaller boat carrying relatives of the nine missing, as well as five patrol craft.

“This is only the beginning. I always see my daughter in dreams,” said Park Eun-Mi, whose daughter Huh Da-Yun has not been found.

“We must find all the nine missing people and return them to the bosom of their families”, she told journalists.

Underwater fences have been installed surrounding the area where the Sewol sank and divers will also search the waters and seabed there.

The salvage came as the third anniversary approached of one of the country’s worst-ever maritime disasters, which dealt a crushing blow to now-ousted president Park Geun-Hye.

Investigations concluded the disaster was the result of factors including an illegal redesign, an overloaded cargo bay and inexperienced crew.

188088

2015-04-15 13:17:41

Photo Gallery

S Korea ferry disaster: 1 year on

Source: AFP, Reuters

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188956

2015-04-19 12:08:38

Photo Gallery

Hundreds of protestors clash with police over Sewol ferry disaster

Source: AFP

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185415

2015-04-02 17:03:34

Photo Gallery

Parents of victims shave heads to protest Sewol ferry disaster

Source: AFP

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124801

2014-07-18 14:52:02

Photo Gallery

Helicopter returning from site of Sewol tragedy crashes

Source: , Stomp, Reuters

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334262

2016-10-29 18:47:34

Photo Gallery

The ‘female Rasputin’ at centre of S Korean President Park Geun-Hye political scandal

Source:

AFP

Reuters

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Read also: S Korea salvage operators raise Sewol ferry
Bad weather again delays lifting of S Korean ferry
S.Korea media slam govt over ferry ‘remains’
2014 Sewol ferry tragedy probed as S Korea impeachment hearing opens
South Korea’s presidential office dismisses rumours about Park’s alleged absence during 2014 ferry disaster

Mokpo, South Korea – The salvaged wreck of South Korea’s Sewol ferry finally reached port Friday, nearly three years after setting out on a doomed voyage that killed more than 300 people.

A semi-submersible ship carrying the wreck docked alongside a pier at the southwestern harbour of Mokpo, an AFP photographer on the scene said.

The vessel was raised from the sea floor in one piece in a complex salvage operation before being transferred to the semi-submersible for the 105-kilometre (66 miles) journey to the port, where investigators will search it.

382733

2017-03-23 10:10:28

Photo Gallery

South Korea raises sunken Sewol ferry

Source:

AFP

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Almost all of the dead were schoolchildren and nine of the victims have never been found, leaving the possibility that they could still be trapped inside.

The lifting ship was escorted by a smaller boat carrying relatives of the nine missing, as well as five patrol craft.

“This is only the beginning. I always see my daughter in dreams,” said Park Eun-Mi, whose daughter Huh Da-Yun has not been found.

“We must find all the nine missing people and return them to the bosom of their families”, she told journalists.

Underwater fences have been installed surrounding the area where the Sewol sank and divers will also search the waters and seabed there.

The salvage came as the third anniversary approached of one of the country’s worst-ever maritime disasters, which dealt a crushing blow to now-ousted president Park Geun-Hye.

Investigations concluded the disaster was the result of factors including an illegal redesign, an overloaded cargo bay and inexperienced crew.

188088

2015-04-15 13:17:41

Photo Gallery

S Korea ferry disaster: 1 year on

Source: AFP, Reuters

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188956

2015-04-19 12:08:38

Photo Gallery

Hundreds of protestors clash with police over Sewol ferry disaster

Source: AFP

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185415

2015-04-02 17:03:34

Photo Gallery

Parents of victims shave heads to protest Sewol ferry disaster

Source: AFP

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124801

2014-07-18 14:52:02

Photo Gallery

Helicopter returning from site of Sewol tragedy crashes

Source: , Stomp, Reuters

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334262

2016-10-29 18:47:34

Photo Gallery

The ‘female Rasputin’ at centre of S Korean President Park Geun-Hye political scandal

Source:

AFP

Reuters

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Read also: S Korea salvage operators raise Sewol ferry
Bad weather again delays lifting of S Korean ferry
S.Korea media slam govt over ferry ‘remains’
2014 Sewol ferry tragedy probed as S Korea impeachment hearing opens
South Korea’s presidential office dismisses rumours about Park’s alleged absence during 2014 ferry disaster

HONG KONG – Two Chinese activists who supported pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong were jailed by a court in southern China on Friday for subverting state power, but their lawyer said their heavy sentences were part of an ongoing crackdown on civil society.

Su Changlan and Chen Qitang, who both faced “incitement to subvert state power” charges, were jailed for three and four-and-a-half years respectively by a court in Foshan close to Guangzhou, according to their lawyer, Liu Xiaoyuan.

The verdict made no mention of Hong Kong.

At least four other Chinese activists who have been put behind bars for supporting Hong Kong’s large pro-democracy,”umbrella movement” protests in 2014. At least 100 people in China had been detained for voicing support for the demonstrations, according to Amnesty International.

Read also: Hong Kong protest leaders say they face criminal charges after new leader chosen

Liu said he was very angry and disappointed at both the heavy sentence and what he called the court’s disrespect of the law. “They have alternative opinions and views, and sometimes they can be very critical of the government, but this does not mean they are subverting state power,” Liu said.

“Now they’ve been sentenced heavily … our freedom of speech will only be further restricted.” Liu said the case had dragged on for an unreasonable amount of time, and the pair planned to appeal.

Security was tight around the courthouse, with scores of police blocking the area, according to footage carried by Hong Kong’s Cable TV.

120470

2014-07-01 16:30:52

Photo Gallery

Tear gas fired at chaotic Hong Kong democracy protests

Source:

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Su, a prominent women’s rights advocate in Southern China, had been taken into police custody by Guangzhou police in late 2014 for expressing support on social media for the Hong Kong protests. Su suffered from a thyroid ailment and had been denied multiple requests for bail on medical grounds.

Chen, meanwhile, had posted articles in support of human rights and Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, according to Amnesty International.

Both had pleaded not guilty. Calls to the Foshan people’s court went unanswered. “The Chinese authorities are very scared that universal values would affect the (Chinese) public … This is how Hong Kong is dangerous in the Chinese authorities’ eyes,” said Chow Hang-tung, a barrister and vice chairwoman of the Hong Kong Alliance that champions democratic causes.

Read also: Hong Kong protest leaders appear in court smiling after surprise summons

“Hong Kong is all about the rule of law and democracy.” China’s leadership has overseen a sweeping crackdown on activists since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012, including detaining or imprisoning dozens of rights lawyers in what the government says is the targeting of criminal acts.

The once relatively vibrant civil society in southern Guangdong province has been smothered by authorities in recent years, with scores of detentions and convictions of human rights lawyers and activists in various areas including labour.

Last weekend, a Chinese Australia-based academic, Feng Chongyi, was blocked from boarding a flight home from Guangzhou, and remains in a hotel in the city. Feng had been meeting with fellow academics and intellectuals while in China, as well as human rights lawyers as part of his research.

China also confirmed on Wednesday it had detained a Taiwan human rights activist, Lee Ming-che, and was investigating him on suspicion of harming national security.

BEIJING – Glamorous, popular and passionate about fighting AIDS, Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan is Beijing’s diplomatic not-so-secret weapon spreading Chinese soft power around the world.

A former singing star in the People’s Liberation Army, “Mother Peng”, as she is affectionately known in China, will be at President Xi Jinping’s side as he meets US President Donald Trump in Florida next week.

Details of her programme have been largely kept under wraps, but she and Xi will dine with Trump and his wife Melania next Thursday.

With hot-button issues including North Korea and trade in focus and Trump promising a “very difficult” meeting, China will be hoping the accomplished Peng can help smooth relations between the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies.

“If the two first ladies meet, and the atmosphere is good, then at the very least it will raise the whole atmosphere of the leaders meeting,” said Shi Yinhong, who heads the Centre for American Studies at Beijing’s Renmin University and has advised the government on diplomacy.

Read also: China’s Xi to meet Trump in Florida next week

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China’s First Lady’s wardrobe during her visit to the UK

Source: AFP, Reuters

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China’s most powerful first lady since Mao Zedong’s wife Jiang Qing, Peng has become a regular feature of China’s global outreach since her husband took the reins of state in 2013.

With a smile on her face, dressed in a simple black peacoat and carrying an elegant unbranded bag, Peng stepped into the international limelight in Russia in March 2013 on Xi’s first foreign trip as president, becoming an instant internet sensation and style trendsetter back home.

Since then, she has named pandas with then-US first lady Michelle Obama, made friends with orphans in Zimbabwe and sat with Costa Rican children on her lap.

For the last decade, Peng has advocated for those living with AIDS and tuberculosis, and was recognised with a UN award in January for her role in combating the stigma attached to those with HIV and AIDS.

“Since 2006, I have been to high risk places, villages, hospitals, patients’ homes, community centres, schools and universities,” Peng said, speaking in slightly halting English, a language she has worked hard to master since her husband took power.

“I have seen pain and fear in children’s eyes.” STAR POWER Peng’s career as a darling of China’s military choir made her a household name in China long before her husband, with appearances on the state-broadcaster’s New Year Gala and other popular TV shows propelling her to stardom in the 1980s and 1990s.

Read also: “Don’t use Taiwan” as a pawn, says Taipei ahead of Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meeting

Peng retains the rank of Major General in the People’s Liberation Army and is dean of the army’s Arts Academy.

In the eyes of many Chinese, Peng embodies a broadly-appealing patriotism blended with China’s classical virtues, thanks to her army career and her pedigree musical training.

Peng has accompanied Xi on a number of diplomatic events since last summer, including a tour of Poland, Serbia and Uzbekistan.

Former model Melania Trump, by contrast, has been mostly absent since her husband took office on Jan. 20, spending much of her time in New York, caring for the couple’s 11-year-old son.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the Middle East

Source: Reuters

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On past state visits, Peng has played the role of China’s cultural ambassador, teaching foreigners the art of ink-and-brush calligraphy or the finicky wrapping of boiled dumplings.

While her public life has been largely free of scandal, she drew criticism from rights activists after images appearing to show her serenading army troops shortly after the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square surfaced briefly online in 2013 before being scrubbed from the internet in China.

Read also: Wealth of China’s uber-rich lawmakers grew faster than economy under Xi Jinping

There was also a moment of drama in 2014 when Russian President Vladimir Putin draped a coat around Peng’s shoulders at an outdoor event on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit, images also fast removed from the Chinese internet, apparently due to fears it showed the two flirting.

At the same summit, a video of Peng appearing to shoot Xi a meaningful glance reminding him to join other leaders in waving to the crowd sparked speculation about her ability to influence her husband, especially when it comes to his public appearance.

Melania Trump, when asked on CBS television network’s 60 Minutes in November 2016 if her husband took her advice, replied: “Sometimes he listens, sometimes he doesn’t. I think he hears me. But he will do what he wants to do in the end.”

BEIJING – China has announced bans on beards and burkas in its remote violence-wracked

Xinjiang region as part of tighter ‘anti-extremism’ regulations that also prohibit refusing to watch government propaganda.

Xinjiang is the homeland of the Uighurs – a traditionally Muslim group, many of whom complain of cultural and religious repression and discrimination. The area has been hit by a wave of deadly unrest, while authorities have stepped up already-strict controls and organised mass rallies of thousands of military police to indicate Chinese resolve in crushing security threats.

The new regulations, which will come into force on Saturday, outline prohibitions on growing “abnormal” facial hair or wearing robes that cover the whole body and face.

They also ban spreading “extremist ideas”, refusing to watch or listen to government propaganda on radio or TV, and preventing children from receiving “national education”, according to the text of regulations published on a government website. China has for years blamed exiled Uighur “separatists’ for a series of violent attacks in

Xinjiang and warned of the potential for militants to link up with global jihadist groups. But many independent experts have doubted the strength of overseas Uighur groups, with some saying China exaggerates the threat to justify tough security measures.

Previously Chinese authorities have restricted granting passports to Uighurs and adopted measures limiting or banning prayer at home, religious education for children, and fasting during Ramadan, which rights groups say has fuelled anger in the region.

Strict controls on the observance of certain Muslim practises, such as growing beards and wearing headscarves have been irregularly enforced in the past, but the new regulations are more sweeping and formal.

A US think tank said in July that tough Chinese religious restrictions on Muslims may have driven more than 100 to join the Islamic State. Earlier this month Islamic State militants of the Uighur minority released a video vowing to return home and “shed blood like rivers” in China, in what experts said marked the first IS threat against Chinese targets.

In the video, a Uighur fighter issued the threat against China just before executing an alleged informant. It also featured images of Chinese riot police guarding mosques, patrolling Uighur markets, and arresting men in what appears to be western China.

The Chinese flag is pictured engulfed in flames. The video was released the same day that China held a mass rally of 10,000 officers the region’s capital Urumqi – the fourth such rally this year in Xinjiang.

In one violence-wracked corner of Xinjiang, authorities are offering rewards of up to 5 million yuan ($730,000) to those who expose terror plots or “struggle, kill, wound, or subdue” any attackers.