(FILES) This file photo taken on January 14, 2017 shows from left, first row : Pyper America Smith, Brandon Lee, Sophia and Sistine Stallone present creation for fashion house Dolce Gabbana during the Men's Fall-Winter 2017-2018 fashion week on January 14, 2017 in Milan.
The daughter of Sylvester Stallone walks the catwalk for Dolce & Gabbana, Lily-Rose Depp is the face of Chanel, the daughter of Jude Law is the new face of Burberry ... Fashion is fascinated by the children of stars, by their glamorous image and their cohort of fans on social media. / AFP PHOTO / GIUSEPPE CACACE
PARIS, France – They are fashion’s new celebrity aristocracy, the sons and daughters of stars who are themselves becoming the kings and queens of the catwalk shows.
From Lily-Rose Depp and Will Smith’s daughter Willow – the faces of Chanel – to the Beckham boys and Sylvester Stallone’s two daughters modeling for Dolce & Gabbana, celebrity offspring are luxury labels’ new not-so-secret weapon.
With their huge followings on social media and instant name-recognition, these millennials born in the limelight have become the perfect avatars for advertising campaigns.
British actor Jude Law’s daughter Iris is the new face of Burberry having followed her brother Rafferty in modeling, while the daughters of singer Lionel Richie, Cindy Crawford and even Bob Dylan’s grandson have all embarked on catwalk careers.
Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris turned up in the French capital this week for a photo shoot, adding her name to a bulging celebrity model roll call that includes the daughter of Oasis singer Noel Gallagher, the son of Isabelle Adjani and Daniel Day-Lewis, the daughter of Nastassja Kinski and Quincy Jones, and the sons of Sean Penn and Pierce Brosnan.
The list is endless and seemingly inexhaustible, with marketing experts maintaining that young consumers cannot get enough of celebrity dynasties.
You just have to look at the Kardashians, said Gachoucha Kretz, professor of fashion marketing at the HEC business school in Paris, to see how the model works.
Kardashian effect
They have converted their reality television fame into fashion hard currency, with Kim Kardashian and her half sister Kendall Jenner now established stars of the firmament, their every wardrobe choice scrutinised on social media.
Brands hope to piggyback on “the popular fascination with these tribes and families”, Kretz said.
With no problem about name recognition “there is much less marketing to do”, she added. “The associations are already created.”
With their Instagram or Twitter endorsements of their favoured brands, they become the ultimate “influencers” to help push demand.
Aged only 17, Brooklyn Beckham has nine million followers on Instagram. After two years as a model he has branched out into fashion photography, shooting an advertising campaign for Burberry this summer that made headlines around the world.
Even fashion’s biggest players are happy to play along with the family fame game. Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld, for instance, has been a enthusiastic nepotist, hiring Depp, Smith and Jenner, and taking former supermodel Ines de la Fressange’s daughter Violette d’Urso as his muse.
Self-replicating elite
“The tabloids and celebrity magazines love these famous families and that assures media coverage,” said Aurore Gorius, co-author of a French book “Sons and Daughters of…”
The 2015 book casts a critical eye on the public’s fascination with this “phenomenon of elites reproducing themselves and blocking social mobility.
“These children have grown up under the eyes of the media and we are curious what will become of them,” she said.
Trends expert Cecile Poignant, who teaches at the New School Parsons Paris, said there has been a gradual push towards the “starification of childhood” over the last 15 years.
She said it began with photographer Annie Leibovitz’s famous front cover of a naked Demi Moore pregnant for Vanity Fair magazine.
“For a lot of models and celebrities, the child has become something of a fashion accessory, a must have,” Poignant told AFP.
But could the omnipresence of celebrity offspring now finally lead to a backlash.
Fashion student Marie Richaud said she found it irksome that their fame “is not based on merit but family links. It excludes”.
Even so the 25-year-old follows several second generation celebs on Instagram even if “she doesn’t identify with them”.
“These children who seems to have had it all give people something to dream about. But at the same time they can just as easily annoy,” said Poignant.
“Do any of them have any talent or is their name enough (to succeed)? We will have to wait and see,” she added.
That’s how one health expert describes the new system that will consolidate public healthcare into three large groups. The key this time is a focus on primary care, Insight finds.
For 71-year-old Lim Ah Sai, a double amputee who has five chronic illnesses, including glaucoma, healthcare gets very complex.
Three times a year, he goes to Toa Payoh Polyclinic to make sure his diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are in check.
He also has an appointment every two months at the National Skin Centre in Novena so doctors can keep tabs on his eczema.
Almost every day, he goes for day care at voluntary welfare organisation SPD – which cares for people with physical disabilities – or visits the senior activity centre run by Touch Community Services near his home in Geylang Bahru.
Mr Lim and his wife – who is working and cannot care for him – have no children.
“It’s simple because they (all) arrange transportation for me,” Mr Lim says. “But if they didn’t, how would I get anywhere?”
Last week, the Health Ministry (MOH) announced a set of changes to the healthcare landscape that might make life simpler for people like Mr Lim who have multiple appointments around the island.
But at first glance, the changes make it look as if history is repeating itself.
The six healthcare clusters, formed in the late 2000s when two bigger groups were split up, are merging again. By next year, after the transition is complete, there will be three large groups overseeing public healthcare – SingHealth, the National Healthcare Group (NHG) and the National University Health System (NUHS).
Photo: The Straits Times
As familiar as this landscape appears, experts are quick to point out that Singapore today is not the same country it was in the 1990s – and that makes all the difference.
Reshaping the healthcare scene is meant to solve problems the Republic didn’t have before, especially that of a growing senior population making frequent hospital trips for relatively minor ailments.
“At present, some patients have to make multiple trips to hospital specialist clinics for chronic disease management,” says Dr Tan Wu Meng, an MP for Jurong GRC, who is on the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Health.
“But what if we could empower more family physicians to manage more such patients in the community closer to home – with specialist opinions in the same cluster just a phone call, an instant message, or an e-mail away?”
This is exactly what MOH hopes to achieve with its emphasis on primary care as part of the merger.
Primary care refers to polyclinics, general practitioners (GPs) and family medicine clinics – the first ports of call for most people when they fall ill.
Photo: The Straits Times
LESS TO-ING AND FRO-ING
Having three large clusters rather than six smaller ones will make it easier to coordinate between hospitals and primary care doctors, says a ministry spokesman, and help to “anchor care in the community as a collective force”.
“Primary care is the bedrock of a good healthcare system,” the spokesman adds. “A patient with a chronic disease may require treatment at an acute hospital for a serious complication, but should ideally be able to be managed close to home by his regular family doctor over the longer term.”
This means the changes could save people time and money – for if they find that they can rely on doctors near their homes, they have less reason to travel further and pay more for care in a hospital clinic. And it is not just savings in terms of transport expenses, but also in medical costs, as seeing a specialist is generally more expensive than going to a polyclinic doctor.
Comparing the healthcare system to a pyramid, Mr Roy Quek, chairman of private healthcare group Thomson Medical, says: “You want to catch people at the base of the pyramid first, rather than all the way at the top where the costs are much higher.”
Mr Quek, who used to be deputy secretary of health policy at MOH, adds: “Primary care is always going to be our first line of defence – but it must be able to link back to the larger system.”
Mr Quek says that although primary care is always going to be the first line of defence, it must be able to link back to the larger system. Photo: The Business Times
WHAT BROUGHT ABOUT THE CHANGES
The changes will see the newly formed National University Polyclinics, managed by NUHS, take over the management of five of the 18 existing clinics – meaning all the new clusters will have their own set of polyclinics.
In 1999, the nation’s public healthcare facilities – general hospitals, specialist centres and polyclinics – were divvied up more or less equally between SingHealth and NHG.
But under then Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan, they were hived off into six smaller clusters, each in charge of a specific geographical region, the idea being that these smaller clusters – each anchored by a general hospital – would have more room for innovation and become more independent.
However, last Wednesday, MOH announced the merger once again of these clusters, in anticipation of the growing complexity of healthcare needs. Each cluster will look after more than a million Singapore residents and partner with one of the three medical schools here.
Moving to a system where clusters cover broader areas makes it easier for institutions to work together and provide seamless care, says Dr Loke Wai Chiong, healthcare sector leader at Deloitte South-east Asia.
This means making it simple for patients – and their medical records – to move between institutions with the minimum amount of fuss. “If you think about seamless patient care, it happens only when you have the various care providers sitting down together to organise things,” Dr Loke says.
“I think there is a recognition that collaboration is easier if there are fewer clusters, and between and within these three it will hopefully be easier to agree on workflows and processes, and ultimately standardise (them) at the national level.”
MOH has said that the vast majority of healthcare staff will retain their current roles, with no changes to their monthly salaries. If people have to move, they will be offered jobs that match their skills and experience, and at the same pay.
However, the merger means many employees will get better opportunities for career progression and development, says Dr Lee Chien Earn, group chief executive of the Eastern Health Alliance, which will soon come under the management of SingHealth.
Dr Lee points out that the merger means many employees will get better opportunities for career progression and development. Photo: Changi General Hospital
Each organisation that is now part of a larger whole will also have access to a wider range of facilities, services and networks.
HOW THE NEW SYSTEM WILL HELP
For example, says Health GPC member Dr Tan, polyclinics would be able to do more for patients with all the “firepower” of a large cluster behind them. “(This is) whether it’s a remote consult with a specialist, being able to restock complex prescriptions without the patient going to hospital, or arranging tests and scans and being able to readily download the images and results.”
Dr Tan believes polyclinics would be able to do more for patients with all the “firepower” of a large cluster behind them. Photo: The Straits Times
Of course, it goes beyond just polyclinics and acute hospitals leveraging on one another’s strengths. It also includes community hospitals and the national specialist centres. And it means that organisations formerly from different clusters will be able to tap one another’s community networks – such as GPs in private practice, voluntary welfare organisations or nursing homes – to, and from which, so many referrals are typically made.
How all this potential will pan out in the next few years remains to be seen, although experts agree it should improve efficiency in the system, especially when it comes to planning and innovations.
“The gains may not be so immediate in terms of things like waiting times,” Dr Loke says. “But the system now is less complex and there is more scale. Scale helps – it’s hard to do things like telemedicine and telemonitoring without it.”
And Mr Quek adds: “It should lead to greater efficiency when you consolidate manpower over a larger, integrated footprint.”
linettel@sph.com.sg
MORE SEAMLESS
I think there is a recognition that collaboration is easier if there are fewer clusters, and between and within these three it will hopefully be easier to agree on workflows and processes, and ultimately standardise (them) at the national level. ” DR LOKE WAI CHIONG, Deloitte South-east Asia’s healthcare sector leader.
This article was first published on Jan 22, 2017. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
The legal framework penalising irresponsible driving is set to be “strengthened and toughened up”, reiterated Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam yesterday.
He was speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Automobile Association of Singapore’s (AA Singapore) new seven-storey building in Kung Chong Road, off Leng Kee Road.
Mr Shanmugam said more could be done for road traffic safety here, with support from partners such as AA Singapore.
In the first three quarters of last year, there was an average of about 11 fatal accidents a month. But every fatal accident is “one too many”, said Mr Shanmugam.
On average, there are just under 700 traffic accidents with injuries each month, he added.
Besides encouraging better driving habits, there has to be “very firm and clear action against traffic violations”, he said.
In December, it was announced that the Government would seek to increase penalties for offences resulting in death or injury or involving drugs or alcohol, as well as for repeat offenders.
Mr Shanmugam said: “If you have destroyed people’s lives… there must be some responsibility.”
He added: “It’s not just a question of being fined, going into jail, coming out after a few months.”
On the new building, Mr Bernard Tay, president of AA Singapore, said: “The transformation allows us to cater to the changing motoring and lifestyle needs, and members can look forward to more exciting and value-added services with enhanced membership benefits and privileges.”
The $25 million building is expected to be a one-stop centre for members and the public. Slated to be completed next year, it will be about 3.6 times larger in floor area than the old two-storey building, which has been demolished.
AA Singapore also presented a $15,000 cheque to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund. It had conducted a road safety campaign last year, where it donated $5 for each online pledge from the public.
byseow@sph.com.sg
11
Average number of fatal accidents in a month in the first three quarters of last year.
700
Number of traffic accidents with injuries each month.
This article was first published on Jan 22, 2017. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
Singapore’s future prime minister needs to have courage, steel, be able to lead and connect with the people, and get the buy-in from Singaporeans to set out the nation’s path, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said yesterday .
Paraphrasing founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s words, he added: “Whoever leads Singapore will have to have the iron in him.
“He has got to be able to lead the people. This is not a game of cards, it’s everybody’s lives.”
Mr Shanmugam was speaking on the sidelines of a ground-breaking ceremony for the Automobile Association of Singapore’s new building in Kung Chong Road.
He talked about the qualities a future candidate should have in the context of regional developments such as terrorism and security issues, as well as uncertainties elsewhere in the world.
The future leader should also be able to “look at what is happening (and) take pre-emptive action so that we always land on our feet, and we succeed”, he noted.
On succession plans, Mr Shanmugam said “the Prime Minister has set out his timetable”, adding: “We look for the next generation of leaders early so that they can come in with a number of years to go still.”
PM Lee Hsien Loong on Friday responded to a question about his involvement in selecting the next leader during a dialogue, saying the search is progressing. He reiterated that the next generation of ministers will choose their own leader.
He said a team of next-generation leaders is in place and it was reinforced in 2011, and again last year.
Those identified as potential candidates include Minister in the PM’s Office Chan Chun Sing, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, Education Ministers Ng Chee Meng and Ong Ye Kung, Social and Family Development Minister Tan Chuan-Jin and National Development Minister Lawrence Wong.
Mr Shanmugam said “the challenges that Singapore will face are really no different from the challenges that we have faced over 50 years”. “The world is changing, will continue to change and we have to adapt to that, survive and prosper.”
This article was first published on Jan 22, 2017. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
<p>Singapore's future prime minister needs to have courage, steel, be able to lead and connect with the people, and get the buy-in from Singaporeans to set out the nation's path, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said yesterday .</p>
Last July, two stately bungalows which had fallen into disuse after housing the defunct Grand Hotel in Marine Parade for decades were converted into pre-schools following a $5 million makeover.
Earlier this month, The Sunday Times visited three abandoned abodes which have intrigued their neighbours, urban explorer groups, and heritage expertssuch as siblings Charles and Raymond Goh.
In Singapore, such “abandoned” properties are not tracked.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) tracks the vacancy rate for private homes that are completed, while the Ministry of Law’s Public Trustee’ s Office administers the estates of deceased persons. The Singapore Land Authority manages state land and state properties.
Even so, heritage experts believe that there are about 20 such old and unoccupied properties that dot land-scarce Singapore.
SLP International executive director Nicholas Mak said owners of such properties might hold on to them as they may not need the money and have no plans for the estate.
He said: “In land-scarce Singapore, the value of these properties will only increase, especially if they are freehold. Owners keep hold on them as a form of investment or for the next generation. These are usually their spare properties and not their main place of residence.”
In other cases, the properties might be contested by descendants or part of court tussles and cannot be sold, he added.
1 BEDOK AVENUE
1 Bedok Avenue – A villa dating back to the 1920s which was owned by businessman “Abdul Hadjee Kahar Bin Abdul Ramee”. The Villa Kahar was later sold to Dr Lee Choo Neo, Singapore’s first female doctor and grand-aunt to Singapore’s first prime minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. It is now owned by the descendants of Dr Lee and her husband. Photo: The Straits Times
Unoccupied for decades, a villa dating back to the 1920s has stood the test of time in the quiet neighbourhood of Bedok, near Upper East Coast Road.
Records show that it was owned by businessman “Abdul Hadjee Kahar Bin Abdul Ramee”. According to heritage blog Remember Singapore, he had purchased land there from a Chinese nutmeg plantation owner for about $7,000 in 1910.
The house changed hands after the family was forced by the invading Japanese army to sell it. It was unoccupied for years and photographed in a state of disrepair in 2005.
According to research by the National Heritage Board, Villa Kahar was later sold to Dr Lee Choo Neo, Singapore’s first female doctor. Dr Lee was the wife of prominent businessman Teo Koon Lim and grand-aunt to Singapore’s first prime minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
The board described the architecture as a “fine example of a synthesis between traditional and imported styles” for it stands on stilts like kampung houses, but features neo-Rococo influences at the same time .
The Sunday Times understands that the building, currently registered to Livet Company, which is owned by the descendants of Dr Lee and Mr Teo, was recently spruced up and could soon be rented out to a ballet or pilates studio. The original interior, which had eight rooms, has been largely re-configured. When contacted, the Teos declined to comment.
The building now boasts a relatively fresh coat of yellow paint, green louvred windows and decorative ceramic work on its front facade.
A book by Professor Hadijah Rahmat, called Kilat Senja, notes that many operas and parties used to be held at the villa.
Dr Lee Nai Jia, head of South-east Asia research at Edmund Tie and Company, said the price for the site could be around $700 per sq ft given its development potential.
67 CAIRNHILL ROAD
67 Cairnhill Road – This home was bought in 1912 by Boey Chuan Poh, the sole proprietor of the Union Times, a Singapore newspaper. The property last belonged to Mr Lien Kwang Wah, the brother of tycoon Lien Ying Chow. It is now held in Mr Lien Kwang Wah’s family. Photo: The Straits Times
Prime districts are also home to such abandoned properties.
Take, for instance, 67 Cairnhill Road, tucked among soaring condominiums. The aged property is shrouded by tall trees, overgrown ferns and plant roots that creep across a boundary wall. The building itself appears to be a raised one-storey structure and wears a weathered coat of mint-green paint.
Steps leading up to the house are old and broken, and a string of colourful Christmas lights can be spotted on one side of the facade.
A resident in Cairnhill Mansions next door, who wanted to be known only as Ms M. J., 65, said she had always wondered who owned the house as she had never seen anyone going in. She said: “It’s not nice to see such a building with rotten leaves lying all around in a prime area. It’s quite unsightly.”
Research by the Goh brothers, who brought the issue of abandoned property to the attention of The Sunday Times, found that it last belonged to Mr Lien Kwang Wah, who died in 2008. The Sunday Times understands that the property has been held in the family of the brother of tycoon Lien Ying Chow, the founder of Overseas Union Bank.
The home was purchased in 1912 by Boey Chuan Poh, the sole proprietor of the Union Times, a Singapore newspaper. Mr Boey also built a villa off Balestier Road that is known as the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall today. Mr Charles Goh said: “The house was known as Fernbank and it was re-numbered from 44 to 67 Cairnhill Road based on the 1930 map of Singapore.”
9 CLAYMORE ROAD
9 Claymore Road – The bungalow is owned by Mr Tan Kheng Chuan who reportedly owned Hiap Ann Sago Factory which has since been deregistered. The building has been abandoned since the 1970s. A 2007 report pegged its value at $151.5 million. Photo: The Straits Times
Architecturally or historically significant structures often catch the eye of conservation experts.
Take the case of the 1938 Chee Guan Chiang bungalow at 25 Grange Road, which suffered from vandalism and poor maintenance for years. It was conserved by the URA in 2008. The building was designed by one of the leading architects of the Modern Movement in Singapore, Mr Ho Kwong Yew, who also designed the now demolished Haw Par Villa residence.
Another bungalow which bears some similarity to the Chee Guan Chiang house is the property at 9 Claymore Road, just behind Pacific Plaza in town. It is owned by Mr Tan Kheng Chuan, who reportedly owned Hiap Ann Sago Factory, which has since been deregistered.
The Goh brothers estimate that the building, which has curved walls and extensive windows, has been abandoned since the 1970s. A 2007 report pegged its value at $151.5 million.
263 Outram Road – The abandoned premises of the former Pohsan Dance Studio. It used to be the workplace and living quarters of Mr Low Poh San and his wife, Ms Jenny Quek, who were Singapore professional ballroom dance champions in the 1940s and 1950s. Photo: The Straits Times
Other intriguing homes, which have remained empty for years that were highlighted by heritage community members such as blogger Jerome Lim, include the abandoned premises of the former Pohsan Dance Studio at 263 Outram Road which dates back to 1937.
It used to be the workplace and living quarters of Mr Low Poh San and his wife, Ms Jenny Quek, who were Singapore professional ballroom dance champions in the 1940s and 1950s. It is now part of the conserved Tiong Bahru estate.
This article was first published on Jan 22, 2017. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
<p>Last July, two stately bungalows which had fallen into disuse after housing the defunct Grand Hotel in Marine Parade for decades were converted into pre-schools following a $5 million makeover.</p>
BEIJING – China’s military will carry out drills regardless of foreign provocations and pressure, the Communist Party’s paper said on Sunday (Jan 22), adding that exercises far out at sea like those conducted recently by its sole aircraft carrier will become normal.
China caused unease among some countries in the region last month when the carrier the Liaoning, accompanied by several warships, cruised around self-ruled Taiwan and into the Pacific for what China called routine drills.
Earlier this month, Taiwan scrambled fighter jets and navy ships as the Liaoning then passed through the narrow waterway separating China from the island Beijing claims as its own.
For its part, China was alarmed this month when US President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state Rex Tillerson said China should be denied access to islands it has built in the contested South China Sea.
The People’s Daily said no amount of “word bombs”, such as Tillerson’s South China Sea remarks, could stop China’s military drills.
“These provocations, pressure, fantasies and over-exaggerations will not prevent the normal drills of the Chinese military,” the paper said in a commentary.
“The meddling and disruption of countries from outside the region can only run counter to the consensus of common interests that accords with this region and the world,” it added.
“Henceforth, the Chinese military’s exercises far out at sea will become a kind of normal, extremely normal drills,” the paper said.
China has invested billions of dollars in an ambitious military modernisation programme, especially its navy.
The Chinese navy has been exercising in waters far from home more often as it seeks to hone its operational abilities, and it has joined international anti-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia.
In 2015, five Chinese ships carried out exercises in international waters in the Bering Sea off the US state of Alaska.
China says it has a legitimate need to develop its “blue water” naval capabilities to protect the trade lanes on which the country’s economy depends, to defend the interests of its citizens overseas and uphold its global obligations.
In 2015, a Chinese naval frigate evacuated foreign citizens from strife-torn Yemen, marking the first time that China’s military has helped other countries evacuate their people during an international crisis.
Japan's Emperor Akihito waves to well-wishers who gathered to celebrate the monarch's 81st birthday at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo December 23, 2014. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File photo
TOKYO – Japan is moving to adopt a law allowing its octogenarian Emperor Akihito to abdicate but many touchy topics, such as his title and duties, remain to be settled before the monarch can retire in a step unprecedented for two centuries.
Japanese law does not currently allow an emperor to give up the throne, but Akihito, 83, who has had heart surgery and prostate cancer treatment, said in rare public remarks last August he feared age might make it hard to fulfil his duties.
A panel of experts is expected on Monday (Jan 23) to indicate a preference for a special law to allow Emperor Akihito to retire, most probably by the end of 2018.
Officials are looking at ancient precedents, since the last time an emperor abdicated was in 1817.
“Japan is in uncharted territory except for historians,”said Colin Jones, a professor at Doshisha University Law School.
Emperor Akihito may also look to examples of foreign monarchs of his generation, such as Dutch Queen Beatrix and Belgian King Albert II, or even Pope Benedict. All three retired in 2013.
Beatrix resumed her former title of princess and remained active, while Albert retained his title, though mostly staying out of public view. Benedict, as “pope emeritus”, moved to a monastery inside the Vatican walls.
“The emperor himself was friends with Queen Beatrix and King Albert since his days as crown prince,” said Naotaka Kimizuka, an expert in European monarchies at Kanto Gakuin University.
“I think he will probably consider them as reference points.”
Besides the emperor’s title, duties and residence after he retires, the government also has to fix the name and date for the commencement of the new “imperial era” that will be ushered in by his successor, under Japan’s unique calendar.
Once considered divine, Japan’s emperor, or “tenno”, is defined in the post-war constitution as a “symbol of the state and of the unity of the people”. He has no political power.
Nonetheless, the title he is to be accorded after abdication is a touchy matter. History suggests Akihito should get the title “joko”, meaning “retired emperor”.
But some experts say the term echoes ancient episodes when the former emperor retained power and clashed with his successor. They prefer terms such as “zen tenno” or “moto tenno”, meaning former, or previous, emperor respectively.
Emperor Akihito’s duties include Shinto religious ceremonies and constitutionally-defined tasks, such as the opening of parliament. These will be taken on by his successor, Crown Prince Naruhito.
The hallmark of the popular monarch’s reign has been travels with Empress Michiko, such as visits to domestic disaster sites to cheer survivors, and overseas, to soothe the wounds of a war fought in the name of his father, Emperor Hirohito.
Given Emperor Akihito’s belief that his public activities are central to his symbolic role, he may well let Crown Prince Naruhito take centre stage. (http://tmsnrt.rs/2b7dWHn ) “There is concern over splitting the message, splitting the symbol,” if Emperor Akihito stays too active, Doshisha’s Jones said.
The emperor’s younger son, Prince Akishino, has suggested his parents would enjoy activities such as music and the marine biology research in which Akihito specialises.
A pay cut does seem in store for the imperial couple, who do not have a large personal fortune, unlike the British royals.
If they retreat to the shadows, they will probably get an annual allowance roughly equivalent to the US$400,000 received by Emperor Akihito’s younger brother and his wife – or about a fifth what they get now, Kimizuka said.
Residence options for the couple include the Togu Palace, now home to the crown prince, and the Fukiage Omiya Palace, where Emperor Hirohito once lived, both within the spacious palace grounds in Tokyo.
The ancient imperial capital of Kyoto also cannot be ruled out, some experts said.
Once Emperor Akihito steps down, a new “imperial era” will begin, replacing the current “Heisei”, meaning “achieving peace”, which began on Jan. 8, 1989, the day he took the throne.
Although Japan uses the Western-style Gregorian calendar, it has also kept its ancient imperial-era system – “nengo” or”gengo” – in which a new emperor ushers in a new era.
The government might break with precedent and announce the name of the new era months before Emperor Akihito retires, to allow time for the switch to be made in official forms, calendars and computer programmes, media have said.
The National Disaster Warning Centre warned yesterday that the South would be hit by heavy rain on Wednesday due to a high-pressure system from the Northeast and a low-pressure in the Andaman Sea. Some places may be hit be rainfall of more than 100 millimetres.
The director of the centre, Chayasarn Tonanon, said heavy rain in the South was normal at this time of the year, even though the rainfall was very high.
Photo: AFP
However he added: “It should|be noted that this is the third time that the South was flooded this [wet] season, which is more frequent compared to the last two years.
“We would like to warn the |people in Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat to be aware of [the possibility of] flash floods and landslides and they should move their belongings to high ground and keep monitoring the news from the authorities.”
Interior Ministry deputy permanent secretary Chayaphon Thitisak revealed that there were two provinces, Surat Thani and Phatthalung, still suffering severe flooding.
A bridge damaged by floods is pictured at Chai Buri District, Surat Thani province, southern Thailand, January 9, 2017.Photo: Reuters
Chayaphon said four provinces – Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla, and Chumphon – were on a flood watch list. But the flood situation in Ranong, Narathiwat, Pattani, Krabi, and Trang had eased.
Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department director Chatchai Promlert said that 212 homes had been destroyed in the disaster, with a further 393 homes severely damaged, and 4,852 others damaged.
People walk in a flooded street at Muang district in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, southern Thailand, January 6, 2017.Photo: Reuters
Chatchai said homeowners whose properties were destroyed were eligible for Bt33,000 in compensation. If that was not enough, they could receive donations from residents in their province.
January is not over yet, but two regencies in Riau province have already declared emergency alert statuses to tackle any potential forest fires, which could get out of control when the weather gets drier in upcoming months.
The decision made by Rokan Hulu regency and Dumai city to raise their alert statuses, which would allow the central government to send aid to the regions, has been lauded by government officials in Jakarta.
Indonesia has learned the hard way that failing to act as fast as possible to address forest fires would cost it dearly. In 2015, massive forest fires ravaged Sumatra and Kalimantan and caused diplomatic tensions as cities in Malaysia and Singapore, were covered by smoky haze for weeks.
With the weather in 2017 expected to be drier than in 2016, the country could not afford to risk another disaster.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has called on other fire-prone regions in Sumatra and Kalimantan to follow the initiatives of Rokan and Dumai before the dry season starts in late January and runs until the end of March, the period hot spots could quickly turn into fires if treated late.
A break from fires is expected to take place between April and May this year when rain pours down on the country, but threats of fire could recur from June to late October in haze-producing regions like Sumatra, Riau and Kalimantan, said BNPT spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.
By setting emergency standby statuses early, regions could ask for aid from the central government to tackle very small fires to prevent them from growing bigger when the dry season begins.
Sutopo said that the BNPB had improved its early warning system to detect the emergence of hot spots across the country and had asked the Regional Mitigation Agencies (BPBD) to prepare artificial rain as an anticipatory move ahead of the dry season.
“We have instructed the BPBDs to urge local administrations to declare emergency alert statuses before it is too late to do so. It is a good move that Rokan and Dumai took the initiative. We hope that other regions follow suit. Next week, there will be a meeting at the State Palace to discuss preparations to prevent forest fires,” Sutopo told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Sutopo said that the BNPB could directly send helicopters to regions that had declared emergency alert statuses as an early anticipation to prevent forest fires.
The head of the Rokan Hulu BPBD, Aceng Herdiana, said that the status was effective from Jan. 16 to May 31. He said in the last 10 days hot spots detected in a number of districts were identified to be forest and land fires.
“That’s why the regency administration considers it necessary to declare the emergency siaga alert status,” Aceng said.
The Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) had also been routinely reporting that the rainfall in a number of regions in Riau would be very limited until April 2017, he said.
Such indicators, he said, had to be watched, because it meant that the potential for fire in several fireprone districts was increasing.
Riau BPBD head Edwar Sanger said that he expected the Riau provincial administration would also soon declare a standby emergency status as an early measure to prevent hot spots from expanding.
“The objective is to maintain the situation. The haze-free achievement made by Riau in 2016 has to be maintained this year,” he said.
He said the emergency alert status on the provincial level would be announced on Monday during a meeting led by Riau Governor Arsyadjuliandi Rachman.
Meanwhile, the Environment and Forestry Ministry’s fire mitigation director Raffles Brotestes Panjaitan said the alert status was declared when the fires were still under control and it would only be raised to “emergency” status when fires became massive.
Raffles added that the status could be raised quickly, unlike in 2015 when some regional governments were too late raising their alert statuses, resulting in late responses.
The Administrative Court is scheduled to hear on Thursday a petition filed by former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra against an administrative order for her to pay Bt35 billion (S$1.4 billion) in damages allegedly stemming from her government’s rice-pledging scheme.
Yingluck’s petition argues that the order was unlawful and unfair to her, according to a press release from the court yesterday.
The petition named Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and four other Cabinet members as defendants, according to the court.
Earlier yesterday, Yingluck said she has petitioned the Administrative Court to revoke the administrative order made by the Finance Ministry.
The court has scheduled the trial to start at 1.30pm on December 26.
She said that her legal team has been in the process of seeking a court verdict against the order.
However, Yingluck declined to discuss the matter in detail, saying that she would disclose more at a later time.
The post-coup government has estimated that the previous administration led by Yingluck incurred damages estimated at Bt178 billion stemming from its corruption-plagued project. It was estimated that the former prime minister was responsible for Bt35 billion of the damages.
Yingluck yesterday attended the ninth hearing of defence witnesses by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders in a case where she is accused of negligence in connection with the rice-pledging scheme.
She was greeted by a large number of supporters and scores of police officers were also dispatched to the court to keep law and order.
During yesterday’s court hearing of defence witnesses, Yanyong Puangraj, who served as deputy commerce minister in Yingluck’s government, said he did not think there were irregularities involving the rice-pledging scheme.
He said, it would be “difficult” to include smuggled rice grown outside the country in the scheme, which offered to buy “every grain of rice” from farmers at prices higher than the market value.
He said that over the two years it was in power, the previous government sold more than 20 million tonnes of rice from the state stock, more than any other administration in the past.
