New discovery of Sarus crane eggs

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PUBLISHED : 20 Aug 2023 at 05:25

New discovery of Sarus crane eggs
A GOOD OMEN: The latest discovery of Eastern Sarus Crane’s eggs in the Huai Talat Reservoir Non-Hunting Area of Buri Ram province shows conservation efforts for the rare wild bird are paying off, says the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. Further releases are also likely due to its success in encouraging them to breed.

The discovery of Eastern Sarus Crane eggs in a rice field next to the Huai Talat Reservoir Non-Hunting Area in Buri Ram’s Muang district is a positive sign that conservation efforts are paying off, says the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP).

The department on Friday posted photos and a story on the discovery of the two eggs. It said the owner of the farm contacted wildlife officials, who recorded the location and asked for cooperation from the community in avoiding disturbing the bird’s habitat.

Phadet Laithong, director of the Wildlife Conservation Office of DNP, said the discovery of the eggs is good news, hailing the success of the department’s wildlife project.

Sarus cranes, commonly known as Thai cranes, have grey plumage, long legs, a long neck and a sharp beak, he said. The upper part of the neck and lower part of the head is red while the top of the head is bare, and they have round, dark orange eyes, he said.

The birds were last seen in the wild about 50 years ago and were believed to be close to extinction in Thailand until the DNP worked with the Zoological Park Organization to release the cranes into nature, he said.

Wildlife authorities released 10 Sarus cranes into the Huai Chorakhe Mak Non-Hunting Area in 2011, he said.

“The discovery of the nest is an important message that the project is increasing the Sarus crane population in their natural habitat,” he said.

“Although the bird population is small it has a good chance of survival, as long as there is strong cooperation from stakeholders, including communities around non-hunting areas.”

One task under the Sarus crane conservation project involves promoting organic rice plantations to reduce the risk of bird death by harmful chemicals in paddy fields, he said. The jasmine rice that grows in the natural habitat of Sarus cranes is packed and sold under the “Sarus Rice” brand, he said.

According to the Zoological Park Organization, 156 Sarus cranes have been released to the wetlands in Buri Ram since 2011. As of today, the organisation has recorded about 120 Sarus cranes living in nature, the source said, adding the population trend is likely to increase. It is among 15 species listed in the 1992 Wildlife Protection Act.

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Commentary: Cybertrooper activity in state elections marks irreversible trend in Malaysia politics

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PN CYBERTROOPERS

PN’s cybertroopers dominated Facebook and built most of their political campaigning around firebrand characters, particularly caretaker Chief Minister of Kedah, Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor.

Prior to the elections, police arrested Sanusi after he allegedly insulted local royalty in a TikTok video. During the campaign, there were several controversies involving Sanusi, most notably with the Minister of Home Affairs on the issue of rare earth element theft and with the caretaker Chief Minister of Selangor, who threatened to sue Sanusi.

In both cases, PN cybertroopers defended Sanusi and presented PH-BN as an abusive government that silenced its critics by curtailing the freedom of speech and abusing lawsuits. 

In the final week of campaigning, two major issues became a focus of cybertroopers: An incident involving Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at an event with local pre-university students and a televised debate between Minister of Economics Affairs Rafizi Ramli and the PAS MP for Bachok Syahir Sulaiman on economic plans for Malaysia.

In the first, Anwar was accused of being condescending and rude in his response to a student’s question regarding the racial quota system in tertiary education while in the second, Syahir was seen as losing the debate as his presentation was poor, with flawed and under-developed arguments. 

PH-BN and PN cybertroopers were quick to engage in both these episodes to spin the story in their side’s favour. In defence of Anwar, PH-BN cybertroopers focused on highlighting that the original video was intentionally edited to embarrass Anwar and emphasising that the PM was right to chide the student.

On the other hand, PN cybertroopers, in manipulating public opinion, accepted that Syahir performed poorly but sought to minimise the debate by calling it a waste of time and claiming that it would not affect the election. 

Cybertroopers are not meant to flip political viewpoints but to entrench them; they cast doubt on valid political viewpoints and pre-emptively shut down debate or distort it. In all the examples of online fighting between PH-BN and PN cybertroopers, both sides were adamant that their side was faultless and the other could do no right.

The upshot is that their growing presence is causing Malaysian voters to become even more polarised and fragmented in real life, leaving neutral voters disenfranchised, as they are pushed out of online discourse.

Benjamin YH Loh is Visiting Fellow of the Media, Technology and Society Programme at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute and Senior Lecturer at Taylor’s University, Malaysia. Sarah Ali is a PhD candidate at the Gender Studies Programme at Universiti Malaya. This commentary first appeared on ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute’s blog, Fulcrum.

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Going plastic-free for a week in Singapore. Dream or reality?

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But at new hawker centres, disposables are not allowed to be used for dine-in meals. This also applies to existing hawker centres that use common crockery and have centralised dishwashing services under the Productive Hawker Centres programme.

At existing hawker centres not under the programme, new stalls are not allowed to provide disposables for dine-in meals. 

“It’s very easy to … mindlessly use things especially when they come for free,” said Ms Lam. “Nobody really thinks much further about taking something that’s provided for free.”

Bringing my own water bottle also had its rewards, as I found out. 

A number of establishments around Singapore offer discounts if you bring your own bottle, bag or container. I enjoyed a small discount with my usual iced coffee at a cafe near the office.

But there was one aspect of going plastic-free I’d totally forgotten about – packaging.

It just so happened that the week I tried to go plastic-free was the same week my online orders arrived, with bundles of new clothes wrapped in layers of plastic.

According to WWF Singapore, close to 200,000 parcels are delivered daily in Singapore. 

Since most products bought online are packaged with an abundance of plastic, the only way to cut down on waste is to rethink my shopping habits.

Ms Khee said that industrial producers “set the context” of how consumers can behave and have a much bigger impact than individual consumers. 

“The reason why we are focusing on individual consumers is in the hope that if there is enough education and awareness that bigger corporates actually set the context of how consumers can behave, then consumers will be more ready and willing and educated to take the conversation back to the corporates,” said Ms Khee, who is a social media manager for local boardgame publisher Origame.

“We have to be a little bit clearer that it is not primarily individual action, but everybody else in the value chain of all these transactions has to be responsible for the choices that they offer to the consumers.”

UNAVOIDABLE AT TIMES?

But as I found out, plastic waste is unavoidable in some circumstances.

For instance, I could not avoid the little polypropylene containers that my disposable contact lenses come in.

Halfway through my plastic-free week, I contracted dengue fever. The blister packs containing my medication also contained plastic and there was simply no getting around that. The same was true for the COVID-19 test kit that I used.

“In medical settings or for hygiene like contact lens cases, the material is used for a reason,” said Ms Lam. If other materials were used instead, it would drive up costs for consumers, she added.

“If we package things in glass, there could be breakage and that also creates waste,” she said. “It’s not such a simple matter of plastic equals bad.”

As my seven “plastic-free” days drew to a close, I was left with contact lens cases and plastic packaging from various sources. I hadn’t been able to completely eliminate plastic, but I definitely managed to cut down on my use of it.

While some types of plastics are unavoidable, they can be repurposed or recycled. For example, I reused the plastic packaging from my online shopping purchase as a bin liner. There are also local programmes where contact lens blister packs can be recycled.

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Commentary: Is OCBC anti-scam measure a necessary guard rail or heavy-handed overreach?

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On the flip side, there’s also the risk of being too stringent. For instance, in their bid to counter fraudulent activities, some banks employ rigorous transaction verification processes that can sometimes decline legitimate transactions.

Rather than just imposing technological restrictions, perhaps a more holistic approach – combining technology with user education – would be more effective. By fostering a user base that is informed about the dangers of third-party downloads and equipped to discern app permissions, the bank can bolster its defenses.

BANKS AND USERS MUST SHARE RESPONSIBILITY

OCBC’s move underscores a broader, industry-wide debate in which banks are walking the tightrope in an era of relentless digital transformation to maintain trust, especially as financial institutions will be expected to share liabilities in scam cases under an upcoming government framework.

The financial sector has thrived on customer trust. Security measures they implement, while ensuring safety, must not compromise this integral relationship.

It’s a complex interplay of trust, security, and convenience. It’s not just about stopping potential threats but also about ensuring that in doing so, the banks do not alienate their customers.

Banks need to understand that in the age of digitisation, customer expectations are evolving. They desire a mix of security, which protects them, and autonomy, which doesn’t make them feel surveilled or restricted. The challenge here lies in combining the two.

OCBC’s decision, while well-intentioned, highlights the intrinsic challenge digital banks face between ensuring a harmonious user experience and robust security. This measure might come off as overbearing to some, yet it underscores an immutable fact – in the realm of digital banking, both the institution and its users bear the responsibility of safeguarding against cyber threats.

The task of ensuring robust security isn’t solely the bank’s prerogative; users too need to be vigilant and well-informed.

Dr Jonathan Chang is CEO of Fintopia Indonesia – a digital lending fintech unicorn. He is also a lecturer, public policy advisor and an award-winning researcher.

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Songkhla province detects first mpox case

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PUBLISHED : 20 Aug 2023 at 05:00

Songkhla: The Songkhla Provincial Public Health Office has detected the first monkeypox (mpox) case in the province.

The patient was reported to be a 31-year-old Thai man and native of Songkhla. The man started to develop symptoms on Aug 7 and was admitted to hospital on Wednesday. He was confirmed to have mpox the next day, Dr Songkran Maichum, chief of the Sonkhla Provincial Public Health Office, said on Saturday.

Dr Songkran said the hospital abided by the prevention measures of the provincial public health office and affiliated agencies by isolating the patient from Wednesday onwards.

The office later adopted a contact tracing process to find out who had recently been in close contact with him, he said.

One person was identified as a low-risk contact and another person was identified as high-risk, he said.

He said that 48 other people who had interacted with this patient were not considered to be in the at-risk group but his medical team advised them to monitor themselves for mpox symptoms and that they tell the medical team immediately if they develop symptoms.

Dr Songkran said that those found to be in the at-risk group will be monitored closely for 21 days in accordance with Department of Disease Control (DDC) guidelines.

Citing DDC data, on Aug 8, Thailand logged 189 mpox cases, 161 of whom were Thais.

Among them, 82 cases reportedly contracted the disease via sexual intercourse between homosexual men and some of them had HIV.

People with mpox often get a rash that may be located on their hands, feet, chest, face, mouth, or near the genitals, within 21 days of contracting the disease, he said.

Other symptoms, such as fever, swollen lymph nodes and muscle aches and headaches, are included.

People can avoid close contact — including sex — with strangers, as well as regularly wash their hands and avoid sharing personal items, he said.

Thailand recorded its first fatal case of mpox after a Thai man who was also HIV and had syphilis, died on Aug 11 of the virus, the DDC said.

He had received medication but his condition nonetheless deteriorated.

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Out-of-court settlements ‘save billions’, govt says

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Household debts hit ‘dangerous’ levels

PUBLISHED : 20 Aug 2023 at 04:00

A total of 53,030 civil and 353 criminal cases have been settled without a court’s involvement since a law facilitating out-of-court settlements took effect on May 23, 2019, the government said on Saturday.

The settled civil cases were estimated to have saved people about 6.88 billion baht in court fees, deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said. People would have to pay fees if their cases were taken to court.

Out-of-court settlements in criminal cases, meanwhile, helped the state save up to 27 billion baht.

In the 2022 fiscal year alone — from Oct 1, 2021, until Sept 30, 2022 — 44,735 out of all 45,958 dispute cases, worth 6.46 billion baht in total, were settled through negotiations, she said, adding out-of-court settlements in these cases saved about 5.8 billion baht in associated costs.

Among those included were outstanding debts owed to the Student Loan Fund, car hire purchases, credit cards and personal loans, she said.

According to the Bank of Thailand (BoT), household debts in the first quarter of this year increased by 766 billion baht, bringing total household debt to 15.96 trillion baht, or 90.6% of GDP.

The Bank for International Settlements says a household debt rate of 80% of the GDP is considered dangerous to the economy.

This high household debt problem will likely become even more difficult to curb when the new government, which includes parties looking to implement populist policies, takes office, analysts say.

Overall, the vast majority of household debts are loans to purchase vehicles and homes. According to the BoT, about 60% of debtors owe debts of more than 100,000 baht, while 14% have debts of about 1 million baht.

The quality of these household debts is rated as “not very good”, as two-thirds of them stem from spending on tourism and unnecessary goods, including electronic gadgets, the BoT said.

And while personal savings ran low in recent years, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, household debts did not fall, partly because of various debt-repayment suspensions offered to debtors to help cushion the economic impact of the pandemic, the BoT said.

The number of debtors rose from 30% of the population in 2017 to 37% last year, the BoT said.

About 30% of debtors failed to repay their personal loans or credit card debts, it said. Each had more than four credit card accounts on average, and the combined credit ceiling for the cards was 10-25 times their monthly salaries, opposed to the five-12 times allowed under the international standard for offering credit lines.

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Transport ministry orders Exat to freeze tolls on two major roads

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PUBLISHED : 20 Aug 2023 at 04:00

The Transport Ministry had ordered the Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat) to keep toll rates for the Chalong Rat and Bang Na expressways unchanged for six more months until next February.

According to a source, Deputy Transport Minister Athirat Rattanaseth has decided to put Exat’s proposal to increase tolls for both routes by 10%, or at least five baht per car type, on hold.

The decision was aimed at helping people with their living costs.

The decision came after an Exat board meeting led by Transport deputy permanent secretary Soraphong Phaitoonpong agreed to increase the charge, citing the Chalong Rat and Bang Na expressway revenue transfer agreement (RTA) with the Thailand Future Fund (TFFIF).

The RTA involved Exat increasing toll collections by 10% every five years in line with the Consumer Price Index.

On Exat’s side, the source said Exat will now have talks with the TFFIF and await the Ministry’s decision.

The source said Exat earlier extended toll fee reductions for both expressways for all types of vehicles for six months until the end of this year.

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Pakistan police arrest vice-chairman of jailed ex-PM Khan’s party

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ISLAMABAD: The vice-chairman of jailed Pakistani former prime minister Imran Khan’s party was arrested on Saturday (Aug 19), a spokesman said, part of a widening crackdown on the former ruling party. Authorities have made widespread arrests targeting Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in recent months, crushing his grassroots power byContinue Reading